xkcd

[Tetrimino]

I noticed there was no thread for xkcd, and it's the only other webcomic I read.

Anyone want to talk about it?

[Leewei]

It's a fun, witty, and often confusing comic. Unlike the other webcomics here, there isn't anything like a plot to fuel a discussion.

[AvatarVecna]

It's a fun, witty, and often confusing comic. Unlike the other webcomics here, there isn't anything like a plot to fuel a discussion.

I dunno, this thread did okay while it ran. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?480436-xkcd-1-(As-Far-As-I-Can-Tell)-Wow-That-s-a-Really-Cool-Baby!) Posting there would be thread necromancy, though, so making a new thread was maybe the right move?

There was a comic I wanted to say something about recently, but the thread was locked. What was it...oh right, this one (http://xkcd.com/1771/)! So...you think Luke gave Yoda this much crap about grammar? :smalltongue:

EDIT: Plus, giving a dude crap for using archaic rules of grammar when he's legitimately ancient would be like complaining about Shakespeare speaking like a character from one of his plays.

[GAAD]

IT ME I ALLOWED IT is far funnier than it has any right to be.

[137beth]

EDIT: Plus, giving a dude crap for using archaic rules of grammar when he's legitimately ancient would be like complaining about Shakespeare speaking like a character from one of his plays.

I was about to say "Palpatine isn't that much older than Luke and Anakin, is he? He's not ancient the way Yoda is."
And then I remembered that it's Star Wars, so everything is ancient.

[AvatarVecna]

I was about to say "Palpatine isn't that much older than Luke and Anakin, is he? He's not ancient the way Yoda is."
And then I remembered that it's Star Wars, so everything is ancient.

My recollection was that Sideous had gained some kind of immortality secret from the Sith that trained him, and he had at least a couple centuries under his belt - if only because he was able to hold his own against the 877+ year old Jedi Master Yoda, who's likely so powerful due to having been doing this Force crap for so long. A quick perusal of the wiki shows that he was 86 at the time of his death, with Vader and Luke being 45/23 respectively. That means that the Palpatine we see in Episode III, who killed three Jedi Masters before they could react, who only "failed" to beat Windu because he was sandbagging to stall long enough for Anakin to arrive and cement himself firmly in the dark side, and who later dueled Yoda to a draw/win, was only about 63. I mean, that's old for a human, but not anything like what I was expecting. I guess the Dark Side really is better, if it lets a dude power-level anywhere between 4 and 10 times as quickly as the Light Side practitioners. :smalltongue:

[Yuki Akuma]

Well, do remember that Yoda had been relegated to training younglings for the past Force-knows-how-long, and the galaxy was experiencing an unprecedented era of peace. He had no real reason to keep pushing himself to improve.

I'd also imagine the Sith are trained to fight other Force users way more comprehensively than Jedi are, given that's their whole deal.

[Xihirli]

In the novelization, it's stated that Jedi learn a fighting style based on reflecting blaster fire, and Dooku used an old-fashioned fencing technique from when the Sith were more numerous than two and Jedi were trained to fight saber-on-saber.
Of course, Yoda should remember that fighting style.

This is LIKE a discussion on xkcd.

[eschmenk]

I noticed there was no thread for xkcd, and it's the only other webcomic I read.

Anyone want to talk about it?

That won't actually work. Whenever there is a thread about XKCD, the conversation turns to something related to a recent XKCD comic, like grammar or Star Wars, rather than the comic itself. Not that I'm complaining, but it seems inevitable. :smallamused:

I guess it's that the topics that Randall chooses are often topics that people find frustrating or just like to talk about.

[Tetrimino]

Well, do remember that Yoda had been relegated to training younglings for the past Force-knows-how-long, and the galaxy was experiencing an unprecedented era of peace. He had no real reason to keep pushing himself to improve.

I'd also imagine the Sith are trained to fight other Force users way more comprehensively than Jedi are, given that's their whole deal.

Really? I'd think that someone who says "do or do not, there is no try" would be the type to always try to improve.

That being said, one of the books has a whole thing about how Jedi who use the force too much always turn to the Dark Side, so he could have stopped becoming more powerful on purpose.

[Ibrinar]

Actually it means when he can't do something he just immediately stops trying. Joda was telling Luck that he was a failure and should just give up.

[Kato]

I'm too lazy to look but I feel this is like the tenth xkcd thread... And like all others it's doomed to die. Most strips are just not fit for discussion.. Sure, this time we could come up with a bunch more adjective foods but else?

[Olinser]

In the novelization, it's stated that Jedi learn a fighting style based on reflecting blaster fire, and Dooku used an old-fashioned fencing technique from when the Sith were more numerous than two and Jedi were trained to fight saber-on-saber.
Of course, Yoda should remember that fighting style.

This is LIKE a discussion on xkcd.

Canonically there were 7 main lightsaber styles in use by the Jedi, each with different strengths and weaknesses, and various small variations and sub-forms.

And yes, Dooku used both a fighting style and lightsaber style that were based around saber to saber dueling, which gave him a huge advantage.

[Tetrimino]

Going to move back to the topic of the actual comic...

The title text says

" Guess who has two thumbs and spent the night in an ER after trying to rescue a kitten that ran under his car at a stoplight and climbed up into the engine compartment? And, thanks to antibiotics, will continue having two thumbs? THIS GUY. (P.S. kitten is safe!)"

Did this actually happen? Explain xkcd says it did, but I'm not sure where they would have gotten it from.

[Leewei]

Going to move back to the topic of the actual comic...

The title text says

" Guess who has two thumbs and spent the night in an ER after trying to rescue a kitten that ran under his car at a stoplight and climbed up into the engine compartment? And, thanks to antibiotics, will continue having two thumbs? THIS GUY. (P.S. kitten is safe!)"

Did this actually happen? Explain xkcd says it did, but I'm not sure where they would have gotten it from.

The comic itself has an entry,

"That cat bites are really serious and if bitten you need to wash the bite and call a doctor immediately"

It looks like Randall Munroe got one of his thumbs preyed upon by a kitty.

[Fri]

not just bite, claws as well actually. Though obviously not all cats have it, there's a really bacteria that mainly grow on cat claws and can give you serious infection. I read stories once in a while about a guy who got clawed by stray cat and went into sepsis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-scratch_disease

[137beth]

So is BHG basing his assertion on actual early folklore I'm not familiar with, or is he just changing it to creep people out?

[The Glyphstone]

It's a reference to Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse that pulled Odin's chariot in Norse myth. The link to Santa delivering gifts is probably BHG's 'improvement'.

[Yuki Akuma]

The modern image of Santa is basically Odin with both eyes wearing a different hat.

[Tetrimino]

I'm not sure if that counts as more authentic...

[Kato]

The modern image of Santa is basically Odin with both eyes wearing a different hat.

Really? I'm not aware of all Norse myths but I can't recall any considering Odin a gift bringer... like, why would he? Just because both are old, omniscient bearded guys..?

That said... it would be cool if Rudolph was originally one eighth of Sleipnir.

[Tetrimino]

Really? I'm not aware of all Norse myths but I can't recall any considering Odin a gift bringer... like, why would he? Just because both are old, omniscient bearded guys..?

That said... it would be cool if Rudolph was originally one eighth of Sleipnir.

It's not really a myth we hear a lot about, but the Norse believed that Odin rode across the land every Yule (their winter holiday). Children would leave one of their boots outside filled with hay, and when Odin passed he would leave presents in the boots, and his horse would eat the hay. That's where we get the idea of Santa leaving gifts in our stockings.

[Eldan]

The only related thing I know is that Odin would wander the land every winter in disguise and if people were hospitable to him, by offering him food and shelter from the cold, he would reward them with gifts.

[Iruka]

Odin is in some myths also the leader of the Wild Hunt, most active in the 12 nights of Yule.

The german wikipedia claims that according to one legend, the leader of the Wild Hunt warned people with a "Hohoho!" of the approaching host, but does not cite a source.

[Slayn82]

So, summing up: back then, before there was a Christmas, Odin had a nice thing going for him: he would go around seeing if people where hospitable, exchanged gifts with those who were nice enough to give food to him and his mounts, and in case people weren't, he had a Wild Hunt? Kind of a second, exclusive Halloween?

[Peelee]

It's not really a myth we hear a lot about, but the Norse believed that Odin rode across the land every Yule (their winter holiday). Children would leave one of their boots outside filled with hay, and when Odin passed he would leave presents in the boots, and his horse would eat the hay. That's where we get the idea of Santa leaving gifts in our stockings.

There's also an Austrian tradition of leaving shoes outside on St. Nick's Day (Dec 16), for him to fill with candy overnight. Don't think it's Norse derived, but I'm unsure.

[Tetrimino]

There's also an Austrian tradition of leaving shoes outside on St. Nick's Day (Dec 16), for him to fill with candy overnight. Don't think it's Norse derived, but I'm unsure.

It could be from there too, it's hard to tell. There's so many different cultures with similar traditions that no one really knows where it started.

[Kato]

There's also an Austrian tradition of leaving shoes outside on St. Nick's Day (Dec 16), for him to fill with candy overnight. Don't think it's Norse derived, but I'm unsure.

16th? We do it on the 6th. Weird, never knew we were a week early on that,too.
Also, if Odin used to be Santa.. I think naughty kids got more than a lump of coal.

[Kantaki]

16th? We do it on the 6th. Weird, never knew we were a week early on that,too.
Also, if Odin used to be Santa.. I think naughty kids got more than a lump of coal.

Well duh. Used to be that naughty kids got beat up. Or worse depending where you are from.
Even when I was a kid the threat was still there.

I'm not kidding. One year I actually got a warning shot in my boot.
That is some motivation to be a nice kid.

What kind of punishment is a piece of coal anyway? Wouldn't that only give the kids ideas?

[Eldan]

They still theoretically get beat up over here. Santa is accompanied by a couple of burly woodsmen carrying sticks and big empty sacks, who are responsible for grabbing naughty kids.

Just one more reason Santa scares the **** out of kids when he comes knocking at your house.

[Kantaki]

By the way, to make this clear, by warning shot I meant a huge stick in my shoe with a message along the lines of „Clean up your act or next time I'll use it” attached to it and by when I was a kid I mean maybe 16 years ago.

So yeah, Santa/the Nikolaus/however we call the old man is scary.
Especially when christmas time comes closer.
He knows everything you have done. He has seen you do it. And he will punish you.

At least I usually didn't have to meet him. Mostly left the gifts under the tree while the family went for a walk*.
Well, there was one year when we visited another part of the family where he delivered the gifts personally. And you had to sing/recite something to get them. Scariest Christmas ever.:smalleek: The fact that I was old enough to know it was just someone in a costume didn't help at all.

*Respectively in the shoes depending wether we talk about 24.12 or 06.12.

[Eldan]

See, in Switzerland, HE COMES TO YOUR HOUSE. At night. And then stands in your living room and reads you a list of everything you did wrong that year.

[Peelee]

16th? We do it on the 6th. Weird, never knew we were a week early on that,too.
Also, if Odin used to be Santa.. I think naughty kids got more than a lump of coal.

Huh... Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas_Day) says you're right, and there's no mention of an Austria-specific 16th for the day, but that's what I remember it as. Maybe it was just the 6th, and I'm remembering it wrong? I dunno. Coulda sworn it was the 16th, but now I feel like I should call my mom sometime and verify.

[Tetrimino]

See, in Switzerland, HE COMES TO YOUR HOUSE. At night. And then stands in your living room and reads you a list of everything you did wrong that year.

Yikes... Switzerland must be a scary place...

[Fri]

Why do you think it got the highest number of gun per capita and everyone are trained to use it?

[Anteros]

Why do you think it got the highest number of gun per capita and everyone are trained to use it?

It doesn't though? Although it is fairly high up the list.

[Fri]

Well, they know what to ask santa then.

[Rodin]

Well, they know what to ask santa then.

Asking scary Swiss Santa for a gun seems like a fast track to a Darwin award.

"You want a gun? Oh, I'll give you a gun! HO. HO. HOOOOO!"

[Anteros]

You've gone full Futurama now. That isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[Kantaki]

You've gone full Futurama now. That isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Futurama Santa is harmless. Almost cuddly.:smallbiggrin:

[Eldan]

Why do you think it got the highest number of gun per capita and everyone are trained to use it?

"Everyone" is vastly overstating it. Something like 50% of all men get themselves declared unfit for duty. THe higher educated, the higher that number, too. WHen I was being drafted, 19/20 college students in my group got out on technicalities or mental problems.

[Kato]

I'm not kidding. One year I actually got a warning shot in my boot.
That is some motivation to be a nice kid.


How do you get a warning shot in your boot? Except the literal one...?

[Kantaki]

How do you get a warning shot in your boot? Except the literal one...?

I wasn't wearing it.

The message was still very clear.

[Tetrimino]

I wasn't wearing it.

The message was still very clear.

I assumed you were speaking metaphorically.

That story just got WAY scarier.

[Kantaki]

I assumed you were speaking metaphorically.

That story just got WAY scarier.

:smallbiggrin:That was unintended.
But funny.:smallbiggrin:
And no, it wasn't a literal shot.
This is what happened:


By the way, to make this clear, by warning shot I meant a huge stick in my shoe with a message along the lines of „Clean up your act or next time I'll use it” attached to it and by when I was a kid I mean maybe 16 years ago.

[The Glyphstone]

I was going to say, that's one badass Santa.

[Kato]

:smallbiggrin:That was unintended.
But funny.:smallbiggrin:
And no, it wasn't a literal shot.
This is what happened:

Ah, I missed that. My bad, now it's much less scary :smallredface:


Today's comic reminds me off when I tried to fix my phone... :smallsigh: Yes, I can be an idiot. Also, a clumsy idiot.

[Kaptin Keen]

The funny thing about Odin is that he - along with the rest of norse mythology - changes a lot once christianity starts making it's entry into northern Europe. So personally I find it doubtful he was 'Santa' before the coming of christ. He was, after all, the god of death and the afterlife, originally.

Also exceptionally deceitful, selfish, greedy, fickle ... and so on.

The whole Allfather affair is definitely a later adaption.

[137beth]

Regarding today's comic...I can't say I haven't done something similar myself:smallredface:

[Tetrimino]

:smallbiggrin:That was unintended.
But funny.:smallbiggrin:
And no, it wasn't a literal shot.
This is what happened:
I must have missed that part, the story makes more sense now.

[Tetrimino]

The funny thing about Odin is that he - along with the rest of norse mythology - changes a lot once christianity starts making it's entry into northern Europe. So personally I find it doubtful he was 'Santa' before the coming of christ. He was, after all, the god of death and the afterlife, originally.

Also exceptionally deceitful, selfish, greedy, fickle ... and so on.

The whole Allfather affair is definitely a later adaption.

God of the afterlife? Isn't Hel supposed to be deity of the afterlife?

[Kantaki]

God of the afterlife? Isn't Hel supposed to be deity of the afterlife?

Odin (and Freya) got the souls of those who died honorable, in battle.
Everyone else ended up with Hel.

[Kaptin Keen]

God of the afterlife? Isn't Hel supposed to be deity of the afterlife?

Thing is - my noble ancestors didn't have written records. Everything known about ancient norse religion is written down in the 1200's or later, when the bloody christians introduced us to writing.

By then, norse mythology was trying to reinvent itself to compete with all the happy nonsense of christendom: A pleasant afterlife, the message of love, and so on. Hence, it's highly unclear what the original religion was like.

For one thing - I didn't see anyone mention this yet - there are some who believe Loke and Odin were originally the same guy. Same for Frig and Freya.

So ... point is, it's all rather opague. But, Odin appears quite simply to be older than Hel. And he's not just the god of the dead. He's a shaman, a shapeshifter, he has several animal companions, he's a trickster, he is connected to horses and spears and whatnot. Also, he's the Allfather, the highest of the asa, yet he wasn't worshipped much - this follows from the fact that not many places are named for him.

And then of course there's quite a bit of discussion on whether or not he was, at some point, a historical figure. And whether the norse gods are asa, because they came from asia.

=)

[Anteros]

I'm pretty sure talking about "the happy nonsense" of other religions is against board rules.

[Tetrimino]

Odin (and Freya) got the souls of those who died honorable, in battle.
Everyone else ended up with Hel.

Ah, right. I forgot how complicated the Norse afterlife is.

[Kaptin Keen]

I'm pretty sure talking about "the happy nonsense" of other religions is against board rules.

I think taking things out of context also is? I do go on to explain that 'happy nonsense' = 'love, paradise, salvation'.

These are simple facts: Christendom (new testament) is primarily about pleasant things, love, understanding, forgiveness, and so on.

By contrast, asa faith is all about strength, power, deceit, sex ... and so on.

When it became obvious that christendom was pulling ahead despite it's unmanly lack of focus on lopping off heads and limbs, asa faith adapted, adding in a less unpleasant afterlife.

If you must insist on deliberately misunderstanding - go ahead, I don't really mind. But don't make me out as a bigot or whatever by randomly picking half a sentence to throw back in my face. Thanks =)

[AvatarVecna]

I think taking things out of context also is? I do go on to explain that 'happy nonsense' = 'love, paradise, salvation'.

These are simple facts: Christendom (new testament) is primarily about pleasant things, love, understanding, forgiveness, and so on.

By contrast, asa faith is all about strength, power, deceit, sex ... and so on.

When it became obvious that christendom was pulling ahead despite it's unmanly lack of focus on lopping off heads and limbs, asa faith adapted, adding in a less unpleasant afterlife.

If you must insist on deliberately misunderstanding - go ahead, I don't really mind. But don't make me out as a bigot or whatever by randomly picking half a sentence to throw back in my face. Thanks =)

You're misunderstanding: being a bigot is not against board rules (just several of the side-effects of being a bigot :smallwink:). Discussing real-world religion is against Forum Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/announcement.php?a=1).

[Anteros]

I think taking things out of context also is? I do go on to explain that 'happy nonsense' = 'love, paradise, salvation'.

These are simple facts: Christendom (new testament) is primarily about pleasant things, love, understanding, forgiveness, and so on.

By contrast, asa faith is all about strength, power, deceit, sex ... and so on.

When it became obvious that christendom was pulling ahead despite it's unmanly lack of focus on lopping off heads and limbs, asa faith adapted, adding in a less unpleasant afterlife.

If you must insist on deliberately misunderstanding - go ahead, I don't really mind. But don't make me out as a bigot or whatever by randomly picking half a sentence to throw back in my face. Thanks =)

I don't think it makes you a bigot for not believing in something, but this whole conversation is against board rules (for precisely this reason) and we'll all likely get nuked as soon as a mod notices it.

[Douglas]

The Mod Radiant: A) Discussion of real world religion is indeed not allowed on these forums, whether or not you're stating facts and clinical analysis without opinion or advocacy.
B) Please leave the pointing out of such things to the actual moderators. If you need to get a moderator's attention in order to make it happen, use the report button.

[Kaptin Keen]

There has been zero discussion of any religion. Not that I'm aware of. Detailing aspects of religion is not discussion.

That also isn't what the rules state. Never mind. I'm 100% agnostic at any rate, and feel nothing but historical attachment to religion. I did want to respond to what is to be nothing but a baseless personal attack.

[Lethologica]

Is there a particular statistical controversy that prompted today's comic about mishandled artifacts?

[halfeye]

There has been zero discussion of any religion. Not that I'm aware of. Detailing aspects of religion is not discussion.

That also isn't what the rules state.

Ooh,


Prove it.



Never mind. I'm 100% agnostic at any rate, and feel nothing but historical attachment to religion.

Interesting, I'm aestheistic to all human religions, and agnostic as to the existence of a cause of the Big Bang, but we're still not allowed to mention any of that.


Is there a particular statistical controversy that prompted today's comic about mishandled artifacts?

Probably not. There are a whole bunch that loosely fit it, so I presume those're the aiming point.

[Tetrimino]

Is there a particular statistical controversy that prompted today's comic about mishandled artifacts?

Not that I know of.

I think it's more just a joke about people not handling their data correctly.

[Kaptin Keen]

We all know about this one (http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page), right?

[keybounce]

So, catching up, the idea of a mountain being compared to a fireworks, with a reference to volcanoes...

Lets just ignore the winter holy days and move on, mkay?

---

EDIT:
And then in a twinkling, a sound gave me pause / From the roof came the scratching of eight tarsal claws.

I think that would be worse than my cat :-).

[137beth]

Today's (http://xkcd.com/) comic is me with a web browser. I'm not going to install an "app" that is actually just a website but takes up space on my hard drive and has more ads than the website it is supposed to imitate.

[Tetrimino]

Today's (http://xkcd.com/) comic is me with a web browser. I'm not going to install an "app" that is actually just a website but takes up space on my hard drive and has more ads than the website it is supposed to imitate.

Really? I've had pretty much the opposite experience. Granted, I don't have many website-apps, but the ones I do use have less or the same amount of ads than the site normally does.

[Peelee]

Really? I've had pretty much the opposite experience. Granted, I don't have many website-apps, but the ones I do use have less or the same amount of ads than the site normally does.

The problem with apps that are basically websites is that you lose functionality with the app. Same with mobile sites. Hate 'em all.

[Tetrimino]

About today's (http://xkcd.com/1784/) comic...
Is this an actual photoshop tool? Because I use photoshop and didn't know this was a thing.

[137beth]

Really? I've had pretty much the opposite experience. Granted, I don't have many website-apps, but the ones I do use have less or the same amount of ads than the site normally does.
Depends on the app and website in question, obviously. But in general, I have more fine-grain control over ad-blocking in a browser than I do in an app.

The problem with apps that are basically websites is that you lose functionality with the app. Same with mobile sites. Hate 'em all.
Yep, I use a fake useragent string to see "desktop" sites everywhere. (Except Giantitp.com, where there is actually a setting to always go to the full site if you are logged in:smallsmile:).

One particularly bad offender is Yelp. The "mobile" site often won't let me see an entire review if it is beyond a certain length, or even see all the reviews for a particular store. Trying to click to see the whole review redirects to a full-screen ad for their app. Meanwhile, the Yelp app, last time I tried using it, was impossible to use without logging in to a Yelp account (in contrast with the website, which doesn't require a log-in). And was missing functionality of the website anyways. It's possible that the Yelp app has gotten better since then, but I stopped caring because I don't need it: the "desktop" version of yelp.com is perfectly usable on my iPhone.

[Peelee]

Yep, I use a fake useragent string to see "desktop" sites everywhere. (Except Giantitp.com, where there is actually a setting to always go to the full site if you are logged in:smallsmile:).

No iphone, but I have an option in the quick settings menu, for lack of a better term (same place I can find the "find on page" button) an option to switch to desktop view.

An interesting part of this is how it reacts with Facebook. Mobile view is more convenient on that site, since things like the Messages button are tiny once desktop-ized, and inconvenient. Mobile site is *also* inconvenient for messages, since it demands that you download the Facebook Messenger app, which I ain't doin'. However, if I go into the comments of a status, then hit View Desktop Mode, it still gives me the mobile view, but suddenly I can see and write messages without any issues. Which means to me that they never took that functionality out of the mobile site, they just blocked it with "DOWNLOAD OUR APP" bullcrap. Which I can now get around. Suck it, Zuckerberg (http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/017/366/gray-wolf-howl.jpg)!

[Tetrimino]

Depends on the app and website in question, obviously. But in general, I have more fine-grain control over ad-blocking in a browser than I do in an app.

Yep, I use a fake useragent string to see "desktop" sites everywhere. (Except Giantitp.com, where there is actually a setting to always go to the full site if you are logged in:smallsmile:).

One particularly bad offender is Yelp. The "mobile" site often won't let me see an entire review if it is beyond a certain length, or even see all the reviews for a particular store. Trying to click to see the whole review redirects to a full-screen ad for their app. Meanwhile, the Yelp app, last time I tried using it, was impossible to use without logging in to a Yelp account (in contrast with the website, which doesn't require a log-in). And was missing functionality of the website anyways. It's possible that the Yelp app has gotten better since then, but I stopped caring because I don't need it: the "desktop" version of yelp.com is perfectly usable on my iPhone.

On a semi-related note, I've recently noticed that the yahoo fantasy sports app is in in most ways better than the website. Which is odd, since you'd think that's the kind of thing most people do on a PC.

[137beth]

New comic is up. (http://xkcd.com/1786/) So Black Hat Guy is hoarding all the entrances to Narnia?

[halfeye]

New comic is up. (http://xkcd.com/1786/) So Black Hat Guy is hoarding all the entrances to Narnia?
Black hat guy is a baddie, in xkcd. He's dumping his refuse/garbage in Narnia. I think he implied his furniture and presumably everyone else's comes like that by default, but he's a baddie so he could be lying about it being a default if nobody else is doing it.

[Tetrimino]

Black hat guy is a baddie, in xkcd. He's dumping his refuse/garbage in Narnia. I think he implied his furniture and presumably everyone else's comes like that by default, but he's a baddie so he could be lying about it being a default if nobody else is doing it.

Agreed. He's probably lying about half his furniture having a portal (how could there be a portal to Narnia in a sofa). Hat guy is just saving time and money by installing a chute in the wardrobe.

Then again, this could be like beret guy and his groceries in http://xkcd.com/1772/

[Keltest]

Agreed. He's probably lying about half his furniture having a portal (how could there be a portal to Narnia in a sofa). Hat guy is just saving time and money by installing a chute in the wardrobe.

Then again, this could be like beret guy and his groceries in http://xkcd.com/1772/

I dunno, a portal to Narnia in my sofa would explain where all the stuff I lose in it goes.

[John Campbell]

"okay google send a text"

[Tetrimino]

New comic! (http://xkcd.com/1789/)

I understand the problem, but why would you want calls forwarded to your google voice number when you have a cell phone?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

New comic! (http://xkcd.com/1789/)

I understand the problem, but why would you want calls forwarded to your google voice number when you have a cell phone?

I'm more likely to be close to my laptop than my phone when not at work. Skype is usually a more reliable way of getting hold of me than any of my mobile phones, in fact, since Skype works in all the places, while I have different phones in different countries.

GW

[eschmenk]

New comic! (http://xkcd.com/1789/)

I understand the problem, but why would you want calls forwarded to your google voice number when you have a cell phone?

Because Google finally updated Voice yesterday (https://blog.google/products/google-voice/ringing-2017-updates-our-google-voice-apps/), so ATM it's the newest, flashiest thing? :smallconfused: (That doesn't apply to me--I just happened to spot an email mentioning the update--but it might apply to some people.) There will be times when people would have access to the internet, but not their cellphone coverage, so I could see people using Google Voice to consolidate things, though.

In any case, I suspect the current comic was motivated by the idea that people would react to the recent update to Google Voice and start forwarding stuff to it.

[Peelee]

New comic! (http://xkcd.com/1789/)

I understand the problem, but why would you want calls forwarded to your google voice number when you have a cell phone?

Friend of mine works in an office that effectively blocks out all cell signal (a byproduct of other protective necessities around his office). It's helpful.

[Rodin]

Friend of mine works in an office that effectively blocks out all cell signal (a byproduct of other protective necessities around his office). It's helpful.

It's also useful for other shenanigans. To contact my father in England, I call a US number...which forwards to a UK number...which forwards to his Skype. All to avoid paying long distance. Bizarre arrangement that I don't really understand how it works, but it seems to do the trick.

[Eldan]

Why not just use Skype yourself?

[Rodin]

Why not just use Skype yourself?

When I'm sat at my desktop, sure, we do video chats. For calls, I already have a plan for my cell-phone, so it would cost more for me to add Skype to it. This lets me call domestic from my cell (which is free under my plan) and reach him internationally.

[gomipile]

What time of day does XKCD update?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

What time of day does XKCD update?

Used to be midnight, but for the last few months, it has been late. Possibly due to the feelings expressed in #1790 (https://xkcd.com/1790/).

GW

[halfeye]

Possibly due to the feelings expressed in #1790 (https://xkcd.com/1790/).

GW

There were feelings in that?

She was writing code that did nothing (that's what "no side effects" means, more or less (it's complicated, but that's about 90% right), I don't know whether you know that).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_effect_(computer_science)

[eschmenk]

There were feelings in that?

Yes. She's sad and depressed and upset and uncooperative.


She was writing code that did nothing (that's what "no side effects" means, more or less (it's complicated, but that's about 90% right), I don't know whether you know that).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_effect_(computer_science)

Yes, it's obvious that she was writing code that did nothing. That's a symptom of her sadness. Programmers can write useful functions using functional programming that doesn't introduce any side effects. She was just too depressed to do it and was apparently wildly exaggerating (in her mind) what could go wrong, but mostly it was an excuse to not do anything. You seem to have misunderstood the wiki article.

[halfeye]

Yes. She's sad and depressed and upset and uncooperative.

That would be evil, and should be punished. :smallwink:


Yes, it's obvious that she was writing code that did nothing. That's a symptom of her sadness. Programmers can write useful functions using functional programming that doesn't introduce any side effects. She was just too depressed to do it and was apparently wildly exaggerating (in her mind) what could go wrong, but mostly it was an excuse to not do anything.

That may have been implied, but I don't think it was explicity stated. She was writing code, it was just code that didn't do anything, if she hadn't been writing code she wouldn't have been doing anything, as it was she was doing something, it was just that what she did didn't do anything. I suspect it's a programming joke, not a depiction of depression.


You seem to have misunderstood the wiki article.

Yeah, I definitely don't get oo or functional programming, the former more than the latter, but it's certainly not clear enough that I can explain it succinctly.

[eschmenk]

It seems very likely to me that the specific comic was inspired by feeling of sadness and unhappiness, either on the part of Randall or those around him. Probably both. Given recent RW events that can't be discussed under forum rules, I would have expected him to be at least somewhat dismayed even if I hadn't seen the comic. Tending to confirm this, there have been other comics in the last few months that have also seemed to hint at Randall being unhappy. This one (https://xkcd.com/1779/) is another example.

Just in case you missed it, the comic's title is "Sad." I think it's intended to be taken in a "what it says on the tin" sort of way.

[AMX]

That would be evil, and should be punished. :smallwink:
What. :smallmad:


That may have been implied, but I don't think it was explicity stated. She was writing code, it was just code that didn't do anything, if she hadn't been writing code she wouldn't have been doing anything, as it was she was doing something, it was just that what she did didn't do anything. I suspect it's a programming joke, not a depiction of depression.
It's quite obvious that it's both.

[halfeye]

What. :smallmad:

It was a joke, you may have heard of them.


It's quite obvious that it's both.

Not obvious to me.


It seems very likely to me that the specific comic was inspired by feeling of sadness and unhappiness, either on the part of Randall or those around him. Probably both. Given recent RW events that can't be discussed under forum rules, I would have expected him to be at least somewhat dismayed even if I hadn't seen the comic. There have been other comics in the last few months that have also seemed to hint at Randall being unhappy, too. This one (https://xkcd.com/1779/) is an example.

Politics is small beer, compared to, say, cancer.


Just in case you missed it, the comic's title is "Sad." I think it's intended to be taken in a "what it says on the tin" sort of way.

Yes, I missed that, it may be significant.

[AMX]

It was a joke, you may have heard of them.

I'm quite aware of that, thank you very much.
And I also know that "It was only a joke" is no excuse.

[Peelee]

I'm quite aware of that, thank you very much.
And I also know that "It was only a joke" is no excuse.

No excuse for what?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

No excuse for what?

For suggesting that sad and depressed and upset and uncooperative people (or possibly women) is evil and should be punished.

As jokes go, I agree it was in bad taste, smiley or not.

Context FTR:


Yes. She's sad and depressed and upset and uncooperative.
That would be evil, and should be punished. :smallwink:

GW

[keybounce]

Yes. She's sad and depressed and upset and uncooperative.

We will just have to continue the testing until morale improves.

[halfeye]

We will just have to continue the testing until morale improves.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81nPoUHGBdL._SX522_.jpg

From:

https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Flogging-Continue-Morale-Improves/dp/B00A9VLX1K

There are dozens of others. I think I may have first come across it in Milligan's military memoirs, but there seem to be suggestions on the web today that it's a lot older than that.

The whole point is that it's completely absurd and nonsensical.

[Lethologica]

Not obvious to me.
-Title is "Sad"
-Responds to "How are you doing" with "Hah."
-Using video games to hide from the real world.
-Is ranting in programming comments.
-Inability to "deal with this" expressed through her code.
-(Speculative) Lack of effects related to lack of affect.

I'm not sure what you need to be convinced. 200-foot-tall flaming letters or something?


Politics is small beer, compared to, say, cancer.
If nothing else, then, one should respect the impact politics can have on people with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. We don't avoid discussing the topic 'round here because of its insignificance.

[eschmenk]

For suggesting that sad and depressed and upset and uncooperative people (or possibly women) is evil and should be punished.

As jokes go, I agree it was in bad taste, smiley or not.

Context FTR:


GW

I'm inclined to give halfeye some leeway here. After all, I had just told him rather tactlessly that he misunderstood both the comic and the wikipedia article that he linked to. On top of that, he might prefer a lighthearted humorous comic rather than one with sadness injected into it. I can also read what he said as objecting (in a humorously exaggerated way) to the injection of sadness into the comic, rather than attacking the character per se. The subject of his sentence was "That" not "She." Furthermore, he doesn't read the comic the same way as everyone else, so he wouldn't empathize with her as a depressed person.

I would not belittle the importance of politics as halfeye did, though. Political leaders can make very important decisions, including life or death ones. For some people it can be more frustrating than something like cancer: after all, you can't blame a cancer for acting cancerous, but you can blame a politician or a voter for doing whatever they did. The reason I said that is to lead into this suggestion: It may be that people may be empathizing with the depressed character to varying degrees based in part on politics. I suggest caution, therefore.

Lethologica ninja'd my second paragraph. It takes me too long to write such things! I hadn't even seen the couple above his.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Politics is small beer, compared to, say, cancer.

1) There is no rule that says you can only be upset about one thing at a time

2) They may not be separate concerns anymore (https://www.healthinsurance.org/repeal-and-replace/the-end-of-real-coverage-as-we-know-it/)

GW

[halfeye]

-Title is "Sad"
-Responds to "How are you doing" with "Hah."

Missed sad, not convinced "Hah." can be taken as proof of clinical depression.


-Using video games to hide from the real world.

I refuse to see this as significantly a problem, so long as it's on her own time. I get that some psychologists who've never played games would rather people watch TV, but personally I prefer games.


-Is ranting in programming comments.
-Inability to "deal with this" expressed through her code.

See programming joke.


-(Speculative) Lack of effects related to lack of affect.

Lack of extreme feelings is proof of having a feeling of extreme sadness? I find that contradictory, I'm sure all the extraverts out there want everybody to be an extravert, but that doesn't make introverts ill.


I'm not sure what you need to be convinced. 200-foot-tall flaming letters or something?

Something might be nice. <joke>


If nothing else, then, one should respect the impact politics can have on people with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. We don't avoid discussing the topic 'round here because of its insignificance.

The author dealt with their nearest and dearest having a close encounter with cancer a few years ago, hopefully they will stay clear, I doubt that politics gets close to that for emotional impact.


1) There is no rule that says you can only be upset about one thing at a time

GW

That's true, I wasn't saying it wasn't, I was merely saying the one you are or were personally directly involved with was probably more intense.

[Lethologica]

Missed sad, not convinced "Hah." can be taken as proof of clinical depression.
This is a misuse of point-by-point argument. The points on my list are not meant to individually prove that we're talking about depression, such that pointing out that each individual point does not prove depression is a refutation of the list. The points add up to depression. (On the other hand, your objections are individual and distinct replies to my points, not interdependent elements of an argument, so I will go ahead and address them point by point.)


I refuse to see this as significantly a problem, so long as it's on her own time. I get that some psychologists who've never played games would rather people watch TV, but personally I prefer games.
The problem isn't the "video games" part, it's the "hiding from the real world" part, which Ponytail confirms with "Fact check: mostly false."


See programming joke.
Saying it's a programming joke is not an argument that it's not also portraying depression. The comic is an inquiry into Ponytail's emotional state (as evidenced by Cueball inquiring about Ponytail's emotional state). Since Ponytail is a programmer, programming jokes are involved, but that doesn't erase the emotional inquiry aspect of the comic.


Lack of extreme feelings is proof of having a feeling of extreme sadness? I find that contradictory, I'm sure all the extraverts out there want everybody to be an extravert, but that doesn't make introverts ill.
It has nothing to do with extroversion or introversion. Please do some reading on flat affect and anhedonia.


The author dealt with their nearest and dearest having a close encounter with cancer a few years ago, hopefully they will stay clear, I doubt that politics gets close to that for emotional impact.
It's not a competition. For example, let's say you've dealt with a loved one having cancer before and now you're facing a political situation impacting access to care for people with cancer. Rather than saying "This political situation isn't as bad as when my loved one had cancer so I'm not all that impacted by this," you're likely to have strong emotions about the political situation in part because of your previous experience with a loved one having cancer.

[eschmenk]

The new comic (https://xkcd.com/1794/) has been up for a few hours now. It seems very minimal to me.

[Benthesquid]

Some context. (https://xkcd.com/1794/#)

[Douglas]

Some context. (https://xkcd.com/1794/#)
Your link just takes me to the comic.

[Benthesquid]

Your link just takes me to the comic.

Er... yes! Just as I planned, an elaborate meta commentary on...

Er...

I'll just leave this here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple-alarm_fire).

[eschmenk]

Er... yes! Just as I planned, an elaborate meta commentary on...

Er...

I'll just leave this here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple-alarm_fire).

Huh. It didn't occur to me that the terminology might not be universal.

[Benthesquid]

Huh. It didn't occur to me that the terminology might not be universal.

Personally, I'm primarily familiar with it from the metaphorical usage (IE, Four Alarm chili), which is odd, given that my dad was a volunteer fire chief.

[gomipile]

Today's XKCD hits a bit close to home:

https://xkcd.com/1796/

[Tetrimino]

Er... yes! Just as I planned, an elaborate meta commentary on...

Er...

I'll just leave this here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple-alarm_fire).

That's interesting, I pretty much took the comic at face value, didn't realize there was a commonly used scale of alarm numbers.

[eschmenk]

That's interesting, I pretty much took the comic at face value, didn't realize there was a commonly used scale of alarm numbers.

Huh, again. Reporters almost seem incapable of talking about a large urban fire without specifying the number of alarms. Saying the number of alarms doesn't really communicate much information to anyone outside the fire department, but "3-alarm fire" sounds more interesting than "fire," I guess. :smallconfused: I think rural fire departments often don't classify fires that way, though. I think for them its a question of "Can we handle this ourselves?" and if not, how much more help do they need? In any case, IIRC the newspaper where I grew up would list which fire departments responded, not the number of alarms, for rural fires. Even so, major urban fires will sometimes get national coverage so the number of alarms winds up on national news sometimes. I guess in addition to whether someone is in a rural or urban area, the fact that people are paying less attention to traditional news media nowadays probably affects the dissemination of the terminology.

[5a Violista]

I get the feeling that you are still misinterpereting what “three-alarm fire“ means. It does not mean three fire alarms went off, but rather that dispatches were sent for three times (because the first two were unable to contain the fire, so they called in for more).

If you already understood that, then I apologize for misinterpreting what you wrote.

[Sermil]

I think https://www.xkcd.com/1797/ is the first time I've seen XKCD do an explicit video-game related comic, something that would be at home in Awkward Zombie or such. Does anyone remember a previous one?

[Peelee]

I think https://www.xkcd.com/1797/ is the first time I've seen XKCD do an explicit video-game related comic, something that would be at home in Awkward Zombie or such. Does anyone remember a previous one?

On (https://xkcd.com/1356/) occasion (https://xkcd.com/1244/).

[Kato]

On (https://xkcd.com/1356/) occasion (https://xkcd.com/1244/).

Kerbal seems to be really popular, not only for Randal... but I'm sure there have been other occasions, too. Though, I'm not sure what to look for and I don't have time to do a proper search right now.


Today's comic hits kind of close to home. Sadly this mostly occurs when playing games and then I know there are people who suffer from it way worse than me.

[eschmenk]

On (https://xkcd.com/1356/) occasion (https://xkcd.com/1244/).

Yeah, they go back quite a ways (https://www.xkcd.com/91/) and even earlier (https://www.xkcd.com/70/). And going meta, there is even at least one (https://www.xkcd.com/50/) about comics about video games.

[Lethologica]

There's also the one about playing video games on a five year time lag, where the punch line is Portal memes in 2013. Honestly, that seems downright tame now.

[Eldan]

I kind of hate this comic (https://xkcd.com/1412/). It's about how you can sing everything with the right syllable pattern to the melody of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Every so often, I'll get hung up on a sentence or phrase that works with it. So since yesterday, I've been singing "Cuddly Slowtime Monkey People" under my breath after reading a sci Fi novel.

[Kaptin Keen]

By virtue of living in a media vacuum of my own creation, I don't know the theme song from TMNT.

[IthilanorStPete]

I kind of hate this comic (https://xkcd.com/1412/). It's about how you can sing everything with the right syllable pattern to the melody of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Every so often, I'll get hung up on a sentence or phrase that works with it. So since yesterday, I've been singing "Cuddly Slowtime Monkey People" under my breath after reading a sci Fi novel.

Out of curiosity, what book?

[Eldan]

The Fractal Prince, which is a sequel to The Quantum Thief.

A sci fi novel featuring heavy, heavy transhumanism. The first one is a heist novel, where a legendary thief is broken out of a virtual prison by a warrior from the oort cloud and her space ship so they can steal back his memories from a cryptography-obsessed culture on Mars.
The second one is... a stylistically thousand-and-one-night-ish murder mystery featuring several characters who are actually planet sized quantum computer brains in close orbit around the sun. It's really quite good. Poetic, at times. Quite action packed, in a specialized way. (Imagine a fight between characters who can switch bodies, have said bodies filled with nanomachines and quantum computers and speed up their mental processing power enough to watch nano-missiles crawl through the air at them.)

And occasionally funny. Two of the larger societies around are the Sobornost, said planet sized computer brains around the sun and the Zoku, an upload collective from Saturn. There's a scene where a character visits the Zoku while they are reliving the Sacred Rituals of their ancestors, which involve creating meat bodies for themselves, dressing them up as batman or their favourite manga characters and playing old arcade games while drinking beer. He's also introduced to his Zoku girlfriend's Epic Mount.

"Cuddly Slowtime Monkey People" are people like us. You now, those weird meat people who barely move or think.

[IthilanorStPete]

The Fractal Prince, which is a sequel to The Quantum Thief.

A sci fi novel featuring heavy, heavy transhumanism. The first one is a heist novel, where a legendary thief is broken out of a virtual prison by a warrior from the oort cloud and her space ship so they can steal back his memories from a cryptography-obsessed culture on Mars.
The second one is... a stylistically thousand-and-one-night-ish murder mystery featuring several characters who are actually planet sized quantum computer brains in close orbit around the sun. It's really quite good. Poetic, at times. Quite action packed, in a specialized way. (Imagine a fight between characters who can switch bodies, have said bodies filled with nanomachines and quantum computers and speed up their mental processing power enough to watch nano-missiles crawl through the air at them.)

And occasionally funny. Two of the larger societies around are the Sobornost, said planet sized computer brains around the sun and the Zoku, an upload collective from Saturn. There's a scene where a character visits the Zoku while they are reliving the Sacred Rituals of their ancestors, which involve creating meat bodies for themselves, dressing them up as batman or their favourite manga characters and playing old arcade games while drinking beer. He's also introduced to his Zoku girlfriend's Epic Mount.

"Cuddly Slowtime Monkey People" are people like us. You now, those weird meat people who barely move or think.

I've read those books! Should've recognized the phrase. Have you read The Causal Angel yet? It's got a lot more zoku wackiness. :smallbiggrin:

[Eldan]

I've read those books! Should've recognized the phrase. Have you read The Causal Angel yet? It's got a lot more zoku wackiness. :smallbiggrin:

Next on my to read pile. I'm on a re-read of Fractal Prince and Quantum Thief since I just got Causal Angel.

[Tetrimino]

The Fractal Prince, which is a sequel to The Quantum Thief.

A sci fi novel featuring heavy, heavy transhumanism. The first one is a heist novel, where a legendary thief is broken out of a virtual prison by a warrior from the oort cloud and her space ship so they can steal back his memories from a cryptography-obsessed culture on Mars.
The second one is... a stylistically thousand-and-one-night-ish murder mystery featuring several characters who are actually planet sized quantum computer brains in close orbit around the sun. It's really quite good. Poetic, at times. Quite action packed, in a specialized way. (Imagine a fight between characters who can switch bodies, have said bodies filled with nanomachines and quantum computers and speed up their mental processing power enough to watch nano-missiles crawl through the air at them.)

And occasionally funny. Two of the larger societies around are the Sobornost, said planet sized computer brains around the sun and the Zoku, an upload collective from Saturn. There's a scene where a character visits the Zoku while they are reliving the Sacred Rituals of their ancestors, which involve creating meat bodies for themselves, dressing them up as batman or their favourite manga characters and playing old arcade games while drinking beer. He's also introduced to his Zoku girlfriend's Epic Mount.

"Cuddly Slowtime Monkey People" are people like us. You now, those weird meat people who barely move or think.

Interesting, I would have guessed you were talking about Into the Storm, or one of the other Destroyermen books.

[runeghost]

I kind of hate this comic (https://xkcd.com/1412/). It's about how you can sing everything with the right syllable pattern to the melody of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Every so often, I'll get hung up on a sentence or phrase that works with it. So since yesterday, I've been singing "Cuddly Slowtime Monkey People" under my breath after reading a sci Fi novel.

Something similar is true of the Gilligan's Island theme song (for those old enough to have it burned into our brains whether we want to or not) and I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General.

[keybounce]

I'm so sorry, how you feel
But so many thing can 'haive that way
I'm so sorry, how you feel
See that songs can match so many words
In many different ways

[Eldan]

I've read those books! Should've recognized the phrase. Have you read The Causal Angel yet? It's got a lot more zoku wackiness. :smallbiggrin:

You're right. The Zoku are great fun. ("Buy life-sized replicas of famous 20th century fictional starships made from Notch cubes now!"). They are also so creepy. I mean, seriously. I'm only halfway into the book and I'm not sure who's worse between them and Sobornost.

It's like their founding charter looked like this:

1. Batman is cool
2. Let's build a super club from all our clubs and clans.
3. Space is cool too. Let's go live on jupiter.
4. Where we are going, we don't need free will, right?
5. Manga are awesome!

[IthilanorStPete]

You're right. The Zoku are great fun. ("Buy life-sized replicas of famous 20th century fictional starships made from Notch cubes now!"). They are also so creepy. I mean, seriously. I'm only halfway into the book and I'm not sure who's worse between them and Sobornost.

It's like their founding charter looked like this:

1. Batman is cool
2. Let's build a super club from all our clubs and clans.
3. Space is cool too. Let's go live on jupiter.
4. Where we are going, we don't need free will, right?
5. Manga are awesome!

On one hand, yeah, the zoku are not nice people. On the other hand, it's not like Sobornost gogols are models of freedom, and the Sobornost have the whole Great Common Task driving them to take over the solar system. If I had to choose, I'd be on the zoku's side. (Mars is where it's really at, though.)

[Eldan]

On one hand, yeah, the zoku are not nice people. On the other hand, it's not like Sobornost gogols are models of freedom, and the Sobornost have the whole Great Common Task driving them to take over the solar system. If I had to choose, I'd be on the zoku's side. (Mars is where it's really at, though.)

I really can't say who of them is worse. Probably, yeah, Sobornost, because they have the GCT and want to absorb everything. On the other hand, they are very obvious about their fanaticism. The Zoku are like 1984's party masquerading as a comic book convention. Join the games. They are fun. Be one of us. You will not want to leave.

Honestly, the Quantum Thief universe becomes more frightening the longer you think about it. It's a series of horrifying dystopias following one another after each unsuccessful revolution. You have pre-collapse society, with black-box uploads and quantum algorithms determining people's right to runtime, which is to say conscious life. You have the first Fedorovist revolution, and angry gogol swarms tearing cities apart. Then you have the Collapse. Then you have Wildcode. Then Sobornost. And Zokus. And the Protocol War. And the All-Defector.

But yeah. Mars is, indeed, where it's at.

[Tetrimino]

New Comic! (https://xkcd.com/1806/)

On the subject of the title text,
That would be good keymapping to set up on your friend's computer, they'd be so confused...

[KillingAScarab]

New Comic! (https://xkcd.com/1806/)

On the subject of the title text,
That would be good keymapping to set up on your friend's computer, they'd be so confused...I find I don't need to make input nearly so difficult to discourage people. I just have to make the Web browser uncomfortable.

Listening (https://xkcd.com/1807/) is inspirational. We must, all of us, endeavor to teach people to sanitize their inputs (or, you know, not set up spyware in their homes).

[John Campbell]

All of my computers are Slackware Linux boxen running (if they have a display at all) a heavily customized fvwm2 config that's been in a coevolutionary symbiosis with my usage patterns for about twenty years.

I've found that, in the simple case where I've handed someone a laptop with a web browser in focus on-screen already open to the page that they want to look at, it typically takes less than five seconds before they go, "Ah! I lost it! Where did it go?! What is this stuff? How do I get back to the browser?"

[Tetrimino]

New Comic (http://https://xkcd.com/1815/)

I plugged in my PC but the battery on the flag isn't charging!

[rooster707]

So... is today's comic supposed to be freaking gigantic, or is Randall having technical difficulties?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

So... is today's comic supposed to be freaking gigantic, or is Randall having technical difficulties?

I opened the image in a new tab (which makes it fit the width of the screen), and the joke has nothing to do with the image being huge, so I'm guessing it's technical difficulties.

GW

[Quild]

I opened the image in a new tab (which makes it fit the width of the screen), and the joke has nothing to do with the image being huge, so I'm guessing it's technical difficulties.

GW

According to "explain xkcd", it's actually intended: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1826


This is intended to replicate Cueball's frustration with birdwatching, as the experience of scrolling through a large image on a small screen mirrors that of looking through the large sky using binoculars that, due to their amplification, cover only a small area of the sky.

[eschmenk]

The comic is regular sized now.

[Keltest]

Evidently the frustration was sufficient that it killed the joke.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Evidently the frustration was sufficient that it killed the joke.

I still think he uploaded the high-res archive image by mistake, and that it was never meant to be part of the joke.

GW

[Rodin]

I still think he uploaded the high-res archive image by mistake, and that it was never meant to be part of the joke.

GW

While looking to see if there was any mention of this on the page, I noticed this gem of small text at the bottom that I've never seen before:



xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing.

[John Campbell]

This is intended to replicate Cueball's frustration with birdwatching, as the experience of scrolling through a large image on a small screen mirrors that of looking through the large sky using binoculars that, due to their amplification, cover only a small area of the sky.
So the experience of birdwatching involves my Web browser grinding to a halt and then crashing?

[eschmenk]

So the experience of birdwatching involves my Web browser grinding to a halt and then crashing?

FWIW, that quote isn't on the Explain XKCD wiki anymore. Furthermore, IIRC, it was merely someone's comment down in the discussion section when it was there. Based on what I saw, saying, "According to 'Explain XKCD'..." amounted to overstating things, but maybe it was different earlier.

Given how stable my old phone is, taking it birdwatching to look up the birds I saw probably would involve the browser locking up and crashing a fair amount, actually.

[Quild]

FWIW, that quote isn't on the Explain XKCD wiki anymore. Furthermore, IIRC, it was merely someone's comment down in the discussion section when it was there. Based on what I saw, saying, "According to 'Explain XKCD'..." amounted to overstating things, but maybe it was different earlier.

Given how stable my old phone is, taking it birdwatching to look up the birds I saw probably would involve the browser locking up and crashing a fair amount, actually.

It was in the "explanation" part when I went on "explain xkcd". I never bother reading wikidiscussions.

The trivia part still makes a note about this. But indeed points out to the discussion thread.

This comic was originally published with a very large picture, much larger than the standard screen.

The original image was named birdwatching_huge.png
The image at that location has also been downsized to normal dimensions.
It was later updated to use an image without the "_huge" in its name, at the usual size.

The unexpected size was at first interpreted as being part of the joke, see the discussion page.

The idea was that the reader was only seeing an inconvenient subset of the magnified image on the screen, just like Cueball was experiencing an inconvenient subset of the magnified sky through the zoom of his camera lens.
It seems, however, that it wasn't meant to be like this, as both the size and name of the image were later corrected.

Alternatively the size gave people trouble with reading the page, and made Randall change his mind and reset it to normal size.

It seems weird he would make a "_huge" version by mistake?

[keybounce]

So catching up on some recent XKCD's, and reading the descriptions (ok, I read at explainXKCD, fine), I came across https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/

And I'm thinking: as much as that is silly, as presented, isn't this exactly what pulsars do, splitting the entire energy beam out in two beams on opposite sides?

[eschmenk]

And I'm thinking: as much as that is silly, as presented, isn't this exactly what pulsars do, splitting the entire energy beam out in two beams on opposite sides?

Well, the beams aren't as tightly focused as that (they are more cone-shaped) and the energy is created in a very different way, but there is some similarity.

[Tetrimino]

So catching up on some recent XKCD's, and reading the descriptions (ok, I read at explainXKCD, fine), I came across https://what-if.xkcd.com/141/

And I'm thinking: as much as that is silly, as presented, isn't this exactly what pulsars do, splitting the entire energy beam out in two beams on opposite sides?

When reading this, keep in mind that I am not a physicist, astronomer, or anything in between.

The answer to you question is: kind of, but not really. The beams that come out of a pulsar are much less tightly focused, so they wouldn't come anywhere near the 1m described here.

Also, since the stars energy is coming out of two points instead of one, there is a lower fraction of the total energy of the star being funneled in any one direction.

For purposes of the original question from the website, a planet caught in this beam might not be severely affected, because the pulsar's beams are moving at a very fast speed.

Of course, this explanation does not account for the differences between pulsars and our Sun, so I may be entirely wrong. Maybe I'll submit this as a new What If? question.

[grayson]

I haven't been on xkcd for months and I came across this thread. Billion thanks. :smallbiggrin:
And this is my favourite: https://xkcd.com/1754/

[keybounce]

https://www.xkcd.com/1839/

I think that there's a big problem. "Dissolved bread" doesn't have enough of the needed proteins/amino acids and vitamins

We pretty much need meat to get enough of that. Or, to get it in one source, we need vegi-vita-meata-min.

[Rockphed]

https://www.xkcd.com/1839/

I think that there's a big problem. "Dissolved bread" doesn't have enough of the needed proteins/amino acids and vitamins

We pretty much need meat to get enough of that. Or, to get it in one source, we need vegi-vita-meata-min.

Whole-wheat bread and peanut-butter has enough proteins. So does rice and beans. So do lots of non-meat foods. Vitamins and minerals are amazingly easy to get enough of. You can live your whole life as a vegetarian. Meat is energy dense and tasty. It isn't some magical food that contains everything we need to eat. That said, I remember a reference to someone who ate nothing but twinkies for like 20 years and was mostly fine. Can't find it, so I cannot find the details. Now that is going to bother me.

The whole joke is that the doctor is spouting off all the things that bodies do without problem

[Grey_Wolf_c]

You can live your whole life as a vegetarian.

...After the age of about 2. Although I'd go for minimum of 4, just to be safe.

Babies are really terrible at indicating which basic building blocks they need from their food, and they start off with very low reserves, so a non-insignificant percentage of attempts of feeding babies vegetarian diets have been less than successful, not because of neglect (although the most publicised cases were due to sheer ignorance, but lets discount those), but because there is relatively small margins of error.

Grey Wolf

[keybounce]

There's a genetic factor involved here, that relates to insulin response from carbs in food.

It comes in your classic one-gene flavor: Low, medium, medium, high. Apparently, it's about 25% for each category in our society (close enough for margin of error, but I've only heard of one study).

For the "low" people, this does not apply. Their insulin levels never go high, or out of control. They generally stay thin no matter what, the "I can eat anything" people. Lots of people will point to these people, and say "Exercise, and you can be like these".

The problem is carb to protein levels in your diet. The human body does not have required carbs, and can live with no carbs -- but it's a "stay in a hospital under doctors observation in case something goes wrong" because it's very easy for something to go wrong. Your body wants more carbs than protein (talking about grams of protein per day here).

There's also "too much protein". Your body can make use of XXX grams of protein per day, for muscle repair/building, and amino acids to repair/build body structure. Your muscles primary job is to be an amino acid reserve; moving the skeleton is job 2. (Then there's the second set of muscles that do things like make your abdominal wall, or the linings of organs that need to contract, etc. -- they are NOT amino acid reserves.)

So if you have a limit of protein intake before your body has to do "hard work" to deal with the excess amino acids that cannot be used or stored as amino acids, then you need the rest of your diet as carbs or fat.

And, if there is an "ideal" intake level here -- 133% carbs to protein (multiple studies here, there is some variation per person, but it doesn't vary much, and probably within the range of 100-150%, if not narrower than that) -- then having very high levels of carbs gives you problems.

This is the issue with a vegetarian diet. To get the protein levels you need, your carb intake is so high that it is excessive for 75% of the population, and causes problems from constant high insulin levels.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

<snip>

This is genuinely interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post it. I'm going to have to read it a few more times, mind you, because I got a bit lost somewhere in the middle. Are there any trustworthy sources you could point me to for further reading? (Entry level, or thereabouts, if possible)

Thanks,

Grey Wolf

[Peelee]

https://www.xkcd.com/1839/

I think that there's a big problem. "Dissolved bread" doesn't have enough of the needed proteins/amino acids and vitamins

We pretty much need meat to get enough of that. Or, to get it in one source, we need vegi-vita-meata-min.

Yoush mean [hic] vitameatavegamin?

[keybounce]

This is genuinely interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post it. I'm going to have to read it a few more times, mind you, because I got a bit lost somewhere in the middle. Are there any trustworthy sources you could point me to for further reading? (Entry level, or thereabouts, if possible)

Thanks,

Grey Wolf

I'll try to find them. I've been reading on these things for a while, and never really saved any sort of bibliology.

[Jastiv]

I don't really like bread. I eat it to make other people feel happy that they can make me meals.
Anyway, its a commentary on how the human body can regenerate cells in a way that machines cannot.

[Kaptin Keen]

Cut for brevity

As Grey Wolf said: This is actually interesting.

[Tetrimino]

Drones! (https://xkcd.com/1846/)
But really though, I can't remember the last time I saw someone fly a drone without crashing it.

[keybounce]

I've only seen drones flown properly, but then, I've only seen professionals fly them.

Dated, but I like this one:
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1849

What name do you use to refer to the current decade? We used to talk about the 80's, the 90's, etc -- but the last 17 years?

[Rodin]

I've only seen drones flown properly, but then, I've only seen professionals fly them.

Dated, but I like this one:
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1849

What name do you use to refer to the current decade? We used to talk about the 80's, the 90's, etc -- but the last 17 years?

The Noughties followed by the 10's.

There doesn't seem to be the same distinction in decades though. The 70's, 80's, and 90's were all wildly different in aesthetic and outlook on life. Aside from the 10's being a bit more focused on political correctness (in a good way), there really hasn't been the same sort of huge cultural shifts that defined previous decades.

[Eldan]

I call them the twothousands, which Im' aware is not ideal.

[Tetrimino]

I call them the twothousands, which Im' aware is not ideal.

Same here, I usually use the two-thousands and the twenty-tens on the rare occasion I refer to either as a decade. I've been told the two-thousands are supposed to be the "aughts" or something, but most people wouldn't know what that means, so it's not very useful in conversation.

[Lord Torath]

Same here, I usually use the two-thousands and the twenty-tens on the rare occasion I refer to either as a decade. I've been told the two-thousands are supposed to be the "aughts" or something, but most people wouldn't know what that means, so it's not very useful in conversation.I've heard "the Naughties" used to refer to them on NPR. That's my favorite so far.

[Vinyadan]

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/geologic_faults.png

It lacks "your fault."

[John Campbell]

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/geologic_faults.png

It lacks "your fault."

It's not my fault! That enormous crack in the Earth's crust has nothing to do with any kinetic weapon I may or may not have employed!

[keybounce]

https://xkcd.com/1883/

Now, the super villain's plan is told! Pure evil.

[Lethologica]

This supervillain plot is reminiscent of the conclusion of that ancient meme, "The End of the World".

[Lord Torath]

Anyone go see the Total Eclipse last week? I feel this xkcd is completely acurate:

https://xkcd.com/1880/

It was my first total eclipse, and WOW!

[keybounce]

The only things worse than time zone problems? Getting an 8-bit character output path that works right.

... After all, 127 plus 1 is a positive character, right? :-)

[Tetrimino]

Anyone go see the Total Eclipse last week? I feel this xkcd is completely acurate:

https://xkcd.com/1880/

It was my first total eclipse, and WOW!

I wish I had seen the total eclipse. The partial eclipse was cool and all, but it just made the outside slightly dimmer.

[Lord Torath]

I wish I had seen the total eclipse. The partial eclipse was cool and all, but it just made the outside slightly dimmer.It was (IMO) well worth the 4-hour drive to see it, and the 6 hour drive to get back home. My family is already planning how to get in the path of the 2024 eclipse.

[John Campbell]

Anyone go see the Total Eclipse last week? I feel this xkcd is completely acurate:

https://xkcd.com/1880/

It was my first total eclipse, and WOW!

I didn't bother, because I live right in the path of totality for 2024. I'm going to be really annoyed if it's overcast that day.

I did make a pinhole projector and tried to take pictures of the partial (about 60% at peak here) eclipse, but it didn't work very well, because my camera refused to autofocus on the projection.

[Vinyadan]

Does the lid thing really work for extinguishing an oil fire?

Asking for a friend.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Does the lid thing really work for extinguishing an oil fire?

Asking for a friend.

Removing a source of fresh oxygen from a fire extinguishes it. It's not exclusive to oil fires, if you had a wood fire inside a pan you could extinguish it with a lid. Even a moist towel can sometimes work well enough, but a lid is a generally safe and easy to apply option.

[Hamste]

Yep, to extinguish a fire you either need to remove the fuel, the heat or the oxygen (or the chain reaction if you are going tetraheadron). Water absorbs heat and can help keep the fire from getting oxygen by acting as a steam cover. The problem with liquid fires is it is really easy for water being poured in quickly to cause the burning oil to get everywhere (if you ever want an example dump a lot of water from a bucket into a pan that has some non-ignited oil in it.). Similarly, a fire exstinguiser may work but is not recommended due to it being under pressure (if you have to use one do not be right next to the fire).

A lid is generally the easiest way as it can easily suffocate a fire that is stuck in a pan. Just remember to turn off the heat source and move the pan off it or it may reignite when you take the lid off. In the case of a boiling oil spill you can grab another pot or a damp wash cloth and cover the fire with that.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Does the lid thing really work for extinguishing an oil fire?

Asking for a friend.
https://media.giphy.com/media/wjC553oVprxGU/giphy.gif

GW

[Max_Killjoy]

Clearly the gun is the most versatile of those tools.

:smallcool:

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Clearly the gun is the most versatile of those tools.

:smallcool:

It even cures cancer! (https://xkcd.com/1217/)


https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/cells.png
Now, if it selectively kills cancer cells in a petri dish, you can be sure it's at least a great breakthrough for everyone suffering from petri dish cancer.
GW

[Hamste]

Well it did solve 2 problems compared to the 1 the other things solved.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

A good mixer can solve a dozen different problems, they're just problems I never have, never create nor wish to solve.

[Hamste]

A good mixer can solve a dozen different problems, they're just problems I never have, never create nor wish to solve.

I hear a mixer can win in a knife fight and quench an oil fire at the same time.

[137beth]

How many of these problems can be solved by the XKCD Phone 6, VIII, 10, X, 26, or 1876?

[Spojaz]

The best thing for putting out an oil fire is more oil. Only the vaporized oil burns, and adding cool oil will bring the average temperature back under boiling. I saw this demonstrated spectacularly at a cookout once, where the deep fryer caught fire, and started spewing a 12 foot column of flame. As everyone else was freaking out, the owner of the fryer just wandered over and threw a splash of cooking oil in. no more fire. The stuff he was frying turned out delicious too.

*do not try this with gasoline, alcohol or liquid oxygen.

[halfeye]

In response to the gun to a knife fight, has anyone else ever seen the 1967 film El Dorado?

[Eldan]

What I'm getting out of this is that by game theory, it's the optimal strategy to use a gun for everything.

[Lord Torath]

I don't know. I think a lid is not such a terrible thing to bring to a knife fight. I mean, you're not likely to kill the other guy, but you should be able to defend yourself pretty well. :smallamused:

[Lethologica]

If I have a large metal shield, I can use it to win the knife fight, to cook something over the wood fire, and as a lid. Three out of four ain't bad.

[Benthesquid]

I think the key here is that he's not using it as a metal shield- he's using it as a lid. Lids go on top of things, just likes knives stab and cut things, guns shoot things, and water splooshes things.

[Kato]

I think my favorite part is the little "ow"s as he tries to stab the fires...


As for today... Well, I guess there might be justification for using DOS once in a while but... seriously? I mean, I have seen some places still working with ancient computers but even then, aren't there better options by now? I don't feel like encouraging using old methods "because they work".

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I mean, I have seen some places still working with ancient computers but even then, aren't there better options by now?

Not necessarily better. And it can be quite expensive to move to a new system. At some point, maintenance of the old one can become prohibitive, but if the system runs solidly, and there are still people that know what it does and how to tweak it, then there is no reason to upgrade to something shiny and new.

GW

[Hamste]

Then encourage old methods because they can be cost effective and less risky. If an old computer works and you have a lot of them then it can be really expensive to replace them all. It just is not worth the time saved and it may even be dangerous to replace them if you have to use new software.

For example, the US air traffic control used to be run by a 40 year old system. When they started replacing it, it took forever and was extremely expensive due to several bugs. The bugs included one where a jet flying too high overloaded the system and one where it randomly switched planes flight paths around. Similarly France used to use Windows 3.1 for its air traffic control (the system broke down once leading to massive problems as they couldn't find any one who could fix such an old computer). The article I read about it said they would have it updated by this year though after that issue occurred.

[The Glyphstone]

The computers at Orly Airport in Paris apparently still run on Windows 3.1 (including the then-cutting-edge game of Minesweeper). They were scheduled to be replaced this year, but I can't find any evidence as to whether or not the project happened on time.


Ninja'ed.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Modern computers and modern OS also come with a large number of unwanted features, some of which can and already have introduced massive security holes into systems. Computers that predate the Internet can be a lot harder to hack, as it turns out, because they do not make it easy or automatic to get on the Internet through them.

Grey Wolf

[Keltest]

Modern computers and modern OS also come with a large number of unwanted features, some of which can and already have introduced massive security holes into systems. Computers that predate the Internet can be a lot harder to hack, as it turns out, because they do not make it easy or automatic to get on the Internet through them.

Grey Wolf

And we also made lightbulbs that last for hundreds of years, at the expense of having them barely function as lightbulbs.

Its not like modern computers need all of these new unwanted features all the time. Its just a matter of getting our collective heads out of our butts enough to actually, you know, make newer computers without them.

[keybounce]

The real reason that we don't use neutrino beams to transmit data through stuff is that the same ability to go through walls, planets, etc, also lets it go through receivers.

"I just sent the message. Did you get it?"
"No, send it again"
(10 million sends later)
"Got it."

[Max_Killjoy]

Technology is never obsolete so long as it does what the user needs it to do at costs (time, money, financial, maintenance, training, etc) that make sense for the user.

[John Campbell]

I'm actually right now emulating DOS under Linux. So that I can play all the early-'90s games I have kicking around.

On a 2.8GHz dual-core 64-bit CPU, many DOS games run in emulation better than they did natively on contemporary hardware.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I'm actually right now emulating DOS under Linux. So that I can play all the early-'90s games I have kicking around.

On a 2.8GHz dual-core 64-bit CPU, many DOS games run in emulation better than they did natively on contemporary hardware.

Unfortunately, some of those games run too well. I.e. they were counting on only being able to run X instructions per second, and never thought to put in code to slow down the program if the CPU would allow 100X per second.

GW

[Douglas]

Unfortunately, some of those games run too well. I.e. they were counting on only being able to run X instructions per second, and never thought to put in code to slow down the program if the CPU would allow 100X per second.

GW
Which is why DOS emulators, some of them at least, have options to emulate having a much slower CPU.

[John Campbell]

Unfortunately, some of those games run too well. I.e. they were counting on only being able to run X instructions per second, and never thought to put in code to slow down the program if the CPU would allow 100X per second.

That was a problem on the original hardware, where a lot of early games were timed for the IBM PC (XT), and were unplayably fast on ATs, or were just designed to run as fast as possible without any notion that that would ever become a problem, but it isn't in emulation. dosbox can throttle the emulated CPU speed.

Ultima II was easier in dosbox than on the 286 I originally played it on, because there's a bit in the critical path to victory (landing the spaceship on Planet X) that was basically instant-death roulette on my 286, but is much more manageable with dosbox throttled down to XT speeds.

[Tetrimino]

I'm actually right now emulating DOS under Linux. So that I can play all the early-'90s games I have kicking around.

On a 2.8GHz dual-core 64-bit CPU, many DOS games run in emulation better than they did natively on contemporary hardware.

I've found that games designed in the 90's, or any others designed to be usable with a 16 bit operating system, are difficult to use on a 64 bit OS. I read somewhere that this is because you generally can't run programs more than one "bit level" behind your OS. So 16 bit programs won't work on a 64 bit OS, 8 bit programs won't work an a 32 bit OS, etc.

[keybounce]

Actually, I am *not* running those old games. They're too addicting, and I'd never get anything done :-)

[BannedInSchool]

Actually, I am *not* running those old games. They're too addicting, and I'd never get anything done :-)

Mine that iron, gold, and coal. Tote those bags. Train those knights. Attack!

[The Glyphstone]

There's other issues that can arise besides CPU speed. I've been soothing my nostalgia lately with Ascendancy, an old 4X strategy game, but I've discovered that owning more than 256 planets causes the game to crash if you open your planet list.

[Spojaz]

There's other issues that can arise besides CPU speed. I've been soothing my nostalgia lately with Ascendancy, an old 4X strategy game, but I've discovered that owning more than 256 planets causes the game to crash if you open your planet list.

A kill screen counts as victory. You Win!
That game is great, especially with the mod that upgrades the AI.

[The Glyphstone]

A kill screen counts as victory. You Win!
That game is great, especially with the mod that upgrades the AI.

Even with the AI mod (which really just gives them a resource spike and makes them all irrationally hate you), it's hardly anything approaching difficult. Still immense fun though, if you have the patience to try and max out your score by achieving every victory condition simultaneously.

[keybounce]

Mine that iron, gold, and coal. Tote those bags. Train those knights. Attack!

I was thinking of the original XCom, and Magic the Gathering / Shandalar, back in the day of the 5th set, before M:tG went all crazy.

I'm not sure why, but the whole "resource management / turn-based tactics / cycle back over again" thing really got to me, and kept me coming back.

EDIT: In fact, it goes back more than that. On the Amiga, there was a Mech combat game modeled after FASA's stuff, but converted to a real-time model. It was still implemented as turn-based, but you took your turn based on the time of the clock. In the FASA system, if you generated 16 points of heat, and had 10 sinks, you only had 6 points of heat and were still green. Here, you would be up to 1600 temp, and have to shed 1000 degrees before you were back to cool, and that took time.

Turns out that NONE of the FASA designs was a good design in this system. Add in the issue of ammo explosions, and suddenly a ton of machine gun ammo was more dangerous to you to carry than to the enemy you were trying to shoot.

So, add in at least the start of a campaign system into this model, and now you've got the issue of building up a team, dealing with money/resources, going into a fight, healing/recovering/prepping for the next.

It was a *LOT* of fun. Sadly, the developer stopped work, and never released their code.

[Lethologica]

Hm. Unexpected reference. I always saw F'lar as the Thread zealot.

[Rockphed]

Hm. Unexpected reference. I always saw F'lar as the Thread zealot.

Which one tried to visit the red star and came back mostly dead as a result?

[halfeye]

Which one tried to visit the red star and came back mostly dead as a result?

That was F'lar

Mind you, zealot is a pretty strong word for someone opposed to a mindless mankiller.

[Lord Torath]

That was F'larNo, that was F'nor and Canth. It's what snapped Brekke out of her fugue after her "accident"

[Lethologica]

Which one tried to visit the red star and came back mostly dead as a result?
F'lar was the one who always knew Thread was coming back and made a series of seemingly crazy moves on the basis of that faith. That's the first half of Dragonriders of Pern. F'lar's conviction that Thread was the greatest threat to the world, in the face of a society that had grown complacent about Thread, fits the xkcd comic to a tee.

By contrast, F'nor was always driven by personal loyalties--to F'lar, and later to Brekke. F'nor's trip to the Red Star in Dragonquest occurs under significantly different circumstances: everyone knows Thread is a threat, and indeed the Lord Holders are pressuring the dragonriders to go fight Thread on the Red Star out of frustration and fear due to Thread deviating from its established patterns. F'nor, already at a personal low after what happened to Brekke, knowing that Lessa fears F'lar plans to go to the Red Star, anticipating an eventual ultimatum from the Lord Holders (especially after the meeting with Lord Meron), decides in the heat of a momentary discovery to go to the Red Star himself--a reckless act by a man too little concerned with his own survival, but not one born of Thread zealotry.

I agree that of the pair, F'nor has the single flashiest action related to Thread, which is why he might be considered the bigger Thread zealot, but that doesn't mean he was.

[halfeye]

No, that was F'nor and Canth. It's what snapped Brekke out of her fugue after her "accident"

I am terrible with names, it was certainly brown Canth and his rider, I'm confused about which rider is his, I suspect you're right, but I can't be certain.

[eschmenk]

I am terrible with names, it was certainly brown Canth and his rider, I'm confused about which rider is his, I suspect you're right, but I can't be certain.

Wikipedia says it was F'nor. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_in_Dragonriders_of_Pern#F.27nor)

[Max_Killjoy]

This might be helpful on some strips: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

I end up checking it every two or three weeks to make sure I understand one of the strips.

[eschmenk]

This might be helpful on some strips: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

I end up checking it every two or three weeks to make sure I understand one of the strips.

Yes. That's were I found the link I just posted. I wasn't familiar with the Dragonriders of Pern books, so I used the Explain XKCD site to figure things out.

[Lethologica]

FWIW, and I guess this was already known, but my position was that F'lar was the more appropriate reference even though F'nor went to the Red Star in Dragonquest.

[Rockphed]

FWIW, and I guess this was already known, but my position was that F'lar was the more appropriate reference even though F'nor went to the Red Star in Dragonquest.

It has been 12 - 15 years since I read any of those novels. I think Dragonquest was almost the last one I got around to reading, but I'm not really sure. I suppose I should have remembered that since F'lessan is a person in the later books that F'lar is the one who takes an active role in saving the world from the thread.

[Kato]

A kill screen counts as victory. You Win!
That game is great, especially with the mod that upgrades the AI.

Man, I love(d) that game. It's a shame nobody picked it up or made a flash game or anything. But then, I honestly can't see me micro manage more than 256 planets so I don't quite see the problem with the bug.

[The Glyphstone]

Man, I love(d) that game. It's a shame nobody picked it up or made a flash game or anything. But then, I honestly can't see me micro manage more than 256 planets so I don't quite see the problem with the bug.

It got a re-release for iPhone a few years back, but that's it. Personally, I don't try to manage 250+ planets either, I pick like five good ones and let the AI auto-manage the rest for me. It loves anti-invasion turrets way too much, but isn't awful otherwise.

[2D8HP]

This might be helpful on some strips: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
.


Thanks for the link!

I haven't been able to read any strips at xkcd.com on my phone for a month now (it just goes "Webpage not available").

Having something that reprints them is great!

[TaRix]

Thanks for the link!

I haven't been able to read any strips at xkcd.com on my phone for a month now (it just goes "Webpage not available").

Having something that reprints them is great!

I don't understand why, but it does the same thing on my ten-years-old iMac but not on my PC or others' PCs.

[John Campbell]

I've found that games designed in the 90's, or any others designed to be usable with a 16 bit operating system, are difficult to use on a 64 bit OS. I read somewhere that this is because you generally can't run programs more than one "bit level" behind your OS. So 16 bit programs won't work on a 64 bit OS, 8 bit programs won't work an a 32 bit OS, etc.

That's not what I'm doing. I'm running games designed to work with a 16-bit OS with 32-bit extensions on an 16-bit OS with 32-bit extensions that's running on a 32-bit CPU that happens to exist only in a 64-bit machine's imagination.

[keybounce]

Hey, compare that to a 64-bit extension to a 32-bit graphical extension to a 16 bit OS running on an 8 bit microprocessor that was itself an extension to a 4 bit processor, all done by a 2 bit company that can't stand one bit of competition.

Sigh.

Remember: Ibm went with the 8086 because it was cheap, because it only had 4 registers when a major proof had just recently shown that your compiler cannot use more than 3 registers without doing data flow analysis(*), which at the time was only done by high-end, expensive compilers (never mind that the Gnu compiler was doing data-flow for free next year). So Ibm figured that 3 general purpose registers, and one math register, was all you could do for cheap while supporting compiled languages.

Oh yea -- they thought it was compatible with CP/M. They didn't understand that you had to re-assemble your CP/M programs with a new assembler on this new system. Which in turn required that the source code still exist, the company still exist, etc.

(*): But, even that was mis-understood. Yes, you *could* get by with only 3 registers. Just like you can program the x86 with only one instruction (**). That does not mean that you might not be able to get a better program with more, even without a data-flow analysis. It's like HP saying that a 4 element RPN stack is more than sufficient for any math problem -- they're right, technically 3 is sufficient. But the way most people approach problems, you need at least 4, and a 5th would be nice.

(**): The "mov" instruction. https://github.com/xoreaxeaxeax/movfuscator

[Tetrimino]

1906 (https://xkcd.com/1906/)
This is pretty much me every day.

[Kantaki]

If you phrase it like this (https://xkcd.com/1907/) it does sound kinda cool.
Like some freaky superpower.:smallcool:

[Lvl 2 Expert]

1906 (https://xkcd.com/1906/)
This is pretty much me every day.

Also: Jay-Z.








You can't make your own spreadsheet I feel bad for you son
I got 99 problems but Excel ain't one.

[Tetrimino]

#1917 (https://xkcd.com/1917/)

I like how the title text says "I want to be friends at you"

[JBPuffin]

Arise, my pet, and behold!

https://xkcd.com/1922/

Beret Guy, you beautiful creature. Never stop not stopping.

[Eldan]

I always imagined beret person is a woman.

[John Campbell]

So, following xkcd's advice, I'm going to put solar panels on my underground supervillain lair.

[Rockphed]

So, following xkcd's advice, I'm going to put solar panels on my underground supervillain lair.

Wait, your underground supervillain lair is sunlit?

[Cazero]

Wait, your underground supervillain lair is sunlit?
Sunlit? That's not in the flowchart, so surely it can't be important?

[Keltest]

Sunlit? That's not in the flowchart, so surely it can't be important?

I think that violated the "empty space nearby where its easier to put them" rule actually. How does one even put something on the outside of an underground structure?

[The Glyphstone]

Isnt the outside of an underground structure synonymous with 'the surface'?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Isnt the outside of an underground structure synonymous with 'the surface'?

Or, in this context "the sunnyside of the volcano"

[Rockphed]

Sunlit? That's not in the flowchart, so surely it can't be important?

You're right. It is in the alt-text.

[Kato]

Damn, Randall, you tear jerking bastard...

[Mith]

I will freely admit to tearing up just a little. Good for them.

[Keltest]

Darn it Randall, leave my heartstrings alone!

[Max_Killjoy]

Still the most tear-jerking XKCD in my opinion:

https://xkcd.com/104/

[The Glyphstone]

Still the most tear-jerking XKCD in my opinion:

https://xkcd.com/104/

Also potentially the most horrifying, if you transplant the text into the context of, say, a necromancer villain.

[Mith]

Also potentially the most horrifying, if you transplant the text into the context of, say, a necromancer villain.

Stealing for a potential campaign idea.

[Kantaki]

Also potentially the most horrifying, if you transplant the text into the context of, say, a necromancer villain.

Wasn't there that Sidequest in Skyrim?

The murders in Windhelm.
That guy wanted to bring back a loved one too...:smalleek:

Horrifying indeed.

[Max_Killjoy]

Wasn't there that Sidequest in Skyrim?

The murders in Windhelm.
That guy wanted to bring back a loved one too...:smalleek:

Horrifying indeed.

Also in:


Dragon Age 2.

[keybounce]

Still the most tear-jerking XKCD in my opinion:

https://xkcd.com/104/

So who is 104 referring to, if this one makes it clear that we have a 7-year cancer survivor?

Also: "Seven Years", in Ring-Voice, would be ...

[halfeye]

So who is 104 referring to, if this one makes it clear that we have a 7-year cancer survivor?

Also: "Seven Years", in Ring-Voice, would be ...

That's seven years clear of cancer, however long the disease took to arrive and clear up is additional to that.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

That's seven years clear of cancer, however long the disease took to arrive and clear up is additional to that.

Cancer survival rates are measured from date of diagnosis (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer/art-20044517), not from date of "cancer not showing up in the test". The "clear up" time is included in the seven years.

But to be precise, you can't "clear up" cancer (https://xkcd.com/931/). First, because every one of us has cancer cells somewhere in our bodies. Our immune system takes care of them eventually, but a perfectly precise test would always find some. Second, because when a cancer cell isn't killed soon enough and becomes a malignant cancer, there is always the chance that one of the little ****ers managed to escape treatment, and lodged itself somewhere else, and it is now slowly and inexorably growing again somewhere where your immune system can't stop it fast enough. Like with AIDS, the best modern medicine can do is try to ensure you'll die of something else, but at current time, you can never be cured of cancer.

Grey Wolf

[Tetrimino]

I'm surprised he didn't use LAX in today's comic (https://xkcd.com/1937/) to make a joke about lacrosse.

[Lord Torath]

Hah! Today's strip (https://xkcd.com/1945/) fits quite nicely in the category described by the mouse-over text. :smallamused:

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Hah! Today's strip (https://xkcd.com/1945/) fits quite nicely in the category described by the mouse-over text. :smallamused:

I specially like that the decline in quality predates the "ms paint era", which I can see someone argue the must have been some other, unidentified issue caused the decay, which only thanks to ms paint and powerpoint was it eventually counteracted.

(You know what they say about lies, damned lies and statistics? Same applies to graphs)

GW