Comics

• source under CC BY-NC 2.5 Deed
• explainxkcd/234

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Easier to escape: n-layered nested quotes or an iron maiden?

:::spoiler Transcript

[Cueball sits before a computer on a desk while another man stands behind him.]
Man: I was fascinated by locks as a kid. I loved how they turned information and patterns into physical strength.
Cueball: Why does my script keep dying?

[Closeup on Cueball sitting at the computer.]
Man: And a lock invites you to try and open it. It's the hacker instinct. Only your ignorance stands in the way.
Cueball: Wait it's passing bad strings.

[Returns to the two shot of both men.]
Man: I admired Harry Houdini, how he could open any lock and free himself from any restraint.
Cueball: Ah - Bash is parsing the spaces.

Man: Sure some of it was fakery and showmanship. But I still wonder how he so consistently escaped handcuffs.
Cueball: Backslashes?
Man: Huh?
Cueball: Never mind.

• source under CC BY-NC 2.5 Deed
• explainxkcd/224

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We lost the documentation on quantum mechanics. You'll have to decode the regexes yourself.

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/8677435

source

• source under CC BY-NC 2.5 Deed
• explainxkcd/221

Transcript:

[A computer program.]

int getRandomNumber()
{
   return 4; // chosen by fair dice roll.
             // guaranteed to be random.
}

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RFC 1149.5 specifies 4 as the standard IEEE-vetted random number.

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/8653174

source

Welcome to AdLitteram. The challenge is to guess the programming term that is represented in the image.

Click for the answer

Deadlock

• source under CC BY-NC 2.5 Deed
• explain xkcd | 217

Transcript:

Cueball: Hey, check it out: eπ − π is 19.999099979. That's weird.
Black Hat: Yeah. That's how I got kicked out of the ACM in college.
Cueball: ...what?
Black Hat: During a competition, I told the programmers on our team that e^π − π was a standard test of floating-point handlers -- it would come out to 20 unless they had rounding errors.
Cueball: That's awful.
Black Hat: Yeah, they dug through half their algorithms looking for the bug before they figured it out.

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Also, I hear the 4th root of (9^2 + 19^2/22) is pi.

source licensed under CC BY-NC 2.5 Deed

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/8618972

source

https://xkcd.com/156/

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Your IDE's color may vary.

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/8609770

https://www.monkeyuser.com/2016/null-pointer/