https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.221.168&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T17:36:23ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1755:_Old_Days&diff=129952Talk:1755: Old Days2016-11-04T04:52:48Z<p>108.162.221.168: /* Reflections on Trusting Trust */ new section</p>
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== Reflections on Trusting Trust ==<br />
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[https://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf Reflections on Trusting Trust] (pdf), Ken Thompson's acceptance speech for the 1984 Turing Award, in which he discusses creating a backdoor in the C compiler (yes, there was only 1 when he invented the language) that itself creates a second backdoor in the login program when it is compiled. Additionally, it reproduces itself when compiling the C compiler from un-tampered-with source code, so that anyone using the binary (compiled) compiler would be unable to avoid reproducing the backdoor in all its forms. This is the sort of thing that gives security programmers nightmares. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.168|108.162.221.168]] 04:52, 4 November 2016 (UTC) (bonsaiviking)</div>108.162.221.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1496:_Art_Project&diff=858501496: Art Project2015-03-09T05:34:17Z<p>108.162.221.168: </p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1496<br />
| date = March 9, 2015<br />
| title = Art Project<br />
| image = art project.png<br />
| titletext = It's my most ambitious project yet, judging by the amount of guacamole.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
This comic appears to be satirizing art in two different ways. From one perspective, the author Randall is describing various art forms in unusual ways (e.g. a portrait for the first character, a video for the second, and perhaps live action in the third). From another perspective, Randall might be making fun of modern art. A common colloquial definition of modern art is "something you could have created but did not create." In each case the art described would be useless. A picture of oneself "every hundred years" will only happen once; a "picture every 1/24th of a second" is the standard framerate for most small cameras for video, and "watching my face age in real time" is simply conducting a discussion, interview, or observation with and of someone.<br />
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The final character, Megan, pokes fun at all of them by simply watching their attempts at "art" while she eats a burrito. Randall may also be referencing the many perspectives on art by leaving this comic open to several interpretations.<br />
==Transcript==<br />
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(Please add character names. Thanks!)<br />
I'm doing an art project where I take a picture of myself every hundred years.<br />
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Cueball: I'm doing an art project where I take a picture of myself every 1/24th of a second.<br />
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I'm doing an art project where you can come to my house and watch my actual face age in real time.<br />
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Megan: I'm doing an art project where you all do those things while I eat a burrito<br />
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[Title Text] - It's my most ambitious project yet, judging by the amount of guacamole.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.221.168https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=530:_I%27m_An_Idiot&diff=81651530: I'm An Idiot2014-12-28T08:54:12Z<p>108.162.221.168: /* Explanation */ "fail to notice that the problem has an easier solution that they haven't noticed"?</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 530<br />
| date = January 14, 2009<br />
| title = I'm an Idiot<br />
| image = im an idiot.png<br />
| titletext = Sadly, this is a true story. At least I learned about the OS X 'say' command.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]], locked out of his dorm/apartment, is trying to get his roommate's attention so that she'll unlock the door. He tries various ways of contacting her: calling her cell phone, {{w|IRC}}, the window, and remotely logging into their downstairs Mac computer (via {{w|Secure Shell|SSH}}) to make it shout at her. [[Ponytail]] informs him of the most obvious solution—the doorbell—which prompts a moment of realization. The content of this realization—"I'm An Idiot"—is stated in the title of the comic. The humor of the comic derives from the rhythm of the panels: a long buildup followed by a short quip, then a pause for the implied moment of realization. <br />
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The humor of this comic also derives from the reader's familiarity with the behavior shown in the comic, since most every person who likes solving problems has experienced a moment of realization similar to Cueball's at one point or another. They, like Cueball, get distracted by solving an interesting problem [[356: Nerd Sniping|''because solving problems is fun'']], and fail to notice that the problem has an easier solution that they haven't considered. This same issue of getting lost in a sub-problem [in this case, the-sub problem of how to remotely control text-to-speech in OS X] at the expense of overall problem-solving ability is further covered in [[761: DFS]].<br />
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The title text of the comic mentions that, although missing an obvious solution can be humiliating, one often learns a lot from trying new solutions, which would explain why the behavior persists.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail approaches Cueball, who is sitting on porch steps, laptop in lap and backpack open.]<br />
:Ponytail: Should I ask?<br />
:Cueball: I'm locked out, and I'm trying to get my roommate to let me in.<br />
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:[Unplugged cell phone on table.]<br />
:Cueball: First I tried her cell phone, but it's off.<br />
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:[Cueball sitting on steps, laptop in lap and gesturing.]<br />
:Cueball: Then I tried IRC, but she's not online.<br />
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:[Cueball standing in front of house and looking up at window.]<br />
:Cueball: I couldn't find anything to throw at her window,<br />
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:[Living room with couch easy chair and computer set up.]<br />
:Cueball: So I SSH'd into the Mac Mini in the living room and got the speech synth to yell at her for me.<br />
:Computer: Hey I'm locked out downstairs<br />
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:[Megan sitting at table with laptop open.]<br />
:Cueball: But I think I left the volume way down, so I'm reading the OS X docs to learn to set the volume via command line.<br />
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:[Ponytail facing Cueball, who is still sitting on the porch with his laptop.]<br />
:Ponytail: Ah.<br />
:Ponytail: I take it the doorbell doesn't work?<br />
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:[Ponytail remains in place, Cueball tilts head back slightly, as if staring in realization.]<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>108.162.221.168