3232: Countdown Standard - Revision history

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-04-14T14:46:41Z

‎Explanation

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-04-14T14:27:11Z

‎Explanation

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-04-14T14:24:22Z

‎Explanation

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-04-14T14:22:01Z

‎Explanation

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-04-14T14:18:04Z

‎Explanation

Strike 2: /* Explanation */ : fixed spelling and grammar

2026-04-14T12:43:43Z

‎Explanation: : fixed spelling and grammar

GSLikesCats307 at 12:28, 14 April 2026

2026-04-14T12:28:42Z

Strike 2: Modified links and mentioned the "typical diet" product

2026-04-14T10:17:42Z

Modified links and mentioned the "typical diet" product

GSLikesCats307 at 08:48, 14 April 2026

2026-04-14T08:48:08Z

GSLikesCats307 at 08:45, 14 April 2026

2026-04-14T08:45:28Z

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Explanation==
 {{incomplete|This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-This comic reflects the common trope of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) counting to get everybody to do 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 taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting a beat apart, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over who was at fault.
+This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes|OnThree|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) counting to get everybody to do 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 taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting a beat apart, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over who was at fault.
 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 13: / Line 13: @@
 This comic reflects the common trope of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) counting to get everybody to do 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 taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting a beat apart, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over who was at fault.
-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.
+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. It is hard to imagine where this would be applicable in this case, since such countdowns tend to be short-lived affairs that would be unlikely to continue running for appreciable periods beyond the publication of the new standard.

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 {{w|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.
-There are no "ISO standard food samples", as mentioned in the title text, but the implication is that they would 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]". {{w|ISO 3103}} also describes a standardized method for brewing tea, and hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"]. Apparantly eating these very bland foods is, in [[Randall]]'s opinion, suitable punishment for doing “3, 2, 1, 0, Go!” for a countdown. Why this specific method is disliked by him is unknown, but it could be because it could create confusion due to its similarity to [[Randall]]'s ideal 3, 2, 1, Go! method. Countdowns like “3, 2, 1!” could also create similar confusion, but isn't mentioned in the title text.
+There are no "ISO standard food samples", as mentioned in the title text, but the implication is that they would 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]". {{w|ISO 3103}} also describes a standardized method for brewing tea, and hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"]. Apparently eating these very bland foods is, in Randall's opinion, suitable punishment for doing “3, 2, 1, 0, Go!” for a countdown. This is a rather more robust level of enforcement than the ISO generally employs against violations of its standards.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Explanation==
 {{incomplete|This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-This comic reflects the common trope of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) counting to get everybody to do 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 taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. 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.
+This comic reflects the common trope of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) counting to get everybody to do 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 taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting a beat apart, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over who was at fault.
 "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. It is hard to imagine where this would be applicable in this case, since such countdowns tend to be short-lived affairs that would be unlikely to continue running for appreciable periods beyond the publication of the new standard.

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Explanation==
 {{incomplete|This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-This comic reflects the common trope of people counting to prepare for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) to get everybody to do 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 taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. 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.
+This comic reflects the common trope of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) counting to get everybody to do 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 taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. 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.
 "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. It is hard to imagine where this would be applicable in this case, since such countdowns tend to be short-lived affairs that would be unlikely to continue running for appreciable periods beyond the publication of the new standard.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 {{w|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.
-There are no "ISO standard food samples", as mentioned in the title text, but the implication is that they would 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]". {{w|ISO 3103}} also describes a standardized method for brewing tea, and hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"].
+There are no "ISO standard food samples", as mentioned in the title text, but the implication is that they would 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]". {{w|ISO 3103}} also describes a standardized method for brewing tea, and hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"]. Apparantly eating these very bland food is, in [[Randall]]'s opinion, is suitable punishment for doing 3, 2, 1, 0, Go! for a countdown. Why he hates this pecific method is disliked by him is unknown, but it could be because it could create confusion due to being so similair to [[Randall]]'s ideal 3, 2, 1, Go! method. Countdowns like 3, 2, 1! could also create this confusion, but isn't mentioned in the title text.
 ==Transcript==
 {{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-[the comic shows three different ways of counting down, with red crosses next to the first 2 (1, 2, 3, & 1,2, 3, GO!, with 'deprecated' in red ink next to it. There also is a } sign next to the first 2, saying them as 'too easy to mix up'. The last one (3, 2, 1, GO!) is marked with a green tick, with 'ISO standard, next to the tick.]
+[the comic shows three different ways of counting down, with red crosses next to the first 2 (One, Two, Three!, & One, Two, Three, GO!, with 'deprecated' in red ink next to it. There also is a } sign next to the first 2, saying them as 'too easy to mix up'. The last one (Three, Two, One, GO!) is marked with a green tick, with 'ISO standard, next to the tick.]
 ]Caption below the comic:]
 If I were in charge of ISO, the first thing I would do would be to standardize the way people count out loud before doing something in sync.

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 [the comic shows three different ways of counting down, with red crosses next to the first 2 (1, 2, 3, & 1,2, 3, GO!, ith 'deprecated' in red ink next to it. There also is a } sign next to the first 2, saying them as 'too easy to mix up'. The last one (3, 2, 1, GO!) is marked with a green tick, with 'ISO standard, next to the tick.]
 ]Caption below the comic:]
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>