https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=VirginiaReaderexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-19T13:15:16ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2099:_Missal_of_Silos&diff=1682272099: Missal of Silos2019-01-16T22:45:37Z<p>VirginiaReader: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2099<br />
| date = January 16, 2019<br />
| title = Missal of Silos<br />
| image = missal_of_silos.png<br />
| titletext = Welcome to Wyoming, motto "We'd like to clarify that Cheyenne Mountain is in Colorado."<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Cremated by a BOB. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
{{w|Approximate string matching|Fuzzy, or approximate, string matching}} is a technique used for searching text for specified "strings" of characters. Normal string matching would only find results that fit the search exactly (searching for "''missile''" would find only occurrences of "''missile''". Fuzzy string matching instead finds results that are "close enough" by some metric (searching for "''missile''" would find "''missile''" but also close variants like "''missal''" or "''missel''"). This is often used in search engines, as typos, misspellings, and inexact searches are commonplace.<br />
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Missile silos are often thought to be the first targeting priority in event of a nuclear strike, in hopes of preventing retaliation from the target. If a list of potential nuclear missile targets were stored, and a fuzzy search was looking for "missile silos", the {{w|Missal of Silos}} would most likely be returned as a result and could be made a target. <br />
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{{w|Cheyenne Mountain}} is a mountain in Colorado, which houses an underground compound (aptly named the {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex}}) designed to withstand a nuclear strike, armed with missiles of their own. {{w|Cheyenne, Wyoming}}, on the other hand, is the capital of Wyoming. The residents of Cheyenne, Wyoming would prefer their home isn't the target of a nuclear attack because of confusion with Cheyenne Mountain{{Citation needed}}. However, Cheyenne is the home of F.E. Warren Air Force Base. F.E.Warren is home to a wing of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. Presumably it is every bit as much of a target as Cheyenne Mountain.<br />
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==Trivia==<br />
The transcript of the Wikipedia article shown on the comic is currently dramatically different from the article today; this is because a spurt of editing took place on Wikipedia on the day of the comic, since xkcd and Wikipedia editing have similar target demographics.<br />
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This "xkcd-Wikipedia effect" has happened before. One other example of this revolved around [[878: Model Rail]], in which the alt-text mentioned that the debate over the title of the HO/H0 system was disturbingly long, and "coincidentally", the talk page debate got a little longer on that very day.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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:'''Missal of Silos'''<br />
:<small>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</small><br />
:The {{w|Missal}} of Silos is the oldest known {{w|paper}} document created in the Christian West; it is 11th century in date.[1]<br />
:The missal is held in the library of the {{w|Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos}} near {{w|Burgos, Spain}}. It is one of a number of liturgical manuscripts...<br />
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:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Spain would like to remind everyone not to use fuzzy string matching in their nuclear strike target lists.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Wikipedia]]</div>VirginiaReader