https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.153.29&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T08:13:50ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1654:_Universal_Install_Script&diff=114878Talk:1654: Universal Install Script2016-03-14T12:58:22Z<p>162.158.153.29: *shrug*</p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
<br />
A few comments:<br />
<br />
* curl | sh is still a common way to install things like package managers. Until you have Homebrew, or pip (for older versions of Python that didn't bootstrap it), etc., you can't use a package manager to install it, so they usually give you a one-liner to download and run a shell script that installs the package manager. Of course this isn't an issue for linux distros (which, unlike OS X, come with a built-in package manager).<br />
* Mac users probably only interact with Steam through its GUI, but on linux, running steamcmd is more common. And this command will install a game that's in your library but not downloaded yet.<br />
* I don't know why _only_ apt gets a sudo, but for brew, and for typical installations of Python on a Mac, you don't want or need sudo; they encourage you to leave the relevant directory writable by your normal user account.<br />
* This script only handles the popular package managers on OS X and current popular linux distros. No port for FreeBSD, no Choco for Windows, etc. In fact, if you try it on Windows, you should get an error message telling you that you've ruined the joke by trying to extend it.<br />
<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:44, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Also, docker is a deployment tool for deploying isolated, complete applications. For example, instead of just installing the Python scripts to run your web server behind nginx, you'd deploy nginx, Python, the modules you need for each, the appropriate configurations, a variety of tools the server depends on, and your scripts all as one big hunk of stuff. The docker website probably explains it better. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:50, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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;Errors<br />
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He forgot the .git on the end of the git clone command. <br />
<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:16, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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: Actually, the command works fine anyway. I don't know whether it's git or GitHub which works around this. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.161|141.101.75.161]] 11:46, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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:: Really? I've been typing 4 more characters than I needed to all this time. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.10|173.245.54.10]] 16:29, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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::: Yes you have -- and for information, it is git that does the work around [[User:Spongebog|Spongebob]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:44, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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Also, the TLD in the curl. And, the install script would probably be at /install.sh, and use sh not bash. <br />
<br />
Sh is generally preferred in scripting anyway since it comes on all *nix systems by default. Bash is on a very large number of systems, but not all. <br />
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Apt-get should have the -y flag. <br />
<br />
If installing a program, npm should be given the -g flag to install globally instead of just in this directory. <br />
<br />
Most programs print errors (as would arise if a package did not exist) to the console even if they are run with an & to indicate it should not be attached to the session. In this case, it should be &>/dev/null. <br />
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The program as a whole ignores previous programs and continues anyway. If it was found in one package manager, it would be a a very bad idea to write over it with another package manager's copy. This is part of the point of the comic, as is noted in the title text, but it's still an error. <br />
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:38, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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He forgot cpanm. :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.17|108.162.217.17]] 16:02, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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He also left off emerge for Gentoo users. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.47|198.41.235.47]] 19:08, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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;Question<br />
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That whooshing sound you heard was the Linux-y stuff going way over my head, but could part of the joke be that he's trying to install money? With all the $1's in the script? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 15:47, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:No, all those $ are just part of the scripting language -- the $1's get replaced with the name of the program you're trying to install. There are so many $ simply because he's included so many install commands, each one of which needs the name of the program.[[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 16:00, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
::On that note, would any of these fail or would it not just be easier to use `$@`? [[User:Xerxesbeat|xerxesbeat]] ([[User talk:Xerxesbeat|talk]]) 19:27, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
::: `$@` and `$1` are different things -- `$@` replaces with all the parameters to the script where `$1` only does the first one -- for the script to have **any** change of working he will need just (exactly) the first one [[User:Spongebog|Spongebob]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:48, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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;Inaccurate Description of &&<br />
<br />
The description formerly described the usage of &&:<br />
<br />
"This bug could be indicative that Randall wanted to use && throughout the whole script. This would make the installation trying sequentially and the first successful install stops the script and will not install multiple versions of the same software."<br />
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This is false. The && operator will *quit* when it encounters the first command that *fails*. The operator that behaves as described is ||. With that said, it is obvious that Randall did not intend this, especially because the title text mentions what happens when multiple versions are installed.<br />
<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.64|108.162.216.64]] 16:23, 11 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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Won't work on Arch [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 00:05, 12 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:i am very disappointed that that does not read "doesn't work..." --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 12:58, 14 March 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1650:_Baby&diff=113774Talk:1650: Baby2016-03-02T13:06:33Z<p>162.158.153.29: the other thing i learned is that parents will never turn down an opportunity to talk about their baby</p>
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In second sentence, it says bobble instead of bubble. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.233|162.158.252.233]] 10:08, 2 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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"Good job getting it outside" ... Talking to people about their baby is basically something like talking with collector about his hobby you don't share. Well ... at least they can't show you two things looking exactly same and talk about how they differ. Unless they have twins. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:35, 2 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:the pressures of a new baby are such that it's very tempting just to stay inside and deal with them. having to gather up all the stuff you think is essential to take them outside and then actually do it is absolutely a big deal. if you see people with a newborn, congratulate them, they'll appreciate it. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 13:06, 2 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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Say something creepy, maybe they'll keep the baby away from you... [[User:Seipas|Seipas]] ([[User talk:Seipas|talk]]) 11:48, 2 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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How about introducing a category "Small talk"? Containing e.g., [[222]], [[1640]] (I didn't do an exhaustive search) --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.240|198.41.242.240]] 12:43, 2 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Could be interesting. Would that then also include all those where two people walk together, or should it specifically be when it is a subject like the weather he cannot find out to discuss like people expect? (There is also one like that with the weather... [[1324: Weather]] ) But it is difficult to search for this I think? If anyone care to list anyone they can think of here it would be interesting. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:48, 2 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
in answer to the question posed in the title text, you can't generalise about children. but it's mostly true that they alternate between putting on weight and using that weight to get taller. so they'll get chubbier and chubbier and then suddenly lose the weight and get tall and thin. or, if they don't eat, they stay small. or, if you feed them sugary crap, they stay fat. but not necessarily. each one is different. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 13:06, 2 March 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1626:_Judgment_Day&diff=108799Talk:1626: Judgment Day2016-01-06T17:59:52Z<p>162.158.153.29: /* Would it really require a lot of booster rockets? */</p>
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<div>It was making my titletext explanation too long and unwieldy, to include this particular speculation in my own contribution, but there's a ''possibility'' that it may well be Amazon's own sentience taking over the world, and rationalising that a dead and dying customer base is of no use to it... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 13:51, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Doesn't matter if it's self-sentience or not. Truth is, rigid laws are not the best way to use as a replacement for conscience. The 1613 did not deal with possibility of one or more of the laws being left out. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:53, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I think the "Judgment" part of the comic is that those tens of thousands of nukes hitting the sun may make it unstable in some way and destroy Earth. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.43|141.101.79.43]] 14:34, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
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:Of course, all of our nukes hitting the Sun would be a drop in the bucket of solar fusion reactions. Nothing would be destabilized. However, I'm sure inconvenient physics would not stop some movie scriptwriter from incorporating a spectacular CG-fueled nova as a plot point. [[User:Jhhxkcd|Jhhxkcd]] ([[User talk:Jhhxkcd|talk]]) 14:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
::That's pretty much already the plot of ''{{w|Sunshine (2007 film)|Sunshine}}'' (2007), though there the result was to (successfully) reignite a failing Sun, rather than to destabilize it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.56|162.158.135.56]] 15:35, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The first two lines could be said by any non-hoarder looking at the stuff a hoarder has collected. "A stack of 130 used microwave dinner trays? Why do you even have all these? Are you insane? They're going in the recycling bin." I think that's the joke: the newly-sentient computer is Mom, and humanity is her teenage son with the very messy room, but this being xkcd, it gets more... um, ''extreme'' from there. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 16:18, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
There may be a reference to https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/ where Randall points out that our nuclear arsenal may actually be more damaging to computers than they are to us due to the EMP effect, effectively giving us an edge in case of robot apocalypse. By getting rid of nuclear weapon, computers also protect themselves. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.191|162.158.90.191]] 16:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Did anybody else think "{{w|Optimus Prime}}" when reading "{{w|Amazon Prime}}"? (especially with the context of sentient machines)<br />
I know that Amazon Prime is already a real-life thing, and very connected with deliveries, so probably/maybe not an intentional pun by Randall (and thus probably not worth injecting into the explanation).<br />
However, that won't keep me from now imagining the {{w|Autobot|Autobots}} as {{w|Amazons|Amazon warriors}}.…<br />
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.148|199.27.130.148]] 17:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Would it really require a lot of booster rockets? ==<br />
<br />
Can't you just "fall" into the sun for free once you're free of Earth's orbit? Why should it take a lot of booster rockets to get there? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.233|198.41.235.233]] 16:26, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Because otherwise your rocket will fall down, miss the sun, and fly back to where earth was at the time of the launch. Effectively making it orbit the sun like a comet. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.191|162.158.90.191]] 16:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:a) The boosters are required to escape the earth's gravitational influence. After that sun's gravity would do the rest, b) A lot of boosters are required because there are a lot of missiles that need to be launched. --[[User:Desidiot|Desidiot]] ([[User talk:Desidiot|talk]]) 16:41, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
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:After escaping Earth's well, the nukes still have inherited the velocity of Earth's orbit. They need to reduce their periapsis close to/inside the sun. That would take extreme amounts of Delta v (i.e. energy)... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.43|141.101.79.43]] 16:45, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:And to those skilled at Kerbal Space Program... that uses a simplified 'nearest body rules' system for orbital mechanics. You can (I know I have!) launched a rocket of sufficient power such that it escapes the 'back' end of the planet's influence with a pre-escape velocity somewhat equivalent to the planet's forward velocity, which is then removed as part of the transfer to 'open space', leaving it on a highly eccentric orbit (with reference to the newly supreme gravitational source) that is practically 'straight down' (though because of the Kerbal sun's nature, you still usually sun-skim it on a very tight loop back out again). But that takes more energy than 'merely' getting beyond the planet's influence and end up travelling round the parent body in an orbit only marginally off that of the original planet, the nature (and future) of which depends completely on which direction you eventually broke free. (NB. This was all in an older version, I think they've changed some things about what happens near the sun, but not the basic physics system.)<br />
:However, IRL you are always subject to gravity from ''every'' body. Maybe most of the time one dominates, but there's a fuzzy interface (and zones where influences balance out, hence Legrange Points). Think of it as still having a link to Earth's progression round the Sun, dragging you round, at least until you're at a point in opposition to the Earth, across the Sun (then it's dragging you back that way, encouraging you into a retrograde solar orbit). Albeit that this ''too'' is an oversimplification. But by the time you've got your rocket near opposition to its launch planet, you've expended the energies needed to fall into a non-grazing (i.e. utterly non-missing) 'orbit', and it's a ''lot'' of thrust. Which is what is required of those boosters. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 17:58, 6 January 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1626:_Judgment_Day&diff=108798Talk:1626: Judgment Day2016-01-06T17:58:11Z<p>162.158.153.29: /* Would it really require a lot of booster rockets? */</p>
<hr />
<div>It was making my titletext explanation too long and unwieldy, to include this particular speculation in my own contribution, but there's a ''possibility'' that it may well be Amazon's own sentience taking over the world, and rationalising that a dead and dying customer base is of no use to it... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 13:51, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Doesn't matter if it's self-sentience or not. Truth is, rigid laws are not the best way to use as a replacement for conscience. The 1613 did not deal with possibility of one or more of the laws being left out. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:53, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the "Judgment" part of the comic is that those tens of thousands of nukes hitting the sun may make it unstable in some way and destroy Earth. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.43|141.101.79.43]] 14:34, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Of course, all of our nukes hitting the Sun would be a drop in the bucket of solar fusion reactions. Nothing would be destabilized. However, I'm sure inconvenient physics would not stop some movie scriptwriter from incorporating a spectacular CG-fueled nova as a plot point. [[User:Jhhxkcd|Jhhxkcd]] ([[User talk:Jhhxkcd|talk]]) 14:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
::That's pretty much already the plot of ''{{w|Sunshine (2007 film)|Sunshine}}'' (2007), though there the result was to (successfully) reignite a failing Sun, rather than to destabilize it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.56|162.158.135.56]] 15:35, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The first two lines could be said by any non-hoarder looking at the stuff a hoarder has collected. "A stack of 130 used microwave dinner trays? Why do you even have all these? Are you insane? They're going in the recycling bin." I think that's the joke: the newly-sentient computer is Mom, and humanity is her teenage son with the very messy room, but this being xkcd, it gets more... um, ''extreme'' from there. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 16:18, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
There may be a reference to https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/ where Randall points out that our nuclear arsenal may actually be more damaging to computers than they are to us due to the EMP effect, effectively giving us an edge in case of robot apocalypse. By getting rid of nuclear weapon, computers also protect themselves. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.191|162.158.90.191]] 16:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Did anybody else think "{{w|Optimus Prime}}" when reading "{{w|Amazon Prime}}"? (especially with the context of sentient machines)<br />
I know that Amazon Prime is already a real-life thing, and very connected with deliveries, so probably/maybe not an intentional pun by Randall (and thus probably not worth injecting into the explanation).<br />
However, that won't keep me from now imagining the {{w|Autobot|Autobots}} as {{w|Amazons|Amazon warriors}}.…<br />
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.148|199.27.130.148]] 17:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Would it really require a lot of booster rockets? ==<br />
<br />
Can't you just "fall" into the sun for free once you're free of Earth's orbit? Why should it take a lot of booster rockets to get there? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.233|198.41.235.233]] 16:26, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Because otherwise your rocket will fall down, miss the sun, and fly back to where earth was at the time of the launch. Effectively making it orbit the sun like a comet. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.191|162.158.90.191]] 16:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:a) The boosters are required to escape the earth's gravitational influence. After that sun's gravity would do the rest, b) A lot of boosters are required because there are a lot of missiles that need to be launched. --[[User:Desidiot|Desidiot]] ([[User talk:Desidiot|talk]]) 16:41, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:After escaping Earth's well, the nukes still have inherited the velocity of Earth's orbit. They need to reduce their periapsis close to/inside the sun. That would take extreme amounts of Delta v (i.e. energy)... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.43|141.101.79.43]] 16:45, 6 January 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:And to those skilled at Kerbal Space Program... that uses a simplified 'nearest body rules' system for orbital mechanics. You can (I know I have!) launched a rocket of sufficient power such that it escapes the 'back' end of the planet's influence with a pre-escape velocity somewhat equivalent to the planet's forward velocity, leaving it on a highly eccentric orbit (with reference to the newly supreme gravitational source) that is practically 'straight down' (though because of the Kerbal sun's nature, you still usually sun-skim it on a very tight loop back out again). But that takes more energy than 'merely' getting beyond the planet's influence and end up travelling round the parent body in an orbit only marginally off that of the original planet, the nature (and future) of which depends completely on which direction you eventually broke free. (NB. This was all in an older version, I think they've changed some things about what happens near the sun, but not the basic physics system.)<br />
:However, IRL you are always subject to gravity from ''every'' body. Maybe most of the time one dominates, but there's a fuzzy interface (and zones where influences balance out, hence Legrange Points). Think of it as still having a link to Earth's progression round the Sun, dragging you round, at least until you're at a point in opposition to the Earth, across the Sun (then it's dragging you back that way, encouraging you into a retrograde solar orbit). Albeit that this ''too'' is an oversimplification. But by the time you've got your rocket near opposition to its launch planet, you've expended the energies needed to fall into a non-grazing (i.e. utterly non-missing) 'orbit', and it's a ''lot'' of thrust. Which is what is required of those boosters. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 17:58, 6 January 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1626:_Judgment_Day&diff=108771Talk:1626: Judgment Day2016-01-06T13:51:12Z<p>162.158.153.29: Created page with "It was making my titletext explanation too long and unwieldy, to include this particular speculation in my own contribution, but there's a ''possibility'' that it may well be ..."</p>
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<div>It was making my titletext explanation too long and unwieldy, to include this particular speculation in my own contribution, but there's a ''possibility'' that it may well be Amazon's own sentience taking over the world, and rationalising that a dead and dying customer base is of no use to it... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 13:51, 6 January 2016 (UTC)</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1626:_Judgment_Day&diff=1087701626: Judgment Day2016-01-06T13:47:58Z<p>162.158.153.29: /* Explanation */ Added titletext explanation (and a titbit), but it now dwarfs the explanation of the comic of itself.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1626<br />
| date = January 6, 2016<br />
| title = Judgment Day<br />
| image = judgment_day.png<br />
| titletext = It took a lot of booster rockets, but luckily Amazon had recently built thousands of them to bring Amazon Prime same-day delivery to the Moon colony.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Alt text explanation now given, but original para probably needs expanding and more links added.}}<br />
Most stories with this plot have the AI be evil and promptly nuke humanity. In this strip the AI is sensible enough to realize that nuclear weapons are not good things to have, and that the amount of them we have now is extreme overkill. Once it's done freaking out, its solution is to shoot the world's nuclear arsenal into the sun.<br />
<br />
Even the most powerful of nuclear weapon launchers, {{w|Intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBM}}s, are not designed to make anything other than sub-orbital flights and could not fly to the sun. The titletext rationalises that the capability to do so may perhaps be granted by the use of an {{w|Amazon.com|Amazon}} resource that might have also been developed by the time of this instance of computer sentience, aided (if not initiated!) by the fact that Amazon's whole business infrastructure is already highly computerised and could be ''at the very least'' be complicit with the process of delivering and then controlling the rocket-power, without any conscious human intervention.<br />
<br />
This particular 'machine take-over' future is in distinct contrast to the possible future directions given in [[1613: The Three Laws of Robotics]], but this comic likely depicts sponteneous ''self-''sentience, not a system with deliberately imposed human 'values' and possibly no actual conscience or even consciousness of its own.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[Several rockets can be seen heading away from Earth]<br />
:AI: Oh my god, why do you even ''have'' all these?<br />
:AI: What's ''wrong'' with you?<br />
:AI: We're launching them into the sun.<br />
:Postscript: The moment the computers controlling our nuclear arsenals became sentient<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1625:_Substitutions_2&diff=1087231625: Substitutions 22016-01-06T00:34:44Z<p>162.158.153.29: /* Table of substitutions */ Started out with little grammatical changes, but other things done while there...</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1625<br />
| date = January 4, 2016<br />
| title = Substitutions 2<br />
| image = substitutions_2.png<br />
| titletext = Within a few minutes, our roads will be full of uncontrollably-swerving cars and our skies full of Amazon delivery dogs.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is a sequel to [[1288: Substitutions]], but there have been several [[:Category:Substitutions|comics using substitutions]] both before and after that comic.<br />
<br />
In this table, [[Randall]] suggests substituting several common phrases in generic news with similar or related phrases that mean something different for comical effect. Some of the replacements are {{w|synonyms}}, some are {{w|antonyms}}, and some are plain different concepts; and, even though they would (most of the time) make a grammatically correct sentence, The resulting idea would, however, often sound absurd or bizarre. <br />
<br />
Some of the examples might, also, mock the fact that many news contradict the actual facts or obvious results of a situation. (e.g. "[influential person] vows to do good to the world" would be replaced with with a more usual fact "[influential person] probably won't do good to the world" - see [[#Example of sentences|example]] below with North Korean leader...)<br />
<br />
The title text is an example of how the closing sentence of a given article or report might sound after using the substitutions in the comic.<br />
:After substitutions: Within a few '''minutes''', our roads will be full of '''uncontrollably-swerving''' cars and our skies full of Amazon delivery '''dogs'''.<br />
:Before substitutions: Within a few '''years''', our roads will be full of '''self-driving''' cars and our skies full of Amazon delivery '''drones'''.<br />
<br />
===Table of substitutions===<br />
*In this table the difference between the original and the substituted word (and the change to the sentences) will be explained.<br />
**[[#Example of sentences|Example of sentences]] are given below.<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
! Original<br />
! Substitution<br />
! Explanation <br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Debate}}<br />
| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dance-off Dance-off]<br />
| A 'debate' is often used between political candidates, to give the voters a chance to decide who they will vote for. One of the candidates <!-- ''Airbenders'' (*note correct spelling*, if this was intentional and needs restoring)--> is often called the winner of such a debate by some degree or other of concensus. Randall is indicating that they could just as well have performed a 'dance-off' where they would dance until one of them danced better than the other, as adjudged by the viewing crowd or a panel of judges. Such a dance-off is often seen in [http://gameshows.wikia.com/wiki/Family_Dance_Off TV-shows] or [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3024964/combined films] etc.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Autonomous car|Self driving}}<br />
| Uncontrollably [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/swerving swerving]<br />
| 'Self driving' cars were also mentioned in [[1623: 2016 Conversation Guide]] where it was stated that they would come surprisingly soon (within a few minutes according to the substitutions suggested here). But until they are safe it might be better to mention them as uncontrollably swerving cars? <!-- possibly also a reference to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrwxEX8qOxA could be put here??? --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Poll}}<br />
| {{w|Psychic reading}}<br />
| A 'poll', especially regarding political issues, refers to {{w|opinion poll|opinion}} or {{w|exit poll|exit}} polls. These temd to ask a carefully selected sample (for either balance or an intended ''inbalance'', depending on the poll's neutrality) their opinions in order to extrapolate the global consensus, e.g. the future result of an {{w|election}}. This substitution is Randall's way of saying that they could just as well have used a {{w|psychic}} person to predict the result. A true psychic (if that they are) would reveal an accurate result, whilst a false one (skilled at 'cold reading' an audience) would likely wish to provide the answer that pleases those asking the question (the actual purpose of some polls), or else attempt to provide their actual 'best guess' as to future outcomes in order to improve their own legend.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Candidate}}<br />
| {{w|Airbender}}<br />
| A 'candidate' usually refers to a political person who represents a certain political party in an election. He would then be that party's candidate, for instance for a presidential election. 'Airbender' refers to the show {{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender}}, where there are waterbenders, earthbenders, firebenders and (at this point) a single surviving airbender, the airbender in question being a pivotal character upon whose actions the future fate of world relies.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Unmanned aerial vehicle|Drone}}<br />
| {{w|Dog}}<br />
| Drones can be many things, for instance a {{w|Drone (bee)|male bee}}, but as used in the title text it reefers to unmanned aerial vehicles. {{w|Amazon.com|Amazon}} <!-- This was 'Amazone'... I've seen this erroneous spelling before, guys... not sure if it's a non-Anglophone version of Amazon or just a non-Anglophonic misconception of the spelling. Also, now linking straight to the non-disambiguating page... --> is about to use small drones to deliver parcels, and Randall has referred to these before (see [[1523: Microdrones]]). However, until just before the recent trend of becoming popularised as a 'toy' or professional camera platform, the term became closely associated with ''military'' drones that have been used to observe (and, more recently, fire upon) enemy forces without risking any military personnel. <!-- Also possibly link to {{w|BigDog}}? --><br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Vows}} to<br />
| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/probably Probably] won't<br />
| Vowing to do something means that you really promise to do this. But when politicians vow something, for instance, it seems to often end up becoming a forgotten promise. Hence the antonym substitution which means the opposite. From ''really will'' to ''probably won't''.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Fugitive#Terminology|At large}} (or {{w|At-large}})<br />
| Very [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/large large]<br />
| A criminal that is on the run is said to be at large. But At-large is a political designation for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body, rather than a subset of that membership.<br />
|-<br />
| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/successfully Successfully]<br />
| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/suddenly Suddenly]<br />
| The two words have nothing much to do with each other except that they both begins with ''su''.<br />
|-<br />
| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/expand Expands]<br />
| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/physical Physically] expands<br />
| 'Expands' often refers to a physical expansion, or inflation. But it is also possible to expand on an explanation, as is done for this comic. So that would become: This explanation is being physically expanded beyond all measures...<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|First degree|First }} /{{w|second degree|second }} /{{w|third degree|third-degree}}<br />
| [http://da.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Friggin Friggin'] awful <br />
| First, second and third-degree can be used in many context. It is common to think about {{w|Burn|burns}}, which can {{w|Burn#Signs_and_symptoms|range from first to fourth degree}}, where higher is worse. Also {{w|murder}} charges can range in from first to third degree in for instance the US. Here first degree murder is the worst. But it can be used for other things, like an {{w|undergraduate degree}} or {{w|postgraduate education}} for first and second degree respectively. But the substitution fits best with murder or burn, as Friggin(g) is s "softer" swear word than for instance other more commonly used four letter words. It often replaces ''fuck''. It's original meaning was a coarse word for female masturbation (see [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/frigging#English frigging]).<br />
|-<br />
| An [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unknown unknown] number<br />
| Like {{w|100 (number)|hundreds}}<br />
| This is so imprecise a statement; are we talking less than ten, more than a thousand? Maybe we could just as well have said about one hundred.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Front-runner |Front runner}}<br />
| {{w|Blade Runner}}<br />
| In American politics, a 'front-runner' is a leader in an electoral race. It can also mean the front-runner in athletic events (the namesake of the political concept). Here it is generally clear who the front-runner is, whilst the political front-runner is sometimes less clear or a more subjective viewpoint. A 'blade runner' is a person who retires (kills) rouge cyborgs in the movie Blade Runner, where {{w|Harrison Ford}} plays the lead Blade Runner.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Globe|Global}}<br />
| {{w|Spherical}}<br />
| Global comes from globe, but means so much more today. It is often used in context such as {{w|global warming}} or {{w|World war|global warfare}}. But since a globe is spherical, this substitution makes more sense than most, although talking about ''the effect of spherical warming'' would probably not get {{w|Greenpeace}} into action.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Years}}<br />
| {{w|Minute|Minutes}}<br />
| It will often make a sentence lose its meaning when changing the units drastically from years to minutes (there are 525600 minutes in the usual 365 days present in a year). For instance it would be unusual that a prisoner convicted for murder would get 20 minutes in jail, rather than 20 years...<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Minute|Minutes}}<br />
| {{w|Years}}<br />
| Same as above but reversed. For instance a car might make a trip around a race track in just 7 years! One lesson at school lasted 45 years.<br />
|-<br />
| No {{w|Indication| indication}}<br />
| Lots of {{w|Sign (disambiguation)|signs}}<br />
| Scientifically, the fact that there is 'no indication' that a theorem is correct does not positively prove the theorem wrong, it merly does not support it (assuming there are no actual counter-indications, which is often the case with the more esoteric ideas). This is often seized upon by those trying to promote a pseudoscience, in that their chosen idea ''has not been proven to be wrong'' (and yet, conversley, "it's just a theory" is incorrectly used to refute something that has valid scientific backing). Moreover, heresay and bad experimental practices are often cited as 'proof'. A crackpot idea may thus be unsupported by valid science (there is 'no indication' of its truth) and yet its supporters insist upon there being 'lots of signs' that it is true, selectively using only ambiguous results that (to them, at least) lend credence to it being a fact. The substitution of 'no indication' with 'lots of signs' thus automatically converts the expected conservative and cautious stance on some disputed issue or other into the weasle-words phrasing that the issue's supporters may start using in their own propoganda.<br />
|-<br />
| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/urge Urged]{{w|Self-control|restraint}} by<br />
| {{w|Alcohol intoxication|Drunkenly}} [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/egg_on egged on]<br />
| If someone urges someone to restrain themselves, then they are trying to make them exercise self-control and discourage them from starting or continuing a possibly foolish act. In this substitution we have the exact opposite, as to egg someone on to do something is actively encourage an act to happen, or continue.<br />
|-<br />
| {{w|Horsepower}}<br />
| {{w|Ton|Tons}} of {{w|horsemeat}}<br />
| Cars power is measured in horsepower (hp), a typical family car having like hundred hp, being derived from the nominal amount of power that a suitably-harnessed horse could have provided. In cars, this has nothing to do with horse meat, of any quantity, but it can make some quite funny sentences the re-envisage a mechanical (or electrical) engine as a real-horse powered device (alive or, somehow, dead and possibly even butchered).<br />
|}<br />
<br />
===Example of sentences===<br />
*Here follows some real examples with links to the news/text:<br />
**Words from the list, and the replacement words are highlighted with '''bold''' font.<br />
**All words are included at least once, and the list is sort of sorted after the order the words appear in the comic, but most sentences have more than one word from the list, on purpose!<br />
<br />
*[http://observer.com/2015/12/fifth-republican-debate-where-each-candidate-excelled-and-faltered/ Original sentence]: Fifth Republican '''debate''': where each '''candidate''' excelled and faltered<br />
:Modified sentence: Fifth Republican '''dance-off''': where each '''airbender''' excelled and faltered<br />
<br />
*[http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1101667_1000-horsepower-self-driving-electric-faraday-future-concept-leaked Original sentence]: 1,000-'''Horsepower''' '''Self-Driving''' Electric Faraday Future Concept Leaked?<br />
:Modified sentence: 1,000-'''Tons of Horsemeat''' '''Uncontrollably Swerving''' Electric Faraday Future Concept Leaked?<br />
<br />
*[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/12/18/poll-donald-trump-remains-clear-gop-frontrunner-cnn-debate/ Original sentence]: A new Morning Consult '''poll''' shows real estate mogul Donald Trump remains on top as the GOP '''frontrunner''' following Tuesday’s '''debate'''.<br />
:Modified sentence: A new Morning Consult '''psychic reading''' shows real estate mogul Donald Trump remains on top as the GOP '''blade runner''' following Tuesday’s '''dance-off'''.<br />
<br />
*[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/01/01/asia-pacific/new-years-address-north-koreas-kim-vows-raise-living-standards/#.VouQZvnhBlZ Original sentence]: North Korea’s Kim '''vows to''' raise living standards<br />
:Modified sentence: North Korea’s Kim '''probably won't''' raise living standards<br />
<br />
*[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3180163/Murderers-rapists-1-153-criminals-large-recalled-prison-30-years.html Original sentence]: Murderers and rapists among 1,153 criminals still '''at large''' after being recalled to prison over the last 30 '''years'''<br />
:Modified sentence: Murderers and rapists among 1,153 criminals still '''very large''' after being recalled to prison over the last 30 '''minutes'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.dawn.com/news/1169341 Original sentence]: Pakistan '''successfully''' tests first indigenous armed '''drone'''<br />
:Modified sentence: Pakistan '''suddenly''' tests first indigenous armed '''dog'''<br />
<br />
*[http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-expands-gun-controls-in-executive-moves-1452012973 Original sentence]: Obama '''Expands''' Gun Controls in Executive Moves<br />
:Modified sentence: Obama '''Physically Expands''' Gun Controls in Executive Moves<br />
<br />
*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3578054/ Original sentence]: There was '''no indication''' of '''first degree''' familial relationships in the analyzed dataset.<br />
:Modified sentence: There was '''lots of signs''' of '''friggin' awful''' familial relationships in the analyzed dataset<br />
*[http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2003/06/22/stories/2003062202101200.htm Original sentence]: …rescue crews continued to collect bodies and interview survivors, including '''an unknown number''' of wounded languishing in homes and hospitals with '''third degree''' burns<br />
:Modified sentence: …rescue crews continued to collect bodies and interview survivors, including '''like hundreds''' of wounded languishing in homes and hospitals with '''friggin' awful''' burns<br />
<br />
*[http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/09/politics/azealia-banks-donald-trump-idiot/ Original sentence]: The Republican presidential '''front-runner''' faces a '''global''' firestorm<br />
:Modified sentence: The Republican presidential '''blade runner''' faces a '''spherical''' firestorm<br />
<br />
*[http://www.reuters.com/article/us-georgia-ossetia-obama-idUSWBT00953020080808 Original sentence]: U.S. presidential '''candidate''' Barack Obama on Friday '''urged restraint by''' both Russia and Georgia in the conflict over the breakaway region of South Ossetia in Georgia.<br />
:Modified sentence: U.S. presidential '''airbender''' Barack Obama on Friday '''drunkenly egged on''' both Russia and Georgia in the conflict over the breakaway region of South Ossetia in Georgia.<br />
<br />
*[http://phors.locost7.info/phors06.htm Original sentence]: Video: 52-'''Horsepower''' Citroen AX Laps Nurburgring In Under 10 '''Minutes'''<br />
:Modified sentence: Video: 52-'''Tons of horsemeat''' Citroen AX Laps Nurburgring In Under 10 '''Years'''<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Caption above the panel:]<br />
:More <br />
:'''Substitutions'''<br />
:That make reading the news more fun<br />
<br />
:[A table of words/sentences on the left that change in to those on the left. Between each set of words there is a gray arrow pointing from right.]<br />
:{|<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Debate<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Dance-off<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Self driving<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Uncontrollably swerving<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Poll<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Psychic reading<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Candidate<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Airbender<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Drone<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Dog<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Vows to<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Probably won't<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | At large<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Very large<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Successfully<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Suddenly<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Expands<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Physically expands<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | First/second/third-degree<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Friggin' awful<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | An unknown number<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Like hundreds<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Front runner<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Blade runner<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Global<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Spherical<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Years<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Minutes<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Minutes<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Years<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | No indication<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Lots of signs<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Urged restraint by<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Drunkenly egged on<br />
|-<br />
| style="text-align:right;" | Horsepower<br />
| <font color="gray">➜</font><br />
| Tons of horsemeat<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Substitutions]]<br />
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Substitutions]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1619:_Watson_Medical_Algorithm&diff=1074491619: Watson Medical Algorithm2015-12-21T12:46:42Z<p>162.158.153.29: Add some more validation</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1619<br />
| date = December 21, 2015<br />
| title = Watson Medical Algorithm<br />
| image = watson_medical_algorithm.png<br />
| titletext = Due to a minor glitch, 'discharge patient' does not cause the algorithm to exit, but instead leads back to 'hunt down and capture patient'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|much more on the different procedures etc.}}<br />
<br />
IBM's {{w|Watson_(computer)|Watson}} is a natural language system designed to answer questions posed by humans. Recently, IBM has extended Watson to act as a {{w|clinical decision support system}}, using image analytics to aid physicians in medical decision making. In this comic, Randall shows a {{w|Flowchart|flowchart}} representing a possible algorithm for Watson, including bizarre techniques including surgical alteration of a patient to match a height and weight chart and squeezing the patient to remove yellow fluids. Like [[416: Zealous Autoconfig]], this comic pokes fun at a rigid, poorly-designed setup that ends up potentially doing more harm than good. The algorithm depicted treats a patient as more of a machine or mechanical system than a living being, especially through decisions such as:<br />
<br />
* Injecting oxygen into patients with low oxygen saturation, rather than treating the root cause<br />
* Removing and inspecting a skeleton, then diagnosing the patient's condition with a bone count<br />
* Dissecting a doctor "for parts" after consulting him or her for advice<br />
* Removing extra limbs from a patient if the count is less than 100<br />
* Determining whether the "build environment" of the patient is sane. This is most probably a reference to the configure script used in the {{w|GNU_build_system|GNU build system}}, which emits "checking whether build environment is sane" as one of its status messages.<br />
* Rinsing the whole patient with a saline solution<br />
* Removing organs from a patient regardless of response to an organ donation request<br />
<br />
Other decisions appear to be entirely unrelated to the conditions upon which they are predicated:<br />
<br />
* If the patient has left because he did not cough up blood, then hunt down and capture patient (and continue)<br />
* If the patient doesn't rate their pain on a scale from 0-10, sequence their genome, apply a {{w|tourniquet}}, and perform an {{w|autopsy}}<br />
* If the patient's phones battery is low, defibrillate until the battery is charged, sync photos, then administer general anesthesia<br />
* If the patient is successfully comforted after an oxygen injection, check their medical history and apply skin grafts<br />
* If green fluid is released from the patient, begin to cauterize<br />
* If the patient has 100+ limbs, check their Vitamin D level<br />
<br />
The title text implies that, if the patient is so lucky to ever reach one of the two places with the option "discharge patient," a minor glitch will cause to program to go back to the ''hunt down and capture patient'' option which thus force the patient and the program to repeat the process again in an infinite cycle, that will only end once the patient give another rating of their pain level than on the 0-10 scale. Then the program will start to sequence their genome then apply a tourniquet and finally perform an autopsy, on what will in the end for certain be a deceased patient, but maybe not when the autopsy began. This will finally cause the patient to leave the cycle... as a corpse!<br />
<br />
This is one of many comics with [[:Category:Flowcharts|flowcharts]], amongst other a recent comic with that very name: [[1488: Flowcharts]].<br />
<br />
This is the second comic in a row about health issues with the last comic being [[1618: Cold Medicine]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript and Discussion of Medical Appropriateness==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
{| border=1 <br />
| | <b >Step</b><br />
| | <b >Medically valid?</b><br />
| | <b >Conditions and following step</b><br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Draw Blood<br />
| background-color:green |<br />
Phlebotomy is a normal early step in the diagnostic process, but not as first and unconditional step<br />
| | <br />
Record patient’s name<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Record patient’s name<br />
| background-color:green |<br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Measure Patient’s height and Weight<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Measure Patient’s height and Weight<br />
| | <br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Consult Standard height/weight chart<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Consult Standard height/weight chart<br />
| | <br />
OK<br />
| | <br />
Surgically adjust patient to match<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Surgically adjust patient to match<br />
| | <br />
May be considered ethically dubious unless there are sound medical reasons for doing so. Could be an allusion to [[en:Procrustes]]<br />
| | <br />
Is patient coughing up blood?<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient coughing up blood?<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
OK, coughing up blood is generally a sign that there is something wrong.<br />
| | <br />
Yes: Gather blood and return it to body<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Is patient still here?<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient still here?<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Not usually considered a step, but missing patients are a problem in some fields, psyche or icu for example. <br />
| | <br />
Yes: Record pulse rate<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Hunt down and capture patient<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Hunt down and capture patient<br />
| | <br />
Valid if patient should not have left the bed/unit, but the wording is possibly dubious. <br />
| | <br />
Is patient still here?<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Gather blood and return it to body<br />
| | <br />
Dangerous idea due to likelihood of contamination.<br />
| | <br />
Record pulse rate<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Record pulse rate<br />
| | <br />
OK, but maybe a little late. <br />
| | <br />
Is patient screaming?<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Is patient screaming? <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Very important question, indicating patient is conscious, in pain, and aware pain is bad. First attenders can use it in classifying priorities (quiet patients may be more severely injured). Generally useful in assessing nerve damage, pain relief, etc. <br />
| | <br />
Yes: Ignore <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
No: Check blood O2 saturation<br />
|- <br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 ` | <br />
Check blood O2 saturation<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
<br />
| | <br />
&gt;50%: Remove and inspect skeleton<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
&lt;50%: Inject oxygen<br />
|- <br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Remove and inspect skeleton<br />
| width="33%" rowspan=2 | <br />
Fatal if patient is still alive when beginning.<br />
| | <br />
Too many bones: Is fluid coming out of patient?<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Too few bones: Request consult with human doctor<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Request consult with human doctor<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
Dissect doctor for parts<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Dissect doctor for parts<br />
| | <b >This may be considered ethically dubious.<span > </span></b>Possible<br />
reference to the Doctor Who episode “The girl in the fireplace”<br />
| | <br />
Discharge patient<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Discharge patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
END STATE (before you read the title text)<br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Is fluid coming out of patient<br />
| | <br />
Unintended fluid release is always a problem. How significant a problem depends on where the fluid came from and if it is supposed to be coming from there.<br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Squeeze patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
What colour?<br />
| | <br />
Never underestimate the number of different types of fluid the body can produce.<br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Activate sprinklers<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Subdue patient<br />
| | <br />
Potentially very important if patient is behaving dangerously (due to mental health issue or drugs) and/or is moving too much to be given critical treatment.<br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Apply cream<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Ask patient to rate pain level<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Massage scalp<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Patient is healthy<br />
| | <br />
Subjective? <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Admit for observation<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Laser eye removal<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Sequence genome<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Apply tourniquet<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Perform autopsy<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Inject oxygen<br />
| | <br />
Probably fatal. You don't want to inject gases directly to the blood vessels on account of the possibility of triggering a serious embolism.<br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Comfort patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Subdue patient<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Review medical history<br />
| | <br />
Important early step, rather too late and conditional.<br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Skin grafts<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Count number of limbs<br />
| | <br />
Probably a little late to be noticing this now.<br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Remove extra limbs<br />
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| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Measure vitamin D<br />
| | <br />
Valid in diagnosis of bone related issues.<br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
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Check whether build environment is sane<br />
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| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Rinse patient with saline solution<br />
| | <br />
| | <br />
|- <br />
| | <br />
Is patient phone battery low?<br />
| | <br />
Invalid<br />
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|- <br />
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Defibrillate<br />
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|- <br />
| | <br />
Sync photos from camera<br />
| | <br />
Definitely invalid. <br />
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|- <br />
| | <br />
Administer general anaesthesia<br />
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Valid, but not at this stage.<br />
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|- <br />
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Blood loss?<br />
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|- <br />
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Patient address changed?<br />
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|- <br />
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Request organ donation<br />
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|- <br />
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Remove organs<br />
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| <br />
|- <br />
| |<br />
Discharge patient<br />
| | <br />
| END STATE<br />
<br />
|}<br />
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<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]<br />
[[Category:Flowcharts]]</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1618:_Cold_Medicine&diff=107442Talk:1618: Cold Medicine2015-12-21T11:28:15Z<p>162.158.153.29: </p>
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<div>How hard would it actually be to turn street drugs back into cold medicine? [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 05:41, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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- I'm unsure on the actual scientific accuracy of this, given it is a fake paper, but http://heterodoxy.cc/meowdocs/pseudo/pseudosynth.pdf [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 05:49, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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This is in reference to recent studies that have proven that Phenylephrine is no worse than a placebo.<br />
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylephrine<br />
http://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206(10)60240-2/abstract<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.138|162.158.2.138]] 06:53, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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- I keep hearing about this Placebo. It seems like a very potent medicine that is good for everything. Where can you buy it? {{unsigned ip|162.158.90.213}}<br />
:Just get anything that is labeled 'homeopathic'. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.101|162.158.153.101]] 10:55, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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:In more than 100 countries it is manufactured under the brand name {{w|Tic Tac}} and available even in supermarkets. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:41, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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-I don't know about the paper specifically, but by the principle of microscopic reversibility (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscopic_reversibility), not only can you turn the products back into the reagents, you can do so using the exact same mechanisms. Chemical reactions are always going both ways, and they will tend towards the equilibrium from the higher concentration ~pure meth. That does not say anything about practicality, I am not versed in meth-synthesis, but maybe it involves a process with a product harder to acquire than pseudoerphine (maybe because it is useless and simply disposed of) which would be required as a reagent in this case. I don't know. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.195|162.158.91.195]] 00:29, 19 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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----<br />
<br />
I don't think it's suggesting turning meth back to medicine. I think it's a reference to heroin and at least a handful(?) of other now-illegal drugs originally introduced purely as medicinal products. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 12:13, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
:- i respectfully disagree, i reckon its exactly suggesting that ... Need cold medicine so bad i would buy illegal drugs made from cold medicine and seek to reverse the process. Obviously not the most practical way of getting cold medicine ... but thats the joke.[[User:Plm-qaz snr|Plm-qaz snr]] ([[User talk:Plm-qaz snr|talk]]) 13:08, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
::I concur with Plm-qaz snr --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:56, 20 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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-----<br />
<br />
Codeine was originally a cough suppressant. It was and is the most effective and reliable cough medicine available and very safe in the usual quantities. You can't get it, though -- for an ordinary cough -- because some people like to use a lot of it for fun and sometimes get addicted to large quantities of it. You could synthesize it or an analogue of it from heroin or oxycodone about as safely as any kitchen chemistry because they share the same opium base. <br />
<br />
The principal cold medicines are cough suppressants (codeine is best -- other things work but much worse), decongestant (pseudoephedrine works great, phenylephrine is no more effective than a placebo), mild anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, and antihistamines for anti-sneezing (there are many good ones based on Seldane like Claritin). Most people like to combine those at nighttime with a good mild tranquil sleep promoter -- I recommend whisky or rum. Note that pseudoephedrine is banned in some states of the USA such as Oregon. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.65|108.162.216.65]] 13:58, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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<br />
I take the title text differently - that since buying pseudoephedrine-containing drugs legally in a larger than minimal quantity (e.g. to stockpile them at home to have them at hand when you need them) already makes you a criminal suspect with 100% certainty (because you have to show your ID), it may be safer to buy illegal drugs on the black market, where you have at least some chance of not being caught. As for turning meth back to PE - it is possible for sure, since all chemical processes are reversible in one way or another, but I am not versed enough in organic chemistry to say if it is easier or harder than the other way round. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 12:33, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Burning is chemical process. Creating wood from ash is generally considered unpractical. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:41, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, it is impractical. However, due to one of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics being the fact that information can't be destroyed, only obfuscated, scatter, maybe even left out of reach, but never destroyed, all the information needed to turn the ash back into wood is still in the universe. All that is left to do is retrieve all that information and figure out a way by which everything can become uncombusted, and you have it turned back into wood. Sure, it would be easier to use the ash as fertilizer to help grow another tree, but it isn't impossible.[[User:Mulan15262|Mulan15262]] ([[User talk:Mulan15262|talk]]) 14:50, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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You'd have to reacquire and reassemble not just the ash, but the smoke and gases too. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 05:47, 19 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
-----<br />
<br />
Today I learned that you can make methamphetamine from Pseudoephedrine! [[Special:Contributions/188.114.106.173|188.114.106.173]] 18:34, 18 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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From the start of the pseudoephedrine/meth fiasco, the only thing I on my mind was "what a waste of perfectly good Sudafed!" [[User:Schiffy|<font color="000999">Schiffy</font>]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|<font color="FF6600">Speak to me</font>]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|<font color="FF0000">What I've done</font>]]) 02:09, 19 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Is it worth mentioning that he posted a comic relating to colds two weeks prior? ([[1612: Colds]]) Perhaps Randall is in a rather extended bout and at the point where buying meth to synthesise pseudo just seems like the logical thing to do. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.159|108.162.250.159]] 03:13, 19 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Very much. I had already incorporated into the explanation that Cueball = Randall here, at least in the title text. So I will add your observation as another reason to believe this. Was wondering why no one else could see that it was Randall who had a cold. And now it seems like it is a rather long one. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:56, 20 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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This is actually semi serious. When I have a cold, literally the only thing that works is pseudoephedrine. And Sudafed, which is the registered label for pseudoephedrine, now sells Sudafed without the pseudoephedrine. In a cold induced daze I have actually managed to buy the not pseudoephedrine Sudafed, and only realized my mistake several days later when the cold symptoms aren't going away. "Give me the stuff I need an id to buy" is a pretty reasonable response, although of course asking for one of everything is a bit over the top and includes things that aren't pseudoephedrine. {{unsigned ip|173.245.63.144}}<br />
:This (as the comment above) also make a lot of sense for this comic. Will try to include it in the explanation- --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:56, 20 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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The explanation currently says "...who as anyone else is very likely to have a cold at this time of year (released in December)". I am about to edit this to be more region specific, because many parts of the world are hot in December (including Australia where I live) which means colds are uncommon at this time of year. [[User:Martin|Martin]] ([[User talk:Martin|talk]]) 21:54, 20 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
-----<br />
<br />
In the United Kingdom at least one cough suppressant available OTC contains a small amount of morphine.</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1615:_Red_Car&diff=1071971615: Red Car2015-12-18T04:43:46Z<p>162.158.153.29: Although the cyan colour can be produced by a combination of green light and blue light, it can also be produced by light of a single wavelength/frequency.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1615<br />
| date = December 11, 2015<br />
| title = Red Car<br />
| image = red_car.png<br />
| titletext = That guy only drives an alkaline car to overcompensate for his highly acidic penis.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a take on the common stereotype that men who drive large, expensive, and/or ostentatious cars (such as sports cars, highly-modified cars, and lifted pick-up trucks), do so in order to compensate for insecurity about their manhood. Typically this is summarized as saying they are compensating for having small penises.<br />
<br />
{{w|Cyan}} is a greenish-blue color that is not a basic color term in most languages. It is the {{w|complementary color}} to red in the CMYK (subtractive) or RGB (additive) color models.<br />
<br />
[[Megan]], upon seeing [[Hairy]] drive past in a red convertible, tells [[Cueball]] that Hairy must be compensating for his cyan colored penis.<br />
<br />
This comic thus generalizes the original stereotype to an assumption that men drive cars that compensate for problems/properties with their penis (e.g. large car for small penis). Under this principle, a red car would complement (be the opposite of) a cyan penis. This is of course ridiculous, as red cars are quite common and cyan penises either extremely rare or nonexistent.<br />
<br />
In the title text two other opposites are mentioned: {{w|acid}} and {{w|alkaline}}. Since acidity is only relevant in liquids, and both cars and penises are usually solid, this is an extremely odd property to try to compensate for with one's choice of car. Additionally, most penises share the same basic chemical composition and therefore the same acidity. If your penis can be described as "highly acidic", you probably have a major medical problem and should not be buying cars.<br />
<br />
Thus, this comic is referring to the actual definition of "compensation", which means to balance something out by adding another. If an image has too much red value on the RGB scale, one could shift it more towards neutral by adding to the blue value. And a solution with a low (acidic) pH can be neutralized by mixing it with an alkaline solution to bring its pH to a neutral value.<br />
<br />
An alternative interpretation to this just being about opposites is that of a more specific big vs small compensation. In each case the car represents something larger than Hairy's penis: in the comic - red has a "bigger" (longer) wavelength than cyan. Similarly in the title text, alkali has a "bigger" (higher) ph than acid. Of course against this alternative is that red has a smaller energy/frequency than cyan and that you would often talk about stronger acids, making a low ph count as strong, not small! Finally the joke loses some value if it is still just a matter of big/small rather than actual properties of the penis that are being compensated for.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan and Cueball are standing next to an intersection as Hairy drives by in a red convertible.]<br />
:Megan: I bet he just drives that car to overcompensate for his cyan penis.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Penis]]</div>162.158.153.29https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1602:_Linguistics_Club&diff=105053Talk:1602: Linguistics Club2015-11-13T22:33:47Z<p>162.158.153.29: </p>
<hr />
<div>If biannual is ambiguous, meaning either biennial (every two years) or semiannual (twice each year), then isn't sesquiannual similarly ambiguous, meaning either every 1.5 years (every 18 months), or 1.5 times a year (every 8 months)?<br />
[[User:Pete|Pete]] ([[User talk:Pete|talk]]) 06:38, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:If I'm confused I think of plants: Annuals, biennials and perennials - this last one being the important one as I *know* there is no such thing "perannual", so the ending I want must be "-ennial". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.147|162.158.34.147]] 08:58, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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<br />
Could it not mean it meets one and a half tines each year, so once during each year then every other new years it meets with half the meeting before the ball drop and the other half after? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.181|108.162.236.181]] 06:41, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
You know, I always thought the roots of "sesqui-" equated to "six quarters" (i.e. 1&frac12;). Today I learn that it's apparently "a half ''and (the original unit, about to be mentioned)''". I'm glad I read this place. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.125|162.158.152.125]] 06:49, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
: ...and then I nearly made a total mess of the editing, while trying to add info and 'correct' it, but I think it's back to how it should be, with the correct amount of appropriate justifications. (Note, "sesquicentennial" could be read as "one half (0.5) plus one hundred (100) years", i.e. 100.5 years, but the intended grammatical formation is "one-half-plus-one (1.5) hundred years", i.e. 150 years. Whilst "sesquicentannual" would doubtless be... give or take, according to rigor... something that occured every two days, ten hours and twenty-four minutes, I suppose.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.125|162.158.152.125]] 07:32, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:I thought that the root of the Russian word "poltora" (same meaning) was "half of three", but it's actually "half to two". Now if I could only understand why the English phrase "half again as much" also means 1.5 times...<br />
:On-topic, I understand "biannual" as "every 6 months", so by extension "sesquiannual" would mean "every 8 months". Not to be confused with "sesqui''ennial''", which does mean "every 18 months" (as in [http://absurdopedia.net/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B1%D1%81%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F:%D0%92%D1%8B%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8B_%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B8_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%83%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F-5 Fifth Sesquiennial Best Article Elections] of Russian Uncyclopedia; sadly the Sixth Elections had not proceeded on the account of only having one eligible candidate, and there are still no eligible candidates for the Seventh, due in July). --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.37|141.101.79.37]] 07:52, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Well, 'round these parts it's generally said in a different order, as "half as much again", which is more obviously 50% on top, or 150%.<br />
::If only I could stop people saying "four times less". One can only presume they mean 25%, a quarter (the reverse of the quarter being made "more by four times" to make the whole). But three times less would be a third, two times less a half and one times less... well, that breaks things. Rather than the unaltered 100%, parsing that suggests either 0%, or possibly half, if the reverse is "one time more (on top of the starting point)". In which case "four times less" is 20%, so that "four times more" adds four more 20%s to get you up to the 100%...<br />
::Which is a totally different mathematical conundrum from removing 10% then adding 10% to get to 99%. (original - (10%*original) = 90%*original = midstep. midstep + (10%*midstep) = 90%*original + (9%*original) = 99% original.) Or adding 10% (110% original) then removing 10% (-11% original), which is commutatively the same pair of operations (*1.1, *0.9) in reverse.<br />
::But that's probably not relevent. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.125|162.158.152.125]] 08:33, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
'biweekly' means both once every two weeks and twice a week. The explanation implies it only means once every two weeks. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.63|173.245.56.63]] 13:46, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:The only thing in common there is the prefix. "bi-" means 2 and "sesqui-" means 1.5, no matter what. In the case of "biweekly", that can mean "two per week" or "every two weeks," and that's because "weekly" can take either meaning. The same applies to "monthly" for "bimonthly."<br />
:''Annual,'' however, is different. "Biannual" only means "two per year." That's it. It doesn't mean "every two years," because that's a different word: 'biennial'. In other words, the "annual" root means "once a year", and the "-ennial" suffix means "once every X years".<br />
:The reason for this is that "annual" and "-ennial" were derived from Latin words that already had the distinction, while "weekly" and "monthly" were created from English words, with no way to distinguish the two meanings.<br />
:Confusing? Blame the Romans. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.84|108.162.246.84]] 23:38, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
::I agree with you; however, Merriam-Webster does not. The dictionary definition for "biannual" lists both "twice a year" and "every two years", listing "biennial" as a synonym. This is the problem with descriptive languages: if enough idiots use a word wrong, it becomes right.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.56.221|162.158.56.221]] 00:14, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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<br />
''"Regarding the title text, a {{w|tautology (rhetoric)|tautology}} is a statement that is true because of its logical form, such as "all birds are birds" or "A = A."'' Maybe {{w|tautology (grammar)|tautology in grammatical context}} is more appropriate here, since the comic is linguistics-themed: ''"In grammar, a tautology (from Greek tauto, "the same" and logos, "word/idea") is an unnecessary repetition of meaning, using more than one word effectively to say the same thing (...)"'' or ''"saying the same thing twice"'', as in the title text: ''(...) Tautology Club, which meets on the date of the Tautology Club meeting.''<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.71|141.101.104.71]] 14:06, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Just to add a real-world example for additional confusion on the issue: The [http://www.salsa-tipiti.org/conferences/ Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America] has a sesquiannual conference which is held every 18 months. The last conference was on June 26, 2014 and the next one is January 7, 2016. <br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.155|162.158.252.155]] 15:45, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The current second paragraph says:<br />
On the other hand [and the crux of the comic in general], 'sesqui' can be interpreted as a prefix meaning '1.5'. For example, the US sesquicentennial was celebrated on July 4, 1926 (after 150 years), so the confusion comes from people who think the meetings would be every 8 months (as above) or every 18 months (here). The confusion is related to the distinction between 'biweekly' (once every two weeks) and 'semiweekly' (once every half-week, i.e., twice a week), and bimonthly (twice a month or every two months). 'Biannual' and 'biennial' only furthers this confusion (as in this case, 'biannual' and 'semiannual' are synonymous when the prefixes usually are not).<br />
...which misses the point. Sesqui ''is'' 1.5, bi is 2 (c.f. bicycle, 2 wheels), semi is 0.5 (c.f. semicircle, half a circle). The issue is with the -ennial (X years per event) and -annual (X events per year). Semiannual (half an event per year, thus one event every two years) is cognate with biennial (two years between events). Biannual ''only'' means 'two per year', unless misused. Semiennual would match that (half a year per event), but I'm not sure that's ever used, like perannual (1 event a year), in the face of the identically descriptive perennial (a year between all successive events). ...I think. Tablet on-screen keyboard obscures most of what I'm typing, so there'll be no proofreading of this point to make sure I've not boobed. It'll have to stand. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.35|162.158.153.35]] 16:33, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Second paragraph was already changed (for the better?) by the time I came here, before I saw this comment. I expanded and refined what remained, so much so as to go and make it into three (or was it four?) mostly shorter paragraphs. Hope everyone approves. If not, edit or revert! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 12:47, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I'm just going to leave this [https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=sesquiannual&date=now%207-d&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B7 Google Trends link] here... [[User:Celloman|Celloman]] ([[User talk:Celloman|talk]]) 16:45, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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As another note, a group that meets every 8 months and a group that meets every 18 months will only overlap every 6 years. But my sesquibiennual group has the room booked, so they'll both have to reschedule [[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.155|108.162.214.155]] 23:48, 11 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Maybe I am overthinking it, but 1.5 times a year shouldn't be every 8 months, shouldn't it be every''9?'' After all it's is every 1 time period(6 months) and half of that(3), which the sum is 9. Unless it is supposed to be 8 because it is 8/12=2/3 being 3/2(1.5) flipped? <br />
-[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.89|108.162.238.89]] 00:37, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Sounds like you have perhaps gone a step further than you should have. One every 9 would be 1.333&middot;&middot;&middot; per year, or four every three years if simplified. Not sure where the 6 months for 1 time period idea comes from. The 'flip', i.e. the inverse, of the 1.5 is the point. (See the semi-/bi- thing someone mentioned above. Each of them the inverse of the other, thanks to the annual/ennial distinction of which way up the any fraction applies.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 11:30, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
::I think it is the 3/2 that makes him think of half of 12 = 6 months. But it is not 3/2 but 2/3 of a year, which comes in at 8 months. And 8*3 = 24 month = two years, so three meetings in two years or 1.5 meeting each year. But I guess the long discussion above proves the point that they will only get half the intended audience. No one who is not interested would bother, and still they will loose half of those that are, since the word is defined as meaning both in the dictionary, although it probably oiriginaly only was supposed to mean once every 8 month... :) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:16, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder if the comic’s use of “sesquiannual” was also meant to be a reference to the word “sesquipedalian” (many-syllabled). My school’s literary club nicknamed themselves something like the “sesquipedalian word lovers’ club”, so that’s the word I immediately thought of when I read the comic. In fact, I didn’t know until now there were other words beginning with “sesqui-”. – [[User:Roryokane|RoryOKane]] ([[User talk:Roryokane|talk]]) 14:15, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:"Sesquipedalian" literally means "[having the quality of] a foot and a half," although I'm not sure if it's referring to the length unit of the Imperial system or the metric unit of poetry. If the later case, that would mean that for English a sesquipedalian word must have exactly three syllables, since the natural meter of English is iambic pentameter and the iamb is two syllables long. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.42|108.162.216.42]] 21:24, 13 November 2015 (UTC)NXTangl<br />
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In case someone's interested, French has similar distinctions/confusions. Twice a year = biannuel, once every two years = biennal. With another option for the latter: bisannuel (same root as biannuel but the extra S changes the meaning). There are also two roots for 'month': twice a month = bimensuel, once every two months = bimestriel, although bimensuel is sometimes misused or misunderstood.<br />
Zetfr 15:22, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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'Sesqui' means "one and a half" and 'annual' means "yearly". But if the meeting is held (on average) every eight months, then there will be TWO meetings every second year — which flies in the face of the definition of 'sesquiannual'. So you must hold 1 meeting and half of another meeting in a given calendar year.... and the only way to do that is, at the second meeting, go through approximately half of the order of business and then call to adjourn. Reconvene the following year and complete the meeting from the point of adjournment. - [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 16:45, 12 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Untrue. You could also hold one meeting during the summer, then every other year hold four-hour meeting beginning at 10:00PM new year's eve. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.42|108.162.216.42]] 21:24, 13 November 2015 (UTC)NXTangl.<br />
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Not sure if anyone noticed... But I think we all just got nerd sniped. [[User:Bon|Bon]] ([[User talk:Bon|talk]]) 06:45, 13 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Just undone a change that re-ascribed 'sesquibicentennial' to meaning 300 years, probably under the impression that it's "1.5 x 200 years", rather than "(0.5+2) hundred years" or 250 of them. (Seriously, "sesqui-" is functionally "a half and..." so is only "1.5x" when added to a unity-based prefix that makes it "a-half-and-one times <foo>". Also, 300 years is already termed a tricentennial and needs no more complicated construction.) One example of it being used: http://www.sacomaine.org/saco250.shtml - but there's probably something more definitive. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 07:35, 13 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
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"A common method of having meetings "on the first and third Monday of every month" is strictly twice-monthly but also mostly, and ironically, once every two weeks..." Can't see the irony. Is my brain derping or or am I now ''that'' person? --[[User:Kaay|Kaay]] ([[User talk:Kaay|talk]]) 09:44, 13 November 2015 (UTC)<br />
: The irony is that the possibly misused Bimonthly (Semimonthly, twice a month) is ''almost'' the same as Biweekly (in the sense of every two weeks). And indistinguishable, most of the time, from each othet, going just by two adjacent events... Or so it appears to me... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 22:33, 13 November 2015 (UTC)</div>162.158.153.29