explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

User:Zbee

2015-03-29T05:05:46Z

Zbee: Added PGP key and 364 to my favorites

== About me ==
My name is Ethan Henderson; I live in Colorado Springs, CO, USA and am a College student, CEO, Full Stack Developer (php, python, js, ruby), and Senior Developer on a DoD program: CTAM SPI/IDS.

[https://s.zbee.me/pgp My PGP key], [https://s.zbee.me/ty2 My GitHub], [https://s.zbee.me/uvi My Steam], [https://s.zbee.me/33n My Twitch], [https://s.zbee.me/b8g My contributions]

== My favorite XKCD comics ==

(Later I'm going to go through these, establish a rating system, and then order them accordingly)

[[156]], [[302]], [[327]], [[364]], [[540]], [[604]], [[643]], [[651]], [[704]], [[705]], [[1007]], [[1085]], [[1089]], [[1107]], [[1137]], [[1145]], [[1183]], [[1272]], [[1339]]

364: Responsible Behavior

2015-03-29T04:38:04Z

Zbee: /*Explanation*/ Added links to wikipedia pages

{{comic
| number = 364
| date = December 31, 2007
| title = Responsible Behaviour
| image = responsible_behavior.png
| titletext = Never bring tequila to a key-signing party.
}}

==Explanation==
In order to send encrypted mail to people, you need to know their {{w|Public-key_cryptography|public key}}. You use this key to encrypt the email, and only they can read it (using their private key). However, there is the problem of authentication: how do you know for certain that the key belongs to the person whom you think it is? It could be someone else masquerading as them, hoping for people to send them sensitive information. They could decrypt and read your mail, and could even re-encrypt it using the genuine public key of the intended recipient, and then pass the message into them, leaving both you and the recipient unaware of the interception. This is a type of {{w|Man-in-the-middle_attack|man-in-the-middle attack}}.

One solution for this is that people {{w|Keysigning|sign each other's keys}}. It works like this: say you want to send an email to Bob, but you've never met him. You find his key online (they are stored on certain servers, like cryptographic phone books), but how can you be sure that it's really his? Well, turns out that you have a mutual friend Alice, and you have her public key and you know that it is hers. If Alice has signed Bob's key with her private key (which only she has access to), it means that she's certain that that really is Bob's key. So then you can be sure that Bob's key is genuine (since you have a common friend, Alice) and that your communications will be safe.

A {{w|Key_signing_party|key-signing party}} is simply a super-geeky party where people meet in real life so that they can be sure of people's identity, and then everyone signs everyone else's key. It's a good way to expand the web of trust. The joke here is that he has no idea who this girl is and yet he still signed her key. This is dangerous, because he is vouching for her identity. If he is mistaken, this could result in a serious loss of credibility on his part.

The humor lies in the juxtaposition of what you expect (that they had sex) and what is the case (they signed each other's key, also known as geek-sex).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball on phone.]
:Voice: Hey, I just got home from the party
:Cueball: The one with the IRC folks?
:Voice: Yeah.
:Cueball: How was it?
:Voice: Got too drunk. I screwed up, bad.
:Cueball: What happened?
:Voice: There was a girl. No idea who she was. Don't even know her name. I was too drunk to care.
:Cueball: And what, you slept with her?
:Voice: No.
:Voice: I signed her public key.
:Cueball: Shit, man.

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

User:Zbee

2015-03-28T23:00:05Z

Zbee: Added 1007 to favorite comics

== About me ==
My name is Ethan Henderson; I live in Colorado Springs, CO, USA and am a College student, CEO, Full Stack Developer (php, python, js, ruby), and Senior Developer on a DoD program: CTAM SPI/IDS.

[https://s.zbee.me/uvi My Steam], [https://s.zbee.me/ty2 My GitHub], [https://s.zbee.me/33n My Twitch], [https://s.zbee.me/b8g My contributions]

== My favorite XKCD comics ==

(Later I'm going to go through these, establish a rating system, and then order them)

[[156]], [[302]], [[327]], [[540]], [[604]], [[643]], [[651]], [[704]], [[705]], [[1007]], [[1085]], [[1089]], [[1107]], [[1137]], [[1145]], [[1183]], [[1272]], [[1339]]

156: Commented

2015-03-28T22:49:26Z

Zbee: /*Explanation*/ Clarified that double slashes (//) do not need to be at the beginning of a line in code to make a comment

{{comic
| number = 156
| date = September 13, 2006
| title = Commented
| image = commented.png
| titletext = Your IDE's color may vary.
}}

==Explanation==
In certain {{w|Programming language|programming languages}} (including but not limited to C (since C99), C++, C#, Java, Javascript, PHP, and Scala), inserting a double slash (//) in a line marks everything after the double slash in the line as a "comment"; i.e. something for humans to read that generally helps them understand the code better, rather than something for the computer to execute. Since all comment lines are ignored when a program is run or compiled, it is possible to simply put a double slash in front of any line of code to skip that line. This is known as "commenting out" the line.

[[Black Hat]] lifts two fingers toward [[Cueball]], forming a double slash and thereby ignoring both him and his question.

An {{w|Integrated development environment|Integrated Development Environment}} (IDE for short) is an application that programmers use to write, compile, execute, and debug code. Many IDEs color-code text to make reading the code easier. In IDEs like Eclipse and Microsoft Visual Studio, a line that is commented out will be colored green, however the color may vary depending on which IDE you use, and can usually also be customized. The title text refers to this variation among IDEs' color schemes.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Black Hat are talking to each other, and Black Hat is making a gesture towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: Hey, can you do me a favor?
:Black Hat: Commented!

:[The same frame from a different angle.]
:Cueball: Huh?

:[Black Hat is holding his first and second fingers parallel and at an angle, and they are green. Cueball and his next line are also green.]
:Cueball: Wait, what does that gesture even mean?

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Programming]]

User:Zbee

2015-03-28T22:37:26Z

Zbee: Added my favorite comics

== About me ==
My name is Ethan Henderson; I live in Colorado Springs, CO, USA and am a College student, CEO, Full Stack Developer (php, python, js, ruby), and Senior Developer on a DoD program: CTAM SPI/IDS.

[https://s.zbee.me/uvi My Steam], [https://s.zbee.me/ty2 My GitHub], [https://s.zbee.me/33n My Twitch], [https://s.zbee.me/b8g My contributions]

== My favorite XKCD comics ==

(Later I'm going to go through these, establish a rating system, and then order them)

[[156]], [[302]], [[327]], [[540]], [[604]], [[643]], [[651]], [[704]], [[705]], [[1085]], [[1089]], [[1107]], [[1137]], [[1145]], [[1183]], [[1272]], [[1339]]

604: Qwertial Aphasia

2015-03-28T22:11:39Z

Zbee: /*Transcript*/ Fixed capitalization of typing

{{comic
| number = 604
| date = July 1, 2009
| title = Qwertial Aphasia
| image = qwertial_aphasia.png
| titletext = If this were SMBC, the alt-text drawing thingy would be a giraffe hooker fluttering her eyelashes.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] has invented the name "Qwertial Aphasia", to describe the common experience of having a word, from a spoken conversation, accidentally spill over into something one is typing, often with humorous results.

{{w|Aphasia}} is a class of medical conditions which affect the production and understanding of language. The description "Qwertial" probably refers to the position of the top row of letters in the most common keyboard arrangement, the {{w|QWERTY}} keyboard layout.

The joke set up in the comic comes from the substitution of the word 'giraffe' for the word 'frequently', which changes the whole meaning of the sentence. The original sentence would have been 'I can't afford to keep eating out this frequently.' The unintentional replacement makes 'giraffe' the object of the sentence, and implies that Cueball is 'eating out' (slang for {{w|cunnilingus}}) a giraffe. He tries to correct himself but the damage is done; worse, the amended statement could be read to mean that he's unwilling to eat out a giraffe "frequently", but has no objection to doing it occasionally.

Another possible reading is that Cueball is correcting his first statement, explaining that this happens more often than just "sometimes".

The title text continues the image of a giraffe as a sexual object - in particular, one which costs money. SMBC refers to the comic [http://www.smbc-comics.com/ Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal], a whimsical joke-a-day comic which comes with a second illustration, which can be seen by clicking on a button known as the "votey". This additional panel often serves as a second punchline in the same way as the title text does in xkcd. Zach Weiner of SMBC responded to this title text in the votey on [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=1565 July 2, 2009].

==Transcript==
:I hate how when I'm talking while I type, sometimes I accidentally type a word I'm saying.
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
:Computer: Wanna go get food later?
:[Megan runs over, holding a giraffe.]
:Megan: Check out what I found in the closet!
:''Type type''
:Cueball [typing]: Sorry, I really shouldn't.
:Cueball [talking]: Aww, what an adorable stuffed giraffe!
:''Type type''
:Cueball [typing]: I can't afford to keep eating out this giraffe.
:''Frequently!'' I meant ''"frequently"''!

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

Talk:1504: Opportunity

2015-03-28T21:31:40Z

Zbee: Changed my signature

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom" are Mufasa words from 'The Lion King' (1994) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:39, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
- The "You must never go there" line is also from Lion King. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/quotes?item=qt0371437 [[User:Drmouse|Drmouse]] ([[User talk:Drmouse|talk]]) 11:40, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

May someone make this Transcritpt better? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.10|141.101.104.10]] 08:58, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Hey, thanks to whoever tidied up my explanation [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.185|141.101.98.185]] 11:01, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I think the second line ("We must never go there") is from the same scene in ''The Lion King'' as the first line, not a reference to ''Space Odyssey'' . See [[http://youtu.be/K5lEJlbEgz4]] from 0:52 to 1:23. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.55|108.162.216.55]] 11:04, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

It seems to me to be common currency that the 'missing' word in "one small step" is "a", not "this" (whether as a fluffed line, in the moment, or a temporary radio drop-out over that bare syllable). Also, while it's highly ''suggested'', there's no certainty in the title-text that the new Mars-landing quote ''necessarily'' ended in fatality. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 14:31, 27 March 2015 (UTC) (Someone seems to have edited the text that inspired these comments, now... so you may now ignore me. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 22:41, 27 March 2015 (UTC))

I just don't get how the rover could gain more power. It is after all, isolated on mars. All it could do is get weaker. Maybe it was already strong enough to control half of mars. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 15:05, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
:My take was that even without batteries, it was still getting enough power from the solar panels (and maybe it somehow became sentient enough to reconfigure to create additional solar power arrays sufficient for its needs, like some suggestions for 'builder' robots on the Moon, perhaps mixed in with Von Neumann machine ideas). Which makes the "dark part of Mars, don't go there!" even more intruiging. (Have we done to Opportunity what 'we' tried to do to the Matrix's machine-civilisation? Darken the environment? And thus how is it still dangerous? The same reason as the Matrix machines are still powered on ''that'' world? Or has it raised the cloud of darkness itself; Because It Can, to delineate its territory or as an actual terraforming effort of its own, more suited to its own current needs and 'desires'? And how many ''more'' questions can I raise?) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 22:41, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I'm surely not the only person who read the title text and thought, "Well, that's more work for the Death of Being Ground by a Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.171|108.162.216.171]] 18:01, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
:I just wanted to say pretty much the same thing, so no, you're not the only. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.168|173.245.53.168]] 09:12, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Did something happen to inspire this? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:28, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

On March 20 Opportunity completed a reformat of its flash memory and started accumulating more data. On March 24 it logged 26.219 miles (42.195 km) in the 11 years and 2 months since it landed, the length of a marathon.

NASA JPL press releases: http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/newsroom/pressreleases/20150323a.html http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/newsroom/pressreleases/20150324a.html [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 22:59, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

What citations does this explanation require?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:39, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

What does the transcript require for it to be complete? As far as I can tell, it is complete. --[[User:Zbee|Zbee]] [[User talk:Zbee|talk]] [https://github.com/zbee git] ([[User talk:Zbee|talk]]) 17:16, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
:I think the transcript is incorrect, rather than incomplete. In the 2450 panel Meghan-M and Cueball-M appear to be standing in daylight. In that case it would be wrong to say they are "pointing in the dark". It would be better to say they are "pointing towards a dark, mountainous region". Someone feel free to edit the transcript if you agree.[[User:These Are Not The Coments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Coments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Coments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 19:21, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
::I hadn't caught that before; I've changed it and think it is good now.--[[User:Zbee|Zbee]] [[User talk:Zbee|talk]] [https://github.com/zbee git] 20:02, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

User talk:Zbee

2015-03-28T21:29:15Z

Zbee: Created page with "<!-- What I want my sig to be Zbee [[User talk:Zbee|<span ..."

1504: Opportunity

2015-03-28T20:10:03Z

Zbee: /*Transcript*/ Italicized Spirit in the first panel

{{comic
| number = 1504
| date = March 27, 2015
| title = Opportunity
| image = opportunity.png
| titletext = We all remember those famous first words spoken by an astronaut on the surface of Mars: "That's one small step fo- HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT IT'S GOT SOME KIND OF DRILL! Get back to the ... [unintelligible] ... [signal lost]"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs citations.}}

This comic is talking about the robotic science platform {{w|Opportunity (rover)|''Opportunity''}}. On January 25, 2004, the ''Opportunity'' rover landed on the surface of {{w|Mars}} for the purpose of gathering data about the surface of Mars.

Also sent to Mars on the same date was another Martian rover, {{w|Spirit (rover)|''Spirit''}}. Unfortunately, this became stuck and a sand storm covered its solar panels. On March 22, 2010, it was thought that ''Spirit'''s batteries finally ran out, marking the end of its mission. This was memorably covered in [[695: Spirit]], in which the ''Spirit'' rover is portrayed as sentient.

As of the release date of this comic in 2015, the Opportunity rover {{w|Opportunity mission timeline|is still alive and moving}}. The comic depicts the scientists at ground control being amazed at this.

However, in 2023, Opportunity has apparently become so powerful that it has become dangerous, presumably cannibalizing or destroying the {{w|Mars 2020|rover sent in 2020}}. Cueball and Megan note it even continues to operate without its original battery, suggesting it has developed a new power source. This evolution is similar to the stories of {{w|HAL 9000}} (from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|''2001: A Space Odyssey''}}) and {{w|List of Star Trek characters (T–Z)#V'Ger|V'Ger}} (from ''{{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}}''), both of which became sentient and dangerous.

By 2450, humans have colonised and terraformed Mars. “Everything the light touches” is a reference to what {{w|List of The Lion King characters#Mufasa|Mufasa}} says in ''{{w|The Lion King}}''. (Mufasa's son Simba then asks "What about that shadowy place?" and Mufasa tells him “That is beyond our borders. You must never go there”.) What this all implies is the ''Opportunity'' has dominated half of the planet — and clearly has devised a new power source for itself, given that its power originally came from solar panels, which obviously do not function in the darkness.

The title text refers to the first words of the first astronauts on the surface of Mars. At first, the astronaut copies the first words of Neil Armstrong on the Moon ("That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind") but it is interrupted by the ''Opportunity'' rover. Onboard the rover uses a drill for sampling rocks, but here it is heavily suggested that it uses the drill to attack the astronaut.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:2010:
:[Ponytail and Hair Bun sitting at a computer.]
:Ponytail: After six years, ''Spirit'' is down, but ''Opportunity'' is still going strong.
:Hair Bun: Tough little rover!

:2015:
:[Opportunity traveling on Mars.]
:Offscreen: Eleven years, wow.
:Offscreen 2: Wasn't the original mission 90 days?
:Offscreen: This is starting to get weird.

:2023:
:[Cueball and Megan sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: The battery is totally disconnected. How can it still be moving??
:Megan: Given what it did to the Mars 2020 rover, we may never know.

:2450, terraformed Mars, martian imperial capital:
:[Some martian inhabits looking like Cueball and Megan pointing towards a dark, mountainous region]
:Cueball-Martian: Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
:Megan-Martian: What's that dark area?
:Cueball-Martian: That is ''Opportunity's'' half of the planet. We must never go there.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Robots]]

Talk:1504: Opportunity

2015-03-28T20:02:29Z

Zbee:

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom" are Mufasa words from 'The Lion King' (1994) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:39, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
- The "You must never go there" line is also from Lion King. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/quotes?item=qt0371437 [[User:Drmouse|Drmouse]] ([[User talk:Drmouse|talk]]) 11:40, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

May someone make this Transcritpt better? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.10|141.101.104.10]] 08:58, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Hey, thanks to whoever tidied up my explanation [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.185|141.101.98.185]] 11:01, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I think the second line ("We must never go there") is from the same scene in ''The Lion King'' as the first line, not a reference to ''Space Odyssey'' . See [[http://youtu.be/K5lEJlbEgz4]] from 0:52 to 1:23. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.55|108.162.216.55]] 11:04, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

It seems to me to be common currency that the 'missing' word in "one small step" is "a", not "this" (whether as a fluffed line, in the moment, or a temporary radio drop-out over that bare syllable). Also, while it's highly ''suggested'', there's no certainty in the title-text that the new Mars-landing quote ''necessarily'' ended in fatality. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 14:31, 27 March 2015 (UTC) (Someone seems to have edited the text that inspired these comments, now... so you may now ignore me. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 22:41, 27 March 2015 (UTC))

I just don't get how the rover could gain more power. It is after all, isolated on mars. All it could do is get weaker. Maybe it was already strong enough to control half of mars. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 15:05, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
:My take was that even without batteries, it was still getting enough power from the solar panels (and maybe it somehow became sentient enough to reconfigure to create additional solar power arrays sufficient for its needs, like some suggestions for 'builder' robots on the Moon, perhaps mixed in with Von Neumann machine ideas). Which makes the "dark part of Mars, don't go there!" even more intruiging. (Have we done to Opportunity what 'we' tried to do to the Matrix's machine-civilisation? Darken the environment? And thus how is it still dangerous? The same reason as the Matrix machines are still powered on ''that'' world? Or has it raised the cloud of darkness itself; Because It Can, to delineate its territory or as an actual terraforming effort of its own, more suited to its own current needs and 'desires'? And how many ''more'' questions can I raise?) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 22:41, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I'm surely not the only person who read the title text and thought, "Well, that's more work for the Death of Being Ground by a Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.171|108.162.216.171]] 18:01, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
:I just wanted to say pretty much the same thing, so no, you're not the only. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.168|173.245.53.168]] 09:12, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Did something happen to inspire this? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:28, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

On March 20 Opportunity completed a reformat of its flash memory and started accumulating more data. On March 24 it logged 26.219 miles (42.195 km) in the 11 years and 2 months since it landed, the length of a marathon.

NASA JPL press releases: http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/newsroom/pressreleases/20150323a.html http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/newsroom/pressreleases/20150324a.html [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 22:59, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

What citations does this explanation require?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:39, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

What does the transcript require for it to be complete? As far as I can tell, it is complete. --[[User:Zbee|Zbee]] ([[User talk:Zbee|talk]]) 17:16, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
:I think the transcript is incorrect, rather than incomplete. In the 2450 panel Meghan-M and Cueball-M appear to be standing in daylight. In that case it would be wrong to say they are "pointing in the dark". It would be better to say they are "pointing towards a dark, mountainous region". Someone feel free to edit the transcript if you agree.[[User:These Are Not The Coments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Coments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Coments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 19:21, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
::I hadn't caught that before; I've changed it and think it is good now.--[[User:Zbee|Zbee]] ([[User talk:Zbee|talk]]) 20:02, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

1504: Opportunity

2015-03-28T19:57:00Z

Zbee: /*Transcript*/ Clarify pointing description

{{comic
| number = 1504
| date = March 27, 2015
| title = Opportunity
| image = opportunity.png
| titletext = We all remember those famous first words spoken by an astronaut on the surface of Mars: "That's one small step fo- HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT IT'S GOT SOME KIND OF DRILL! Get back to the ... [unintelligible] ... [signal lost]"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs citations.}}

This comic is talking about the robotic science platform {{w|Opportunity (rover)|''Opportunity''}}. On January 25, 2004, the ''Opportunity'' rover landed on the surface of {{w|Mars}} for the purpose of gathering data about the surface of Mars.

Also sent to Mars on the same date was another Martian rover, {{w|Spirit (rover)|''Spirit''}}. Unfortunately, this became stuck and a sand storm covered its solar panels. On March 22, 2010, it was thought that ''Spirit'''s batteries finally ran out, marking the end of its mission. This was memorably covered in [[695: Spirit]], in which the ''Spirit'' rover is portrayed as sentient.

As of the release date of this comic in 2015, the Opportunity rover {{w|Opportunity mission timeline|is still alive and moving}}. The comic depicts the scientists at ground control being amazed at this.

However, in 2023, Opportunity has apparently become so powerful that it has become dangerous, presumably cannibalizing or destroying the {{w|Mars 2020|rover sent in 2020}}. Cueball and Megan note it even continues to operate without its original battery, suggesting it has developed a new power source. This evolution is similar to the stories of {{w|HAL 9000}} (from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|''2001: A Space Odyssey''}}) and {{w|List of Star Trek characters (T–Z)#V'Ger|V'Ger}} (from ''{{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}}''), both of which became sentient and dangerous.

By 2450, humans have colonised and terraformed Mars. “Everything the light touches” is a reference to what {{w|List of The Lion King characters#Mufasa|Mufasa}} says in ''{{w|The Lion King}}''. (Mufasa's son Simba then asks "What about that shadowy place?" and Mufasa tells him “That is beyond our borders. You must never go there”.) What this all implies is the ''Opportunity'' has dominated half of the planet — and clearly has devised a new power source for itself, given that its power originally came from solar panels, which obviously do not function in the darkness.

The title text refers to the first words of the first astronauts on the surface of Mars. At first, the astronaut copies the first words of Neil Armstrong on the Moon ("That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind") but it is interrupted by the ''Opportunity'' rover. Onboard the rover uses a drill for sampling rocks, but here it is heavily suggested that it uses the drill to attack the astronaut.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:2010:
:[Ponytail and Hair Bun sitting at a computer.]
:Ponytail: After six years, Spirit is down, but ''Opportunity'' is still going strong.
:Hair Bun: Tough little rover!

:2015:
:[Opportunity traveling on Mars.]
:Offscreen: Eleven years, wow.
:Offscreen 2: Wasn't the original mission 90 days?
:Offscreen: This is starting to get weird.

:2023:
:[Cueball and Megan sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: The battery is totally disconnected. How can it still be moving??
:Megan: Given what it did to the Mars 2020 rover, we may never know.

:2450, terraformed Mars, martian imperial capital:
:[Some martian inhabits looking like Cueball and Megan pointing towards a dark, mountainous region]
:Cueball-Martian: Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
:Megan-Martian: What's that dark area?
:Cueball-Martian: That is ''Opportunity's'' half of the planet. We must never go there.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Robots]]

Talk:1504: Opportunity

2015-03-28T17:16:06Z

Zbee:

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom" are Mufasa words from 'The Lion King' (1994) --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 08:39, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
- The "You must never go there" line is also from Lion King. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/quotes?item=qt0371437 [[User:Drmouse|Drmouse]] ([[User talk:Drmouse|talk]]) 11:40, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

May someone make this Transcritpt better? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.10|141.101.104.10]] 08:58, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Hey, thanks to whoever tidied up my explanation [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.185|141.101.98.185]] 11:01, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I think the second line ("We must never go there") is from the same scene in ''The Lion King'' as the first line, not a reference to ''Space Odyssey'' . See [[http://youtu.be/K5lEJlbEgz4]] from 0:52 to 1:23. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.55|108.162.216.55]] 11:04, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

It seems to me to be common currency that the 'missing' word in "one small step" is "a", not "this" (whether as a fluffed line, in the moment, or a temporary radio drop-out over that bare syllable). Also, while it's highly ''suggested'', there's no certainty in the title-text that the new Mars-landing quote ''necessarily'' ended in fatality. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 14:31, 27 March 2015 (UTC) (Someone seems to have edited the text that inspired these comments, now... so you may now ignore me. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 22:41, 27 March 2015 (UTC))

I just don't get how the rover could gain more power. It is after all, isolated on mars. All it could do is get weaker. Maybe it was already strong enough to control half of mars. [[User:YourLifeisaLie|The Goyim speaks]] ([[User talk:YourLifeisaLie|talk]]) 15:05, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
:My take was that even without batteries, it was still getting enough power from the solar panels (and maybe it somehow became sentient enough to reconfigure to create additional solar power arrays sufficient for its needs, like some suggestions for 'builder' robots on the Moon, perhaps mixed in with Von Neumann machine ideas). Which makes the "dark part of Mars, don't go there!" even more intruiging. (Have we done to Opportunity what 'we' tried to do to the Matrix's machine-civilisation? Darken the environment? And thus how is it still dangerous? The same reason as the Matrix machines are still powered on ''that'' world? Or has it raised the cloud of darkness itself; Because It Can, to delineate its territory or as an actual terraforming effort of its own, more suited to its own current needs and 'desires'? And how many ''more'' questions can I raise?) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 22:41, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

I'm surely not the only person who read the title text and thought, "Well, that's more work for the Death of Being Ground by a Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.171|108.162.216.171]] 18:01, 27 March 2015 (UTC)
:I just wanted to say pretty much the same thing, so no, you're not the only. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.168|173.245.53.168]] 09:12, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Did something happen to inspire this? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:28, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

On March 20 Opportunity completed a reformat of its flash memory and started accumulating more data. On March 24 it logged 26.219 miles (42.195 km) in the 11 years and 2 months since it landed, the length of a marathon.

NASA JPL press releases: http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/newsroom/pressreleases/20150323a.html http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/newsroom/pressreleases/20150324a.html [[User:The Dining Logician|The Dining Logician]] ([[User talk:The Dining Logician|talk]]) 22:59, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

What citations does this explanation require?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:39, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

What does the transcript require for it to be complete? As far as I can tell, it is complete. --[[User:Zbee|Zbee]] ([[User talk:Zbee|talk]]) 17:16, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

User:Zbee

2015-03-28T06:01:33Z

Zbee: Create

Hello. I live in Colorado Springs, CO, USA and am a College student, CEO, Full Stack Developer (php, python, js, ruby), and Senior Developer on a DoD program: CTAM SPI/IDS.

[https://s.zbee.me/uvi My Steam], [https://s.zbee.me/ty2 My GitHub], [https://s.zbee.me/33n My Twitch], [https://s.zbee.me/b8g My contributions]

1504: Opportunity

2015-03-28T05:51:20Z

Zbee: /* Transcript */ Removed incomplete transcript tag

{{comic
| number = 1504
| date = March 27, 2015
| title = Opportunity
| image = opportunity.png
| titletext = We all remember those famous first words spoken by an astronaut on the surface of Mars: "That's one small step fo- HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT IT'S GOT SOME KIND OF DRILL! Get back to the ... [unintelligible] ... [signal lost]"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs citations.}}

This comic is talking about the robotic science platform {{w|Opportunity (rover)|''Opportunity''}}. On January 25, 2004, the ''Opportunity'' rover landed on the surface of {{w|Mars}} for the purpose of gathering data about the surface of Mars.

Also sent to Mars on the same date was another Martian rover, {{w|Spirit (rover)|''Spirit''}}. Unfortunately, this became stuck and a sand storm covered its solar panels. On March 22, 2010, it was thought that ''Spirit'''s batteries finally ran out, marking the end of its mission. This was memorably covered in [[695: Spirit]], in which the ''Spirit'' rover is portrayed as sentient.

In 2015, the Opportunity rover is still alive and moving, amazing the scientists at ground control.

However, in 2023, Opportunity has apparently become so powerful that it has become dangerous, presumably cannibalizing or destroying the {{w|Mars 2020|rover sent in 2020}}. Cueball and Megan note it even continues to operate without its original battery, suggesting it has developed a new power source. This evolution is similar to the stories of {{w|HAL 9000}} (from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|''2001: A Space Odyssey''}}) and {{w|List of Star Trek characters (T–Z)#V'Ger|V'Ger}} (from ''{{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}}''), both of which became sentient and dangerous.

By 2450, humans have colonised and terraformed Mars. “Everything the light touches” is a reference to what {{w|List of The Lion King characters#Mufasa|Mufasa}} says in ''{{w|The Lion King}}''. (Mufasa's son Simba then asks "What about that shadowy place?" and Mufasa tells him “That is beyond our borders. You must never go there”.) What this all implies is the ''Opportunity'' has dominated half of the planet.

The title text refers to the first words of the first astronauts on the surface of Mars. At first, the astronaut copies the first words of Neil Armstrong on the Moon ("That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind") but it is interrupted by the ''Opportunity'' rover. Onboard the rover uses a drill for sampling rocks, but here it uses it to attack the astronaut.

==Transcript==

:2010:
:[Ponytail and Hair Bun sitting at a computer.]
:Ponytail: After six years, Spirit is down, but ''Opportunity'' is still going strong.
:Hair Bun: Tough little rover!

:2015:
:[Opportunity traveling on Mars.]
:Offscreen: Eleven years, wow.
:Offscreen 2: Wasn't the original mission 90 days?
:Offscreen: This is starting to get weird.

:2023:
:[Cueball and Megan sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: The battery is totally disconnected. How can it still be moving??
:Megan: Given what it did to the Mars 2020 rover, we may never know.

:2450, terraformed Mars, martian imperial capital:
:[Some martian inhabits looking like Cueball and Megan pointing in the dark.]
:Cueball-Martian: Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
:Megan-Martian: What's that dark area?
:Cueball-Martian: That is ''Opportunity's'' half of the planet. We must never go there.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Robots]]

1504: Opportunity

2015-03-27T20:00:01Z

Zbee: /* Transcript */ Removed first transcript, fixed a couple things in the second transcript

{{comic
| number = 1504
| date = March 27, 2015
| title = Opportunity
| image = opportunity.png
| titletext = We all remember those famous first words spoken by an astronaut on the surface of Mars: "That's one small step fo- HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT IT'S GOT SOME KIND OF DRILL! Get back to the ... [unintelligible] ... [signal lost]"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs citations.}}

This comic is talking about the robotic science platform {{w|Opportunity (rover)|''Opportunity''}}. On January 25, 2004, the ''Opportunity'' rover landed on the surface of {{w|Mars}} for the purpose of gathering data about the surface of Mars.

Also sent to Mars on the same date was another Martian rover, {{w|Spirit (rover)|''Spirit''}}. Unfortunately, this became stuck and a sand storm covered its solar panels. On March 22, 2010, it is thought that ''Spirit'''s batteries finally ran out, marking the end of its mission. This was memorably covered in [[695: Spirit]], in which the ''Spirit'' rover is portrayed as sentient.

In 2015, the Opportunity rover is still alive and moving, amazing the scientists at ground control.

However, in 2023, Opportunity has apparently become so powerful that it has become dangerous, presumably cannibalizing or destroying the {{w|Mars 2020|rover sent in 2020}}. Cueball and Megan note it even continues to operate without its original battery, suggesting it has developed a new power source. This evolution is similar to the stories of {{w|HAL 9000}} (from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|''2001: A Space Odyssey''}}) and {{w|List of Star Trek characters (T–Z)#V'Ger|V'Ger}} (from ''{{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}}''), both of which became sentient and dangerous.

By 2450, humans have colonised and terraformed Mars. “Everything the light touches” is a reference to what {{w|List of The Lion King characters#Mufasa|Mufasa}} says in ''{{w|The Lion King}}''. (Mufasa's son Simba then asks "What about that shadowy place?" and Mufasa tells him “That is beyond our borders. You must never go there”.) What this all implies is the ''Opportunity'' has dominated half of the planet.

The title text refers to the first words of the first astronauts on the surface of Mars. At first, the astronaut copies the first words of Neil Armstrong on the Moon ("That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind") but it is interrupted by the ''Opportunity'' rover. Onboard the rover uses a drill for sampling rocks, but here it uses it to attack the astronaut.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:2010:
:[Ponytail and Hair Bun sitting at a computer.]
:Ponytail: After six years, Spirit is down, but ''Opportunity'' is still going strong.
:Hair Bun: Tough little rover!

:2015:
:[Opportunity driving on the Mars.]
:Offscreen: Eleven years, wow.
:Offscreen 2: Wasn't the original mission 90 days?
:Offscreen: This is starting to get weird.

:2023:
:[Cueball and Megan sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: The battery is totally disconnected. How can it still be moving??
:Megan: Given what it did to the Mars 2020 rover, we may never know.

:2450, terraformed Mars, martian imperial capital:
:[Some martian inhabits looking like Cueball and Megan pointing in the dark.]
:Cueball-Martian: Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
:Megan-Martian: What's that dark area?
:Cueball-Martian: That is ''Opportunity's'' half of the planet. We must never go there.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Robots]]

Talk:1504: Opportunity

2015-03-27T17:47:39Z

Zbee: Just made the quotes link to IMDB be the direct link to the quote