Advent Calendar
by Jeff
Image text: I think you could get up to about 11:59:57 before you'd have trouble swallowing the chocolates fast enough. At that point, you'd need some kind of a liquify-and-chug apparatus to get up over the 11:59:59 barrier. Anyway, Merry Christmas!
This comic is about an Advent Calendar, which is a calendar for only the period of Advent, which is considered by the Christian calendar to be a month before Christmas. In a lot of traditions, this calendar has little doors with a piece of chocolate behind each door. Other people give very small presents on each day of Advent.
This Advent Calendar belongs to Zeno, who was a Greek philosopher who lived from ca. 490 - 430 BC. (So, obviously, he would not have had an Advent Calendar, as this tradition was not in place yet and according to the Christian calendar, Jesus was not even born yet!)
Zeno was the master of the dichotomy of motion. His dichotomy paradox indicated that something that is traveling in a direction, must arrive at the half-way point before it arrives at the destination. Since any finite destination can be divided in half (as seen in the Advent Calendar above) - the paradoxical conclusion then would be that travel over any finite distance can neither be completed nor begun, and so all motion must be an illusion.
So, if you are Zeno, your Advent Calendar means that it will never be Christmas, just smaller and smaller milliseconds until Christmas. Bummer!
Don't forget, we are soliciting help from you on filling out explanations for XKCD's back catalog. Perfect for something to do while you have time off around the Holidays!
Help Us Help You Help Us
by Jeff
In the attempt to become the one stop shop for all explanations for any and all xkcd posts, there is a bit of a hole in our swing. We have every comic every day, but we don't have any explanations of comics before comic 610, with the exception of randomly explained comic 605. We started the site back in August of 2009, and back filled some comics, but not too many and certainly not enough.
So, this is where I get to my request. A lot of you know a lot of things about xkcd, so if you want to get your name, site, email, whatever on the site or just show off your xkcd explaining skills to your friends, this is your chance.
Take any comic before 610 (except 605) and explain it. Submit the explanation to me at submitATexplainxkcd.com. Send me what a line or two about yourself for the blog and and anywhere you would like me to link for your shoutout. (I will edit your byline only for offensive and abusive language.) And if I deem the explanation worthy (or I'll pick out the best one if I get a bunch for the same comic.) I will post it on the site. And since this site is in blog format, I'll backdate it to the day the comic was posted and put it on the blog.
If you get your post up, I'll email you back with the link, so that you can share with all your friends.
Perhaps, at the end of each week I will put up a post with links to the new explanations of old comics for that week.
What do you all think? Ready, set, explain!
Brand Identity
by Jeff
Image text: Legally-mandated information would be printed on the back or discreetly along the bottom. In small letters under the nutrition information it would say 'Like our products? Visit our website!' There would be no URL.
This comic presents Randall's idea for a line of food products all with clear black font on a white background. Notice how well they stand out in with the other items in this comic. Would they stand out this well in a store in real life? I'm not sure, but it certainly would attract some attention as most products are going for busier and brighter boxes to catch attention.
In the image text, however, I'm not sure what the effect would be to have no URL for anyone to look up the company website. If anything, it seems like it would deter people from buying the product again. Am I missing something?
Mnemonics
by Jeff
Image text: 'Sailor Moon's head exploded once' and 'Some men have explosive orgasms' both work for the Great Lakes from west to east (Paddle-to-the-Sea order).
Here we have six different science mnemonics. A mnemonic is (thanks Wikipedia!) any learning technique that aids memory. Mnemonics rely on associations between easy-to-remember constructs which can be related back to the data that are to be remembered. This is based on the observation that the human mind much more easily remembers spatial, personal, surprising, physical, sexual or humorous or otherwise meaningful information, as compared to retrieving arbitrary sequences. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier.
The category is listed at the top of the box, the members are listed below that. Then there is the traditional mnemonic that children are usually taught in school to help them remember. Below the comic is one or two options for new mnemonics suggested by Randall. The top one is illustrated in the frame.
I'm going to pick out a few items and references in each one to explain.
SI Prefixes are the prefixes for the systems of units from large to small and since there are so many, the mnemonic needs two lines. Karl Marx, as he is seen in the comic, (Wiki'ed for full explanation) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Microsoft's Zune was a failed mp3 player that Microsoft brought to market and never "caught on".
Taxonomy is is the science of identifying and naming species. Katy Perry is an America pop music singer, who's popular songs are ones like "Fireworks" or "I Kissed A Girl". And that is the stick figure of her in the illustration.
In the geologic periods frame, the illustration is of a month's worth of "the pill" a common contraceptive.
In Resistor Color Codes, Glenn Beck is in the illustration. Beck is a far-right conservative commentator in the US, who used to have a show on the Fox News Network.
In the Planets frame, the illustration is of Mary and Joseph, who in the story of the Birth of Jesus in the Bible, were mother and father to Jesus. However, Mary's conception of Jesus was from God and Mary was still considered a virgin. This mnemonic shows Joseph not really believing that story. (That part wasn't in the Bible, obviously)
Phantom Menace
by Jeff
Image text: We could go to the theater across town and see if it's opened THERE yet, but we don't want to lose our place in line.
Here we have Cueball and one other unidentified character, who is dressed as Darth Maul. Darth Maul is a Sith in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The Sith are the group of characters in the Star Wars universe who embrace the dark side of the Force and are the enemies throughout the series. (Cueball is holding a lightsaber, which is the weapon used by the Jedi and the Sith. Jedi are the protagonists in the series.) Cueball and his friend dressed as Darth Maul are standing outside what they think is a theater waiting for the 3D edition of The Phantom Menace, which looks like it is releasing this February.
However, no one else is waiting with them because the Phantom Menace was the worst movie in the Star Wars series. Funny thing was, I didn't realize how bad it was the first time I saw it because I was so excited to just see new Star Wars stuff, but soon after I realized how terrible Jar Jar Binks was and how stilted all the performances were from all the human actors.
Needless to say, not that many people will be seeing the 3D release of The Phantom Menace, which is why Cueball and his friend are the only two in line.
Plastic Bags
by Jeff
Image text: The high I feel when I actually remember to bring my reusable bags to the store--and take them inside rather than leaving them in the parked car--can last for days.
This comic is commentary on how grocery stores try to give you as many plastic bags as possible (and in the end frame, it appears they double bag the reusable bag, which shouldn't really need its own bag at all, let alone two.)
For whatever reason, the stores love to give you as many plastic or paper bags as possible, but if you bring your reusable bags, they try to pack all your stuff into as few bags as possible so that they can save the store 5 cents because they only give you credit for the "bags you used". Even though you brought 4 bags and the bagger stuffed all your things into 3 bags that are impossible to lift. But, hey, if it saves 5 cents for the company, it is worth annoying your customers that have to walk through the city with 3 awkwardly heavy bags!
I always try to bag my own groceries because I was once a bagger and I'm really OCD about what goes in each bag and making sure nothing gets squished. Also, it is very important about the weight of the bags as I usually have to carry them for a good bit. Two heavier bags and two lighter bags so that the weight can be distributed evenly. Yes, I'm a nerd.
Cryogenics
by Jeff
Image text: 'Welcome to the future! Nothing's changed.' was the slogan of my astonishingly short-lived tech startup.
In this comic, Megan, disappointed with the pace of technology's improvement (and who isn't, we all thought by this point we would have flying cars and the flying skateboard like in Back to the Future 2 or a hyper technological future like in Blade Runner) decides to cryogenically freeze herself as soon as cryogenics are invented. Cryogenic freezing is the ability to freeze oneself, so that you do not age and do not experience the passage of time. It is a useful technology for long space flights or preservation.
However, to Megan's chagrin, when she wakes up, she is told that all the other scientists and engineers that were fascinated about the future, have also frozen themselves, so nothing has been invented while she was frozen. Then, all the scientists and engineers, realizing this, all try to freeze themselves again. However, if everyone does the same thing again, they will all way up in a matter of years and there will still be nothing changed.
Don't freeze yourself, engineers and scientists! We need your help!
Tradition
by Jeff
Image text: An 'American tradition' is anything that happened to a baby boomer twice.
This comic uses the source of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers to say that the 20 most played Christmas songs in the US between 2000 and 2009 were all released between the 1930s and 1970s. I'd love to see this research, because the most popular Christmas album of all time was not released until 1994, "Merry Christmas" by Mariah Carey. This album featured what I consider to be the most ubiquitous song around this time of the year which is "All I Want For Christmas Is You" which is also featured prominently in the very popular (and frequently replayed) movie Love Actually from 2003. The song is the only holiday song and ringtone to reach multi-platinum status in the U.S. So, I usually don't take a look at the information that Randall presents to us and think it is incorrect, but this one just seemed egregious based on the popular success of a mid-90s release.
(Christmas is December 25th, for any Americans who have been living under a rock for the past 2 weeks or so and don't own a TV and are somehow able to escape the crushing commercialism of the Christmas season. And "this time of the year" is apparently considered Christmas time despite the fact that not everyone celebrates Christmas in the US and in the world).
Potential
by Jeff
Image text: The bunch of disadvantaged kids I was tutoring became too good at writing, and their essays were forcing me to confront painful existential questions, so I started trying to turn them on to drugs and crime instead.
This comic jokes about what a student could potentially create if they were working at their full potential. Instead of something like a better essay or a better science fair project, this student creates a 6 legged car destroying, helicopter shooting monster robot.
The moral of the comic is for students to not live up to their potential, because the teachers instead of complaining that the student is not living up to their potential, will complain a lot more and louder if your potential is creating a giant robot that causes havoc.
Drinking Fountains
by Jeff
Image text: I've always wondered whether you could drink slowly enough, and eliminate fast enough, that you just sort of peed continuously. But I'm afraid to try because I worry someone might call while I'm doing it and ask what I'm up to, and I won't be able to think of a lie.
Here, we see Cueball, using the restroom, as the image text indicates, he is eliminating the liquid waste from his body, or peeing. (I love the use of the past tense "peed" there. Great word.) Anyway, he says that he avoids the use of the drinking fountain right after peeing, because he is afraid that he will be forced into immediately peeing again. And as in the image above, he would be stuck in a loop. A loop is a computer science term, but also used elsewhere, to indicates going through the same steps over and over again. In this case, the bathroom, drinking fountain loop looks like an endless one.
A few questions however, most people do not have the problem that they immediately have to pee after drinking water. Cueball does not, I guess it is just his fear. Maybe it is the speed of light stick figure metabolism?
Also, what is that stray "Water" doing to the bottom left of the comic? Not sure what it is supposed to mean.