3232: Countdown Standard - Revision history

RG: removed incomplete notice. (apparently not)

2026-05-14T01:02:01Z

removed incomplete notice. (apparently not)

81.179.199.253: Undo revision 412460 by Seren (talk) "Descending order" ≠ ”Descending sequence" (today is 2026-05-13, irregular and direction-changing), so I'm not sure there's much similarity as it was phrased.

2026-05-13T12:56:19Z

Undo revision 412460 by Seren (talk) "Descending order" ≠ ”Descending sequence" (today is 2026-05-13, irregular and direction-changing), so I'm not sure there's much similarity as it was phrased.

Seren: Add reference to ISO 8601

2026-05-13T09:37:17Z

Add reference to ISO 8601

Scs: add experimental wikidata xref to {comic} template

2026-05-11T10:23:47Z

add experimental wikidata xref to {comic} template

121.45.199.149: Added a little bit about how only eating NIST food would be expensive

2026-04-16T22:59:25Z

Added a little bit about how only eating NIST food would be expensive

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-04-16T08:22:10Z

‎Explanation

2603:6011:1F0:2A40:650C:3BE2:A94D:49B6: /* Explanation */

2026-04-15T23:11:53Z

‎Explanation

2603:6011:1F0:2A40:650C:3BE2:A94D:49B6: /* Explanation */

2026-04-15T23:10:25Z

‎Explanation

2603:800C:1200:596A:A08E:FCB1:F968:D433: /* Explanation */ fix template

2026-04-15T20:07:49Z

‎Explanation: fix template

2603:800C:1200:596A:A08E:FCB1:F968:D433: /* Explanation */ not in my field!

2026-04-15T20:06:30Z

‎Explanation: not in my field!

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:02, 14 May 2026
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...ZERO...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon.}}~~
	This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes\|OnThree\|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy, or [[:Category:The Race\|having an electric skateboard race]]) counting to get everybody to start the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be either performed just as the speaker says 'three', or a second later ('four' if the speaker was still counting). If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting out of sync, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over the interpretation of the instruction (not the least those who might jump the gun or perhaps intentionally start on '{{tvtropes\|ILied\|two}}').		This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes\|OnThree\|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy, or [[:Category:The Race\|having an electric skateboard race]]) counting to get everybody to start the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be either performed just as the speaker says 'three', or a second later ('four' if the speaker was still counting). If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting out of sync, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over the interpretation of the instruction (not the least those who might jump the gun or perhaps intentionally start on '{{tvtropes\|ILied\|two}}').

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes|OnThree|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy, or [[:Category:The Race|having an electric skateboard race]]) counting to get everybody to start the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be either performed just as the speaker says 'three', or a second later ('four' if the speaker was still counting). If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting out of sync, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over the interpretation of the instruction (not the least those who might jump the gun or perhaps intentionally start on '{{tvtropes|ILied|two}}').
-This comic alleges that, if [[Randall]] gained control of the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO), he would standardize counting to go ''down'' from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero. This is probably a reference to {{w|ISO 8601}}, which specifies that dates are written in descending order (Year-Month-Day). However, this proposal could lead to the exact same problem, as some people may act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, include 'zero' before the 'go!'. Moreover, most people are unlikely to refer to the ISO before starting a countdown, and this is likely to simply lead to the problem outlined in [[927: Standards]].
+This comic alleges that, if [[Randall]] gained control of the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO), he would standardize counting to go ''down'' from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero. However, this proposal would be no better than counting up, as some people may expect to act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, to have a 'zero' before the 'go!', leading to exactly the same problems. Moreover, most people are unlikely to refer to the ISO before starting a countdown, and this is likely to simply lead to the problem outlined in [[927: Standards]].
 "Deprecated" is a term applied to something that is no longer recommended for use, so you should fix things so as not to use it anymore. It is commonly used when a standard is replaced by a newer version or an alternative approach, but may still be in use in legacy applications. In this case, it is hard to imagine where there would be a situation where a need to maintain a deprecated standard would arise, since such countdowns tend to be short-lived affairs, so any starting before the publication of the new standard would be unlikely to continue running for appreciable periods after it.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes|OnThree|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy, or [[:Category:The Race|having an electric skateboard race]]) counting to get everybody to start the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be either performed just as the speaker says 'three', or a second later ('four' if the speaker was still counting). If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting out of sync, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over the interpretation of the instruction (not the least those who might jump the gun or perhaps intentionally start on '{{tvtropes|ILied|two}}').
-This comic alleges that, if [[Randall]] gained control of the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO), he would standardize counting to go ''down'' from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero. However, this proposal would be no better than counting up, as some people may expect to act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, to have a 'zero' before the 'go!', leading to exactly the same problems. Moreover, most people are unlikely to refer to the ISO before starting a countdown, and this is likely to simply lead to the problem outlined in [[927: Standards]].
+This comic alleges that, if [[Randall]] gained control of the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO), he would standardize counting to go ''down'' from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero. This is probably a reference to {{w|ISO 8601}}, which specifies that dates are written in descending order (Year-Month-Day). However, this proposal could lead to the exact same problem, as some people may act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, include 'zero' before the 'go!'. Moreover, most people are unlikely to refer to the ISO before starting a countdown, and this is likely to simply lead to the problem outlined in [[927: Standards]].
 "Deprecated" is a term applied to something that is no longer recommended for use, so you should fix things so as not to use it anymore. It is commonly used when a standard is replaced by a newer version or an alternative approach, but may still be in use in legacy applications. In this case, it is hard to imagine where there would be a situation where a need to maintain a deprecated standard would arise, since such countdowns tend to be short-lived affairs, so any starting before the publication of the new standard would be unlikely to continue running for appreciable periods after it.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 | noexpand  = true
 | titletext = Anyone who is caught counting 'three ... two ... one ... zero ... GO!' will be punished with a lifetime of eating only ISO standard food samples.
 }}

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 The ISO is an international organization that is responsible for standardizing many things (such as technology and safety standards) to allow for smooth interoperability between countries, manufacturers, and so on. However, it doesn't standardize everyday actions like countdowns. Other standards organizations that have somewhat similar functions include the [https://www.nist.gov/ National Institute of Standards and Technology] (NIST) and the [https://www.ansi.org/ American National Standards Institute] (ANSI), which are technically American but have considerable international influence.{{acn}}
-The title text refers to "ISO standard food samples". The ISO doesn't offer such samples, but does have documents which describe how food samples should be prepared for standardized analysis. For example, [https://www.iso.org/standard/29628.html ISO 16050:2003] documents how "cereals, nuts and derived products" are to be analyzed for aflatoxins. If your punishment were to repeatedly test cereals and nuts for toxins, that would probably be quite unpleasant, especially if one of your bowls happened to contain said toxins. {{w|ISO 3103}} describes a standardized method for {{What If|71|brewing tea}}. It's unclear why such samples would be considered particularly unpleasant or inappropriate for consumption. Perhaps they would be assumed to be unimaginably bland because they would be 'lowest common denominator' illustrations of the base definition of each food. There ''are'' NIST Standard Reference Materials for food, such as [https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=2387 peanut butter] and "[https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=1548b typical diet]". Hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"].
+The title text refers to "ISO standard food samples". The ISO doesn't offer such samples, but does have documents which describe how food samples should be prepared for standardized analysis. For example, [https://www.iso.org/standard/29628.html ISO 16050:2003] documents how "cereals, nuts and derived products" are to be analyzed for aflatoxins. If your punishment were to repeatedly test cereals and nuts for toxins, that would probably be quite unpleasant, especially if one of your bowls happened to contain said toxins. {{w|ISO 3103}} describes a standardized method for {{What If|71|brewing tea}}. It's unclear why such samples would be considered particularly unpleasant or inappropriate for consumption. Perhaps they would be assumed to be unimaginably bland because they would be 'lowest common denominator' illustrations of the base definition of each food. There ''are'' NIST Standard Reference Materials for food, such as [https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=2387 peanut butter] and "[https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=1548b typical diet]". These samples are incredibly expensive to purchase, so eating only NIST Standard Reference Materials would be a significant financial drain if you were forced to eat them. Hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"].
 Apparently eating these food samples is, in Randall's opinion, suitable punishment for doing “3, 2, 1, 0, Go!” for a countdown. In this he is likely to be disappointed, as he will discover that punishment for non-compliance with standards is not within the remit of the ISO. The possibility of including 0 in such a countdown would be an example of an off-by-one error, as described in [[3062: Off By One]].

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Explanation==
 {{incomplete|This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...ZERO...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes|OnThree|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy, or [[:Category:The Race|having an electric skateboard race]]) counting to get everybody to start the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be either performed just as the speaker says 'three', or a second later ('four' if the speaker was still counting). If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting out of sync, which could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over the interpretation of the instruction, not the least those who might jump the gun or the speaker perhaps intending to start on '{{tvtropes|ILied|two}}'.
+This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes|OnThree|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy, or [[:Category:The Race|having an electric skateboard race]]) counting to get everybody to start the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be either performed just as the speaker says 'three', or a second later ('four' if the speaker was still counting). If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting out of sync, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over the interpretation of the instruction (not the least those who might jump the gun or perhaps intentionally start on '{{tvtropes|ILied|two}}').
 This comic alleges that, if [[Randall]] gained control of the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO), he would standardize counting to go ''down'' from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero. However, this proposal would be no better than counting up, as some people may expect to act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, to have a 'zero' before the 'go!', leading to exactly the same problems. Moreover, most people are unlikely to refer to the ISO before starting a countdown, and this is likely to simply lead to the problem outlined in [[927: Standards]].

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 The fact that these are called "countdowns", yet the ones being complained about are counts that go ''up'', is probably intentional, and cause for additional irritation among those who are bothered by the inherent inconsistencies.
-The ISO is an international organization that is responsible for standardizing many things (such as technology and safety standards) to allow for smooth interoperability between countries, manufacturers, and so on. However, it doesn't standardize everyday actions like countdowns. Other standards organizations that have somewhat similar functions include the [https://www.nist.gov/ National Institute of Standards and Technology] (NIST) and the [https://www.ansi.org/ American National Standards Institute] (ANSI), which are technically American but have considerable international influence.{{can}}
+The ISO is an international organization that is responsible for standardizing many things (such as technology and safety standards) to allow for smooth interoperability between countries, manufacturers, and so on. However, it doesn't standardize everyday actions like countdowns. Other standards organizations that have somewhat similar functions include the [https://www.nist.gov/ National Institute of Standards and Technology] (NIST) and the [https://www.ansi.org/ American National Standards Institute] (ANSI), which are technically American but have considerable international influence.{{acn}}
 The title text refers to "ISO standard food samples". The ISO doesn't offer such samples, but does have documents which describe how food samples should be prepared for standardized analysis. For example, [https://www.iso.org/standard/29628.html ISO 16050:2003] documents how "cereals, nuts and derived products" are to be analyzed for aflatoxins. If your punishment were to repeatedly test cereals and nuts for toxins, that would probably be quite unpleasant, especially if one of your bowls happened to contain said toxins. {{w|ISO 3103}} describes a standardized method for brewing tea. It's unclear why such samples would be considered particularly unpleasant or inappropriate for consumption. Perhaps they would be assumed to be unimaginably bland because they would be 'lowest common denominator' illustrations of the base definition of each food. There ''are'' NIST Standard Reference Materials for food, such as [https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=2387 peanut butter] and "[https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=1548b typical diet]". Hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"].