Comics

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/8696587

source

• source under CC BY-NC 2.5 Deed
• explainxkcd/287

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General solutions get you a 50% tip.

:::spoiler Transcript

My Hobby:
Embedding NP-Complete problems in restaurant orders
[A menu is shown.]
Chotchkies Restaurant
Appetizers

• Mixed Fruit 2.15
• French Fries 2.75
• Side Salad 3.35
• Hot Wings 3.55
• Mozzarella Sticks 4.20
• Sampler Plate 5.80

Sandwiches

• Barbecue 6.55

[Megan, another person, and Cueball are sitting at a table. Cueball is holding the menu as well as a thick book and is ordering from a waiter. Megan is facepalming.]
Cueball: We'd like exactly $15.05 worth of appetizers, please.
Waiter: ...Exactly? Uhh...
Cueball: Here, these papers on the knapsack problem might help you out.
Waiter: Listen, I have six other tables to get to—
Cueball: —As fast as possible, of course. Want something on traveling salesman?

• 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/

Hover text:

Your IDE's color may vary.

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

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