# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 182
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3623 "2024-11-01T17:41:01Z")
> **[Demons](https://xkcd.com/3006/)** > > Though they do appreciate how much he improved the heating system for the flame pit. ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3624 "2024-11-01T18:36:56Z")
Must also be hard for the average Unix demon to get any street cred. “And after the hot sulfur enema, I waterboard them. Anyway, what is _your_ job?” “I, eh, I wait around and when something requests some info I reply, mostly within a second.” “That’s … supposed to be … punishment?” “But it’s the internet! You find all kinds of vile disinformation, lewd images, large scale destabilization of society. In fact, the website I serve might appear innocent, but I suspect it’s a really an online drug market, I mean ‘Straight Dope’?!” “Let me see, hah, their slogan is about fighting ignorance, sounds like some hopelessly wholesome goody twoshoes!” “Hey, they admit themselves it’s taking longer than they thought!” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3625 "2024-11-01T19:37:45Z")
The only catch for Maxwell’s Demon’s scheme is how much work opening and shutting the gate is. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3626 "2024-11-01T20:37:13Z")
Don’t forget tracking the particle(s). I get exhausted just watching **FtGGrandkid1** roam around non-stop. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3627 "2024-11-02T00:56:19Z")
> [@Chelonaut](#): > > Must also be hard for the average Unix demon to get any street cred. > > “And after the hot sulfur enema, I waterboard them. Anyway, what is _your_ job?” > “I, eh, I wait around and when something requests some info I reply, mostly within a second.” I, eh, wait around for some dev to have screwed up and then I spew demons like you out his nose and destroy the entire server room. The only thing better than hot sulfur enemas is _thousands_ of hot sulfur enemas. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3628 "2024-11-02T01:41:11Z")
> [@Chelonaut](#): > > Must also be hard for the average Unix demon to get any street cred. The other demons probably laugh at the way the Unix daemons spell their names, too. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3629 "2024-11-02T01:57:35Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > daemons We really, really need like buttons. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3630 "2024-11-05T06:46:26Z")
> **[Probabilistic Uncertainty](https://xkcd.com/3007/)** > > "One popular strategy is to enter an emotional spiral. Could that be the right approach? We contacted several researchers who are experts in emotional spirals to ask them, but none of them were in a state to speak with us." ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3631 "2024-11-05T12:14:23Z")
Good election day strip. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3632 "2024-11-07T07:08:35Z")
> **[Proterozoic Rocks](https://xkcd.com/3008/)** > > These rocks are from a time before eyes, brains, and bones, pieces of a land warmed by an unseen sun. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3633 "2024-11-07T11:28:24Z")
I suppose taking the long view is one way of coping. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3634 "2024-11-07T13:33:23Z")
Well said. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3635 "2024-11-07T15:17:24Z")
As opposed to arbitrary fragments of rock which were probably part of solid beds for most of the past, [Klerksdorp sphere - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klerksdorp_sphere) s have existed as discrete objects for as much as three billion years! P.S. I wonder if Munroe is going to keep up his Harris sign for the next four years as a protest. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3636 "2024-11-08T16:00:14Z")
I remember as a child watching _Fantasia_ and during “The Rite of Spring” segment’s early part being inexpicably sad that whole landscapes were being thrown up and destroyed unseen. I feel the same sadness knowing the visible universe is only a part of the whole and, because of expansion, the unseen part is unknown and unreachable. Even sadder is that the visible part is shrinking and, far into the future we will be, indeed, in an island galaxy, the only one visible and keep on going from there. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3637 "2024-11-09T07:28:55Z")
> **[Number Shortage](https://xkcd.com/3009/)** > > "10 minutes ago we were down to only 2 0s!" "How many do we have now?" "I ... don't know!!" ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3638 "2024-11-09T12:42:05Z")
There’s a really interesting vaguely Fibonacci-like recursive descent going on there. It’d be interesting to explore how it develops from various starting points or if tracking numbers/digits other than 2 & 3. Of course you could turn it over and instead of shortages have excesses. e.g. > The math department number excess is getting worse! We have 15 2s and 12 3s on the shelf. > No, wait, 17 2s and 13 3s. > No, wait, … I wonder if that’s one of those monotonically increasing yet also converging series. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3639 "2024-11-10T17:04:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I wonder if that’s one of those monotonically increasing yet also converging series. You’ll add at least one 2 and one 3 each time, so I don’t see any sense in which the sequence would converge. Put another way, any sequence of _integers_ that’s monotonically increasing will diverge. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3640 "2024-11-12T02:22:24Z")
> **[Geometriphylogenetics](https://xkcd.com/3010/)** > > There's a maximum likelihood that I'm doing phylogenetics wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3641 "2024-11-12T02:46:20Z")
I could almost believe that there was some mathematical argument that triangles have more in common with circles than with other polygons. Stranger things than that turn up in math. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3642 "2024-11-12T02:47:11Z")
They both have the trigonometry gene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=181) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=183)