explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1817: Incognito Mode

2017-03-29T16:35:37Z

Rkr8: Added a positve aspect of the incognito mode

{{comic
| number = 1817
| date = March 29, 2017
| title = Incognito Mode
| image = incognito_mode.png
| titletext = They're really the worst tech support team. And their solutions are always the same. "This OS X update broke something." "LET'S INFILTRATE APPLE BY MORPHING APPLES!"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is it Blondie, just with more details to her hair? Examples of web pages that needs cookies to work properly (or at all), pages that many people like to use and wold be annoyed if they did not work due to getting stuck in incognito mode}}
A woman (maybe a different version of [[Blondie]]) warns [[Cueball]] about not browsing for more than two hours in {{w|privacy mode|incognito mode}} as he might get stuck there forever.

The caption explains that tech tips from Animorphs are the worst, i.e. the woman is an Animorph, and this was not good advice.

''{{w|Animorphs}}'' is a book series by {{w|K. A. Applegate}} featuring several children who have a special power: they can {{w|shapeshifting|morph}} into various animals whose DNA they have absorbed through alien technology. However, if they stay morphed for over two hours, they will get stuck in that form until they die.

In this comic [[Randall]] pokes fun at this by relating it to surfing in incognito mode/privacy mode in a browser. This mode is used for browsing the internet without storing cookies or browsing information. If you really did end up permanently in incognito mode by using it for more than two hours many would be trapped by now. The question is if getting trapped in that mode forever is a bad thing. But there are lots of pages that will not work properly without cookies. Nevertheless, the use of the incognito mode makes it harder for advertising networks to analyze your surfing behaviour.

It is unknown if this hypothetically "being trapped in incognito mode" would extend to real life. But if it did, then perhaps people would be unable to identify you and your interactions would leave no memories behind after you went away. An inverse kind of amnesia, where it is just you no one can remember.

The title text continues the idea that an Animorph tech support team would be the worst possible explaining that their solutions are always the same. And then it gives and example which references a common occurrence in the Animorphs book series wherein the protagonists uses their ability to morph into animals to infiltrate enemy strongholds. In the example it is an update for {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple's}} {{w|MacOS|OS X}} (a popular commercial operating system), that broke something. The solution is to infiltrate Apple by morphing apples. That advise, however, is nonsensical within the rules for morphing, put forth in the books, since the children can only turn into animals and not into fruits like apples.

Animorphs has been referenced before, first only in the title texts of [[1187: Aspect Ratio]] and [[1360: Old Files]], and then later in the main comic in [[1380: Manual for Civilization]], with the books being the actual manual...

==Transcript==
:[A woman with long blonde hair (maybe a version of Blondie) holds both arms up as she addresses Cueball who is sitting in an office chair working on his laptop.]
:Woman: ...But remember—if you browse in incognito mode for more than two hours, you'll be trapped there ''forever!''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Animorphs tech tips

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Animorphs]]

1817: Incognito Mode

2017-03-29T16:24:54Z

Rkr8: Removed OS X from incomplete reason

{{comic
| number = 1817
| date = March 29, 2017
| title = Incognito Mode
| image = incognito_mode.png
| titletext = They're really the worst tech support team. And their solutions are always the same. "This OS X update broke something." "LET'S INFILTRATE APPLE BY MORPHING APPLES!"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is it Blondie, just with more details to her hair? Examples of web pages that needs cookies to work properly (or at all), pages that many people like to use and wold be annoyed if they did not work due to getting stuck in incognito mode}}
A woman (maybe a different version of [[Blondie]]) warns [[Cueball]] about not browsing for more than two hours in {{w|privacy mode|incognito mode}} as he might get stuck there forever.

The caption explains that tech tips from Animorphs are the worst, i.e. the woman is an Animorph, and this was not good advice.

''{{w|Animorphs}}'' is a book series by {{w|K. A. Applegate}} featuring several children who have a special power: they can {{w|shapeshifting|morph}} into various animals whose DNA they have absorbed through alien technology. However, if they stay morphed for over two hours, they will get stuck in that form until they die.

In this comic [[Randall]] pokes fun at this by relating it to surfing in incognito mode/privacy mode in a browser. This mode is used for browsing the internet without storing cookies or browsing information. If you really did end up permanently in incognito mode by using it for more than two hours many would be trapped by now. The question is if getting trapped in that mode forever is a bad thing. But there are lots of pages that will not work properly without cookies.

It is unknown if this hypothetically "being trapped in incognito mode" would extend to real life. But if it did, then perhaps people would be unable to identify you and your interactions would leave no memories behind after you went away. An inverse kind of amnesia, where it is just you no one can remember.

The title text continues the idea that an Animorph tech support team would be the worst possible explaining that their solutions are always the same. And then it gives and example which references a common occurrence in the Animorphs book series wherein the protagonists uses their ability to morph into animals to infiltrate enemy strongholds. In the example it is an update for {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple's}} {{w|MacOS|OS X}} (a popular commercial operating system), that broke something. The solution is to infiltrate Apple by morphing apples. That advise, however, is nonsensical within the rules for morphing, put forth in the books, since the children can only turn into animals and not into fruits like apples.

Animorphs has been referenced before, first only in the title texts of [[1187: Aspect Ratio]] and [[1360: Old Files]], and then later in the main comic in [[1380: Manual for Civilization]], with the books being the actual manual...

==Transcript==
:[A woman with long blonde hair (maybe a version of Blondie) holds both arms up as she addresses Cueball who is sitting in an office chair working on his laptop.]
:Woman: ...But remember—if you browse in incognito mode for more than two hours, you'll be trapped there ''forever!''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Animorphs tech tips

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Animorphs]]

1817: Incognito Mode

2017-03-29T16:21:43Z

Rkr8: Added further description of OS X

{{comic
| number = 1817
| date = March 29, 2017
| title = Incognito Mode
| image = incognito_mode.png
| titletext = They're really the worst tech support team. And their solutions are always the same. "This OS X update broke something." "LET'S INFILTRATE APPLE BY MORPHING APPLES!"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Is it Blondie, just with more details to her hair? What is OS X? Examples of web pages that needs cookies to work properly (or at all), pages that many people like to use and wold be annoyed if they did not work due to getting stuck in incognito mode}}
A woman (maybe a different version of [[Blondie]]) warns [[Cueball]] about not browsing for more than two hours in {{w|privacy mode|incognito mode}} as he might get stuck there forever.

The caption explains that tech tips from Animorphs are the worst, i.e. the woman is an Animorph, and this was not good advice.

''{{w|Animorphs}}'' is a book series by {{w|K. A. Applegate}} featuring several children who have a special power: they can {{w|shapeshifting|morph}} into various animals whose DNA they have absorbed through alien technology. However, if they stay morphed for over two hours, they will get stuck in that form until they die.

In this comic [[Randall]] pokes fun at this by relating it to surfing in incognito mode/privacy mode in a browser. This mode is used for browsing the internet without storing cookies or browsing information. If you really did end up permanently in incognito mode by using it for more than two hours many would be trapped by now. The question is if getting trapped in that mode forever is a bad thing. But there are lots of pages that will not work properly without cookies.

It is unknown if this hypothetically "being trapped in incognito mode" would extend to real life. But if it did, then perhaps people would be unable to identify you and your interactions would leave no memories behind after you went away. An inverse kind of amnesia, where it is just you no one can remember.

The title text continues the idea that an Animorph tech support team would be the worst possible explaining that their solutions are always the same. And then it gives and example which references a common occurrence in the Animorphs book series wherein the protagonists uses their ability to morph into animals to infiltrate enemy strongholds. In the example it is an update for {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple's}} {{w|MacOS|OS X}} (a popular commercial operating system), that broke something. The solution is to infiltrate Apple by morphing apples. That advise, however, is nonsensical within the rules for morphing, put forth in the books, since the children can only turn into animals and not into fruits like apples.

Animorphs has been referenced before, first only in the title texts of [[1187: Aspect Ratio]] and [[1360: Old Files]], and then later in the main comic in [[1380: Manual for Civilization]], with the books being the actual manual...

==Transcript==
:[A woman with long blonde hair (maybe a version of Blondie) holds both arms up as she addresses Cueball who is sitting in an office chair working on his laptop.]
:Woman: ...But remember—if you browse in incognito mode for more than two hours, you'll be trapped there ''forever!''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Animorphs tech tips

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Animorphs]]