Editing 1935: 2018
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{{comic | {{comic | ||
| number = 1935 | | number = 1935 | ||
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | In this [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]], [[Megan]] is bizarrely incredulous about basic arithmetic. The dialogue contains several outrageous and blatantly false assertions; we do in fact know that 2018 is ''not'' a leap year; it is easy to accurately determine without guessing if 2018 is evenly divisible by 4 (it's not). For some reason, [[Cueball]] is easily swayed by her aggressively stupid statements. | |
− | + | Megan wonders if 2018 will be a leap year. Cueball thinks 2018 will not be a leap year, and Megan responds that she "doubts anyone knows at this point." This appears to be a jab at the complexity of the leap year system. As Cueball says, leap years occur every four years (though there are a few exceptions), adding an extra day to account for the fact that Earth takes a bit longer than 365 days to orbit the Sun. Therefore, most years that are a multiple of four are leap years. As Megan says, this is easy for odd-numbered years, since no odd numbers are divisible by four. However, for even-numbered years, it isn't always obvious. | |
− | The | + | The last panel expresses a misunderstanding of modern cryptography, which relies on the fact that it is difficult to factorise large numbers. Megan is applying this concept to the year, claiming that it is hard to determine whether or not 2018 is a multiple of four and hence is a leap year. In reality, integer division, which is needed here, is fairly easy. Even if it weren't, 2018 is a sufficiently small number that it can be factorized quickly. Megan states that if it were possible to factor large numbers with a calculator, modern cryptography would collapse. While this is ostensibly true, cryptographic algorithms use numbers much, much bigger than 2018--on the order of hundreds (or even thousands) of digits. |
− | + | At the end of the strip, Megan hopes the answer can be brute-forced by February. Brute force is a method of breaking cryptography by trying every possible option until one works; this is clearly overkill for something as simple as determining whether 2018 is a leap year (it is not). | |
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+ | The title text refers to calculating which day of the week Christmas will fall on. Given that any calendar app will easily tell you, this is not a difficult thing to calculate. Also it always falls on December 25th, and not like for instance Easter which jumps from year to year. | ||
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+ | Released on Friday, December 29, this is the last comic of 2017. The next scheduled comic will be on New Year's Day of 2018. | ||
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+ | This is the third year in a row with New Year's comics with only the year used as the title, before that there where two more comics with such titles, but those two (and thus the first three) were only released in the even years: [[998: 2012]] in 2012, [[1311: 2014]] in 2014, [[1624: 2016]] in 2016 and [[1779: 2017]] in 2017. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Megan is walking.] | + | :[Megan is seen walking.] |
:Megan: I wonder if 2018 will be a leap year. | :Megan: I wonder if 2018 will be a leap year. | ||
− | :[Now it turns out | + | :[Now it turns out Megan is walking with Cueball behind her.] |
− | :Cueball: ... | + | :Cueball: ...It won't be, right? |
:Megan: I doubt anyone knows at this point. | :Megan: I doubt anyone knows at this point. | ||
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:Megan: 50/50 chance. | :Megan: 50/50 chance. | ||
− | :[Zoomed-out view with both walking in silhouette on a dark slightly curved ground.] | + | :[Zoomed-out view with both walking in silhouette on a dark slightly curved ground, which was not shown previously.] |
:Cueball: I can settle this with a calculator. | :Cueball: I can settle this with a calculator. | ||
:Megan: No way. If it were easy to factor large numbers like that, modern cryptography would collapse. | :Megan: No way. If it were easy to factor large numbers like that, modern cryptography would collapse. | ||
:Cueball: I see. | :Cueball: I see. | ||
:Megan: I just hope we manage to brute-force it by February. | :Megan: I just hope we manage to brute-force it by February. | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics sharing name|2017]] | [[Category:Comics sharing name|2017]] | ||
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Math]] |
− | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Time]] |
[[Category:Cryptography]] | [[Category:Cryptography]] |