Editing 761: DFS

In this comic [[Hairy]] is preparing for his date with [[Ponytail]], and has just finished with a shower, as seen from the fact that he is wearing a towel around his waist. (Ironically this makes him more "dressed", than at any other time).  

He is also preparing mentally by thinking about which situations he might encounter during the date. Since he cannot know for sure he is performing a "blind search" in his head. When doing a blind search in computing, there are two main tactics - {{w|depth-first search}} (DFS), and {{w|breadth-first search}} (BFS - as mentioned in the title text).  

Hairy used the DFS, as indicated in the title, which means going as far as you possibly can down one path before looking at other possibilities. This turns out to be a bad idea, as Hairy's searches takes him out of a tangent. Instead of preparing for his date, Hairy instead spent the whole time doing research on snake venom, to the exclusion of even getting dressed in time for the arrival of his date.

By contrast, a breadth-first search will look only minimally into a topic before moving on to another; any new depth exposed by this minimal check will be added to a list of stuff to do later. This would have allowed the man to briefly check many more things within the time allotted, and probably still have been able to get dressed.

The relationship advice given in the title text on using breadth-first search should probably not be taken too seriously, even though one might be more sure about what kind of person one is looking for after already having dated a few people.

{{w|Median lethal dose|LD₅₀}}, or median lethal dose, is the dose of a toxin required to kill 50% of the population studied, usually expressed in milligrams of toxin per kilogram of body mass. The {{w|inland taipan}}'s venom does, indeed, have the lowest median lethal dose among snake venoms. (Fortunately, it is extremely shy in temperament, and will always escape danger rather than bite if it can, which is why it isn't considered to be a particularly dangerous snake.) Incidentally, {{w|corn snakes}} and {{w|garter snakes}} are not even remotely dangerous to humans (in fact they're the most popular pet snakes), and of the four different species commonly known as "{{w|copperheads}}," the only dangerously venomous one is ''{{w|Deinagkistrodon acutus}}'' or sharp-nosed viper. The item that is almost entirely cut off by the thought bubble seems to be "{{w|Coral snake}};" coral snakes are in a similar position as the inland taipan: extremely venomous, but also extremely reclusive.

:[Hairy with wet hair and a towel around his waist thinks with his hand to his chin.]

::1) medical emergency

::2) dancing

::3) food too expensive

:[Close-up on Hairy's face.]

::1)   A) snakebite

::: B) lightning strike

::: C) fall from chair

:[Still thinking...]

::1)A)a) corn snake: ?

::: b) garter snake: ?

::: c) copperhead: ?

:[Sits down in a chair with a laptop, still wearing towel.]

:[Bottom panel is larger than top four, and aligned to right.]

:[Ponytail meets Hairy on his front stoop. She is carrying a purse, and looks down at his towel. Hairy holds his arms in the air triumphantly.]