Difference between revisions of "Talk:2861: X Value"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Yeah, you reply after someone who says you should add things in order, but reply ''before'' them... I'm tempted to ask how I should do what you suggest, BTW, as I have no idea which bit of my browser I would have to change (if it wasn't working OOTB!).)
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As of today, the value of Twitter (which some may call X for unknown reasons) is of 41.09 Billion USD. This might be the joke?
 
As of today, the value of Twitter (which some may call X for unknown reasons) is of 41.09 Billion USD. This might be the joke?
 
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.16|162.158.129.16]] 22:50, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
 
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.16|162.158.129.16]] 22:50, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
: Added as a mention, but Twitter is known as X now - there's not an unknown reason for them calling it that <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'">[[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]<sup>([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]&#124;[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]])</sup></span>  19:51, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
 
  
 
The variable 'n' is often used in computer programs to be a counter for some activity that is repeated 'n' times. 'n' may be user input or it might be a calculated value like the number of items in a list. So the code would be something like, for the integer 'i' starting at 1 and iterating up to 'n' number of times in whatever computer language is being used. In this case, 'n' would be limited to the maximum value of the specific integer type in that computer language on that machine. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 03:34, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
 
The variable 'n' is often used in computer programs to be a counter for some activity that is repeated 'n' times. 'n' may be user input or it might be a calculated value like the number of items in a list. So the code would be something like, for the integer 'i' starting at 1 and iterating up to 'n' number of times in whatever computer language is being used. In this case, 'n' would be limited to the maximum value of the specific integer type in that computer language on that machine. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 03:34, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
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What is wrong with comic 899? I can access other pages, but 899 gives error. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 16:50, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
 
What is wrong with comic 899? I can access other pages, but 899 gives error. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 16:50, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
: Make sure that you have your Math module settings to PNG, not MathML. This creates an error in pages with Math modules as mentioned in the FAQ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'">[[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]<sup>([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]&#124;[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]])</sup></span>  19:45, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
 
 
: ...that comic works for me. By all means I can think of, but especially through either [[899: Number Line]], [[899]] or [[Number Line]] (the latter two being redirect-pages to the first, of course).
 
: ...that comic works for me. By all means I can think of, but especially through either [[899: Number Line]], [[899]] or [[Number Line]] (the latter two being redirect-pages to the first, of course).
 
: Now ''occasionally'' (more frequently than I'd like), the server comes back with a message that it can't (currently, in that instance) give you the page, for reasons of its own. More rarely (but not unknown), Cloudflare with tell you that the whole site just isn't responding. But (wait and) try again and it usually works. (Unless you've just filled in a CAPTCHA, in submitting a page edit, in which case it's likely to tell you that the CAPTCHA is wrong/not ticked/completed it, so you get told off and have to try again.)
 
: Now ''occasionally'' (more frequently than I'd like), the server comes back with a message that it can't (currently, in that instance) give you the page, for reasons of its own. More rarely (but not unknown), Cloudflare with tell you that the whole site just isn't responding. But (wait and) try again and it usually works. (Unless you've just filled in a CAPTCHA, in submitting a page edit, in which case it's likely to tell you that the CAPTCHA is wrong/not ticked/completed it, so you get told off and have to try again.)
: If it's not such a transient problem, for you, could you let us know in what context you're trying to get there and failing? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.199|172.71.178.199]] 19:22, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
+
: If it's not such a transient problem, for you, could you let us know in what context you're trying to get there and failing?  
: PS. "New comments should be added at the bottom." Answer: Because it's confusing. Question: Why ''shouldn't'' we put new things in front of old things?
+
: PS. "New comments should be added at the bottom." Answer: Because it's confusing. Question: Why ''shouldn't'' we put new things in front of old things? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.199|172.71.178.199]] 19:22, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
 +
: Make sure that you have your Math module settings to PNG, not MathML. This creates an error in pages with Math modules as mentioned in the FAQ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'">[[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]<sup>([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]&#124;[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]])</sup></span>  19:45, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

Revision as of 00:15, 1 December 2023

transcript and short explanation added someone, i guess(talk i guess|le edit list) 18:47, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Is there an easter egg here? Is 4.1083 a significant constant in some field? 172.71.154.91 19:00, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Dunno...but when I Googled it, it came up with a picture of a motorcycle I used to own - same vintage, same colour, same non-original aftermarket panniers - which was a little strange. Anybody else return any results centred around long-since-departed vehicles?
Or not? Yorkshire Pudding (talk) 19:31, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
Googling for it showed me... a picture of this very xkcd. It's recursive? Ralfoide (talk) 20:46, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
Nothing interesting on Wolfram Alpha either https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=4.1083 Ruffy314 (talk) 16:26, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
I noted a proximity of "4.108(3)" to "42" and wondered if there was a connection ("how close can I get to 'the answer' without getting hammered for plagiarism or infringement?"). The comment below suggesting a link to the November 2023 "value" (= market capitalization) of X/Twitter is brilliant, but given that the market cap figure seems to have been posted on the day this comic was released, plus the evidence from comic 899, "coincidence" is probably the best explanation.162.158.186.118 18:27, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

https://www.der-postillon.com/2012/08/mathemuffel-erleichtert-wert-von-x-ein.html 172.68.110.148 20:42, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

This is in german, could you maybe give a translation at least? someone, i guess(talk i guess|le edit list) 20:45, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
Basically the same joke, x being set to 5 in this case. The website is a satirical online newspaper. --Coconut Galaxy (talk) 06:12, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

The "narrowing down" of n might be a reference to a combinatorics problem Ron Graham was solving, managing to narrow down the dimensions of the hypercube with a certain property to be more than 6 and less than... Well, Graham's Number. 172.71.122.209 22:12, 29 November 2023 (UTC)jamieth

Even that is accomplishment. Really, narrowing number down from infinite set to finite one is the biggest narrowing you can do. -- Hkmaly (talk) 23:29, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

"In string theory the number of flux vacua is commonly thought to be roughly 10^500,[4] but could be 10^272,000[5] or higher." -- String theory landscape#Compactified Calabi–Yau manifolds Abclop99 (talk) 22:23, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

As of today, the value of Twitter (which some may call X for unknown reasons) is of 41.09 Billion USD. This might be the joke? 162.158.129.16 22:50, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

The variable 'n' is often used in computer programs to be a counter for some activity that is repeated 'n' times. 'n' may be user input or it might be a calculated value like the number of items in a list. So the code would be something like, for the integer 'i' starting at 1 and iterating up to 'n' number of times in whatever computer language is being used. In this case, 'n' would be limited to the maximum value of the specific integer type in that computer language on that machine. Rtanenbaum (talk) 03:34, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

A result that the math community has been waiting for for a long long time! 172.71.103.135 08:16, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

What is wrong with comic 899? I can access other pages, but 899 gives error. SDSpivey (talk) 16:50, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

...that comic works for me. By all means I can think of, but especially through either 899: Number Line, 899 or Number Line (the latter two being redirect-pages to the first, of course).
Now occasionally (more frequently than I'd like), the server comes back with a message that it can't (currently, in that instance) give you the page, for reasons of its own. More rarely (but not unknown), Cloudflare with tell you that the whole site just isn't responding. But (wait and) try again and it usually works. (Unless you've just filled in a CAPTCHA, in submitting a page edit, in which case it's likely to tell you that the CAPTCHA is wrong/not ticked/completed it, so you get told off and have to try again.)
If it's not such a transient problem, for you, could you let us know in what context you're trying to get there and failing?
PS. "New comments should be added at the bottom." Answer: Because it's confusing. Question: Why shouldn't we put new things in front of old things? 172.71.178.199 19:22, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
Make sure that you have your Math module settings to PNG, not MathML. This creates an error in pages with Math modules as mentioned in the FAQ someone, i guess(talk i guess|le edit list) 19:45, 30 November 2023 (UTC)