explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

522: Google Trends

2026-02-22T20:57:28Z

Sophira: /* Explanation */ Restoring beginning quotation marks that were deleted.

{{comic
| number = 522
| date = December 26, 2008
| title = Google Trends
| image = google_trends.png
| titletext = Obama has been writing Lincoln/Obama erotic fan fiction on his secret livejournal. Excerpt: Lincoln lay back on the bed, nude save for his trademark stovepipe hat. 'Tell me,' he purred seductively, as he and Obama formed a more perfect union. 'When you come, is it 10% ethanol?'
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Google Search|Google}} keeps track of which searches are most popular in which regions as part of more general data mining to improve their service. For the enjoyment/education of others, they release select, non-personal parts of this data under the banner "[http://www.google.com/trends/ Google Trends]."

The first statistic – that "Men kissing" was popular in {{w|Utah}}, a state known for possessing a large population with very conservative social values, including opposition to homosexuality – is real.{{acn}} The others are made up for the sake of the joke. In order:

; "Installing Ubuntu" – Redmond, WA
: {{w|Ubuntu}} is a {{w|Linux}} distribution; {{w|Redmond, Washington}} is home to {{w|Microsoft}}, the company that makes the rival operating system {{w|Microsoft Windows|Windows}}.
; "Running for President in 2010" – Wasilla, AK
: 2010 was not a presidential election year in the United States; {{w|Wasilla, Alaska}} is home to {{w|Sarah Palin}}, a politician known for making such gaffes and who was {{w|John McCain}}'s {{w|running mate}} in the {{w|United States presidential election, 2008|2008 election}} that occurred a few weeks before this comic.
; "Lincoln Fan Fiction" – Chicago, IL
: {{w|Abraham Lincoln}} was the US president from 1861 to his assassination in 1865; {{w|Chicago, Illinois}} is home to {{w|Barack Obama}}, who apparently reads (presumably {{w|erotic}}) {{w|fanfiction}} about the former president.
; "Raptors on Hoverboards" – Somerville, MA
: {{w|Velociraptors}} are a favorite xkcd topic; there are also frequent references to ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' as with the {{w|hoverboards}} here. {{w|Somerville, Massachusetts}} is home to [[Randall Munroe]]. The speed of a ''Raptor on Hoverboard'' is given in [[526: Converting to Metric]].
; "How is babby formed" – Wasilla, AK
: "How is babby formed?" was the title (and most of the content) of an infamous Yahoo! Answers question (see the title text of [[481: Listen to Yourself]] and [[550: Density]]). Wasilla, Alaska is, again, home to {{w|Sarah Palin}}; a few months prior to this comic's release, Sarah Palin revealed that her daughter, {{w|Bristol Palin}}, was pregnant out of wedlock. Ironically, before her pregnancy, Bristol Palin advocated sexual abstinence before marriage as pointed out in this [https://time.com/archive/6914503/in-defense-of-bristol-palin-abstinence-spokeswoman/ Time article], as well as banning sex education in schools.{{Actual citation needed}} Ignorance of common contraceptives like condoms can cause unplanned pregnancies to happen. Additionally, Sarah Palin has been a consistent opponent of {{w|Political Positions of Sarah Palin#Abortion|abortion}}; this search may imply that Palin is making policy about pregnancy while lacking a basic scientific understanding of how pregnancy works.
; "I hate this website" – Mountain View, CA
: {{w|Mountain View, California}} is home to {{w|Google}}'s headquarters. The implication is that Google employees are putting "I hate this website" into Google.

With regards to the excerpt Randall provides in the title text:
*{{w|Slash fiction}} is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on homosexual behavior.
*Lincoln/Obama (pronounced Lincoln slash Obama) fan fiction normally should be between Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama.
*The "more perfect union" line comes from the preamble to the US Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union...". However, it seems to have a sexual connotation in this case.
*{{w|orgasm|Come}} (sometimes spelled cum) might be a reference to Obama orgasming and/or ejaculating.
*{{w|Ethanol}} is the more scientific name for drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol.
*"{{w|Common ethanol fuel mixtures#E10_or_less|10% ethanol}}" refers to automotive gasoline that includes 10% ethanol (usually made from corn or other vegetables), with the hopes of reducing the dependence on oil for fuel. The Obama administration [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/15/obama-lower-quotas-ethanol-gasoline adopted a policy in 2013] that mandated ethanol to make up 10% of the US’s fuel supply.

==Transcript==
:Bloggers were recently amused to discover that,
:according to Google Trends, the search term:
:"men kissing" is most popular in conservative Utah.
:A few other embarrassing correlations:

:[A two-column table]
:[On the left side of the table:]
:;Search Term

:;Installing Ubuntu

:;Running for President in 2010

:;Lincoln Fan Fiction

:;Raptors on Hoverboards

:;How is babby formed?

:;I hate this website

:[On the right side of the table:]
:;Top City

:;Redmond, WA

:;Wasilla, AK

:;Chicago, IL

:;Somerville, MA

:;Wasilla, AK

:;Mountain View, CA

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Google Search]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

349: Success

2026-02-22T17:57:12Z

Sophira: Adding a more complete explanation.

{{comic
| number = 349
| date = November 26, 2007
| title = Success
| image = success.png
| titletext = 40% of OpenBSD installs lead to shark attacks. It's their only standing security issue.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to a common experience in which attempts to improve or change something can get you into even worse trouble, and where just getting back to the state at which you started becomes an arduous or even impossible task. Here, this idea is taken to a ridiculously (and amusingly) extreme level, where the attempt to install an operating system snowballs into ever more complicated problems, resulting in Cueball and Megan somehow literally getting themselves in deep water.

The OS they are trying to install is {{w|OpenBSD}}, an {{w|open source}} {{w|Unix}} {{w|operating system}} that, like some other Unix variants, is notoriously difficult to install and configure correctly, especially on home desktops with less common hardware profiles, and especially compared with the more popular Windows operating system.

[[Cueball]] starts out by attempting to upgrade the computer to allow {{w|Multi-booting|dual booting}} of BSD - in other words, setting it up such that the computer has both BSD and another operating system (typically Windows) installed at the same time, allowing Cueball and Megan to choose to start up in either one. This process is not as simple as it should be, and even less so in 2007 when this comic was published.

6 hours later, it seems that Cueball has failed in this process, and is attempting to revert the computer back to its original state. This should involve restoring the original bootloader and deleting the partition that houses BSD, in that order - by itself a fraught procedure. Instead, it appears that Cueball has taken the computer's case off and is working with the hardware. Cueball is not hopeful that he will be able to fix the issue - it appears he may have taken on too large a task.

Indeed, by the third panel it seems that the computer is a write-off - either the computer has been damaged by his attempts, or Cueball doesn't have enough experience to fix the issue. More worryingly, however, his laptop is now experiencing its own problems, seemingly caused by his efforts on the PC. No matter how difficult the problems are on one computer, they should not be affecting a completely different one.

By the end, 24 hours after starting work on the computer, Cueball has managed to get both him and Megan in trouble - adrift in deep, shark-infested waters. Generally, attempting to fix computer problems should not lead to potential shark attacks{{Citation needed}}, but somehow Cueball has managed exactly that. Understandably, Megan resolves never to let Cueball upgrade anything again if they survive.

The title text is a reference to OpenBSD's premium on security. For a time, their slogan was "Five years without a remote [security] hole in the default install!" This was eventually changed to "Only two remote holes in the default install, in a heck of a long time!" That their only standing security issue would be shark attacks is effectively an acknowledgement that any attempts to install the OS will only lead to getting stranded in the middle of the ocean.

This comic was referenced later in [[1350: Lorenz]]. Trying to install BSD was also referenced in [[518: Flow Charts]]. The last panel in [[1912: Thermostat]] may explain how this comic ended. Later, another possible reason to ending up in the ocean was given in [[2083: Laptop Issues]].

This comic follows a similar storyline to [[530: I'm An Idiot]] and [[1518: Typical Morning Routine]], as Cueball and [[Hairy]] encounter an issue and attempt proceedingly more absurd solutions to the issue.

==Transcript==

:[Four full-width panels arranged vertically, each with a label for number of hours elapsed, with a title above the stack of panels.]

:Title: As a project wears on, standards for success slip lower and lower.

:[Megan is standing behind Cueball, watching him as he sits at a desk working on a desktop computer on the desk.]
:Label: 0 hours
:Cueball: Okay, I should be able to dual-boot BSD soon.

:[Cueball is on the floor fiddling with the open tower in front of him. Megan is not shown in the panel, but may be off-panel unless Cueball is talking to himself.]
:Label: 6 hours
:Cueball: I'll be happy if I can get the system working like it was when I started.

:[Cueball is standing in front of the computer, which now has a laptop plugged into the tower. Megan is still not shown in the panel, but may be off-panel again.]
:Label: 10 hours
:Cueball: Well, the desktop's a lost cause, but I think I can fix the problems the laptop's developed.

:[Cueball and Megan are swimming in the sea; an island and a beach can be seen in the distance.]
:Label: 24 hours
:Cueball: If we're lucky, the sharks will stay away until we reach shallow water.
:Megan: If we make it back alive, you're never upgrading anything again.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Sharks]]
[[Category:BSD]]
[[Category:Cueball's computer problems]]
[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]

90: Jacket

2024-05-12T14:23:16Z

Sophira: Adding an important detail that wasn't mentioned before.

{{comic
| number = 90
| date = April 17, 2006
| title = Jacket
| image = jacket.jpg
| titletext = We have this conversation at least once a day in my apartment
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] clearly means to use ''{{Wiktionary|fucking}}'' as an intensifier. However, the friend (likely intentionally in response to the unnecessary swearing) takes ''fucking'' to be an identifier of which jacket is being discussed, and gives a smart-aleck response implying that Cueball wears the jacket while having sex. His counterpart gets confused by the sarcasm, and the topic is dismissed.

The title text states that this often occurs in Cueball/Randall's apartment.

==Transcript==
:[Two men stand and talk to one another.]
:Cueball: Where's my fucking jacket?
:[Friend indicates something behind him.]
:Friend: Over there, next to your regular one.
:Cueball: My what?
:Friend: Never mind.

==Trivia==
This comic is the second comic to use an all-caps lettering, the first being [[78: Garfield]], where the all-caps lettering may have been based off of the lettering in the actual comic strip.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

1237: QR Code

2024-05-02T02:18:26Z

Sophira: Adding a paragraph about the title text.

{{comic
| number = 1237
| date = July 12, 2013
| title = QR Code
| image = qr code.png
| titletext = Remember, the installer is watching the camera for the checksum it generated, so you have to scan it using your own phone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{W|QR code}}s (quick response codes) are a type of 2D {{w|barcode}} that can be scanned using any of several apps on a smartphone. This comic illustrates installation of a new application that requires the smartphone to scan a QR code on its own screen. There is no conceivable purpose for such a step, so it would be completely silly. Even with two mirrors or a front-facing camera and mirror, most smartphones would be unable to simultaneously display the camera feed for the QR scanner and the QR code itself. The only way to do it would be to take a picture of the QR code with a digital camera and then scan the screen of the camera. The "12 seconds remaining" part indicates that there is a time limit for this, and thus a ''quick response'' is necessary.

If scanned, the QR code in the comic reads <tt>http://xkcd.com/1237/scan/</tt>, a link to a nearly identical image, but the line above the QR code reads, "To continue reading," and the caption reads, "How to trap a webcomic reader in an infinite loop". The QR code is identical to the previous one. So, if scanned again, it would simply return the scanner to the same image in an "infinite loop".

In the title text, it is revealed that not only is there a time limit, but that the QR code must be scanned using the same phone that's displaying the code. Doing this using the phone's own camera is impossible. The only way to scan the code using the same phone would be by taking a screenshot and opening it with an app that scans for QR codes in images, rather than using the camera. While such apps do exist, most smartphone users would have no need for such an app and are unlikely to have one installed.

==Transcript==
:[A smartphone. On the display, the following text:]
:"To continue installing, scan this code. 12 seconds remaining"
:[A particularly recursive QR code is displayed on the screen.]
:[Caption below the panel:]
:How to freak out a mobile app user.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Smartphones]]

701: Science Valentine

2024-04-29T14:38:22Z

Sophira: This comic has a similar vibe to #523 in some ways.

{{comic
| number = 701
| date = February 12, 2010
| title = Science Valentine
| image = science_valentine.png
| titletext = You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Cueball]] is taking a scientific approach to creating a valentine card. Based on the first chart, the recipient is his fiancée since he noted major events (first meeting and engaged, thus they are not married yet, or it should have been noted on the graph). The labels of a heart and smiley represent Cueball's feelings for her and happiness accordingly. This implies that Cueball had love and feelings for someone else before he first met the love he is breaking up with. While they were dating, the feelings and happiness levels were very unstable, as is expected for any new relationship. That later dropped to current levels, probably due to Cueball's lack of love towards her.

In the second panel, there are variables r0, r1, r2, each value at 0.20, -0.61, -0.83 accordingly. Given their names and values between -1 and 1, these are probably {{w|correlation coefficient}}s. If they are based on the data in the graph in the preceding frame, they could compare how well one of the variables correlates with time passed since the relationship. For example, if they are based on the heart line, they could measure the correlation between heart (Cueball's feelings for his fiancée) and time, being a weak positive correlation for the first period (0.20), a moderate negative correlation for the second period (-0.61), and a strong negative correlation for the third period (-0.83). Alternatively, they could be comparing the correlation for the accumulated periods, 0.20 for the first, -0.61 for the first and second, -0.83 for all three. Either way, it looks like there becomes a strong negative association between times passed and Cueball's love. The same reasoning would apply if the values are based on the smiley (Cueball's happiness) line.

The text in the space between 2nd and 3rd panels show that [[Randall Munroe]] is against {{w|scientific misconduct}}. It also shows that Cueball's rigorous approach makes him realize that the happiness he derives from the relationship is declining, which presents him with a choice. Will he be a true scientist by accepting data that he doesn't like, or will he be romantic and just make a cute card?

The last panel is a parody of a broken(torn) heart, a common symbol used to represent people falling out of love. The line could be interpreted as a graph of the amount of love between the two or a literal tearing of the heart in two.

He decides that he is a scientist and so presents his significant other with a breakup valentine even though he originally intended it as a confirmation of their love.

The comic may be intended as a cautionary tale to new scientists; while the graph in the leftmost panel shows an apparent correlation between Cueball's love and his happiness, and it shows his happiness is lower than it might be expected to be without his partner, it fails to show that the falling love affects falling happiness-- it may be the case that falling happiness effects falling love, or that both happiness and love are affected by an unidentified factor. For example, temporary external crises may be weighing on Cueball's relationship as well as his happiness.

The title text seems to be him trying to console himself that he did the right thing. You should not use science to prove that your theory is right, but to find out which theory is the right one!

This is not the first time that Cueball has had relationship difficulties related to graphing, as shown in [[523: Decline]].

==Transcript==
:I wanted to make you a science valentine
:with charts and graphs of my feelings for you.
:[A graph shows romance and happiness. Romance cuts off, indicating a breakup before the meeting of Cueball and his current significant other, and happiness dips accordingly.
:A line indicates where the couple first met; romance is jagged thereafter, initially upwards but later down.
:Happiness climbs slightly more steadily and then dips again.
:More lines indicate a period of dating and then one of engagement.]
:and the happiness you've brought me.

:But the more I analyzed
:[Cueball works at a computer.]
:r0 = 0.20
:r1 = -0.61
:r2 = -0.83
:the harder it became to defend my hypothesis.

:In science, you can't publish results you know are wrong
:and you can't withhold them because they're not the ones you wanted.

:So I was left with a question: do I make graphs because they're cute and funny,
:[Cueball sits, looking at a sheet of paper.]
:or am I a ''scientist?''

:Enclosed are my results.
:I hope you can find somebody else
:[A jagged, declining graph is superimposed over a red heart.]
:to be your valentine.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Valentines]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

169: Words that End in GRY

2023-12-04T01:38:08Z

Sophira: Clarifying further that the comic misphrased the riddle and that it wasn't intentional on Randall's part.

{{comic
| number = 169
| date = October 11, 2006
| title = Words that End in GRY
| image = words_that_end_in_gry.png
| titletext = The fifth panel also applies to postmodernists.
}}

==Explanation==
This is a reference to a famous {{w|-gry puzzle#Alternative versions|joke}} (see the first of the meta versions under the wiki link), mistold in the above comic.

The original, correct telling of the joke is:
:''Think of words ending in "-gry". "Angry" and "Hungry" are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? Hint: The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is.''
Phrased this way, the intended answer is "language" because "There are only three words in (the phrase)'' 'the English language' ''." "Think of words ending in '-gry' ..." is used as misdirection.

Cueball tells this joke. (The comic unintentionally misphrases the original riddle; see below.) When [[Cueball]] attempts to say the answer is "language" and act smugly about it, [[Black Hat]] is unimpressed and cuts off Cueball's forearm, explaining that communicating badly is not the same as cleverness. Black Hat's point is that the riddle's "cleverness" depends on misleadingly implying that "three words" refers to words ending in "-gry," rather than the phrase "the English language." Black Hat does not seem to agree that this riddle is clever.

While answering reader questions at an event ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f95uxPO4Vk4 Youtube video]), Randall clarified that his point about bad communication applies to the riddle in general. However, a secondary interpretation, which people spotted and wrote to Randall about, is that Cueball failed to tell the joke correctly and Black Hat is angry that Cueball botched the joke. As above, the joke is supposed to go, "There are only three words in 'the English language,'" while only implying that you meant "words that end in '-gry.'" However, Cueball instead states, "There are three words in the English language that end in '-gry,'" and by doing so has ruined any chance of Black Hat determining the correct answer; now, "three words" can't refer to the correct answer "the English language" because Cueball has accidentally used a longer phrase instead. Thus, Cueball has communicated badly both intentionally and unintentionally.

In any case, no matter how annoying Cueball's smugness, Black Hat responding by cutting off Cueball's forearm is an overreaction {{Citation needed}} (while his calm demeanor in doing so is an underreaction to the overreaction). Additionally, his calmly-made point about the riddle is likely not to be understood by Cueball, who can only focus on his debilitating injury. Black Hat has, ironically, failed to communicate his point about proper communication, although given Black Hat's personality he likely doesn't care, and may even have intended the irony.

As Black Hat mentioned in the comic, if you count obscure and archaic words, there are additional English words that end with "-gry." Some are listed [http://www.snopes.com/language/puzzlers/gry.asp here].

The title text refers to {{w|postmodernism}}, a philosophy and corresponding art movement. Postmodern music is often {{w|minimalist}}, as exemplified by the weird sounds of {{w|Philip Glass}} and {{w|Steve Reich}}, and {{w|Postmodern art#Movements in postmodern art|postmodern visual art}} saw trends such as lowbrow and installation art gain attention. Apart from a rejection of modernism, however, it is difficult to outline postmodernism to justify the strange works of art. {{w|Deconstruction}} is another important concept, but it is difficult to describe the process. In short, postmodernists make art that no one understands and may act smugly about it, but they do not adequately explain what their art means, or it doesn't really mean anything. In other words, there is nothing to understand. Thus, Black Hat's statement, ''that such practice is not "cleverness,"'' applies to them as well.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Cueball are standing next to each other.]
:Cueball: There are three words in the English language that end in "gry". "Angry" and "Hungry" are two. What's the third?

:Black Hat: I don't think there is one, unless you count really obscure words.
:Cueball: Ha! It's "language"! I said there are three words in "the English--" Hey!
:''GRAB''
:[Black Hat grabs Cueball's hand, with a knife in hand.]

:Cueball: What th--AAAAAAAAAA
:''SLICE''
:[Black Hat slices off Cueball's hand with the knife.]

:[Cueball is bleeding profusely.]
:Black Hat: Ok, listen carefully.
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

:Black Hat: Communicating badly and then acting smug when you're misunderstood is not cleverness.
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

:Black Hat: I hope we've learned something today.
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

==Trivia==
Around the time this comic was posted, Randall also posted [[Blue Eyes]]: The Hardest Logic Puzzle in the World. He apparently took his own advice to heart as he explicitly states he has gone over the wording of the puzzle several times before publishing it to make it as unambiguous as possible.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics with blood]]

169: Words that End in GRY

2023-12-04T01:33:08Z

Sophira: The title text is not where Randall clarified his bad communication point; it was originally written as "In this interview" but edited in August 2021 after an explainxkcd editor didn't notice the YouTube video that was referred to by "this interview".

{{comic
| number = 169
| date = October 11, 2006
| title = Words that End in GRY
| image = words_that_end_in_gry.png
| titletext = The fifth panel also applies to postmodernists.
}}

==Explanation==
This is a reference to a famous {{w|-gry puzzle#Alternative versions|joke}} (see the first of the meta versions under the wiki link), mistold in the above comic.

The original, correct telling of the joke is:
:''Think of words ending in "-gry". "Angry" and "Hungry" are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? Hint: The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is.''
Phrased this way, the intended answer is "language" because "There are only three words in (the phrase)'' 'the English language' ''." "Think of words ending in '-gry' ..." is used as misdirection.

Cueball tells this joke (unfortunately by mis-phrasing the original riddle). When [[Cueball]] attempts to say the answer is "language" and act smugly about it, [[Black Hat]] is unimpressed and cuts off Cueball's forearm, explaining that communicating badly is not the same as cleverness. Black Hat's point is that the riddle's "cleverness" depends on misleadingly implying that "three words" refers to words ending in "-gry," rather than the phrase "the English language." Black Hat does not seem to agree that this riddle is clever.

While answering reader questions at an event ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f95uxPO4Vk4 Youtube video]), Randall clarified that his point about bad communication applies to the riddle in general. However, a secondary interpretation, which people spotted and wrote to Randall about, is that Black Hat is angry that Cueball botched the joke. The joke is supposed to go, "There are only three words in 'the English language,'" while only implying that you meant "words that end in '-gry.'" By instead saying, "There are three words in the English language that end in '-gry,'" Cueball has ruined any chance of Black Hat determining the correct answer; now, "three words" can't refer to the correct answer "the English language" because Cueball has accidentally used a longer phrase instead. Thus, Cueball has communicated badly both intentionally and unintentionally.

In any case, no matter how annoying Cueball's smugness, Black Hat responding by cutting off Cueball's forearm is an overreaction {{Citation needed}} (while his calm demeanor in doing so is an underreaction to the overreaction). Additionally, his calmly-made point about the riddle is likely not to be understood by Cueball, who can only focus on his debilitating injury. Black Hat has, ironically, failed to communicate his point about proper communication, although given Black Hat's personality he likely doesn't care, and may even have intended the irony.

As Black Hat mentioned in the comic, if you count obscure and archaic words, there are additional English words that end with "-gry." Some are listed [http://www.snopes.com/language/puzzlers/gry.asp here].

The title text refers to {{w|postmodernism}}, a philosophy and corresponding art movement. Postmodern music is often {{w|minimalist}}, as exemplified by the weird sounds of {{w|Philip Glass}} and {{w|Steve Reich}}, and {{w|Postmodern art#Movements in postmodern art|postmodern visual art}} saw trends such as lowbrow and installation art gain attention. Apart from a rejection of modernism, however, it is difficult to outline postmodernism to justify the strange works of art. {{w|Deconstruction}} is another important concept, but it is difficult to describe the process. In short, postmodernists make art that no one understands and may act smugly about it, but they do not adequately explain what their art means, or it doesn't really mean anything. In other words, there is nothing to understand. Thus, Black Hat's statement, ''that such practice is not "cleverness,"'' applies to them as well.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Cueball are standing next to each other.]
:Cueball: There are three words in the English language that end in "gry". "Angry" and "Hungry" are two. What's the third?

:Black Hat: I don't think there is one, unless you count really obscure words.
:Cueball: Ha! It's "language"! I said there are three words in "the English--" Hey!
:''GRAB''
:[Black Hat grabs Cueball's hand, with a knife in hand.]

:Cueball: What th--AAAAAAAAAA
:''SLICE''
:[Black Hat slices off Cueball's hand with the knife.]

:[Cueball is bleeding profusely.]
:Black Hat: Ok, listen carefully.
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

:Black Hat: Communicating badly and then acting smug when you're misunderstood is not cleverness.
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

:Black Hat: I hope we've learned something today.
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

==Trivia==
Around the time this comic was posted, Randall also posted [[Blue Eyes]]: The Hardest Logic Puzzle in the World. He apparently took his own advice to heart as he explicitly states he has gone over the wording of the puzzle several times before publishing it to make it as unambiguous as possible.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics with blood]]

Talk:2736: Only Serifs

2023-03-08T12:27:07Z

Sophira:

first two letters are "A" and "R" I think [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.10|172.71.167.10]] 04:35, 11 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf

It's AaBbCcDd. Most likely in Caslon, based on the uppercase A. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.149|172.68.174.149]] 04:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

So much for a hidden message. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.238.22|172.68.238.22]] 05:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

If we've come to this page for an explanation, we probably don't know what a "solum-serif font" is. update the transcript with something more widely known? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.224|172.69.65.224]] 05:42, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:Agreed, enthusiastically! Someone trying to show off, Google doesn't even know what it means, it found ONE result, which is a font of curved corners someone made (when I put "solum-serif" in quotes, to not allow Google to just search one or the other). But while I was Googling someone fixed it before I could, LOL! Which is weird as it's past midnight here in the Eastern time zone. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:: Perhaps you haven't realised that nighttime for Americans is daytime for, um, somewhere around 80-90% of the world's population? [[User:Paddles|Paddles]] ([[User talk:Paddles|talk]]) 14:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
::: Of course I realize this. :) Seems like YOU don't realize that this site is one of many where it seems like most activity centers around the EST time zone... Perhaps related to Randall being in this time zone, perhaps not, but I'm usually alone at this time of night (for example, I almost NEVER get Edit Conflicts because seemingly everyone is asleep). For years I'm almost always the only person making contributions at this hour. Maybe think of that before making a misguided condescending reply. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::::You really live up to your username, eh? Charming ''and'' US-centric.
:::::You should sign your comments. :) And I'm not even in the U.S.! :) Though truthfully, it's not US-centric to be observant. Nothing wrong with said increase in site activity. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

::I think that's probably because it was a joke. In fact the ridiculous of the notion of a "solum-serif" font is more or less the entirety of the joke of this comic. You're right, in the future we should make sure that these descriptions are devoid of humor.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.92|172.70.211.92]] 18:17, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:::But that's in the transcript particularly, the transcript should make sense as to what the image shows without prior knowledge [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.10|108.162.216.10]] 02:45, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Yes, as Mr./Ms. 216.10 pointed out, this was the transcript. PLENTY of room for jokes in the Explanation, but the Transcript should be as concise and straightforward as possible, in an effort to be clear. NOT the place for what seemed to be a self-coined term and trying to be clever. :) I've heard some blind and sight-impaired people follow the comic by having a reading program read these Transcripts, last thing they need is a non-word the program might trip over and can't define for them. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::::Exactly the transcript should not try to explain the comic. But should include all text as written text for later possibility to search for it. And finally the image should be described in some detail for those that are sight impaired. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::For anyone who is confused, 'solum' (solus) is Latin for 'only', as opposed to 'sans' (from the Latin 'sine'), without. I suppose the joke is rather hard to get, though, since the top Google search results for 'solum' refer to soil. (Not my joke, by the way. Also, first ever comment - hope I've done this right.) [[User:CryptekCathekh|CryptekCathekh]] ([[User talk:CryptekCathekh|talk]]) 21:21, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Thanks for the clarification, yes that makes sense. And yes, finely commented there. :) Yes, I got loads of industrial results for "Solum", which is why I had to force the search to include the "serif". [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

There was a whole thing on Wikipedia about formatting the f symbol for an arbitrary function. One camp held that f is just f, it always is and always was and if you italicize f in a san-serif font, you get an oblique ''f'' but if you italicize f in a serif font, you get a proper italic version, which I'm not sure how to display here. The italic f resembles ƒ, a character called the "hooked f," which is technically an oblique f with a descender ("hook"). That symbol has been used for florins, but sometimes it is also used to imitate the italic f to represent functions, because it has the descender in all environments. But Wikipedia uses a san-serif script, while most mathematical literature uses a serif script. However, it renders expressions in LaTeX with serif fonts and therefore these equations get an f with a descender. So some people were arguing that given this environment, the ƒ character was practically superior, even if it was conceptually wrong, because it most closely resembled the formatted LaTeX expressions. And on and on with the back and forth. I'm glad they eventually settled on just using f for f, like they use g for g and h for h, but still, it was amusingly nitpicky. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.50|172.70.100.50]] 07:58, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:What you listed as resembling italic f looks on my system like ⨍. There are lots of fun variations (some unrelated, just similar looking): ∫⨎ʄ∮∬∰⨏ƒʆᶘᔑ [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:48, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:That entire argument seems silly. Obviously the correct answer to "how do you write the function $f$ outside of math mode" is "don't". Just use math mode and let KaTeX handle the formatting. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.61|162.158.63.61]] 16:48, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

The title text teases the idea of a font made by adding the Times New Roman serifs to Comic Sans, and now I actually want to see such a cursed font. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.237|108.162.241.237]] 11:03, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:Ask and ye shall receive: [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]] :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::Is it weird that I kind of like Sans New Roman? (anonymous) 12:49, 13 February 2023 (EST)
::Thanks I will include this in the explanation. Great work. Ugly as hell ;-) It might send some graphic designers your way! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::: i think it improves both typefaces [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 22:22, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Awww, thanks, I'm honoured! And I likewise kinds like Times Sans, particularly the capital C (after I cleaned it up, my paint program kept half-assing the Cut, several pixels taking a grey and leaving a grey) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:14, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

I think Caslon is correct:
[https://ibb.co/J2WhP1g Caslon] [https://ibb.co/MG77JMX Overlay] [https://ibb.co/3yQtqbN Low Opacity Overlay]
via [http://www.identifont.com/identify?58+.+5J+1JU+3YB+3RZ+35YX+94+JIA+58C+97+22X+8R8+1JY+2Z3A+6ZR+3Q+5BU+9J+1L0+76P+8Z+1QN+7UF+DG+5QE+J+JPK+8C+99+PAE+2AA6+2ZI+8X+8W+8J+1KS+JI6+2Z36+79+8E+53K+2E+1KI+8N+7VS+7S+2C6+1U6+8A+8R0+8F+3WO+2ZGL+1LA+7G+1QY+8B+A0 questions] in Identifont. If someone can add these to the wiki, please do. [[User:DragonDave|DragonDave]] ([[User talk:DragonDave|talk]]) 12:55 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I wonder if this is related to the US State Department dropping Times Roman in favor of Calibri, under the argument that the latter is easier to read. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.198|172.70.114.198]] 13:47, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I call these fonts seul serif, keeping with the theme of using French terminology. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.59|172.71.147.59]] 16:30, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

A free, existing example of [http://www.fontgrill.com/fonts/free/comic-serif/comic-serif.php Comic Serif].
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.242|172.70.214.242]] 16:43, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

:^ TBH Comic Serif doesn't look half bad, if only it had a consistent baseline [[Special:Contributions/198.41.231.179|198.41.231.179]] 17:01, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:Of course, since Comic is supposed to mimic casual handwriting, and people don't hand write serifs {{Citation needed}}, this messes up the concept, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:02, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::Does not, if you go back far enough. Remember that a lot of old handwriting had serif-like parts due to the use of quills.
:::True enough, but going back isn't appropriate, as computers '''''AREN'T''''' "back far enough", or at all. :) NOW, in the present day, nobody handwrites serifs. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

This comic reminds me of something I once actually did as a child: I once wrote a notepad full of game ideas and story concepts but wanted to keep them a secret; so I created my own "cipher" font where any straight lines in letters were removed, leaving only the curved lines. However, because some letters such as c and d would look similar without the straight lines, I gave some letters curved "serifs", which would be retained in my "font". --Jinji@donphan.social 20:32, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I'm most instances where the word "font" is used, the correct word is "typeface". "Times Roman" is a typeface whereas "Times Roman bold" is a font. -Jez [[Special:Contributions/172.70.93.42|172.70.93.42]] 20:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:I'd be inclined to suggest that "font", in common parlance, means what everyone here means it to mean, and that means that it is "correct". Nobody - OK, fine, potentially a negligible number of people - might wonder what's going on when "font" is used where you would prefer "typeface". It's not a matter of being "correct" though, unless we are (and we aren't) a community of people using typesetting language in a formal, technical sense. You know what ''is'' incorrect though? Writing "I'm" when you mean "In". Would I have said any of that had you not been so pedantic? You bet your sweet ass I wouldn't.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 22:08, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::Yorkshire Pudding there said everything I was tempted to and more last night, but said better than I would have. Thank you! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

That can't POSSIBLY be the right link under the word "events". We have an entire category of "my hobby"/"Cueball getting kicked out of events" comics and that isn't any of them. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.90|172.71.158.90]] 22:29, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:I concur. It links directly to comic 514, which has nothing to do with events or getting kicked out (I can't even think what comic they meant). I took a peek at 1514 and 2514, but those don't fit, either. ??? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:07, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::Maybe [[541]] was meant? But I guess just linking to Category:Banned_from_conferences or even adding this to Category:Compromise would be better. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 14:58, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Yup, I feel sure you got it. I tried checking around 514 (going up to like 518, going down to like 510), didn't try transposing the digits. What's funny is that I often think of that specific comic 541, whenever I want a smiley face inside brackets, :) I'll update the explanation. EDIT: Ugh, someone removed it instead of fixing it. :( [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

It looks very similar to [http://tom7.org/lowercase/ Comic Sands] by tom7! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.106|172.71.30.106]] 16:49, 12 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf
:Oh incredible, I quite like the "futura work" section of that paper [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 03:52, 13 February 2023 (UTC)



I'm gonna make the comic sans/times new roman hybrid when I can get some time. Just calling dibs! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:54, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:yeah, this is just "comic serif". It already exists [https://twitter.com/kiersi/status/1492183706009694210 here] [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 08:00, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::No it's not, it SAYS "remove the serifs from Times and add them to Comic", Comic Serif has its own serifs AND is missing a Times missing serifs. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:Sorry, I already decided last night I would and I just made it before I read your dibs, guess I should have said something, :) Not going to throw out my work! :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::It's fine! I kinda abandoned it anyways and I don't think I would have done quite as good a job [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:04, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::I'd gotten as far as starting to manually tweak the tween-frames in a rather self-indulgent animated version. But your thing is as good as needs to be, and I don't have upload permissions here anyway, so it would have been too much fuss and probably just contributed to my own personal procrastination over the weekend. ;)
:::I have no reason to think I'd have upload permission either if there are people who don't, except my membership is a few years old. I don't think I've even had a Talk page for a year yet, and someone created that just because I said I didn't know why I wouldn't have one. This was my first ever upload, I had to look up how. (Simply starts with being logged in and clicking "Upload a file" in the menu on the left). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:50, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

In case anyone wanted to know what it would look like if you moved the serifs from Times New Roman to Comic Sans, here's the before and after. :) [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]][[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:Please also adapt the [[kerning]]! This hurts my eyes. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 11:10, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::I actually already knew what kerning was! And I know, right? But I wanted to leave everything else alone, just Cut and Paste the serifs, that's it, leave them as comparable as possible (in case it isn't clear, this was a case of [[Nerd Sniping]]). :) Maybe should have separated each letter with a space... [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:33, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

Randall's font isn't only serifs - there are some ball terminals in there as well.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.114|172.70.91.114]] 11:59, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Any guesses on what the text in the comic actually says? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.75|172.70.111.75]] 15:41, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:As the second comment in this talk box suggest, I think the serifs are consistent with AaBbCcDd (an easy way to showcase a typeface in a few characters). If I'm not mistaken, the transcript used to imply as much as well; does anyone know why that was removed, and can we be confident enough about the text to put that back in the transcript?
:Also, sorry about not signing above. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 19:55, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:It's also mentioned in the (rather long) first paragraph of the Explanation. Better place. Might do better with some restructuring of the text, I might split/refactor the scrawl at some point, along the lines of various sub-points all squashed in there... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.113|172.70.91.113]] 23:06, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

I wonder whether this was a play on Only Fans -> Only Sans -> Only Serifs? {{unsigned ip|172.70.230.25|03:22, 14 February 2023}}

:If I know my fellow XKCD fans, it's only a matter of days until we'll see someone upload SEULSERIF.TTF --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.138|162.158.129.138]] 18:01, 14 February 2023 (UTC)

I made a version of this comic with the faint text "Aa Bb Cc Dd" overlaid in Times New Roman, showing how the serifs match up to the text, but I don't seem to have permission to create new pages so I can't upload the file. Can someone else do it for me and edit the article appropriately? The image is at https://matrix.theblob.org/2736-spoiler.png. --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 20:07, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
:I have no reason to think I'd have permission to upload if other people can't (except my membership is a few years old now), but when I wanted to - the Times/Comic Serif hybrid picture above - I just had to look up how (which starts simply by being signed in and clicking "Upload a file" on any page). Are you sure you don't have permission? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:50, 18 February 2023 (UTC)
::Quite sure. The upload form loads fine, but when I try to actually upload the image, it comes back with the error "You do not have permission to create new pages." --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 12:27, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

OMG, as I type this I'm at karaoke, and someone is singing a homemade karaoke track with the lyrics in Comic Sans! Coincidences dominate my life! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:50, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

Is there An alphabet where the serifs affects the meaning? [[User:サ. ノ. ソ. シ.|127.0.0.1]] ([[User talk:サ. ノ. ソ. シ.|talk]]) 23:49, 25 February 2023 (UTC)

: The [[84|Cherokee]] syllabary may be an example. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 12:39, 4 March 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2736: Only Serifs

2023-02-16T20:07:59Z

Sophira: Request to upload a "spoiler" image that I made for this comic!

first two letters are "A" and "R" I think [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.10|172.71.167.10]] 04:35, 11 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf

It's AaBbCcDd. Most likely in Caslon, based on the uppercase A. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.149|172.68.174.149]] 04:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

So much for a hidden message. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.238.22|172.68.238.22]] 05:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

If we've come to this page for an explanation, we probably don't know what a "solum-serif font" is. update the transcript with something more widely known? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.224|172.69.65.224]] 05:42, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:Agreed, enthusiastically! Someone trying to show off, Google doesn't even know what it means, it found ONE result, which is a font of curved corners someone made (when I put "solum-serif" in quotes, to not allow Google to just search one or the other). But while I was Googling someone fixed it before I could, LOL! Which is weird as it's past midnight here in the Eastern time zone. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:: Perhaps you haven't realised that nighttime for Americans is daytime for, um, somewhere around 80-90% of the world's population? [[User:Paddles|Paddles]] ([[User talk:Paddles|talk]]) 14:54, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
::: Of course I realize this. :) Seems like YOU don't realize that this site is one of many where it seems like most activity centers around the EST time zone... Perhaps related to Randall being in this time zone, perhaps not, but I'm usually alone at this time of night (for example, I almost NEVER get Edit Conflicts because seemingly everyone is asleep). For years I'm almost always the only person making contributions at this hour. Maybe think of that before making a misguided condescending reply. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::::You really live up to your username, eh? Charming ''and'' US-centric.

::I think that's probably because it was a joke. In fact the ridiculous of the notion of a "solum-serif" font is more or less the entirety of the joke of this comic. You're right, in the future we should make sure that these descriptions are devoid of humor.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.92|172.70.211.92]] 18:17, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:::But that's in the transcript particularly, the transcript should make sense as to what the image shows without prior knowledge [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.10|108.162.216.10]] 02:45, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Yes, as Mr./Ms. 216.10 pointed out, this was the transcript. PLENTY of room for jokes in the Explanation, but the Transcript should be as concise and straightforward as possible, in an effort to be clear. NOT the place for what seemed to be a self-coined term and trying to be clever. :) I've heard some blind and sight-impaired people follow the comic by having a reading program read these Transcripts, last thing they need is a non-word the program might trip over and can't define for them. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::::Exactly the transcript should not try to explain the comic. But should include all text as written text for later possibility to search for it. And finally the image should be described in some detail for those that are sight impaired. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::For anyone who is confused, 'solum' (solus) is Latin for 'only', as opposed to 'sans' (from the Latin 'sine'), without. I suppose the joke is rather hard to get, though, since the top Google search results for 'solum' refer to soil. (Not my joke, by the way. Also, first ever comment - hope I've done this right.) [[User:CryptekCathekh|CryptekCathekh]] ([[User talk:CryptekCathekh|talk]]) 21:21, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Thanks for the clarification, yes that makes sense. And yes, finely commented there. :) Yes, I got loads of industrial results for "Solum", which is why I had to force the search to include the "serif". [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:19, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

There was a whole thing on Wikipedia about formatting the f symbol for an arbitrary function. One camp held that f is just f, it always is and always was and if you italicize f in a san-serif font, you get an oblique ''f'' but if you italicize f in a serif font, you get a proper italic version, which I'm not sure how to display here. The italic f resembles ƒ, a character called the "hooked f," which is technically an oblique f with a descender ("hook"). That symbol has been used for florins, but sometimes it is also used to imitate the italic f to represent functions, because it has the descender in all environments. But Wikipedia uses a san-serif script, while most mathematical literature uses a serif script. However, it renders expressions in LaTeX with serif fonts and therefore these equations get an f with a descender. So some people were arguing that given this environment, the ƒ character was practically superior, even if it was conceptually wrong, because it most closely resembled the formatted LaTeX expressions. And on and on with the back and forth. I'm glad they eventually settled on just using f for f, like they use g for g and h for h, but still, it was amusingly nitpicky. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.50|172.70.100.50]] 07:58, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:What you listed as resembling italic f looks on my system like ⨍. There are lots of fun variations (some unrelated, just similar looking): ∫⨎ʄ∮∬∰⨏ƒʆᶘᔑ [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:48, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:That entire argument seems silly. Obviously the correct answer to "how do you write the function $f$ outside of math mode" is "don't". Just use math mode and let KaTeX handle the formatting. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.61|162.158.63.61]] 16:48, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

The title text teases the idea of a font made by adding the Times New Roman serifs to Comic Sans, and now I actually want to see such a cursed font. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.237|108.162.241.237]] 11:03, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:Ask and ye shall receive: [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]] :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::Is it weird that I kind of like Sans New Roman? (anonymous) 12:49, 13 February 2023 (EST)
::Thanks I will include this in the explanation. Great work. Ugly as hell ;-) It might send some graphic designers your way! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::: i think it improves both typefaces [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 22:22, 14 February 2023 (UTC)

I think Caslon is correct:
[https://ibb.co/J2WhP1g Caslon] [https://ibb.co/MG77JMX Overlay] [https://ibb.co/3yQtqbN Low Opacity Overlay]
via [http://www.identifont.com/identify?58+.+5J+1JU+3YB+3RZ+35YX+94+JIA+58C+97+22X+8R8+1JY+2Z3A+6ZR+3Q+5BU+9J+1L0+76P+8Z+1QN+7UF+DG+5QE+J+JPK+8C+99+PAE+2AA6+2ZI+8X+8W+8J+1KS+JI6+2Z36+79+8E+53K+2E+1KI+8N+7VS+7S+2C6+1U6+8A+8R0+8F+3WO+2ZGL+1LA+7G+1QY+8B+A0 questions] in Identifont. If someone can add these to the wiki, please do. [[User:DragonDave|DragonDave]] ([[User talk:DragonDave|talk]]) 12:55 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I wonder if this is related to the US State Department dropping Times Roman in favor of Calibri, under the argument that the latter is easier to read. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.198|172.70.114.198]] 13:47, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I call these fonts seul serif, keeping with the theme of using French terminology. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.59|172.71.147.59]] 16:30, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

A free, existing example of [http://www.fontgrill.com/fonts/free/comic-serif/comic-serif.php Comic Serif].
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.242|172.70.214.242]] 16:43, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

:^ TBH Comic Serif doesn't look half bad, if only it had a consistent baseline [[Special:Contributions/198.41.231.179|198.41.231.179]] 17:01, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:Of course, since Comic is supposed to mimic casual handwriting, and people don't hand write serifs {{Citation needed}}, this messes up the concept, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:02, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::Does not, if you go back far enough. Remember that a lot of old handwriting had serif-like parts due to the use of quills.
:::True enough, but going back isn't appropriate, as computers '''''AREN'T''''' "back far enough", or at all. :) NOW, in the present day, nobody handwrites serifs. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

This comic reminds me of something I once actually did as a child: I once wrote a notepad full of game ideas and story concepts but wanted to keep them a secret; so I created my own "cipher" font where any straight lines in letters were removed, leaving only the curved lines. However, because some letters such as c and d would look similar without the straight lines, I gave some letters curved "serifs", which would be retained in my "font". --Jinji@donphan.social 20:32, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

I'm most instances where the word "font" is used, the correct word is "typeface". "Times Roman" is a typeface whereas "Times Roman bold" is a font. -Jez [[Special:Contributions/172.70.93.42|172.70.93.42]] 20:56, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:I'd be inclined to suggest that "font", in common parlance, means what everyone here means it to mean, and that means that it is "correct". Nobody - OK, fine, potentially a negligible number of people - might wonder what's going on when "font" is used where you would prefer "typeface". It's not a matter of being "correct" though, unless we are (and we aren't) a community of people using typesetting language in a formal, technical sense. You know what ''is'' incorrect though? Writing "I'm" when you mean "In". Would I have said any of that had you not been so pedantic? You bet your sweet ass I wouldn't.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 22:08, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::Yorkshire Pudding there said everything I was tempted to and more last night, but said better than I would have. Thank you! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

That can't POSSIBLY be the right link under the word "events". We have an entire category of "my hobby"/"Cueball getting kicked out of events" comics and that isn't any of them. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.90|172.71.158.90]] 22:29, 11 February 2023 (UTC)
:I concur. It links directly to comic 514, which has nothing to do with events or getting kicked out (I can't even think what comic they meant). I took a peek at 1514 and 2514, but those don't fit, either. ??? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:07, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
::Maybe [[541]] was meant? But I guess just linking to Category:Banned_from_conferences or even adding this to Category:Compromise would be better. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 14:58, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Yup, I feel sure you got it. I tried checking around 514 (going up to like 518, going down to like 510), didn't try transposing the digits. What's funny is that I often think of that specific comic 541, whenever I want a smiley face inside brackets, :) I'll update the explanation. EDIT: Ugh, someone removed it instead of fixing it. :( [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:42, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

It looks very similar to [http://tom7.org/lowercase/ Comic Sands] by tom7! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.106|172.71.30.106]] 16:49, 12 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf
:Oh incredible, I quite like the "futura work" section of that paper [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 03:52, 13 February 2023 (UTC)



I'm gonna make the comic sans/times new roman hybrid when I can get some time. Just calling dibs! [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:54, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:yeah, this is just "comic serif". It already exists [https://twitter.com/kiersi/status/1492183706009694210 here] [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 08:00, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::No it's not, it SAYS "remove the serifs from Times and add them to Comic", Comic Serif has its own serifs AND is missing a Times missing serifs. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:Sorry, I already decided last night I would and I just made it before I read your dibs, guess I should have said something, :) Not going to throw out my work! :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::It's fine! I kinda abandoned it anyways and I don't think I would have done quite as good a job [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:04, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
::I'd gotten as far as starting to manually tweak the tween-frames in a rather self-indulgent animated version. But your thing is as good as needs to be, and I don't have upload permissions here anyway, so it would have been too much fuss and probably just contributed to my own personal procrastination over the weekend. ;)

In case anyone wanted to know what it would look like if you moved the serifs from Times New Roman to Comic Sans, here's the before and after. :) [[File:2736MovedSerifsV2.jpg]][[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:22, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:Please also adapt the [[kerning]]! This hurts my eyes. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.166|198.41.242.166]] 11:10, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Randall's font isn't only serifs - there are some ball terminals in there as well.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.114|172.70.91.114]] 11:59, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Any guesses on what the text in the comic actually says? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.75|172.70.111.75]] 15:41, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:As the second comment in this talk box suggest, I think the serifs are consistent with AaBbCcDd (an easy way to showcase a typeface in a few characters). If I'm not mistaken, the transcript used to imply as much as well; does anyone know why that was removed, and can we be confident enough about the text to put that back in the transcript?
:Also, sorry about not signing above. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 19:55, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
:It's also mentioned in the (rather long) first paragraph of the Explanation. Better place. Might do better with some restructuring of the text, I might split/refactor the scrawl at some point, along the lines of various sub-points all squashed in there... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.113|172.70.91.113]] 23:06, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

I wonder whether this was a play on Only Fans -> Only Sans -> Only Serifs? {{unsigned ip|172.70.230.25|03:22, 14 February 2023}}

:If I know my fellow XKCD fans, it's only a matter of days until we'll see someone upload SEULSERIF.TTF --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.138|162.158.129.138]] 18:01, 14 February 2023 (UTC)

I made a version of this comic with the faint text "Aa Bb Cc Dd" overlaid in Times New Roman, showing how the serifs match up to the text, but I don't seem to have permission to create new pages so I can't upload the file. Can someone else do it for me and edit the article appropriately? The image is at https://matrix.theblob.org/2736-spoiler.png. --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 20:07, 16 February 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2527: New Nobel Prizes

2021-10-12T10:49:33Z

Sophira: Possibly a riff on the AAAI Squirrel AI award?

I can't understand the title text --[[User:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e]] ([[User talk:GcGYSF(asterisk)P(vertical line)e|talk]]) 02:33, 12 October 2021 (UTC)
:I think it's implying that they're so desperate to stop Dr. Adams that they're offering a Nobel Prize to whoever gets her to stop. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.21|162.158.63.21]] 03:09, 12 October 2021 (UTC)
I think the comic is riffing on the gender imbalance. We're led to expect the dialogue to say all this year's Nobel prizes went to men (which in 2021 they did - which was newsworthy). ---- {{unsigned|141.101.107.229 who didn't use tildes}}

I think it's more like discovering new particles, than elements, with some sort of Enhanced Standard Model of Nobel Prizes probably being added to by the likes of supersymmetric partners, Higgses, etc. (But might be worth a mention that (pure) Mathematicians conspicuously miss out Nobel glory due to a deliberate oversight/snub? Not that I have skin in that game, but it's a known fact.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.53|162.158.159.53]] 08:29, 12 October 2021 (UTC)

This is probably also a jab at the "Nobel prize for Economics", which was awarded yesterday. That prize exists since the 1970s, but is often not regarded as a "real" Nobel prize because it was not specified in Alfred Nobel's will, but is rather the result of an outside donation. One could say it is a unrelated prize that is just cleverly marketed by smuggling Alfred Nobel's name into it and by awarding it one day after the "real" Nobel prizes. In that way, one could thoretically create a near infinite number of new "Nobel prizes" for irrelevant stuff, as the comic suggests. -[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.90|162.158.91.90]] 09:05, 12 October 2021 (UTC)

Could this be a riff on the AAAI Squirrel AI award given recently, which people are calling a "new Nobel"? https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/rudin-squirrel-award --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 10:49, 12 October 2021 (UTC)

2521: Toothpaste

2021-09-28T07:08:15Z

Sophira: A few spelling/grammar corrections.

{{comic
| number = 2521
| date = September 27, 2021
| title = Toothpaste
| image = toothpaste.png
| titletext = "9 out of 10 dentists have banned me from their offices."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE 10th DENTIST - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Here, we see more of [[Megan]]'s "wordplay". Unlike in [[2352: Synonym Date]] and [[2245: Edible Arrangements]], she's not trying to make her friend uncomfortable -- it just happens anyway.

Putting toothpaste back in its tube is often used as an analogy for something irreversible, such as how you can't undo speaking. Megan rejects this assertion and says that you actually ''can'' put toothpaste back in its tube. She still believes that the analogy holds, and therefore she ''can'' unsay something - which she attempts to do to her description of returned toothpaste, which Cueball is disgusted by.

Toothpaste is normally loaded into the tube from the back, before it is crimped shut. However, it should ''technically'' be possible to push an extruded amount of paste back in from the front by wrapping one's lips around the whole front of the tube and blowing, provided the paste still covers the hole. This positive pressure can reinflate the tube the same way one blows up a balloon. However, blowing the toothpaste back into the tube would be highly unsanitary, and as the main purpose of toothpaste is to clean teeth, the end result is both counterproductive and disgusting.

It is common advertising practice to state that a good proportion of relevant experts (typically something like the significant but plausible 8 or 9 out of every 10) support your product or service, such as dentists who recommend your brand of toothpaste - though hopefully only once such a claim is fulfilled. The title text may be echoing this, but in the context of ''dis''satisfaction with Megan's approach. It may actually say more about any dental establishment that does ''not'' disapprove of what she apparently is not just theorising about doing.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Cueball: I can't believe she said that.
:Cueball: She apologized, but you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.
:Megan: Sure you can; it's easy. You just put your mouth over the opening.
:Cueball: Well, ''that's'' the worst thing you've ever said.
:Megan: Sorry, I can take it back. It's just like-
:Cueball: NO!

:Title text: 9 out of 10 dentists have banned me from their offices.

{{comic discussion}}

456: Cautionary

2017-01-15T05:10:26Z

Sophira: /* Explanation */ Cueball, not Cubeball.

{{comic
| number = 456
| date = July 30, 2008
| title = Cautionary
| image = cautionary.png
| titletext = This really is a true story, and she doesn't know I put it in my comic because her wifi hasn't worked for weeks.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]]'s cousin decides to install Linux on her new PC, and calls Cueball, whom she views as her personal Linux expert. The overarching joke revolves around the fact that Linux, especially home PC-based GNU/Linux, is much more often used as a "hobby" OS, as compared against a "productivity" OS such as {{w|Windows}} or {{w|OS X}}. Large numbers of people use Windows or Mac by default, because it came with their computer hardware when they bought it, and it already had the software suite they wanted to use installed along with it. Linux, on the other hand, rarely comes pre-installed on PC hardware and generally must be deliberately chosen and acquired; and while it can be set up to achieve efficient and productive workflow in virtually any area on PCs, because it often must be consciously selected, installed, and configured by users, it tends to either attract or, in a few cases, create individuals who take disproportionate pleasure in, and derive self-identification from, hacking the operating system itself. Thus, many people who are {{w|Linux}} {{w|Hacker (hobbyist)|enthusiasts}} began by not really knowing anything about it other than that it's {{w|Gratis|free of cost}}, but the process of actually building Linux on their machines gradually led them to take an increasing interest in it, which the comic humorously likens to substance addiction.

Xorg (officially {{w|X.Org Server|X.Org}}) is an implementation of the X Window System, a program responsible for the graphical display used on Linux. If it has configuration problems, which was quite common with some video card drivers back in 2008 (especially {{w|fglrx#Linux|those
for ATI Radeon cards}}), it is often difficult and/or painful to fix (see [[963: X11]]). {{w|man page|Man pages}} are manual pages for Unix-based operating systems and software, usually accessible online but also bundled with the software itself. Considered helpful and clear by the sorts of advanced computer users who typically run Linux, the text only documentation requires a bit of a learning curve and not generally adequate for less-technical users. Here the joke starts to build in that Cueball's friend, a computer novice who just wanted something to work out of the box, is now having to learn how to understand Linux documentation in order to even 'attempt' to fix her ongoing Xorg problem (likely an inability to start a graphical terminal, something a novice user would depend on).

In the third panel we see that the friend's problems are persisting. She may have been able to get a graphical terminal to work, but now Ubuntu's built-in auto configuration tools are failing to 'address' another critical problem, and possibly getting in the way of fixes suggested in the previously mentioned man pages. The friend suggests that she is considering a more "advanced" distribution in the hopes that they might offer some additional flexibility to fix the problem at hand. A Linux "distribution" is a suite of tools and applications that provide a specific user experience on top of the core Linux operating system. Each distribution, or "distro", has a different look and feel, and different feature sets and design philosophies. {{w|Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu}} is a very popular "beginner" version of Linux, designed to "just work" and be familiar/usable to people fresh out of Windows. {{w|Debian}} is a popular but somewhat more "advanced", "{{w|Unix-like}}, distro, that is nevertheless considered mainstream with a huge and diverse base of supported software that generally requires more Linux know-how to configure and use. In fact Ubuntu is based on Debian and it would not be considered much of a leap for an Ubuntu user to switch. {{w|Gentoo Linux|Gentoo}}, on the other hand, is a very advanced distro allowing for extreme customization and optimization but requiring extensive install and setup time. It is generally considered to be the most difficult form of Linux to use and is often joked about as being a form of technological masochism. It appears that during her six weeks struggle to build her system, Cueball's friend has started to consider that her problem would require a solution that could only be accommodated by Gentoo.

In the fourth panel there is a strong implication that the friend has indeed switched to Gentoo because a hallmark of that distribution is the kernel (the basic core of the operating system) must be compiled from source code upon installation. Source code is a computer program expressed in an somewhat human-readable format, often simply as text. However, source code cannot be run directly by a computer, and instead needs to be "compiled" into a low level machine instructions the computer can understand. This means that with Gentoo, instead of downloading an already functional Linux system to install and run, users download the source code for the system, customize it to their own needs, then compile the code into a runnable version of the OS, all before they can begin to use the system. The friend has been forced to do this because whatever her problem is, the solution required a customized kernel. This could include needing the kernel to be compiled in a non-standard way not supported by more mainstream distros, incorporating experimental third party code into the kernel or modifying the kernel herself to fix the problem. Compiling a kernel with the aforementioned modifications is a tricky affair since any mistake or oversight can render the kernel, and thus the computer, non-functional. If a mistake is made or the custom kernel does not fix her problem the kernel needs to be compiled anew. The fourth panel also implies the friend has been stuck in a {{w|Trial and error}} loop, compiling the kernel over and over again for the better part of 6 weeks in an attempt to fix her problem.

To many such advanced users, their installation of Linux is like a hobby sportscar: A never-ending project, constantly tweaked and cleaned and adjusted to improve performance, that spends far more time sitting around with its hood open than actually being used for its ostensible purpose. However, for more typical users who are interested in a functional computer system instead of a toy or project system, Linux can be highly frustrating, requiring far more time and effort just to bring the system to the point where they can use it for what they wanted to do all along. By week 12, Cueball's friend is likely suffering from the {{w|Sunk cost fallacy}}, in that she believes that since she has put in so much time she needs to see it through. She might also be optimistically underestimating how much additional work will be required since at each point Linux does at least offer potential solutions due to its customizability. Finally there could be an element of {{w|Target fixation}}, in that the friend has become so focused on the problem, she has forgotten about her original plans for the computer or that Windows is still an option.

In the fifth panel, Randal riffs on the old anti-drug message "Parents, talk to your kids about drugs before someone else does", with the meaning being if a responsible adult does not educate their kids about the dangers of drugs (or Linux), then someone else (likely a peer) might convince them that drugs (or Linux) is a good idea. This brings us to the overall theme of the comic in that Linux might 'seem' like a good idea for the average, less-technical user, but in reality will open up a world of pain that will hinder their ability to be a computationally functional member of society. There is an additional call to the theory of {{w|gateway drugs}} where mild drugs like alcohol or cannabis will lead to harder drugs like cocaine and heroin. In the comic, Cueball's friend starts out with Ubuntu, a "gateway" version of Linux. However it quickly leads to harder and harder versions, all in a futile effort to solve her problem, with the end result being her vanishing for weeks inside her house like a junkie hopelessly hooked on drugs.

The title text continues the joke about Linux's poor support for many {{w|Wi-Fi}} cards common in 2008, a device that is not only well supported on Windows, but was typically seen as making networking easy for less technical users.

While the comic primarily pokes fun at the difficulties in using Linux (circa 2008), it indirectly shows some of the advantages. The first one is that it is a freely available alternative to Windows and the second is that it provides users the tools to make fixing problems possible, whereas with Windows the only problems that are fixed are the ones Microsoft chooses to fix. The comic is also somewhat anachronistic as over time hardware support in Linux has become much more robust. It is currently unlikely that Cueball's friend would wind up in kernel compile hell to enable basic functions such as graphics and Wi-Fi. The world's most popular operating system, Android, is a flavor of Linux and the growth of web-based applications have pushed much of even the desktop user experience into the browser. As of 2017 it would be unlikely that the friend would even consider a desktop computer, instead relying on her Android phone or tablet.

==Transcript==
:Linux: A True Story:
:[Cueball talks on a cell phone.]
:Week One:
:Cousin: Hey, it's your cousin. I got a new computer but don't want Windows. Can you help me install "Linux"?
:Cueball: Sure.

:[Cueball's cousin sits in an office chair with her laptop on her lap. She is on the phone.]
:Week Two:
:Cousin: It says my XORG is broken. What's an "XORG"? Where can I look that up?
:Cueball: Hmm, lemme show you man pages.

:[Cueball's cousin crouches on the floor with the laptop on her lap. She is still on the phone.]
:Week Six:
:Cousin: Due to auto-config issues, I'm leaving Ubuntu for Debian.
:Cueball: Uh.
:Cousin: Or Gentoo.
:Cueball: Uh oh.

:[Cueball's Cousin lies on her stomach with the laptop on the floor. On the floor are several pieces of paper and a book. Cueball stands to her left.]
:Week Twelve:
:Cueball: You haven't answered your phone in days.
:Cousin: Can't sleep. Must compile kernel.
:Cueball: I'm too late.

:[Box with text:]
:Parents: talk to your kids about Linux... Before somebody else does.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Man pages]]

Talk:927: Standards

2016-12-11T00:07:17Z

Sophira: Adding note about my edit.

But this new video codec might just be the one that solves all our problems! You never know until you try it! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:19, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

Is the mini-USB vs micro-USB standards rift a good representative example of what this comic is hinting at? [[User:Dexterous|Dexterous]] ([[User talk:Dexterous|talk]]) 10:19, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

:Yeah, it is. Though, basically, there were even more variants than that around. Before each maker basically had their own socket, most kept it through their phone models, mostly. But everyone basically just uses Micro-USB nowadays... Some still use Mini-USB, but those numbers are dwindling. What really fits to this comic is something that was just recently announced: USB 3.1. If you Google for the new USB 3.1 plugs, you see they're completely different but "cover all use cases"... Let's see how that goes. [[User:Sinni800|Sinni800]] ([[User talk:Sinni800|talk]]) 13:43, 25 July 2014 (UTC)

:: 3.1 type-c was meant to be fairly quickly adopted and designed to meet all use-cases for the foreseeable future. when the foreseeable future presents currently unforseeable use-cases a new standard will likely be rapidly developed and deployed. this is a functional model, different than the one that leads to competition amoungst hardware/software developers. Also, MKV is another example of a sustainable standard (container for media files). Googles VP9, and the coming VPx 18 month update cycle, seem to be the best current option for an open video codec standard.

This particular comic is widely cited in about four different SDO's that I participate in [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.9|108.162.216.9]] 08:10, 12 November 2015 (UTC)

This is more applicable to politics. It's so prevalent in the left and I frequently reference it on /r/socialism and stuff. Once in a while there will be a person posting saying that we need to form one major socialist party that appeals to als many tendencies as possible like Marxism, Leninism, Maoism, Trotskyism, with the parties like SAlt, SPUSA, etc. It's like. NO. YOU'LL JUST FURTHER SHATTER THE LEFT. Forget parties. We all have the common goal of class consciousness and worker ownership of the means of production. Let's first work on that and *later* argue about the specifics. Like seriously. For the organizing the left is known for, there seems to be less organizing and more arguing going on... [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 02:10, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

UTF-8 and UTF-16 can both encode the entire Unicode character set, so I edited the page to say this. (In actual fact, UTF-16 is more commonly thought of as the more limited version, by people who confuse it with UCS-2.) --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 00:07, 11 December 2016 (UTC)

927: Standards

2016-12-11T00:00:22Z

Sophira: /* Explanation */ UTF-8 and UTF-16 can both encode the entire Unicode character set, actually.

{{comic
| number = 927
| date = July 20, 2011
| title = Standards
| image = standards.png
| titletext = Fortunately, the charging one has been solved now that we've all standardized on mini-USB. Or is it micro-USB? Shit.
}}

==Explanation==
For any engineering task, there are numerous ways a given problem can be solved. The more complex the task, the more room for diversity. That's all well and good for a one-off problem, but if a design is meant to be iterated over time, or if an entire industry is solving that same problem, part reuse and {{w|interoperability}} become issues to deal with. Standards thus came to exist so that industries could avoid wasting resources {{w|reinventing the wheel}}, whilst offering their clients a certain amount of simplicity and compatibility between vendors.

But, standards have issues of their own. They don't accommodate every {{w|Use Case|use case}}, they might have restrictions or royalties attached, and people tend to be plagued by ''{{w|Not invented here|Not Invented Here syndrome}}''. So, competing standards have a tendency to arise to address different perceived needs. After a while, the market for competing standards gets messy and hard to follow, and {{w|system integration|integrating systems}} built around competing standards gets burdensome. As a result, someone eventually takes on the challenge of creating a universal standard that everyone can rally around.

This almost never works. In many cases, a new standard fails to displace the incumbent standard, and eventually loses funding and support, becoming a relic of history. In many other cases, it only penetrates far enough to survive, ironically making the situation messier. The latter situation often ends up becoming cyclical, with new standards periodically rising and failing to gain traction.

Three examples are given at the top of the comic: {{w|AC adapter|AC chargers}}, {{w|character encoding}} and {{w|instant messaging}}.
* Power adapters are notorious for varying from device to device - partly to try to prevent dangerous voltage/current mismatches, but partly just because manufacturers all chose different adapter designs. Mobile phone chargers have slowly been converging towards a common USB-based solution, but laptops are still a long way out, despite the adoption of yet another standard, {{w|IEC 62700}}. Randall notes that there was initially additional complexity due to the fact that there were also ''competing USB types'', but thanks to the European Union's {{w|common external power supply}} specification, micro-USB comprehensively won the day. It remains to be seen whether the release of the new {{w|USB Type-C}} specification will reopen this war.
* Character encoding is, in theory, a solved problem - {{w|Unicode}} encapsulates almost all existing character sets, and more besides, into one big character set which includes over 128,000 characters. However, there are several means of encoding this character set (including the two most common, {{w|UTF-8}} and {{w|UTF-16}}), and encodings like {{w|ASCII}} and {{w|Windows-1252}} have stuck around, continuing to cause weird bugs in old software and websites to this day.
* Unlike the other examples, there has been little or no effort by instant messaging companies to make their services interoperable. There's more value to keeping IM as a {{w|closed platform}} so users are forced to use the company's software to access it. Some software, like the {{w|Trillian (software)|Trillian}} chat client, can connect to multiple different services, but there is essentially no way to, for example, send a Facebook message directly to a Skype user.

==Transcript==
:How Standards Proliferate
:(See: A/C chargers, character encodings, instant messaging, etc.)

:Situation:
:There are 14 competing standards.

:Cueball: 14?! Ridiculous! We need to develop one universal standard that covers everyone's use cases.
:Ponytail: Yeah!

:Soon:
:Situation: There are 15 competing standards.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

522: Google Trends

2015-11-23T15:35:47Z

Sophira: Adding context for the six bullet points by including the line from the comic for each.

{{comic
| number = 522
| date = December 26, 2008
| title = Google Trends
| image = google_trends.png
| titletext = Obama has been writing Lincoln/Obama erotic fan fiction on his secret livejournal. Excerpt: Lincoln lay back on the bed, nude save for his trademark stovepipe hat. 'Tell me,' he purred seductively, as he and Obama formed a more perfect union. 'When you come, is it 10% ethanol?'
}}

==Explanation==
Google keeps track of which searches are most popular in which regions as part of more general data mining to improve their service. For the enjoyment/education of others, they release select, non-personal parts of this data under the banner "[http://www.google.com/trends/ Google Trends]."

The first statistic - that "Men kissing" was popular in Utah, a state normally opposed to homosexuality - is real. The others are made up for the sake of the joke. In order:

*'''"Installing Ubuntu" - Redmond, WA''': {{w|Ubuntu}} is a Linux distribution; Redmond, WA is home to {{w|Microsoft}}, the company that makes rival operating system Windows.
*'''"Running for President in 2010" - Wasilla, AK''': 2010 was not a presidential election year in the United States; Wasilla, AK is home to {{w|Sarah Palin}}, a politician known for making such gaffes.
*'''"Lincoln Fan Fiction" - Chicago, IL''': {{w|Abraham Lincoln}} was the US president from 1861 to his assassination in 1865; Chicago, IL is home to {{w|Barack Obama}}, who apparently reads (presumably {{w|erotic}}) {{w|fanfiction}} about the former president.
*'''"Raptors on Hoverboards" - Somerville, MA''': {{w|Velociraptors}} is a favorite xkcd topic; There are also frequently references to Back to the Future as with the {{w|hoverboards}} here. Somerville, MA is home to [[Randall Munroe]]. The speed of a ''Raptor on Hoverboard'' is given in [[526: Converting to Metric]].
*'''"How is babby formed" - Wasilla, AK''': "How is babby formed?" was the title (and most of the content) of an infamous Yahoo! Answers question (see the title text of [[481: Listen to Yourself]] and [[550: Density]]). Wasilla, AK is, again, home to {{w|Sarah Palin}}; a few months prior to this comic's release, Sarah Palin revealed that her daughter, Bristol Palin, was pregnant.
*'''"I hate this website" - Mountain View, CA''': Mountain View, CA is home to Google headquarters. The implication is that Google employees are putting "I hate this website" into Google.

With regards to the excerpt Randall provides in the title text:
*{{w|Slash fiction}} is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on homosexual behavior.
*Lincoln/Obama (pronounced Lincoln slash Obama) fan fiction normally should be between Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama.
*However we later see that {{w|Lincoln (car)|Lincoln}} is a car.
*The "more perfect union" line comes from the preamble to the US Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union..."
*{{w|Ethanol}} is the more scientific name for drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol.
*"{{w|Common ethanol fuel mixtures#E10_or_less|10% ethanol}}" refers to automotive gasoline that includes 10% ethanol (usually made from corn or other vegetables), with the hopes of reducing the dependence on oil for fuel.
*With regards to the title-text, the verb "[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/come come]" means "to have an orgasm" or "to ejaculate". In this mock slash fiction the Lincoln is supposed to ejaculate gasoline, and expects Obama to do the same.

==Transcript==
:Bloggers were recently amused to discover that,
:according to Google Trends, the search term:
:"men kissing" is most popular in conservative Utah.
:A few other embarrassing correlations:

:{| class="wikitable"
!Search Term||Top City
|-
|Installing Ubuntu||Redmond, WA
|-
|Running for President in 2010||Wasilla, AK
|-
|Lincoln Fan Fiction||Chicago, IL
|-
|Raptors on Hoverboards||Somerville, MA
|-
|How is babby formed?||Wasilla, AK
|-
|I hate this website||Mountain View, CA
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Google Search]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]

Talk:1607: Supreme Court

2015-11-23T06:14:14Z

Sophira: Include time in signature.

Made some additions, since I'm the first person up at this ungodly hour. Well, it's ungodly in my time zone, anyway. (Why is it that the time changes depending on where you live, but the months don't?) I am a first-time editor, so please correct any mistakes in formatting. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.5|05:32, 23 November 2015‎}}
:I'm awake, it's 11:26 PM. PS, you forgot to sign, but IDK how to fix. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:36, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
::I do - I've added a signature. --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 06:11, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1607: Supreme Court

2015-11-23T06:11:36Z

Sophira: Add signature to unsigned note.

Made some additions, since I'm the first person up at this ungodly hour. Well, it's ungodly in my time zone, anyway. (Why is it that the time changes depending on where you live, but the months don't?) I am a first-time editor, so please correct any mistakes in formatting. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.5}}
:I'm awake, it's 11:26 PM. PS, you forgot to sign, but IDK how to fix. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:36, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
::I do - I've added a signature. --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 06:11, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Talk:451: Impostor

2015-11-23T04:15:12Z

Sophira: Oops, that should have been "impostor".

It could be that no one understands the literary criticism, even if they read it. The panel shows a student listening to Cueball. A fun, alternative explanation is that Cueball has found his real niche! A natural genius in literary criticism! (I know that's not what he's driving at. Stick with my first explanation.)[[User:Theo|Theo]] ([[User talk:Theo|talk]]) 13:22, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

I know this is easy to find, but the wikipedia article on deconstruction is very relevant. There should be a link in the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 01:05, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

I believe the multiple issues listed in the '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction Deconstruction]''' Wikipedia article speak for themselves:

:'''This article has multiple issues.''' Please help '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deconstruction&action=edit improve it]''' or discuss these issues on the '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Deconstruction talk page]'''.
:*This article '''contains [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:QUOTE too many or too-lengthy quotations] for an encyclopedic entry'''. (''February 2014'')
:*This article '''may be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Vagueness confusing or unclear] to readers'''. (''February 2014'')
:*This article '''may be too [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/technical#Adjective technical] for most readers to understand'''. (''February 2014'')
:*This article's '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:LEAD introduction] may be too long for the overall article length'''. (''February 2014'')
:*This article '''may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style quality standards]'''. (''February 2014'')
:*The '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view neutrality] of this article is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV_dispute disputed]'''. (''February 2014'')
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.5|199.27.133.5]] 20:10, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
::I'm wondering how anyone can make enough sense of that article to notice bias. :) [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 17:24, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

I think that, on the literary criticism explanation, Randall wrote "Eight papers and two books and they haven't caught on" to mean that he ''talked'' about eight papers and two books, not that he has already had a literary criticism writing career consisting of eight written papers and two books and no one has noticed. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.53|199.27.133.53]] 04:19, 16 July 2014 (UTC)
:I disagree. A 'paper' usually means an academic paper, not literary work. Then, the books part follows suit. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 06:52, 3 August 2014 (UTC)
:Could also be a reference to the Sokal Hoax...implying he did the same thing over and over but without the "reveal." {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.178}}

Given the "Eight papers and two books" that the narrator has written on literary criticism, could this actually be talking about [[wikipedia:Impostor syndrome|impostor syndrome]], where the author ''believes'' that they're frauds and that they're not as good as people think they are, but in actual fact are knowledgable in their field? --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 04:13, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Talk:451: Impostor

2015-11-23T04:13:33Z

Sophira: Could the last panel be referring to imposter syndrome?

It could be that no one understands the literary criticism, even if they read it. The panel shows a student listening to Cueball. A fun, alternative explanation is that Cueball has found his real niche! A natural genius in literary criticism! (I know that's not what he's driving at. Stick with my first explanation.)[[User:Theo|Theo]] ([[User talk:Theo|talk]]) 13:22, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

I know this is easy to find, but the wikipedia article on deconstruction is very relevant. There should be a link in the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 01:05, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

I believe the multiple issues listed in the '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction Deconstruction]''' Wikipedia article speak for themselves:

:'''This article has multiple issues.''' Please help '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deconstruction&action=edit improve it]''' or discuss these issues on the '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Deconstruction talk page]'''.
:*This article '''contains [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:QUOTE too many or too-lengthy quotations] for an encyclopedic entry'''. (''February 2014'')
:*This article '''may be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Vagueness confusing or unclear] to readers'''. (''February 2014'')
:*This article '''may be too [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/technical#Adjective technical] for most readers to understand'''. (''February 2014'')
:*This article's '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:LEAD introduction] may be too long for the overall article length'''. (''February 2014'')
:*This article '''may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style quality standards]'''. (''February 2014'')
:*The '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view neutrality] of this article is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV_dispute disputed]'''. (''February 2014'')
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.5|199.27.133.5]] 20:10, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
::I'm wondering how anyone can make enough sense of that article to notice bias. :) [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 17:24, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

I think that, on the literary criticism explanation, Randall wrote "Eight papers and two books and they haven't caught on" to mean that he ''talked'' about eight papers and two books, not that he has already had a literary criticism writing career consisting of eight written papers and two books and no one has noticed. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.53|199.27.133.53]] 04:19, 16 July 2014 (UTC)
:I disagree. A 'paper' usually means an academic paper, not literary work. Then, the books part follows suit. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 06:52, 3 August 2014 (UTC)
:Could also be a reference to the Sokal Hoax...implying he did the same thing over and over but without the "reveal." {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.178}}

Given the "Eight papers and two books" that the narrator has written on literary criticism, could this actually be talking about [[wikipedia:Imposter syndrome|imposter syndrome]], where the author ''believes'' that they're frauds and that they're not as good as people think they are, but in actual fact are knowledgable in their field? --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 04:13, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

1286: Encryptic

2015-09-20T22:04:23Z

Sophira: ...I used Preview this time. Honest. I did before too, but...

{{comic
| number = 1286
| date = November 4, 2013
| title = Encryptic
| image = encryptic.png
| titletext = It was bound to happen eventually. This data theft will enable almost limitless [xkcd.com/792]-style password reuse attacks in the coming weeks. There's only one group that comes out of this looking smart: Everyone who pirated Photoshop.
}}

==Explanation==
Web sites and other computers that authenticate users via passwords need to be able to know if the user typed in the right password. But storing the password itself on the computer has been known to be unnecessarily risky since the publication of [http://www.neurosecurity.com/articles/security/passwd.pdf Password Security: A Case History] in 1978. In that paper, Robert Morris and Ken Thompson demonstrated the practice of using a slow, cryptographically-secure one-way {{w|hash function}}, so that even if the password file is stolen, it will be very hard to figure out what the passwords are, so long as the passwords themselves are suitably complex. They also pioneered the use of {{w|Salt (cryptography)|a "salt"}} which makes each password hash completely different even if two users use the same password. See [http://security.blogoverflow.com/2011/07/a-tour-of-password-questions-and-answers/ A tour of password questions and answers] for background on salts and suitably slow hash functions.

Adobe, however, ignored these well-known principles, and instead stored over a hundred million passwords in a reversibly encrypted way, using a terrible choice of encryption methods which exposes a great deal of information about the passwords, and does not involve a salt. This password database was recently obtained by someone and released on the Internet.

In particular, Adobe used {{w|Triple DES}}, an older encryption algorithm which can still be relatively secure when properly used, but they used it improperly. It works on 64-bit (8 character) blocks. Assuming that the passwords are stored in plain ASCII, this means that a sequence of 8 characters in a password which starts on a character position which is a multiple of eight is always encrypted to the same result. Therefore, two passwords starting with "12345678" would start with the same block after being encrypted. Furthermore, this means that you can actually get a very good idea of the length of the password since anything with only one block is a password with length between 1 and 8 characters, and having two blocks implies it has between 9 and 16 characters, etc.

Adobe also stored hints users created for their passwords. That means that an attacker knows not only if the same 8 characters are used for multiple passwords but also has some hints for guessing them. That means that common password portions should be easy to recover and that any user may be "compromised" by someone else using a part of the same password and providing a good hint. As an example, a password having three hints "Big Apple", "Twin Towers" and "If you can make it there" is probably "New York" or a simple variation on that. The weakness here is that no decryption and therefore no hard cracking has to take place, you just group the passwords by their encrypted blocks and try to solve them like a crossword puzzle. These weaknesses have already been used to presumably identify a password used by {{w|Edward Snowden}}, as discussed at [http://7habitsofhighlyeffectivehackers.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-someone-be-targeted-using-adobe.html 7 Habits of Highly Effective Hackers: Can someone be targeted using the Adobe breach?].

The examples are not taken from the actual leaked file, since that [http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/how-an-epic-blunder-by-adobe-could-strengthen-hand-of-password-crackers/ uses a different format], and the examples are evidently cleverly crafted to make a nice crossword-like puzzle, which can be solved as shown in the Passwords section below.

As mentioned on http://filosottile.github.io/analyzing-the-adobe-leaked-passwords/ the data in the comic isn't real and contains a hidden message. If the "user password" hashes are Base64 encoded, they read:
<pre>ThiswasnotagooduseofyourtimeButthenagainitwasprobablynotagooduseofmytimeeith
erAndyethereweareXOXOXOLetsLiveHereInThisTinySecretEncodedTextWorldForever==</pre>

More readable:
<pre>This was not a good use of your time
But then again it was probably not a good use of my time either
And yet here we are
XOXOXO
Lets Live Here In This Tiny Secret Encoded Text World Forever==</pre>

E.g., with the initial unique hash blocks: <tt>python -c "print '4e18acc1ab27a2d6a0a2876eb1ea1fca'.decode('hex_codec').encode('base64')"</tt>

The last letter "r" is not fully encoded in the data shown, but any letter from "g" to "v" produces the same binary data.

The title text makes a reference to a previous comic: [[792|Black Hat's trouble with what to do with stolen passwords]]. It also states that users of pirated Photoshop are the winners here. This is because in order to make Photoshop pirate-able, it was modified (cracked) by removing the requirement for registration so their passwords were not sent to Adobe and therefore are not present in the leaked file.

Soon after this comic was published, the most common 1000 passwords were actually compiled into [http://zed0.co.uk/crossword/ a set of 10 interactive online crosswords], inspired by the comic.

The title itself is a reference to {{w|cryptic crossword}}s.

==Passwords==
Note that characters in the passwords could be upper or lower case, and they may involve common substitutions like "0" (number zero) for "O" (letter O); therefore, the clues cannot guarantee that the answer shown here is precisely correct. Nevertheless, we have plenty of information for a brute force attack.

{|class="wikitable"
! Input
! Hint
! Password
! Explanation
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|weather vane sword
|<tt>[http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Matthias matthias]</tt>
|In ''{{w|Redwall}}'', several characters are associated with a sword hung from a weather vane, but only Matthias shares the name of an apostle (6 lines down).
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|
|<tt>matthias</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this password too, since it matches the previous one.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|name1
|<tt>matthias1</tt>
|Even without knowing the user's name, we already know how this starts, so the clue gives us a pretty good idea how it finishes (and another block useful 2 lines down)
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d</tt>
|duh
|<tt>password</tt>
|Unfortunately, this is all too common, and the user practically told us that it's an easy one.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|
|<tt>password1</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this by combining the previous two.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc</tt>
|57
|<tt>password57</tt>
|Since we know how this begins, this is a good guess.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|favorite of {{w|Apostle (Christian)|12 apostles}}
|<tt>{{w|Saint Matthias|matthias}}</tt>
|The hint suggests only 12 possibilities. Variant spellings, variant lists, and a replacement for Judas add to that number. But we already know which one by combining with the clue 6 lines up. (Surprise: it's the replacement!)
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e</tt>
|with your own hand you have done all this
|<tt>Judith1510</tt>
|This is a quotation from [http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/judith/15-10.html Judith 15:10] in the Bible.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397</tt>
|sexy earlobes
|<tt>{{w|Charlie Sheen|Charlie Sheen}}</tt>
|This refers to an episode of ''{{w|Two and a Half Men}}''. Other answers are possible, but only this one fits the next line.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|best TOS episode
|<tt>{{w|Charlie X|Charlie X}}</tt>
|"{{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS}}" refers to the original series of ''{{w|Star Trek}}''. Although this had dozens of episodes, only one fits the previous line as well as the next line.
|-
|<tt>39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|Sugarland
|<tt>HoustonTX</tt>
|{{w|Sugar Land, Texas|Sugar Land}} is a suburb of {{w|Houston}}, {{w|Texas}}. This fits with the previous line. {{w|Sugarland}} is a band, but it does not fit well with the previous hint, and would not lead to our first guess.
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca</tt>
|name + jersey#
|<tt>Judith15</tt>
|Even if we knew this user's name, we wouldn't know their jersey number. But the clue 4 lines up already gave us the answer.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|alpha
|<tt>abc</tt>
|This password is also far too common, but this clue still isn't enough to narrow it down. Combine with the clue 4 lines below, however, and it's quite easy.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|obvious
|<tt>abc</tt>
|Same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|Michael Jackson
|<tt>abc</tt>
|{{w|Michael Jackson}} did many songs, but only one was {{w|ABC (song)|alphabetical}} (4 lines up).
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the one below.
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|he did the mash, he did the
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|Probably a "keyboard mash" (e.g. asdfghjkl), a common password. The hint is a reference to the song "{{w|Monster Mash}}" ("He did the mash/He did the monster mash").
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44</tt>
|purloined
|<tt>asdfghjk</tt>
|A reference to the {{w|Edgar Allan Poe}} story "{{w|The Purloined Letter}}", this represents all the keys of the home row, or the keyboard mash password, but with one missing("purloined") letter.
|-
|<tt>a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|fav water-3 {{w|List_of_Pokémon|Pokemon}}
|<tt>[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tentacool_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Tentacool]</tt>
|This is the only [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_%28Egg_Group%29 water-3] Pokémon with a 9 letter name ending in "l", so it must be this to fit with the password 'asdfghjkl'
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:Hackers recently leaked '''''153 million''''' Adobe user emails, encrypted passwords, and password hints.
:Adobe encrypted the passwords improperly, misusing block-mode 3DES. The result is something wonderful:

<pre>
User password Hint
------------- ----

4e18acc1ab27a2d6 weather vane sword
4e18acc1ab27a2d6
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca name1
8babb6299e06eb6d duh
8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca
8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc 57
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 favorite of 12 apostles
1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e with your own hand you
have done all this
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397 sexy earlobes
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85 best tos episode
39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85 sugarland
1ab29ae86da6e5ca name + jersey#
877ab7889d3862b1 alpha
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1 obvious
877ab7889d3862b1 Michael Jackson
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 he did the mash, he did the
38a7c9279cadeb44 purloined
a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 fav water-3 pokemon
</pre>

:The greatest crossword puzzle in the history of the world

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]

1286: Encryptic

2015-09-20T22:02:45Z

Sophira: ...I promise this should be my last edit to this.

{{comic
| number = 1286
| date = November 4, 2013
| title = Encryptic
| image = encryptic.png
| titletext = It was bound to happen eventually. This data theft will enable almost limitless [xkcd.com/792]-style password reuse attacks in the coming weeks. There's only one group that comes out of this looking smart: Everyone who pirated Photoshop.
}}

==Explanation==
Web sites and other computers that authenticate users via passwords need to be able to know if the user typed in the right password. But storing the password itself on the computer has been known to be unnecessarily risky since the publication of [http://www.neurosecurity.com/articles/security/passwd.pdf Password Security: A Case History] in 1978. In that paper, Robert Morris and Ken Thompson demonstrated the practice of using a slow, cryptographically-secure one-way {{w|hash function}}, so that even if the password file is stolen, it will be very hard to figure out what the passwords are, so long as the passwords themselves are suitably complex. They also pioneered the use of {{w|Salt (cryptography)|a "salt"}} which makes each password hash completely different even if two users use the same password. See [http://security.blogoverflow.com/2011/07/a-tour-of-password-questions-and-answers/ A tour of password questions and answers] for background on salts and suitably slow hash functions.

Adobe, however, ignored these well-known principles, and instead stored over a hundred million passwords in a reversibly encrypted way, using a terrible choice of encryption methods which exposes a great deal of information about the passwords, and does not involve a salt. This password database was recently obtained by someone and released on the Internet.

In particular, Adobe used {{w|Triple DES}}, an older encryption algorithm which can still be relatively secure when properly used, but they used it improperly. It works on 64-bit (8 character) blocks. Assuming that the passwords are stored in plain ASCII, this means that a sequence of 8 characters in a password which starts on a character position which is a multiple of eight is always encrypted to the same result. Therefore, two passwords starting with "12345678" would start with the same block after being encrypted. Furthermore, this means that you can actually get a very good idea of the length of the password since anything with only one block is a password with length between 1 and 8 characters, and having two blocks implies it has between 9 and 16 characters, etc.

Adobe also stored hints users created for their passwords. That means that an attacker knows not only if the same 8 characters are used for multiple passwords but also has some hints for guessing them. That means that common password portions should be easy to recover and that any user may be "compromised" by someone else using a part of the same password and providing a good hint. As an example, a password having three hints "Big Apple", "Twin Towers" and "If you can make it there" is probably "New York" or a simple variation on that. The weakness here is that no decryption and therefore no hard cracking has to take place, you just group the passwords by their encrypted blocks and try to solve them like a crossword puzzle. These weaknesses have already been used to presumably identify a password used by {{w|Edward Snowden}}, as discussed at [http://7habitsofhighlyeffectivehackers.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-someone-be-targeted-using-adobe.html 7 Habits of Highly Effective Hackers: Can someone be targeted using the Adobe breach?].

The examples are not taken from the actual leaked file, since that [http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/how-an-epic-blunder-by-adobe-could-strengthen-hand-of-password-crackers/ uses a different format], and the examples are evidently cleverly crafted to make a nice crossword-like puzzle, which can be solved as shown in the Passwords section below.

As mentioned on http://filosottile.github.io/analyzing-the-adobe-leaked-passwords/ the data in the comic isn't real and contains a hidden message. If the "user password" hashes are Base64 encoded, they read:
<pre>ThiswasnotagooduseofyourtimeButthenagainitwasprobablynotagooduseofmytimeeith
erAndyethereweareXOXOXOLetsLiveHereInThisTinySecretEncodedTextWorldForever==</pre>

More readable:
<pre>This was not a good use of your time
But then again it was probably not a good use of my time either
And yet here we are
XOXOXO
Lets Live Here In This Tiny Secret Encoded Text World Forever==</pre>

E.g., with the initial unique hash blocks: <tt>python -c "print '4e18acc1ab27a2d6a0a2876eb1ea1fca'.decode('hex_codec').encode('base64')"</tt>

The last letter "r" is not fully encoded in the data shown, but any letter from "g" to "v" produces the same binary data.

The title text makes a reference to a previous comic: [[792|Black Hat's trouble with what to do with stolen passwords]]. It also states that users of pirated Photoshop are the winners here. This is because in order to make Photoshop pirate-able, it was modified (cracked) by removing the requirement for registration so their passwords were not sent to Adobe and therefore are not present in the leaked file.

Soon after this comic was published, the most common 1000 passwords were actually compiled into [http://zed0.co.uk/crossword/|a set of 10 interactive online crosswords], inspired by the comic.

The title itself is a reference to {{w|cryptic crossword}}s.

==Passwords==
Note that characters in the passwords could be upper or lower case, and they may involve common substitutions like "0" (number zero) for "O" (letter O); therefore, the clues cannot guarantee that the answer shown here is precisely correct. Nevertheless, we have plenty of information for a brute force attack.

{|class="wikitable"
! Input
! Hint
! Password
! Explanation
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|weather vane sword
|<tt>[http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Matthias matthias]</tt>
|In ''{{w|Redwall}}'', several characters are associated with a sword hung from a weather vane, but only Matthias shares the name of an apostle (6 lines down).
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|
|<tt>matthias</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this password too, since it matches the previous one.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|name1
|<tt>matthias1</tt>
|Even without knowing the user's name, we already know how this starts, so the clue gives us a pretty good idea how it finishes (and another block useful 2 lines down)
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d</tt>
|duh
|<tt>password</tt>
|Unfortunately, this is all too common, and the user practically told us that it's an easy one.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|
|<tt>password1</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this by combining the previous two.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc</tt>
|57
|<tt>password57</tt>
|Since we know how this begins, this is a good guess.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|favorite of {{w|Apostle (Christian)|12 apostles}}
|<tt>{{w|Saint Matthias|matthias}}</tt>
|The hint suggests only 12 possibilities. Variant spellings, variant lists, and a replacement for Judas add to that number. But we already know which one by combining with the clue 6 lines up. (Surprise: it's the replacement!)
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e</tt>
|with your own hand you have done all this
|<tt>Judith1510</tt>
|This is a quotation from [http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/judith/15-10.html Judith 15:10] in the Bible.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397</tt>
|sexy earlobes
|<tt>{{w|Charlie Sheen|Charlie Sheen}}</tt>
|This refers to an episode of ''{{w|Two and a Half Men}}''. Other answers are possible, but only this one fits the next line.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|best TOS episode
|<tt>{{w|Charlie X|Charlie X}}</tt>
|"{{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS}}" refers to the original series of ''{{w|Star Trek}}''. Although this had dozens of episodes, only one fits the previous line as well as the next line.
|-
|<tt>39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|Sugarland
|<tt>HoustonTX</tt>
|{{w|Sugar Land, Texas|Sugar Land}} is a suburb of {{w|Houston}}, {{w|Texas}}. This fits with the previous line. {{w|Sugarland}} is a band, but it does not fit well with the previous hint, and would not lead to our first guess.
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca</tt>
|name + jersey#
|<tt>Judith15</tt>
|Even if we knew this user's name, we wouldn't know their jersey number. But the clue 4 lines up already gave us the answer.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|alpha
|<tt>abc</tt>
|This password is also far too common, but this clue still isn't enough to narrow it down. Combine with the clue 4 lines below, however, and it's quite easy.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|obvious
|<tt>abc</tt>
|Same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|Michael Jackson
|<tt>abc</tt>
|{{w|Michael Jackson}} did many songs, but only one was {{w|ABC (song)|alphabetical}} (4 lines up).
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the one below.
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|he did the mash, he did the
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|Probably a "keyboard mash" (e.g. asdfghjkl), a common password. The hint is a reference to the song "{{w|Monster Mash}}" ("He did the mash/He did the monster mash").
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44</tt>
|purloined
|<tt>asdfghjk</tt>
|A reference to the {{w|Edgar Allan Poe}} story "{{w|The Purloined Letter}}", this represents all the keys of the home row, or the keyboard mash password, but with one missing("purloined") letter.
|-
|<tt>a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|fav water-3 {{w|List_of_Pokémon|Pokemon}}
|<tt>[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tentacool_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Tentacool]</tt>
|This is the only [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_%28Egg_Group%29 water-3] Pokémon with a 9 letter name ending in "l", so it must be this to fit with the password 'asdfghjkl'
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:Hackers recently leaked '''''153 million''''' Adobe user emails, encrypted passwords, and password hints.
:Adobe encrypted the passwords improperly, misusing block-mode 3DES. The result is something wonderful:

<pre>
User password Hint
------------- ----

4e18acc1ab27a2d6 weather vane sword
4e18acc1ab27a2d6
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca name1
8babb6299e06eb6d duh
8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca
8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc 57
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 favorite of 12 apostles
1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e with your own hand you
have done all this
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397 sexy earlobes
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85 best tos episode
39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85 sugarland
1ab29ae86da6e5ca name + jersey#
877ab7889d3862b1 alpha
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1 obvious
877ab7889d3862b1 Michael Jackson
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 he did the mash, he did the
38a7c9279cadeb44 purloined
a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 fav water-3 pokemon
</pre>

:The greatest crossword puzzle in the history of the world

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]

1286: Encryptic

2015-09-20T22:01:56Z

Sophira: Wiki syntax != Markdown. Go, me.

{{comic
| number = 1286
| date = November 4, 2013
| title = Encryptic
| image = encryptic.png
| titletext = It was bound to happen eventually. This data theft will enable almost limitless [xkcd.com/792]-style password reuse attacks in the coming weeks. There's only one group that comes out of this looking smart: Everyone who pirated Photoshop.
}}

==Explanation==
Web sites and other computers that authenticate users via passwords need to be able to know if the user typed in the right password. But storing the password itself on the computer has been known to be unnecessarily risky since the publication of [http://www.neurosecurity.com/articles/security/passwd.pdf Password Security: A Case History] in 1978. In that paper, Robert Morris and Ken Thompson demonstrated the practice of using a slow, cryptographically-secure one-way {{w|hash function}}, so that even if the password file is stolen, it will be very hard to figure out what the passwords are, so long as the passwords themselves are suitably complex. They also pioneered the use of {{w|Salt (cryptography)|a "salt"}} which makes each password hash completely different even if two users use the same password. See [http://security.blogoverflow.com/2011/07/a-tour-of-password-questions-and-answers/ A tour of password questions and answers] for background on salts and suitably slow hash functions.

Adobe, however, ignored these well-known principles, and instead stored over a hundred million passwords in a reversibly encrypted way, using a terrible choice of encryption methods which exposes a great deal of information about the passwords, and does not involve a salt. This password database was recently obtained by someone and released on the Internet.

In particular, Adobe used {{w|Triple DES}}, an older encryption algorithm which can still be relatively secure when properly used, but they used it improperly. It works on 64-bit (8 character) blocks. Assuming that the passwords are stored in plain ASCII, this means that a sequence of 8 characters in a password which starts on a character position which is a multiple of eight is always encrypted to the same result. Therefore, two passwords starting with "12345678" would start with the same block after being encrypted. Furthermore, this means that you can actually get a very good idea of the length of the password since anything with only one block is a password with length between 1 and 8 characters, and having two blocks implies it has between 9 and 16 characters, etc.

Adobe also stored hints users created for their passwords. That means that an attacker knows not only if the same 8 characters are used for multiple passwords but also has some hints for guessing them. That means that common password portions should be easy to recover and that any user may be "compromised" by someone else using a part of the same password and providing a good hint. As an example, a password having three hints "Big Apple", "Twin Towers" and "If you can make it there" is probably "New York" or a simple variation on that. The weakness here is that no decryption and therefore no hard cracking has to take place, you just group the passwords by their encrypted blocks and try to solve them like a crossword puzzle. These weaknesses have already been used to presumably identify a password used by {{w|Edward Snowden}}, as discussed at [http://7habitsofhighlyeffectivehackers.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-someone-be-targeted-using-adobe.html 7 Habits of Highly Effective Hackers: Can someone be targeted using the Adobe breach?].

The examples are not taken from the actual leaked file, since that [http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/how-an-epic-blunder-by-adobe-could-strengthen-hand-of-password-crackers/ uses a different format], and the examples are evidently cleverly crafted to make a nice crossword-like puzzle, which can be solved as shown in the Passwords section below.

As mentioned on http://filosottile.github.io/analyzing-the-adobe-leaked-passwords/ the data in the comic isn't real and contains a hidden message. If the "user password" hashes are Base64 encoded, they read:
<pre>ThiswasnotagooduseofyourtimeButthenagainitwasprobablynotagooduseofmytimeeith
erAndyethereweareXOXOXOLetsLiveHereInThisTinySecretEncodedTextWorldForever==</pre>

More readable:
<pre>This was not a good use of your time
But then again it was probably not a good use of my time either
And yet here we are
XOXOXO
Lets Live Here In This Tiny Secret Encoded Text World Forever==</pre>

E.g., with the initial unique hash blocks: <tt>python -c "print '4e18acc1ab27a2d6a0a2876eb1ea1fca'.decode('hex_codec').encode('base64')"</tt>

The last letter "r" is not fully encoded in the data shown, but any letter from "g" to "v" produces the same binary data.

The title text makes a reference to a previous comic: [[792|Black Hat's trouble with what to do with stolen passwords]]. It also states that users of pirated Photoshop are the winners here. This is because in order to make Photoshop pirate-able, it was modified (cracked) by removing the requirement for registration so their passwords were not sent to Adobe and therefore are not present in the leaked file.

Soon after this comic was published, the most common 1000 passwords were actually compiled into [http://zed0.co.uk/crossword/|a set of 10 interactive online crosswords]), inspired by the comic.

The title itself is a reference to {{w|cryptic crossword}}s.

==Passwords==
Note that characters in the passwords could be upper or lower case, and they may involve common substitutions like "0" (number zero) for "O" (letter O); therefore, the clues cannot guarantee that the answer shown here is precisely correct. Nevertheless, we have plenty of information for a brute force attack.

{|class="wikitable"
! Input
! Hint
! Password
! Explanation
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|weather vane sword
|<tt>[http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Matthias matthias]</tt>
|In ''{{w|Redwall}}'', several characters are associated with a sword hung from a weather vane, but only Matthias shares the name of an apostle (6 lines down).
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|
|<tt>matthias</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this password too, since it matches the previous one.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|name1
|<tt>matthias1</tt>
|Even without knowing the user's name, we already know how this starts, so the clue gives us a pretty good idea how it finishes (and another block useful 2 lines down)
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d</tt>
|duh
|<tt>password</tt>
|Unfortunately, this is all too common, and the user practically told us that it's an easy one.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|
|<tt>password1</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this by combining the previous two.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc</tt>
|57
|<tt>password57</tt>
|Since we know how this begins, this is a good guess.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|favorite of {{w|Apostle (Christian)|12 apostles}}
|<tt>{{w|Saint Matthias|matthias}}</tt>
|The hint suggests only 12 possibilities. Variant spellings, variant lists, and a replacement for Judas add to that number. But we already know which one by combining with the clue 6 lines up. (Surprise: it's the replacement!)
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e</tt>
|with your own hand you have done all this
|<tt>Judith1510</tt>
|This is a quotation from [http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/judith/15-10.html Judith 15:10] in the Bible.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397</tt>
|sexy earlobes
|<tt>{{w|Charlie Sheen|Charlie Sheen}}</tt>
|This refers to an episode of ''{{w|Two and a Half Men}}''. Other answers are possible, but only this one fits the next line.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|best TOS episode
|<tt>{{w|Charlie X|Charlie X}}</tt>
|"{{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS}}" refers to the original series of ''{{w|Star Trek}}''. Although this had dozens of episodes, only one fits the previous line as well as the next line.
|-
|<tt>39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|Sugarland
|<tt>HoustonTX</tt>
|{{w|Sugar Land, Texas|Sugar Land}} is a suburb of {{w|Houston}}, {{w|Texas}}. This fits with the previous line. {{w|Sugarland}} is a band, but it does not fit well with the previous hint, and would not lead to our first guess.
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca</tt>
|name + jersey#
|<tt>Judith15</tt>
|Even if we knew this user's name, we wouldn't know their jersey number. But the clue 4 lines up already gave us the answer.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|alpha
|<tt>abc</tt>
|This password is also far too common, but this clue still isn't enough to narrow it down. Combine with the clue 4 lines below, however, and it's quite easy.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|obvious
|<tt>abc</tt>
|Same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|Michael Jackson
|<tt>abc</tt>
|{{w|Michael Jackson}} did many songs, but only one was {{w|ABC (song)|alphabetical}} (4 lines up).
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the one below.
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|he did the mash, he did the
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|Probably a "keyboard mash" (e.g. asdfghjkl), a common password. The hint is a reference to the song "{{w|Monster Mash}}" ("He did the mash/He did the monster mash").
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44</tt>
|purloined
|<tt>asdfghjk</tt>
|A reference to the {{w|Edgar Allan Poe}} story "{{w|The Purloined Letter}}", this represents all the keys of the home row, or the keyboard mash password, but with one missing("purloined") letter.
|-
|<tt>a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|fav water-3 {{w|List_of_Pokémon|Pokemon}}
|<tt>[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tentacool_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Tentacool]</tt>
|This is the only [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_%28Egg_Group%29 water-3] Pokémon with a 9 letter name ending in "l", so it must be this to fit with the password 'asdfghjkl'
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:Hackers recently leaked '''''153 million''''' Adobe user emails, encrypted passwords, and password hints.
:Adobe encrypted the passwords improperly, misusing block-mode 3DES. The result is something wonderful:

<pre>
User password Hint
------------- ----

4e18acc1ab27a2d6 weather vane sword
4e18acc1ab27a2d6
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca name1
8babb6299e06eb6d duh
8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca
8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc 57
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 favorite of 12 apostles
1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e with your own hand you
have done all this
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397 sexy earlobes
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85 best tos episode
39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85 sugarland
1ab29ae86da6e5ca name + jersey#
877ab7889d3862b1 alpha
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1 obvious
877ab7889d3862b1 Michael Jackson
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 he did the mash, he did the
38a7c9279cadeb44 purloined
a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 fav water-3 pokemon
</pre>

:The greatest crossword puzzle in the history of the world

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]

1286: Encryptic

2015-09-20T22:00:03Z

Sophira: /* Explanation */ Oops, made a typo.

{{comic
| number = 1286
| date = November 4, 2013
| title = Encryptic
| image = encryptic.png
| titletext = It was bound to happen eventually. This data theft will enable almost limitless [xkcd.com/792]-style password reuse attacks in the coming weeks. There's only one group that comes out of this looking smart: Everyone who pirated Photoshop.
}}

==Explanation==
Web sites and other computers that authenticate users via passwords need to be able to know if the user typed in the right password. But storing the password itself on the computer has been known to be unnecessarily risky since the publication of [http://www.neurosecurity.com/articles/security/passwd.pdf Password Security: A Case History] in 1978. In that paper, Robert Morris and Ken Thompson demonstrated the practice of using a slow, cryptographically-secure one-way {{w|hash function}}, so that even if the password file is stolen, it will be very hard to figure out what the passwords are, so long as the passwords themselves are suitably complex. They also pioneered the use of {{w|Salt (cryptography)|a "salt"}} which makes each password hash completely different even if two users use the same password. See [http://security.blogoverflow.com/2011/07/a-tour-of-password-questions-and-answers/ A tour of password questions and answers] for background on salts and suitably slow hash functions.

Adobe, however, ignored these well-known principles, and instead stored over a hundred million passwords in a reversibly encrypted way, using a terrible choice of encryption methods which exposes a great deal of information about the passwords, and does not involve a salt. This password database was recently obtained by someone and released on the Internet.

In particular, Adobe used {{w|Triple DES}}, an older encryption algorithm which can still be relatively secure when properly used, but they used it improperly. It works on 64-bit (8 character) blocks. Assuming that the passwords are stored in plain ASCII, this means that a sequence of 8 characters in a password which starts on a character position which is a multiple of eight is always encrypted to the same result. Therefore, two passwords starting with "12345678" would start with the same block after being encrypted. Furthermore, this means that you can actually get a very good idea of the length of the password since anything with only one block is a password with length between 1 and 8 characters, and having two blocks implies it has between 9 and 16 characters, etc.

Adobe also stored hints users created for their passwords. That means that an attacker knows not only if the same 8 characters are used for multiple passwords but also has some hints for guessing them. That means that common password portions should be easy to recover and that any user may be "compromised" by someone else using a part of the same password and providing a good hint. As an example, a password having three hints "Big Apple", "Twin Towers" and "If you can make it there" is probably "New York" or a simple variation on that. The weakness here is that no decryption and therefore no hard cracking has to take place, you just group the passwords by their encrypted blocks and try to solve them like a crossword puzzle. These weaknesses have already been used to presumably identify a password used by {{w|Edward Snowden}}, as discussed at [http://7habitsofhighlyeffectivehackers.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-someone-be-targeted-using-adobe.html 7 Habits of Highly Effective Hackers: Can someone be targeted using the Adobe breach?].

The examples are not taken from the actual leaked file, since that [http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/how-an-epic-blunder-by-adobe-could-strengthen-hand-of-password-crackers/ uses a different format], and the examples are evidently cleverly crafted to make a nice crossword-like puzzle, which can be solved as shown in the Passwords section below.

As mentioned on http://filosottile.github.io/analyzing-the-adobe-leaked-passwords/ the data in the comic isn't real and contains a hidden message. If the "user password" hashes are Base64 encoded, they read:
<pre>ThiswasnotagooduseofyourtimeButthenagainitwasprobablynotagooduseofmytimeeith
erAndyethereweareXOXOXOLetsLiveHereInThisTinySecretEncodedTextWorldForever==</pre>

More readable:
<pre>This was not a good use of your time
But then again it was probably not a good use of my time either
And yet here we are
XOXOXO
Lets Live Here In This Tiny Secret Encoded Text World Forever==</pre>

E.g., with the initial unique hash blocks: <tt>python -c "print '4e18acc1ab27a2d6a0a2876eb1ea1fca'.decode('hex_codec').encode('base64')"</tt>

The last letter "r" is not fully encoded in the data shown, but any letter from "g" to "v" produces the same binary data.

The title text makes a reference to a previous comic: [[792|Black Hat's trouble with what to do with stolen passwords]]. It also states that users of pirated Photoshop are the winners here. This is because in order to make Photoshop pirate-able, it was modified (cracked) by removing the requirement for registration so their passwords were not sent to Adobe and therefore are not present in the leaked file.

Soon after this comic was published, the most common 1000 passwords were actually compiled into [a set of 10 interactive online crosswords](http://zed0.co.uk/crossword/), inspired by the comic.

The title itself is a reference to {{w|cryptic crossword}}s.

==Passwords==
Note that characters in the passwords could be upper or lower case, and they may involve common substitutions like "0" (number zero) for "O" (letter O); therefore, the clues cannot guarantee that the answer shown here is precisely correct. Nevertheless, we have plenty of information for a brute force attack.

{|class="wikitable"
! Input
! Hint
! Password
! Explanation
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|weather vane sword
|<tt>[http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Matthias matthias]</tt>
|In ''{{w|Redwall}}'', several characters are associated with a sword hung from a weather vane, but only Matthias shares the name of an apostle (6 lines down).
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|
|<tt>matthias</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this password too, since it matches the previous one.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|name1
|<tt>matthias1</tt>
|Even without knowing the user's name, we already know how this starts, so the clue gives us a pretty good idea how it finishes (and another block useful 2 lines down)
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d</tt>
|duh
|<tt>password</tt>
|Unfortunately, this is all too common, and the user practically told us that it's an easy one.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|
|<tt>password1</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this by combining the previous two.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc</tt>
|57
|<tt>password57</tt>
|Since we know how this begins, this is a good guess.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|favorite of {{w|Apostle (Christian)|12 apostles}}
|<tt>{{w|Saint Matthias|matthias}}</tt>
|The hint suggests only 12 possibilities. Variant spellings, variant lists, and a replacement for Judas add to that number. But we already know which one by combining with the clue 6 lines up. (Surprise: it's the replacement!)
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e</tt>
|with your own hand you have done all this
|<tt>Judith1510</tt>
|This is a quotation from [http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/judith/15-10.html Judith 15:10] in the Bible.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397</tt>
|sexy earlobes
|<tt>{{w|Charlie Sheen|Charlie Sheen}}</tt>
|This refers to an episode of ''{{w|Two and a Half Men}}''. Other answers are possible, but only this one fits the next line.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|best TOS episode
|<tt>{{w|Charlie X|Charlie X}}</tt>
|"{{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS}}" refers to the original series of ''{{w|Star Trek}}''. Although this had dozens of episodes, only one fits the previous line as well as the next line.
|-
|<tt>39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|Sugarland
|<tt>HoustonTX</tt>
|{{w|Sugar Land, Texas|Sugar Land}} is a suburb of {{w|Houston}}, {{w|Texas}}. This fits with the previous line. {{w|Sugarland}} is a band, but it does not fit well with the previous hint, and would not lead to our first guess.
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca</tt>
|name + jersey#
|<tt>Judith15</tt>
|Even if we knew this user's name, we wouldn't know their jersey number. But the clue 4 lines up already gave us the answer.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|alpha
|<tt>abc</tt>
|This password is also far too common, but this clue still isn't enough to narrow it down. Combine with the clue 4 lines below, however, and it's quite easy.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|obvious
|<tt>abc</tt>
|Same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|Michael Jackson
|<tt>abc</tt>
|{{w|Michael Jackson}} did many songs, but only one was {{w|ABC (song)|alphabetical}} (4 lines up).
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the one below.
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|he did the mash, he did the
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|Probably a "keyboard mash" (e.g. asdfghjkl), a common password. The hint is a reference to the song "{{w|Monster Mash}}" ("He did the mash/He did the monster mash").
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44</tt>
|purloined
|<tt>asdfghjk</tt>
|A reference to the {{w|Edgar Allan Poe}} story "{{w|The Purloined Letter}}", this represents all the keys of the home row, or the keyboard mash password, but with one missing("purloined") letter.
|-
|<tt>a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|fav water-3 {{w|List_of_Pokémon|Pokemon}}
|<tt>[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tentacool_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Tentacool]</tt>
|This is the only [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_%28Egg_Group%29 water-3] Pokémon with a 9 letter name ending in "l", so it must be this to fit with the password 'asdfghjkl'
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:Hackers recently leaked '''''153 million''''' Adobe user emails, encrypted passwords, and password hints.
:Adobe encrypted the passwords improperly, misusing block-mode 3DES. The result is something wonderful:

<pre>
User password Hint
------------- ----

4e18acc1ab27a2d6 weather vane sword
4e18acc1ab27a2d6
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca name1
8babb6299e06eb6d duh
8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca
8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc 57
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 favorite of 12 apostles
1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e with your own hand you
have done all this
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397 sexy earlobes
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85 best tos episode
39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85 sugarland
1ab29ae86da6e5ca name + jersey#
877ab7889d3862b1 alpha
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1 obvious
877ab7889d3862b1 Michael Jackson
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 he did the mash, he did the
38a7c9279cadeb44 purloined
a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 fav water-3 pokemon
</pre>

:The greatest crossword puzzle in the history of the world

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]

1286: Encryptic

2015-09-20T21:59:31Z

Sophira: /* Explanation */ Adding link to the interactive crosswords that were created after this comic was released.

{{comic
| number = 1286
| date = November 4, 2013
| title = Encryptic
| image = encryptic.png
| titletext = It was bound to happen eventually. This data theft will enable almost limitless [xkcd.com/792]-style password reuse attacks in the coming weeks. There's only one group that comes out of this looking smart: Everyone who pirated Photoshop.
}}

==Explanation==
Web sites and other computers that authenticate users via passwords need to be able to know if the user typed in the right password. But storing the password itself on the computer has been known to be unnecessarily risky since the publication of [http://www.neurosecurity.com/articles/security/passwd.pdf Password Security: A Case History] in 1978. In that paper, Robert Morris and Ken Thompson demonstrated the practice of using a slow, cryptographically-secure one-way {{w|hash function}}, so that even if the password file is stolen, it will be very hard to figure out what the passwords are, so long as the passwords themselves are suitably complex. They also pioneered the use of {{w|Salt (cryptography)|a "salt"}} which makes each password hash completely different even if two users use the same password. See [http://security.blogoverflow.com/2011/07/a-tour-of-password-questions-and-answers/ A tour of password questions and answers] for background on salts and suitably slow hash functions.

Adobe, however, ignored these well-known principles, and instead stored over a hundred million passwords in a reversibly encrypted way, using a terrible choice of encryption methods which exposes a great deal of information about the passwords, and does not involve a salt. This password database was recently obtained by someone and released on the Internet.

In particular, Adobe used {{w|Triple DES}}, an older encryption algorithm which can still be relatively secure when properly used, but they used it improperly. It works on 64-bit (8 character) blocks. Assuming that the passwords are stored in plain ASCII, this means that a sequence of 8 characters in a password which starts on a character position which is a multiple of eight is always encrypted to the same result. Therefore, two passwords starting with "12345678" would start with the same block after being encrypted. Furthermore, this means that you can actually get a very good idea of the length of the password since anything with only one block is a password with length between 1 and 8 characters, and having two blocks implies it has between 9 and 16 characters, etc.

Adobe also stored hints users created for their passwords. That means that an attacker knows not only if the same 8 characters are used for multiple passwords but also has some hints for guessing them. That means that common password portions should be easy to recover and that any user may be "compromised" by someone else using a part of the same password and providing a good hint. As an example, a password having three hints "Big Apple", "Twin Towers" and "If you can make it there" is probably "New York" or a simple variation on that. The weakness here is that no decryption and therefore no hard cracking has to take place, you just group the passwords by their encrypted blocks and try to solve them like a crossword puzzle. These weaknesses have already been used to presumably identify a password used by {{w|Edward Snowden}}, as discussed at [http://7habitsofhighlyeffectivehackers.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-someone-be-targeted-using-adobe.html 7 Habits of Highly Effective Hackers: Can someone be targeted using the Adobe breach?].

The examples are not taken from the actual leaked file, since that [http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/how-an-epic-blunder-by-adobe-could-strengthen-hand-of-password-crackers/ uses a different format], and the examples are evidently cleverly crafted to make a nice crossword-like puzzle, which can be solved as shown in the Passwords section below.

As mentioned on http://filosottile.github.io/analyzing-the-adobe-leaked-passwords/ the data in the comic isn't real and contains a hidden message. If the "user password" hashes are Base64 encoded, they read:
<pre>ThiswasnotagooduseofyourtimeButthenagainitwasprobablynotagooduseofmytimeeith
erAndyethereweareXOXOXOLetsLiveHereInThisTinySecretEncodedTextWorldForever==</pre>

More readable:
<pre>This was not a good use of your time
But then again it was probably not a good use of my time either
And yet here we are
XOXOXO
Lets Live Here In This Tiny Secret Encoded Text World Forever==</pre>

E.g., with the initial unique hash blocks: <tt>python -c "print '4e18acc1ab27a2d6a0a2876eb1ea1fca'.decode('hex_codec').encode('base64')"</tt>

The last letter "r" is not fully encoded in the data shown, but any letter from "g" to "v" produces the same binary data.

The title text makes a reference to a previous comic: [[792|Black Hat's trouble with what to do with stolen passwords]]. It also states that users of pirated Photoshop are the winners here. This is because in order to make Photoshop pirate-able, it was modified (cracked) by removing the requirement for registration so their passwords were not sent to Adobe and therefore are not present in the leaked file.

Soon after this comic was published, the most common 1000 passwords were actually compiled into [a set of 10 interactive online crosswords](http://zed0.co.uk/crossword/), inspired bu the comic.

The title itself is a reference to {{w|cryptic crossword}}s.

==Passwords==
Note that characters in the passwords could be upper or lower case, and they may involve common substitutions like "0" (number zero) for "O" (letter O); therefore, the clues cannot guarantee that the answer shown here is precisely correct. Nevertheless, we have plenty of information for a brute force attack.

{|class="wikitable"
! Input
! Hint
! Password
! Explanation
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|weather vane sword
|<tt>[http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Matthias matthias]</tt>
|In ''{{w|Redwall}}'', several characters are associated with a sword hung from a weather vane, but only Matthias shares the name of an apostle (6 lines down).
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|
|<tt>matthias</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this password too, since it matches the previous one.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|name1
|<tt>matthias1</tt>
|Even without knowing the user's name, we already know how this starts, so the clue gives us a pretty good idea how it finishes (and another block useful 2 lines down)
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d</tt>
|duh
|<tt>password</tt>
|Unfortunately, this is all too common, and the user practically told us that it's an easy one.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca</tt>
|
|<tt>password1</tt>
|Although no hint was used, we know this by combining the previous two.
|-
|<tt>8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc</tt>
|57
|<tt>password57</tt>
|Since we know how this begins, this is a good guess.
|-
|<tt>4e18acc1ab27a2d6</tt>
|favorite of {{w|Apostle (Christian)|12 apostles}}
|<tt>{{w|Saint Matthias|matthias}}</tt>
|The hint suggests only 12 possibilities. Variant spellings, variant lists, and a replacement for Judas add to that number. But we already know which one by combining with the clue 6 lines up. (Surprise: it's the replacement!)
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e</tt>
|with your own hand you have done all this
|<tt>Judith1510</tt>
|This is a quotation from [http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/judith/15-10.html Judith 15:10] in the Bible.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397</tt>
|sexy earlobes
|<tt>{{w|Charlie Sheen|Charlie Sheen}}</tt>
|This refers to an episode of ''{{w|Two and a Half Men}}''. Other answers are possible, but only this one fits the next line.
|-
|<tt>a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|best TOS episode
|<tt>{{w|Charlie X|Charlie X}}</tt>
|"{{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS}}" refers to the original series of ''{{w|Star Trek}}''. Although this had dozens of episodes, only one fits the previous line as well as the next line.
|-
|<tt>39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85</tt>
|Sugarland
|<tt>HoustonTX</tt>
|{{w|Sugar Land, Texas|Sugar Land}} is a suburb of {{w|Houston}}, {{w|Texas}}. This fits with the previous line. {{w|Sugarland}} is a band, but it does not fit well with the previous hint, and would not lead to our first guess.
|-
|<tt>1ab29ae86da6e5ca</tt>
|name + jersey#
|<tt>Judith15</tt>
|Even if we knew this user's name, we wouldn't know their jersey number. But the clue 4 lines up already gave us the answer.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|alpha
|<tt>abc</tt>
|This password is also far too common, but this clue still isn't enough to narrow it down. Combine with the clue 4 lines below, however, and it's quite easy.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|
|<tt>abc</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|obvious
|<tt>abc</tt>
|Same as the surrounding passwords.
|-
|<tt>877ab7889d3862b1</tt>
|Michael Jackson
|<tt>abc</tt>
|{{w|Michael Jackson}} did many songs, but only one was {{w|ABC (song)|alphabetical}} (4 lines up).
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|No hint, but the same as the one below.
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|he did the mash, he did the
|<tt>asdfghjkl</tt>
|Probably a "keyboard mash" (e.g. asdfghjkl), a common password. The hint is a reference to the song "{{w|Monster Mash}}" ("He did the mash/He did the monster mash").
|-
|<tt>38a7c9279cadeb44</tt>
|purloined
|<tt>asdfghjk</tt>
|A reference to the {{w|Edgar Allan Poe}} story "{{w|The Purloined Letter}}", this represents all the keys of the home row, or the keyboard mash password, but with one missing("purloined") letter.
|-
|<tt>a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5</tt>
|fav water-3 {{w|List_of_Pokémon|Pokemon}}
|<tt>[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tentacool_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Tentacool]</tt>
|This is the only [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Water_3_%28Egg_Group%29 water-3] Pokémon with a 9 letter name ending in "l", so it must be this to fit with the password 'asdfghjkl'
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:Hackers recently leaked '''''153 million''''' Adobe user emails, encrypted passwords, and password hints.
:Adobe encrypted the passwords improperly, misusing block-mode 3DES. The result is something wonderful:

<pre>
User password Hint
------------- ----

4e18acc1ab27a2d6 weather vane sword
4e18acc1ab27a2d6
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 a0a2876eb1ea1fca name1
8babb6299e06eb6d duh
8babb6299e06eb6d a0a2876eb1ea1fca
8babb6299e06eb6d 85e9da81a8a78adc 57
4e18acc1ab27a2d6 favorite of 12 apostles
1ab29ae86da6e5ca 7a2d6a0a2876eb1e with your own hand you
have done all this
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b eadec1e6ab797397 sexy earlobes
a1f9b2b6299e7a2b 617ab0277727ad85 best tos episode
39738b7adb0b8af7 617ab0277727ad85 sugarland
1ab29ae86da6e5ca name + jersey#
877ab7889d3862b1 alpha
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1
877ab7889d3862b1 obvious
877ab7889d3862b1 Michael Jackson
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5
38a7c9279cadeb44 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 he did the mash, he did the
38a7c9279cadeb44 purloined
a8ae5745a2b7af7a 9dca1d79d4dec6d5 fav water-3 pokemon
</pre>

:The greatest crossword puzzle in the history of the world

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cryptography]]