Today's XKCD



  • Am I the only one who thought of Swampie when reading today's xkcd



  • It made me think about how tedious and unfunny reading xkcd is.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    It made me think about how tedious and unfunny reading xkcd is.



  •  I enjoyed cet comic, but I did not see the connexxion with Swampie.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    No, but it read like a Scott Adams blog post.



  • This comic was stupid. 1s and 0s (or "rock"s and "no rock"s) don't have any meaning by themselves. It's just superstitious nonsense, kind of like how people used to think the number 13 meant bad luck, to think they do. I would have expected better from Randall.

    That computational process A does a simulation of B is never an objective fact about reality, it's only an interpretation made by the person(s) using A. To consider simulations to be of the same status as the real universe, is to either engage in what amounts to numerology on the simulator state, or nihilism on the real universe.



  • @Goplat said:

    This comic was stupid.

    [criticizing xkcd on its failure to be the raw, realistic documentary it claims to be]

     

    I can't think of anything else to say to this except, mayhaps, "No shit, Sherlock", and then continue to like XKCD anyway. :)

     


  • ♿ (Parody)

     Yeah, and the dude in the comic was a stick figure.  I mean, WTF, right?



  • Boy, do I hate stick figures.



  • I think the real joke is in the ALT tag, "I call Rule 34 on Wolframs Rule 34". XKCD's Rule 34 is "if it exists, there porn of it". Oh and it's Wolframs Rule 110 featured in the comic itself.



  • @Hitsuji said:

    XKCD's Rule 34 is "if it exists, there porn of it".

    That's not xkcd's rule.  And "xkcd" is not capitalized. 



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Hitsuji said:

    XKCD's Rule 34 is "if it exists, there porn of it".

    That's not xkcd's rule.  And "xkcd" is not capitalized funny

     


  • @morbiuswilters said:

    And "xkcd" is not capitalized.

    The [url=http://www.xkcd.com/about/]standard[/url] says it may be:

    In formal contexts where a lowercase word shouldn't start a sentence, "XKCD" is an okay alternative.


  • @Spectre said:

    @morbiuswilters said:
    And "xkcd" is not capitalized.

    The standard says it may be:

    In formal contexts where a lowercase word shouldn't start a sentence, "XKCD" is an okay alternative.

    That is the most retarded thing I have ever heard and further proves that xkcd is for retards by a retard.  xkcd is a name and should have one spelling.  If Mr. Munroe ever acheives anything of note with his life, then perhaps he will be awarded the same honor as E. E. Cummings.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    xkcd is a name and should have one spelling.
    Maybe XKCD is the comic as a whole, and xkcd is any particular day's comic.  The rumors continue to persist of an upcoming xkcd with photorealistic art and hilarious jokes that runs on parrot.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Xkcd is a name and should have one spelling.
     

    Canadian English guidelines as established by the Canadian Press clearly state that lowercase proper nouns should be capitalized when a normal noun would be capitalized, as if they were normal nouns. So a sentence starting with e. e. cummings would be written, "E. e. cummings went to the store to buy a banana."

    I don't know (nor care) how you southies do it, but the civilized English-speaking nations do it this way in formal contexts.

    That said, this is the Internet, so idk my bff jill roflmao



  • @Welbog said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    Xkcd is a name and should have one spelling.
     

    Canadian English guidelines as established by the Canadian Press clearly state that lowercase proper nouns should be capitalized when a normal noun would be capitalized, as if they were normal nouns. So a sentence starting with e. e. cummings would be written, "E. e. cummings went to the store to buy a banana."

    I don't know (nor care) how you southies do it, but the civilized English-speaking nations do it this way in formal contexts.

    That said, this is the Internet, so idk my bff jill roflmao

    Does anyone actually care what Canada thinks?  Anyone?  At all?



  • @Welbog said:

    I don't know (nor care) how you southies do it
    I'll tell you how we do it: with liberty and justice and freedom!  THESE COLORS DON'T CAPITALIZE LOWER-CASE PROPER NOUNS (OR RUN), MOTHERFUCKER!



  • @bstorer said:

    @Welbog said:

    I don't know (nor care) how you southies do it
    I'll tell you how we do it: with liberty and justice and freedom!  THESE COLOURS DON'T CAPITALIZE LOWER-CASE PROPER NOUNS (OR RUN), MOTHERFUCKER!

    FTFY, eh!


  • @Welbog said:

    Canadian English
     @Welbog said:
    civilized English-speaking nations

    Didn't you just contradict yourself by using both "Canadian" and "civilized English-speaking"? I mean, it's either/or; it can't be both.

     



  • @KenW said:

    @Welbog said:

    Canadian English
     @Welbog said:
    civilized English-speaking nations

    Didn't you just contradict yourself by using both "Canadian" and "civilized English-speaking"? I mean, it's either/or; it can't be both.

    Don't mind Welbog, his mind is easily confused after years of hockey pucks to the head, drinking swill "beer" and Grizzly bear wrestling.



  •  When did this turn into the "ragging on Canadians" thread?

     

    We can't help if we're awesome.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Welbog said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    Xkcd is a name and should have one spelling.
     

    Canadian English guidelines as established by the Canadian Press clearly state that lowercase proper nouns should be capitalized when a normal noun would be capitalized, as if they were normal nouns. So a sentence starting with e. e. cummings would be written, "E. e. cummings went to the store to buy a banana."

    I don't know (nor care) how you southies do it, but the civilized English-speaking nations do it this way in formal contexts.

    That said, this is the Internet, so idk my bff jill roflmao

    Does anyone actually care what Canada thinks?  Anyone?  At all?


    I realize you are flaming in response to a borderline troll, but the truth is some American newspapers also adopt the convention that the first letter of a lowercase proper noun is capitalized when it starts a sentence.  I prefer to preserve the case of all the letters, but that's just my personal preference.

     http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/technology/07ebay.html

    <font size="2"><font color="#ff0000">E</font>Bay Trims Its Work Force and Makes Acquisitions</font>

    ...

    <font color="#ff0000">E</font>Bay, based in San Jose, Calif., said most of the layoffs would be in its core marketplace division, which has suffered from declining single-digit growth rates while online commerce has been growing at a double-digit clip.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/13/AR2008111302520.html

     <font color="#ff0000">E</font>Bay is determining which other inaugural events, including the parade, should be off-limits. 

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451445,00.html

     <font color="#ff0000">E</font>Bay sellers can get a positive feedback point from a buyer by sending items quickly, having them arrive as advertised and helping to solve any issues that come up. 

    Yes, I'm aware that some of these articles may be from the AP, and I'm sure the AP has its own style guidelines.

    My 0.02 cents, go ahead and flame xkcd for being lame, but I think the whole capitalization issue is a red herring.  On a side note, Wikipedia's guidelines for this kind of thing are kind of interesting:

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_(capital_letters)

    For trademarks that are given in mixed or non-capitalization by their owners (such as adidas), follow standard English text formatting and capitalization rules. Trademarks beginning with a one-letter lowercase prefix pronounced as a separate letter do not need to be capitalized if the second letter is capitalized (e.g., iPod or eBay).



  • @CodeSimian said:

    My 0.02 cents
    You'll need a lot more of those to keep up with inflation.



  • @Welbog said:

    @CodeSimian said:

    My 0.02 cents
    You'll need a lot more of those to keep up with inflation.

    The "0.02 cents" thing was intentional.  Ever heard of VerizonMath?


  • @CodeSimian said:

    The "0.02 cents" thing was intentional.  Ever heard of VerizonMath?
    You say it was intentional now.



  •  @morbiuswilters said:

    @Hitsuji said:
    XKCD's Rule 34 is "if it exists, there porn of it".
    That's not xkcd's rule.  And "xkcd" is not capitalized.

    Sorry grammar nazi Morbs,

                  Since
    the first I''ve of rule #34 of the internet, was here

    , and all references to it that I've ever seen of
    it refer back to this comic strip as "xkcd's rule #34 of the internet",
    I made a presumption that xkcd applied an idea to a random numbered
    rule in a ficticiuos set of rules on the internet. Thank you for pointing out the truth.

     It's hard to tell how to exactly what case "xkcd" is written since on the website alone the tile is in lower case but ALL other test is in upper case, however after quickly reading http://www.xkcd.com/about/ I now know that the correct way to write "xkcd" is "xkcd", "XKCD" is an acceptable alternative and "Xkcd" is frowned upon.

     



  • @Hitsuji said:

    "XKCD" is an acceptable alternative

    Sorry that should say "XKCD" is an acceptable alternative specifically in the context I originally used.


  • :belt_onion:

    @CodeSimian said:

    <snip> but the truth is some American newspapers also adopt the convention that the first letter of a lowercase proper noun is capitalized when it starts a sentence.  I prefer to preserve the case of all the letters, but that's just my personal preference.

    <font size="2"><font color="#ff0000">E</font>Bay Trims Its Work Force and Makes Acquisitions</font>

    <font color="#ff0000">E</font>Bay, based in San Jose, Calif., said most of the layoffs would be in its core marketplace division, which has suffered from declining single-digit growth rates while online commerce has been growing at a double-digit clip.

     <font color="#ff0000">E</font>Bay is determining which other inaugural events, including the parade, should be off-limits. 

     <font color="#ff0000">E</font>Bay sellers can get a positive feedback point from a buyer by sending items quickly, having them arrive as advertised and helping to solve any issues that come up. 

    Nah, that's just MS Word messing up what you're trying to type


  • Xkcd rocks my socks, it's awesome.

     

    Also arguing about capitalisation with foreigners is the most useless thing i've ever read. And believe me, the internet is vast and filled with useless stuff. Not only are proper capitalization rules the most boring subject on the face of the planet. They may also change from time to time,  depending on where you live.

     

    Now give me the proper spelling of 

    "DVD/CD maker" at the beginning of a sentence and mid-sentence. The word in question is a product name, which isn't trademarked, both DVD and CD of course are.

    No points will be given for correct or/and incorrect answers.

     




  • @stratos said:

    Now give me the proper spelling of 

    "DVD/CD maker" at the beginning of a sentence and mid-sentence. The word in question is a product name, which isn't trademarked, both DVD and CD of course are.

    DVD/CD maker is a motherfucking awesome product.  I can't believe you don't know how awesome DVD/CD maker is.  I totally get all my work done with DVD/CD maker, which by the way is awesome.  Its designers have created it in such a way that automatically makes your DVDs/CDs without you clicking or typing or anything.[1]  It's just that awesome.  Don't you want one?

    In case you don't want one, you should know that it's a random Samsung DVD burner with new branding.  You're not missing much.  Laugh at the fools that paid $200 for this.

    In all cases I can think of, DVD and CD is capitalized no matter what.  It's not like xkcd, which has special rules from its creator.

    Do I win anything now?

    [1] - may not actually be true, but this is a flashy graphic on a box.  Who cares?



  •  English grammar stipulates that DVD and CD are always capitalised as they are acronyms.



  • @Hitsuji said:

     English grammar stipulates that DVD and CD are always capitalised as they are acronyms.

    They are initialisms, not acronyms. According to The Complete Plain Words, which was written as a guide to the use of English for the British Civil Service, an acronym such as "Radar" is written with only the first letter capitalised in British practice, although the author noted that the American practice of capitalising all the letters ("RADAR") was increasingly common. If an acronym became accepted as a word in its own right, then treating it as a normally lower-case word would be acceptable, and in some cases expected ("For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" is the obvious example here).



  • @Hitsuji said:

    Since
    the first I''ve of rule #34 of the internet, was here
    , and all references to it that I've ever seen of
    it refer back to this comic strip as "xkcd's rule #34 of the internet",
    I made a presumption that xkcd applied an idea to a random numbered
    rule in a ficticiuos set of rules on the internet. Thank you for pointing out the truth.

    It is from 4chan, and there really are a large number of rules. I have slightly broken rules 1 and 2 by making this comment, but they are more a guideline to good taste than a rigid rule, IMHO.

    @Hitsuji said:

     It's hard to tell how to exactly what case "xkcd" is written since on the website alone the tile is in lower case but ALL other test is in upper case, however after quickly reading http://www.xkcd.com/about/ I now know that the correct way to write "xkcd" is "xkcd", "XKCD" is an acceptable alternative and "Xkcd" is frowned upon.

    esr's style guide, for those who care about such things, states that where the word is specifically lower-case, the lower case should be preserved to prevent ambiguity, although it is better to re-phrase the sentence so that the first letter can still be capitalised. Of course, plenty here don't give a fig what esr thinks, IIRC mobs included.
    More "normal" rules I have just posted in another comment.



  • @Physics Phil said:

    I have slightly broken rules 1 and 2 by making this comment,

    "You do not talk about the rules" and "You [i]do not[/i] talk about the rules"?



  • @Spectre said:

    @Physics Phil said:
    I have slightly broken rules 1 and 2 by making this comment,

    "You do not talk about the rules" and "You do not talk about the rules"?

    s/rules//b/g
    and you would be right. Wikipedia has a complete list of the rules, if you have enough sense not to trawl through /b/ to find them.



  • @Physics Phil said:

    [b]s~rules~/b~g[/b] and you would be right.



  • @Physics Phil said:

    They are initialisms, not acronyms.

    What do you have against DaViD and CoD?

     

    @Physics Phil said:

    If an acronym became accepted as a word in its own right, then treating it as a normally lower-case word would be acceptable, and in some cases expected ("For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" is the obvious example here).

    I almost thought you were smart until you pulled this tired old canard out of your ass.  The word "fuck" is not an acronym. 



  • @Welbog said:

    @CodeSimian said:

    The "0.02 cents" thing was intentional.  Ever heard of VerizonMath?
    You say it was intentional now.



    That's what she said!


  • @Physics Phil said:

    If an acronym became accepted as a word in its own right, then treating it as a normally lower-case word would be acceptable, and in some cases expected ("For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" is the obvious example here).
     

    I think "Laser" is a good example of this. For years I didn't actually know that was an acronym.


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