xkcd

by **Alltat** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:33 am UTC

Eutychus wrote:Where did beret guy and the guy he warns come from? There's a hole at either end!

They arrived by parachute, obviously. One or more of them may also be responsible for one or more of the holes.

muntoo wrote:EDIT: What the hell? I wrote "HULK WANT ATTENTITOOONN!!" and it says "HULK WANT ATTENTITOOONN!!".

Which part of this was surprising? (The question works on more than one level.)

by **Shidoshi** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:54 am UTC

I am still trying to figure out what filters to "hulk" in caps.

Is it "I'm"?

PS: Oh I get it now.

PPS edit: The force is strong with these CRUMBLES.

by **SirMustapha** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:59 am UTC

I am puzzled: is Randall's message "show, don't tell" here? That is simply not possible, because that is the one thing that Randall DOES NOT DO in his comic.

by **Eternal Density** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:07 am UTC

Not cheese graters again! This is so musical. How must bird wax floor with gentle energies?

by **Vrishna** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:07 am UTC

I was waiting for the panel showing BHG digging those holes.

by **camdotcam** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:17 am UTC

I'm having good day today.

by **floreal** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:42 am UTC

Ahh i love mod madness.
This comic reminds me about the Sims, with the "talking in pictures" thing.
They never seem to talk about the same either ^^

by **Kethryes** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:45 am UTC

Nice timing indeed
It is becoming hard to communicate around here with all this madness. Maybe we should start drawing to avoid f.ilters

gormster wrote:Butts, hang on. loaf crumbs.

Er, I mean, "Oh, hang on. Word filters."

How did you do to bypass the f.ilters in your 2nd sentence??

(Hey mods you should do something about it, someones is not filtered :mrgreen:

)

Edit: crumbly, really? :lol:

by **TimXCampbell** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:56 am UTC

Having just woken up, the quantity of obfuscation herein becomes ... surreal.

What lesson derives from all this? A puzzlement unresolved over here. Much intrigue is experienced, though. A coffee might now be appropriate.

by **J L** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:26 am UTC

SirMustapha wrote:I am puzzled: is Randall's message "show, don't tell" here? That is simply not possible, because that is the one thing that Randall DOES NOT DO in his comic.

Actually, he does, as most comics relying solely on pictures do. The strip shows. The title text tells.

by **DragonHawk** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:33 am UTC

I, tоо, find it ironic that this comic iѕ unusually difficult tо understand, when it'ѕ apparently trying tо make a point about communications difficulties.

I don't hang out on the forums much these days, so let ⅿe ask: Obviously some text replacement games arе in effect. Have they bееn in place for some time? Or arе they new with this comic? If thеy'rе new, *that* would be a multi-modal prank of extreme worth.

(EDIT: Evolving countermeasures for text replacement rules.)

by **SirMustapha** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:10 pm UTC

J L wrote:
SirMustapha wrote:I am puzzled: is Randall's message "show, don't tell" here? That is simply not possible, because that is the one thing that Randall DOES NOT DO in his comic.

Actually, he does, as most comics relying solely on pictures do. The strip shows. The title text tells.

Lookit here:

The third panel. Just look at it.

It actually takes a kind of "talent" to do this, but yes, it's possible to draw pictures that don't show anything.

by **gormster** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:26 pm UTC

Kethryes wrote:
gormster wrote:Butts, hang on. loaf crumbs.

Er, I mean, "Oh, hang on. Word filters."

How did you do to bypass the f.ilters in your 2nd sentence??

Magics.

by **blazemongr** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:30 pm UTC

I had to read this strip three times before I realized there were two separate holes that happened to look exactly alike.

by **Nylonathatep** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:53 pm UTC

The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into an escapable situation in which she cannot say no! These PUA are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!

Spoiler:

by **OviWanSymbian** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:23 pm UTC

My favourite xkcd.
Maybe the second best after the "There is too much time (period)".

I've loved xkcd comics ever since I found this website. I've been sharing the joy of knowing the site with my friends, however hardly anyone (nobody actually), understood my excitement.

The funny thing is, that I thought my friends were not intelligent enough.

The really funny thing is, that my communication skills are actually non-existent.

This concludes my first post on the forum.

by **Shidoshi** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:02 pm UTC

Nylonathatep wrote:The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into a escapable situation in which she cannot say no! These bottom feeding scum sucker are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!
Spoiler:
Just kidding

Spoiler:
Sex in the city = community
nose pick = pick up
Hulk = I am
won't = Cannot
bottom feeding scum sucker = PUA
Spray = say
The Claw = this
Loaf crumbs = Word filters
Butt = Oh
puppetmaster = moderators
breadbin = book

Spoiler:

by **shirosuzume** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:20 pm UTC

Kanonfutter wrote:It is refreshing with a strip once in a while that you actually have to sit down and read instead of just skimming. Makes the humor last longer.

I agree. I am sometimes annoyed with myself that when there are words, I'm naturally drawn to them, with the result that I skip through the comic, or piece of art, or whatever, too fast... when there aren't any words, I actually have to look at the pictures to derive meaning, and I appreciate it more.

Also, I wonder if this is how my dog experiences the world

. Seeing as any words I have mean nothing to her, yet if I show her, she tends to get it...

*EDIT: I'm tickled at having stumbled upon a word filter I hadn't seen before! I'll inform my puppy that she's been upgraded to direwolf.

by **Zylon** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:37 pm UTC

coredumperror wrote:*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with an infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

by **Shidoshi** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:58 pm UTC

I'm also amazed that friendship filters to magic which in turn filters to witchcraft. Pony goes phony, seems like mods like dem ponies =D

by **Red Hal** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:14 pm UTC

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

by **Xezlec** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:17 pm UTC

My reading of it was "communication is impossible, so don't try. Instead, use talk only to build a rapport, and then get people to actually do something you want them to understand." Given the real world, this does not seem like a viable option most of the time.

Instead, I find that being very respectful of people, trying to see where they're coming from, and trying to explain in a way that protects whatever ideas are really precious to them is the best you cann do. If what you need them to understand is exactly the inverse of something precious to them, your only hope is to change their social group and rewrite their identity, which is not easy (or necessarily ethical). Fortunately, most of the things we think are key components of other people's ideologies really aren't. You cann drill down pretty far before you hit that bedrock.

EDIT: wow, cann filterrs to will. Subtle. Very subtle.

by **KingErroneous** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:23 pm UTC

This sums up every game the The Sims I've ever played.

by **Nylonathatep** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:37 pm UTC

Zylon wrote:
coredumperror wrote:*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

I think the moderators are allow to have fun on the forums once in a while. It's just a way to build a fun, relaxing atmosphere and to release their penned up stress and frustration. It's also allows them to get high from being on a powertrip.

Other popular forums also have this once in a while... last time Penny Arcade ran a whinning forum for people to post anything that usually breaks the rules on the forum. Something Awful does crazy things like this all the time.

so

Spoiler:

by **HTH** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:40 pm UTC

edit: for some reason, "c.a.n" is being changed to "will" and "c.a.n't" to "won't" every time I post, that's adorable. "c.a.n" c.a.n not always be replaced with will!!

Have you considered using "cannot" instead? It is the generally preferred form over being split, but not necessarily over being contracted (it reads as more emphatic than the contraction). In split form, you suggest the ability not to do something vs. the inability to do something.

I also thought of Lode Runner. Apple II version of course. The XBOX version was rattling around in there, too, but not so indelibly burned into my memory in green phosphor.

by **zebazga** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:08 pm UTC

I have nothing to add, but I feel compelled to come out of lurker mode in appreciation for the moderators and March madness.

Viva la moderators!

by **MathUhhhSaurus** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:27 pm UTC

I bet Black Hat Guy (BHG) had something to do with the holes. Probably why he wasn't in the comic lol
h a t = cravat?

by **MathUhhhSaurus** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:32 pm UTC

Shidoshi wrote:I'm also amazed that friendship filters to magic which in turn filters to witchcraft. Pony goes phony, seems like Puppetmasters like dem ponies =D

but then, when you say friendship is magic it filters to magic is witchcraft...maybe the goal was to make people type that sentence haha

by **Sprocket** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:07 pm UTC

phlip wrote:It took me a few goes to figure out what the hell was going on... which seems fitting, given the topic. My reading:
Spoiler:
Panel 1: White-hat guy sees a dangerous hole in the road.
Panels 2-3: WHG tries to tell hair-guy about the hole, but all hair-guy hears is "WHG seems worried about something".
Panels 4: WHG gives up, hair-guy doesn't understand.
Panel 5: WHG rants to hair-girl about hair-guy not understanding, meanwhile hair-girl tells WHG about a hole in the ground.
Panel 6: They part ways, WHG thinks that hair-girl is going to tell hair-guy about the hole too.
Panels 7-11: Hair-girl meets hair-guy, they share stories about WHG, wander off, and fall into the hole WHG tried (and failed) to warn them about.
Panels 11-12: WHG also falls into a different hole, that hair-girl tried to warn him about (which he ignored, thinking they were talking about the same hole).

Meanwhile:
Panels 13-18: Beret guy sees a hole in the road, and goes to find bald guy. Rather than try to tell him about the hole, he drags him over and shows him the hole. They both walk away understanding that the hole is there.

I think Beret and Bald also get the benefit of really wanting to understand the danger because they were able to see that other people were injured because they didn't understand the danger.

KingErroneous wrote:This sums up every game the The Sims I've ever played.

lol <3

by **sehkzychic** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:12 pm UTC

So.....Is Hulk only one who notice panels 9 and 11 show bald guy not hair guy? HULK IS JUST CHECKING.

by **bmonk** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:21 pm UTC

Eutychus wrote:Where did beret guy and the guy he warns come from? There's a hole at either end!

Maybe they walk with a bounce in their step?

by **Antimon** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:24 pm UTC

This is one of my all time favourite xkcds I think. So spot on it hurts.

by **bmonk** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:24 pm UTC

Testing that fall.

Shidoshi wrote:
Nylonathatep wrote:The short hair guy is clearly leading the girl into the hole, therefore trapping her into a escapable situation in which she cannot say no! These bottom feeding scum sucker are all misogynist pigs! Someone call the internet police and the troll patrol!! There's a maiden that needs to be saved!!!
Spoiler:
Just kidding

Spoiler:
Sex in the city = community
nose pick = pick up
Hulk = I am
won't = Cannot
bottom feeding scum sucker = PUA
Spray = say
The Claw = this
Loaf crumbs = Word filters
Butt = Oh
puppetmaster = moderators
breadbin = book

Spoiler:
There's also God = Odin
magic = Witchcraft
And some magic so we can't change font colors to black

Spoiler:

by **Steve the Pocket** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:40 pm UTC

Zylon wrote:
coredumperror wrote:*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

Quoted for truth. And heaven forbid you're on a site where it's not just something they do for a day but something they have implemented 24/7. At best, it's straight-up trolling; at worst, it's a cynical attempt to weed out all but the fiercest loyalists who will never question anything they do.

by **Vael** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:50 pm UTC

LettersAndNumbers wrote:
toadpipe wrote:I may be a very critical person. I might be a misanthrope, I judge, I often spew venom. C'est la vie.

But this comic.

Is brilliant. (please pronounce that period!)

It's brilliant, full stop?

Anyway, I enjoy this comic if only for the timing.

It's brilliant, full stop, ovary drop?

I enjoy this comic because I feel each person will have a slightly different understanding of it.

by **Someguy945** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:02 pm UTC

Ameseree wrote:This got me thinking that the best way to tell someone something is to show them, generally speaking though.

Showing something to a person can be a very effective form of communication, but I don't think that's the intended message of the comic. The intent is best explained by the alt text: Adjust your method of message delivery to suit your audience and you will have the best results.

by **Rotherian** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:21 pm UTC

Red Hal wrote:Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve been further even more decided to use even go need to do look more as anyone can. Can you really be far even as decided half as much to use go wish for that? My guess is that when one really been far even as decided once to use even go want, it is then that he has really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like. It’s just common sense. Sheesh!

by **Monika** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:42 pm UTC

phlip wrote:It took me a few goes to figure out what the hell was going on... which seems fitting, given the topic. My reading:
Panel 1: White-hat guy sees a dangerous hole in the road.
Panels 2-3: WHG tries to tell hair-guy about the hole, but all hair-guy hears is "WHG seems worried about something".
Panels 4: WHG gives up, hair-guy doesn't understand.
Panel 5: WHG rants to hair-girl about hair-guy not understanding, meanwhile hair-girl tells WHG about a hole in the ground.
Panel 6: They part ways, WHG thinks that hair-girl is going to tell hair-guy about the hole too.
Panels 7-11: Hair-girl meets hair-guy, they share stories about WHG, wander off, and fall into the hole WHG tried (and failed) to warn them about.
Panels 11-12: WHG also falls into a different hole, that hair-girl tried to warn him about (which he ignored, thinking they were talking about the same hole).

Meanwhile:
Panels 13-18: Beret guy sees a hole in the road, and goes to find bald guy. Rather than try to tell him about the hole, he drags him over and shows him the hole. They both walk away understanding that the hole is there.

Thank you so much

(I was already getting a headache trying to figure out what exactly was happening.)

by **Lerkistan** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:00 pm UTC

I found the comic easy to understand, assuming that the spoiler description is the intended meaning. Didn't notice the sudden hair loss, though.

...frankly, I don't have anything more to add to the discussion, I just wanted to see how much I would get crumbled...

edit: Nothing? Disappointing...

by **SirMustapha** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:12 pm UTC

Nylonathatep wrote:
Zylon wrote:
coredumperror wrote:*I had to misspell it because the forum is intentionally screwing up our communications. That's pretty clever.

It's not clever, it's stupid. Really, really stupid. It's something forum admins with a infantile sense of humor occasionally unleash on their users. Basically a "Hey, don't try to use this communication medium as a medium of communication!" day.

I think the moderators are allow to have fun on the forums once in a while. It's just a way to build a fun, relaxing atmosphere and to release their penned up stress and frustration.

Because there is no way to do that in real life.

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