https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.212.220&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T09:21:25ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1086:_Eyelash_Wish_Log&diff=739551086: Eyelash Wish Log2014-08-19T14:36:57Z<p>108.162.212.220: Added context to commentary</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1086<br />
| date = July 25, 2012<br />
| title = Eyelash Wish Log<br />
| image = eyelash wish log.png<br />
| titletext = Ooh, another one. Uh... the ability to alter any coefficients of friction at will during sporting events.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|For each wish explain and comment on how they gone wrong}}<br />
This comic is based on the situation that when someone's eyelash falls out, that person can make a wish on it. This comic appears to be a page from the fictitious Wish Bureau in charge of granting said wishes. And of course the Wisher is [[Black Hat]] and he has quite a few wishes, most of them based on the previous wish. A common trope in fiction is that wishing for more wishes is prohibited and for many of his wishes [[Black Hat]] attempts to circumvent that.<br />
<br />
;January 9: That wishing on eyelashes worked<br />
:This wish is pointless. If wishing on eyelashes worked, then this would do absolutely nothing (because it already works) and if it didn't then nothing would happen because wishing on eyelashes wouldn't work.<br />
<br />
;January 12: A pony<br />
:This wish functions as a test to see whether or not previous wish worked. It can be assumed that it did, as Black Hat then continued to make additional wishes.<br />
<br />
;January 15: Unlimited wishes<br />
:This appears to have failed, due to the typical ban of wishing for additional wishes in conventional folklore.<br />
<br />
;January 19: Revocation of rules prohibiting unlimited wishes<br />
:An attempt to circumvent the ban in the previous wish. <br />
<br />
;January 20: A finite but arbitrarily large number of wishes<br />
:Another attempt to circumvent the ban on unlimited wishes.<br />
<br />
;January 28: The power to dictate the rules governing wishes<br />
:Yet another attempt to circumvent the ban on unlimited wishes.<br />
<br />
;February 5: Unlimited eyelashes<br />
:This wish likely caused Black Hat to grow unlimited eyelashes, which could be quite inconvenient and painful.<br />
<br />
;February 6: That wish-granting entities be required to interpret wishes in accordance with the intent of the wisher<br />
:This wish is likely a response to the previous day's misguided wish. It's actually quite a common problem that people making wishes leave them open for misinterpretation.<br />
<br />
;February 8: That wish-granting entities be incapable of impatience<br />
:An attempt to prevent whatever being is powerful enough to grant wishes from becoming angry with Black Hat while he tries to manipulate the system.<br />
<br />
;February 12 #1: Unlimited breadsticks<br />
:The first wish of this day seems to be a reference to the unlimited {{w|breadsticks}} offered at {{w|Olive Garden}}.<br />
<br />
;February 12 #2: Veto power over others' wishes<br />
:A power that could be interesting to have. It also very much fits with Black Hat's character.<br />
<br />
;February 19: Veto power over others' wishes and all congressional legislation<br />
:An improvement of the previous wish. This would be very interesting to have indeed, especially if you are Black Hat, because you could veto any law at any time.<br />
<br />
;February 23: The power to override any veto<br />
:This wish would allow Black Hat to override vetos issued by others which in addition to the previous wish would effectively make him control the US legislature and, to some extent, also the UN.<br />
<br />
;February 27: The power to see where any shortened URL goes without clicking<br />
:This wish relates to a common practice especially in tweets or other short length media where full length specific HTML addresses such as <tt>www.somewhere.com/articles/specificdate/the page.html</tt> would not be feasible. So a more compressed but nonsensical string of seemingly random characters is used which links to a link of the full text address. This creates some problems for people who are security or privacy conscious and prefer to be informed beforehand where they will be traveling on the Internet. It is analogous to a twisting set of watersides. Some water parks label where they end up and what style of ride it is (the doom tunnel vs the kiddy kicker). Imagine however you're wanting a nice ride ending in shallow water. You could not readily predict the unlabelled ride as it twists out of sight if the label is gibberish. You might end up thinking your attempt to go down the Bay Watch slide might end you up in Pamela's porn pool, which could be well over your head.<br />
<br />
;February 29: The power to control the direction news anchors are looking while they talk<br />
:<br />
<br />
;March 7: The power to introduce arbitrary error into Nate Silver's predictions<br />
:A reference to {{w|Nate Silver}}, who is a former writer for {{w|Baseball Prospectus}} working on predicting baseball players' stats and now writes for {{w|Five Thirty Eight}} in which he predicts the outcome of elections based on polling data. This would grant Black Hat the power to control the result of all elections. This would tighten the Black Hat's control of the US even more.<br />
<br />
;March 15: A house of stairs<br />
:This wish refers to the {{w|lithograph}} {{w|Relativity_(M._C._Escher)|Relativity}} by {{w|M. C. Escher}}, or perhaps another of his lithographs, {{w|House of Stairs}}<br />
<br />
;March 23: A universe which is a replica of this one sans rules against meta-wishes<br />
:The previous wish obviously failed and this is an attempt to circumvent that.<br />
<br />
;March 29: Free transportation to and from that universe<br />
:Black Hat noted a problem with his previous wish. If that wish was granted, he would still stay in our universe with no ways to get to the new one.<br />
<br />
;April 2: A clear explanation of how wish rules are structured and enforced<br />
:Having clear rules and how they work helps anyone finding loopholes in them.<br />
<br />
;April 7: The power to banish people into the TV show they are talking about<br />
:<br />
<br />
;April 8: Zero wishes<br />
:An attempt to hack the wish-granting system by using a quite common vulnerability in input validation: an unexpected value. There may be multiple vectors this can work:<br />
:* in many computer systems, 0 is reserved for unlimited<br />
:* the number may be used as a divisor in some equation and this will make the system divide by zero and probably crash<br />
:* there also may be an assertion like “number of wishes granted == 1” which would fail, again crashing the system<br />
:However it seems the eyelash wish-granting system does proper input validation on zero because it did not crash or grant unlimited wishes<br />
<br />
;April 15: Veto power over clocks<br />
:<br />
<br />
;April 22: A pokéball that works on strangers' pets<br />
:A reference to the cartoon and video game series {{w|Pokémon}}. A Pokéball can be thrown at a Pokémon (or in this case, a pet that the Pokéball thrower finds either annoying or cute) to capture/contain it and/or achieve ownership of it. In most cases, Pokéballs cannot be used on Pokémon owned by other people.<br />
<br />
The title text is a reference to how people often want a ball to either go in or out in a sporting event they are not a part of. Normally, spectators of a game are not actually in the game, but always think that they can somehow influence the game superstitiously, such as perhaps yelling out jinx whenever the opposing team makes a shot, even though if you are watching the game from a television, that would have no effect. By wishing for power over friction, a spectator would have control over what transpires during a sporting match. In most sporting events where you have to run (for instance football), a sudden drop of friction would make you fall over, as this would be like suddenly running out over a sheet of ice. Opposite to this would be in ice hockey, as here an increase in friction could make the puck stop before the goal, and also make the players fall over, as it would be like skating in over land.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:{|<br />
! align="left" colspan="2" |<font size="+1">Eyelash Wish Log</font><br />
|-style="color: gray;"<br />
|<br />
|align="right"|Wish bureau ID#:<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|align="right"|21118378<br />
|-style="color: gray;"<br />
|<br />
|align="right"|Date range:<br />
|-<br />
!scope="row" style="color: gray;"|Wisher<br />
|align="right"|Jan-Apr 2012<br />
|}<br />
<br />
:{|<br />
!align="left" width="50px"|Date<br />
!align="left"|Wish<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 09<br />
|That wishing on eyelashes worked<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 12<br />
|A pony<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 15<br />
|Unlimited wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 19<br />
|Revocation of rules prohibiting unlimited wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 20<br />
|A finite but arbitrarily large number of wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Jan 28<br />
|The power to dictate the rules governing wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 05<br />
|Unlimited eyelashes<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 06<br />
|That wish-granting entities be required to interpret wishes in<br>accordance with the intent of the wisher<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 08<br />
|That wish-granting entities be incapable of impatience<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 12<br />
|Unlimited breadsticks<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 12<br />
|Veto power over others' wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 19<br />
|Veto power over others' wishes and all congressional legislation<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 23<br />
|The power to override any veto<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 27<br />
|The power to see where any shortened URL goes without clicking<br />
|-<br />
|Feb 29<br />
|The power to control the direction news anchors are looking while they talk<br />
|-<br />
|Mar 07<br />
|The power to introduce arbitrary error into Nate Silver's predictions<br />
|-<br />
|Mar 15<br />
|A house of stairs<br />
|-<br />
|Mar 23<br />
|A universe which is a replica of this one sans rules against meta-wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Mar 29<br />
|Free transportation to and from that universe<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 02<br />
|A clear explanation of how wish rules are structured and enforced<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 07<br />
|The power to banish people into the TV show they're talking about<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 08<br />
|Zero wishes<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 15<br />
|Veto power over clocks<br />
|-<br />
|Apr 22<br />
|A Pokéball that works on strangers' pets<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
<br />
A wish-granting character O. W. Grant from the movie {{w|Interstate 60}} deliberately misinterpreted self-serving wishes.<br />
<br />
{{Comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]</div>108.162.212.220https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1121:_Identity&diff=59660Talk:1121: Identity2014-02-09T20:37:24Z<p>108.162.212.220: </p>
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<div>He could also be bothered by her willingness to give away the password so easily. Anyone who has spent a sufficient amount of time with the character would have an idea of the things he's interested in. The image text supports it a little by saying how anyone he knows would be aware that he acts like that. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 08:57, 15 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
They could also be using a version of Google Wave or some such IM... It was possible to view realtime what the others were typing on the window. Then Megan would be able to interrupt Cueball easily.<br />
<br />
Notably, although the characters appear to be communicating by way of text (whether SMS, or some instant messaging protocol), Megan should not be able to interrupt Cueball. Text-based messages do not typically stream in realtime as they are typed. She wouldn't be able to read his message until he completed it and sent it. {{unsigned|TheHYPO}}<br />
<br />
:Unless they are using something like the unix talk command, which does stream characters as they are typed. This might make sense since they are conversing about a server password, but talk might also perform proper authentication, although it could likely be spoofed as most early unix programs were not very secure. The characters are not streamed in real time, by the way, because there is no deadline for transmission of the characters. Sending something "as soon as possible" is pretty much the opposite of "real-time" and I think this wiki should make great efforts to be extra geeky about the use of the phrase "real-time" treating it like "real-time operating system" rather than "I use the web so I think the word 'real-time' means that time itself is not fake." Has Randall written a comic about the misuse of the phrase "real-time"? He should. {{unsigned|Jsbqvb}}<br />
<br />
::I'm going to quibble over your quibbling over semantics for a moment. "Real-time communication" is not simply saying something immediately after another person. Imagine you and I are sitting in plush armchairs in my front parlour, discussing philosophy. You ask me "What is real-time communication?" I look up to the ceiling, as I formulate my response. According to your definition, this conversation has now left real-time, and become a no-deadline-for-transmission delayed communication, because I've failed to respond immediately. Another example, we're sitting in a park outside at a marble chess table. You move your rook. I study the game board before making my own move. Are you going to argue that this is no longer a real-time game because of my delay?<br />
<br />
::A third example. I sit down in my writing room and write a lengthy letter addressed to you and put it into the mail. My postman picks up the mail later that day. It gets sorted and put onto a truck to your house. The truck drives across state lines to the distribution center near your house. The letter gets put in your postman's sack, and that day on his rounds he delivers it to your postbox. You read it and write your response. Your postman picks it up the next day, it's trucked back to my state and delivered to me 2 days after you wrote it. Is this real-time communication? I'll answer that one for you. No it isn't.<br />
<br />
::What makes communication real-time, and what doesn't? I don't have a hard-and-fast definition for you. I consider, talking to a person whether face-to-face or over the phone real-time. I consider sending mail and email delayed communication. Instant Messages are real-time if I get an answer within five minutes of when I sent them, same with text messages. So is five minutes a good differentiating line? Here's another example.<br />
<br />
::We're in grade school, and we're all sitting in a circle playing {{w|Telephone (game)|Telephone}}. I whisper the message to my neighbor, who whispers it on until it reaches you, at the other end of the circle. The whole game takes perhaps a minute. Is this real-time communication? No, because I'm passing the message to middle-men. But that's how messages travel the Internet, bouncing through routers until they reach you. So, it can't be that there are no middle-men involved.<br />
<br />
::In conclusion. I think your argument that "somewhat delayed delivery of a response" would be a better phrase instead of "real-time" is fallacious, and pointless. That we need to be cautious of the usage of "real-time communication" is not one of the things I think we need to be worried about. I do think we need to be careful of how we rear the upcoming generations, pay attention to the difference between "loose" and "lose", how to spell "onomatopoeia" and "definitely" correctly, as well as using "literally" accurately, "who" vs. "whom", when to and more importantly when not to dangle prepositions, learning when to use which dashes, avoiding ''ad hominem'' arguments, trying to be a little less pedantic with others, and taking some time to slow down and smell the flowers and enjoy the scenery.<br />
<br />
::--[[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:11, 16 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::I agree with the action plan given in your final paragraph. However, while I don't disagree with your point, your example about the chess game might be a little confusing for some because in games there is a rather well established usage of "real time" games as being in direct opposition to "turn-based" games. Here "real time" usually means that the action all happens continuously and simultaneously, whereas "turn-based" means that everything proceeds by turns (i.e. I make a move, then you do, then me again, etc.), such as in chess. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 15:51, 24 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Moved here from the explanation. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:56, 15 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::If you say something, the sound of your voice is spreading by speed of sound, which is relatively slow. What communication can actually be called real-time by the "no delay" definition? Telepathy? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:40, 17 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::It's possible that by utilizing quantum entanglement we may be able to achieve communication of information without any delay. I may be wrong about this. Anyone with more knowledge about it care to correct me? [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 20:40, 23 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
My understanding would be that instantaneous communication is impossible. Communication implies a transfer of information of some kind (regardless of how useful it is). Since in order to receive information into the human mind you atteh very least must wait the tiny amount of time for your nerves to transmit their signals from the sensory nerves to the brain. Add to that the assumption of travel via light waves which take time and or sound waves which take longer to arrive at the sensory organ. Even if a device could use a technology to have information come out as soon as it goes in somewhere else, you will have to wait again for the nerves if you surgically implant the the device. Why go through all that trouble and not go the next logical step. If time travel is incorporated you could include the lag so that the trip is finished at the same time it arrived. Of course you could also send yourself a message from the future to not waste Jorge time and to get a life. [[User:DruidDriver|DruidDriver]] ([[User talk:DruidDriver|talk]]) 22:13, 22 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's possible that he was sending each sentence separately, and she's responding to one of the ones he already completed. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 18:33, 15 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The "NO!" may not be for security but the disappointment of missed opportunity to design a 'cool' identity proof protocol.<br />
<br />
:While it's true he hasn't yet properly proved his identity, the "NO!" is DEFINITELY the disappointment of missed opportunity to design a 'cool' identity proof protocol. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 08:40, 17 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
They could be using skype (mobile and on PC with mic) to communicate, not necessarily text.<br />
<br />
:: Seriously, why would any of you NOT think that they were using a speakerphone to communicate? (be it through the phone, skype or gtalk or whatever service)? You even got the little "sound wave" lines coming from the devices as the character communicates. [[Special:Contributions/206.72.206.101|206.72.206.101]] 13:38, 23 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: Cueball is holding his phone with two hands. He's clearly texting. The "sound wave" lines are clearly meant to indicate that it's what the character is typing/texting. Also, the transcript indicates that Megan's text in the third frame is a text message (the parenthetical is here only because it's the only place where text is present from a character not visible in the image). [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 00:00, 2 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::: That's the dumbest thing I've ever read. And I've read a LOT. Who needs two hands to text, and why can't someone hold a phone with both hands when on speaker? Furthermore, the transcript has NO BEARING AT ALL on discussions of the comic, because it's subjective. [[Special:Contributions/174.142.37.82|174.142.37.82]] 04:54, 14 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
:::: Never mind, Erenan, I just saw your user-page and your pages. You've got enough issues. You're right, of course, there's no conceivable way Cueball could be doing anything but texting. It's "clear", and the sound wave lines "clearly" indicate that as well. I stand corrected. Enjoy life. You're "clearly" very smart and always right. [[Special:Contributions/174.142.37.82|174.142.37.82]] 04:58, 14 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::::At no point is there a need to personally attack another commenter on this site like that. Also, '''do not''' edit other people's posts on a talk page, that is rude in the extreme. Come back in a week, maybe you can keep a civil tongue in your head. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:12, 14 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::::Wiki etiquette states that you do not touch other people's comments - replacing his name with "dumbo" is childish. As for the transcript, it came from the div with id "transcript" in the source on the XKCD website. I believe Randall knows his own comics well enough [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 05:16, 14 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::::::{{w|Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines#Editing comments|Link}} as source for Davidy's statement. Go forth and educate thineself. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:21, 14 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The reference to dinosaur fascination might be a last ditch attempt to try and fool people who MIT try and impersonate Randall. My understanding which may be flawed is that Randal has a fear around raptors, and close friends might hear praise for these and get suspicious if the leave out the fear part. [[User:DruidDriver|DruidDriver]] ([[User talk:DruidDriver|talk]]) 22:13, 22 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
To support the feasibility of what happens in the last panel, it could be that Megan doesn't have the password in mind, and hit 'Enter' to go look for the password elsewhere. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.220|108.162.212.220]] 20:37, 9 February 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.212.220https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1116:_Traffic_Lights&diff=59658Talk:1116: Traffic Lights2014-02-09T20:08:09Z<p>108.162.212.220: </p>
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<div>I doubt that this comic carries any deeper meaning. [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 16:29, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Traffic signals really are one of the most inscrutable inventions to ever be made. I mean, red means stop, yellow means caution, green means go. Unless you're in a turn lane, which means you have to watch for the green arrow, if there is one, or wait for an opening. Unless you're turning right, which is permitted to turn at any time providing there aren't any cars. Unless there's a sign that says "No Right Turn On Red". There's also the crazy cities that have special right turn lights. Then there's the intersections that have a sign for each lane telling what can and cannot be done. Or, if you're really lucky one of those intersections that has the LED screen that dynamically changes what the lane can and cannot do. And to top it all off, the Colorado Department of Transportation (as well as a few other states I'm sure) are testing out a 4-stage left turn light to increase the safety of drivers. [https://www.auroragov.org/cs/groups/public/documents/document/003604.pdf] Yes, you read that pamphlet correctly. There is a special 4th light, just to blink yellow, because you couldn't just make the yellow light blink, like it does anyway after 9pm. No. There has to be a whole special light that indicates when a left-turn-er must use special caution to turn.<br />
<br />
: Note that New York City doesn't allow right turns on red, unless a sign is posted that says otherwise. I suppose this helps reduce the incidence of pedestrians being run into/over. You might also think it helps keep vehicles out of crosswalks, but it doesn't. [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 01:13, 6 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: What about turning left on red from a one way street onto another one way street? I don't know how prevalent that is but it's fairly common in downtown Columbus Ohio (my locale) and to a lesser extent some smaller towns around here. [[Special:Contributions/74.218.18.210|74.218.18.210]] 12:30, 9 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
::First time commenting. Not sure about the reply syntax. But @ Ohio person: Up here in Michigan, we have supposedly special U-turns on divided highways (not to be confused with expressways; I'm just referring to the main business roads.) If there is a light, you can treat it like turning right, even though it is an apparent left-turn and an actual u-turn. "So long as you don't cross a lane of traffic, it is legal to turn if the lane is clear unless posted otherwise." From my driver's ed instructor. This does not apply to the second turn lane. I cannot tell you how many times I've been honked at for obeying the law and not turning right from the left lane. Sorry for any terrible typing or messups. I'm doing this on my phone. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.31|108.162.216.31]] 08:42, 20 November 2013 (UTC)Dartania<br />
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Nope. I'm done driving. Bring on the self-driving cars, people are officially idiots. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:52, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
: There is a problem with a blinking yellow arrow. Blinking yellow is already used. It means you have the right of way, but the other direction may proceed as well. What is wanted here is blinking red, which means that you stop, but may proceed, as someone else has the right of way. As for adding a fourth light, this just confuses things even more, particularly with respect to color blind individuals. Having said that, Virginia's variant is to have lights with both left arrows and solid greens. If it is green arrow, you have the right of way, while solid green means the other direction also has a green. There is almost always a sign reading "left turn yield on &lt;solid-green-circle&gt;" [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 18:19, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::so the blinking yellow left arrow generally means the same as a round green light - you can go when it's clear, but the opposite traffic has a green light too. I love this idea because a lot of the time where there is a separate left-turn signal, there are advanced lefts for both ways, and then left turners get a red left arrow and have to stop while people going straight get a green - so even where there's no oncoming traffic, you can't turn. this way, you just lose your "advance" status and go back to the regular rule of "turn if you can, otherwise you end up turning as the lights go yellow"<br />
<br />
::I think what Lcarsos is pointing out if you check the PDF link, is that the new left-turn lane has 4 lights, all of which are left-arrow shaped. Thus, his point is why couldn't they make the 2nd light (yellow left arrow) blink, instead of installing a third light which is also a yellow left arrow whose job is to blink?<br />
<br />
::I can think of a few possible reasons - first, perhaps an all-blinking light has different bulbs which are more efficient for blinking and won't burn out as much; second, because they want to distinguish between the two lights more strongly (i.e. if you glance over between blinks, you don't have to wait a moment to see if it will blink - if you see the 3rd light up, you know it's going to blink without waiting for it to actually blink); similarly, I suppose there could be colour blindness issues where they want to make it clear which light is which.<br />
<br />
::PS: Right on Red is more common in north america than other places, but even here there are a few exceptions that do not allow right turns on red lights. New York City is one. Montreal is another. Most of Mexio is a third. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 21:19, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::You can also white a white 'cigar' light that is inteded for busses only.<br />
<br />
:From the first traffic light in London 1868 until standardization in the 1920s people tried out many crazy lights (see http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/T-VT.1970.23426) including---literally---bells and whistles to announce changes. It seems this phase is still not really over.[[Special:Contributions/134.169.34.172|134.169.34.172]] 10:33, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hmm... not one to do the actual analysis, I still wonder whether there could be some message encoded in the pattern of lights -- in binary ASCII, baudot, Morse, or something. Hmm... [[Special:Contributions/208.54.40.227|208.54.40.227]] 19:12, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
This explanation mentions a lot of hands where no hands exist. "The right-hand lane," for example. This is a pet peeve of mine. People just adding the word, "hand" randomly into a sentence. It's superfluous and it's annoying. It should be removed before someone slaps whoever did it with their right-hand hand.[[Special:Contributions/173.25.252.230|173.25.252.230]] 14:35, 14 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I believe "right-hand" is used to differentiate "the opposite from the left" from "the opposite of wrong". If I say "get in the right lane", there is a chance for confusion and/or a cliche joke. If I say "get in the right-hand lane", my meaning is clearer.{{unsigned|Tryc}}<br />
<br />
;Red and yellow<br />
<br />
In Poland you can sometimes stumble upon '''red and yellow''' -- while yellow alone means that there shortly would be a red, and you can proceed if you are at or almost at crossing, but stop otherwise, red and yellow is to mean that there shortly would be green (go), and to prepare oneself. But it is quite rare. [[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 06:45, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:In Germany all traffic lights behave this way. [[User:Joha.ma|Joha.ma]] ([[User talk:Joha.ma|talk]]) 07:45, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::At least some lights in Czech behave this way too. -- [[Special:Contributions/89.177.52.2|89.177.52.2]] 08:04, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is the way ALL UK lights behave.<br />
<br />
Some lights in the US use '''red and yellow''' to mean that a pedestrian is crossing, although I've only seen this when the light is blinking red/yellow to start with (yes, I've seen full 3-bulb traffic lights that are only used to flash red/yellow). [[User:Zer0keefie|Zer0keefie]] ([[User talk:Zer0keefie|talk]]) 11:42, 27 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
OK, here is the difference between the US and Europe: <br />
<br />
Originally I believe all the traffic lights went through the sequence (1) green in one direction, red in another, (2) yellow in both directions, meaning "clear off the intersection" for the first direction and "get your car into gear" in the second direction, (3) red in one direction, green in another. <br />
<br />
There are two problems though: first, when the green changes to yellow, people try to squeeze through (and it may even be difficult to stop if you're traveling at speed), second, when the red changes to yellow, people who are not stopped but carrying speed are trying to squeeze through earlier while the light is still yellow (this gets worse if the yellow is long and the incoming drivers don't know if it's after red or after green), and collisions ensue. <br />
<br />
The solutions for these problems taken in US and Europe are different. In Europe the yellow-after-red is shown together with the red still on, strongly suggesting "no, you may not enter", and in the other direction the green often blinks once 10 seconds before it switches to yellow. In US there is no yellow-after-red, the red changes directly to green, and yellow always goes only after green (the automatic transmissions being prevalent, there is no need to shift into gear). The yellow is often long, to let the traffic on the fast roads to clear off, Also, there is usually a period of red in all directions which lets the stragglers clear off the intersection for sure before the other side goes green. This is why slipping on red just after yellow had ended is considered no big deal in US and a major no-no in Europe. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.111|108.162.245.111]] 23:15, 23 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Where I live, in Santa Cruz do Sul - Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, we have no yellow before green, but very few traffic lights blink red once right before green. Here, slipping on red is also common, but it's also common to stretch it a bit more and confusion ensues. Continuing from what has been said below, some traffic lights in Porto Alegre even have a numeric countdown.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.220|108.162.212.220]] 20:06, 9 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In Brazil some cities have greens and red in a row, and they decrease to indicate how long the green or red will last. something like http://www.guiasjp.com/fotos_noticias/foto_1165344648.8822.jpg [[Special:Contributions/189.125.162.182|189.125.162.182]] 20:22, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
In BRazil too, in Goiânia there's a nice one here for pedestrians, with leds, that show an animated pedestrian walking and when the time is running out HE RUNS FASTER! Like, it's about to go green for the cars, but feel free to cross... IF YOU'RE FAST!<br />
<br />
In Tianjin China they have a traffic signal that is a single bar of light. If it is green it starts subtracting bar length segments. When there is about a quarter left it turns yellow and then red. It then start subtracting bar length segments from the other end until it gets to about a quarter length and then turns green again. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob406/3428844012<br />
<br />
;Obvious<br />
<br />
It's how traffic engineers troll you when you are going the wrong way on a one-way. Learn to read signs!<br />
<br />
;Reference to previous comic<br />
<br />
This comic has some tongue in cheek self reference to [[277: Long Light]]. #Meta And definite trolling, by [[Randall]]<br />
<br />
:What about [[781: Ahead Stop]]?<br />
<br />
:Turing Machine?<br />
<br />
Any chance it is one?<br />
<br />
<br />
;Etc<br />
<br />
I was almost expected to see the Konami code in the left light, though I'm not sure how "B A Start" would have been shown. [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 01:13, 6 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Music<br />
<br />
I am no musician, but I can't help but wonder if there could be a hidden music chart in there somehow.<br />
Also, if you want confusing, try understanding parking signs in Montreal.<br />
<br />
:Might be, but depending on what pitches or sounds you assign to the lights, you could get pretty much every degree of harmony or cacophony you want. - Another possible music reference: Anybody reminded of Hendrix' "The Wind Cries Mary"? "The traffic lights, they turn, uh, blue tomorrow." [[Special:Contributions/89.0.230.165|89.0.230.165]] 08:14, 10 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;And You thought 4 stage was bad enough<br />
<br />
Here In BC, in older installations, and I'm not sure whether any still exist, there used to be lights with 5 stages. It wasn't really any different than the standard red-yellow-green-turn combo you generally see where the turning light may come on, it just had the yellow arrow shown when the turning arrow is about to expire in it's own lamp. It behaves pretty expectantly, but it looks very imposing.<br />
<br />
;Race cars<br />
<br />
The second light has quite a resemblance to the "christmas tree" that governs the start of a drag race, where the lights change colors according to a pattern <nowiki>http://www</nowiki> dot nhra dot com/nhra101/basics.aspx [[Special:Contributions/69.121.10.82|69.121.10.82]] 04:32, 27 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I sat and watched this increasingly surreal show for about three minutes, then I broke down laughing when one of the lights turned purple. [[Special:Contributions/174.239.196.155|174.239.196.155]] 06:09, 11 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In UK, ALL lights go Red -> red AND yellow -> green -> yellow on it's own -> red again. Red and yellow means it's about to go green and yellow on it's own means it's about to go red. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.246|141.101.98.246]] 21:43, 8 November 2013 (UTC)</div>108.162.212.220https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1116:_Traffic_Lights&diff=59657Talk:1116: Traffic Lights2014-02-09T20:06:59Z<p>108.162.212.220: </p>
<hr />
<div>I doubt that this comic carries any deeper meaning. [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 16:29, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Traffic signals really are one of the most inscrutable inventions to ever be made. I mean, red means stop, yellow means caution, green means go. Unless you're in a turn lane, which means you have to watch for the green arrow, if there is one, or wait for an opening. Unless you're turning right, which is permitted to turn at any time providing there aren't any cars. Unless there's a sign that says "No Right Turn On Red". There's also the crazy cities that have special right turn lights. Then there's the intersections that have a sign for each lane telling what can and cannot be done. Or, if you're really lucky one of those intersections that has the LED screen that dynamically changes what the lane can and cannot do. And to top it all off, the Colorado Department of Transportation (as well as a few other states I'm sure) are testing out a 4-stage left turn light to increase the safety of drivers. [https://www.auroragov.org/cs/groups/public/documents/document/003604.pdf] Yes, you read that pamphlet correctly. There is a special 4th light, just to blink yellow, because you couldn't just make the yellow light blink, like it does anyway after 9pm. No. There has to be a whole special light that indicates when a left-turn-er must use special caution to turn.<br />
<br />
: Note that New York City doesn't allow right turns on red, unless a sign is posted that says otherwise. I suppose this helps reduce the incidence of pedestrians being run into/over. You might also think it helps keep vehicles out of crosswalks, but it doesn't. [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 01:13, 6 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: What about turning left on red from a one way street onto another one way street? I don't know how prevalent that is but it's fairly common in downtown Columbus Ohio (my locale) and to a lesser extent some smaller towns around here. [[Special:Contributions/74.218.18.210|74.218.18.210]] 12:30, 9 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
::First time commenting. Not sure about the reply syntax. But @ Ohio person: Up here in Michigan, we have supposedly special U-turns on divided highways (not to be confused with expressways; I'm just referring to the main business roads.) If there is a light, you can treat it like turning right, even though it is an apparent left-turn and an actual u-turn. "So long as you don't cross a lane of traffic, it is legal to turn if the lane is clear unless posted otherwise." From my driver's ed instructor. This does not apply to the second turn lane. I cannot tell you how many times I've been honked at for obeying the law and not turning right from the left lane. Sorry for any terrible typing or messups. I'm doing this on my phone. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.31|108.162.216.31]] 08:42, 20 November 2013 (UTC)Dartania<br />
<br />
Nope. I'm done driving. Bring on the self-driving cars, people are officially idiots. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 16:52, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
: There is a problem with a blinking yellow arrow. Blinking yellow is already used. It means you have the right of way, but the other direction may proceed as well. What is wanted here is blinking red, which means that you stop, but may proceed, as someone else has the right of way. As for adding a fourth light, this just confuses things even more, particularly with respect to color blind individuals. Having said that, Virginia's variant is to have lights with both left arrows and solid greens. If it is green arrow, you have the right of way, while solid green means the other direction also has a green. There is almost always a sign reading "left turn yield on &lt;solid-green-circle&gt;" [[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 18:19, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::so the blinking yellow left arrow generally means the same as a round green light - you can go when it's clear, but the opposite traffic has a green light too. I love this idea because a lot of the time where there is a separate left-turn signal, there are advanced lefts for both ways, and then left turners get a red left arrow and have to stop while people going straight get a green - so even where there's no oncoming traffic, you can't turn. this way, you just lose your "advance" status and go back to the regular rule of "turn if you can, otherwise you end up turning as the lights go yellow"<br />
<br />
::I think what Lcarsos is pointing out if you check the PDF link, is that the new left-turn lane has 4 lights, all of which are left-arrow shaped. Thus, his point is why couldn't they make the 2nd light (yellow left arrow) blink, instead of installing a third light which is also a yellow left arrow whose job is to blink?<br />
<br />
::I can think of a few possible reasons - first, perhaps an all-blinking light has different bulbs which are more efficient for blinking and won't burn out as much; second, because they want to distinguish between the two lights more strongly (i.e. if you glance over between blinks, you don't have to wait a moment to see if it will blink - if you see the 3rd light up, you know it's going to blink without waiting for it to actually blink); similarly, I suppose there could be colour blindness issues where they want to make it clear which light is which.<br />
<br />
::PS: Right on Red is more common in north america than other places, but even here there are a few exceptions that do not allow right turns on red lights. New York City is one. Montreal is another. Most of Mexio is a third. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 21:19, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::You can also white a white 'cigar' light that is inteded for busses only.<br />
<br />
:From the first traffic light in London 1868 until standardization in the 1920s people tried out many crazy lights (see http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/T-VT.1970.23426) including---literally---bells and whistles to announce changes. It seems this phase is still not really over.[[Special:Contributions/134.169.34.172|134.169.34.172]] 10:33, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hmm... not one to do the actual analysis, I still wonder whether there could be some message encoded in the pattern of lights -- in binary ASCII, baudot, Morse, or something. Hmm... [[Special:Contributions/208.54.40.227|208.54.40.227]] 19:12, 4 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
This explanation mentions a lot of hands where no hands exist. "The right-hand lane," for example. This is a pet peeve of mine. People just adding the word, "hand" randomly into a sentence. It's superfluous and it's annoying. It should be removed before someone slaps whoever did it with their right-hand hand.[[Special:Contributions/173.25.252.230|173.25.252.230]] 14:35, 14 June 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I believe "right-hand" is used to differentiate "the opposite from the left" from "the opposite of wrong". If I say "get in the right lane", there is a chance for confusion and/or a cliche joke. If I say "get in the right-hand lane", my meaning is clearer.{{unsigned|Tryc}}<br />
<br />
;Red and yellow<br />
<br />
In Poland you can sometimes stumble upon '''red and yellow''' -- while yellow alone means that there shortly would be a red, and you can proceed if you are at or almost at crossing, but stop otherwise, red and yellow is to mean that there shortly would be green (go), and to prepare oneself. But it is quite rare. [[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 06:45, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:In Germany all traffic lights behave this way. [[User:Joha.ma|Joha.ma]] ([[User talk:Joha.ma|talk]]) 07:45, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::At least some lights in Czech behave this way too. -- [[Special:Contributions/89.177.52.2|89.177.52.2]] 08:04, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is the way ALL UK lights behave.<br />
<br />
Some lights in the US use '''red and yellow''' to mean that a pedestrian is crossing, although I've only seen this when the light is blinking red/yellow to start with (yes, I've seen full 3-bulb traffic lights that are only used to flash red/yellow). [[User:Zer0keefie|Zer0keefie]] ([[User talk:Zer0keefie|talk]]) 11:42, 27 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
OK, here is the difference between the US and Europe: <br />
<br />
Originally I believe all the traffic lights went through the sequence (1) green in one direction, red in another, (2) yellow in both directions, meaning "clear off the intersection" for the first direction and "get your car into gear" in the second direction, (3) red in one direction, green in another. <br />
<br />
There are two problems though: first, when the green changes to yellow, people try to squeeze through (and it may even be difficult to stop if you're traveling at speed), second, when the red changes to yellow, people who are not stopped but carrying speed are trying to squeeze through earlier while the light is still yellow (this gets worse if the yellow is long and the incoming drivers don't know if it's after red or after green), and collisions ensue. <br />
<br />
The solutions for these problems taken in US and Europe are different. In Europe the yellow-after-red is shown together with the red still on, strongly suggesting "no, you may not enter", and in the other direction the green often blinks once 10 seconds before it switches to yellow. In US there is no yellow-after-red, the red changes directly to green, and yellow always goes only after green (the automatic transmissions being prevalent, there is no need to shift into gear). The yellow is often long, to let the traffic on the fast roads to clear off, Also, there is usually a period of red in all directions which lets the stragglers clear off the intersection for sure before the other side goes green. This is why slipping on red just after yellow had ended is considered no big deal in US and a major no-no in Europe. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.111|108.162.245.111]] 23:15, 23 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Where I live, in Santa Cruz do Sul - Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, we have no yellow before green, but very few traffic lights blink red once right before green. Here, slipping on red is also common, but it's also common to stretch it a bit more and confusion ensues. Continuing from has been said below, some traffic lights in Porto Alegre even have a numeric countdown.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.220|108.162.212.220]] 20:06, 9 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In Brazil some cities have greens and red in a row, and they decrease to indicate how long the green or red will last. something like http://www.guiasjp.com/fotos_noticias/foto_1165344648.8822.jpg [[Special:Contributions/189.125.162.182|189.125.162.182]] 20:22, 5 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
In BRazil too, in Goiânia there's a nice one here for pedestrians, with leds, that show an animated pedestrian walking and when the time is running out HE RUNS FASTER! Like, it's about to go green for the cars, but feel free to cross... IF YOU'RE FAST!<br />
<br />
In Tianjin China they have a traffic signal that is a single bar of light. If it is green it starts subtracting bar length segments. When there is about a quarter left it turns yellow and then red. It then start subtracting bar length segments from the other end until it gets to about a quarter length and then turns green again. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob406/3428844012<br />
<br />
;Obvious<br />
<br />
It's how traffic engineers troll you when you are going the wrong way on a one-way. Learn to read signs!<br />
<br />
;Reference to previous comic<br />
<br />
This comic has some tongue in cheek self reference to [[277: Long Light]]. #Meta And definite trolling, by [[Randall]]<br />
<br />
:What about [[781: Ahead Stop]]?<br />
<br />
:Turing Machine?<br />
<br />
Any chance it is one?<br />
<br />
<br />
;Etc<br />
<br />
I was almost expected to see the Konami code in the left light, though I'm not sure how "B A Start" would have been shown. [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 01:13, 6 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Music<br />
<br />
I am no musician, but I can't help but wonder if there could be a hidden music chart in there somehow.<br />
Also, if you want confusing, try understanding parking signs in Montreal.<br />
<br />
:Might be, but depending on what pitches or sounds you assign to the lights, you could get pretty much every degree of harmony or cacophony you want. - Another possible music reference: Anybody reminded of Hendrix' "The Wind Cries Mary"? "The traffic lights, they turn, uh, blue tomorrow." [[Special:Contributions/89.0.230.165|89.0.230.165]] 08:14, 10 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;And You thought 4 stage was bad enough<br />
<br />
Here In BC, in older installations, and I'm not sure whether any still exist, there used to be lights with 5 stages. It wasn't really any different than the standard red-yellow-green-turn combo you generally see where the turning light may come on, it just had the yellow arrow shown when the turning arrow is about to expire in it's own lamp. It behaves pretty expectantly, but it looks very imposing.<br />
<br />
;Race cars<br />
<br />
The second light has quite a resemblance to the "christmas tree" that governs the start of a drag race, where the lights change colors according to a pattern <nowiki>http://www</nowiki> dot nhra dot com/nhra101/basics.aspx [[Special:Contributions/69.121.10.82|69.121.10.82]] 04:32, 27 December 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I sat and watched this increasingly surreal show for about three minutes, then I broke down laughing when one of the lights turned purple. [[Special:Contributions/174.239.196.155|174.239.196.155]] 06:09, 11 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In UK, ALL lights go Red -> red AND yellow -> green -> yellow on it's own -> red again. Red and yellow means it's about to go green and yellow on it's own means it's about to go red. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.246|141.101.98.246]] 21:43, 8 November 2013 (UTC)</div>108.162.212.220