Talk:3008: Proterozoic Rocks

2024-11-07T15:03:01Z

UnbiasedBrigade:

So the last panel refers to the unseen birth of a rock? How are rocks even born?:
:Farther - does is mean father back, or further ahead in time? If ahead it could mean Randall do not think there will be any eyes left to see in 500 million years time. Which is not unlikely. Earth will not stay inhabitable much longer than that (probably 800 million years, then the seas will have evaporated). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:30, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:A few ways. Fusion likely formed many elements, and neutron star death possibly the rest of the naturally occurring ones. When those started sticking together they would form rocks. The type likely being referred to here is probably sediment being compressed and former a cohesive stone, magma crystalizing, or compression of the latter two types of rocks into different types of rocks. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.124.222|172.71.124.222]] 06:52, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:I think in this context it was by up welling magma and they are only rare because plate tectonics and erosion has recycled 99.9X% of them. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 07:58, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Makes me think of the manga ''Houseki No Kuni'' (''Land of the Lustrous'') and how effortlessly it depicts thousands and millions of years passing in a blink. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.228|162.158.159.228]] 08:00, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Guess Randall didn't want to acknowledge the results. Can't say I blame him. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 08:16, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Well it did end in an all black panel... Like his mood. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:30, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Maybe he thinks she can still win? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.31.39|172.71.31.39]] 13:05, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Oh, I think everything in this comic speaks that Randall is acutely aware of the results. Meditating on eon-old stones is a mental health exercise. I feel him. - and gave the explanation a try. [[User:Transgalactic|Transgalactic]] ([[User talk:Transgalactic|talk]]) 13:49, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Oh, I ''like'' that title text. It has a poetic quality. (It refers to when various part of animal anatomy first evolved, but does so in a really nice way.) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.24|162.158.74.24]] 08:47, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

I'd suggest that the explanation should at least include the other interpretation of "farther", namely "farther back in time". I think that's the more obvious one, personally: he's saying these rocks are a billion years old, eyes evolved 500 million years ago and that vast abyss of time "stretches back as far as the eye can see ... and then 500 million years farther" [back]. As in, these rocks existed for 500 million years in a world where there were no eyes. Right? I don't know how the future got involved, it seems to be pretty clearly about the past.[[User:ModelD|ModelD]] ([[User talk:ModelD|talk]]) 14:25, 7 November 2024 (UTC)
:Yeah, that description of 'farther back in time' really seems to make more sense here, since the comic talks about how the rocks were there for roughly that long before eyes existed, and it keeps with the poetic, reflective nature of the rest of the comic, while the future interpretation feels like a bit of a jump from one theme to another. [[User:UnbiasedBrigade|UnbiasedBrigade]] ([[User talk:UnbiasedBrigade|talk]]) 15:03, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1172: Workflow

2024-01-18T11:53:24Z

UnbiasedBrigade:

It's not a bug, it's a feature! '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:42, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

What? The explanation makes no sense. Where did the user reconfiguring his CPU to overheat upon pressing control come from?[[Special:Contributions/67.5.239.109|67.5.239.109]] 06:27, 11 February 2013 (UTC) Edit: I was referring to the actual explanation which has since been edited, not the comic itself. I understood that, but the explanation was quoting stuff that wasn't in the comic.[[Special:Contributions/70.199.230.162|70.199.230.162]] 18:35, 12 February 2013 (UTC)
:It's not 'from' anything. It's just an extreme and humorously far-fetched example of how a user might put a bug to use. He used the bug so he wouldn't have to reach for his actual control button, a 'horrifying' hack which works for him. [[Special:Contributions/24.105.141.150|24.105.141.150]] 17:21, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

No idea where this coming from, but reminds me [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=656433 this bug] and [http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#fx7 this reaction to it]. Firefox is good example in general: about:config was obviously CREATED to make much more settings available that is sane to put in configuration windows. On the other hand, this problem is old, so the comix is probably about some other, more recent problem, possibly in completely different software. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:39, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

I'm constantly running stuff like Folding@Home, but I usually underclock my components to conserve power and lengthen the lifespan. However, I created a macro that overclocks my GPU at the press of a button, and I use it to act as a heater for my room whenever I get cold. It works. Those children could follow my example. [[Special:Contributions/70.31.159.230|70.31.159.230]] 15:05, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

I think this is a jab at Windows 8, only an upside-down one - since the comic is about a lone protester as opposed to the general dissatisfaction with Tile World. Also: Let's wire the computer components (and a heat sink) into an office chair. Would sell like crazy in the North.

I think it would be nice to include in the explanation, for people unfamiliar with Emacs, that most macros require you to type Control something. It's common to remap Ctrl to the Caps Lock position so that it's easier and faster to reach. [[Special:Contributions/189.123.138.144|189.123.138.144]] 17:32, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

I've learned long ago to never assume that my personal expectations will help everybody. To never ignore feedback from your core users (who else would stick around and use such a buggy system?). And that if you taking other's choice away to save them from themselves, try to give a quick alternative, such as a hint on how to modify the script to look for prolonged space-bar commands and engage control button (perhaps that user is disabled?) - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 23:53, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

It's quite possible that this is a reference to [https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=30475 this], which is a relatively famous bug that got an incredibly angry reaction. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.230|199.27.128.230]] 19:29, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Perfect example: [https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20071214-00/?p=24163 The compatibility constraints of your side effects: Beeping] [[User:Solomon|Solomon]] ([[User talk:Solomon|talk]]) 03:53, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

;Horrifying

Doesn't the admin rather mean, that it's horrifying that the user's workaround does not work anymore, and not, that he considers the workaround itself horrible?
--[[Special:Contributions/188.109.179.0|188.109.179.0]] 10:43, 13 August 2013 (UTC)
:No for sure he finds it horrifying that some user would use an error that could overheat the system as a way to "press" ctrl key. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:33, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

"std::cin no longer overheats the CPU when you hold down spacebar" [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2013/06/28/c-11-14-stl-features-fixes-and-breaking-changes-in-vs-2013.aspx from here]. I chuckled when I was reading this. Maybe there are references buried in the comments, too. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.128|108.162.254.128]] 21:11, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
:It does. A user called JB said "Although please can you implement an option to reinstate the cpu heating when space bar is pressed feature though, as I have code that relies on this feature."
even better one of the MS devs replied "JB: That's horrifying." about half way through one of their replies {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.158}}

Can we point out that Hyrum named the law after himself, and references this comic at the end of his explanation of the effect, and now this site's explanation references that page? I wonder when the citogenesis cycle will be completed?...
(As an aside, how do you combine an ellipsis and a question mark? "...?", "..?", "?...", or "?..!@#$%^&*()_+'"'?nothisisstillinsidethequotes,itjustcontainsadoublequoteinit...?"?) --[[User:UnbiasedBrigade|UnbiasedBrigade]] ([[User talk:UnbiasedBrigade|talk]]) 11:53, 18 January 2024 (UTC)

==Tone==
Current revision says this: "A similar effect may be caused by other improvements, particularly those which involve changes in the user interface."

However, the changes in question are precisely those ''not'' universally agreed to be improvements. While some cases like the one in the comic are ridiculous, others are emphatically not and are in fact near-universally agreed to be dumb. As such, referring to the general case as "improvements" is not really viable.

I'd have edited to "changes" myself, but that'd create a repeated word so it's kind of clunky. Does anyone have any suggestions for more neutral terms? [[User:Magic9mushroom|Magic9mushroom]] ([[User talk:Magic9mushroom|talk]]) 13:02, 18 August 2020 (UTC)
:Done. [[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 13:30, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3008: Proterozoic Rocks

Talk:1172: Workflow