# Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time (OPEN SPOILERS POSSIBLE) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117 "2009-07-24T13:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 238
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4745 "2022-03-11T17:02:06Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > in the climax to War Games, the software is trying to match the 10-character launch code. It is supposed to be trying millions of combinations of characters to find the right one. They had reportedly been changed by 1983 (when that movie came out), but apparently for a large portion of the Cold War the nuclear launch code for every missile in the arsenal was “00000000” and this was not at all a well-kept secret. In many cases, it was actually written on a note taped to the console (allegedly). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4746 "2022-03-11T17:07:56Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > How is it finding one character at a time? Either a code works or it doesn’t. If you get one character wrong, it’s just as wrong as if you have them all wrong, viz. computer passwords. Little known fact: until 1995, the security technology underlying the nuclear launch codes was based off the board game [_Master Mind_](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Mastermind.jpg/400px-Mastermind.jpg) From 1995 on, it’s been based on _Settlers of Catan_. “Anyone want to trade wood for a LGM-30F Minuteman II?” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4747 "2022-03-11T17:16:28Z")
There was a fault in some early computer networks such that the computer reported back to the user that the password was wrong faster the first character was wrong than if it was not. This was a bad idea for security ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4748 "2022-03-11T17:25:32Z")
Andy Partridge is the lead singer of XTC as Rik Ocasek is the lead singer of The Cars. I knew Moulding sang a few XTC songs but not as many as he did. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4749 "2022-03-12T09:55:25Z")
In _Dune_, when Paul says he’s not in the mood for training, and Gurney says “Mood is a thing for cattle”… I _just now_ realised that is actually just a terrible pun. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4750 "2022-03-12T14:04:25Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > How is it finding one character at a time? Either a code works or it doesn’t. If you get one character wrong, it’s just as wrong as if you have them all wrong, viz. computer passwords. There was a lot that movie got right about computer security, but that wasn’t one of them. For that, they sacrificed accuracy for the sake of drama, because seeing how close the computer was getting made it more dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4751 "2022-03-14T14:11:49Z")
In an episode of “The Office,” Toby comments on Michael’s salary negotiation with Jan: “This may be the first time that a male subordinate has attempted to get a modest, scheduled raise by threatening to withhold sex from a female superior.” Took me a while to fully get the joke: every single detail of this scenario is the exact opposite of how one usually imagines a quid-pro-quo harassment scenario. (I.e., a male superior attempts to get a sexual favor from a female subordinate by offering her a substantial, unscheduled raise.) ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4752 "2022-03-14T14:23:53Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > How is it finding one character at a time? Either a code works or it doesn’t. > [@Chronos](#): > > For that, they sacrificed accuracy for the sake of drama, because seeing how close the computer was getting made it more dramatic. Yeah, this is a pretty standard movie trope - cracking the multi-digit code one digit at a time is much more exciting than everyone standing around killing time and suddenly the good guys are in (or the bad guys are out). Wonder if War Games was the first to do it? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4753 "2022-03-14T15:09:03Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Wonder if War Games was the first to do it? Nope. They did that at the climax of **Star Trek – The Motion Picture in 1979** , although I seriously doubt if that was the first instance of it. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4754 "2022-03-14T15:16:46Z")
In the comic strip Bloom County, Oliver has a Banana Junior 6000. I just realized that it’s banana because of Apple. D’OH. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4755 "2022-03-15T22:42:29Z")
I’ve seen _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_ a number of times but it wasn’t until today that it occurred to me that the song “There’s a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place)” when the castle is owned by somebody named Frank-N-Furter. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4756 "2022-03-15T22:57:15Z")
Daughter has started on the Tiffany Aching books. So only now do I realise that “Miss Tick” sounds like “mystic”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4757 "2022-03-16T02:44:31Z")
Did you understand the part where Tiffany suggests she call herself _Miss Teak_ instead.? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4758 "2022-03-16T12:48:38Z")
Paging _Miss Take_ for her view on it. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4759 "2022-03-16T12:56:02Z")
In what can only be called an epiphany, I one day realized that the mischievous smile on the “Mona Lisa” is due to the fact that she posed for the painting right after having mind blowing sex. 😈 ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4760 "2022-03-16T13:40:07Z")
Not disagreeing, just throwing up a neat article. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/21/science/what-is-it-with-mona-lisa-s-smile-it-s-you.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/21/science/what-is-it-with-mona-lisa-s-smile-it-s-you.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4761 "2022-03-16T13:43:38Z")
Whereas I still don’t understand why Mona Lisa’s smile is considered a mystery, because so far as I can see, she’s not even smiling. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4762 "2022-03-16T14:06:53Z")
To me, her expression says “I’m stoned as fuck right now.” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4763 "2022-03-16T15:12:25Z")
Mona Lisa’s smile (to me) is so obvious I don’t even know why people consider it a mystery. She was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo and da Venci named it La Gioconda after her last name. But gioconda in Italian can mean “the smiling one”. I think LdV was clever enough to put 2 and 2 together. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4764 "2022-03-16T15:41:34Z")
Can’t remember now, my reading it was ages ago [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=237) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=239)