explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1808: Hacking

2017-03-08T05:34:01Z

Sivaraj: /* Explanation */ Initial explanation

{{comic
| number = 1808
| date = March 8, 2017
| title = Hacking
| image = hacking.png
| titletext = The dump also contains a list of millions of prime factors, a 0-day Tamagotchi exploit, and a technique for getting gcc and bash to execute arbitrary code.
}}

==Explanation==
While publishing email addresses on websites, people often add space between parts of the email. For example, john.doe@example.org may be written as john dot doe at example dot org. This is to prevent the page scrapping bots from harvesting email addresses, which may in turn be sold as address lists for email marketers.

In this comic, [[Ponytail]] tell [[Cueball]] that there is a tool which can delete such spaces. Such a tool can fix the space and most likely convert the words "dot" and "at" into respective symbols. This will overcome the problems faced by such harvesting tools, and make these email addresses more prone to receive spam. Cueball is shocked to hear the news.

Text below the panel says this tool was revealed in the leaked CIA information. There was a major leak of CIA documents on 2017-03-07 by Wikileaks. This comic is most likely referring to that leak.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball looks over Ponytail's shoulder at her desk.]
:Ponytail: You know how sometimes people put a space in their email address to make it harder to harvest?
:Cueball: Yeah?
:Ponytail: They have a tool that can delete the space!
:Cueball: Oh my god.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Less-dramatic revelations from the CIA hacking dump

{{comic discussion}}

1294: Telescope Names

2013-11-22T06:17:54Z

Sivaraj: Added TMT

{{comic
| number = 1294
| date = November 22, 2013
| title = Telescope Names
| image = telescope_names.png
| titletext = The Thirty Meter Telescope will be renamed The Flesh-Searing Eye on the Volcano.
}}

==Explanation==
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Telescope Very Large Telescope] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_large_telescope Extremely Large Telescope] are two existing telescopes in observatories. The comic pokes fun at the generic nature of the names of the telescopes by proposing more generic, but increasingly ridiculous, names for future telescopes.
The title text talks about the [http://www.tmt.org Thirty Meter Telescope], which is under construction in Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. It is expected to be the most advanced and powerful optical telescope on Earth when completed.

==Transcript==
(A list of checkboxes are given. First three in the list are checked)
* The Very Large Telescope
* The Extremely Large Telescope
* The Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (Cancelled)
* The Oppressively Colossal Telescope
* The Mind-numbingly Vast Telescope
* The Despair Telescope
* The Cataclysmic Telescope
* The Telescope of Devastation
* The Nightmare Scope
* The Inifinite Telescope
* The Final Telescope

{{comic discussion}}

1294: Telescope Names

2013-11-22T06:12:08Z

Sivaraj: Added transcript

{{comic
| number = 1294
| date = November 22, 2013
| title = Telescope Names
| image = telescope_names.png
| titletext = The Thirty Meter Telescope will be renamed The Flesh-Searing Eye on the Volcano.
}}

==Explanation==
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Telescope Very Large Telescope] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_large_telescope Extremely Large Telescope] are two existing telescopes in observatories. The comic pokes fun at the generic nature of the names of the telescopes by proposing more generic, but increasingly ridiculous, names for future telescopes.

==Transcript==
(A list of checkboxes are given. First three in the list are checked)
* The Very Large Telescope
* The Extremely Large Telescope
* The Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (Cancelled)
* The Oppressively Colossal Telescope
* The Mind-numbingly Vast Telescope
* The Despair Telescope
* The Cataclysmic Telescope
* The Telescope of Devastation
* The Nightmare Scope
* The Inifinite Telescope
* The Final Telescope

{{comic discussion}}