explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1403: Thesis Defense

2014-08-07T16:19:43Z

Vorik111:

Sorry, but if your best defense is frightening counter attack a good offense will destroy you. The best defense is a good offense because a weakened or destroyed opponent can mount no offense.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.132|173.245.48.132]] 05:58, 4 August 2014 (UTC)BluDgeons

:Depends on type of counter attack. For example, the best defense against missiles is to fire anti-missile missiles, which may be seen as type of attack. Of course, the phrase is older than missiles, but I believe similar principles applied: not retaliation nor first strike, but attacking the enemy units which are trying to attack you. Alternatively, attacking enemy army supply lines may also force it to interrupt her attack on you. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:22, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

::No. Anti-missile missiles are an absolutely dreadful defense agaisnt missiles. Their success rate is well below 100% and has only recently risen above 0%. The actual best defense against missiles is to blow them up on the ground, before they are launched, i.e. An offensive attack. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 20:12, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

::: You've clearly never heard of Iron Dome, Israel's missile defense system. It has crazy high success rates. I've seen it in action myself, it is glorious. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 04:24, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

:::: Israel has to fire two Iron Dome missiles ($50,000 dollars each) to intercept each Qassam rocket (roughly $500 dollars), so this is a terrible example as a well resourced attacker can easily overwhelm a defender. Maybe in another decade with lasers, cheaper interceptors and rail guns the equation might have changed. {{unsigned ip|141.101.99.167}}

::::: I would say that it's better to fire two $50,000 dollar missiles than to let the rocket explode, kill several people and demolish $200,000 building. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:15, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

:::::: Adage might refer to guerilla/hit-and-run tactics, which are also mentioned in Sun Tzu's Art of War (cut off supply chain, is one instance). -[[User:Vorik111|Vorik111]] ([[User talk:Vorik111|talk]]) 16:19, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

The expression is based on a concept that is military and ancient, but I wonder if the expression itself, in English, originated with American football, sometime since the game's birth in the 1860s. It is so specifically applicable to this game, where a team's defense and offense are completely separate units, run separately and spoken of separately and yet an extremely effective way to keep the opponent from scoring is to maintain possession of the ball while the game clock ticks down. [[User:Wrybred|Wrybred]] ([[User talk:Wrybred|talk]]) 13:18, 4 August 2014 (UTC)wrybred

: While it is applicable in most attacking sports, then I seriously doubt that it originated in American Football -- I has been some time since I read {{w|Sun Tzu}}'s {{w|The Art of War}} which is one of the oldest texts in existence, but I suspect it may already be in there predating anything else [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:05, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

May or may not also be inspired by Studio C: Thesis Defense http://youtu.be/Lrlro3YJ15o Teagan N {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.134}}

Can anyone make out what's written on the board? {{unsigned ip|141.101.105.220}}
: No, probably not -- [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 21:57, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

: My best guess after resizing the image a few times is
:: [The|To] [F|Falcons?] [at|of] [T|Times?]
:: [D|Displays?] [a|is|its] [M|Moods?]
:: [by?] {illegible first name (short maybe Meg)} {illegible surname (long)
:: [C|{illegible}] [the] {illegible 1 short word 1 long word or only 1 long word}
:: {illegible mid size word} {illegible short word maybe is} {illegible short word a} {illegible} {illegible} {{unsigned|Meerkat}}

: Looks to me like "The Evolution of [Thesis/Turtle] Displays & Moods" something illegible, probably her name, followed by "Candidate for [illegible]"[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.52|141.101.98.52]]

: I read "The Evolution of Threat Displays in Murder" as the topic after lots of enlargement.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.207|173.245.54.207]] 14:30, 4 August 2014 (UTC)
::I'm with this reading. It's logical, too. Megan's actions, being about as far as you can go in the direction of Murderous Threat Displays, are a natural "conclusion" to her presentation.--[[User:Laverock|Laverock]] ([[User talk:Laverock|talk]]) 15:43, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

: I think it says "The Evolution of Throat Dipthongs in Murder". I'm no linguist, but if "AAAAAA" is said in an undulating fashion, it would qualify as a dipthong. Thus the presentation is incomplete without the yell. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.154}}

: Going off on the poster above me and taking into account the topic of the comic, I think it is probably "The Evolution of Thesis Displays in Murder" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.185|141.101.98.185]] 08:41, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! Came here today for this, created account to say thanks :) [[User:Mathiastck|Mathiastck]] ([[User talk:Mathiastck|talk]]) 18:18, 4 August 2014 (UTC)
: You'r welcome [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 21:59, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

"In conclusion" suggests she's almost finished with her presentation. I wonder what the panel thought of her holding a sword many times thicker than her stick-body for the duration of her defense.[[User:Alanbbent|Alanbbent]] ([[User talk:Alanbbent|talk]]) 00:00, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
: "In conclusion" is the APA style of creating a summary section -- hence she has just finished her presentation, and she is now moving on to the questions-answers with the examiners defending her thesis. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.6|199.27.133.6]] 13:57, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

;Incomplete?

looks to me that this pretty complete -- remove the incomplete tag? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:50, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

It's still missing the presentation text. [[User:cDave]] {{unsigned|CDave}}

:I don't think anyone can read it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.201|173.245.54.201]] 03:46, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

:I'm surprised noone has referred to the transcript in the page source. It officially says, "The evolution of threat defence in mammals." [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.73|173.245.62.73]] 06:09, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
:: Excellent observation -- I have changed the transcript to use the words from the site itself -- the transcript sections has been lacking on xkcd.com lately, which is why people probably don't check them any more. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 19:01, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
:::I'm sorry, but I did revert this change because it was bad layout and the title text has not to be included. Right now I did find the transcript by Randall so I will update it again. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:47, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
:::Great find, the proper update to the transcript is done. This new statement has to be explained.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:00, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:428: Starwatching

2014-07-29T18:22:08Z

Vorik111: +comment - entry still incomplete?

An interesting interpretation. I thought Cueball was just referencing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King The Lion King]. [[Special:Contributions/184.41.49.246|184.41.49.246]] 00:53, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

My thoughts exactly. "Great kings of the past," "great bloggers of the past"... I don't think there was any intended reference to Christianity.{{unsigned ip|24.20.112.104}}

I think the word "blog" is more an elision than a portmanteau, since it's not a conflation (e.g. mansplain, muppet, or smog) of two words, here "web" and "log," but rather a shortening (or eliding) of the same. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.21|108.162.219.21]] 12:55, 21 May 2014 (UTC)

Why is the transcript marked incomplete? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 16:26, 26 July 2014 (UTC)

:Fixed a typo and grammar for tag cloud. It was a little cumbersome before, but I think I wound up using bigger words. The part about "or less" seems a little clunky also, but not quite sure how to fix it. [[User:Vorik111|Vorik111]] ([[User talk:Vorik111|talk]]) 18:22, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

428: Starwatching

2014-07-29T18:17:34Z

Vorik111: /* Explanation */ revised and expanded tag cloud defnition

{{comic
| number = 428
| date = May 26, 2008
| title = Starwatching
| image = starwatching.png
| titletext = I always figured the word 'blog' would sound *less* silly as the years went by.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are {{w|stargazing}}. In the first two panels Cueball references a scene in the movie {{w|The Lion King}}, where the protagonist, Simba, remembers how his father, Mufasa, explained the night sky by saying, 'The great kings of the past are up there'. The quote in last panel is derived from a scene near the climax of the movie, where the spirit of Mufasa appears to Simba in the clouds, and speaks to him.

{{w|Cory Doctorow}} is a famous blogger who features in several of [[Randall]]'s [[:Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow|comics]]. A {{w|tag cloud}} is a list keywords on the sidebar of a blog's layout that helps a reader find posts by hyperlinking to posts associated with that keyword or category. Tags are shown in an incrementally larger typeface if that tag describes more posts than other tags.

Megan interrupts Cueball saying that she can't decide if Cueball needs to "get out more or less." If she were to say "get out more" she would be implying that he needs to spend time away from the computer so he stops seeing links between the real world and Cory Doctorow. If she says "get out less" she implies that he might scare normal people if he were to do what he does in front of them.

In the title text, Randall mentions that he feels that the word {{w|blog}}, a {{w|portmanteau}} and an {{w|Elision}} of 'web log', sounds silly, and has not become any less silly over the years, despite entering common usage.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are lying on the ground stargazing]
:Cueball: Just look at those stars.

:Cueball: My father once told me that the great bloggers of the past are up there, watching over us.

:[Cueball sits up, and then stands up, stretching his arms in the air as if to encompass the whole night sky]
:Cueball: High above the blogosphere, a gap opens in the tag clouds. Cory Doctorow's voice booms forth...
:Megan: You need to get out either ''more'' or ''less''. I can't decide.

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

428: Starwatching

2014-07-29T18:11:41Z

Vorik111: /* Explanation */ typo

{{comic
| number = 428
| date = May 26, 2008
| title = Starwatching
| image = starwatching.png
| titletext = I always figured the word 'blog' would sound *less* silly as the years went by.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are {{w|stargazing}}. In the first two panels Cueball references a scene in the movie {{w|The Lion King}}, where the protagonist, Simba, remembers how his father, Mufasa, explained the night sky by saying, 'The great kings of the past are up there'. The quote in last panel is derived from a scene near the climax of the movie, where the spirit of Mufasa appears to Simba in the clouds, and speaks to him.

{{w|Cory Doctorow}} is a famous blogger who features in several of [[Randall]]'s [[:Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow|comics]]. A {{w|tag cloud}} is a list of links on the sidebar of a blog's layout that helps a reader find posts by type. Tags are shown to be larger the more posts have that tag applied to them.

Megan interrupts Cueball saying that she can't decide if Cueball needs to "get out more or less." If she were to say "get out more" she would be implying that he needs to spend time away from the computer so he stops seeing links between the real world and Cory Doctorow. If she says "get out less" she implies that he might scare normal people if he were to do what he does in front of them.

In the title text, Randall mentions that he feels that the word {{w|blog}}, a {{w|portmanteau}} and an {{w|Elision}} of 'web log', sounds silly, and has not become any less silly over the years, despite entering common usage.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are lying on the ground stargazing]
:Cueball: Just look at those stars.

:Cueball: My father once told me that the great bloggers of the past are up there, watching over us.

:[Cueball sits up, and then stands up, stretching his arms in the air as if to encompass the whole night sky]
:Cueball: High above the blogosphere, a gap opens in the tag clouds. Cory Doctorow's voice booms forth...
:Megan: You need to get out either ''more'' or ''less''. I can't decide.

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

User:Vorik111

2014-07-11T13:56:12Z

Vorik111: Created page with "hallo"

hallo

973: MTV Generation

2014-07-11T13:55:54Z

Vorik111: /* Explanation */ expanded timeframe

{{comic
| number = 973
| date = November 4, 2011
| title = MTV Generation
| image = mtv_generation.png
| titletext = If you identified with the kids from The Breakfast Club when it came out, you're now much closer to the age of Principal Vernon.
}}

==Explanation==
People often call today's kids the '''MTV Generation''', like [[White Hat]] does in the strip, because the {{w|MTV Generation}} were accused of bad attention spans and concentration (caused by MTV). [[Megan]] explains that the term really originated about 25 years ago, so today's kids are actually one generation newer.

An alternative definition of "the MTV generation", is that they '''are''' the teenage 12-19 year olds of the early 2000's to mid 2010's, because they were born to parents who came of child-bearing age during the core popularity time period referenced by the comic.

{{w|MTV}} is Music Television, it is a TV channel in the US and elsewhere that, when it started in the 1980s, used to show {{w|music video}}s. The focus has now shifted to {{w|reality shows}}.

{{w|The Breakfast Club}} is an iconic movie from 1985 in which 5 very different teenagers spend a Saturday detention together at the school. Principal Vernon was the principal in the movie and was the overseer of the detention.

[[Randall]] has covered making people feel old several times ([[647: Scary]], [[891: Movie Ages]], [[1393: Timeghost]]).

==Transcript==
:[One of them damn kids that won't get OFF MY LAWN plays with some gadget-a-mabob while ignoring every damn thing around him off in the background. White Hat and Megan are in the foreground.]
:White Hat: See, that's the problem with the MTV generation— No attention span.

:Megan: You know, that phrase referred to the 12-19 demographic that formed the core MTV audience in the mid-1980s.

:White Hat: Uh huh? So?
:Megan: That generation's now in their 40s.

:[White Hat scratches his head.]
:White Hat: That can't be right.
:Megan: Face it: Your problem with the MTV generation is their ''kids''.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

973: MTV Generation

2014-07-11T13:54:23Z

Vorik111: /* Explanation */ +grammar, +alt defn, +new comic reference

{{comic
| number = 973
| date = November 4, 2011
| title = MTV Generation
| image = mtv_generation.png
| titletext = If you identified with the kids from The Breakfast Club when it came out, you're now much closer to the age of Principal Vernon.
}}

==Explanation==
People often call today's kids the '''MTV Generation''', like [[White Hat]] does in the strip, because the {{w|MTV Generation}} were accused of bad attention spans and concentration (caused by MTV). [[Megan]] explains that the term really originated about 25 years ago, so today's kids are actually one generation newer.

An alternative definition of "the MTV generation", is that they '''are''' the teenage 12-19 year olds of the late 2000's to mid 2010's, because they were born to parents who came of child-bearing age during the core popularity time period referenced by the comic.

{{w|MTV}} is Music Television, it is a TV channel in the US and elsewhere that, when it started in the 1980s, used to show {{w|music video}}s. The focus has now shifted to {{w|reality shows}}.

{{w|The Breakfast Club}} is an iconic movie from 1985 in which 5 very different teenagers spend a Saturday detention together at the school. Principal Vernon was the principal in the movie and was the overseer of the detention.

[[Randall]] has covered making people feel old several times ([[647: Scary]], [[891: Movie Ages]], [[1393: Timeghost]]).

==Transcript==
:[One of them damn kids that won't get OFF MY LAWN plays with some gadget-a-mabob while ignoring every damn thing around him off in the background. White Hat and Megan are in the foreground.]
:White Hat: See, that's the problem with the MTV generation— No attention span.

:Megan: You know, that phrase referred to the 12-19 demographic that formed the core MTV audience in the mid-1980s.

:White Hat: Uh huh? So?
:Megan: That generation's now in their 40s.

:[White Hat scratches his head.]
:White Hat: That can't be right.
:Megan: Face it: Your problem with the MTV generation is their ''kids''.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

642: Creepy

2014-06-18T13:43:08Z

Vorik111: /* Explanation */ link to green hiking hats of Norway (video, Huffington Post)

{{comic
| number = 642
| date = September 28, 2009
| title = Creepy
| image = creepy.png
| titletext = And I even got out my adorable new netbook!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic displays [[Cueball]]'s fears that his attempts to strike up a conversation with [[Megan]] will only result in her rejecting him and even humiliating him in front of others for attempting to get to know her - he might even risk getting his picture on {{w|Facebook}} with a warning that he is a creep to be avoided. This is because he worries that others might interpret his behavior as {{w|sexual harassment}}, the exaggerated flip-side of his attempted courtship. It turns out in the fifth and last panel that the first four panels was just one large thought bubble on how Cueball fantasized an attempt to contact Megan would turn out.

Ironically, however, Megan is actually attracted to Cueball and is dismayed that he has not spoken to her. Therefore Cueball's fears are unfounded and are even preventing the two from meeting and possibly forming a relationship. Megan could of course also have spoken to Cueball herself, but she expects him to make a move if he is interested. Thus she also prevents herself from making contact because of her own expectations and fears of rejection.

The title text is the continuation of Megan's apparent journal entry and further emphasizes the irony of the situation: in the attempt to be alluring to Cueball, Megan took out her "adorable new {{w|netbook}}," the very thing Cueball stopped himself from complimenting in the first place.

This comic comments on the unsettling effects of social change, particularly with respect to the advent of {{w|social media}} and to modern sensitivity toward a woman's (or any person's) right to be left alone in public. It points out that attempting to start a conversation with a stranger has become risky, and we have yet to evolve [http://features.aol.com/video/what-hiking-green-hat-norway-means|new customs and conventions to signal openness] to such an approach. The risk is aggravated by social media, by which means an innocent misjudgment may subject one to public humiliation - or even worse someone might expect that you had intention of performing some {{w|Sex and the law|sexual crime}} - if that type of info is published with a picture and/or your name on Facebook or {{w|Twitter}} etc. your life could be ruined without any reason. As a result, opportunities to meet other people are missed, loneliness and social isolation are increased, and one may even experience existential fears of being unattractive. Ironically, some people react to this problem by relying on the same social media to stay connected with others.

==Transcript==
:[Two people are sitting on chairs.]
:Cueball: Hey, cute netbook.
:Megan: ''What.''

:Cueball: Your laptop. I just—
:Megan: No, why are you talking to me.

:Megan: Who do you think you are? If I were even slightly interested, I'd have shown it.

:Megan: Hey everyone, this dude's hitting on me.
:Voice #1: Haha
:Voice #2: Creepy
:Voice #3: Let's get his picture for Facebook to warn others.

:[This panel fades into a thought bubble of Cueball.]
:[Megan is typing on her laptop.]
:Dear blog,
:Cute boy on train still ignoring me.

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