xkcd

by **glasnt** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:02 am UTC

Alt Text: The Planck length is another thousand or two pixels below the comic.

I really like these style of comics. So much detail. Like Electromagnetic Spectrum ^_^

by **suso** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:02 am UTC

Oooo! Oooo! I was totally thinking about this kinda thing recently. I was going to try to make a diagram showing the layers or protocols that are used to make up something like a desktop. Including little details like how character encoding works and all that.

by **Vanguard** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:03 am UTC

I haven't the slightest idea what this is.

by **madhollywood** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:03 am UTC

From the macro to the micro, this is the computer in a hilarious nutshell. Is Peter Norton, the Norton Utilities guy?

I love how this stuff is presented on a logarithmic scale.... most appropriate.

by **TheHand** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:03 am UTC

My my, we seem to be having fun with these vertical comics don't we.

by **asad137** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:03 am UTC

It's actually "Brian Greene".

Asad

by **Editer** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:04 am UTC

asad137 wrote:It's actually "Brian Greene".

Asad

I came here to say that, so I'll just reinforce the message.

by **TheGrammarBolshevik** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:05 am UTC

I'm very confused... what are the panels above the guy typing?

by **madhollywood** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:05 am UTC

asad137 wrote:It's actually "Brian Greene".

Asad

Clearly, a man who knows his string theory

by **sje46** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:06 am UTC

Oh, math
How you frighten me.
[they are comics]

by **suso** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:06 am UTC

TheGrammarBolshevik wrote:I'm very confused... what are the panels above the guy typing?

They actually look like some of the older XKCD comics. Like the pool of balls one. Maybe its supposed to represent the comic and the guy at the computer is Randall?

by **Timequake** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:07 am UTC

This is one of the best comics in a while. I love these detailed comics, like height and electromagnetic spectrum. I loved the 32,767 angels in this one.

Edit: And the panels above him seem to be rooms on the floor above in an apartment building.

by **Mane** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:07 am UTC

Next week: Length.

by **BwaHaHa** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:07 am UTC

This makes me happy.
Ask and ye shall recieve.
Yay.

by **Ayle** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:08 am UTC

Have to love the vista exorcism....!

Btw hello everyone, first post, but longtime xkcd reader. My name is Elia, 21 Y, F, Chilean. Howdoyoudo?

by **A. Smith** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:10 am UTC

Does anyone mind explaining the 32,767 angels one? I have a feeling I'm missing something hilarious here...

by **dsplaisted** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:11 am UTC

A. Smith wrote:Does anyone mind explaining the 32,767 angels one? I have a feeling I'm missing something hilarious here...

32,767 is the maximum value for a signed 16-bit integer. Add one to it and it will overflow to -32,768.

EDIT: And they are dancing on a pin.

by **suso** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:12 am UTC

Ayle wrote:Have to love the vista exorcism....!

Btw hello everyone, first post, but longtime xkcd reader. My name is Elia, 21 Y, F, Chilean. Howdoyoudo?

Hello. Its great that XKCD is read by people all around the world.

by **suzi** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:13 am UTC

Man...the last part confused me at first, I thought it was some weird reference to "colorless green ideas sleep furiously."

by **suso** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:14 am UTC

dsplaisted wrote:
A. Smith wrote:Does anyone mind explaining the 32,767 angels one? I have a feeling I'm missing something hilarious here...

32,767 is the maximum value for a signed 16-bit integer. Add one to it and it will overflow to -32,768.

I think he meant what is up with calling them angels? Is that some reference?

by **Ayle** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:15 am UTC

suso wrote:
Ayle wrote:Have to love the vista exorcism....!

Btw hello everyone, first post, but longtime xkcd reader. My name is Elia, 21 Y, F, Chilean. Howdoyoudo?

Hello. Its great that XKCD is read by people all around the world.

Its fairly well known in my faculty, but then again, its an engineering one.

by **Chai Kovsky** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:16 am UTC

Two vertical log comics? In one week?

Meh. Not doing much for me, I'm afraid.

by **nekolux** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:16 am UTC

also for the integer reference check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_32,768_problem#Years_32.2C768_and_65.2C536

suso wrote:
dsplaisted wrote:
A. Smith wrote:Does anyone mind explaining the 32,767 angels one? I have a feeling I'm missing something hilarious here...

32,767 is the maximum value for a signed 16-bit integer. Add one to it and it will overflow to -32,768.

I think he meant what is up with calling them angels? Is that some reference?

I was just wondering that lol but i settled for the fact that they work properly ( angels ) till 32767 but crashes at 32 768 ( devils )

by **sje46** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:17 am UTC

suso wrote:
dsplaisted wrote:
A. Smith wrote:Does anyone mind explaining the 32,767 angels one? I have a feeling I'm missing something hilarious here...

32,767 is the maximum value for a signed 16-bit integer. Add one to it and it will overflow to -32,768.

I think he meant what is up with calling them angels? Is that some reference?

It is. "How m,any angels will fit on the head of a pin"
Let me find it using the internet.

by **Amarantha** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:18 am UTC

themuffinking, in Height Discussion wrote:Also, I hope to Feynman that Wednesday's comic will be called "Depth".

Only off by a few days

by **Eternal Density** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:19 am UTC

I should have seen this coming, but didn't. Brilliant! Fun too. I appreciate having the Planck length put in perspective.

Actually, I'm hoping to see Width next week

by **rwald** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:20 am UTC

suso wrote:
dsplaisted wrote:
A. Smith wrote:Does anyone mind explaining the 32,767 angels one? I have a feeling I'm missing something hilarious here...

32,767 is the maximum value for a signed 16-bit integer. Add one to it and it will overflow to -32,768.

I think he meant what is up with calling them angels? Is that some reference?

It's often said that during the middle ages, religious scholars debated frivolous questions such as how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. As explained by The Straight Dope, the original reference was to "angels on the point of a needle," and even that was a joke being made by Renaissance scholars. The closest real question debated was whether multiple angels could exist at the same physical location; if so, then infinitely many of them could dance on a single needle.

by **curiousgeorgie** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:26 am UTC

Aaah, I get the angels thing now. Thanks guys ^_^

I am surprised though, that nobody has mentioned the sperm. It took me a moment to get it, because I'm not a programmer, but it was funny.
I also laughed at the iPod Femto, which prompted my roommate to give me a strange look <_<

Overall though, I think I still liked Height better...

by **markkat** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:30 am UTC

You had me until silly string theory.

by **roc314** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:31 am UTC

So do we get a poster of this one also? If we could have Height and Depht side by side on the wall (or one beneath the other for people with tall ceilings), then life would be complete.

by **GrandPubah** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:32 am UTC

I half expected to see Jeff Bridges in here riding a light cycle.

by **mrsaturn** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:42 am UTC

awesome Feynman diagrams.

by **stormoftara** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:43 am UTC

I liked how the Torrent was a mosquito. XD

by **aleflamedyud** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:45 am UTC

Ayle wrote:Have to love the vista exorcism....!

Btw hello everyone, first post, but longtime xkcd reader. My name is Elia, 21 Y, F, Chilean. Howdoyoudo?

The girl doing the exorcism is missing the most essential component, a name that must be chanted to drive out the daemons of Vista: UBUNTU.

by **Mighty Jalapeno** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:45 am UTC

Brian Austin Green?

THAT'S where he went!

by **'; DROP DATABASE;--** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:46 am UTC

Some amusing bits here, but we just had a vertical log scale comic, and the format is like WTF? Is it supposed to be going down or in or what? I lol'd at the Vista and iPod references though.

Mane wrote:Next week: Length.

Eight is equal to D?

by **Benson** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:48 am UTC

roc314 wrote:So do we get a poster of this one also? If we could have Height and Depht side by side on the wall (or one beneath the other for people with tall ceilings), then life would be complete.

I think so.

Did the 28" height of the Height poster seem... small to anyone else? I was hoping for about double that, to put it on a door... I think I know why, now.

At least I hope that's why; that one, and this one, stacked vertically on a door, or side-by-side above a desk or similarly limited locations.

by **faunablues** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:51 am UTC

I'm confused how an ovum got into the computer. Sperm I can understand.

This misspelling of bacteriophage is pretty funny, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't intentional... unless it's some odd reference to their method of infection...

iPod femto

by **jacobraccuia** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:52 am UTC

madhollywood wrote:From the macro to the micro, this is the computer in a hilarious nutshell. Is Peter Norton, the Norton Utilities guy?

from

http://www.informit.com/authors/author_ ... 0672322914

Peter Nortons name is internationally synonymous with PC expertise. His group has created a best-selling suite of utilities that includes the Norton Utilities, Norton Ant-Virus, Norton Desktop, and Norton pcANYWHERE. Some of these technologies have been incorporated into Windows 95 system tools. Among his titles published with SAMS are Complete Guide to DOS 6.22, Inside the PC, & Complete Guide to Windows 98. John Mueller started out as a computer technician in 1976. He holds a Bachelors degree in computer science and a CNE certification. John has published more than 25 books to date covering various computing platforms, operating systems, and other topics.

Ohh, awesome comic, although t was very hard for me to read and understand. I wish I knew more about all of these hidden jokes though!

by **the_frufru** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:56 am UTC

I just wanted to point out that Brian Greene is different than Brian Austin Green (who was the first person that I thought of when I saw the knitter at the bottom, then thought that even though Brian Austin Green is on a TV show with the authors favorite actress, that probably wasn't what was going on there).

Brian Greene is a physicist that fools around with string theory. So, I'd add the 'e' unless there is a missing 90210/Sarah Conner joke going on there that is waaaay above my head.

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