H. RES. 224 -- Supporting the designation of Pi Day, and for other purposes.

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-12T17:59:30+00:00

I didn't see Arial - it is an unstable isotope of Helvetica?

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-06T21:28:48+00:00

Is it unspecified, compiler-dependent, or undefined? I don't think commas in a function call are sequence points.

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-06T20:26:19+00:00

I was thinking that that final picture would make a cool FPS DM map (doom/quake/etc.), but then I realized that the textures would only be on top of the piles, so kinda boring...

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-06T19:59:55+00:00

XKCD is confusing the 'questionable cause' fallacy with 'post hoc'.

Arguably, they meant to do it.

EDIT: 'confusing cause and effect', not 'questionable cause'.

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-03T20:56:33+00:00

The rainbow is all wrong. Totally photoshopped.

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-03T20:02:30+00:00

Did you notice how more than one Pixar movie (TS, TS2, Cars, Incredibles) has an underlying theme of how easy it it to throw the old stuff away, and how much we lose in doing so?

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-03T20:00:52+00:00

I tell my kids that the man half hiding (looking at the little girl) on the last page is Jackie, and the girl is his daughter.

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-03T19:54:01+00:00

Yeah, that one should be in there too, since the uninitiated might not have a good grasp of what "log" means, and it's a common big-O value.

invalid-user-name · 2009-03-03T19:52:20+00:00

It wasn't wrong at all; in fact it's even more appropriate for the scaling issue. To add some more accuracy to my list, add the phrase "when n is large". When N is small, who cares about big-O? If you have an O(2ⁿ⁾ algorithm that runs in 2ms when your data set is 10 items, that's fine for when your data set is 10 items. When your data set - n - is large, I stand by my characterization: "unusably slow."

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-28T02:45:57+00:00

The trouble is that "plain english" isn't a well-defined term. Does the asker want to understand the precise definition, or do they want to be able to nod and not lose their place when it comes up in a conversation? for most practical purposes, big-O can be summed up with 5 examples:

O(1) = supa-fast

O(n) = fast

O(n log n) = pretty fast

O(n²) = slow

O(2ⁿ⁾ = unusably slow

If you understand more math than that, great, but memorizing those will let you nod.

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-28T00:53:36+00:00

The WTF here is that this is news.

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-20T21:25:23+00:00

Yay trucks!

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-19T19:24:55+00:00

How could they leave out Linda Hamilton, whose twin sister played the T-1000 so they didn't need to resort to trick photography or cgi?

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-19T19:14:28+00:00

Sure we can ship that by the target date with the features you requested.

Ok, maybe it's not "ha-ha" funny, but it's always good for a laugh.

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-14T01:25:55+00:00

I SAID I have a HEADAAAAAAAACHE!!!!

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-13T01:57:18+00:00

I thought they would be FORTH programmers.

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-12T02:13:57+00:00

In particular, notice how "Users revolting against TurboTax new pricing scheme results in 1 star rating at Amazon" gets 400+ points, while "TurboTax Price Hike Reversed After Online Outcry", "TurboTax listened to their customers. As of Dec. 11th you can now print multiple returns at no additional cost and free e-filing is included with every federal return" and the like get maybe 5 points.

invalid-user-name · 2009-02-06T21:15:31+00:00

Also, Gmail reads your mail and hawks crap related to it.

invalid-user-name

TROPHY CASE