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A link get to a 404 error page.

A sinuous wave coming from the pedal. The bicycle is lacking its first wheel, its last wheel has something in it. There is a green cloud at the end of the wave.

Why the bike, the wave and the cloud? What does the image mean? And how does it relate to the bottom image?

image description

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  • 9
    I am pretty sure the wave is a bike rack and the cloud is a bush.
    – StrongBad
    Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 14:17
  • 9
    Obviously, the wave is a modulated cycloid that generates the head of genetically modified alligator with no eyes.
    – Cape Code
    Commented Aug 5, 2015 at 11:10
  • @CapeCode i don't understand your joke (I do understand the alligator with no eyes, but still don't understand the whole)
    – Ooker
    Commented Aug 16, 2015 at 8:19
  • The Stack Exchange Design Team refuses to implement 404 page images/layouts unless they convey the concept of "not found" in some way. Just sayin'...
    – Pops
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 18:25

3 Answers 3

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I think it is a broken-down bicycle. In my interpretation, it was locked up to the bike rack (grey wave) by the bush (green cloud) in working order and then had its front wheel stolen, leaving it non-functional. This is an unfortunately common sight on college campuses.

I think it relates to the 404 because when you come to get your bike and see it like that, it's incredible frustrating, and you know you aren't going anywhere just now.

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  • Thanks for your answer. In my country it's hard to find a bike in the campus like that. What do you mean by "it was locked up to the bike rack by the bush in working order"? Also, as the bottom image suggests, you can catch a bus if you can't ride the bike.
    – Ooker
    Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 15:17
  • "in working order" means the bike was fine when the person arrived there and locked it to the bike rack to keep anybody from stealing it or messing with it. For the bus... I got nothin'
    – jakebeal
    Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 15:19
  • Locking to the bush? Why not a fence or something else? How can a bush keep the bike from stolen? And why is the lock a sinuous wave?
    – Ooker
    Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 15:23
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    The sinuous wave is a metal bicycle rack. The lock is not shown.
    – jakebeal
    Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 15:38
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    @Ooker, The sinuous gray line is a simplified sketch of one of these metal bike racks.
    – Bill Barth
    Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 18:23
  • @BillBarth aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. Now I understand :P. Jakebeal, could you please add this picture to your answer? Thanks XD
    – Ooker
    Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 8:33
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    @BillBarth but isn't the bike should be locked in perpendicular position of the rack?
    – Ooker
    Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 8:38
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    @Ooker, probably, but it's an simplified diagram, and the concept of the missing wheel would be harder to show that way.
    – Bill Barth
    Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 11:41
  • 4
    And, by the way, this is why nobody should ever lock their bike by locking just the front wheel to something. Person A locks their bike by just the front wheel; bike thief steals the whole bike except for that wheel; bike thief steals somebody else's front wheel, which most people don't bother to secure. I suspect that just about every case of a front wheel being stolen is a complement to a bike-minus-front-wheel being stolen.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Aug 3, 2015 at 16:28
  • This drawing is totally out of proportion, I don't see the lock either.
    – Herman Toothrot
    Commented Aug 7, 2015 at 21:19
  • 1
    You will not go to space today.
    – Andrew Grimm
    Commented Aug 14, 2015 at 7:54
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I think it's a play on...

404: Route not found

That varies a little, in a technical sense, from the 404 error's resource not found meaning, but the humor certainly seems to come from a bike being the transportation (routing) method of a poor student... and this is roughly the age when you realize your tire needs to be locked up too.

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Its a common 404 theme to supplement the Not Found with a connoted broken link. Wit the front wheel spirited away the bike is of no help in getting to the bus (at the bus stop)

Thus the meaning would be, We are unable to find you the information you requested or to get you to B where you wanted to go.

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