explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

739: Malamanteau

2013-10-13T10:46:27Z

Thokling: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 739
| date = May 12, 2010
| title = Malamanteau
| image = malamanteau.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The article has twenty-three citations, one of which is an obscure manuscript from the 1490s and the other twenty-two are arguments on LanguageLog.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|malapropism}} is the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical utterance. An example is {{w|Yogi Berra}}'s statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".
A {{w|portmanteau}} is a word made-up of two or more combined words and their definitions. For example, motel is a portmanteau, from the words motor and hotel.
Here, Randall uses the word "malamanteau" which is both a portmanteau of "malapropism" and "portmanteau" and a malaprop of "portmanteau". The methods used to create this new word are the very words used in the process. This is called a meta or “self-referential” joke.

"Malamanteau" was originally coined in 2007, when it was proposed by user [http://www.metafilter.com/user/17900 ludwig_van] on [http://www.metafilter.com Metafilter] as a term for language errors like "flustrated" (flustered & frustrated) and "misconscrewed" (misconstrued & screwed). [http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2758 Malamanteau] did not appear on [http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/ LanguageLog] until after this strip.

==Response==
In response to this comic, editors at Wikipedia created a malapropism page. It was deleted multiple times and eventually turned into a redirect to the Wikipedia page for {{w|xkcd}}. Malamanteau and the controversy at Wikipedia got coverage at ''The Economist'' and ''The Boston Globe''.

==Transcript==
:[The strip is set up as the top of a Wikipedia page.]
:((The Wikipedia logo.))
:Wikipedia
:The free encyclopedia
:((Side navigation options.))
:Navigation
:- Main Page
:- Contents
:- Featured Content
:- Current Events
:((Wikipedia header options.))
:Article Discussion Edit this page History
:((The article itself.))
:Malamanteau
:From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
:A malamanteau is a neologism for a portmanteau created by incorrectly combining a malapropism with a neologism. It is itself a portmanteau of ((... the article cuts off.))
:((Below the panel.))
:Ever notice how Wikipedia has a few words it *really* likes?

==External links==
*[http://wiki.xkcd.com/irc/Malamanteau Malamanteau] at the official xkcd wiki
*[http://malamanteaus.blogspot.com/ Malamanteaus], a blog dedicated to the creation and proliferation of malananteaux
*[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Malamanteau Malamanteau] at urbandictionary.com
*[http://wordsquirt.com/Word/View/Malamanteau/dbb34d48-e565-4012-bcc8-56718f351712 Malamanteau] at wordsquirt.com

==References==
*[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/index.php?s=malamanteau Entries referencing "malamanteau"] at LanguageLog.com
*Malamanteau Talk Page Archives [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AMalamanteau/Archive_1 1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Malamanteau/Archive_2 2] at Wikipedia.com
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Malamanteau Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Malamanteau]
*[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malamanteau_page_history.jpg Screen capture] of the deleted history for the "Malamanteau" page from Wikipedia
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Malamanteau Wikipedia Log for "Malamanteau"]
*Beutler, William (May 5, 2010) "[http://thewikipedian.net/2010/05/18/much-ado-about-malamanteau/ Much Ado About Malamanteau]". ''The Wikipedian''
*McKean, Erin (May 30, 2010) "[http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/05/30/one_day_wonder/ One Day Wonder]". ''The Boston Globe''
*R.L.G (Nov 4th 2010) "[http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2010/11/neologisms Eggcorn, mashup, malamanteau or other?]". ''The Economonist''
*July 17, 2007 "[http://ask.metafilter.com/67192/How-to-define-this-language-mistake How to define this language mistake?]" - MetaFilter thread with the first usage

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:CC-BY-SA comics]]
[[Category:Portmanteau‏‎]]

Talk:738: Incision

2013-10-13T10:39:27Z

Thokling: Created page with "Elucidated on the aspects of the game a bit more. ~~~~"

Elucidated on the aspects of the game a bit more. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 10:39, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

738: Incision

2013-10-13T10:38:54Z

Thokling: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 738
| date = May 10, 2010
| title = Incision
| image = incision.png
| titletext = At one point, by force of childhood habit, the doctor accidentally removed three or four organs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Operation (game)|Operation}} is a board game wherein one attempts to remove the organs of a patient with a pair of tweezers. A flat board has a cartoon image of a "patient", and dotted around various areas are holes inside of which contain plastic pieces representing the organs.

Additionally, each hole is lined with a metal connector, and the tweezers are metal connecting via wire to the board. When the tweezers makes contact with a metal connector, a buzzer sounds and a lamp on the patient's nose lights up to signal an error.

The game is notoriously difficult as the organs are quite small, and the buzzer is considered by players to be annoying, if not actually startling, particularly considering how much focus and steady hand is required to avoid the tweezers making contact with a metal connector.

In the comic, a child swallows a buzzer from such a board game, and the joke lies in the similarity between the game and actual surgery when the buzzer is brought into the mix. The title text brings this further by describing an incident where the doctor ended up removing several organs (the object of the game, but obviously not a good idea in real life).

==Transcript==
:[Two doctors wearing surgical masks are standing over a prone patient. One of them is poking the patient's chest.]
:Doctor: I'm making the incision above the left -
:BZZZZT!
:Doctor: Augh!
:October 8th, 2004:
:A child swallows an "Operation" buzzer, leading to the single most difficult surgery ever performed.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:670: Spinal Tap Amps

2013-09-29T22:49:43Z

Thokling:

Specifically, it's $166.66 recurring per unit of loud. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 22:49, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:670: Spinal Tap Amps

2013-09-29T22:49:18Z

Thokling: Created page with "Specifically, it's $166.66 recurring per unit of louder. ~~~~"

Specifically, it's $166.66 recurring per unit of louder. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 22:49, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

User talk:Thokling

2013-09-29T20:47:27Z

Thokling:

Please feel free to discuss me here.{{unsigned|Thokling}}
:Welcome here and please sign all your posts. The most important part is the timestamp, as you can see here ->.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:06, 29 September 2013 (UTC)
::That applies to every page I gather, including personal ones. Coolio. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 20:47, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

User talk:Thokling

2013-09-29T12:04:54Z

Thokling: Created page with "Please feel free to discuss me here."

Please feel free to discuss me here.

User:Thokling

2013-09-29T12:04:33Z

Thokling: Created page with "WOOT. I am thokling. I read. I reference. I research. I cause problems. Savvy? No problem."

WOOT. I am thokling. I read. I reference. I research. I cause problems.

Savvy? No problem.

Talk:641: Free

2013-09-29T12:02:54Z

Thokling:

"it doesn't contain a synthetic, lab-grown building material"

Actually asbestos is a natural material (so some marketers would have you believe it can't be bad). It used to be mined in Quebec.

----

Modified the above to switch the example from "cholesterol" to "fat". The statement:

:''A more realistic example can be found in various fruit- and vegetable-based foods that advertise themselves as "cholesterol-free," which is exactly what we would expect since cholesterol is only found in animals in nature.''

is false as plants do contain small amounts of cholesterol, although they tend to rely more on phytosterols for cellular function rather than cholesterol which animals rely upon (see [[wikipedia:Cholesterol#Physiology|Cholesterol:Physiology]]). For clarification, the term "cholesterol free" applies when there exists less than 2mg of cholesterol per serving (see [http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=101.62 FDA CFR Title 21 Subpart D 101.62], under ''(c)Fatty acid content claims''). [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 12:02, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

641: Free

2013-09-29T11:53:45Z

Thokling: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 641
| date = September 25, 2009
| title = Free
| image = free.png
| titletext = Asbestos is bad; definitely get the one on the right. Wait -- this one over here has no swine flu! Now I can't decide.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Asbestos}} is a fibrous material most commonly used for its heat-resistant properties. It was commonly used in housing insulation until its astonishingly destructive effects on human lungs were known. The use of asbestos in housing is now banned, but it is still quite common in laboratory hot pads, as well as in concrete industrial buildings where the risk of it getting into the air is minimal.

The comic depicts a common advertising trick taken to an absurd extreme; quite clearly all of the cereal products depicted are asbestos-free, but most have opted not to advertise the fact because it should be obvious. A more realistic example can be found in confectionary products, wherein the term "fat free" might be applied when it's clear that sugar, gelatin, and other ingredients involved in the product are in no way related to, or contain, fat.

Ironically, the "asbestos-free" disclaimer could also cause a customer to ''distrust'' the product on the grounds of "damning by faint praise" - if the best thing they can say about a product is that it doesn't contain a toxic building material, do we really want to know what actually ''is'' in this stuff?

The claim in the title-text - that the product has no {{w|swine flu}} - is equally superfluous, as any food product containing disease-causing viruses would be subject to recalls, severe fines, and quite a few people losing their jobs; the fact that the product is actually on a supermarket shelf implies that it has a stellar reputation for not causing serious illness. (Bacteria are another story, though - make sure to cook that chicken thoroughly, kids!)

==Transcript==
:[A shelf holds 3 boxes of cereal. Each box shows a bowl of cereal.]
:GenCo Oat Cereal
:StayPuft Oat Cereal
:RedFarm Oat Cereal (with additional text in a star) Asbestos-free!
:I hate whatever marketer first realized you could do this.

==Trivia==
*Impressive-sounding but meaningless advertising claims are revisited in [[1096: Clinically Studied Ingredient]].

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:633: Blockbuster Mining

2013-09-28T18:11:20Z

Thokling:

Why do we think that this is Danish? The hair isn't the same and there are no other indicators. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 12:59, 13 June 2013 (UTC)
:I'm also sure it's not [[Megan]], she isn't that violent. And for now we have chaos here because [[Danish]] is still at the transcript.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:45, 18 June 2013 (UTC)
::I'm only using Megan because it's drawn like Megan. Megan, like Cueball is basically the default girl. Her personality changes as necessary. Besides, we're seeing an actor play Harriet the Spy so none of the violence is a character trait. I'd classify it as Harriet the Spy, but it's not only not completely accurate but it steps on the punchline. [[User:LadyMondegreen|LadyMondegreen]] ([[User talk:LadyMondegreen|talk]]) 16:48, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
:::I will tag this as incomplete. Megan is not that violent and we still have to find a better solution.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:49, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
::::"Woman" is a fine alternative to "Megan", but too generic. "Female spy" might give away the punchline a little early. "Testosterette" looks too much like the name of a toaster pastry flavoured with bacon, gunshot and a hint of Jack Daniel's. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 18:11, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

Misuse of "to" in the title text. I'll check this out. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 19:22, 20 August 2013 (UTC)
:Randall has targeted grammar nazi's and people afflicted with OCD in the past. Consider yourself a member in a special breed of Internetter! [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 18:11, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

608: Form

2013-09-28T14:23:25Z

Thokling: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 608
| date = July 10, 2009
| title = Form
| image = form.png
| titletext = 'This space intentionally left blank' is less immediately provocative but more Hofstadterially confusing.
}}

==Explanation==
Application forms, examination papers, etc. sometimes have one or more sections with instructions not to write in them, as those areas are intended for those processing the paper (which includes the infamous phrases "for office use only", replacing "office" with "administrative" or "internal" in some cases).

Some people feel the need to write in the illegal section just to contradict the instructions, as does [[Cueball]] in the comic. In real life there are never usually any consequences for breaking this rule. However, in the comic, the form that Cueball wrote on was being filmed by armed men who respond to Cueball's disregard for rules by preparing their guns, thus presenting a potentially serious consequence for Cueball.

The title text refers to Douglas Hofstadter, an author associated with the philosophical concept of self-reference. "This space intentionally left blank" is "Hofstadterially confusing" because if a space on a form contains the words "This space intentionally left blank", then the space is not, in fact, left blank. (Douglas Hofstadter is also the subject of [[917: Hofstadter]].)

==Transcript==
:[There is a sheet of paper, with a series of check boxes. A white rectangle is the focus.]
:Do not write in this space.

:[Cueball is standing with a pencil, looking at the page.]

:[Cueball writes something on the page.]

:[A group of people with helmets, black goggles, and rifles look at display screens. There is a radar system on a table between them.]
:[The screens show sheets of paper. On one screen, it shows Cueball writing on one.]
:[One of the men arms his weapon.]
:''Cha-click''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

606: Cutting Edge

2013-09-28T14:10:16Z

Thokling: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 606
| date = July 6, 2009
| title = Cutting Edge
| image = cutting_edge.png
| titletext = I remember trying to log in to the original Command and Conquer servers a year or two back and feeling like I was knocking on the boarded-up gates of a ghost town.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Half-Life 2}} is a computer game, specifically a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter first person shooter], released in 2004. In the above comic, [[Cueball]] plays the game in 2009 since newer games usually require more recent and powerful computers which are more costly. However, even a very weak computer developed in 2009 will comfortably run a 2004 game as the technologies are much more likely to "match up". Newer games simply require more CPU power, more RAM and pricier graphics add-ons.

Additionally, the price for an older game is considerably less than those of the more recent variety. Even the price of a once-new, highly-anticipated [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_industry#Economics AAA] game is almost definitely guaranteed to have fallen due to the presence of newer games and the relative maturity of the present game. Most of the expected sales of a game happen near the release. A game would not be deemed that lucrative after 5 years, prompting a price drop to justify its sales or even printing. Sometimes, a game will be released with several, if not all, expansion packs at a fraction of the price of purchasing them all separately during the initial release.

On the last panel, "The cake is a lie" and "This was a triumph" are references to {{w|Portal (video game)|Portal}}, a video game released in late 2007. It is presumed that in 2013 Portal is also old-fashioned. Incidentally, both Portal and Half-Life 2 were released by the same company named {{w|Valve Corporation|Valve}}, and Portal 2 was released in 2011.

==Transcript==
[Megan is standing. Cueball sits at a computer.]
:Megan: Where've you been all week?
:Cueball: Playing Half-Life 2!
:Megan: ...that came out in 2004.

:Cueball: I get games on a five-year lag. That way, I never have to buy a high-end system, but get the same steadily-advancing gaming experience as people who do - and at a fraction of the price.

:Cueball: There are no downsides!
:Megan: I can think of ''one''...

:Early 2013.
:Cueball: Guys!
:Cueball: The cake is a lie!
:[Musical notes surround an italic line, suggesting Cueball is singing.]
:Cueball: ''This was a triumph.''
:Cueball: The cake is a lie!
:Megan, friend: ''Sigh''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Video games]]

Talk:545: Neutrality Schmeutrality

2013-09-26T20:17:49Z

Thokling:

What if instead of word count, it was determined by letter count. so insert a word with multiple spellings like "colour/color" and people will repeatedly edit and re-edit the word over and over until the servers crashed ? --[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 09:01, 26 June 2013 (UTC)ParadoX

I think that the idea is that the edit and re-editing would overload the servers without it being a change to a single word. [[User:Theo|Theo]] ([[User talk:Theo|talk]]) 21:06, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

:If Wikipedia's aim is to take a neutral stance, and Wikipedia is being exploited to determine which of two opposing sides receives a donation, Wikipedia's correct action would be to prevent the article from being written, thus enforcing Wikipedia's stance on neutrality. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 20:17, 26 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:545: Neutrality Schmeutrality

2013-09-26T20:17:26Z

Thokling:

Talk:524: Party

2013-09-25T09:27:53Z

Thokling:

''Yo, dawg, I heard you like to be rickrolled, so I rolled Rick into a rickroll so you could be Rick rickrolled rolled!'' [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 09:27, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:524: Party

2013-09-25T09:27:20Z

Thokling: Created page with "''Yo, dawg, I heard you like to be rickrolled, so I rolled Rick into a rickroll so you could be rickrolled!'' ~~~~"

''Yo, dawg, I heard you like to be rickrolled, so I rolled Rick into a rickroll so you could be rickrolled!'' [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 09:27, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:523: Decline

2013-09-25T09:25:20Z

Thokling:

"Wife"? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 00:33, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

:Indeed, plus the notion that Cueball had begun graphing everything at a particular point while prior data had been graphed suggests that he only began presenting this data to Megan at that point, and had been secretly, perhaps obsessively, keeping data well before in their relationship. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 09:25, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:508: Drapes

2013-09-25T08:56:05Z

Thokling:

Or it turns out she is Beret Guys sister and thought Cueball meant the interior design of her apartment.[[Special:Contributions/99.102.154.28|99.102.154.28]] 21:08, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

----

From my own image development work, the 3D effect of the hair in the comic can be achieved one of two ways. A layer consisting of the hair must exist on its own and then be duplicated on a new layer. The coloured layer must be in front of the noncoloured (original) layer:

:Simple method: desaturate (and darken as necessary) the original layer (its Z order causes it to be behind the coloured layer), offsetting it as desired. Then merge.

:Emboss method: desaturate and emboss the old layer (it should be behind the coloured layer as in the Simple method), and set the opacity of the new layer to 50%. Merge both layers together - as the desaturation and 50% opacity results in a 50% desaturation of the merged layer, adjust the saturation to restore the colour. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 08:56, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:503: Terminology

2013-09-25T08:35:24Z

Thokling:

Well, sitting in Europe, the East is in fact east and the West is in fact west of me. It's just a term made from an European point of view and has settled over time. The main problem is that east and west should be used as relative directions but are used absolute. (Contrary to north and south which can also be used absolute). --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 12:18, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
:I'm still accustomed to the use of the Pacific Ocean as the geographical split, centralising the Atlantic Ocean. However, since the UTC boundary sits east of the Atlantic, perhaps the East and West hemispheres should be reversed to match.

:Do we have enough dumptrucks to handle this formidable task? [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 08:35, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:503: Terminology

2013-09-25T08:35:09Z

Thokling:

Well, sitting in Europe, the East is in fact east and the West is in fact west of me. It's just a term made from an European point of view and has settled over time. The main problem is that east and west should be used as relative directions but are used absolute. (Contrary to north and south which can also be used absolute). --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 12:18, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
:I'm still accustomed to the use of the Pacific Ocean as the geographical split, centralising the Atlantic Ocean. However, since the UTC boundary sits east of the Atlantic, perhaps the East and West hemispheres should be reversed to match.

Do we have enough dumptrucks to handle this formidable task? [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 08:35, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:498: Secretary: Part 5

2013-09-25T08:17:00Z

Thokling:

The Tron video game was based on the movie Tron, not the other way around. Tron the movie was inspired by the video game Pong, but only in a general, Oooh -- computers! sense. (From Wikipedia: "Development of Tron began in 1976 when Lisberger became fascinated with the early video game Pong."){{unsigned|‎64.20.186.2}}
:You're quite correct: the game was, indeed, based on the movie. Made the necessary changes. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 08:17, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

498: Secretary: Part 5

2013-09-25T08:15:43Z

Thokling: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 498
| date = October 31, 2008
| title = Secretary: Part 5
| image = secretary part 5.png
| titletext = And they choose Al Gore as Internet Secretary.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the 5th and final comic in the Secretary story-arc. [[Black Hat]] is up to his usual shenanigans. Most of the comic happens in the {{w|United States Senate chamber|US Senate chamber room}}.

Of course, [[Playpen balls|playpen balls]] have been the topic of many comics before. Notably [[150: Grownups]].

The other reference of note is of the {{w|Tron (movie)|Tron}} universe. {{w|Tron (video game)|Tron}} was an arcade game, based on the {{w|Tron (movie)|movie}} of the same name, and both released in 1982. The characters would play on a grid in lightcycles which left behind walls of light. The objective of the game was to force the opponent to run into the wall of light, similar to the {{w|Snake (game)|Snake game}}. Obviously, there is no such grid by the Capitol.

There are also two obvious procedural irregularities in the comic. First, a candidate cannot be nominated (a prerequisite for a nomination hearing) without the President sending the candidate's name to the Senate. Second, the Senate or a Senate committee cannot sentence a person to death, as that is a role for the courts.

{{w|Al Gore}} was the {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice President}} under President {{w|Bill Clinton}} and ran as the Democratic nominee for President in 2000.

Al Gore has had {{w|Al Gore and information technology|quite a history with the Internet}}, including one oft-misquoted (rather, quoted out of context) interview with CNN in which he told {{w|Wolf Blitzer}}, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Many spun this to mean he claimed to have actually invented the Internet himself, although its pioneers agreed with Gore's assessment.

All comics in the [[:Category:Secretary|Secretary]] series:
*[[494: Secretary: Part 1]]
*[[495: Secretary: Part 2]]
*[[496: Secretary: Part 3]]
*[[497: Secretary: Part 4]]
*[[498: Secretary: Part 5]]

This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.

==Transcript==
:[The Senate. Black Hat sits before the committee at his hearing to become Internet Secretary.]
:Chairman: We were convened here to review your nomination for the position of internet secretary.

:Chairman: However, on review of your qualifications, we've decided to sentence you to death.

:Chairman: An unorthodox move, sure. But the vote was unanimous.
:[Black Hat is leaning back in his chair.]

:[Meanwhile...]
:Tron Paul: There's no grid! How do I steeeeer!!!!!

:[Back at the Senate. Black Hat is standing.]
:Black Hat: Well, it's been fun. But I was never actually interested in taking the position. Good lord; listening to internet arguments all day? No thank you.

:Chairman: Then why did you sit through all those hearings?

:Black Hat: It was taking us a while to move the pumps into the maintenance tunnels.

:[The committee members murmur among themselves.]

:[There is a panel in the floor between Black Hat and the committee.]
:''RUMBLE''
:''plink plink''

:[A red playpen ball bursts out of the panel and rolls towards the committee chairman.]
:''plink''

:[The room is still. Black Hat's arms are folded.]

:[A geyser of red, white, and blue playpen balls bursts through the panel in the floor. Black Hat is already gone.]
:''FOOM''

:[The committee members chase Black Hat out the door as the Senate floor floods with playpen balls.]

:[The chase continues into the rotunda, as does the flood of playpen balls.]

:[Black Hat stands in the middle of the rotunda as it fills with playpen balls, surrounded by members of the committee.]
:Committee Members: Security! Someone!
:Committee Members: Get Him!

:[Tron Paul bursts through the wall.]
:''CRASH''
:Tron Paul: Aaaaa!

:[Black Hat grabs the bottom of the lightcycle as Tron Paul goes by.]
:''snag''
:Tron Paul: Hey!

:[Black Hat swings onto the top of the light cycle.]

:[Black Hat crouches on top of the light cycle.]
:Tron Paul: Get Off!

:[Tron Paul and Black Hat crash through the far wall of the rotunda.]
:''CRASH''

:[Tron Paul hits the ground.]
:''WHAM''
:Tron Paul: Ow!

:[Black Hat runs away.]
:Tron Paul: Ughhh.

:[The lightcycle disappears.]
:Tron Paul: I feel queasy...
:Cory Doctorow, above: Hey!
:Black Hat: Hi, Cory.
:Cory Doctorow: Need a lift?
:Black Hat: Sure.

:{Black Hat and Cory Doctorow depart in Doctorow's balloon.}
:Cory Doctorow: So are you, like, a fugitive now?
:Black Hat: Well, I never did give them my name...

:[In the rotunda.]
:[Senators play in the playpen balls.]
:Senators: Let's jump down here from the balcony!
:Senators: Senior senators first!
:Senators: Wheeee!
:Senators: I'm a submarine!
:[All is forgiven.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]
[[Category:Secretary|05]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

498: Secretary: Part 5

2013-09-25T08:15:20Z

Thokling: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 498
| date = October 31, 2008
| title = Secretary: Part 5
| image = secretary part 5.png
| titletext = And they choose Al Gore as Internet Secretary.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the 5th and final comic in the Secretary story-arc. [[Black Hat]] is up to his usual shenanigans. Most of the comic happens in the {{w|United States Senate chamber|US Senate chamber room}}.

Of course, [[Playpen balls|playpen balls]] have been the topic of many comics before. Notably [[150: Grownups]].

The other reference of note is of the {{w|Tron (movie)|Tron}} universe. {{w|Tron (video game)|Tron}} was an arcade game, based on the {{w|Tron (movie)|movie}} of the same name, and both released in the same year. The characters would play on a grid in lightcycles which left behind walls of light. The objective of the game was to force the opponent to run into the wall of light, similar to the {{w|Snake (game)|Snake game}}. Obviously, there is no such grid by the Capitol.

There are also two obvious procedural irregularities in the comic. First, a candidate cannot be nominated (a prerequisite for a nomination hearing) without the President sending the candidate's name to the Senate. Second, the Senate or a Senate committee cannot sentence a person to death, as that is a role for the courts.

{{w|Al Gore}} was the {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice President}} under President {{w|Bill Clinton}} and ran as the Democratic nominee for President in 2000.

Al Gore has had {{w|Al Gore and information technology|quite a history with the Internet}}, including one oft-misquoted (rather, quoted out of context) interview with CNN in which he told {{w|Wolf Blitzer}}, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Many spun this to mean he claimed to have actually invented the Internet himself, although its pioneers agreed with Gore's assessment.

All comics in the [[:Category:Secretary|Secretary]] series:
*[[494: Secretary: Part 1]]
*[[495: Secretary: Part 2]]
*[[496: Secretary: Part 3]]
*[[497: Secretary: Part 4]]
*[[498: Secretary: Part 5]]

This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.

==Transcript==
:[The Senate. Black Hat sits before the committee at his hearing to become Internet Secretary.]
:Chairman: We were convened here to review your nomination for the position of internet secretary.

:Chairman: However, on review of your qualifications, we've decided to sentence you to death.

:Chairman: An unorthodox move, sure. But the vote was unanimous.
:[Black Hat is leaning back in his chair.]

:[Meanwhile...]
:Tron Paul: There's no grid! How do I steeeeer!!!!!

:[Back at the Senate. Black Hat is standing.]
:Black Hat: Well, it's been fun. But I was never actually interested in taking the position. Good lord; listening to internet arguments all day? No thank you.

:Chairman: Then why did you sit through all those hearings?

:Black Hat: It was taking us a while to move the pumps into the maintenance tunnels.

:[The committee members murmur among themselves.]

:[There is a panel in the floor between Black Hat and the committee.]
:''RUMBLE''
:''plink plink''

:[A red playpen ball bursts out of the panel and rolls towards the committee chairman.]
:''plink''

:[The room is still. Black Hat's arms are folded.]

:[A geyser of red, white, and blue playpen balls bursts through the panel in the floor. Black Hat is already gone.]
:''FOOM''

:[The committee members chase Black Hat out the door as the Senate floor floods with playpen balls.]

:[The chase continues into the rotunda, as does the flood of playpen balls.]

:[Black Hat stands in the middle of the rotunda as it fills with playpen balls, surrounded by members of the committee.]
:Committee Members: Security! Someone!
:Committee Members: Get Him!

:[Tron Paul bursts through the wall.]
:''CRASH''
:Tron Paul: Aaaaa!

:[Black Hat grabs the bottom of the lightcycle as Tron Paul goes by.]
:''snag''
:Tron Paul: Hey!

:[Black Hat swings onto the top of the light cycle.]

:[Black Hat crouches on top of the light cycle.]
:Tron Paul: Get Off!

:[Tron Paul and Black Hat crash through the far wall of the rotunda.]
:''CRASH''

:[Tron Paul hits the ground.]
:''WHAM''
:Tron Paul: Ow!

:[Black Hat runs away.]
:Tron Paul: Ughhh.

:[The lightcycle disappears.]
:Tron Paul: I feel queasy...
:Cory Doctorow, above: Hey!
:Black Hat: Hi, Cory.
:Cory Doctorow: Need a lift?
:Black Hat: Sure.

:{Black Hat and Cory Doctorow depart in Doctorow's balloon.}
:Cory Doctorow: So are you, like, a fugitive now?
:Black Hat: Well, I never did give them my name...

:[In the rotunda.]
:[Senators play in the playpen balls.]
:Senators: Let's jump down here from the balcony!
:Senators: Senior senators first!
:Senators: Wheeee!
:Senators: I'm a submarine!
:[All is forgiven.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]
[[Category:Secretary|05]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:497: Secretary: Part 4

2013-09-25T08:04:03Z

Thokling:

The "pew" sound effect that Ron Paul fires back is also a joke -- go look up Pew Charitable Trust on Wikipedia: "Although today the Pew Charitable Trusts is non-partisan and non-ideological, Joseph Pew and his heirs were themselves politically conservative. The mission of the J. Howard Pew Freedom Trust, one of the seven funds, was to "acquaint the American people with the evils of bureaucracy and the values of a free market and to inform our people of the struggle, persecution, hardship, sacrifice and death by which freedom of the individual was won"."

Also, I am 99.9% sure that Tron was not based on a video game; any video games were based on the movie. {{unsigned|‎64.20.186.2}}

:It would appear the Light Cycles portion of Tron is based on a game called "Blockade". In fact, before Tron appeared, I fondly recall playing various versions of this game ([[wikipedia:Snake (video game)]]) on home computers before it became repopularised on Nokia handsets and what-not. Light Disc appears to be based on Pong, although the element of the player having a 2D field of movement was a cool touch. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 08:04, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:488: Steal This Comic

2013-09-25T06:43:55Z

Thokling:

I'm not sure how credible Natural News is.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/NaturalNews
Then again, I'm not sure how credible RationalWiki is, either. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 16:08, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:I'm not sure how credible The Internet is. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 06:43, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:473: Still Raw

2013-09-24T12:04:32Z

Thokling:

The explanation says: "... Pluto has been the ninth planet in our solar system until 2006 ...".

It should says 'the tenth' isn'it?
[[User:SioD|SioD]] ([[User talk:SioD|talk]]) 14:52, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

:Pluto was discovered in 1930, and has been since the ninth body to be discovered and classified as a "planet". The sentence is a temporal rather than spacial reference, if that clears up any confusion. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 12:04, 24 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:432: Journal 4

2013-09-22T15:06:05Z

Thokling:

Black hat is going *really* out of character here. Lovesickness in this callous troll? Blasphemy! [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 03:34, 30 October 2012 (UTC)
:We all have our moments. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 15:06, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:411: Techno

2013-09-22T13:04:34Z

Thokling: Created page with "I had a hard drive once, MFM or RLL I cannot recall, which periodically would make an odd RRRRRRRR noise (possibly due to lack of calibration or vibration reduction somewhere)..."

I had a hard drive once, MFM or RLL I cannot recall, which periodically would make an odd RRRRRRRR noise (possibly due to lack of calibration or vibration reduction somewhere) to which I referred as my "heavy metal drive".

Contemporary techno is rather reminiscent of 1541 read/write problems. I aver that technology originally spawned the term "head banging", which completes the cycle of metal versus techno. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 13:04, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:380: Emoticon

2013-09-22T11:08:38Z

Thokling:

This ''may'' also be a reference or allusion to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Langford#Basilisks David Langford's basilisks], which are computer-generated images (mostly fractals) that kill or otherwise incapacitate people by triggering faults or overloads common to human neuropathways. ...I think it's just about the humor in a mythological basilisk's power transferring via emoticons, though. [[User:JET73L|JET73L]] ([[User talk:JET73L|talk]]) 16:05, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

<BSLSK05> :) {{unsigned ip|173.72.159.14}}

Perhaps Cueball isn't dead, but petrified, because he saw the eyes indirectly? Like in Harry Potter. [[Special:Contributions/121.99.61.70|121.99.61.70]] 21:10, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

:The X'd eyes and skull floating above [[Cueball]] indicates that the basilisk was, indeed, successful in its task. For those concerned about the paradox between "Cueball"'s untimely demise in this comic and his future appearances, consider this a parallel reality. Your brain is safe! [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 05:50, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

Is this the last comic with a CRT monitor? [[Special:Contributions/89.243.117.162|89.243.117.162]] 20:57, 14 August 2013 (UTC)
:Good question, I did add a category for this so we can collect them.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:26, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:380: Emoticon

2013-09-22T11:07:45Z

Thokling:

This ''may'' also be a reference or allusion to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Langford#Basilisks David Langford's basilisks], which are computer-generated images (mostly fractals) that kill or otherwise incapacitate people by triggering faults or overloads common to human neuropathways. ...I think it's just about the humor in a mythological basilisk's power transferring via emoticons, though. [[User:JET73L|JET73L]] ([[User talk:JET73L|talk]]) 16:05, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

<BSLSK05> :) {{unsigned ip|173.72.159.14}}

Perhaps Cueball isn't dead, but petrified, because he saw the eyes indirectly? Like in Harry Potter. [[Special:Contributions/121.99.61.70|121.99.61.70]] 21:10, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

:The X'd eyes and skull floating above [[Cueball]] indicates that the basilisk was, indeed, successful in its task. For those concerned about the paradox between "Cueball"'s untimely demise in this comic and his future appearances, keep in mind that "Cueball", as with other names, is just a monicker assigned by "Explain xkcd" in instances where the lead character is not assigned a name in many instances, and this fellow is just some random individual in the Internets. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 05:50, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

Is this the last comic with a CRT monitor? [[Special:Contributions/89.243.117.162|89.243.117.162]] 20:57, 14 August 2013 (UTC)
:Good question, I did add a category for this so we can collect them.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:26, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:380: Emoticon

2013-09-22T05:50:53Z

Thokling:

This ''may'' also be a reference or allusion to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Langford#Basilisks David Langford's basilisks], which are computer-generated images (mostly fractals) that kill or otherwise incapacitate people by triggering faults or overloads common to human neuropathways. ...I think it's just about the humor in a mythological basilisk's power transferring via emoticons, though. [[User:JET73L|JET73L]] ([[User talk:JET73L|talk]]) 16:05, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

<BSLSK05> :) {{unsigned ip|173.72.159.14}}

Perhaps Cueball isn't dead, but petrified, because he saw the eyes indirectly? Like in Harry Potter. [[Special:Contributions/121.99.61.70|121.99.61.70]] 21:10, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

:The X'd eyes and skull floating above [[Cueball]] indicates that the basilisk was, indeed, successful in its task. For those concerned about the paradox between "Cueball"'s untimely demise in this comic and his future appearances, keep in mind that "Cueball", as with other names, is just a monicker assigned by "Explain xkcd", and this fellow is just some random individual in the Internets. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 05:50, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

Is this the last comic with a CRT monitor? [[Special:Contributions/89.243.117.162|89.243.117.162]] 20:57, 14 August 2013 (UTC)
:Good question, I did add a category for this so we can collect them.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:26, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Talk:376: Bug

2013-09-22T05:34:01Z

Thokling:

That is why on Unix epoch (the <nowiki>time_t</nowiki> type) is '''signed''' type, and covers dates before ''epoch''. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 19:52, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
:Ohh, and much more is missing. I did mark it as incomplete. We also have to talk about the time frame the 32bit ''epoch'' does cover, and what would be changed by using a 64bit variable. What will happen on 19 January 2038?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:17, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
::The general hope, it appears, is that 64-bit integers will be firmly in place, having ousted the feeble 32-bit integers from the system time. As has been demonstrated in innumerable instances, it's rather difficult to eliminate legacy code from systems due to attempts to support older systems in a backward-compatible methodology. In short, however, it will take time to resolve time. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 05:34, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

366: Your Mom

2013-09-22T01:07:42Z

Thokling: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number =366
| date =January 4, 2008
| title =Your Mom
| image =your_mom.png
| titletext ='It's either 'your mom' jokes or me' 'Then I, like so many men before me, must reluctantly choose your mom.'
}}

==Explanation==
"Your mom" jokes are frequently used by children and pre-teens (perhaps reaching their peak in middle school), and are seen by adults as being a sign of immaturity. Especially when used with great regularity.

We enter in the middle of a conversation between [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] about the status of their relationship. Megan has apparently just said that Cueball turns every conversation into a "your mom" joke and it's becoming unbearable. Cueball immediately turns ''that'' sentence into a "your mom" joke, and that seems to be the last straw.

For good measure, Cueball throws in a "That's what she said!" reference, which is a modern American version of the British expression "Said the actress to the bishop". It's used for purposes of double entendre, and gained its most recent surge of popularity as Michael Scott's catchphrase on the television series ''{{w|The Office}}.'' Megan simply replies that, "Yes. Yes, it is."

The title text takes the joke a little further, suggesting that Megan's mother has had many lovers in the past.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Well, your MOM turns every conversation into a "your mom" joke and it's becoming unbearable.
:Megan: I'm serious; I can't take this anymore. I'm leaving.
:Cueball: ...That's what SHE said!
:Megan: Yes. Yes, it is.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:354: Startling

2013-09-21T15:06:18Z

Thokling:

This comic isn't that simple:
*what is Cueball doing every few months?
*is 2004 correct? If yes, what does it mean?
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:09, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

: Every few months, Cueball halts his work and realizes that he is in the twenty-first century. Someone who grew up in anticipation of the new millennium (and the new century along with it) may take quite a while to adjust to it. The second bullet point, however, requires some research. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 07:18, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

"in which he lives in" – this is redundant. It should be "in which he lives. This could be a reference to the song "Live and Let Die", but unless this reference is more clearly explained, it does not belong in the explanation.{{unsigned ip|75.69.96.225}}

:I would expand on this thought and state it should be altered to "in about the time in which he lives in is living in" just to clarify specifically that it's that specific time in which he specifically lives in generally. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 15:06, 21 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:344: 1337: Part 4

2013-09-21T13:42:05Z

Thokling:

It's the piping of "find ~" (all files in Mom's current login's home directory) and "find ~nomad" (all files in the home directory of user "nomad", presumably that's Elaine's account also on Mom's machine, having recently been on a 'life journey' of self-discovery and learning) through the shred command that is doing the directory recursion, as part of the "find" command's default behaviour (IIRC). I've never used the shredding command myself, but I'd say that it's operating on the list given it by the "find", rather than doing the directory-burrowing itself, for which I'd expect parameters of a "~/* ~/.* -r" (or "-R" or "-s") type of variant to activate the "all files, in all directories from here" inspection... ICBW. Best to check the man pages, though... (Also Mom's obviously got maximum rights for herself, or is drilling through su, as I'd expect.) [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 08:30, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

:"find" is passed a variety of arguments - an argument that is not part of an optional parameter (i.e. -name \*.php would specify all files ending with ".php" - the backslash is used to prevent bash or another shell from expanding the parameter into a full list of .php files) is treated as a file or directory to begin searching. So "find ~" would begin searching in the user's own home directory; "find ~nomad" would begin the search in the home directory of the user "nomad". All file and directory names are sent to stdout (standard output).

:Piping the result requires the use of the | symbol (shift-backslash). It's used to pipe data from stdout to stdin (standard input).

:"xargs" is a Linux command that constructs command lines by reading a list of files from stdin and treating each with a command (and optional arguments) specified after "xargs".

:"shred" is a program that takes a filename as a parameter and overwrites the file repeatedly to keep the original contents, which can be discerned using increasingly-expensive hardware solutions, from being pieced together.

:With this in mind:

::find ~ | xargs shred

:1) finds all files (and directories) in the hierarchy of the user's home directory, and sends the list to stdout;
:2) the list gets piped to "xargs", which
:3) passes each file to "shred" for shredding.

:Issues regarding symbolic links, filtering directory names from the operation, and modifying the operating parameters of "shred" will be left to the aspiring sysadmin to discover for theirself. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 13:42, 21 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:292: goto

2013-09-20T16:05:48Z

Thokling:

Note that the concept of ''goto being harmful'' fortunately is weaning a little.
Jumping forwards in code to the end where error handling is implemented is actually in wider use now; including many locations in the Linux kernel. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 09:53, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
:Actually, ''goto'' has been used quite with some frequency in low-level code in C programming over the years, so it's not altogether surprising that it is used in the Linux kernel, or any other tight bit of code. Given the "advance" of programming languages, I wouldn't say that there's been any weaning, except off of the concept of an unstructured goto in more recent languages. Admittedly, there's a schism between the low-level (that is, near-to-assembly) coders who more readily use ''goto'' because in the end, that's what the compiler reduces code branching down to, and developers using higher-level languages (that is, more highly abstracted, more removed from ''1 statement ~ 1 machine instruction'' languages) avoiding such because alternative structures abound, making ''goto'' somewhat unnecessary. There has been a bit of a dogmatic approach to teaching various languages, as in "thou shalt not use ''goto'' lest thou produce monsterous, unmaintainable code!" applied that many if not most developers observe; the humor in the panel is that this dogma is manifested in the appearance of a literal monster (a velociraptor, no less...) -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 05:08, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
::From an historical perspective, in the 80's, back when BASIC was the norm for developing proggies on home computers, because code blocks (begin...end, { ... }, etc.) were nonexistent, one had the option of two keywords: GOTO and GOSUB. In the case of branching beyond code that wasn't executed, many programmers abused GOTO even beyond the necessity of its use. This was a fairly hot topic in home-computing magazines at the time, again with BASIC in mind, and it appears that developers using C, [Turbo] Pascal and the like, having hangups about BASIC, emitted serious frowns at the idea of using GOTO at all. But for quick jumps that avoid having to tab forward entire blocks of code, GOTO (case notwithstanding) certainly has my support. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 16:05, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:221: Random Number

2013-09-20T15:35:20Z

Thokling:

The syntax looks like perfectly valid java to me.[[Special:Contributions/213.64.1.189|213.64.1.189]] 22:00, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

Looks like Java to me too.{{unsigned ip|139.216.242.254}}
:How can Java come to mind when it is pure C syntax, which predates Java by several years and is arguably better known. A feature of most languages is that they have a "C-like syntax". See, a whole page on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_C-based_programming_languages [[Special:Contributions/122.161.20.238|122.161.20.238]] 19:53, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
::"C-like syntax" is the best explain, this covers all. Even when I disagree that it's better known than Java these days.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:04, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
:::Just to be particularly pedantic, the double slash for the comment (which is generally utilised in object oriented C-style languages) should be avoided in C to retain backwards compatibility with C89, although it's a valid construct in C99. I'd offer, too, that the lack of library inclusion suggests this isn't necessarily Java, though it's been a couple years since I've had the opportunity to code in it. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 15:35, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

As a proof of good joke, RFC 1149 was successfully implemented several times. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:55, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

Talk:278: Black Hat Support

2013-09-20T15:24:23Z

Thokling:

select() calls are used to poll sockets for activity (read, write and exceptions), and I suspect the issue was that the timeout value (which is specified as part of select()'s parameters) was set too high judging from the overall content; Web servers and clients alike would suffer considerable latency as a result of waiting too long for I/O ports to activate. Thus it's likely the Apache install was misconfigured somehow, since the default settings should be sufficient for most purposes (in my limited experience since I work solely with nginx these days).

I had this problem writing a server in PHP, and it took a while to get PHP (under Win32) to stop hogging my precious CPU cycles by successful application of nonblocking sockets and a short timeout parameter. [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 15:24, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:278: Black Hat Support

2013-09-20T15:23:36Z

Thokling:

select() calls are used to poll sockets for activity (read, write and exceptions), and I suspect the issue was that the timeout value (which is specified as part of select()'s parameters) was set too high judging from the overall content; Web servers and clients alike would suffer considerable latency as a result of waiting too long for I/O ports to activate. Thus it's likely the Apache install was misconfigured somehow, since the default settings should be sufficient for most purposes (in my limited experience since I work solely with nginx these days).

I had this problem writing a server in PHP, and it took a while to get PHP (under Win32) to stop hogging my precious CPU cycles by successful application of nonblocking sockets and a short timeout parameter.[[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 15:21, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

Talk:278: Black Hat Support

2013-09-20T15:21:46Z

Thokling: Created page with "select() calls are used to poll sockets for activity (read, write and exceptions), and I suspect the issue was that the timeout value (which is specified as part of select()'s..."

select() calls are used to poll sockets for activity (read, write and exceptions), and I suspect the issue was that the timeout value (which is specified as part of select()'s parameters) was set too high judging from the overall content; Web servers and clients alike would suffer considerable latency as a result of waiting too long for I/O ports to activate. Thus it's likely the Apache install was misconfigured somehow, since the default settings should be sufficient for most purposes (in my limited experience since I work solely with nginx these days).

I had this problem writing a server in PHP, and it took a while to get PHP (under Win32) to stop hogging my precious CPU cycles by successful application of nonblocking sockets and a short timeout parameter. *flex* [[User:Thokling|Thokling]] ([[User talk:Thokling|talk]]) 15:21, 20 September 2013 (UTC)