https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.183.220&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T10:31:32ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2510:_Modern_Tools&diff=217629Talk:2510: Modern Tools2021-09-04T16:38:20Z<p>162.158.183.220: Corrected wikipedia link from 404 (Darwinian Poetry → Darwinian poetry)</p>
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Note that this is the second time Randall tried to tell bash and zsh apart. (First time was in [[1678]].) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.83|162.158.88.83]] 05:44, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Great memory. Has added it to this first attempt at an explanation. Do not know enough about these files, environment etc. so I hope someone will improve. Rare I come here and there is nothing added to the explanation yet. Only your coment showed me I was not here first. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:48, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
You can generate makefiles today with a number of causal language models. I wonder what other approaches there are. [[User:Baffo32|Baffo32]] ([[User talk:Baffo32|talk]]) 10:02, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Is randall literally just making jokes for himself and nobody else at this point? Even if someone knows what this all means, I doubt it many of them find it funny. - [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.125|172.70.130.125]] 10:09, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
: How does the joke land with you? I tell jokes like Randall's a lot to process how my life was destroyed by AI, and I found the comic as funny as I find my own jokes, but big and public. It seems nice that people are learning about and talking about these things. [[User:Baffo32|Baffo32]] ([[User talk:Baffo32|talk]]) 10:12, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
: @172.70.130.125: YMMV. I can say that I find it funny. Certainly amusing, and thought-provoking. And then after a few moments contemplating... *POW*. ...the idea of actually doing this also starts to appeal to me (as a pipe-dream, perhaps). But I am just a single datum-point, and you are another. Maybe neither of us are entirely representative of the usual audience.<br />
: And, even if nobody found it funny, except Randall, he can post anything he wants (within ethical and legal bounds, etc), even if it's just AI-autogenerated rubbish. And then you can stop reading if your own fun-maximiser function decides it would be more beneficial to its goals. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.73|162.158.159.73]] 10:44, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
: For myself and other Software Enginnering/System Administrator friends, we all think it's very funny. Randall is not expected to make his comics accessible to all audiences, and when he targets an audience it can be reasonably assumed that that specific demographic will like the content.<br />
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Modern tools… require modern problem? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 10:33, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
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The best part is that pretty much this have actually happened in real world: https://thedailywtf.com/articles/No%2C_We_Need_a_Neural_Network. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.10.205|172.68.10.205]] 10:46, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Marvellous! "The pig go", indeed! That was 2006? {{w|Darwinian poetry}} was in 2003, it would have been nice to have linked the two, somehow, while having a handy idle supercluster going spare... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.93|141.101.98.93]] 11:42, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I believe part of the humor is that creating a Python (development) environment from scratch can literally be typing two or three commands on a command line, or clicking on a few links for the mouse-dependent. Building and training an AI to repair one specific Python environment is overkill, like buying a car to get from one room to another of a building. One selling point of Python is how simple it is to set up and work in. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 10:54, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
:I usually install most optional dependencies that my package manager suggests. I bet I already have a Python IDE lying around somewhere without knowing it. Well, I have Intellij Idea, I bet that could be used for Python as well, with a plugin if needed. I definitely know that I once got a working Qt IDE at one point without intending to. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 11:13, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Does anyone else think that this was prompted by the recent announcement of {{w|Github Copilot}}? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:20, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I'd assume this is somehow related to GPT-3 and codex. Also note that openai and scientist in general love python, so it isn't unlikely that the AI in the title text was told to fix its own python environment. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.231|172.69.68.231]] 21:23, 3 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Is there some reason why the title on this explainxkcd page is capitalized differently from the page on xkcd? [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 02:59, 4 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Non-comic note (that I'm not sure would help to add to prior Community Portal reports as it never seemed to get noticed when I did it before): I'm getting Cloudflare errors (520: fully blaming the site host) and even 'plain text' site error responses (503? ...may not be) a number of times while interacting with this page, today. Also had a "failed to contact CAPTCHA" on the first attempt to submit one edit, though that ''must'' be a different glitch so probably coincidental (my own link jittering wouldn't give me Cloudfare/server-responses as above) and Not Your Problem™. I don't know if others are getting this, but the last time I had such a flurry of momentary/refresh-overcomable errors was shortly before explainxkcd went ''completely'' off-air (month or two ago? No, longer than that...) - perhaps no similarity, just saying. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.146|162.158.158.146]] 11:18, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Error 520 Ray ID: 68880cdaadb0072a • 2021-09-02 16:17:44 UTC / Web server is returning an unknown error (<= Cloudflare) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.247|141.101.98.247]] 16:21, 2 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
For the python environment, couldn't he just be talking about python virtual environments? What you normally do if you have a broken python virtual environment is to delete it and recreate it, so deleting itself would be a normal thing to do in this case. Recreating an environment is normally done in seconds, so finding out what was wrong normally isn't worth the time.<br />
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Is it possible that the title text may also be a subtle reference to the Ouroboros (the snake eating itself)?<br />
While not an exact comparison, there seem to be parallels between a snake devouring its own tail, and a python AI deleting it's own code.<br />
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"the agent finds a way to disable itself as more efficient to meet its reward parameters" is this actually a thing? If true, really interesting and an example should be included, but I can't find anything to back it up. ''Please sign your comments.''<br />
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I think the Tester for the Makefile generator would just be checking the Makefile exists and make can execute it. The status of the make execution gets passed to the generator for it to get better at generating Makefiles. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 02:01, 3 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
:It might take some metric as to how much/little broken the (initially garbage?) early productions are... One would be the first line number mentioned as an error, or the ratio of info vs error text displayed. Getting to the stage of ''mostly'' valid outputs means it has developed an output phase-space that has started to maxmin these kind of values in just the right way. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.65|172.70.134.65]] 03:30, 3 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Call me crazy, but... isn't there a tool that creates mostly valid Makefiles, and it is called configure? And thus he is using very new technology to accomplish the same task that we previously could? I thought that was a good chunk of that part of the joke... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.82|108.162.238.82]] 16:10, 3 September 2021 (UTC)<br />
: Ah... I had (perhaps still have? ...but only because I'd enjoy the chaos) the opinion that this was a ''directionless'' generator of Makefiles. Rather than "I want a Makefile for <foo>, make it so", it's "Make me a Makefile that does random (valid) stuff when run"... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.115|141.101.107.115]] 19:22, 3 September 2021 (UTC)</div>162.158.183.220https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2509:_Useful_Geometry_Formulas&diff=2174332509: Useful Geometry Formulas2021-09-01T12:49:17Z<p>162.158.183.220: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2509<br />
| date = August 30, 2021<br />
| title = Useful Geometry Formulas<br />
| image = useful_geometry_formulas.png<br />
| titletext = Geometry textbooks always try to trick you by adding decorative stripes and dotted lines.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a STRIPED AND DOTTED TEXTBOOK ILLUSTRATOR. Explain the formulas for each of the areas, and also the correct formula for the 3D object they seems to represent. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic showcases area formulae for four two-dimensional geometric shapes which each have extra dotted and/or solid lines making them look like illustrations for 3-dimensional objects - the first, a simple equation for a circle, the second an equation for a triangle with a semi-elliptic base, the third an equation for a rectangle with an elliptical base and top, and the fourth a hexagon consisting of two opposing right angled corners and two parallel diagonal lines connecting their sides. In each case, only the outline of each shape is measured.<br />
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Such illustrations are commonly found in geometry textbooks, which need to depict three-dimensional figures on a two-dimensional page. They use slanted lines to indicate edges receding into the distance, and dashed lines to indicate an edge occluded by nearer parts of the solid. The joke is that the formulae given here are for the area of each two-dimensional shape within its outer solid lines, not for the surface area or volume of the illustrated 3D object (as would be shown in the geometry textbook). The title text continues the joke by claiming that the dotted lines are simply decorative.<br />
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The illustrations depict the following plane or solid figures, depending on the interpretation.<br />
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<b>Top left.</b>&emsp;A circle (illustrating a sphere) with radius r. The equation for the area of a circle is A = πr<sup>2</sup> as is given below the figure. The surface area of a sphere is 4πr<sup>2</sup> , which is what we would have expected from the figure. The volume of a sphere is <sup>4</sup>/<sub>3</sub>&nbsp;πr<sup>3</sup>.<br />
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<b>Top right.</b>&emsp;An isosceles triangle of height h combined with a semi-ellipse with semiaxes a and b (illustrating a right elliptic cone). The area of the triangle is bh, and the area of the semi-ellipse is <sup>π</sup>/<sub>2</sub>&nbsp;ab. The equation for this area is A = 1/2 πab + bh as is given below the figure. However, if this was in a text book then a=b even if drawn like this, thus the cone has a circular base, in the 3D drawing. Such a "normal" cone has an area A = πb^2 + πbh. (a=b). That cone's volume would be πr^2*h/3. Taking the 3D drawing literal with a≠b then the lateral surface area of a right elliptic cone is<br>2a√(b<sup>2</sup>&nbsp;+&nbsp;h<sup>2</sup>)&nbsp;∫<sub>0</sub><sup>1</sup>&nbsp;√(<sup>a²h²(t²-1)&nbsp;-&nbsp;b²(a²+h²t²)</sup>/<sub>a²(t²-1)(b²+h²)</sub>)&nbsp;dt. The volume is <sup>π</sup>/<sub>3</sub>&nbsp;abh.<br />
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<b>Bottom left.</b>&emsp;A rectangle of width d and height h between two semi-ellipses of semi-minor axis r (illustrating a right elliptic cylinder). The area of the rectangle is dh and the area of the two half-ellipses equals the area of one full ellipse, <sup>π</sup>/<sub>2</sub>&nbsp;dr. The equation for this area is A = d(πr/2 + h) as is given below the figure. For a 3D representation the cylinder has circular base so d = 2r, (not elliptical as indicated in the 2D drawing). Such a cylinder has a surface area of 2πr^2 + πdh. The volume of such a cylinder is πr^2h. Taking the 3D drawing literal with d≠2r then the lateral surface area of the right elliptic cylinder is 4h&nbsp;∫<sub>0</sub><sup>1</sup>&nbsp;√(<sup>1&nbsp;-&nbsp;t²(1-4r²/d²)</sup>/<sub>1&nbsp;-&nbsp;t²</sub>)&nbsp;dt. The volume is <sup>π</sup>/<sub>2</sub>&nbsp;rdh. <br />
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<b>Bottom right.</b>&emsp;A convex hexagon with three pairs of parallel sides and two right angles at opposite vertices (illustrating a rhomboid-based prism). The area of the rectangle representing the front face of the prism is bh. The area of the upper parallelogram is db&nbsp;sin&nbsp;θ. The area of the right parallelogram is dh&nbsp;cos&nbsp;θ. The equation for this area is A = bh + d(b sinθ + h cosθ) as is given below the figure. The surface area of the prism would be 2bh&nbsp;+&nbsp;2db&nbsp;+&nbsp;2dh. The volume is bdh. Assuming a 3D shape, θ is artificially introduced by the projection, and wouldn't figure in the surface area or volume formula.<br />
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In the history of the development of computer-generated 3D graphics, calculations of the apparent visual area taken up by the projection of a volume may have been useful in occlusion-like optimizations, where each drawn pixel may be passed through many fragment shaders.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Four figures in two rows of two, each depicts a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional object, with solid lines in front and dotted lines behind. Each figure has some labeled dimensions represented with arrows and a formula underneath indicating its area. Above the four figures is a header:]<br />
:Useful geometry formulas<br />
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:[Top left; a 'sphere', or a circle with a concentrict half-dotted ellipse sharing its major axis, with the shared semi-major radius labeled 'r']<br />
:A = πr²<br />
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:[Top right; a 'cone', or a triangle with the base replaced by a half-dotted ellipse. The triangular/conic height is 'h'. The ellipse in place of the base has semi-minor axis 'a' and major axis 'b']<br />
:A = 1/2 πab + bh<br />
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:[Bottom left; a 'cylinder', or a pair of ellipses connected by verticals. The vertical side/edge is shon as height 'h'. The ellipses have semi-minor axis r, in the lower half-dotted ellipse, and major axis d, across the upper ellipse]<br />
:A = d(πr/2 + h)<br />
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:[Bottom right; a 'rhomboid-based prism', or a semi-regular hexagon with identical pairs of vertical, horizontal and diagonal sides, plus three more congruent pairs (one of each dotted) all linking inwards from their own vertex to meet at one of two complimentary points within. The representative horizontal line is marked 'b', a vertical is 'h', a diagonal as 'd'. Between the base horizontal and the lower internal diagonal is a non-'rightangled' angle 'θ']<br />
:A = bh + d(b sinθ + h cosθ)<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Math]]</div>162.158.183.220https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2484:_H-alpha&diff=214585Talk:2484: H-alpha2021-07-03T11:52:13Z<p>162.158.183.220: more on the use of H-alpha filters</p>
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I think the first company that got really mad was Goodyear, because they're famous for using blimps.<br />
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- unsigned comment<br />
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===Additional detail===<br />
A H(ydrogen)-Alpha filter is a special lens used for viewing the {{w|H-alpha|Hydrogen-Alpha}} wavelength of light through telescopic or photographic devices. It works by filtering out all wavelengths of light except the red spectral line associated with hydrogen. This is commonly used to see shape and structure of objects that emit said light (namely, our own sun, and various nebulae as mentioned in the text).<br />
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Many earlier designs for {{w|airship|airships}} (including the ill-fated {{w|LZ_129_Hindenburg|Hindenburg}}) used (highly flammable) hydrogen gas for lift due to both its lower cost and higher availability. After the Hindenburg disaster designers switched exclusively to helium or heated air for lift.<br />
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{{w|MetLife|Metropolitan Life Insurance Company}} (AKA MetLife) is an insurance company that licensed the Peanuts characters, In particular, Snoopy in their advertising. They featured the {{w|Snoopy}} character in his alter-ego role of World War I Fighter Ace (which frequently fought with the Red Baron in the Charles Schulz comics) in both print and television ads between 1985 and 2016, and most notably pictured on some of their advertising blimps.<br />
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[[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.160|162.158.142.160]] 06:29, 3 July 2021 (UTC) Not the Red Baron<br />
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Many nebulae contain excited hydrogen atoms emitting the H<sub>α</sub> wavelength, so a H<sub>α</sub> filter is useful for removing other light such as light pollution, making nebulae stand out in photographs.<br />
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In most cases when a sun filter is mentioned, it's probably a white-light filter that only reduces the light intensity. A H<sub>α</sub> filter is used to highlight the sun's chromosphere – the layer above the sun's apparent "surface", the photosphere.<br />
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I'm not sure whether the same filters are actually used for photographing both the sun and nebulae.<br />
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[[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.220|162.158.183.220]] 11:52, 3 July 2021 (UTC)</div>162.158.183.220