https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.79.161&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T11:26:51ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2825:_Autumn_and_Fall&diff=323487Talk:2825: Autumn and Fall2023-09-07T23:40:02Z<p>162.158.79.161: Labor day again</p>
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:Who calls it the "fall equinox"? I thought the equinoctes were always described as "vernal" and "autumnal"? [[User:Mathmannix|Mathmannix]] ([[User talk:Mathmannix|talk]]) 19:11, 6 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:: Americans sometimes call it the fall equinox casually [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.100|172.71.158.100]] 19:56, 6 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:: In American English, "fall equinox" contrasts with "spring equinox" in the same way "summer solstice" contrasts with "winter solstice." The Latinate names are "autumnal equinox," "hibernal solstice," "vernal equinox," and "estival solstice," but since British English lost its non-Latinate name for the fall, the term "autumnal equinox" has to do double duty. The Latinate names are rather more common for equinoxes than solstices, but all four names are used. Also used are "September equinox," "December solstice," "March equinox," and "June solstice" if the context doesn't let you commit to one hemisphere or the other. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.74|108.162.216.74]] 09:20, 7 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:: Most people? It is the equinox that falls in Fall. So the Fall equinox. Like the summer and winter solstice. Which also invalidates anybody claiming the summer soltice being the last day of spring.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.150.102|172.69.150.102]] 16:08, 7 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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:WRT the alt text, perhaps this is a woosh moment, but "fall" isn't at all common in British parlance. We know it, but only as an Americanism of what we would just call "Autumn". [[Special:Contributions/172.68.19.103|172.68.19.103]] 20:55, 6 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
:: That's the joke. Just as Americans don't typically use "autumn", the UK does not use "fall". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.12|172.69.34.12]] 21:45, 6 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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What "type of five-season system shown in the comic"? The comic doesn't show five-season system. It shows EIGHT season system. We just only know names of five of them. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:17, 6 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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: That's the point, though: if the English language had an 8-season system, we'd have 8 names for them — but we only have 5. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.110.225|162.158.110.225]] 07:05, 7 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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: Canada has 11 seasons with names for all of them: https://twitter.com/mathewi/status/1234532208423178241?lang=en (one of many variations on this meme, but rings very true if you live up north)<br />
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I think the statement "nowhere uses the type of five-season system shown in the comic." deserves an actual "citation needed" and not the joke one. Personally I didn't know about the six season thing in South Asia so it's not obvious that noone uses 5 seasons. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 11:07, 7 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
::I definitely agree. I was going to comment the same thing.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.11|172.70.178.11]] 12:51, 7 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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Can you believe it guys? First day of fall. Just a week away! First day of fall is in a week! Woohoo! I am so happy about this information. first day of fall, just a week away. Oh wow. Can you believe it? First day of fall! Just in a week! It got here so fast. First day of fall! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.22.39|172.71.22.39]] 11:51, 7 September 2023 (UTC)Bumpf<br />
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I'm surprised he didn't find a way to work in the "unofficial" seasons, which are based on holidays that straddle the periods of summer weather. In the US, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, and Labor Day the unofficial end. They also coincide approximately with school summer breaks. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:20, 7 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
: I just saw this comment, but that's exactly what I just added. :-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 23:40, 7 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I'm just unreasonably pleased that someone of note is acknowledging that calling the equinoxes & solstices, the "start" of a season, is absurd from the standpoint of tracking the weather: The shortest day, occurring near the meteorological ''middle'' of winter even in the most delayed climates, is ''obviously not'' the "start" of winter, & likewise the weather shifts noticeably about a month before the vernal & autumnal equinoxes. The seemingly obligatory "first day of summer!" proclamations in the middle of June feel ''really'' disingenuous & annoying when much of the continent has already been seeing 90°F\32°C for weeks. '''By what means can we collectively petition to abolish this obviously incorrect practice''' & start ''properly'' referring to the solstices & equinoxes as the ''middle'' of their respective seasons, instead? <br />
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:30, 7 September 2023 (UTC)<br />
:It's actually a classic trick question, "Do days get longer or shorter in winter?". Days are shorter (than in summer), yes, but given that winter quite famously can be said to {{w|Winter#Astronomical and other calendar-based reckoning|start on the shortest day}}, means that the answer is actually "longer", as the season heads towards the equinox and nights shorten from their maximum. (Either that or "neither, they're ''all'' 24 hours long" ...well, give or take the occasional leap second...)<br />
:So, anyway, it's astronomical seasons. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.230|172.70.85.230]] 17:06, 7 September 2023 (UTC)</div>162.158.79.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2825:_Autumn_and_Fall&diff=3234862825: Autumn and Fall2023-09-07T23:39:17Z<p>162.158.79.161: /* Explanation */ Summer ends on Labor Day!</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2825<br />
| date = September 6, 2023<br />
| title = Autumn and Fall<br />
| image = autumn_and_fall_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 392x212px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Of course in reality this is just a US/UK thing; in British English, 'fall' is the brief period in between and 'autumn' is the main season.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT FALL (OW) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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{{w|Autumn}}, also known as "fall" in the United States, is the season between the end of summer and the beginning of winter. These terms are used interchangeably, but Randall in this comic treats them as separate seasons. His timeline uses "autumn" as the season between the end of summer and the "{{w|September equinox|fall equinox}}", and the season of "fall" as the period after that until winter. Of course, while many different parts of the world use different ways of reckoning the {{w|seasons}} (eg, a two-season system in the tropics or a six-season system in South Asia), nowhere uses the type of five-season system shown in the comic, nor the extrapolated eight-season system it ''could'' imply.<br />
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The comic depicts two of the commonly used boundaries, for any given hemisphere, for the recognised end of summer. While other cultures have adopted yet other dates, according to their own calendars or local experience, [[Randall]] may have encountered several other 'standard' methods of dividing the year.<br />
* Some treatments of the seasons (not shown) treat the summer solstice very much as "midsummer", and all other seasons also more or less equally straddling their own equinoxes/remaining solstice, putting the seasonal boundaries half way between each of these astronomically significant points.<br />
* For others, the equinoctial/solstitial dates are used for the changeover time, so that autumn/fall starts upon the equinox (shown) and ends at the astronomically shortest day which is then the start of winter. This system tends to be traditional where the annual warming and cooling of the climate significantly 'lags' the solar calendar.<br />
* Meteorological seasons are handily aligned to months, for administrative reasons. Spring is March through May, summer across June to August, the September start (to the close of November) is as illustrated, leaving winter to be covered by December and on until the end of the following February. Or shifted round by two of the triples for the southern hemisphere.<br />
* For practical purposes, many in U.S. treat {{w|Labor Day}} as the unofficial end of summer: this is the day many local pools close for the winter, people start watching football rather than baseball, have their last picnic of the year, etc. In Randall's proposed system, "fall" would start not on September 1st but rather the day after Labor Day (September 5 for 2023) and thus be a variable length season.<br />
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The title text makes fun of the transatlantic difference in terms, as it claims one must ''reverse'' these two distinct season names. The term "autumn" is, in reality, the word overwhelmingly used in the UK for the season commonly (but not exclusively) refered to as "the fall" in the US, regardless of which of the calendar offsets is to be assumed. The latter is rarely used 'natively' in the UK, although it will usually be understood. The main exception being that it handily allows for the mnemonic of "spring forward, fall back", which uses wordplay to refer to how and roughly when British Summer Time (UTC+1) takes over from the default Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0).<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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[A monthly time track, showing the stretch of August, September, and October. The date of September 6th is marked now, with September 23rd marked as the Fall Equinox. September 1st is marked as the Meteorological End of Summer. Underneath the track there are labels for the seasons - Summer ends at September 1st, which is then labelled as Autumn until the Equinox wherein a separate season labelled as Fall is from the Equinox onwards.]<br />
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Caption: Now that summer is over, the first day of fall is just a few weeks away!<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Time]]<br />
[[Category:Timelines]]</div>162.158.79.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2252:_Parenthetical_Names&diff=1857532252: Parenthetical Names2020-01-09T19:45:00Z<p>162.158.79.161: Undo revision 185750 by 108.162.246.77 (talk) [Vandalism.]</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2252<br />
| date = January 8, 2020<br />
| title = Parenthetical Names<br />
| image = parenthetical_names.png<br />
| titletext = I never got around to seeing that movie about the battle (of Midway).<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by COMMUNIST JEWS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This is another comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series.<br />
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There is a little bit of Black (hat) in Randall, and he shows this by providing evidence of how he trolls people for fun (hence, a hobby). An explanation is given below.<br />
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Parentheses are generally used in a sentence to add additional information that clarifies the topic. For example, in the sentence, "Barack Obama (a Democrat) is the 44th President of the United States," the parenthetical clause clarifies who Obama is, but is not strictly necessary to the sentence. On top of that, the use of parentheses is commonly used on {{w|Wikipedia}} to distinguish between different articles where the subject has the same name. Typing "Stealth", for example, would lead to suggestions such as {{w|Stealth (film)}}, {{w|Stealth (video game)}}, and {{w|Stealth (roller coaster)}}. Each of these parenthetical clauses clarifies the topic. However, in the comic, Randall uses parentheses when they provide essential information, inseparable from the topic. In particular, the name Jack does not immediately make one think of Jack the Ripper, so the sentence doesn't make sense without the parentheses. <br />
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''{{w|Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' is a video game franchise featuring the eponymous Sonic the Hedgehog character. A film featuring the character titled ''{{w|Sonic the Hedgehog (film)|Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' is scheduled for release in February 2020. When the first trailer was released, the public reacted with shock and horror at the movie's design of Sonic, who was said to fall into the "{{w|uncanny valley}}" by being too anthropomorphic and not cartoony enough. The design was hastily re-developed, which was received much more favorably; evidently, Cueball has warmed to the movie and is asking his friends if they want to go see it. Sonic is also the name of a {{w|Sonic (train)|train}}, a {{w|Sonic Drive-In|restaurant franchise}}, and a {{w|Sonic (ISP)|Californian internet service provider}}, among other things Randall is trying to avoid confusing the movie with. Perhaps Randall's friends often go to see the restaurant.<br />
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{{w|Jack the Ripper}} is the name attributed to a {{w|serial killer}} active in {{w|London}} in 1888. His true identity has never been confirmed, and he has been featured in {{w|Jack the Ripper in fiction|hundreds of works}}. {{w|Jack (given name)|"Jack"}} is one of the most-common given names for males in much of the Anglosphere (which is probably why it was adopted, like John is for Messers {{w|John Doe|Doe}}, Smith and (Q.) Public), so Randall should not be using parentheses, as it is necessary to show that "Jack the Ripper" is a full proper name, in lieu of any truer identity being known. <br />
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American actor {{w|Robin Williams}} played {{w|Popeye the Sailor}} in the 1980 musical-comedy film ''{{w|Popeye (film)|Popeye}}''. Popeye the Sailor is the best-known character named "Popeye", so it is a little unusual that Randall would have to clarify ''which'' Popeye he is referring to. Other Popeyes include {{w|Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle}} from ''{{w|The French Connection}}'' and the criminal {{w|Popeye (Faulkner character)|Popeye}} from {{w|William Faulkner|William Faulkner's}} novel ''{{w|Sanctuary (Faulkner novel)|Sanctuary}}''. Like "Sonic", there is a restaurant chain named "{{w|Popeyes}}", which is the second-largest fast-food chicken restaurant chain in the world (after KFC). The founder of Popeyes claimed he named the restaurant after the ''French Connection'' character, and not the sailor, but from 1971 to 2006, Popeyes did license the cartoon characters and used them in promotions.<br />
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The title-text alters the pattern slightly by discussing the {{w|battle of Midway}} (i.e. the X '''of''' Y). This case has additional humor because Randall clarifies which battle he is talking about, but not which of the several movies depicting the battle (although he was most likely referring to the film released in November 2019, simply called {{w|Midway (2019 film)|''Midway''}}).<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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:[Cueball stands, holding his phone. Text message boxes are above him.]<br />
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:Do you want to go see Sonic (the Hedgehog)?<br />
:Why are there so many books about Jack (the Ripper)?<br />
:I didn't know Robin Williams once played Popeye (the Sailor Man)<br />
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:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
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:My Hobby:<br />
:Whenever I mention anyone called "<Name> the <X>," I like to put "the <X>" in parentheses, like I added it as a clarification.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:My Hobby]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>162.158.79.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=514:_Simultaneous&diff=155215514: Simultaneous2018-04-02T15:12:27Z<p>162.158.79.161: Changed "Either Megan or Cueball" to just Megan, as the title text refers to the twin as 'he' implying that the female Megan would be more interested in a relationship with him (unless Cueball is considered bisexual)</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 514<br />
| date = December 8, 2008<br />
| title = Simultaneous<br />
| image = simultaneous.png<br />
| titletext = I'm leaving you for your twin. He's more mature than you by now.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
''This comic links to {{w|Relativity_of_simultaneity|en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_of_simultaneity}}.''<br />
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[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are talking about the sex they just had. Cueball is remarking on how they both achieved orgasm simultaneously, but Megan disagrees.<br />
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This comic is a play on Einstein's {{w|Special relativity#Relativity of simultaneity|theory of special relativity}}. One piece of the theory deals with two observers who are moving at close to the speed of light relative to each other. According to Einstein, events that appear simultaneous to one observer will appear to happen at different times to the other.<br />
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So when one partner is moving and the other isn't, it's possible that they experience their orgasm at different times relative to each other. That would require one partner to be moving really fast in one direction, which would make him or her either a really bad partner, or a really good one. On small speeds this effect could not be measured.<br />
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The other joke is that partners often disagree with each other — even when the difference is minor and not important to the matter.<br />
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The title text is reference to the twin paradox, which arises from another piece of special relativity. In theory, if you stick one twin on a spaceship at near light speed and keep the other back on Earth, and assuming neither accelerates, each will perceive himself to age slowly while the other ages quickly, forming an apparent paradox. Megan expresses a preference for Cueball's older twin, who will be more "mature", meaning both older and presumably less combative about simultaneity. Again, the joke here is that at relativistic speeds there could be disagreement about which twin is truly the "older" one.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan in bed.]<br />
:Cueball: Mmm, simultaneous orgasms.<br />
:Megan: That wasn't simultaneous.<br />
:Cueball: Huh? It totally was!<br />
:A common disagreement when one of you is doing all the moving.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>162.158.79.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1924:_Solar_Panels&diff=1491191924: Solar Panels2017-12-12T19:05:10Z<p>162.158.79.161: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1924<br />
| date = December 4, 2017<br />
| title = Solar Panels<br />
| image = solar_panels.png<br />
| titletext = This works for a surprising range of sunlit things, including rooftops (sure), highway surfaces (probably not), sailboats (maybe), and jets, cars, and wild deer (haha good luck).<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Seems close to being complete...}}<br />
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This handy decision tree aims to help in finding out whether a given object should have {{w|solar panel}}s installed on it.<br />
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The root question is whether the object of choice moves. If it doesn't and has no nearby empty space that would be more practical for the solar panel installation, then yes, the object should be equipped with the solar panels. If the object is static, but you could more easily install the panels somewhere else nearby, probably that's the best place. An example of this is a slanted rooftop of a house or a field on a hillside: it's certainly possible to put solar panels there, but if a flat surface, like a flat-roofed house or a level field, is available, it would generally be easier to put them on that. This way, you can select the optimal direction for the panels to face, which might not be possible on a given incline, or even have them [https://www.linak.com/business-areas/energy move to track the sun]. However if the house has a side that is turned towards the sun (south in the Northern hemisphere) then a house roof could be even better than on the ground, which is why the title text says "sure" for rooftops. For another example of things where "putting next to it" instead of "on it" is generally the easier (and arguably) option, see the "highway surfaces" of the title text.<br />
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If the object moves, the next question is whether its batteries can be recharged or swapped with ease, in which case batteries may be a better option than solar panels, if the purpose of the panels is to power the object. The idea is that solar panels on a vehicle sound like an interesting idea, but batteries can be much more easily (and economically) recharged from a fixed electrical station than using solar panels on the vehicle as a power source. <br />
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Finally, if the object moves and batteries are not an option, the last question is whether the object heats up during operation. If so, solar panels may not work well. [[Randall]] doubts it mockingly, see also the title text regarding his ''Haha Good luck'' final option. Solar panels do not work effectively when excessively hot [http://news.energysage.com/solar-panel-temperature-overheating/] (solar panels are typically designed to operate in temperature ranges of 15-25 Celsius, 59-77 Fahrenheit, 288.15-298.15 Kelvin, 518.67-536.67 Rankine , or [[1923: Felsius|37-51 felsius]]). Moreover, solar panels can only produce electrical power equal to about 20% of the solar radiation they receive. Thus, a device which heats up during use likely consumes much more power than the amount which could be produced by solar panels covering its surface - so "good luck". Obviously, many animals are also "moving objects"{{Citation needed}} fitting this condition, and installing solar panels on them is bound to be a challenge.{{Citation needed}}<br />
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But if changing batteries is not an option, and heat production and power requirements are low, then solar panels can be an excellent solution on a moving object. An excellent case for this is on [[:Category:Space probes|space probes]] and satellites, which are typically powered entirely by solar panels. Randall is well aware of this, as shown with the comics [[695: Spirit]] and [[1504: Opportunity]] about the two solar powered [[:Category:Mars rovers|Mars rovers]], although in this comic he seems to have only been concerned with Earthbound objects.<br />
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The flow chart, however, does not mention if the thing in question actually ''needs'' solar panels, but according to the title text it works very well, and thus Randall implies that if the answer is ''sure'' then it is relevant to put solar panels there. The more solar panels in place, the less fossil fuels are needed, and this is in line with Randall's general interest in reducing [[:Category:Climate change|climate change]].<br />
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The title text suggests that this flow chart is very broadly applicable to anything the Sun hits. It takes rooftops as one of the sure things, highway surfaces as probably not (see below), sailboats as a maybe, whereas all these moving objects, jets, cars, and wild deer ends up on the ''haha good luck'' result, as they get too hot when running. Randall tries to make the reader envision a wild deer with solar panels on it. As opposed to a car, though, a wild deer has no use of the electricity created by a solar panel, and it would be very hard for those installing it in the first place to come back and extract any energy stored by the panels...<br />
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"Highway surfaces" is likely a reference to "{{w|photovoltaic pavement}}". Engineers{{Citation needed}} commonly{{Citation needed}} regard the idea as a nightmare to implement; it would be more practical to install the solar panels ''beside'' the road where damage by cars is less of an issue.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
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:[A flow chart that features four questions in bubbles. Each question has yes/no options in bubbles overlain to the left and right on the question bubble. Curved arrows points from the yes and no bubbles to either next question or the result. The result written at the bottom is not inside bubbles. The chart has two main branches, that ends up in five places using only four different results, as the middle result is shared by both branches. Above the chart there is a caption:]<br />
:'''Should I put solar panels on it?'''<br />
<br />
:Does it move around?<br />
::Yes <br />
:::Does it have regular chances to recharge or swap batteries?<br />
::::Yes <br />
:::::Probably not<br />
::::No <br />
:::::When running, is it hot to the touch?<br />
::::::No <br />
:::::::Maybe<br />
::::::Yes <br />
:::::::Haha good luck<br />
::No <br />
:::Is there an empty space nearby where it would be easier to put them?<br />
::::Yes <br />
:::::Probably not [Uses the same sentence as the one in the first branch.]<br />
::::No <br />
:::::Sure<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Flowcharts]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>162.158.79.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1925:_Self-Driving_Car_Milestones&diff=148902Talk:1925: Self-Driving Car Milestones2017-12-07T21:05:53Z<p>162.158.79.161: added comment about trolley problem</p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
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This page is, without offense to the creator, a mess. We're gonna need a table for this. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.78|172.68.47.78]] 19:14, 6 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
* Or at least a list. I have created one, but it could use fleshing out.[[User:WingedCat|WingedCat]] ([[User talk:WingedCat|talk]]) 19:55, 6 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
::List is fine. You don't need a table for everything - especially if this table had only one or two columns...<br />
: none taken, it's my first time (I only wrote the first three points from a blank page) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.61|162.158.111.61]] 09:08, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
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I'm going to go with a [citation needed] on that "sex in a self-driving has probably already happened." Are there stats suggesting the amount of coitus per vehicle in the relevant counties?<br />
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"This a joke about Boolean satisfiability, as evaluating an arbitrarily complex bumper sticker and determining whether to honk is NP-complete." What? Determining whether to honk has nothing to do with the satisfiability problem; this is more of a joke about getting a computer to evaluate the truth of Boolean expressions that it may have no information about. [[User:Checkmate|Checkmate]] ([[User talk:Checkmate|talk]]) 22:07, 6 December 2017 (UTC)Checkmate<br />
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I believe the "Autonomous canyon jumping" is related to the self-loathing; a self-loathing is likely to autonomously jump off a cliff. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.179|108.162.212.179]] 22:30, 6 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
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"As of 2017, self-driving s require a human to be able to take over just in case, but any such trip where the human never actually took control would qualify for this milestone."<br />
I seems like not all places require a human backup driver: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/7/16615290/waymo-self-driving-safety-driver-chandler-autonomous [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.146|172.69.22.146]] 23:19, 6 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Time to start printing "Honk if this statement evaluates as 'do not honk!'" bumper stickers! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.28|162.158.63.28]] 01:24, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Is this related to the Vsauce Mind Field video about self-driving s and the trolley problem the literally released today, or is it just a weird coincidence?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.225|162.158.74.225]] 05:13, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
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The likelihood of trolley-like problems is no lower for an autonomous car than a human-driven one, since it depends on external factors. It might be true that if a significant number of the ''other'' cars on the road were replaced with self-driving ones, that would reduce the occurrence of conflicts, and therefore the likelihood and severity of these problems would be lower, but it would be lower for self-driven and human-driven cars alike. The real issue with such debates is that they tend to make a false assumption that existing human drivers are good at solving these problems, when the whole thrust of these thought experiments is to demonstrate that there are no generally accepted solutions to these problems.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 09:33, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:I don't think anyone would argue that human drivers are good at handling trolley-problem situations, and we don't tend to expect humans to make good decisions under pressure. The problem is that a self-driving car would need to be programmed to make decisions in these scenarios in advance, which would involve assigning absolute values to the different options in a trolley-problem scenario. As you said, there's no generally accepted solution to these problems, so the controversy arises from deciding how self-driving cars should be programmed to handle these situations. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 21:05, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
"Given the nature of human sexuality, it is possible this has already happened, but there has not been a public documentation of this milestone."<br />
Rule 34 applies. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.133|162.158.89.133]] 12:44, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
:that part after the but is an edit from me, because the previous wording was even less plausible:<br />
:"but no one recorded the incident." - I changed that to "but there has not been a public documentation of this milestone." <br />
:because I didn't find any recording with a quick search on one of the more famous free sites for videos like that (not car videos...) [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 16:58, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
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"An empty car wandering the highways" - that doesn't seem so ridiculous; a car costs what, $9000/year? That's like an EC2 instance and not even the biggest one. [[User:Sabik|Sabik]] ([[User talk:Sabik|talk]]) 13:22, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Plus you have to factor in the potential for the cost of letting the car wander becoming cheaper than paying for a parking space, in which case it may become a deliberate choice.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 13:24, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Some stops will provide free electricity so an electric car could keep going that way. Its owner will notice it's missing but they could be sick in hospital or even dead - they may even die in the car from a medical issue if that then counts as an empty car. Why the car's journey never ends is a different question. Maybe it drives the deceased owner to work and back every day. Maybe it's searching for a parking space and charging point but cannot reach the former from the latter before it has to go back and charge again. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.6|141.101.105.6]] 16:09, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Added a bit more to the explanation and formatted everything into a table so it's more organized. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]]<sup>[[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]]</sup> 13:26, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Are there any researchers working on cars that can find a parking space? (Instead of just park in one that the human driver finds?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.145|162.158.111.145]] 14:53, 7 December 2017 (UTC)<br />
: There is a parking space app and parking payment apps. I don't know if smart cars are allowed to use these without human supervision. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.6|141.101.105.6]] 16:11, 7 December 2017 (UTC)</div>162.158.79.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1099:_Tuesdays&diff=1465141099: Tuesdays2017-10-12T21:46:21Z<p>162.158.79.161: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1099<br />
| date = August 24, 2012<br />
| title = Tuesdays<br />
| image = tuesdays.png<br />
| titletext = Try our bottomless drinks and fall forever!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Beret Guy]] and at least one other person ([[Megan]]) are sitting at a restaurant. The waitress, [[Ponytail]], tells Beret Guy there is a special on Tuesdays for "endless wings". Restaurants often have different daily discounts to encourage people to come in. In a normal restaurant, "endless wings" would presumably refer to "all-you-can-eat" {{w|chicken wings}}, meaning the customer can pay a flat price and eat all the chicken wings they want without having to pay any more.<br />
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However, in this comic, instead of ordering them by telling the waitress: "I'll have those", Beret Guy tells her: "I have those", meaning that he already has literal "endless wings" (similar issues of things being taken literally are referenced in [[1086: Eyelash Wish Log]] and [[1528: Vodka]]), and then begins to grow wings which ultimately appear "endless" as they grow to a span of at least the circumference of the Earth by the last panel (and presumably continue growing). The other characters scream in horror for obvious reasons.<br />
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The title text plays on another common restaurant offer of "bottomless drinks", meaning unlimited free refills of drinks. However, falling into something literally bottomless (i.e. without a bottom) would result in falling forever. (However, even this is unlikely unless the diameter of the cups that the drinks are served in is large enough to fit a whole person into.) If it was literally "bottomless", you would start to decelerate as you pass the earth's center of mass. The air pressure and heat in a "bottomless" pit would also be fatal to humans.<br />
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This is one of the few comics with lowercase text.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail serves Beret Guy and Megan at a table.]<br />
:Ponytail: ...and on Tuesdays we offer endless wings.<br />
:Beret Guy: Haha, cool.<br />
:Beret Guy: <small>i have those.</small><br />
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:Ponytail: You what?<br />
<br />
:[Beret Guy sprouts a pair of wings.]<br />
:Ponytail: ''AAAAA!!''<br />
<br />
:[Beret Guy's wings start getting longer.]<br />
:Ponytail and Megan: ''AAAAAAA''<br />
<br />
:[Wings start to extend into space out from the earth.]<br />
:Everyone: ''AAAAAAAA''<br />
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==Trivia==<br />
*This is one of the few comics since the ''xkcd'' lettering became inked and standardized as all-caps that lowercase lettering has been used (including the word "i" which would normally be capitalized). In this case, the usage may be to denote a whisper or soft voice.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]</div>162.158.79.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1826:_Birdwatching&diff=139144Talk:1826: Birdwatching2017-04-22T23:30:33Z<p>162.158.79.161: </p>
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;Size error at release<br />
This is a big one.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.41|108.162.246.41]] 04:07, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:I wonder if the size is a technical error, or if I am missing some subtle joke. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.184|108.162.245.184]] 04:37, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
::I guess it's the latter. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.71|162.158.166.71]] 04:39, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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I think the vacuum is a further joke about scale and distance playing on the absurdity of trying to vacuum from a range of one mile. I must say I don't really understand this comic very well.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 04:47, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Pretty sure the size is an error, I've seen this happen briefly before. It's 1200 dpi, suitable for archival, printing, or just what comes off the scanner [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.107|108.162.246.107]] 09:04, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:The size is intentional. it kinda freaked m out wen i saw it, though. i thought there was a problem with my phone! [[User:Will X|Will X]] ([[User talk:Will X|talk]]) 11:24, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
::I think the size is biting Randall in the rear. I'm getting all sorts of 503 gateway timeouts that appear to be from his Varnish web accelerator. The East coast is waking up and pounding his server... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.106|162.158.78.106]] 11:32, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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It looks like they fixed the size. Maybe it wasn't intentional?<br />
:I'm not sure, but maybe the size of the comic changes depending on the time? I mean, it does see like the size is smaller as of right now.(By the way, I'm not the guy on top that didn't sign his/her post.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.138.40|162.158.138.40]] 13:55, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
::It seems the error was fixed and it must be concluded that this was indeed an error. Or at least gave so much trouble that Randall regretted it... I have collected all comments on the size up here with a heading, to make it easier to read this and the rest of the comments. See the [[1826:_Birdwatching#Trivia|trivia section]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:51, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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I thought the vacuum was trying to drain the atmosphere to make it so that the birds can't fly as high.[[User:1I1III1|1I1III1]] ([[User talk:1I1III1|talk]]) 05:42, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
: That was my thought, too. (/edit: Honestly, to think of sucking the birds in I found being too absurd, while sucking the atmosphere seemed absolutely plausible - at least for an XKCD...) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:18, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:: If only he had a vacuum the size of the one in Space Balls. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.162|173.245.50.162]] 15:59, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Are these the same birds from 1824? [[User:Codrus|Codrus]] ([[User talk:Codrus|talk]]) 06:16, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Probably not but these two comics are definitely related. Have mentioned it in the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:51, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Hey folks, am I the only one thinking that Cueball also holds the binoculars the wrong way around? Usually the small end is nearest to the eyes... That would for sure make birdwatching even MORE difficult. Regarding size, I think it is intentional.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.76|162.158.150.76]] 09:16, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Hey, that's a reflex camera, isn't it? Some camera geek can comment on birdwatching situation camera? That zoom seems much too small for the job, but I've got no real clue...--[[User:Blaisorblade|Blaisorblade]] ([[User talk:Blaisorblade|talk]]) 09:34, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
::The one from [[Superzoom]]! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:51, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:: It looks more like a bridge camera. Reflex camera lenses are usually larger near the front glass element and narrower near the sensor. This one looks like it's designed to collapse back into the camera. I agree it could be a superzoom, or the one from [[Superzoom]]. Those give lots of magnification for cheap at the expense of image quality, so their popular among first time birdwatcher.<br />
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I would take issue with the use of the word "confused" in the transcript. perhaps "blankly" would be more descriptive. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.18|141.101.107.18]] 12:56, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Transcript is for as little explanation as possible. Have removed the word. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:51, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Why is Megan wearing a knit cap? Does Randall's wife have cancer again? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.89|162.158.79.89]] 16:10, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:I don't think that's Megan. The transcript names that character as "Beanie-Man." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.238|162.158.78.238]]<br />
::The transcript is made by us users, and in most other comics with knit caps that is the name used and so this has been corrected in the explanation and transcript. There are no longer any official [[Transcript on xkcd]]. Here is where it [https://xkcd.com/1826/info.0.json should have been for this comic]. It looks like a guy to me, but there has been several characters with a knit cap, see the link in the explanation to the largest knit cap comic, where there is a collection of other knit cap comics. It is definitely not Megan. And I sure hope that there is not more cancer for Randall and his wife. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:51, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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My first thought is than a successful birdwatcher requires patience, which is something that Cueball does not appear to have. You also want to avoid to making noise, so Cueball talking will probably make the bird stay at a distance, and the ShopVac would be even more discouragement for the hawk. There are other issues. I would guess that the camera is a 200 to 300 millimeter lens. If you wanted to get a good picture of a bird with that type of camera, you would have to get closer to the nest and wait very patiently for the bird to get closer. (Patiently for several hours or even days. That doesn't seem like Cueball.) Many methods are available, but they are a lot of work. You also don't try to find the bird using the camera. You try to find the bird without using telescopes or binoculars and then only use the viewing aids once you find the general location of the bird. Megan is presumably satisfied with the fact that the bird probably only fills a portion of the viewport, while Cueball is expecting a picture of the bird where you can count the feathers. So Cueball has unreasonable expectations, is unwilling to wait, and is doing just about everything wrong. He then complains about his lack of success. Cueball's next attempt might be to use a camera mounted on a drone. A lot of people have tried though, although the last image captured is often a close up view of the beak filling the entire screen. [[User:BradleyRoss|BradleyRoss]] ([[User talk:BradleyRoss|talk]]) 18:49, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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:Seriously? I though drones are so noisy birds avoid them ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:31, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Am I the only one who is reminded of DR and Quinch at summer camp - "What kind of bird is that? (Boom) it's a dead bird uncle Waldo."<br />
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Okay, I think I have an interpretation that is not accounted for by anything currently in the article or the comments. A vacuum with a screen is what is used to catch little bugs that may be too small for you to spot in the grass. I think it's a weird play on perspective, like in [[1522: Astronomy]], such that cueball thinks that using the vacuum will help him catch and observe the hawks too. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.190|162.158.78.190]] 22:31, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:People vacuum lawns? [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 00:33, 20 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:: Oh, no. I should have been clearer earlier. People who study and observe insects do this to catch them. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 23:30, 22 April 2017 (UTC)</div>162.158.79.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1820:_Security_Advice&diff=138360Talk:1820: Security Advice2017-04-05T15:13:50Z<p>162.158.79.161: </p>
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Secret questions are not 2-factor authentication (2FA). They are just a really shitty password, something that you know. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 14:33, 5 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Secret questions are more like 0-factor authentication, since they typically ask for public data. Shirluban [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.106|141.101.88.106]] 14:39, 5 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Use prime numbers in your password: this would only limit the number of possible passwords for a hacker to check.<br />
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Use special characters like & and % : this advice is thoroughly handled in https://xkcd.com/936/ Changing characters into a special one does adds just very little to the search space. <br />
<small>However, a video from Computerphile suggests ''inserting'' a random character somewhere in the password which might actually be rather helpful</small><br />
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[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.211|162.158.111.211]] 14:53, 5 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Maybe you really should use a secure font [https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/MS15-078 Font related bug] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.161|162.158.79.161]] 15:13, 5 April 2017 (UTC)</div>162.158.79.161