https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=173.245.54.46&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T15:21:08ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1683:_Digital_Data&diff=120523Talk:1683: Digital Data2016-05-20T12:15:52Z<p>173.245.54.46: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
Ewww, Verizon? **** them [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 04:58, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ironically, the title text on explainxkcd is different from the one on xkcd.com, demonstrating the reinterpretation of text encoded in UTF-8 as if it were encoded in ISO 8859-1. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.231|162.158.85.231]] 05:45, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
-Exactly; this nicely proves Randall's point. On my computer, different characters appear in different browsers, but of course in one browser the characters are reproducible.--[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 07:26, 20 May 2016 (UTC) <br />
<br />
Here is the decoded title text:<br />
“If you can read this, congratulations–the archive youʼre you're using still knows about the mouseover text”!<br />
<br />
He's written you're twice, but one is with a curly apostrophe, often favoured by americans (and maybe brits?), possible because of their keyboard. The simple apostrophe is “just” html-formatted, whereas the curly one has been molested by a UTF-8 / ISO-8859-1 misreading.<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.16|108.162.229.16]] 07:51, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: I'm British, and I don't have the curly apostrophe anywhere on my keyboard. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 11:01, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is a phenomenon that has always both fascinated me and frustrated me. I find it fascinating how, even today, data degrades as more and more people copy it (remember the old days when people used to copy VHS tapes, and the further you were from the original tape the more copying artefacts your copy had in it?). It also frustrates me, though, when I'm trying to find an original, undegraded image or video and it seems impossible to find. It's also annoying because it's actually pretty easy to copy something without causing any quality loss, yet practically every copied image on the internet has been degraded in some way or another. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 07:08, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:If you haven't yet, you should check out this guy who ripped and reuploaded his own Youtube video 1000 times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEIzS_27Vt0 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.150|162.158.222.150]] 08:28, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's also funny because just a few moments ago I was trying to compress some video to send to someone. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 07:12, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
http://fotoforensics.com/analysis.php?id=274fcf46426f2da31b057f1652ae5269cfdbd70a.190103 this page highlights the encoding blocks so that the degration of quality can be seen better. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.205|141.101.91.205]] 09:42, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The phenomenon that Randall is making fun of in this comic is actually called a "shitpic" http://www.theawl.com/2014/12/the-triumphant-rise-of-the-shitpic The explanation should probably make reference to that. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 10:57, 20 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the watermarks on the last frame are from an unregistered screenshot tool, not "9gag" or similar. The references to shit pics are interesting, but aren't you over interpreting the whole thing?<br />
<br />
There's a 9gag thing in the image, clean your glasses and look again. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 12:15, 20 May 2016 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1678:_Recent_Searches&diff=119763Talk:1678: Recent Searches2016-05-11T10:10:16Z<p>173.245.54.46: </p>
<hr />
<div>You can convert jpg to Excel (http://www.think-maths.co.uk/spreadsheet), so converting gif to Excel is not really absurd... {{unsigned ip|141.101.93.51}}<br />
:Or maybe Randall(?) has a screenshot of a spreadsheet (or more realistically, an over-the-shoulder video of someone's spreadsheet), and he wants to OCR it back into a spreadsheet. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.209|108.162.218.209]] 19:19, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Interestingly enough "CPU temperature sensor limits" might be a serious consideration for extreme overclockers, who use things like liquid nitrogen to cool their PC. [[User:SG 01|SG 01]] ([[User talk:SG 01|talk]]) 15:45, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Not really, the limit of the CPU temp sensors would only necessary if you are planing to get the cpu to really high temperatures. That is, if you are using liquid nitrogen to cool the cpu, you should never reach the limit of the sensors.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.69|108.162.221.69]] 18:38, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: Hey, [[165|our IP addresses differ only in 8 bits]]! Does this mean we are in the same part of campus? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.59|108.162.219.59]] 19:38, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::: What... that one is not not my ip! And the guy that mentioned "OCR" up there also has a very similar ip to ours. Is some kind of proxy explainxkcd has? (btw, I wonder if I'll get the same ip on this comment. I haven't disconnected my router or anything) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.69|108.162.221.69]] 21:58, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::: It appears that explainxkcd.com is using Cloudflare, so all the wiki edits are probably logged as coming from Cloudflare's proxies. A WHOIS search confirms that the IPs 108.162.192.0 to 108.162.255.255 are part of Cloudflare's network --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.167|108.162.228.167]] 22:22, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
::::: I had thought explainxkcd was anonymizing IP addresses to some carefully chosen ranges. Apparently that's just a helpful side effect. Does Cloudflare always assign the same proxy to a particular source address? [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 23:34, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Note that it says "limits" in plural, i.e. both upper and lower. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.209|108.162.218.209]] 19:28, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: There are several "upper limits" -- one for turn on the fan, then speedup the fan, then start making sounds to alarm the user and the final one for doing a hard-shutdown of the computer before it burn out -- so assuming that anybody want to disable the lower is a stretch [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.219|162.158.255.219]] 04:00, 11 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
;Safe mode<br />
This is my first time trying to help out with an explanation, please let me know if I did something wrong ^_^; [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 15:48, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: I like where you went with safe/dangerous. Of the "unsafe" synonyms I found my favorite is "menacing mode". [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])<br />
<br />
: My first impression here though was that he's so often dropping to safe mode he forgot what's regular system like or how to get there – so he searches for reference how to get there. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.95.129|141.101.95.129]] 20:29, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is it possible the first one is an attempt to misuse google translate to translate programming code (to another programming language or even between linguistic languages)? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:59, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
GIF to XLS could be a reference to http://www.think-maths.co.uk/spreadsheet [[Special:Contributions/141.101.93.55|141.101.93.55]] 16:16, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Nice find. I was thinking like that + a macro to flip sheets. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])<br />
<br />
Doesn't "recursive" mean that it repeats (recurs)? [[User:Cardboardmech|Cardboardmech]] ([[User talk:Cardboardmech|talk]]) 16:44, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Sort of. In computing, it's a little more specific, though, referring to functions that call themselves as part of their normal running. This in turn has led to the idea of recursive definitions, that of course refer to the original word. Example: "recursion: see recursion."<br />
<br />
:I take issue with the explanation for another reason, though. True, regexes probably can't be used to check the validity of EBNFs. It's a little bit more complicated than that, though. If one has ever used a compiler-compiler like yacc (which, supposedly uses EBNF grammars or EBNF-like grammars), another tool in the Unix world comes to mind, awk. Awk is similar enough in design to a cc that it can do the job of one, and people have apparently made compilers in awk. And what does awk use for its pattern matching? Regexes. Exercise for the reader: Write an EBNF for EBNFs. :D. [[User:Tibfulv|Tibfulv]] ([[User talk:Tibfulv|talk]]) 17:49, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: If you allow recursive regexes, it *is* possible to match EBNF with a regex: http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=115494&p=3974658#p3974278 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.68.5|162.158.68.5]] 19:38, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Silly comment because: can't...stop...laughing. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])<br />
<br />
Hey... what does this line refer to? "A complication in attempting to solve computer problems this way would be presented by Google's search term autocorrection, which for several years has replaced technical terms with unrelated language from recent popular culture." I can't see how it's relevant to the comic, is it implying that these arent actually the questions he searched for, they're one autocorrection away from what he was trying to find? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:14, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: For example, Google suggests "fsck" should be "fleck" and automatically alters the results accordingly. "Fleck Chrome extension" is a reasonable search query (Fleck is a web annotation service) but "fleck" is implausible as a typo. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 00:28, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: That seems like a stretch to me... if that was the intention then there would be no joke. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:03, 11 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;autoexec joke<br />
<br />
isn't this related to autoexec.bat? [[User:Blydro|Blydro]] ([[User talk:Blydro|talk]]) 16:00, 9 May 2016 (UTC)blydro<br />
: Or...autoexec.ncf (Netware), autoexec.nt (Windows), autoexec.cfg (Source/Valve/Counterstrike) and an adult reference at Urban Dictionary. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])<br />
<br />
This isn't farfetched. In need of a server, I was recently considering using obfuscated strings in a public blog to temporarily control my own apps...and malware's been doing stuff like this for ages. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])<br />
<br />
:: I don't think a reference to "autoexec.bat" makes sense in the context of the comic... it's just a word that sounds similar (not being cheeky) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:03, 11 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Keybinding<br />
<br />
I originally interpreted "clean reinstall keybinding" as meaning that his keybindings were so entirely screwed that he wanted to do a clean reinstall of the keybinding system, but the other interpretation is funnier. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.74|108.162.219.74]] 16:24, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I interpreted this to mean that he created a keybinding that automatically performs a clean reinstall of the OS [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]]<br />
<br />
;FSCK<br />
<br />
I've only ever seen "fsck" as a way of saying "fuck" that bypasses content filters, such as in global chat in games like World of Warcraft. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 16:25, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure it's file system consistency check. It's a program for checking your Linux filesystem. I think the Joke is that he needs to check his filesystem for corruption so often that he needs the convenience of a chrome extension. I have not edited the page because I neither use chrome extensions nor have I ever run fsck. Can anyone back me up on this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.197|108.162.218.197]] 16:43, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Yes, that's what fsck refers to here. I've run it many a time on my old Red Hat installation that somehow kept corrupting itself. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 16:54, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Can some wonderful person provide an explanation for this? "This is probably a search for an interface to the Unix filesystem checker fsck via third-party software added to Chrome. Repairing a filesystem this way would be inadvisable. [citation needed]" It jokingly says "citation needed", but ironically, some sort of citation (well, explanation) really is needed... it's not obvious at all why it would be inadvisable, or what the joke actually means. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:21, 11 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I added the line "fsck is a program for checking your filesystem for corruption." based on the discussion immediately above, but an explanation for why a Chrome extension to execute this program is funny/weird would be helpful to people like me. The lines immediately after it (about Chromium etc.) seem unrelated to the joke, and only make it more confusing... if a Unix user could spell it out maybe... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:28, 11 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Predictable touchpad<br />
<br />
A predictable touchpad would actually be a major blow to internet security -- mouse events are being used to seed randomness generators for cryptography. I don't think this piece of information is suited for the explanation, but just in case someone's interested: You're welcome! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.247|141.101.91.247]] 16:26, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Just came across this:<br />
Pre-Touch Sensing for Mobile Interaction<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiZkEYLXctE<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.11|141.101.98.11]] 12:38, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Title text<br />
After the npm burndown, someone actually made it possible to require from twitter: (https://gist.github.com/rauchg/5b032c2c2166e4e36713) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.114|162.158.83.114]] 18:25, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Syntax highlighting a natlang<br />
Syntax highlighting a natural language might color the subject, verb, object, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 18:27, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Google Translate is not limited to natlangs (e.g. it has Esperanto). And I heard of some syntax highlighters for conlangs (namely Lojban). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.209|108.162.218.209]] 19:13, 9 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Permutations<br />
"[https://www.google.com/search?q=syntax+highlighting+Google+translate syntax highlighting Google translate]" gives wildly different results from "[https://www.google.com/search?q=Google+translate+syntax+highlighting Google translate syntax highlighting]". The explainxkcd article has been climbing in the results; can it displace Wikipedia or CPAN for these queries? Might there be a hidden joke related to some query in the list? [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 00:54, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: (Update: for both queries, we have displaced Wikipedia, StackOverflow, and CPAN in some Google servers.) [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 02:49, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: The first result ''was'' Google's own documentation. No more! [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 04:00, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Is it really suitable to use the word leopard instead of keyboard? Even though it's linked to the relevant comic explanation it seems likely to add unnecessary confusion and doesn't really add to this explanation. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.217|162.158.34.217]] 10:30, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: It seems cool to me as long as the explanation is clear enough that your brain expects "keyboard" even if you previously didn't know what "keybinding" meant. I added a sentence to try and make it more obvious. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:08, 11 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Isn't the clean reinstall keybinding pointless for saving time since he'd have to redo it every time he did a clean reinstall? [[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 11:34, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: I think you're assuming that keybinding is about setting up new shortcuts (which the explanation used to seem to be saying); I think the jokes actually about the keyboard being functional at all... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:08, 11 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
maybe it's just me, but does google actually do this anymore? it certainly used to. now all i get is nothing until i start typing, when i get a list of the most popular results for other people's searches. if you have to turn javascript (or something else) off to see this, maybe it should be mentioned. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.84|141.101.98.84]] 12:36, 10 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Idea for Turing-complete hardlinks: get an old UNIX that allows hardlinks to directories. With those, you can create loops in the filesystem (it's now an arbitrary directed graph, not a tree). Write an interpreter repeatedly calls link, chdir, mkdir, or rmdir based on some pattern matching on the existing names. It could terminate when it finds itself in an empty directory. Now you write programs on top of that interpreter by carefully setting up a tangle of directories and launching the interpreter at the right starting point. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.60.53|162.158.60.53]] 00:13, 11 May 2016 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=101:_Laser_Scope&diff=118459101: Laser Scope2016-04-21T20:49:38Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 101<br />
| date = May 12, 2006<br />
| title = Laser Scope<br />
| image = laser_scope.jpg<br />
| titletext = I wish I'd missed you then so I wouldn't be missing you now<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic plays on the {{w|homonym}}ic relationship between "miss" (to feel sad due to the absence of someone) and "miss" (to fail to hit – in this case, with a gunshot). "Miss your loved ones?" is a question which would generally use the former "miss". However, its use on the package for a laser scope implies the latter "miss".<br />
<br />
A sighting scope can be attached to a firearm to aid in aiming the weapon. The addition of a laser improves the accuracy of the weapon by making it easier to aim consistently. The model number RJX-21 does not appear to be a reference to anything, and this comic is primarily a play on a common marketing technique of adapting a common saying to your own product by use of homonym or {{w|homophone}}; in this case, it is perhaps an inappropriate use, as one would not be expected to be aiming a firearm at their loved ones. In real life, this would imply a serious family breakdown with extreme feelings of pain and revenge, which is actually a tragically sad story, not the normal fodder for a light-hearted joke. <br />
<br />
The title text hammers it home with the dual use of the word "miss", as the writer wishes he had missed (failed in his attempt to shoot) someone so they would not miss them (feel bad that they are not there).<br />
<br />
BUT HER AIM IS GETTIN' BETTER!<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Box with a mailing label on one side, and in the front:]<br />
:Miss your loved ones?<br />
:[Picture of a laser scope.]<br />
:YOU DON'T HAVE TO.<br />
:RJX-21 Laser Scope<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Language]]</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1655:_Doomsday_Clock&diff=1148541655: Doomsday Clock2016-03-14T04:36:06Z<p>173.245.54.46: Undo revision 114853 by 108.162.214.143 (talk) how about no</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1655<br />
| date = March 14, 2016<br />
| title = Doomsday Clock<br />
| image = doomsday_clock.png<br />
| titletext = After a power outage at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the new Digital Doomsday Clock is flashing 00:00 and mushroom clouds keep appearing and then retracting once a second.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1639:_To_Taste&diff=1130371639: To Taste2016-02-21T21:38:33Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1639<br />
| date = February 5, 2016<br />
| title = To Taste<br />
| image = to_taste.png<br />
| titletext = Look, recipe, if I knew how much was gonna taste good, I wouldn't need you.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The imprecision of {{w|recipes}} is often a source of frustration to culinary novices, especially the more analytically-minded. [[Cueball]] expects a recipe to provide instructions precise enough that by following them carefully, a cook can create a dish exactly as the recipe author intended. Unfortunately, exact replication is impossible in cooking because of the natural variation of ingredients as well as differences in equipment. In addition, most home cooks lack the tools needed to make precise measurements, such as scales and thermometers. Thus, a recipe for strawberry {{w|smoothies}} might read "add sugar '''to taste'''" because the recipe-writer can't specify precisely how ripe the strawberries are to begin with. In addition, a smoothie recipe would typically specify imprecise quantities of fruit such as "1 banana" or "1 cup of strawberries" (much less precise than specifying the weight). Thus, it is impossible for the cook to determine the correct amount of {{w|sugar}} without actually tasting the drink.<br />
<br />
The instruction "to {{w|taste}}" can also be used for ingredients that alter a simple aspect of the food's flavor, such as {{w|sweetness}}, {{w|Taste#Sourness|sourness}}, {{w|Taste#Saltiness|saltiness}} or {{w|Taste#Bitterness|bitterness}} without affecting the quality of the overall dish. Individual preferences can vary wildly and it's not possible for a recipe's author to predict how much the reader will want. Specifying any exact amount in these cases will inevitably lead to the food being too {{w|Bland diet|bland}} for some, while being too {{w|Pungency|strong}} for others.<br />
<br />
In this comic, Cueball is shown as having no idea how to cook (or having a ridiculously large sweet tooth), and the suggestion that he is going to add large crates of sugar to a small pot is of course silly. This would ruin the dish, as whatever was in the pot would be drowned out by the sugar. Alternatively, he could simply bring in enough sugar to make sure he will not run out of this particular ingredient before it reaches the correct level of sweetness for his taste. This too would display a complete lack of understanding about what it is to cook; even a beginner cook should be able to logically deduce that this is far too much sugar than he could possibly need.<br />
<br />
The title text is [[Randall|Randall's]] (and Cueball's) personal comment on what he thinks a recipe should do to fulfill his needs. If he knew how much of each ingredient would be appropriate for a given dish, then he would not need the recipe in the first place. the title text actually scolds the recipe for being imprecise. In his view, mixing in imprecise or "use your own judgment" language makes it less of a "recipe" for the dish, and thus less suitable for those looking for the specific instructions to make the dish because they either have no cooking experience, feel they don't have the expertise to make their own decisions, or simply want to follow clearly defined steps without any decision making required.<br />
<br />
This is the second comic this week that concerns one of the basic {{w|condiments}} for food, and also regards one of the five {{w|Taste#Basic_tastes|basic tastes}}. The first one, about salt, was [[1637: Salt Mine]]. Lately Randall has made several [[:Category:Food|food related comics]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is standing near a stove holding a pot just above it. He is looking away from the stove, reading the recipe from a piece of paper he is holding in the other hand.]<br />
:Recipe: ...And add sugar to taste.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball has placed the pot on the stove looking at it while holding the paper down along his side.]<br />
:Cueball: ??<br />
<br />
:[Cueball leaves the pot and stove to walks off-panel left with the recipe.] <br />
<br />
:[Cueball returns backing up to the stove with a dolly loaded with three crates labeled "SUGAR".]<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1638:_Backslashes&diff=110592Talk:1638: Backslashes2016-02-03T17:12:24Z<p>173.245.54.46: Added comment</p>
<hr />
<div>...Maybe it's meant to search for all Game Grumps transcripts which make mention of the "[http://gamegrumps.wikia.com/wiki/Grep Grep]" gag? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.55|108.162.216.55]] 15:53, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It should be noted that this also occurs in almost every programming language where "\" is the escape character. i.e.<br />
print("Hello")<br />
> Hello<br />
print("\"Hello\"")<br />
> "Hello"<br />
print("\\Hello\\")<br />
> \Hello\<br />
Oh, and by the way, isn't this the third comic to mention "Ba'al, the Soul Eater"? Maybe we should start a category. (Others are [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1246:_Pale_Blue_Dot 1246] (title text) and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1419:_On_the_Phone 1419].)<br />
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.29|173.245.54.29]] 06:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:[[:Category:Ba'al|Did that]] before seeing you comment, so yes I agree. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:47, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The last entry may also be an oblique reference to the infinitely-expandable recursive acronym "GOD = GOD Over Djinn" mentioned in Richard Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach.[[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 16:42, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;I don't think the regex is invalid<br />
<br />
According to <tt>man grep</tt> you need to specify the <tt>-E</tt> option to use extended regex; without it unescaped parentheses are not interpreted, so they don't need to match.<br />
<br />
My - very wild - guess is that it was the command he used to find the line with the most special characters, but I am not confident enough to edit the article (if someone can confirm?). {{unsigned ip|141.101.66.83}}<br />
<br />
If it was supposed to do that, it doesn't work. Running it on my bash history matches no lines, and I have lots of special characters in there [[Special:Contributions/197.234.242.243|197.234.242.243]] 07:12, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Explain it to me like I'm dumb. What is this comic going on about? I think the explanation needs more examples like that hello, above, because that's almost understandable. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.231|198.41.238.231]] 07:47, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I agree. But I cannot help either.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
This is the third time Randall has mentioned Ba'al the Soul Eater xD [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 08:26, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, that was already mentioned a few hours before you comment, see the first comment. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
After passing the regex through bash, you get <nowiki>\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$</nowiki> That is, the literal character \, followed by [ or (, followed by any number of any characters, followed by \, followed by ] or ), followed by any number of characters that aren't ) or ], until the end of the line. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.44|108.162.216.44]] 08:33, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:It sounds like you know what you are talking about. Anyone who can explain it good enough for the explanation, and correct the explanation of the title text if it is wrong to say that it would not work. I have added this as the reason for incomplete. But maybe also examples are needed for people with not programming skills/knowledge. We also enjoy xkcd ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
For fun: <br />
cat ~/.bash_history | xargs -d "\n" -n 1 -I {} bash -c 'chars="$(echo "$1" | grep -o "[a-zA-Z0-9 ]" | wc -l)"; echo "$(( 100 - $(( $chars * 100 / ${#1} )) )) $1"' _ {} | sort -nrk 1 | less<br />
<br />
Outputs your bash_history, ordered by relative gibberishness. This was copied by hand from desktop to mobile, might well have a few typos.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.208|162.158.90.208]] 10:04, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The problem in the comic is not with regexes per se but with situations when the entered text or expression passes through several interpreters, like bash -> grep/sed/awk, or program text -> external shell command. In such cases, you have to escape backslashes for each program in the sequence, and it gets worse if you have 'real' backslashes in the final text that you're processing with the utilities (Windows' file paths, for example). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_toothpick_syndrome.<br />
Feel free to lift this to the explanation page, since I'm not good at longer and more careful explanations than this one.<br />
Also, gotta notice that Feedly stripped paired backslashes in the title text (probably passed it through some 'interpreter' embedded in its scripts). [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 10:13, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:A funny comment about the MediaWiki software, which is even worse than this comic: <code><nowiki><Nikerabbit> I looked the code for rlike and didn't find where it does this. Can you point me to it? <vvv> $pattern = preg_replace( '!(\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\)*(\\\\\\\\)?/!', '$1\\/', $pattern ); <Nikerabbit> I thought that was ascii art :)</nowiki></code> ([https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/P110$275 source]) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 10:18, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Interestingly, I first looked at this on my phone (using <strike>Chrome</strike> Feedly for Android), but the title text did not display correctly in that the backslashes didn't appear (which was a little confusing!). In Chrome on my Windows desktop, the title text appeared correctly. [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 11:36, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
enough with the harry potter fancruft. "elder" is a [[Wiktionary:elder|perfectly good word]]. just because you came across it for the first time in harry potter means you are *typing carefully* the kind of person that likes harry potter. unless this is a ''harry potter reference'' wiki, of course. in which case i'll prepare a complete list of every word that appears both here and there and put a list on every page. oh, right, no i won't. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 12:41, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Remember that "Elder" is used in a lot of RPGs to denote high level enemies or items. I feel like that's what Randall's referring to here, more than Harry Potter or the general sense of the term "Elder."<br />
* +1. Between the fact that harry potter (, ages, or tribes) aren't mentioned anywhere else in the text and the comic being a progressive list, I see this being the most likely explanation. Plus the metion of demons, which are easily the most* common usage of the modifier.<br />
** (*) or second most, after "elder gods", who are, let's face it, also demons. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.125|162.158.180.125]] 14:41, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
*** I'm pretty sure that "Elder backslash" is in reference to the "Elder gods" of Lovecraft. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.35|173.245.54.35]] 16:51, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Attempting to add to the discussion: This regex is not necessarily invalid or incomprehensible. It looks like he was looking for a line with a regular expression or definitely some code. You just have to work your way through the backslashes. Although it might be invalid depending on the precise rules. He has some unescaped closing brackets and closing parenthesis. If these have to always be escaped then the regex is invalid. If however you don't have to escape a closing bracket with no opening bracket, then things are fine. I'm not familiar enough with grep's regex parser to know how it handles that edge case. Presuming those unescaped paren and brackets are fine, his regex searches for:<br />
<br />
1. A backslash<br />
<br />
2. An opening bracket<br />
<br />
3. An opening parenthesis (this is a character set but the only character in it is an opening paren)<br />
<br />
4. Any number of any characters<br />
<br />
5. A backslash<br />
<br />
6. An opening bracket<br />
<br />
7. A closing bracket<br />
<br />
8. A closing paren (presuming it doesn't have to be escaped when there is no opening paren)<br />
<br />
9. A closing bracket (presuming it doesn't have to be escaped when there is no opening bracket)<br />
<br />
10. Any number of character that are not a closing paren or closing bracket<br />
<br />
11. The end of the line<br />
<br />
<br />
Basically he is looking for a string that looks like:<br />
<br />
\[(AAAAA\[])]AAAAA<br />
<br />
Looks like a regex to me, and it looks like this regex also doesn't escape closing paren/brackets that don't have an opening paren/bracket, so I'm guessing that he knows what he is doing and his regex is fine. Maybe he was playing regex golf?<br />
[[User:Cmancone|Cmancone]] ([[User talk:Cmancone|talk]])cmancone<br />
<br />
Ninjaed by Cmancone, above. I agree with that result in every respect except for the start-of-string being potentially anything, but putting my own analysis in here because it took long enough to type!<br />
Depth-of-backslash might depend upon depth of utility. In Perl, <nowiki>''</nowiki>-quotes (among others) treat everything within as literal whilst ""-quotes (and variations) interpolates any special characters, variables, etc that you put in it. (Search for "Quote and Quote-like operators" in your favourite PerlDocs source.) '\sss' is a literal backslash followed by three 's' characters , while "\sss" is the special \s escape (a whitespace) followed by two further regular characters. You might need to define the first when you need to use it to provide a not-previously-escaped \s so that it might be escaped within another context. ''Or'' you define it as "\\sss" (escaped-\) the first time, as equivalent to '\sss'. But '\\sss' would be a literal that, later, could be interpreted as an escaped-\ to the input of a further context where the \s finally becomes 'match a whitespace'.<br />
<br />
'\\\sss' would be literal, whilst "\\\sss" could be equivalent to '\ ss' (literal backslash, literal space, rest of characters). Then, instead of literal '\\sss', for some purpose, you could interpolate two escaped-backslashes "\\\\sss"... and so on.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile I ''think'', just from visual inspection, "'''\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$'''" in Bash should obey the interpolation rules quite nicely. The first two characters must be a literal backslash (from the escaped-backslash) and a literal open-square bracket (again, escaped). The next open-square and the close-square shortly after depict a character class that contains only an open-parenthesis, and could have been written as '''\('''.<br />
<br />
The '''.*''' indicates zero-or-more (the asterix) instances of ''any'' character (the dot). There is then a literal backslash (from the next '''\\''' duo) and a literal open-square (the '''\[''' pair) and close-square (the '''\]''' pair). The ''')''' is literal and does not need escaping (as a parenthesis group had not yet been opened), as is the next ''']''' character. To be sure, I would have written these two as the pair escapes '''\)\]''', but horses for courses...<br />
<br />
Then there's another character class (the next '''[''' and the final ''']''') required zero-or-more times (the asterix) to use up all the rest of the characters to the end (the ending '''$''' character). As there was no '''^''' character (a.k.a. caret/circumflex/etc) at the start, the match isn't bothered about what unmatched characters appear before the original '''\('''. This character class, however, starts with a '''^''' which in this context (the very first character of a character-class definition, not somewhere where an entire match-string starts) indicates negation of the following selection, so it is all characters ''but'' those specified, which is the regular close-parenthesis and (because it needs to be contained within a '''[]''' pair) the escaped close-square.<br />
<br />
So, all matching strings must start with '''\[(''', i.e. the backslash, open-square and open-paren. They can continue with ''any'' further text, before then having a '''\[])]''', i.e. backslash, open-and-close-squares and close-paren, close-square. After this, the match continues just as long as there are no non-closing square/classic brackets before the ending.<br />
<br />
The minimum matching literal string would be '''\[(\[])]''' with longer variants being of the form '''X\[(Y\[])]Z''' where X and Y can be replaced by anything (or be absent), and Z can be replaced by anything (or absent!) ''so long as it doesn't contain possibly relevent close-brackets!''. The latter stipulation is likely because the Y (and X) ''is'' allowed to contain these characters, and for some reason you don't want to confuse the test by finding some other '''\[])]''' segment within the X/Y-zones. (In this context, it doesn't actually seem to matter too much. But it might do in ways I haven't spotted or just be a hang-over from a prior permutation of the test.)<br />
<br />
The "grep -o" function is working on the output to the file being '''cat'''ed (there are alternate ways of doing this that some people might prefer), to only accept the lines in the file that match the '''X\[(Y\[])]Z''' string. These lines would appear to be lines of out.txt (a fairly generic name that reveals little to its original purpose) that are well-formed for some other purpose. A safety-escaped (i.e. not to be taken literally by any simple parser) '''[]'''-grouping containing a '''()'''-group (''not'' escaped, perhaps reasonably in context) containing potentially random text followed by an empty '''[]''' pair (again, safety-escaped). Depending on the source, the empty '''[]'''-pair could mean many things, as with the other layers. And the lines may end with any further text.<br />
<br />
The "out.txt" file might be the result of a prior Grep (string-search function) quote possibly scanning code for lines of particular importance by another pattern and dumping the results to out.txt for further perusal. And then Randall finds the need to dig further into the first result by extracting just those already selected that all have the '''X\[(Y\[])Z]'''-ish pattern to them.<br />
<br />
But I could be wrong, and that's way too long for an official explanation.<br />
(Perhaps just something like the penultimate paragraph, if we're not entirely mistaken?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.89|162.158.152.89]] 14:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The regex is supposed to be looking for:<br />
\\\ backslash<br />
[[(] [ or (<br />
.* any character (repeated 0 or more times)<br />
space space<br />
\\\ backslash<br />
[[\])] probably meant to match either [, ] or ). However, it's not correct, it instead matches the literal characters [)]<br />
[^)\]]* probably meant to match any character that isn't ) or ], repeated. Instead it means one character that's not a ), and then a ] zero or more times<br />
$ end of string<br />
<br />
The first problem is that you're not supposed to escape ] in a [...], and it also has to be first in the grouping (unless negated with a ^) It should be [][)] or something similar.<br />
The second problem is the same. The last bit should be [^])]*$ and not [^)\]]*$. [[User:Khris|Khris]] ([[User talk:Khris|talk]]) 14:24, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
I was reading through the regex, if using grep you run into an error with an unmatched ")". Removing this gets a string such as \[(AAAAA\[]]AAAAA$ http://regexr.com/3cng8 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.230|162.158.214.230]] 14:42, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The regex relies on several special cases (*surprise*).<br />
First: bash double-quote expansion (see [https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Double-Quotes.html#Double-Quotes]). Perhaps non-intuitively, \\\ followed by a character that \ doesn't escape is an escaped backslash followed by a literal backslash, effectively the same as \\\\ followed by that same non-escaped character. After bash double-quote expansion, this results in:<br />
<br />
\\[[(].*\\[\])][^)\]]*$<br />
<br />
<br />
grep interprets this as:<br />
<br />
# any leading non-\ characters<br />
# literal backslash<br />
# character class containing [ and (<br />
# zero or more *any* characters<br />
# another literal backslash<br />
# yet another literal backslash, via a character class containing only a backslash. Note this does not contain an escaped ], as it might appear at first glance. See [http://www.gnu.org/software/grep/manual/html_node/Character-Classes-and-Bracket-Expressions.html]<br />
# literal )<br />
# literal ]<br />
# character class of anything except ), \<br />
# zero or more ]<br />
# end of line<br />
<br />
Matching examples:<br />
*echo 'asdf\[asdfasdf\\)]a]]]]]]' | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"<br />
*echo '\(\\)]P' | grep -o "\\\[[(].*\\\[\])][^)\]]*$"<br />
<br />
<br />
One key thing to understand is that \ is not a special character when it's in a bracket expression - you can't escape characters in bracket expressions. So [^)\] simply means any character other then ) or \. Also, ( and ) are just regular characters unless they are escaped in basic regular expressions - extended regular expressions reverse this rule.<br />
----<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.34|108.162.216.34]] 16:14, 3 February 2016 (UTC)rb<br />
<br />
I don't know about the regular expression in the title text, but I think the explanation is incorrect in that it starts off talking about regular expressions. Escaping backslashes is an issue with strings in programming in general. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 17:12, 3 February 2016 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1637:_Salt_Mine&diff=110573Talk:1637: Salt Mine2016-02-03T15:32:34Z<p>173.245.54.46: Title text observation</p>
<hr />
<div>I don't think that the exotic restaurants relate, here. As well, I think that Ponytail says "Yes, that is definitely why" because she is saying "Yes, we definitely built the detector here to block out cosmic rays, and definitely *not* to eat the delicious salt." You know what I mean? Thoughts? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.21|173.245.54.21]] 06:46, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
: I agree. The comment about restaurants only adds to the potential confusion around the comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.59|108.162.216.59]] 08:05, 1 February 2016 (UTC)BK201<br />
::I have removed it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.76|108.162.238.76]] 00:45, 2 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
The science facility in a salt mine made me think of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_2 Portal 2]. Now i'm wondering if the IMB served as an inspiration for Portal 2. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.25|141.101.104.25]] 08:36, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"The title text is intended to be absurd, and thus humorous." GLaDOS, is that you? (I can't help. As I read this sentence I imagined it spoken by GLaDOS...) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:49, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Could the salt eating be a reference to TOS: The Man Trap? {{unsigned ip|162.158.90.159}}<br />
<br />
: Yes, definitely. I came here looking for the name is the episode; it really does seem like the scientists are (or are under the control of) salt-eating creatures masquerading as mere scientists. In fact, the hover text corroborates with that interpretation: "this one" could be a particle - "this particle is a little bland. Pass the saltshaker?" - a creature that eats this much salt could also eat cosmic rays... ~~ {{unsigned ip|188.114.97.127}}<br />
<br />
Maybe "salt" should taste somewhat appropriate about flavor of subatomic particles and randomness (cryptography) too. [[Rotten Brain]] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.221|162.158.150.221]] 14:35, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Even assuming that's 'low grade' rock-salt, mostly inert rock, the intake would probably exceed the regulatory advice (6g/day over here, I think, but I'd have to look it up to be sure - and that's mostly used up/exceeded with the ''hidden'' salt in prepared meals!). I think that's because of the danger of the sodium excess (hence sodium-free salts, sometimes called "salt-free salt" as it has a different formula to NaCl, sold as being a healthier option). But raw salt ingestion like this would (assuming it doesn't already overload the tastebuds, perhaps because of an extremely over-riding craving?) likely also create problems of extreme and ''active'' dehydration... i.e. like being mummified from the inside-out.<br />
<br />
I do know that there ''are'' cravings for minerals (coal, clays, chalk, etc), which can be life-long habits without too many apparent ill effects (perhaps tooth-wearing, primarily) - if not just a strange reaction to pregnancy. If anyone knows of a similarly extreme salt-craving, though, it would probably be worth linking it in so I'm not left thinking that it's a typical "taken to extremes" XKCD comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.89|162.158.152.89]] 16:42, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The lines about salt at the end of the explanation ("This explanation should be taken with a grain of salt. This comic should be taken with a grain of salt. Salt.") are the best part, not only of the explainer page but of this comic. The only time I laughed, and I laughed aloud. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.227|162.158.252.227]] 17:40, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
When I was a child, I would sneak rock salt crystals from the bags used for the water softener and eat them. They tasted *really* good. To me, this comic is calling out that childish desire to eat rock salt, because boy is it tasty. Nothing more. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.203|108.162.214.203]] 18:31, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I am still very confused by this strip. Why was it necessary to build a particle detector to gain access to the delicious salt? And why does the first speaker assume it was to 'block' cosmic rays? The current explanation says "as is the case with the real life IMB", but surely particle detectors do not block cosmic rays, they detect them. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.149|162.158.152.149]] 20:03, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:The IMB was not build to look for cosmic rays, but for local proton decay. The cosmic rays would be a disturbance and was wished to be avoided. I have tried to make it clearer in the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:49, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prehistory_of_The_Far_Side#Part_4:_Stimulus.E2.80.93Response Cow Tools] of xkcd? - [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.5|199.27.129.5]] 20:33, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
--<br><br />
I like the comment [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] made when changing what I wrote about neutrinos: <br />
:"Neutrinos do not pass through EVERYTHING otherwise they could not be detected." <br />
True they can be stopped individually, but hey it takes about a light year of lead to get the chance of a neutrino being stopped up to 50%... So I would say yes they pass through everything, but once in a blue moon one of them may be stopped (and detected if hitting one of our few detectors that can detect neutrinos). It was 8 neutrinos detected out of the roughly 10<sup>58</sup> neutrinos emitted by the supernova... Or as Randall wrote in his What if [https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/ Lethal Neutrinos]: <br />
:Neutrinos are ghostly particles that barely interact with the world at all. Look at your hand—there are about a trillion neutrinos from the Sun passing through it every second. [Night and day since the Earth rarely stops any of them]. <br />
In the first foot note [1] he also writes: <br />
:Statistically, my first neutrino interaction probably happened somewhere around age 10. [By that time 315,360,000,000,000,000,000,000 neutrinos would have passed through his hand, I guess multiplying with the number of hands areas of your body will not really matter...] :-)<br />
So true there will be some neutrinos that react making my statement that they pass through everything completely wrong :-p --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:12, 1 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br>--<br />
<br />
Is it only me who thinks that they are seasoning the exotic particles from the reactor with the salt, then eating them?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.155|162.158.152.155]] 10:31, 2 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have a small theory explaining why Cueball and Megan are eating salt. This comics remind me of an old The Outer Limits episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Within_(The_Outer_Limits) . Basically its plot is quite similar to The Invasion of The Body Snatchers except the aliens are eating salt. This explanation is not very probable since this is a very specific episode of an old and not very popular anymore serie, but I thought it could be useful to mention it. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.113}}<br />
<br />
:There is also one salt-eating creature in Star Trek, aired 30 years earlier: [http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/M-113_creature] ... already mentioned in comments ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:50, 3 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The comic title "Salt Mine" can also be taken as a command, as in "please apply seasoning to the one that belongs to me." I suspect that the title text is referencing this play on words. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 15:32, 3 February 2016 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1607:_Supreme_Court&diff=1054901607: Supreme Court2015-11-23T06:28:43Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */ There actually were 10 justices from 1863 to 1866.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1607<br />
| date = November 23, 2015<br />
| title = Supreme Court<br />
| image = supreme_court.png<br />
| titletext = Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy called the man's arguments that he could be either Alito or Ginsburg "surprisingly compelling, but ultimately unconvincing."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Most rudimentary possible explanation, along with transcript. Not sure who the person is, though.}}<br />
<br />
The {{w|Supreme Court of the United States}} is the highest judiciary body in the United States. Its decisions, along with the opinions of its justices, are often in the news, as in the case here. However, the Supreme Court has only nine members. Thus, a ruling that passed 9-1 would indicate that an additional justice sneaked in to the court. The other nine justices know that, and make it clear that this tenth justice does not belong. Or at least he doesn't belong today. While the size of the Supreme Court has been nine justices since 1869, from 1863 to 1866, there were ten justices on the Supreme Court.<br />
<br />
The identity of this person is not known either to the reader or to the actual justices, and neither is the reason that their "vote" was counted. Justice Kennedy is known for being a moderate who is usually the swing vote in 5-4 decisions, which means that his vote can decide the outcome of the case. The joke in the alt text is that he is weighing the arguments of both sides even though the non-justice is clearly not a justice and would not be allowed to make an argument if he were. The fictional Kennedy is committing the Golden Mean Fallacy, last seen in [[Semicontrolled Demolition]], and makes the same jab at that fallacy. Sometimes, the views of the two sides are mutually exclusive, or the other side is just wrong. There is also a second joke in the alt text, that the man is claiming to be Justice Ginsburg, who is female.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A newscaster is sitting at her desk with a small image of scales to the side representing the justice system]<br />
:Newscaster: Breaking news: The Supreme Court has ruled 9-1 that they don't know who this guy is or how he got in here, but he's definitely ''not'' a justice.<br />
:Alt text: Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy called the man's arguments that he could be either Alito or Ginsburg "surprisingly compelling, but ultimately unconvincing<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1572:_xkcd_Survey&diff=1049381572: xkcd Survey2015-11-12T07:30:45Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1572<br />
| date = September 2, 2015<br />
| title = xkcd Survey<br />
| image = xkcd_survey.png<br />
| titletext = The xkcd Survey: Big Data for a Big Planet<br />
}}<br />
*The comic links to [http://goo.gl/forms/B5RaBeZ6nw The xkcd survey] on Google.<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
As the comic image states, it links to a survey created with [https://www.google.com/forms/about/ Google Forms], containing a series of questions. The questions range from mundane typical survey questions such as “Do you have any food allergies?”, to rather strange, such as “Fill this text box with random letters by randomly mashing keys on your keyboard.” (See [[1530: Keyboard Mash]]).<br />
<br />
The stated goal of the survey is to “create an interesting and unusual data set for people to play with”. A strange data set is a ripe opportunity for a sampling of readers. It's also supposed to be “a search for weird correlations” – presumably the goal is to be able to say things like “people who have been skydiving are (more/less) likely than average to dislike cilantro”. (See also [[882: Significant]] about finding presumably-spurious correlations between unrelated data.)<br />
<br />
This explanation will undoubtedly expand when the data comes in.<br />
<br />
{{w|Image_map#Client-side_image_map|HTML image maps}} is a technique for marking up areas of an image on a web page, such that each area can be a link without the whole image being a link. [[Randall]] could have used this type of image map to make only the “Click here to take the survey” button be a link, and none of the rest of the image. But he cannot get the hang of it (or knowing his skills, does not wish to take the time to learn it). Not getting the hang of HTML image maps was also referenced on [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/tour-news.png the banner for his book tour] from [http://web.archive.org/web/20140901023821/http://xkcd.com/ September 2014]<br />
<br />
The title text is a joke off of {{w|Big Data}}, which is a name for analysis of a set of data that includes a huge amount of information. He also says "for a big planet" because the Earth is big.{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
The survey is closed, and the questions replaced with the text: "The xkcd survey is now closed. Thank you for all your answers! Response data is being collected and will be posted soon." As of 12 November 2015, the same caption is still there, with no indication of exactly how soon the data is intended to be posted.<br />
<br />
==The Survey==<br />
The Survey started off with the following statement:<br />
<br />
<nowiki>This is an anonymous survey. After it's done, a database of everyone's responses will be posted.<br />
There's no specific reason for any of the questions. The goal is to create an interesting and unusual data set for people to play with. This is obviously not going to be a real random sample of people, but in the interest of getting cooler data, if you're sharing this with friends, try sending it to some people who wouldn't normally see this kind of thing!<br />
<br />
WARNING: This survey is anonymous, but your answers WILL BE MADE PUBLIC. Depending what you write, it's possible that someone may be able to identify you by looking at your responses. None of these questions should ask about anything too private, but don't write anything that you don't want people to see. If you're not comfortable answering a question, just skip it.</nowiki><br />
<br />
'''Note:''' The order of the possible answers (the list of possibilities) was random, and changed every time the page is reloaded. So do not try to fix the order here below...<br />
<br />
===Plane===<br />
*Have you ever been in a plane?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Skydiving===<br />
*Have you ever been {{w|Parachuting|skydiving}}?<br />
**No, but I might someday<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===The Dress===<br />
*When you first saw {{w|The dress (viral phenomenon)|The Dress}}, what color was it? — (Also see [[1492: Dress Color]] and the [[Blag]] ENTRY [http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/ Color Survey Results]).<br />
**White and gold<br />
**A color combination not listed here<br />
**I don't remember<br />
**Blue and black<br />
**What dress?<br />
<br />
===Popular food===<br />
*What's a really popular food that you don't like?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Floaters===<br />
*When you look at a blue sky, do you see those swirly {{w|floater|floaters}} in your vision?<br />
**Yes, constantly<br />
**I'm not sure what things you mean<br />
**Yes, occasionally<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Running out of gas===<br />
*Have you ever had a car run out of gas while you were driving it?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Animals===<br />
*Name the first five animals you can think of<br />
**''Multi line text box''<br />
<br />
===Weather===<br />
*What's the weather like where you are right now?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Activities===<br />
*Which of these can you do reasonably well?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**{{w|slam dunk|Dunk}} a basketball &mdash; A "slam dunk" or simply "dunk" is the act of jumping up and putting the ball through the net with a lot of force<br />
**Tie a {{w|sheet bend}} or {{w|bowline}} &mdash; A sheet bend is a knot that joins two ropes together; A bowline is a knot used to form a fixed loop at the end of a rope<br />
**Roller skate<br />
**[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/high-heel-race/ Run in high heels]<br />
**Drive a stick shift — See {{w|Manual transmission}} of a car<br />
**Solve a {{w|Rubik's cube}}<br />
**Dive headfirst off a diving board &mdash; See {{w|Springboard}} and {{w|Diving platform}}<br />
**Ice skate<br />
**{{w|Skateboarding|Skateboard}}<br />
**Walk on {{w|stilts}} — Stilts are poles, posts or pillars used to allow a person to walk at a height above the ground<br />
**Ski<br />
**Cut vegetables with a knife<br />
**Swim<br />
**Ride a horse<br />
**{{w|Unicycle}}<br />
**Change the oil on a car<br />
**Do a back {{w|Handspring (gymnastics)|handspring}} &mdash; A handspring is an exercise in gymnastics in which you jump through the air landing on your hands, then again landing on your feet<br />
**Juggle — {{w|Toss juggling}} (the most recognizable form of juggling) consists in throwing objects into the air and catching them.<br />
<br />
===Spelling===<br />
*What word can you never seem to spell on the first try?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Condiments===<br />
*Do you eat {{w|condiments}} directly out of the fridge as a snack?<br />
**No <br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Thermostat===<br />
*When you adjust a thermostat that was set by someone else, it's usually because you want the room to be...<br />
**Cooler<br />
**Warmer<br />
<br />
===Clothing===<br />
*What color is the shirt/dress/upper-body-clothing you're wearing right now, if any?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Colds===<br />
*Do you get {{w|Common cold|colds}} often?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Number===<br />
*Pick a number from 1 to 100<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Spelling===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 10, how good at spelling are you? (Note that the question does not specify which end of the scale is good or bad.)<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 10.''<br />
<br />
===Myers-Briggs===<br />
*Do you know your {{w|Myers–Briggs_Type_Indicator|Myers-Briggs type}}?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Astrology===<br />
*Do you know your {{w|astrological sign}}?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Siblings===<br />
*How many older siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
*How many younger siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
*How many twin/etc siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Sleepiness===<br />
*Do you feel sleepy a lot?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Movie star===<br />
*Name a movie star<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Time in sun===<br />
*Do you spend a lot of time in the sun?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Broccoli===<br />
*Does {{w|broccoli}} taste bitter to you?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**I've never had it<br />
<br />
===Wakefulness===<br />
*Do you regularly stay awake much later than you meant to?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Keyboard mashing===<br />
*Fill this text box with gibberish by mashing random keyboard keys (See [[1530: Keyboard Mash]]).<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Driving===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is terrible and 3 is average, how good a driver do you think you are?<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 5.''<br />
<br />
===Allergies===<br />
*Do you have any food allergies?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes <br />
<br />
===Thunder===<br />
*Have you heard thunder or seen lightning in the past year? — (The title-text of [[831: Weather Radar]] mentions the belief that thunderstorms seemed more common when one was a kid. Since the survey also asks for age this question is likely a test of that belief.)<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Flavor preference===<br />
*Which do you prefer? (It seems to be missing the ''neither'' option...)<br />
**Chocolate<br />
**Vanilla<br />
<br />
===Number (reprise)===<br />
*Pick another number from 1 to 100 (Supposedly is should not be the same as in the first pick a number box).<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Internet===<br />
*When you think about stuff on the internet, where do you picture it being physically located? Even if you know it's not really how things work, is there a place you imagine websites and social media posts sitting before you look at them? If so, where is it?<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Roll tongue===<br />
*Can you {{w|Tongue rolling|roll your tongue}}?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**What?<br />
<br />
===Toes===<br />
*Can you pick things up with your toes?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Age===<br />
*How old are you?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Walls===<br />
*What color are the walls around you right now?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Cell phone===<br />
*What kind of cell phone do you have?<br />
**{{w|iPhone}}<br />
**{{w|Android (operating system)|Android}}<br />
**Other smartphone<br />
**Non-smartphone<br />
**I don't have a cell phone<br />
<br />
===Eating===<br />
*What's the last thing you ate?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Difficult words===<br />
*Which of these words do you know the meaning of?<br />
*Some of these words don’t appear in any of the following dictionaries: the Oxford English Dictionary, the New Oxford American Dictionary, Wiktionary, or Dictionary.com. These words were probably made up by Randall. Perhaps the goal is to make people feel like they have a weak vocabulary because they don’t know many of the words, until they try look up the meanings and realize they have been tricked.<br />
*More likely, the inclusion of fictitious words is a validity check. Hidden tests of the validity of responses is a part of good questionnaire design. For example, long lists of questions with "Agree-Disagree" responses will often have one or more items which are "reverse-coded" (phrased in a direction opposite to the rest of the questions): if a respondent provides a response which contradicts the pattern presented by the rest of the responses, this casts doubt on the validity of the other responses - suggesting that the respondent is not actually reading the questions properly. In the instance of Randall's survey, claiming to know the meaning of fictitious words would cast doubt on the respondent's claims of a knowing the meaning of the other words in the list.<br />
*In addition, these false claims by respondents may themselves then be used as a source of data: for example, an analysis of the data could find that males (and/or skydivers) are more likely than females to over-represent their actual level of knowledge.<br />
*[http://dictionary.reference.com/ Dictionary.com] has an index of difficulty (measured in pixels, with class name <code>difficulty-indicator</code>). We add it at the right of the words that have it. N/A means that a word isn't present in Dictionary.com, or that it doesn't have an index.<br />
**Slickle – Not in any standard dictionary. However, it [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Slickle is in] the crowd-sourced in Urban Dictionary, as well as a suggested planet name in [[1253: Exoplanet Names]]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rife Rife] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rife 117]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/soliloquy Soliloquy] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soliloquy 150]<br />
**Fination – not in any dictionary. Appears infrequently in Victorian texts (e.g., [http://books.google.com/books?id=ghNOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA245&dq=Fination 1889], [http://books.google.com/books?id=nwlCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA214&dq=Fination 1839])<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stipple Stipple] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stipple 144]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peristeronic Peristeronic] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peristeronic N/A]. Randall used it and defined it for readers in [[798: Adjectives]].<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/modicum Modicum] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/modicum 120]<br />
**Trephony – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete spelling of "{{w|Trephine}}" (especially when used as a verb for the process of {{w|Trepanning|trephination}}). Initially a transliteration of Greek [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=tru/panon τρυπάω] for the same.<br />
**Tribution – A regular construction from [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tribute#Verb Tribute (verb)] using "-tion" to transform into a noun. Using this regular formation, the term would mean the act of tribute, but no examples of actual use are available. It is worth noting that the use of "tribute" as a verb is generally considered obsolete and the few forms that persist in use relate primarily to the tributary and distibutary river systems<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/phoropter Phoropter] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phoropter N/A] 1.An instrument used in eye examinations to determine an individual's prescription, the patient looking through various lenses at a chart on the other side.<br />
**Unitory – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete spelling of "Unitary," chiefly British. While long obsolete in normal usage, it persisted longer in mathematics that it did elsewhere (particularly for "Unitory Method" and "Unitory Matrixes"). Example of use: [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wl1BAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA27&lpg=RA5-PA27&dq=unitory+method&source=bl&ots=rfRKJXAJqV&sig=Wsr_gV7xG6Airah9Lx1M0hi-7Zc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBmoVChMInd_R9qTbxwIVChU-Ch36IAh_#v=onepage&q=unitory%20method&f=false (1)]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amiable Amiable] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amiable 123]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/salient Salient] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/salient 69]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/regolith Regolith] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/regolith 162]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lithe Lithe] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lithe 105]<br />
**Revergent – technical word from {{w|fern}} biology, referring to the edges of fern leaves which curl back on themselves (see [http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00985044 Schölch, 2000])<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hubris Hubris] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hubris 117]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fleek Fleek] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fleek N/A]<br />
**Cadine – A rare loan-word for [https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cadine a sultan's wife or a noble ottoman woman] which comes to English through the French. Examples of Use: [https://books.google.com/books?id=4yz-Y-_OOO0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=cadine&f=false (1)]. Also the name of an [https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadine italian city]. <br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apricity Apricity] – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete word for the sun's heat in winter (e.g., [http://books.google.com/books?id=CFBGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT76&dq=apricity Bailey 1775]). According to the What If? book (page 80), this is Randall's single favourite word in the English language.<br />
<br />
===cat===<br />
*Please type "cat" here: <br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Dreams===<br />
*Do you usually remember your dreams?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Text editors===<br />
*Do you have strong opinions about text editors? (See {{w|Editor war}})<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Emoji===<br />
*How do you feel about {{w|emoji}}?<br />
**Negative 😠 (Unicode 1f620 - Angry face)<br />
**Positive 😊 (Unicode 263a - Smiling face)<br />
**Neutral 😐 (Unicode 1F610 - Neutral face)<br />
<br />
===Snow===<br />
*Does it ever snow where you live?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Taste of food===<br />
*Do you strongly dislike the taste or texture of any of these things?<br />
**Eggs<br />
**Chocolate ice cream<br />
**Beer<br />
**White wine<br />
**{{w|Carbonation}} (or Fizz)<br />
**Red wine<br />
**{{w|Cilantro}}<br />
**Coffee<br />
**Tomatoes<br />
**Yogurt<br />
<br />
===Beverages===<br />
*Which of these do you regularly drink?<br />
**Caffeinated soda (e.g. Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper)<br />
**Noncaffeinated soda<br />
**Coffee<br />
**Fruit juice<br />
**Milk<br />
**Beer<br />
**Wine<br />
**Tea<br />
**{{w|Maple syrup}}<br />
**Water<br />
<br />
===Random words===<br />
*Type five random words<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Flying===<br />
*Are you nervous about flying?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**A little<br />
<br />
===Favorite number===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 5, which number is your favorite?<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 5.''<br />
<br />
===Sandwich===<br />
*Which of these would you consider a {{w|sandwich}}?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**{{w|Taco}}<br />
**{{w|Quesadilla}}<br />
**{{w|Submarine sandwich|Sub/Hoagie}}<br />
**{{w|Cheesesteak}}<br />
**{{w|Hamburger}}<br />
**{{w|Open-faced sandwich}}<br />
**{{w|Calzone}}<br />
<br />
===Animal affinity===<br />
*Which of these describes you?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**Dog person<br />
**Cat person<br />
**Half-cat half-person<br />
**Part of a subterranean race of dog people<br />
**Literally named "Catherine Person"<br />
<br />
===Sense of direction===<br />
*Would you say you have a good sense of direction?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Socks or underwear===<br />
*Have you ever thrown out all your different pairs of socks/underwear, bought a bunch of replacements that were all one kind, and then told all your friends how great it was and how they should do it too?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**I did the throwing out thing, but didn't talk to everyone about it<br />
**No, but I'm totally doing that now<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A simple comic with text only. The ''click here'' part is inside a black frame.]<br />
:Introducing <br />
:'''The xkcd Survey'''<br />
:A search for weird correlations<br />
:Note: This survey is anonymous, but<br />
:<font color="red"> all responses will be posted publicly </font><br />
:so people can play with the data.<br />
:'''Click here to'''<br />
:'''take the survey'''<br />
:Or click here, or here.<br />
:The whole comic is a link,<br />
:because I still haven't gotten<br />
:the hang of HTML imagemaps.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1593:_Play-By-Play&diff=1038151593: Play-By-Play2015-10-22T20:07:57Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation -- the previous explanation of the the baseball jargon was wrong. The pitcher was skill thus throwing very well , not wild */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1593<br />
| date = October 21, 2015<br />
| title = Play-By-Play<br />
| image = play_by_play.png<br />
| titletext = The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Beret Guy]] comments on a {{w|Baseball|baseball}} game using improper terminology in a way that demonstrates that he does not understand how the game is played. Moreover, his naïve way of speaking reveals that he is not aware of his lack of knowledge and does not consider it possible that, as is probably the case, his audience is much more familiar with this sport and its rules. His unworldly way of talking makes one even wonder if he has any notion of the way people experience sports at all.<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
!width="20%"|Spoken Text<br />
!width="20%"| "Translation"<br />
!width="60%"| Explanation<br />
|-<br />
|"We're on part 5 of a hitting game."<br />
|"We're in the 5th inning of a baseball game."<br />
|Part of baseball is hitting the ball with the {{w|Baseball bat|bat}}. A baseball game is divided into rounds, called {{w|Inning|innings}} with each team getting a chance to bat.<br />
|-<br />
|"The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far."<br />
|"The batter up has a baseball bat, so he might hit the ball a normal distance."<br />
|Every hitter uses a bat that fits his physique, within certain {{w|Baseball_bat#Baseball_bat_regulations|limits}}. These limits are to mostly ensure that carrying a larger bat does not automatically mean successfully batting the ball further.<br />
|-<br />
|"Wait - he missed!" "Oh good, they're letting him try again."<br />
|"Swing and a miss." "Here comes the second pitch..."<br />
|The {{w|Pitcher|pitcher}} tries to throw (or pitch) the ball in such a way as to make it hard for the hitter to hit the ball, but still have the ball go through the {{w|Strike zone|strike zone}}. A swing and a miss is counted as a strike, regardless of whether the ball passes the strike zone; so is a pitch that goes through the strike zone but is not swung at, as is swinging and getting a foul (which is when the ball is hit but goes in the wrong direction) if the hitter has not accumulated two strikes already. A hitter is out upon accumulating three strikes (a {{w|Strikeout|strikeout}}). In this case, the hitter swung at and missed the first pitch, and so has one strike but not a strikeout, so the hitter is allowed to "try again".<br />
|-<br />
|"The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them. Wow. Rude."<br />
|"The fans in the bleachers are heckling the batter, but he's keeping his focus on the game."<br />
|Cheering and heckling is so commonplace that the players on the field are unlikely to react to it. While most would think the cheering and heckling to be rude, Beret Guy is amazed at how rude it is of the batter to ignore those who are obviously just trying to talk to him. "Chair shelves" refers to {{w|bleacher}}s.<br />
|-<br />
|"This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them."<br />
|"The pitcher's aim is great. Batters keep getting struck out because they are swinging and missing the ball."<br />
|The pitcher strikes out every hitter, who then has to leave the batting area and gets replaced by another hitter (until three outs after which the teams switch sides). Or, he keeps {{w|Base on Balls|walking}} hitters, making them leave the batting area and go to first base. That the thrower is throwing at the batter is the only thing in Beret Guy's commentary that eliminates {{w|Pesäpallo|pesäpallo}}, a Finnish ball and bat game from being the game Beret Guy is observing.<br />
|-<br />
|"It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in."<br />
|"There are so few hits in this game that only the pitcher needs to throw. None of the fielders need to do anything".<br />
|The other players of the team do not pitch, they wait until the batter successfully hits the ball into the field.<br />
|-<br />
|"That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!"<br />
|"The batter stole second base."<br />
|Any {{w|Baserunning|baserunner}} (a player standing at a {{w|Baseball field|base}} waiting to run to the next base) can attempt to run to the next base when the pitcher is delivering a pitch (called {{w|Stolen base|stealing a base}}). The pitcher can throw the ball to a defense player to {{w|Tag out|tag out}} the runner before he reaches the next base. Thus, an attempt to steal a base is most successful if no one notices. That the players are running to "pillows" instead of posts eliminates {{w|Rounders|rounders}} from being the game being observed.<br />
<br />
The "second pillow" implies that the runner in question stole second base, which is the {{w|Stolen base#Plays involving baserunning|most commonly stolen base}}. However, someone who knows little to nothing about baseball, such as Beret Guy in this case, would not likely be aware which bases are considered "first", "second", and "third", since the bases are not laid out linearly.<br />
|-<br />
|"Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that."<br />
|"The fans are yelling..."<br />
|Successfully stealing a base, an infrequent event, usually receives a lot of cheers, especially if the offensive team is the home team. This may be a reference to [[1552: Rulebook]].<br />
|-<br />
|Title text: "The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail."<br />
|"The batters were getting too many hits, to the manager took the pitcher out of the game and sent in a reliever from the bullpen."<br />
|A pitcher throwing pitches that get hit too often is undesirable, and will be substituted by a {{w|Relief pitcher|relief pitcher}} who will come out of the {{w|Bullpen|bullpen}} (the area next to the playing field where relief pitchers warm up; the "thrower jail") to join the game. Substitution decisions are made by the manager of the team (the "king of the game", though this name wrongfully suggests that one "king" controls both teams, possibly because Beret Guy has not seen the other team's manager do anything of note, and so does not realize there is another manager).<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Beret guy is sitting with headphones with a microphone on, looking out of the frame, hands resting on a table.]<br />
:Beret Guy: For those just joining us, hi! We're on part 5 of a hitting game.<br />
<br />
:[Zoom out with Beret guy shown from the side sitting at a desk.]<br />
:Beret Guy: The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far.<br />
:Beret Guy: Wait - he missed!<br />
:Beret Guy: Oh good, they're letting him try again.<br />
<br />
:[Zoom in again on Beret Guy still seen from the side.]<br />
:Beret Guy: The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them. Wow.<br />
:Beret Guy: Rude.<br />
<br />
:[Beret guy looks straight out.]<br />
:Beret Guy: This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them.<br />
:Beret Guy: It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in.<br />
<br />
:[Beret guy turns his head to the side.]<br />
:Beret Guy: ''That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!''<br />
:Beret Guy: Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that.<br />
:Beret Guy: Yikes. Hopefully they can fix that once this game is over.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Baseball]]</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=345:_1337:_Part_5&diff=69406345: 1337: Part 52014-06-12T14:05:04Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */ Better explaining blogosphere, tag cloud, and BitTorrent</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 345<br />
| date = November 16, 2007<br />
| title = 1337: Part 5<br />
| image = 1337_part_5.png<br />
| titletext = This digital music thing will probably reach its endgame sometime in the next decade or so. These are very exciting times.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
{{w|Richard Stallman}} is the ardent defender of freedom and believer in {{w|copyleft}}, he also founded the {{w|GNU Project}}. (He is not really a swordfighter.)<br />
<br />
{{w|Cory Doctorow}} is a blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the weblog {{w|Boing Boing}}. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the {{w|Creative Commons}} organization. He does not really travel around in a balloon or (usually) wear a red cape, but Randall introduced this idea in [[239: Blagofaire]] and has continued it in later [[:Category:Comics_featuring_Cory_Doctorow|comics featuring Cory Doctorow]].<br />
<br />
{{w|Blogosphere}} is a name used to refer to all blogs on the Internet, many of which frequently link to and refer to other blogs. Here, the Stallman character talks about it as though it were a physical, sphere-shaped structure being actually built in the air. <br />
<br />
Blogs often label posts with keywords, known as tags. A {{w|Tag cloud}} is a way of displaying the tags on a site where the more common tags appear in larger type than less-common ones. It has no relationship to actual water vapor clouds in the sky, but in the comic, the Doctorow character suggests that tag clouds are actually in the air, below the new blogosphere.<br />
<br />
The {{w|Dread Pirate Roberts}} is a fictional character from the book and movie {{w|The Princess Bride}}. Roberts is the most feared pirate on the seas. But, "Dread Pirate Roberts" is merely a title that has been passed down as previous "Roberts" have gained enough money (from piracy) to retire comfortably. Westley, one of the main characters from The Princess Bride, becomes the Dread Pirate after being taken prisoner by the preceding Pirate Roberts. <br />
<br />
At the end of the movie, Inigo Montoya has won the vengeance he has sought all his life, and expresses to Westley that he doesn't know what to do next. Westley suggests Montoya succeed him as Roberts, saying, "Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts." Cory Doctorow's line in the comic therefore mimics that line from the movie.<br />
<br />
{{w|Bram Cohen}} is the founder of {{w|BitTorrent}}, a distributed method of downloading files. People can and do use BitTorrent both for lawful file downloads and also for sharing media files unlawfully. Its distributed nature, where someone does not download a file from just one other computer but rather in many pieces from many other computers with the same file, makes it more difficult for record and movie industry groups to police, and therefore a person with Elaine's motivations might be interested in helping design such a system.<br />
<br />
{{w|Ubuntu}} is probably the most well known {{w|Linux}} distribution. A Linux distribution is any operating system that is based on the Linux {{w|kernel}}.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[:Category:1337|1337]]" series:<br />
*[[341: 1337: Part 1]]<br />
*[[342: 1337: Part 2]]<br />
*[[343: 1337: Part 3]]<br />
*[[344: 1337: Part 4]]<br />
*345: 1337: Part 5 (this one)<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Two RIAA agents attack Elaine and Stallman. Elaine breaks RIAA #1, while Stallman disarms RIAA #2 in a flying manouvre.]<br />
:Elaine: Thanks, Stallman!<br />
:Stallman: 'Tis my pleasure.<br />
<br />
:Elaine: So, wait - how did you know we were in trouble?<br />
:Stallman: My friend here was tracking these thugs from his balloon. He called me and I thought I'd stop by<br />
:[Doctorow slides down a rope in red cape & goggles.]<br />
:Doctorow: -Hi! Cory Doctorow - It's a pleasure to meet you.<br />
<br />
:Elaine: Balloon?<br />
:Stallman: Aye. They're up there constructing something called a "Blogosphere."<br />
:Doctorow: Yup! It's twenty kilometers up, just above the tag clouds.<br />
<br />
:Bobby: Mom, I'm hungry.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Hush! I'm coding. You ate yesterday.<br />
:Stallman: You know, Roberts, GNU could use a good coder like you. Ever thought of joining us?<br />
:Elaine: Maybe someday. Right now I've got an industry to take down. Music doesn't need these assholes.<br />
:Doctorow: Begone! And never darken our comment threads again!<br />
<br />
:Stallman: Well, you won't fix the industry with random exploits. You need to encourage sharing in the public mind.<br />
:Doctorow: Hey; With your music and coding backgrounds, you should get into building better p2p systems.<br />
<br />
:Elaine: What? Straight-up piracy?<br />
:Doctorow: Sure- have you ever considered it? You'd make a wonderful dread pirate, Roberts<br />
<br />
:<u>Epilogue</u><br />
:Elaine shared her ideas with Bram Cohen, who went on to develop BitTorrent.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts spends her time developing for Ubuntu, and defacing the websites of people who make "your mom" jokes to her daughter. Elaine still stalks the net. She joins communities, contributes code or comments, and moves on. And if, late at night, you point a streaming audio player at the right IP at the right time - you can hear her rock out.<br />
:~Happy Hacking.~<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Elaine Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Your Mom]]<br />
[[Category:1337|05]]</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=344:_1337:_Part_4&diff=69404344: 1337: Part 42014-06-12T13:46:12Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 344<br />
| date = November 15, 2007 <!-- date on archive page appears incorrect(2007-11-14), based on xkcd forum date of 2007-11-15 --><br />
| title = 1337: Part 4<br />
| image = 1337 part 4.png<br />
| titletext = Mrs. Roberts would have gotten up sooner, of course, but she was busy piping find ~ and find ~nomad into xargs shred, just in case.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Jon Lech Johansen}}, also known as DVD Jon, is famous for {{w|DeCSS}}, a DVD decryption program that removes the copy protection from commercial DVDs. The {{w|Motion Picture Association of America}}, also known as the MPAA, was not amused. Both the MPAA and the {{w|RIAA}} use the {{w|Digital Millenium Copyright Act}}, shortened to DMCA, as a kind of brute club to silence "infringements" on their copyright. In a perfect world, the DMCA provides safe harbor protection to websites and consumers to make fair use of copyrighted content while also affording copyright owners the ability to protect their works from being pirated. In this world, this means that any content protection system, no matter how weak and poorly executed, cannot be circumvented and discussion of circumvention is illegal as well.<br />
<br />
Of course, {{w|Richard Stallman}}, founder of the {{w|GNU Project}} and stalwart defender of freedom and {{w|copyleft}}, cannot stand for this kind of repression of freedom. (In the real world, Stallman is not a swordsman; there is also no Title IV, Section 408 of the DMCA; Title IV ends with Section 407.)<br />
<br />
The title text is talking about a {{w|Linux}}-ism. In Linux (and all Unix derivatives) ~ is a symbol for a user's home directory (usually <code>/home/<username></code>). <code>xargs shred</code> is an application that recursively walks a filesystem and securely erases every file it finds with pseudorandom data. This is different from simply deleting a file, which merely removes the pointer in the filesystem's record tables to the file's location on the hard disk. The latter can usually be recovered from, secure delete however requires physically taking apart a disk and reading individual bits for remaining magnetic charge to attempt to reconstruct what was there.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[:Category:1337|1337]]" series:<br />
*[[341: 1337: Part 1]]<br />
*[[342: 1337: Part 2]]<br />
*[[343: 1337: Part 3]]<br />
*344: 1337: Part 4 (this one)<br />
*[[345: 1337: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:As time passed, Elaine intensified her hacking work, anonymously publishing exploit after exploit.<br />
:[Elaine is sitting under tree, typing on a laptop.]<br />
<br />
:To crack open proprietary hardware, she teamed up with one of the top experts in signal processing and data transferring protocols.<br />
:[Elaine, wearing a backpack, is walking up to a door where a woman is greeting her.]<br />
:Elaine: Hi, mom.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts (Elaine's mom): Hello, dear. Did you have fun?<br />
<br />
:They were an unstoppable team.<br />
:[Elaine is on the floor with her laptop and Mrs. Roberts is on her computer at a table.]<br />
:Elaine: I finished the CSS decryptor.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Good, dear. I'll send it along to Jon.<br />
<br />
:And were eventually noticed.<br />
:[Two men in black hats arrive. One holds a briefcase that reads RIAA and the other holds a briefcase which reads MPAA.]<br />
:RIAA man: Game's over.<br />
:MPAA man: You're coming with us.<br />
<br />
:[Elaine stands up.]<br />
:Elaine: Oh, are we?<br />
:[Mrs. Roberts is still sitting at her computer, typing.]<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Now now, Elaine-<br />
:''shink''<br />
:[Elaine pulls a knife out.]<br />
<br />
:[The two men each pull a katana out of their briefcase.]<br />
:''shing shing''<br />
<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Don't let them provoke you, dear.<br />
:Men: We don't want to hurt you, Ma'am.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Don't by silly. Record company employees can't just go into houses and slice people up.<br />
<br />
:RIAA Man: Ah, so you haven't read the DMCA.<br />
:MPAA Man: Title IV, Section 408: Authorization of Deadly Force.<br />
<br />
:[Voice comes from off-panel.]: Hark!<br />
:[Everyone looks surprised. Mrs. Roberts stands.]<br />
<br />
:[Richard Stallman enters, bearing two katanas.]<br />
:Richard Stallman: Cease this affront to freedom, or stand and defend yourselves!<br />
:MPAA Man: Stallman!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Elaine Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:1337|04]]</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=344:_1337:_Part_4&diff=69403344: 1337: Part 42014-06-12T13:45:45Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 344<br />
| date = November 15, 2007 <!-- date on archive page appears incorrect(2007-11-14), based on xkcd forum date of 2007-11-15 --><br />
| title = 1337: Part 4<br />
| image = 1337 part 4.png<br />
| titletext = Mrs. Roberts would have gotten up sooner, of course, but she was busy piping find ~ and find ~nomad into xargs shred, just in case.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Jon Lech Johansen}}, also known as DVD Jon, is famous for {{w|DeCSS}}, a DVD decryption program that removes the copy protection from commercial DVDs. The {{w|Motion Picture Association of America}}, also known as the MPAA, was not amused. Both the MPAA and the {{w|RIAA}} use the {{w|Digital Millenium Copyright Act}}, shortened to DMCA, as a kind of brute club to silence "infringements" on their copyright. In a perfect world, the DMCA provides safe harbor protection to websites and consumers to make fair use of copyrighted content while also affording copyright owners the ability to protect their works from being pirated. In this world, this means that any content protection system, no matter how weak and poorly executed, cannot be circumvented and discussion of circumvention is illegal as well.<br />
<br />
Of course, {{w|Richard Stallman}}, founder of the {{w|GNU Project}} and stalwart defender of freedom and {{w|copyleft}}, cannot stand for this kind of repression of freedom.<br />
<br />
In the real world, of course, Stallman is not a swordsman, and there is no Title IV, Section 408 of the DMCA; Title IV ends with Section 407.<br />
<br />
The title text is talking about a {{w|Linux}}-ism. In Linux (and all Unix derivatives) ~ is a symbol for a user's home directory (usually <code>/home/<username></code>). <code>xargs shred</code> is an application that recursively walks a filesystem and securely erases every file it finds with pseudorandom data. This is different from simply deleting a file, which merely removes the pointer in the filesystem's record tables to the file's location on the hard disk. The latter can usually be recovered from, secure delete however requires physically taking apart a disk and reading individual bits for remaining magnetic charge to attempt to reconstruct what was there.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[:Category:1337|1337]]" series:<br />
*[[341: 1337: Part 1]]<br />
*[[342: 1337: Part 2]]<br />
*[[343: 1337: Part 3]]<br />
*344: 1337: Part 4 (this one)<br />
*[[345: 1337: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:As time passed, Elaine intensified her hacking work, anonymously publishing exploit after exploit.<br />
:[Elaine is sitting under tree, typing on a laptop.]<br />
<br />
:To crack open proprietary hardware, she teamed up with one of the top experts in signal processing and data transferring protocols.<br />
:[Elaine, wearing a backpack, is walking up to a door where a woman is greeting her.]<br />
:Elaine: Hi, mom.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts (Elaine's mom): Hello, dear. Did you have fun?<br />
<br />
:They were an unstoppable team.<br />
:[Elaine is on the floor with her laptop and Mrs. Roberts is on her computer at a table.]<br />
:Elaine: I finished the CSS decryptor.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Good, dear. I'll send it along to Jon.<br />
<br />
:And were eventually noticed.<br />
:[Two men in black hats arrive. One holds a briefcase that reads RIAA and the other holds a briefcase which reads MPAA.]<br />
:RIAA man: Game's over.<br />
:MPAA man: You're coming with us.<br />
<br />
:[Elaine stands up.]<br />
:Elaine: Oh, are we?<br />
:[Mrs. Roberts is still sitting at her computer, typing.]<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Now now, Elaine-<br />
:''shink''<br />
:[Elaine pulls a knife out.]<br />
<br />
:[The two men each pull a katana out of their briefcase.]<br />
:''shing shing''<br />
<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Don't let them provoke you, dear.<br />
:Men: We don't want to hurt you, Ma'am.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Don't by silly. Record company employees can't just go into houses and slice people up.<br />
<br />
:RIAA Man: Ah, so you haven't read the DMCA.<br />
:MPAA Man: Title IV, Section 408: Authorization of Deadly Force.<br />
<br />
:[Voice comes from off-panel.]: Hark!<br />
:[Everyone looks surprised. Mrs. Roberts stands.]<br />
<br />
:[Richard Stallman enters, bearing two katanas.]<br />
:Richard Stallman: Cease this affront to freedom, or stand and defend yourselves!<br />
:MPAA Man: Stallman!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Elaine Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:1337|04]]</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=345:_1337:_Part_5&diff=69402345: 1337: Part 52014-06-12T12:49:19Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 345<br />
| date = November 16, 2007<br />
| title = 1337: Part 5<br />
| image = 1337_part_5.png<br />
| titletext = This digital music thing will probably reach its endgame sometime in the next decade or so. These are very exciting times.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
{{w|Richard Stallman}} is the ardent defender of freedom and believer in {{w|copyleft}}, he also founded the {{w|GNU Project}}.<br />
<br />
{{w|Cory Doctorow}} is a blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the weblog {{w|Boing Boing}}. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the {{w|Creative Commons}} organization.<br />
<br />
{{w|Bram Cohen}} is the founder of {{w|BitTorrent}}, a distributed method of downloading files.<br />
<br />
The {{w|Dread Pirate Roberts}} is a fictional character from the book and movie {{w|The Princess Bride}}. Roberts is the most feared pirate on the seas. But, "Dread Pirate Roberts" is merely a title that has been passed down as previous "Roberts" have gained enough money (from piracy) to retire comfortably. Westley, one of the main characters from The Princess Bride, becomes the Dread Pirate after being taken prisoner by the preceding Pirate Roberts. <br />
<br />
At the end of the movie, Inigo Montoya has won the vengeance he has sought all his life, and expresses to Westley that he doesn't know what to do next. Westley suggests Montoya succeed him as Roberts, saying, "Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts." Cory Doctorow's line in the comic therefore mimics that line from the movie.<br />
<br />
{{w|Ubuntu}} is probably the most well known {{w|Linux}} distribution. A Linux distribution is any operating system that is based on the Linux {{w|kernel}}.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[:Category:1337|1337]]" series:<br />
*[[341: 1337: Part 1]]<br />
*[[342: 1337: Part 2]]<br />
*[[343: 1337: Part 3]]<br />
*[[344: 1337: Part 4]]<br />
*345: 1337: Part 5 (this one)<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Two RIAA agents attack Elaine and Stallman. Elaine breaks RIAA #1, while Stallman disarms RIAA #2 in a flying manouvre.]<br />
:Elaine: Thanks, Stallman!<br />
:Stallman: 'Tis my pleasure.<br />
<br />
:Elaine: So, wait - how did you know we were in trouble?<br />
:Stallman: My friend here was tracking these thugs from his balloon. He called me and I thought I'd stop by<br />
:[Doctorow slides down a rope in red cape & goggles.]<br />
:Doctorow: -Hi! Cory Doctorow - It's a pleasure to meet you.<br />
<br />
:Elaine: Balloon?<br />
:Stallman: Aye. They're up there constructing something called a "Blogosphere."<br />
:Doctorow: Yup! It's twenty kilometers up, just above the tag clouds.<br />
<br />
:Bobby: Mom, I'm hungry.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts: Hush! I'm coding. You ate yesterday.<br />
:Stallman: You know, Roberts, GNU could use a good coder like you. Ever thought of joining us?<br />
:Elaine: Maybe someday. Right now I've got an industry to take down. Music doesn't need these assholes.<br />
:Doctorow: Begone! And never darken our comment threads again!<br />
<br />
:Stallman: Well, you won't fix the industry with random exploits. You need to encourage sharing in the public mind.<br />
:Doctorow: Hey; With your music and coding backgrounds, you should get into building better p2p systems.<br />
<br />
:Elaine: What? Straight-up piracy?<br />
:Doctorow: Sure- have you ever considered it? You'd make a wonderful dread pirate, Roberts<br />
<br />
:<u>Epilogue</u><br />
:Elaine shared her ideas with Bram Cohen, who went on to develop BitTorrent.<br />
:Mrs. Roberts spends her time developing for Ubuntu, and defacing the websites of people who make "your mom" jokes to her daughter. Elaine still stalks the net. She joins communities, contributes code or comments, and moves on. And if, late at night, you point a streaming audio player at the right IP at the right time - you can hear her rock out.<br />
:~Happy Hacking.~<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Elaine Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Mrs. Roberts]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Your Mom]]<br />
[[Category:1337|05]]</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1368:_One_Of_The&diff=672941368: One Of The2014-05-14T19:52:43Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */ Clarifying the title text joke more.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1368<br />
| date = May 14, 2014<br />
| title = One Of The<br />
| image = one_of_the.png<br />
| titletext = 'The world's greatest [whatever]' is subjective, but 'One of the world's greatest [whatever]s' is clearly objective. Anyway, that's why I got you this 'one of the world's greatest moms' mug!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
In theory, reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact. To say that something is "the most recognizable" in a city might lead to some disputing whether it really is, and therefore, reporters often get into the habit of hedging any such statement with "one of the."<br />
<br />
However, this can be taken to absurd levels, such as when they still reflexively use this construct even when there's vanishingly little opportunity for dispute. As an extreme example, Randall depicts one such reporter using this language about the {{w|Gateway Arch}}. As the most well-known monument in Missouri and the largest free-standing arch in the world, it's really quite indisputable that this would be the most recognizable arch in St. Louis.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to mugs (and t-shirts, and other printed items) that say "World's Greatest Mom" or "World's Greatest Dad." Obviously, such a statement is subjective on the part of the family member who gave such a gift. That's fine, because it's not a news report and not supposed to be objective. <br />
<br />
But if simply adding "one of the" to something makes it objective, then giving a mug that says "one of the world's greatest moms" to one's mom actually would theoretically have more credibility; it's objective! The title text also refers to {{w|Mother's Day}}, which was three days before this comic was published.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:TV anchor: "... and he went on to design the Gateway Arch, one of the most recognizable arches in St. Louis."<br />
:Caption: "Pet peeve: reporters unnecessarily hedging with "one of the"<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1368:_One_Of_The&diff=672571368: One Of The2014-05-14T13:37:01Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Transcript */ Fixing formatting; removing title text as it doesn't appear that is part of the transcript on other comic pages</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1368<br />
| date = May 14, 2014<br />
| title = One Of The<br />
| image = one_of_the.png<br />
| titletext = 'The world's greatest [whatever]' is subjective, but 'One of the world's greatest [whatever]s' is clearly objective. Anyway, that's why I got you this 'one of the world's greatest moms' mug!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
Reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact. To say that something is "the most recognizable" in a city might lead to some disputing whether it really is, and therefore, reporters often get into the habit of hedging any such statement with "one of the."<br />
<br />
However, this can be taken to absurd levels, such as when they still reflexively use this construct even when there's vanishingly little opportunity for dispute. As an extreme example, Randall depicts one such reporter using this language about the St. Louis Arch, even though, as the city's most well-known monument and the only arch of anywhere near its size, it's really quite insputable that this would be the most recognizable arch in the city.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to mugs (and t-shirts, and other printed items) that say "World's Greatest Mom" or "World's Greatest Dad." Obviously, such a statement is subjective on the part of the family member who gave such a gift. That's fine, because it's not a news report and not supposed to be objective. But this pokes fun at reporters' efforts to act objective at all times.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
:TV anchor: "... and he went on to design the Gateway Arch, one of the most recognizable arches in St. Louis."<br />
:Caption: "Pet peeve: reporters unnecessarily hedging "one of the"<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1368:_One_Of_The&diff=672561368: One Of The2014-05-14T13:35:08Z<p>173.245.54.46: Put in description.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1368<br />
| date = May 14, 2014<br />
| title = One Of The<br />
| image = one_of_the.png<br />
| titletext = 'The world's greatest [whatever]' is subjective, but 'One of the world's greatest [whatever]s' is clearly objective. Anyway, that's why I got you this 'one of the world's greatest moms' mug!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
Reporters on television and in other media try to only make statements they can verify in fact. To say that something is "the most recognizable" in a city might lead to some disputing whether it really is, and therefore, reporters often get into the habit of hedging any such statement with "one of the."<br />
<br />
However, this can be taken to absurd levels, such as when they still reflexively use this construct even when there's vanishingly little opportunity for dispute. As an extreme example, Randall depicts one such reporter using this language about the St. Louis Arch, even though, as the city's most well-known monument and the only arch of anywhere near its size, it's really quite insputable that this would be the most recognizable arch in the city.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to mugs (and t-shirts, and other printed items) that say "World's Greatest Mom" or "World's Greatest Dad." Obviously, such a statement is subjective on the part of the family member who gave such a gift. That's fine, because it's not a news report and not supposed to be objective. But this pokes fun at reporters' efforts to act objective at all times.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
TV anchor: "... and he went on to design the Gateway Arch, one of the most recognizable arches in St. Louis."<br />
<br />
Caption: "Pet peeve: reporters unnecessarily hedging "one of the"<br />
<br />
Title text: "'The world's greatest [whatever] is subjective, but 'One of the world's greatest [whatever]s' is clearly objective. Anyway, that's why I got you this 'One of the world's greatest moms' mug!"<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1328:_Update&diff=59711Talk:1328: Update2014-02-10T16:27:53Z<p>173.245.54.46: </p>
<hr />
<div>Note that 1.) web browsers usually can remember opened tabs (and even scroll position) and reopen them automatically on start, and/or ask if reopen those tabs if browser was not closed cleanly 2.) MS Windows tries to reopen apps closed during "upgrade reboot" --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 07:48, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Yes, browsers can remember the last tabs you have open, but may require the user to enable that option as it's off by default (with Chrome anyway - as was my experience). I usually leave it off because I don't necessarily want the last 5 tabs I had open to open automatically the next time I want to start my browser to do something completely different. If (my) Chrome browser crashes however (or otherwise does not close cleanly), it will ask me if I want to restore my previous session, which may include multiple tabs and browsing positions. =8o) [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:12, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:Windows does not reopen apps that it closed before an upgrade (at best it has an option to reopen Explorer windows in the same state if the user enables it.) As for Chrome saving tabs, it can be often flaky especially when using multiple windows combined with multiple profiles. This is moot since in Real Life™ users generally don't trust these features, when they are even aware of them. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 15:19, 10 February 2014 (UTC) <br />
<br />
@Jakub, thanks for bringing it up. I knew about it, but for the sake of brevity decided to leave it out. Hooray for my first explanation btw! --[[User:Akha|Akha]] ([[User talk:Akha|talk]]) 08:33, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
While one interpretation is that users would push back even a critical update, the cynical me read it the other way around: that most updates labelled as critical and notified with "!"s and yellow triangles are actually not that urgent and naturally the user desensibilizes. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.201|173.245.53.201]] 11:16, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Note also that browsers are ones of VERY FEW application who can reopen exactly what you had open before restart, and even them usually fail to preserve form content. Also, physical problem is not likely to occur just after the patch was created: only problem which would really need immediate patching would be security problem related to virus just spreading, in which case it would probably be too late when the window appear anyway. So, in all cases, pressing "remind me later" and finishing your work as soon as possible is the most logical course of action regarding critical update. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:18, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
It's a sad day when non-kernel updates require a reboot. [[User:Chrisp6825|Chrisp6825]] ([[User talk:Chrisp6825|talk]]) 13:13, 10 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the comic has less to do with the time a reboot takes, and more to do with losing the user's current state [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]] 16:27, 10 February 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.54.46https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=580:_The_Race:_Part_4&diff=52281580: The Race: Part 42013-11-08T07:33:39Z<p>173.245.54.46: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 580<br />
| date = May 7, 2009<br />
| title = The Race: Part 4<br />
| image = the_race_part_4.png<br />
| titletext = Things are rarely just crazy enough to work, but they're frequently just crazy enough to fail hilariously.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} was a television series aired by FOX in 2002 that got cancelled mid-way through, but has a large fan base nowadays (for a more comprehensive explanation, see the Wikipedia page). The star of the show was Captain Malcolm (or Mal) Reynolds, played by {{w|Nathan Fillion}}. Other members of his crew were Kaylee (played by {{w|Jewel Staite}}) the ship's mechanic, River Tam (played by {{w|Summer Glau}}) was the seemingly crazy younger sister of Dr. Simon Tam (played by {{w|Sean Maher}}), as well as a few others.<br />
<br />
The "Crazy Ivan" maneuver is a reference an evasion technique used by the crew of the Serenity (the name of the main spacecraft in the show) to escape the Reavers (savage men) in the pilot episode of {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} . The maneuver involves a sharp 180° turn to face the pursuing spacecraft and fly straight at, while barely missing it. This allows the more maneuverable Firefly-class spaceship to escape faster but less agile spacecraft. But as Jewel points out, this is less than useful on a skateboard, since the board spins in place while the rider continues forward unimpeded. <br />
<br />
Nathan Fillion appeared naked at the beginning and end of the show's eleventh episode, "Trash".<br />
<br />
In the show, Summer was known to do strange and unexpected things.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:<br />
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]<br />
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]<br />
*[[579: The Race: Part 3]]<br />
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]<br />
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Nathan Fillion are ready on the start line on their electric skateboards.]<br />
:Voice off panel: On your mark...<br />
<br />
:Voice: Get set...<br />
:Nathan: Remember episode 11, when I got all naked in that desert?<br />
<br />
:Voice: Go!<br />
:[Nathan speeds away leaving Cueball standing at the start line.]<br />
<br />
:Voice: ...I said "Go."<br />
:Voice: Someone throw some water on him.<br />
:Cueball: Can't...get it...out of my head...<br />
<br />
:[Nathan on walkie talkie, speeding on his skateboard.]<br />
:Nathan: He's right behind me. Kaylee, I'm gonna try a Crazy Ivan.<br />
:Jewel [on walkie talkie] ([[579]] shows Nathan's naming confusion): That doesn't make any sense, Nathan.<br />
:Nathan: Trust me.<br />
<br />
:Jewel: No, I mean it's not a skateboard maneuver. The concept doesn't even apply to this situation.<br />
:Nathan [via walkie talkie]: That's why it ''just might work!''<br />
:Jewel: No, that's the ''opposite'' of true!<br />
<br />
:Nathan: On my mark, override the remote differential and throw her into a spin.<br />
:Jewel [via walkie talkie]: okay, but—<br />
:Nathan: Mark!<br />
:''WHAM''<br />
<br />
:[Nathan lying injured on the ground next to his skateboard, Cueball cruises past.]<br />
:''Whirrrrrrrr''<br />
<br />
:[Nathan, trying to stand up.]<br />
:Nathan: I'm down. Tell Summer "The chickens are in the hayloft. Plan Gamma is a go."<br />
<br />
:[Nathan, one foot on skateboard, looking at walkie talkie.]<br />
:''mumbling from walkie talkie''<br />
:Jewel: She says, "Plan gamma acknowledged. The meerkats are in the bag.<br />
:[Summer Glau is walking off panel.]<br />
<br />
:Jewel [to walkee talkie]: So we're good?<br />
:Nathan: Hard to tell with her. Do you see an actual bag of meerkats?<br />
:Jewel: No.<br />
:Nathan: Then we're probably good.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball screeching to a halt as he sees Summer Glau.]<br />
:Cueball: Oh! Hi, Miss Glau! I'd love to talk, but Nathan's back on his feet and catching up.<br />
<br />
:[Summer grabs Cueball's arm.]<br />
:''Grab''<br />
:Cueball: Wha—<br />
<br />
:[Summer kicks Cueball in the face whilst pulling his arm towards her, he flies off his skateboard.]<br />
<br />
:[Summer walking away as Cueball lies crippled on the floor with his sunglasses beside him.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball still lying on the floor.]<br />
<br />
:Cueball [thinking]: I've never been so turned on in my life.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The xkcd's own transcript for this episode is radically wrong, and words like {{Wiktionary|maneuver}} are spelled incorrectly.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Jewel Staite]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nathan Fillion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Summer Glau]]<br />
[[Category:The Race]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]</div>173.245.54.46