tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post583852112231888498..comments2024-03-17T05:03:46.056-07:00Comments on xkcd sucks: Comic 539: An Outlier, IndeedCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-11788666798153179622009-02-05T17:04:00.000-08:002009-02-05T17:04:00.000-08:00Double Blackbird: Not necessarily. It is not requi...Double Blackbird: Not necessarily. It is not required, just a common practice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-23098820954031973082009-02-05T14:26:00.000-08:002009-02-05T14:26:00.000-08:00Accursed Statistics professor. All teh plots I dre...Accursed Statistics professor. All teh plots I drew were wrong. :(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-51312990661767560952009-02-05T14:24:00.000-08:002009-02-05T14:24:00.000-08:00Traditioooooonnnn... TRA-DI-TION.Traditioooooonnnn... TRA-DI-TION.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-5864671022707802582009-02-05T14:17:00.001-08:002009-02-05T14:17:00.001-08:00DoubleBlackbird:It is traditional to separate an o...DoubleBlackbird:<BR/><BR/>It is traditional to separate an outlier from the box and whisker plot, and make it just a dot, to highlight the fact that there is an outlier.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-76514566582167444432009-02-05T14:17:00.000-08:002009-02-05T14:17:00.000-08:00@doubleBlackbird: She's an outlier to the data, in...@doubleBlackbird: She's an outlier to the data, in order to be an outlier you are actually required to be part of the data. She's still part of the data, however she's too far from the boundaries of the first and third quadrants to be included within the plot.<BR/><BR/>I believe that's how it works, it's been a bit since Stats class.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-28655763450490699042009-02-05T13:55:00.000-08:002009-02-05T13:55:00.000-08:00OKAY REALLY NITPICKY MINOR COMPLAINT ABOUT THE COM...OKAY REALLY NITPICKY MINOR COMPLAINT ABOUT THE COMIC COMING UP<BR/><BR/>What we have in panel three is, as cow_2001 pointed out, the very aesthetically-pleasing box and whisker plot (or as my Greek statistics professor called it, a 'boksin vikser plot'). And I assume that dot over on the far right represents Irrefutable-Math Girl. But panel two suggests that Multigirl-Guy is casually dating her, which makes her part of the data.<BR/><BR/>In that case, shouldn't she be represented by an extremely long vikser? That's how they're normally displayed - the boksin contains all the important stuff like the interquartile range, and the viksers show you the really outrageous outliers so you can laugh at them. You can't just draw a dot a long way from the plot, that messes up the whole graph!<BR/><BR/>Bear in mind that I haven't done much statistics yet so Randall's drawing could well be right, and what I'm saying might all be Jeffrey Archers. But I also question the notion that being a major outlier makes you 'statistically significant'.<BR/><BR/>RIGHT THEN NITPICKING OVER BACK TO GENUINELY ENJOYABLE COMIC THEN GUYSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-20583263946156850322009-02-05T13:48:00.000-08:002009-02-05T13:48:00.000-08:00WHY IS EVERYONE BETTER AT PUNS THAN MEWHY IS EVERYONE BETTER AT PUNS THAN MEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-61941728572380302092009-02-05T13:28:00.000-08:002009-02-05T13:28:00.000-08:00I think we should establish bash.org as a baseline...I think we should establish bash.org as a baseline against which to compare humour. I'm really not sure you can beat the Harry Potter excerpts where they replace wand with wang.<BR/><BR/>Now, while I find Randall constantly going on about his love life to be at times tiresome I'd like to point out that it *is* possible for some nerds to be able to maintain multiple casual dating arrangements. I'm not going to lay claim to any grand exploits because I prefer to have my heterosexuality unchallenged by Poore, but I'm just saying that it isn't unrealistic. Though constantly talking about it on your webcomic could certainly be considered bad form.<BR/><BR/>Also, I am in love with puns and enjoyed the comic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-12467036231369918732009-02-05T07:59:00.000-08:002009-02-05T07:59:00.000-08:00greg:I don't think it's new to him.http://blag.xkc...greg:<BR/>I don't think it's new to him.<BR/>http://blag.xkcd.com/2008/02/04/limerickdbcom/cow_2001https://www.blogger.com/profile/14096806199197429766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-22293760794082987642009-02-05T07:40:00.000-08:002009-02-05T07:40:00.000-08:00feh, this comic did nothing for me. i think i'm ju...feh, this comic did nothing for me. i think i'm just so jaded to xkcd at this point that when one comes around that even the xkcd haters like, i can't appreciate it.<BR/><BR/>also, doubleblackbird's pointing out about this being derived from a bash.org quote makes me even angrier. i think randall just recently discovered bash - see the alt text on the <A HREF="http://xkcd.com/533/" REL="nofollow">laptop hell</A> comic.<BR/><BR/>sigh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-36121730662961809962009-02-05T00:49:00.000-08:002009-02-05T00:49:00.000-08:00Lint: Yeah, "Your math is irrefutable" stands out ...Lint: Yeah, "Your math is irrefutable" stands out as really stilted and unnatural. It's like he censored the original line and left it with... that.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-3166969056843073322009-02-05T00:45:00.000-08:002009-02-05T00:45:00.000-08:00I have nothing to say, but this will bring the com...I have nothing to say, but this will bring the comments almost to fifty!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-12633171375503103732009-02-04T22:56:00.000-08:002009-02-04T22:56:00.000-08:00holy CRAP there are a lot of comments. holy mother...holy CRAP there are a lot of comments. holy mother of god CRAP<BR/><BR/>So yeah Rob sucks that you had to have this come up on your week - it's clearly leaps and bounds better than the last 50 or so comics (possible exception: <A HREF="http://xkcdsucks.blogspot.com/2008/11/comic-506-its-all-in-name-of-science.html" REL="nofollow">lesbian experimentation</A>, which despite its shitty art was a genuinely good joke, in a very very similar vein).<BR/><BR/>One problem I had with it was how much it was like the very recent <A HREF="http://xkcdsucks.blogspot.com/2008/12/comic-523-randall-speaks-to-us.html" REL="nofollow">523</A>, in that the characters are scientifically charting out data to prove a point about relationships.<BR/><BR/>Also, even a good comic at this point feels like Randall is reaching all around a lake of mud, desperately trying to find something funny and shiny, and almost always coming up empty, and then this one time he finds something shiny and I go "oh that's nice...don't be too proud though, look at that pile of shit you have been building up."<BR/><BR/>In other words, a single good comic out of so many, while an important step, is not statistically significant.<BR/><BR/>Nerd Girls - they absolutely exist. Look right over here: <A HREF="http://xkcd.com/67/" REL="nofollow">67</A>! But seriously, they do exist very much like that. I can introduce you to a whole lot of them.<BR/><BR/>Jared - I'd say he deserves at least a little more credit on his pacing here. It's a very well constructed execution of what is, admittedly, a pun. Also I think it's a very strong pun, as these things go.<BR/><BR/>Thank you also for "The Carson Maneuver" - that is a great way to think about a lot of self-deprecating-meta-joke (I hope my subtitle of "[a] vitriolic and bitter collection of unwarranted nastiness about a silly and harmless comic." doesn't count as one of those....)<BR/><BR/>Sarah, you reminded me of a great simpsons line when Lisa starts dating school bully Nelosn - Nelson's friends say to him "You kissed a <I>girl</I>? that is <I>so</I> gay!"<BR/><BR/>Adam I think you summarized this well. Dammit, I feel all dirty liking this comic but it is always good to know that I haven't <I>totally</I> given up hope and I don't have to assume they are all bad and then justify it.<BR/><BR/>Poore, sorry you couldn't come up with a pun. Guess he Robbed you of a joke?<BR/><BR/>Lint - totally agreed on the line "your math is irrefutable". It should be erased to give the dialogue a pause before the punchline. this would make it much stronger, and the line is so very boring on its own. What if the last line were the man saying "Lies! Damned Lies!" in a more subtle joke? Perhaps that would make a good alt-text, as I didn't like this one as much as others seem to have. <BR/><BR/>The alt-texts seem to be getting worse - they had been holding out at "pretty ok" for a while now.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-5216081183896648122009-02-04T20:20:00.000-08:002009-02-04T20:20:00.000-08:00Aha, I think I understand what I don't like. The l...Aha, I think I understand what I don't like. The line "Your math is irrefutable." just sounds so flat that it sucks all of the energy out of the argument before the punchline can even be made.Lint of Deathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14683235360544381944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-40219048840210473802009-02-04T20:18:00.001-08:002009-02-04T20:18:00.001-08:00"Women" implies a certain level of maturity. The o..."Women" implies a certain level of maturity. The ones I know act like they are 16.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-30790915783505126802009-02-04T20:18:00.000-08:002009-02-04T20:18:00.000-08:00Maybe I would have liked the comic better if the l...Maybe I would have liked the comic better if the last two lines of dialogue were in reverse order, but as it is I just think the last panel feels too forced. Maybe it's because I find that pun too easy to make and so feel like reading so many panels for a pun like that just wasn't worth it.<BR/><BR/>Or maybe if the guy in the last panel instead shouted "Lies, damned lies, and statistics!" :DLint of Deathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14683235360544381944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-55495826699146244552009-02-04T20:15:00.000-08:002009-02-04T20:15:00.000-08:00Wellesley WOMEN, chauvanist!;)Wellesley WOMEN, chauvanist!<BR/><BR/>;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-83456606971478698762009-02-04T20:00:00.000-08:002009-02-04T20:00:00.000-08:00I have known too many wellesley girls.I have known too many wellesley girls.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-58592823510580197982009-02-04T19:54:00.000-08:002009-02-04T19:54:00.000-08:00Smith, damn you!Nah, Wellesley's cool though.Smith, damn you!<BR/><BR/>Nah, Wellesley's cool though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-57894571263093011632009-02-04T18:37:00.000-08:002009-02-04T18:37:00.000-08:00poore:Well someone has to do the trolling when I a...poore:<BR/><BR/>Well someone has to do the trolling when I am not! Yours are probably more subtle than my 'well-reasoned argument punctuated with fat jokes and existential insults.' (Usually I troll the fanboys, because they are just SO MAD and it is funny.)<BR/><BR/>Alison:<BR/><BR/>You aren't at Wellesley by some fell coincidence are you?rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-26345779872043435162009-02-04T16:41:00.000-08:002009-02-04T16:41:00.000-08:00Chris:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_plotBox wit...Chris:<BR/>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_plot<BR/>Box with whiskers, soooo cuuuuteeee!!!!11cow_2001https://www.blogger.com/profile/14096806199197429766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-77646410912054008082009-02-04T16:04:00.000-08:002009-02-04T16:04:00.000-08:00Agreed that this one was funny, but what exactly i...Agreed that this one was funny, but what exactly is that drawing the girl is pointing to in panel 3? A dot and some sort of box with arms?<BR/><BR/>p.s. Nerdy girls do exist.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-22372940789812095582009-02-04T14:11:00.000-08:002009-02-04T14:11:00.000-08:00Well, good show, then.Well, good show, then.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-34328591953105060962009-02-04T13:58:00.000-08:002009-02-04T13:58:00.000-08:00@Amanda::D@Amanda:<BR/><BR/>:DAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-67314529106032600132009-02-04T13:55:00.000-08:002009-02-04T13:55:00.000-08:00@dolio:I suppose I was trying to create subtle hum...@dolio:<BR/><BR/><BR/>I suppose I was trying to create subtle humor for those who actually understand Goedel's theorems by applying them incorrectly in a troll-like fashion. <BR/><BR/>But once again, it was a comedic post, and I admitted IN THAT VERY POST that the arguments wold be terrible, so...yeah.<BR/><BR/>(Actually, I was just throwing in a nerdy reference in hopes of pandering to my audience, without fully understanding said reference. I call it "Randall-izing" a post.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com