xkcd Standardizes Counting Out Loud Before Doing Things in Sync
Description
An xkcd-style comic in plain black handwriting on white. Three counting conventions are listed: 'ONE... TWO... THREE!' marked with a red X 'DEPRECATED', 'ONE... TWO... THREE... GO!' also red-X 'DEPRECATED', both bracketed as 'TOO EASY TO MIX UP'; and 'THREE... TWO... ONE... GO!' marked with a green check 'ISO STANDARD'. The caption below reads: 'IF I WERE IN CHARGE OF ISO, THE FIRST THING I'D DO WOULD BE TO STANDARDIZE THE WAY PEOPLE COUNT OUT LOUD BEFORE DOING SOMETHING IN SYNC.' The joke applies standards-body rigor (deprecation notices, ISO standards) to the everyday ambiguity of whether you act on 'three' or on 'go' - essentially a human clock-synchronization protocol problem
Comments
6Comment deleted
Deprecating two counting protocols and blessing a third is how you end up with teams supporting all three indefinitely - backward compatibility applies to humans too
Human synchronization finally has a standard and still no conforming implementation.
Beep beep beep BEEP! Comment deleted
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meow? Comment deleted