https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=172.70.86.61&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T02:19:39ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:630:_Time_Travel&diff=300669Talk:630: Time Travel2022-12-06T19:19:32Z<p>172.70.86.61: </p>
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<div>Dear Future Husband...better toast it right. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])<br />
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I believe Cueball is in fact eating a bagel. --[[User:Alexbuzzbee|Alexbuzzbee]] ([[User talk:Alexbuzzbee|talk]]) 04:16, 21 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
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"Likely" the year of her birth? Cueball disclosed it as "technically true"! [[User:SilverTheTerribleMathematician|SilverTheTerribleMathematician]] ([[User talk:SilverTheTerribleMathematician|talk]]) 16:39, 6 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Only that she travelled from then, not that she was born then. Marty McFly travelled from 1985, but was clearly born in the '60s, so the year he might say he came from (similarly technically true, whether telling people in 1955, 2015, 1885 or just in 1986, a year after he started going to eras and returning from them) isn't necessarily and indication of his birth-year. Assuming he even ''has'' a birth-year in any given timeline...<br />
:We can be (time-machines aside) sure that she was born no later than then (...or then plus ''nine months'', perhaps?). With time-machines, all bets are off! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.61|172.70.86.61]] 19:19, 6 December 2022 (UTC)</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=7:_Girl_sleeping_(Sketch_--_11th_grade_Spanish_class)&diff=3004747: Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)2022-12-04T07:25:05Z<p>172.70.86.61: </p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 7<br />
| date = September 30, 2005<br />
| title = Girl sleeping (Sketch -- 11th grade Spanish class)<br />
| image = girl_sleeping_noline_(1).jpg<br />
| titletext = I don't remember her name at all, but she fell asleep on the floor in front of me.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic does not present a particular point; it is just a picture drawn by Randall. It is just what the title says - a sketch of a girl sleeping drawn during a Spanish class.<br />
<br />
According to the title text, she is also on the floor.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Girl sleeping on her side, facing away from view.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This was the 1st comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].<br />
**The next was [[4: Landscape (sketch)]]. <br />
*Original title: "Girl sleeping"<br />
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "I drew this in 11th-grade Spanish class. We were watching a movie and she was asleep on the floor in front of me."<br />
*This was one of the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|thirteen first comics]] posted to LiveJournal within 12 minutes on Friday September 30, 2005.<br />
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.<br />
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.<br />
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.<br />
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].<br />
*The drawing returns in [[1506: xkcloud]] as one of the [[1506: xkcloud/Pictures of other pages#Help! We lost the text|Help! We lost the text]] given images.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 01]]<br />
[[Category:First day on LiveJournal| 01]]<br />
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]<br />
[[Category:Checkered paper]]<br />
[[Category:Sketches]]</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=194:_Penises&diff=300472194: Penises2022-12-04T07:22:22Z<p>172.70.86.61: Nope</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 194<br />
| date = December 8, 2006<br />
| title = Penises<br />
| image = penises.png<br />
| titletext = The penis varies in size when flaccid and is pretty consistently about yea big when erect. Anyway, back to the sitcom one-liners and the constant flow of spam.<br />
}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic takes aim at what is considered by some to be the apparent societal obsession with the {{w|human penis|male sexual organ}} ("phallocentrism"), especially in regards to size. In general, depictions of an erect penis (also called {{w|phallus}}) represent male potency.<br />
<br />
While present in every human civilization, the symbol of the penis is also prominently featured in modern mass media. Many films and television series make use of penis-related jokes. A very common trope is the male obsession with the idea that a larger penis is considered more desirable, and a smaller penis less manly or satisfying to women.<br />
<br />
Megan criticizes this obsession by pointing out that most penises are about the same size, and normal variations in size are not worth getting worked up about.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the excessive advertisement for {{w|Sildenafil|potency pills}} and {{w|penis enlargement}} in {{w|Email spam|spam emails}}. The symbol of the phallus can be regarded by some as omnipresent in modern Western society (but not necessarily in other cultures){{Citation needed}}, with presumably every public toilet sporting at least one badly drawn depiction of a penis.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:PENISES:<br />
:Megan: They are about this big.<br />
:[Holds her hands close together, about half a foot apart.]<br />
:Now can we P<u>LEAS</u>E, as a culture, move on?<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Penis]]</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2705:_Spacetime_Soccer&diff=300154Talk:2705: Spacetime Soccer2022-12-01T12:27:05Z<p>172.70.86.61: </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 />
Wow, that was fast {{unsigned ip|172.70.131.8|03:48, 1 December 2022}}<br />
:What was? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.46|172.70.162.46]] 04:27, 1 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
Does someone want to point out to Randall that it is the offside rule, not offsides rule [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.122|172.70.134.122]] 04:57, 1 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
:It's often pluralized in American English, per Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offside_(sport) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.44|172.71.151.44]] 05:22, 1 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
:That makes no sense, it's an adjective, not a noun. It can't be pluralised. Even that wikipedia article, despite its assertion at the top, doesn't at any point use "offside" as a noun.<br />
::Side is a noun. It's colloquial in the US because other games use the same word. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.92|172.70.206.92]] 12:03, 1 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::Interesting that the inherent pluralisation doesn't extend to "math(ematic)s"... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.61|172.70.86.61]] 12:27, 1 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
I currently have no time to expand the explanation, but it should be pointed out that the gravity well drawing is a graph and not an actual surface. Also, people are perfectly fine with moving though 4 dimensional spacetime. We do it every day. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 09:19, 1 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
[citation needed] [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.83|198.41.242.83]] 09:59, 1 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
:...though note that I probably can't ever go back to where I was yesterday. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.61|172.70.86.61]] 12:27, 1 December 2022 (UTC)</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1678:_Recent_Searches&diff=3000401678: Recent Searches2022-11-29T11:28:18Z<p>172.70.86.61: /* Explanation */ ...reword. And intended to reference Musk's own spotty history of giving correct information, but landed upon words that I immediately realise also appears to reference another infamously 'real' user.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1678<br />
| date = May 9, 2016<br />
| title = Recent Searches<br />
| image = recent_searches.png<br />
| titletext = autoexec code posted by verified twitter users<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
People often find answers to computer problems by searching on {{w|Google}}, which attempts to guess your intended search term based on your location, language and the characters you've already typed, placing its suggestions in a drop-down box beneath the input area. If the search box is clicked on but nothing is typed, the drop-down box by default shows a list of your most recent searches.<br />
<br />
Here we see a list of search queries, each of which suggests the author is perversely misusing or overextending some computer technology. The overall impression is of someone technically sophisticated enough to shoot themselves in the foot, and who does not learn any larger lessons despite doing so repeatedly. The title text is another possible entry in this list.<br />
<br />
The caption implies that from Randall's perspective, every computer he uses seems to be broken; he doesn't seem to realize this is because he's the one using them, not because the computers actually start off broken. (For similar themes see also these comics: [[349: Success]], [[1084: Server Problem]], [[1316: Inexplicable]] and [[1586: Keyboard Problems]]).<br />
<br />
([[979|Dear people from the future]], if Google directed you here because it is the most popular result for a problem you are experiencing, this is not the page you were looking for). <br />
<br />
===List of searches===<br />
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=Google+translate+syntax+highlighting Google translate syntax highlighting]<br />
: {{w|Syntax highlighting}} can be used when editing {{w|source code}} to make the code more readable and easier to understand. It is not generally used for natural languages, but {{w|sentence diagram}}s of brief passages are used in language education. {{w|Google Translate}} is used to translate text from one {{w|natural language}} to another. It uses {{w|JavaScript}} <tt>mouseover()</tt> to highlight words as an aid in matching phrases in the source with their translations, but does not apply different highlighting dependent on syntax.<br />
:Alternatively, this could imply that Randall is attempting to translate code from one programming language to another using Google Translate. Success would be unlikely, since the service is not intended for this {{Citation needed}}, and syntactically valid output might further break the computer executing it.<br />
:Two other possible interpretations of this phrase are that Randall wants to translate the phrase "syntax highlighting" to another language, or that he wants to perform syntax highlighting on the source code for Google Translate.<br />
; Autodetect mixed bash zsh<br />
: {{w|Bash (Unix shell)|Bash}} and {{w|Z_shell|Zsh}} are two {{w|Command-line_interface|command line interfaces}} for {{w|Unix-like}} OSes. The way to execute commands is almost identical, making detecting a script that contains a mixed syntax nearly impossible. This was later referenced in [[2510: Modern Tools]].<br />
; CPU temperature sensor limits<br />
: The CPU's temperature sensors exist to tell you when your CPU is becoming dangerously overheated (normally because of a faulty fan or overclocking). Someone who searches for information about the limits of those sensors is presumably expecting to misuse their CPU. Probably also a reference to [[1172: Workflow]].<br />
; GIF to XLS<br />
: .GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) is a file extension used to store images and sequences of images to be displayed as an animation. .XLS is the file extension for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The joke is that the two file types are used for different purposes - it's quite normal for someone to want to convert between .GIF, .JPG, .PNG, .BMP files, as these are all image files; or between .XLS, .CSV, and .ODS files, as these all record tabulated information. However, for some reason Randall wants to convert an image file to a spreadsheet. (This is actually possible, because a digital image is essentially an array of color and brightness values; it just wouldn't be particularly useful for most people. [http://www.think-maths.co.uk/spreadsheet Here] is a webpage with an online converter.) Matt Parker has done a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBX2QQHlQ_I stand up routine] about converting these two file types.<br />
:An alternate way to convert an image file, such as a .GIF file, into a text-based file like an .XLS file, is through {{w|optical character recognition}} (OCR). This is only effective if the image is a copy (i.e. a scan or reasonably clear photograph) of a document containing letters and words, and neither .GIF nor .XLS are file formats anyone would usually use in that case.<br />
; Clock speed jumper sample rate<br />
: A jumper is an intentional short circuit used for selecting options for an electronic circuit. They are usually used where it is not feasible to use programming (such as outputting a byte or word through a port) to alter the selection, such as before the processor even begins executing. A common example would be, on some motherboards, jumpers can be used to alter the clock speeds of various motherboard functions (such as the CPU or the front side bus). These jumpers should ordinarily be modified when the computer is off. However, this search is asking how often the motherboard checks the status of the clock speed jumpers, implying that they intend to change these jumpers while the computer is powered on, and often enough that the sample rate matters (change cpu speed several times a second, by moving jumpers on the motherboard.). That is, of course, a little silly.<br />
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=clean+reinstall+keybinding Clean reinstall keybinding]<br />
: This refers to keybinding, the practice of mapping (binding) a certain key to a certain function (e.g., pressing PRTSC will take a screenshot). Most keyboards do not output characters directly, but only codes for which keys have been pressed (or released). Keybindings translate the pressing of the "A" key on your keyboard into the letter "A" being sent to a program which is reading keyboard input. A "clean reinstall" of keybindings is something that would almost never be necessary - it means Randall has modified his default keybindings to such an extent that his [[1031:_s/keyboard/leopard/|leopard]] has become unusable (similar to [[1284: Improved Keyboard]]), necessitating a "clean reinstall" of the bindings. Alternatively, he might be doing clean reinstalls so often that he wants a keybinding to execute them with minimal loss of time.<br />
; Cron job to update crontab<br />
: {{w|Cron}} is a utility on most Unix-like OSes that allows you to schedule commands or scripts to be run periodically. These scheduled jobs are read from a ''crontab'' file. A job that updates the crontab (therefore creating new jobs, removing old ones or editing existing ones) is paramount to a {{w|job scheduler}}, and trying to use cron for such functionality could result in highly unstable functionality (although a crontab could be sensibly regenerated periodically by a set of machines from a master crontab file annotated with per-host directives). This is similar to {{w|self-modifying code}}.<br />
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=fsck+chrome+extension fsck Chrome extension]<br />
: This is a search for an interface to the Unix '''f'''ile'''s'''ystem che'''ck'''er {{w|fsck}} via third-party software added to Chrome. fsck is a program for checking your filesystem for corruption. Repairing a filesystem this way would be inadvisable. {{Citation needed}} This might indicate confusion about the meaning of the term "online filesystem repair", in which "online" means "while the filesystem is in use" rather than "over the Internet". Alternatively, Randall might want to repair an installation of the operating system Chromium, in a manner less drastic than the {{w|factory reset}} preferred by Google.<br />
; Recursive font<br />
: An idiosyncratic mix of {{w|recursion}} and the font style ''{{w|cursive}}'', referring especially to text handwritten in a flowing manner. {{w|PostScript}} (the language in which {{w|PostScript fonts|some fonts}} are written) is capable of recursion and PostScript Type 3 fonts are able to use the full language. This could create effects like fonts with complicated fractal borders and fill patterns - but the increase in processing time would contribute to seeming brokenness of the computer (or printer) rendering the font.<br />
:A true recursive font would be a form of {{w|fractal}}s ([http://blog.matthen.com/post/5340546486/first-sketches-in-mathematica-for-a-new-font-it example]).<br />
; Regex matching valid EBNF<br />
: EBNF refers to {{w|Extended Backus–Naur Form}}, which is used to define {{w|formal language}}s. EBNF specifies recursive patterns that are impossible for a {{w|Regular_Expression|regular expression}} (regex) to determine whether it is valid or not. There is some irony in using regex to test the validity of something which ''defines'' the validity of things like regex.<br />
; [https://www.google.com/search?q=Hardlinks+Turing+complete Hardlinks Turing complete]<br />
: In some file systems, for example {{w|ext4}} and {{w|NTFS}}, a single file may be referenced in multiple places in the file system. These filenames are termed "hard links" because the operating system automatically resolves them to the actual file. "Soft" or "symbolic" links are resolved indirectly via a pathname, which may reside anywhere. A file is considered deleted when the last hard link to it is unlinked; a soft link exists independently of its target. In fact, the target need not exist, in which case this is often called a dangling symbolic link.<br />
:{{w|Turing completeness}} is the {{w|computational complexity}} required to simulate any {{w|computable function}} (given an infinite amount of memory). Recently there have been cases where [http://beza1e1.tuxen.de/articles/accidentally_turing_complete.html unexpected mechanisms] from card games to text parsers were proved to be Turing complete. Hardlinks being Turing complete would imply that creating and deleting hardlinks alone is enough to satisfy the requirements of Turing completeness.<br />
; Opposite of safe mode<br />
: {{w|Safe mode}} is a diagnostic mode in many operating systems and applications which allows the user to troubleshoot problems by disabling unnecessary functionality. The "opposite of safe mode" implies a "dangerous mode" where the purpose is to allow uselessly dangerous actions (in actuality this supposed dangerous mode is the default mode). A common example is the {{w|sudo}} command in Unix-like OSes, which grants the user system-level permissions.<br />
:It's also possible that Randall sees Safe Mode so often that he sees regular mode as an unusual and unique state and needs help navigating back to it.<br />
; Predictive touchpad<br />
: {{w|Predictive text}} is a feature of many smartphone keyboards that predicts the most likely word the user wishes to type, and then gives the user the option to place the full word in the sentence immediately without having to finish typing it. A {{w|touchpad}} is a computer pointing device, similar to a {{w|computer mouse}}. The idea of a "predictive touchpad" seems absurd because, as opposed to typed words, there are not a limited number of swipe combinations that are possible on a touchpad. A "predictive touchpad" implies that a computer could predict where the user was going to move the mouse or click, which in this case would seem to defeat the purpose of a user input device. {{Citation needed}}.<br />
:Interestingly, a version of Linux had a predictive cursor option, where the cursor jumped to the nearest button (like window close) when it moved near to but didn't quite reach that button.<br />
; Google docs from bootloader<br />
: A {{w|bootloader}} is a very small program that is usually the very first thing to execute when a computer boots up. It is used mainly for loading the operating system into memory. Such a program by itself would not be capable of directly running something as complex as {{w|Google Docs}}.<br />
; Hardware acceleration red channel only<br />
: {{w|Hardware acceleration}} means that certain calculations are not performed by the computer's {{w|CPU}} but by a "specialized" processor, e.g. a {{w|GPU}} which is part of the graphics adapter. This speeds up output, especially if complex 3D calculations are required, and reduces CPU load. To use this function only on a single color channel seems pretty useless, but one may want to troubleshoot a program that displays only red when hardware acceleration is enabled.<br />
:While graphics cards are most commonly used with three or four channels (red, green, blue, and sometimes alpha), they do support two-channel or single-channel images. An 8-bit single-channel image would use the format '[https://www.opengl.org/wiki/Image_Load_Store#Format_qualifiers R8]', which is indeed 'red channel only'. This type of image could be used to store monochrome images or non-image data.<br />
; autoexec code posted by verified twitter users. ('''Title text''')<br />
: The term "autoexec" refers to code that runs automatically, usually during boot, and derives from one of three boot-time files for {{w|MS-DOS}}: AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS and COMMAND.COM. AUTOEXEC.BAT would typically contain commands for customizing the command prompt, loading additional drivers, and/or automatically launching a program.<br />
:Automatically executing code from the Internet is generally a terrible idea, because it could be written by someone with malicious intent and harm your computer. The joke here is that the code would only be executed if written by someone who has been "verified" on Twitter. Twitter's verification service only serves to show that a user is who they claim to be, not whether or not their code can be trusted, so this would provide little protection. Usually, Twitter verification is used by celebrities so they can be distinguished from people claiming to be them. The line implies that Randall is only interested in running code posted by celebrities.<br />
:Most code downloaded from authentic sources (such as Microsoft and official Linux distributions) is verified by a cryptographic signature from a true trusted source, authenticating the origin of the software. These may include software updates that run automatically in the background. The joke here is that the term "verified" means very different things between Twitter users and software distribution.<br />
:Additional hilarity was added to this by circumstances in 2022 when, after Elon Musk's takeover of the site, anyone could buy a visually identical verification symbol for $8. With a number of notable spoof/fake accounts being 'verified', it was potentially an even worse idea than it was in the first place — not that all genuinely verified users could be trusted to be unimpeachable in this regard.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Colored and styled as the real logo:]<br />
:GOOGLE<br />
<br />
:[Google Search bar, with a drop down box with faded text, implying recent searches.]<br />
:Google translate syntax highlighting<br />
:Autodetect mixed bash zsh<br />
:CPU temperature sensor limits<br />
:GIF to XLS<br />
:Clock speed jumper sample rate<br />
:Clean reinstall keybinding<br />
:Cron job to update crontab<br />
:fsck Chrome extension<br />
:Recursive font<br />
:Regex matching valid EBNF<br />
:Hardlinks Turing complete<br />
:Opposite of safe mode<br />
:Predictive touchpad<br />
:Google docs from bootloader<br />
:Hardware acceleration red channel only<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:'''I have no idea why my computers are always broken.'''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Google Search]]</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2704:_Faucet&diff=300039Talk:2704: Faucet2022-11-29T11:13:20Z<p>172.70.86.61: Two comments, integrated in one submission due to multiple edit-conflicts whilst writing.</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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Are faucet designs considered to be confusing? I'm never confused by normal ones like [https://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/sundsvik-kitchen-faucet-chrome-plated__0756711_pe749051_s5.jpg?f=s these] {{unsigned|Flekkie|02:12, 29 November 2022}}<br />
<br />
:Yeah I came here wondering the same thing. Is the joke perhaps not so much that the controls are confusing in terms of intent, but just in terms of determining the bounds? Eg, with two identical faucet controls and identical water pressures, "full blast hot" still translates to something radically different, if one building has a water heater set to 120F and the other building has a water heater set to 160F.{{unsigned ip|172.69.170.189|02:46, 29 November 2022}}<br />
<br />
:(I find °F confusing, personally, but...) ...the easiest thing is to have two taps, one hot and one cold. Yes, they can combine into a single spout, but there are various conflicting plusses and minuses of that over having the two independent ones per outlet. Speaking (as I'm sure mixer-tap afficionados worldwide will appreciate) as a Brit. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.24|172.70.85.24]] 03:03, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Relevant Tom Scott video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHgUu_8KgA Why Britain Uses Separate Hot and Cold Taps]. TL;DR: British houses used to get their hot water from rat-filled cisterns so they wanted to keep the hot water separate from the cold water, and old habits die hard. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.152|162.158.63.152]] 03:34, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::Silliness of dual-taps aside, that doesn't solve the issue of identical tap hardware yielding radically different results depending on what the hot water thermostat is set to. Maybe that's not the original joke (I'm still not sure what it was) but it's worth mentioning at least. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.170.146|172.69.170.146]] 03:39, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I don't think those are confusing, but in many cases the feedback is too slow (e.g. due to the water in the pipes coming from the hot water source having cooled since the tap was last used), or inconvenient (e.g. the pressure of the hot water not being enough to trigger on-demand gas heaters). While theoretically that design allows exploring the whole temperature/pressure space, in practice one needs some trial-and-error and delay to find the correct setting (as Randall points out in the title text) to make it work. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 10:54, 29 November 2022 (UTC) <br />
<br />
:It's really a joke we are too European to understand. Visit the US to see faucet control disasters in all their glory. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.203|172.68.51.203]] 10:56, 29 November 2022 (UTC) <br />
<br />
I sympathize with Randall here; even controls designed to independently control temperature and flow rarely meet both the "intuitive to use at a glance" and "function as described" requirements to make them non-confusing. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 03:44, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Wouldn't it be super simple to just have a slider that goes from hot to cold, and a second one that goes from slow to fast flow? Or one for hot, one for cold, with the higher the slider goes, the more the flow is increased? I don't see how much simpler you can get it. Hell, you could even use a dial for temperature (all dials turn clockwise to increase) with a digital readout. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.44|172.70.131.44]] 05:25, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I suppose the issue with that is that, unlike simple mixer taps that control the flow of hot and cold water independently, relying on the human to find the right mixture that creates the desired flow and temperature, what you're describing requires a more complex system that is able to do that process automatically, so it can't be a simple mechanical valve. It would require temperature and pressure sensors for both the hot and cold water streams, and it would have to dynamically adjust the physical valve settings depending on all six parameters (position of the flow handle/slider/knob, position of the temperature handle/slider/knob, temperature of the hot water, temperature of the cold water, pressure of the hot water, pressure of the cold water). I'm not even sure this is possible with a fully mechanical system — likely some electronics would need to be involved, which might complicate things. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 10:50, 29 November 2022 (UTC) <br />
<br />
This is probably the very first xkcd comic where I have absolutely no idea where Randal is coming from. While different people have different preferences for different designs, I've never heard of anyone being confused by any faucet design.<br />
Maybe he's trolling us, by trying to get a rise out of people wondering what the hell he's talking about? [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 08:20, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This may be a reference to "Design of Everyday Things - Dan Norman" or books in that direction. Although he talked a lot more about creating doors wrong he also mentioned faucet designs as terrible. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.29|198.41.242.29]] 09:17, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:: <!--Edit conflicted by the following reply, double-indented and inserted due to flow of ideas.--> I was initially drawn to the parallel/derivation from the "{{w|Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door|Build a better mousetrap...}}" concept, which vastly predates {{w|Don Norman|''Don''}} Norman. But it's such a widespread trope that I can't be sure it should be mentioned 'officially'. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.61|172.70.86.61]] 11:13, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I am actually puzzled by how many people ''don't'' relate to this, judging by the comments here. I guess I've been unlucky with the faucets I've encountered so far? Over the years I've had spontaneous conversations with multiple people abut how tap designs are either inconvenient (i.e. hard to find the right handle positions to produce the desired temperature and flow), or confusing to use, especially for hotel showers. In fact I'm adding this comment mostly so other people who share the same perception don't feel gaslighted or otherwise confused by so many people not recognizing this issue. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 10:50, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is that hairy? looks like him? [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 10:07, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is it too pedantic to point out the distinction between a helix (the shape of the control) and a spiral (mentioned by the character)?<br />
:Not really, but it could be a very shallow (by radial increase/decrease per turn) 3D spiral, I'm more concerned by the "tightening", wondering if it's a flexible spiral/helix that is manipulated dynamically, rather than merely a tap* with a funny-shaped handle/head to rotate through into the backplate.<br />
::<nowiki>*</nowiki> - 'faucet' just makes me wait for a "force it" pun. It's a very American word that I'm not personally aware of being used throught the rest of the anglosphere. Maybe Canada, but probably not Aus/NZ/etc if my uptake of their TV/film exports is correctly remembered... Somebody may want to correct me on this issue, or add English As A Second Language metrics to this.<br />
:What is also interesting is that the 3D-perspective drawing by our in-frame inventor, upon the perspectivised drawing surface as depicted by Randall, makes it look like very much like an actual sticky-outy object within the drawn world. Like it's actually a moulded/similar relief model/mockup, surrounded by the more standard 'wall notes' used to suggest on-the-go calculations/annotations. An interesting artistic choice (or possibly an unintentional consequence) by Randall. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.61|172.70.86.61]] 11:13, 29 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think it should be added that the issue is mainly for the US. In Europe, and in the other of the rest of the world - except US - the thermostatic head has replaced most other faucet in shower, and the hand washing is not so much of an issue. My shower in some US hotels were a nightmare, where I remember taking multiple minute to understand how it might work.</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2701:_Change_in_Slope&diff=2995702701: Change in Slope2022-11-21T17:36:44Z<p>172.70.86.61: /* Explanation */ L is next to backspace on this keyboard!</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2701<br />
| date = November 21, 2022<br />
| title = Change in Slope<br />
| image = change_in_slope_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 656x371px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Squinting at a graph is fine for getting a rough idea of the answer, but if you want to pretend to know it exactly, you neeed statistics.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SIDEWAYS STATISTIC - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
For subtle effects, such as a the slight inflection of an underlying trend, visually inspecting a graph cannot always do justice to what is there. For data on a graph, such as the scattergraph shown in this comic, the trend hidden within its cloud of points is unclear when looked at normally. The comic shows that by taking the 2D plot and reorientating it in 3D space, introducing foreshortening along the trend, the displacement perpendicular to the possibly straight line is more clearly visible.<br />
<br />
This is very similar to more real-world activities such as polishing, cleaning and/or removing dents from surfaces, where an artisan may take an oblique view of their work, from various angles, to highlight any remaining defects that might need some attention. In mathematical terms, a graph can also be transformed mathematically to produce a squashed version (it could even effectively be the same as a 3D transform to make a 2D plot ''look'' like it is rotated in a 3D-perspective, as in the comic), although this lacks the readiness of a physical object being twisted and turned to examine it from as many angles as might be required.<br />
<br />
The title text then goes on to say that while such a visual inspection can ''reveal'' such a quirk of data distribution, you normally still need to revert to mathematical analysis to properly quantify that quirk – such as to measure the relative likelihood of the change in trend being real, or else well within the randomness of the scattering of datapoints around any actually linear trend.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:How to detect a change in the slope of your data<br />
<br />
:[First column, on the left]<br />
:Novice method:<br />
:[A graph, with dots forming a rough line, math formulas, and sub graphs]<br />
:Do a bunch of statistics<br />
<br />
:[Second column, on the right]<br />
:Expert method:<br />
:[Perspective view of the previous graph, with the legend "Hey look, it bends here" and an arrow pointing to the graph]<br />
:Tip the graph sideways<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Scatter plots]]<br />
[[Category:Bar charts]]<br />
[[Category:Line graphs]]</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2701:_Change_in_Slope&diff=2995692701: Change in Slope2022-11-21T17:35:49Z<p>172.70.86.61: /* Explanation */ Tyop</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2701<br />
| date = November 21, 2022<br />
| title = Change in Slope<br />
| image = change_in_slope_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 656x371px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Squinting at a graph is fine for getting a rough idea of the answer, but if you want to pretend to know it exactly, you neeed statistics.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SIDEWAYS STATISTIC - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
For subtle effects, such as a the slight inflection of an underlying trend, visually inspecting a graph cannot always do justice to what is there. For data on a graph, such as the scattergraph shown in this comic, the trend hidden within its cloud of points is unclear when looked at normally. The comic shows that by taking the 2D plot and reorientating it in 3D space, introducing foreshortening along the trend, the displacement perpendicular to the possibly straight line is more clearly visible.<br />
<br />
This is very similar to more real-world activities such as polishing, cleaning and/or removing dents from surfaces, where an artisan may take an oblique view of their work, from various anes, to highlight any remaining defects that might need some attention. In mathematical terms, a graph can also be transformed mathematically to produce a squashed version (it could even effectively be the same as a 3D transform to make a 2D plot ''look'' like it is rotated in a 3D-perspective, as in the comic), although this lacks the readiness of a physical object being twisted and turned to examine it from as many angles as might be required.<br />
<br />
The title text then goes on to say that while such a visual inspection can ''reveal'' such a quirk of data distribution, you normally still need to revert to mathematical analysis to properly quantify that quirk – such as to measure the relative likelihood of the change in trend being real, or else well within the randomness of the scattering of datapoints around any actually linear trend.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:How to detect a change in the slope of your data<br />
<br />
:[First column, on the left]<br />
:Novice method:<br />
:[A graph, with dots forming a rough line, math formulas, and sub graphs]<br />
:Do a bunch of statistics<br />
<br />
:[Second column, on the right]<br />
:Expert method:<br />
:[Perspective view of the previous graph, with the legend "Hey look, it bends here" and an arrow pointing to the graph]<br />
:Tip the graph sideways<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Scatter plots]]<br />
[[Category:Bar charts]]<br />
[[Category:Line graphs]]</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2701:_Change_in_Slope&diff=2995682701: Change in Slope2022-11-21T17:35:02Z<p>172.70.86.61: /* Explanation */ Have this first explanation. Needs polishing. Perhaps with frequent viewing from an oblique angle.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2701<br />
| date = November 21, 2022<br />
| title = Change in Slope<br />
| image = change_in_slope_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 656x371px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Squinting at a graph is fine for getting a rough idea of the answer, but if you want to pretend to know it exactly, you neeed statistics.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a SIDEWAYS STATISTIC - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
For subtle effects, such as a the slight inflection of an underlying trend, visually inspecting a graph cannot always do justice to what is there. For data on a graph, such as the scattergraph shown in this comic, the trend hidden within its cloud of points is unclear when looked at normally. The comic shows that by taking the 2D plot and reorientating it in 3D space, introducing foreshortening along the trend, the displacement peroendicular to the possibly straight line is more clearly visible.<br />
<br />
This is very similar to more real-world activities such as polishing, cleaning and/or removing dents from surfaces, where an artisan may take an oblique view of their work, from various anes, to highlight any remaining defects that might need some attention. In mathematical terms, a graph can also be transformed mathematically to produce a squashed version (it could even effectively be the same as a 3D transform to make a 2D plot ''look'' like it is rotated in a 3D-perspective, as in the comic), although this lacks the readiness of a physical object being twisted and turned to examine it from as many angles as might be required.<br />
<br />
The title text then goes on to say that while such a visual inspection can ''reveal'' such a quirk of data distribution, you normally still need to revert to mathematical analysis to properly quantify that quirk – such as to measure the relative likelihood of the change in trend being real, or else well within the randomness of the scattering of datapoints around any actually linear trend.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:How to detect a change in the slope of your data<br />
<br />
:[First column, on the left]<br />
:Novice method:<br />
:[A graph, with dots forming a rough line, math formulas, and sub graphs]<br />
:Do a bunch of statistics<br />
<br />
:[Second column, on the right]<br />
:Expert method:<br />
:[Perspective view of the previous graph, with the legend "Hey look, it bends here" and an arrow pointing to the graph]<br />
:Tip the graph sideways<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Scatter plots]]<br />
[[Category:Bar charts]]<br />
[[Category:Line graphs]]</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File_talk:null_hypothesis.png&diff=298962File talk:null hypothesis.png2022-11-17T20:56:37Z<p>172.70.86.61: Undo revision 298926 by While False (talk)</p>
<hr />
<div>Uhhh ... tried reuploading. Didn't helped, file still doesn't exists. WTF? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:40, 5 December 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Fix'd. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:03, 5 December 2013 (UTC)</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2697:_Y2K_and_2038&diff=2987512697: Y2K and 20382022-11-15T09:04:30Z<p>172.70.86.61: /* Explanation */ General cleanup of a valid summary of a complex issue.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2697<br />
| date = November 11, 2022<br />
| title = Y2K and 2038<br />
| image = y2k_and_2038_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 527x190px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = It's taken me 20 years, but I've finally finished rebuilding all my software to use 33-bit signed ints.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a Y2K-BRICKED BOT (MADE JAN 1, 1970). Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[File:Year 2038 problem.gif|thumb|An animation of the 2038 bug in action. The {{w|integer overflow}} error occurs at 03:14:08 UTC on 19 January 2038.]]<br />
<br />
The Y2K bug, or more formally, the {{w|year 2000 problem}}, was the computer errors caused by two digit software representations of calendar years incorrectly handling the year 2000, such as by treating it as 1900 or 19100. The {{w|year 2038 problem}} is a similar issue with timestamps in {{w|Unix time}} format, which will overflow their {{w|Signed number representations|signed}} 32-bit binary representation on January 19, 2038.<br />
<br />
While initial estimates were that the Y2K problem would require about half a trillion dollars to address, there was widespread recognition of its potential severity several years in advance. Concerted efforts among organizations including computer and software manufacturers and their corporate and government users reflected unprecedented cooperation, testing, and enhancement of affected systems costing substantially less than the early estimates. On New Year's Day 2000, few major errors actually occurred. Those that did usually did not disrupt essential processes or cause serious problems, and the few of them that did were usually addressed in days to weeks. The software code reviews involved allowed correcting other errors and providing various enhancements which often made up at least in part for the the cost of correcting the date bug.<br />
<br />
The topic of whether or not Y2K was actually as big of a problem as it was made out to be remains hotly debated. The main arguments falling into the general camps of "nothing bad happened, Y2K would have overwhelmingly been an inconvenience rather than a problem" vs. "very little happened ''only'' because of the massive effort put into prevention". It is unlikely that there will ever be a conclusive answer to the question, with the truth probably being somewhere in between those two extremes. The answer to that question whatever it may be, the reaction to Y2K did result in a significant push towards, and raise in public awareness of, clean and futureproofed code.<br />
<br />
It is unclear whether the 2038 problem will be addressed as effectively in time, but documented experience with the Y2K bug and increased software modularity and access to source code has allowed many otherwise vulnerable systems to already upgrade to wider timestamp and date formats, so there is reason to believe that it may be even less consequential and expensive. The 2038 problem has been previously mentioned in [[607: 2038]] and [[887: Future Timeline]].<br />
<br />
This comic assumes that the 38 years between Y2K and Y2038 should be split evenly between recovering from Y2K and preparing for Y2038. That would put the split point in 2019. The caption points out that it's now, in 2022, well past that demarcation line, so everyone should have completed their "Y2K recovery" and begun preparing for year 2038. It is highly unlikely that there are more than a very few consequential older systems that still suffer from the Y2K bug, as systems built to operate this millennium handle years after 1999 correctly.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to replacing the 32-bit signed Unix time format with a hypothetical new 33-bit signed {{w|Integer (computer science)|integer}} time and date format, which is very unlikely as almost all contemporary computer data structure formats are allocated no more finely than in 8-bit bytes. Doing this may seem complicated to new software developers, but recompiling with a larger size of integers was a normal solution for the Y2K bug among engineers of [[Randall]]'s generation, who learned to code when computer memory space was still at a premium. Taking 20 years to develop and implement such a format is not entirely counterproductive, as it would add another 68 years of capability, but it is a far less efficient use of resources than upgrading to the widely available and supported 64-bit Unix time replacement format and software compatibility libraries.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[A timeline rectangle with 37 short dividing lines between the two ends, defining it into 38 minor sections, with the label "2000" above, associated with the leftmost edge, "2038" associated with the rightmost edge and "2019" directly over the centermost division that starts the section which covers that year, which is also extended to form a dotted line divided the whole height of the timeline into two equal 19-section halves. The left half has the label "Recovering from the Y2K bug" and the right half is labeled "Preparing for the 2038 bug". A triangular arrowhead labeled "Now" is also above indicating a rough position most of the way through the section that would represent the year 2022.]<br />
<br />
[Caption:] Reminder: By now you should have finished your Y2K recovery and be several years into 2038 preparation.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Calendar]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Timelines]]</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2697:_Y2K_and_2038&diff=298687Talk:2697: Y2K and 20382022-11-14T14:44:54Z<p>172.70.86.61: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
Y2K issues solved back in 1996. Even wrote a letter to the Board of Trustees.<br />
2038 Problems are not-my-concern. Retired 9/30/2022.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.236|172.70.110.236]]<br />
:Many of the people who helped solve the Y2K problem were pulled out of retirement. Lots of the issues were in old COBOL software, and there weren't enough active programmers who were competent in COBOL. So keep your resume ready. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:07, 11 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
this is so weird I just finished a research assignment on the Y2038 problem [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.223|172.71.166.223]] 18:27, 11 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Somewhere there is an essay about the unexpected synergy between the Y2K bug and the burgeoning open source movement, which may or may not be useful for the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.243|172.70.214.243]] 20:18, 11 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:https://www.livehistoryindia.com/story/eras/india-software-revolution-rooted-in-y2k is a fascinating essay too. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.151|172.70.214.151]] 21:03, 11 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:I wouldn't be surprised if there's such an essay, but I suspect it's more of a coincidence. The late 90's was also when the Internet was really taking off, and that may be more of a contributor. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:04, 11 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
::All involved what epidemiologists call coordinated or mutually reinforcing causes, IMHO. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 01:41, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Speaking of which, what comes after Generation Z? Generation AA? ZA? Z.1? Help! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.243|172.70.214.243]] 07:24, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:{{w|Generation Alpha}} [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.53|172.69.34.53]] 07:27, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
::[[1962|Zuckerbergs Army.]] --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:18, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::The Legion of the Doomed [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.56|172.70.162.56]] 10:20, 14 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've been unable to confirm this so I'm moving it here: A major problem had struck IBM mainframes on and after August 16, 1972 (9999 days before January 1, 2000) that caused magnetic tapes that were supposed to be marked "keep forever" instead be marked "may be recycled now."{{Actual citation needed}} [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 07:37, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:I have heard that y2k problems showing up in 1970 in calculations for thirty-year mortgages. [[User:Philhower|Philhower]] ([[User talk:Philhower|talk]]) 14:12, 14 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Does the arrow move over time? ... should it? (I think so!) It could be done server side and only regulars would [see, sic] that it changes over time. Then... perhaps we could see different versions of the strip cached on the Internet. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.158|172.71.166.158]] 08:30, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
It isn't, of course, but if it was a .GIF with ultralong replace-cycles then only those who ''kept the image active'' would see the arrow move in real-time. (It would reset to ''now's'' "now" upon each (re)loading, so it would have an even more exclusive audience, aside from those that cheat with image(-layer) editing. ;) ) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.57|172.70.162.57]] 13:32, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Should we mention anything about that it is that specific year in a specific calendar? As far as I know there was also {{w|Japanese_calendar_era_bug|fear of a similiar bug in Japan}} recently. However Wikipedia seems not to be up to date about it. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:18, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Does anyone know of an actual program or OS that stored the year as two characters instead of a single byte? I have (and had back then) serious doubts that any problems existed. Even the reported government computers had people born prior to 1900 entered, so they already had to have better precision than "just tack on 1900." Even using a single signed byte would still have been good for another 5 years from now. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 17:22, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:In my experience (I lived and worked through the Y2K preparations) it wasn't so much "an actual program", or necessarily a fundemental limitation of an entire OS (though the roots of the problem effectively date back to key decisions surrounding the developmet of the IBM System/360 in the 1960s), but a matter of how data was held in human-readable but space-saving format. Someone in the '70s (or even up into into the '90s) may have decided their system could store some date as the six characters representing DDMMYY (or ay of the other orders) secure in the knowledge that the century digits were superfluus - and would have perhaps sent the footprint of a standard record over some handy packable length for the system, say 128 bytes. Which was a lot in those days.<br />
:(If the year ''value'' had been recorded in 16bit binary, or even 2x7bit or doubled 6-bit, it could have been as good for the computer, but ''oh the fuss'' to convert to and from a human-orientated perspective. And it worked neatly enough, right?)<br />
:And a useful implementaion might be used, in some form or other for a long time... Sometimes the storage system is upgraded (kilobytes? ha, we have megabytes of space now!) and the software to handle it might be ported and even rewritten, but at each stage the extra data has to match the old program, and the new program has to read and write the current data, however kludged it actually is. And it works, at least under the care of those who dabble in the dark arts of its operation. And not many others are bothered or even have any idea of what ;ies beneath the surface.<br />
:Until somebody starts to audit the issue and asks everyone to poke around and check things... Thenthings get sorted in-situ ''or'' a much needed (YMV!) change of process is swapped in, in the place of old and (possibly) incorrect hacks. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.133|172.69.79.133]] 20:00, 12 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Sometimes the "savings" of storing data in a compact form are exceeded by the "cost" of having to convert it between the convenient-to-use form and the compact form. I used to work on a system that used 32-bit words for all data types: characters, shorts, longs. When we started running out of space, we "manually" packed our data, stuffing multiple shorts and bytes into words. But in some cases, the additional code needed to pack/unpack would have taken more space than what we'd have saved in the data, without even looking at the processing time cost. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 05:52, 13 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
::Not sure about storing each digit as a *character*, but IBM mainframes have supported packed decimal formats where each decimal digit was stored in a 4-bit nibble. That format can give more intuitive results from decimal fraction arithmetic for applications such as currency. But, I've heard of the same format being used for integer applications such as page numbers, etc because it was familiar and readable on hex dumps. [[User:Philhower|Philhower]] ([[User talk:Philhower|talk]]) 14:12, 14 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::{{w|Binary-coded decimal}}... Loads of interesting uses (including precision decimal fractions), but of course largely fallen out of favour for various technical and logistial reasons. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.61|172.70.86.61]] 14:44, 14 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:The first computerised passport system for the UK had a y2K issue. In fact, it was designed in, because it was supposed to be replaced before 1999. Unfortunately, progress with its replacement was running late. We thought that we could get away with two digits for certain dates because the software was going to be thrown away before the end of 1999. And yes, two digit years were common in COBOL programs because decimal numbers coded using ASCII or EBCDIC were the default for numeric data. [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 15:32, 13 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:1. Having done programming since 1966, I know that much data was stored on 80-character cards (and way before that year and the IBM System/360) and using 2 characters (2.5% of the card) to store the "19" was not acceptable. As processes moved into the tape and disk world, human nature tended to not expand the field to 4 characters (the future is a long way off until, suddenly, it isn't). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.65|172.70.178.65]] 07:57, 13 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:: I wouldn't call punch cards a *real* Y2K problem. They had been replaced by then. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 18:55, 13 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:2. I actually saw a Y2K failure. It occurred at the beginning of 1999 when a job scheduling program scheduled a job for the year 1900 because it was always keeping the schedule active a year in advance. The scheduling software had actually been fixed but the upgraded version had not been installed yet, so there was no significant outage. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.64|172.70.178.64]] 08:02, 13 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
''"an actual program or OS that stored the year as two characters"'' In years 2000-2002, it was common to see dates on web-pages showing as "19100". I/we always assumed the 19 was hard-coded, the 1-99 was a script, just concatenated. ''PRR'' [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.154|172.70.130.154]] 06:52, 14 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2697:_Y2K_and_2038&oldid=298667 I've never heard of anyone actually recompiling to a 33-bit integer format]" - that's not what was said, but it seems to be about programming so as to pack 33-bits of precision across (or within) whatever standard bit-boundaries the system normally provides for. Which is not so fanciful, and used to be a good creative coding practice, if done well. See 8x7bit to/from 8x7bit packing or unpacking (or as an in-transit stage), which was a regular requirement at one time (arguably still is, but mostly invisibly to the user, in the usually 6-bit rationalisation that is MIME). But the edit above doesn't preclude that interpretation, so just noting this here. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.157|141.101.107.157]] 13:43, 14 November 2022 (UTC)</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File_talk:konigsberg_2x.png&diff=298299File talk:konigsberg 2x.png2022-11-07T02:53:34Z<p>172.70.86.61: </p>
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<div>Is fine. —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]]) 21:45, 5 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Again with the strange edits/page-making, WF... I wish I knew why. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.204|162.158.34.204]] 00:52, 6 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
::We don’t discuss our files. This is the only file talk active in the last 30 days. —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]]) 07:24, 6 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::Hence the mystery (to me, at least) as to why you even started a potential discussion of it. and I'm [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File_talk:konigsberg_2x.png&diff=298270&oldid=298268 sorry I mentioned it]. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.193|141.101.98.193]] 12:57 (and then 16:01ish), 6 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
::::[[1305: Undocumented Feature]] catches some of it I believe. Like, it certainly wouldn’t be the same to write something in more active or crowded comment sections. I also always enjoy when I Google something and end up in someone’s long abandoned personal blog. So perhaps it’s partly the strange social and communicative situation of, for example, ransacking myself in conversation with you in the remote place of Filetalk:konigsberg 2x.png, partly something akin to (non-destructive I hope) urban exploration.<br />
::::Your [[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]]) 22:46, 6 November 2022 (UTC)<br />
:::::As an ephemeral and probably unidentifiable voice in æther (nonetheless, the same one that is asynchronistically conversing with you elsewhere) I have to acknowledge that we share some subset of philosophy. And the coincidence clearly ''wasn't'' one, I was just slow to spot that ''you'd'' invoked the found causality of connection, even whilst I was trying to prevent you erroneously thinking that I somehow had taken direct inspiration.<br />
:::::But much of that sentence would never have needed to have been written had I waited to reply only after reading everything else. I'm too quick to react, and too verbose in my replies. Decades of being online, and I've still never learnt the trick to avoid either. Doesn't mean I'm a reliably entertaining interlocutor, though, however much I might flatter myself. ;) You can't even be sure I'm still me, or will be me next time, this being the way I roll, and all that. But nice chatting to you, and whatever audience might be 'listening' in, right now or in some far future after stumbling over it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.61|172.70.86.61]] 02:53, 7 November 2022 (UTC)</div>172.70.86.61https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2694:_K%C3%B6nigsberg&diff=2982342694: Königsberg2022-11-05T16:58:13Z<p>172.70.86.61: /* Explanation */ Given that the problem is solved, indicating the actual thing that was solved.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2694<br />
| date = November 4, 2022<br />
| title = Königsberg<br />
| image = konigsberg_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 448x343px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = At first I thought I would need some gold or something to pay him, but then I realized that it was the 18th century and I could just bring a roll of aluminum foil.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a WOLF, TWO GOATS, AND THREE BAGS OF GRAPH NODES. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[File:Konigsberg bridges.png|frame|right|{{w|Königsberg}}, Prussia in Euler's time, showing the Pregel river and its seven bridges. The Baltic port city is now Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave. Two of the original seven bridges no longer exist[https://goo.gl/maps/ChdBoeQMr3AQPi446], although there are three new ones (a footbridge and two motorway bridges).]]<br />
<br />
This comic is about the {{w|Seven Bridges of Königsberg}}, a seminal {{w|graph theory}} problem solved by the famous mathematician {{w|Leonhard Euler}}.[https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/leonard-eulers-solution-to-the-konigsberg-bridge-problem] {{w|Graph (discrete mathematics)|Graphs}} are a data structure common in many algorithmic problems in computer science. The problem was whether it was possible to devise a path through the city that would cross each of the seven bridges exactly once, without crossing the river forks any other way. In 1736, Euler proved that there was no such possible path. This result is considered to be the first theorem of graph theory and the first proof in the theory of networks[http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/courses/2004/cscs535/review.pdf] — a subject now generally regarded as a branch of {{w|combinatorics}} — and presaged the development of {{w|topology}}. Combinatorial problems of other types had been considered since antiquity.<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] attempts to cheat on the final exam in his algorithms class by traveling back in time to commission the construction of an eighth bridge before Euler could learn of the problem, allowing a trivial solution that would remove the rationale for further analysis. He hopes that this would alter his present-day timeline in such a way that the test becomes easier because graph theory might never have been developed.<br />
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With the addition of the eighth bridge, it becomes possible to cross each bridge exactly once, starting at the north bank and ending on the larger eastern island, or vice-versa. However, there is still no way to traverse each bridge exactly once and return to the starting point, because the altered graph would have an {{w|Eulerian trail|Euler trail}} but not an Euler cycle. Thus the problem might still have been sufficiently interesting to spark Euler's curiosity and develop a nearly identical general principle on the way to demonstrating that locals could indeed find no route that ended at its initial starting point. Adding a ninth bridge connecting the north bank to the east island would render the problem completely trivial and the locals may then have developed entirely different obsessions, never drawing Euler into the issue and leaving him to focus upon different problems entirely. This could backfire on Cueball, and result in an even harder topic arising in his examination, that was never even taught to him in his original timeline experience.<br />
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The title text alludes to the fact that ordinary {{w|aluminum foil}}, which was not commercially available until 1911, would have been a tremendously valuable curiosity in the 18th century, which didn't even have {{w|tin foil}}. Aluminum was a highly priced metal before the 1880s when inexpensive methods were developed to refine it. The {{w|Washington Monument}} was constructed with a tip made of pure aluminum due to its value and conductive capacity. Aluminum had not been extracted in its pure form at the time of Euler, and was known only in compounds such as {{w|alum}}, so the metal would have been unique and exotic.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Cueball, standing next to two men wearing wigs, pointing with a pointer at a map showing the seven bridges problem, with an extra bridge added in dashed lines]<br />
:Cueball: Lord Mayor of Königsberg, I will reward you handsomely if you construct this bridge before my friend Leonhard arrives.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:I tried to use a time machine to cheat on my algorithms final by preventing graph theory from being invented.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>172.70.86.61