The problem/comic in question: http://xkcd.com/287/ I'm not sure this is the best way to do it, but here's what I've come up with so far. I'm using CFML, but it should be readable by anyone. <cffunction name="testCombo" returntype="boolean"> <cfargument name="currentCombo" type="string" required="true" /> <cfargument name="cu...
The hover "joke" in #505 xkcd touts "I call rule 34 on Wolfram's Rule 34". I know what rule 34 is in Internet terms and I've googled up who Wolfram is but I'm having a hard time figuring out what Wolfram's Rule 34 is. So what exactly is this "Rule 34"? Here's the comic: http://xkcd.com/505/. ...
Could someone explain if and why the following random number function from XKCD works? I have never quite been able to understand it. I ask the question on SO hoping to find a more "human" explanation that could be understood by me. ...
On the xkcd site today, the following appeared as a joke in a <script language="scheme"> tag so what does the following code do / represent? (define (eval exp env) (cond ((self-evaluating? exp) exp) ((variable? exp) (lookup-variable-value exp env)) ((quoted? exp) (text-of-quotation exp)) ((assignment? exp) ...
In the XKCD comic 195 a design for a map of the Internet address space is suggested using a Hilbert curve so that items from a similar IP adresses will be clustered together. Given an IP address, how would I calculate its 2D coordinates (in the range zero to one) on such a map? ...
There is this xkcd comic: I recently saw a version with "probability protocol is good" and a quote from the HTTP RFC (I believe). But I can't seem to find it anymore. Can someone help? (I need this to convince some of my co-workers that they're doing the design for a network protocol we're building wrong, so this question is programm...
There is a modified labyrinth puzzle on xkcd: http://xkcd.com/246/ After reading it we asked on an interview, "how many questions required to survive and solve this puzzle?" Our best solution requires 5 questions, 1-1-1 question to everyone, and 2 to a chosen one based on the first 3. Can anybody construct a better, or different logic...
When I was in the sixth grade, my parents purchased for me a TI-86 graphing calculator. I recall that it was purchased on the same day that "Titanic" on DVD went on sale in the United States. In the years that followed I learned that although the device is advertised as a graphing calculator, it really is a pocket-sized portable compute...
Hey everyone, This concept has been brought to my attention before, but many people might know it from this popular comic here, where he uses stones instead of points on a paper. This concept is so abstract to me. A full-functioning computer that can manage algorithms, input, output, etc. without electricity? Surely, it's difficult to ...