explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

File:back to the future.jpg

2012-11-24T00:50:47Z

188.143.232.12: zOIhKOIjOzeTLDMEve

Well maacdmaia nuts, how about that.

245: Floor Tiles

2012-11-23T20:30:20Z

188.143.232.12: OzVGxxeOX

Now I know who the birany one is, I'll keep looking for your posts.

977: Map Projections

2012-11-23T15:19:49Z

188.143.232.12: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 977
| date = November 14, 2011
| title = Map Projections
| image = map_projections.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = What's that? You think I don't like the Peters map because I'm uncomfortable with having my cultural assumptions challenged? Are you sure you're not ... ::puts on sunglasses:: ... projecting?
}}

Just the type of insghit we need to fire up the debate.

==Transcript==
What your favorite

'''Map Projection'''

says about you

(All of these are organized as Title, a copy of the particular projection underneath, and what it says about you under that)

*Mercator
**You're not really into maps.
*Van der Grinten
**You're not a complicated person. You love the Mercator projection; you just wish it weren't square. The Earth's not a square, it's a circle. you like circles. Today is gonna be a good day!
*Robinson
**You have a comfortable pair of running shoes that you wear everywhere. You like coffee and enjoy The Beatles. you think the Robinson is the best-looking projection, hands down.
*Dymaxion
**You like Isaac Asimov, XML, and shoes with toes. You think the Segway got a bad rap. you own 3D goggles, which you use to view rotating models of better 3D goggles. you type in Dvorak.
*Winkel-Tripel
**National Geographic adopted the Winkel-Tripel in 1998, but you've been a W-T fan since ''long'' before "Nat Geo" showed up. You're worried it's getting played out, and are thinking of switching to the Kavrayskiy. You once left a party in disgust when a guest showed up wearing shoes with toes. Your favorite musical genre is "Post–".
*Goode Homolosine
**They say mapping the Earth on a 2D surface is like flattening an orange peel, which seems enough to you. You like easy solutions.You think we wouldn't have so many problems if we'd just elect ''normal'' people to Congress instead of Politicians. You think airlines should just buy food from the restaurants near the gates and serve ''that'' on board. You change your car's oil, but secretly wonder if you really ''need'' to.
*Hobo-Dyer
**You want to avoid cultural imperialism, but you've heard bad things about Gall-Peters. You're conflict-averse and buy organic. You use a recently-invented set of gender-neutral pronouns and think that what the world needs is a revolution in consciousness.
*Plate Carrée <small>(Equirectangular)</small>
**You think this one is fine. You like how X and Y map to latitude and longitude. The other projections overcomplicate things. You want me to stop asking about maps so you can enjoy dinner.
*A Globe!
**Yes, you're very clever
*Waterman Butterfly
**Really? You know the Waterman? Have you seen the 1909 Cahill Map it's based— ...You have a framed reproduction at home?! Whoa. ...Listen, forget these questions. Are you doing anything tonight?
*Peirce Quincuncial
**You think that when we look at a map, what we really see is ourselves. After you first saw ''Inception'', you sat silent in the theater for six hours. It freaks you out to realize that everyone around you has a skeleton inside them. You ''have'' really looked at your hands.
*Gall-Peters
**I ''hate'' you.

==Trivia==
*There is no transcript for this comic on xkcd

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Puts on sunglasses]]

Talk:1089: Internal Monologue

2012-11-23T13:39:17Z

188.143.232.12: /* aScpLGJPHFkP */ new section

This is a common anxiety for geek types, who stereotypically are not very skilled in navigating social situations like parties. It can become a vicious cycle where the fear of handling the encounter badly makes one even more uncomfortable which results in behaving as awkwardly as they first feared.
Also, for many geek type personalities, it's common to want to map out a pre-planned course of action that should produce desired results. A strategy that is usually doomed to failure when dealing with sufficiently complex and unpredictable scenarios... like conversations with other people.
This painful, and all too common situation has been mined for comedic effect since the beginning of human civilization.

:I copied this into the article. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 19:58, 1 August 2012 (EDT)

== Discussion From Comments ==
Joe Green - Yes I like the participatory and discursive nature of the comments.
Also in this instance I find myself wondering why Cueball is hoping that OtherCueball “doesn’t ask me what his name is”. That would be a very strange thing to ask. Well, except in the form “do/don’t you know who I am?”
:BigMal - It’s more like “I know he introduced him/herself earlier, but I already forgot, and he probably remembers my name, so if he asks me to recall his name I’d be caught (and embarrassed)!”
::Joe Green - “if he asks me to recall his name” Well yes, but I just thought that was an unlikely thing for someone to do in such a direct way. Cueball *could* end up being embarrassed in that kind of way though if a friend of his joined the conversation and he wanted to introduce OtherCueball.
:::Harm - My solution to situations like that is something like “Go on, introduce yourselves,” and then standing back.
FredG - I think some of the humor of this comic also comes from the fact that in literature and film, a character's "internal monologue" is much less nervous stream-of-consciousness and is usually mostly inappropriate or satirical comments on the situation.
:Kyle - On the other hand, "Adaptation" actually features a lot of "nervous stream-of-consciousness" narration.

#1: The Oxford comma is a matter of style and pinotuatucn; it has nothing to do with grammar. The words and also are redundant, and because the and is a conjunction introducing an independent clause, you should have a comma after ever .#2: Questions of pronunciation have nothing to do with grammar.#3: Your first sentence contains a grammatical error (a dangling modifier) implying that debates are grammatically correct . When joining two words into a single adjective, such as often-controversial , a hyphen is required (but that's a spelling mistake, not a grammatical one). #4: Irregardless is a non-word used by those who have confused regardless with irrespective ; it's an error of diction, not grammar.#6: Another error of diction, not grammar; again explained with a dangling modifier, this time implying that people are not as controversial as other grammar rules .#9: The use of the abbreviations and symbols common to SMS-messaging is a question of style and suitability, not grammar.#12: English has dozens of gender-neutral pronouns it, they, them, theirs, anyone, everyone, nobody, someone, many, few, we, us, one (two, three, four, five, etc.). That simple fact is not a grammar rule , controversial or otherwise.#14: The use of passive voice is a question of style, not grammar. Your explanation contains yet another dangling modifier, which implies that many writers are technically grammatically sound .#15: Placement of pinotuatucn marks is a matter of pinotuatucn and typography, not grammar.#16: The use of apostrophes is a matter of spelling, not grammar.#17: E-mail vs. email: spelling, not grammar.#19: The use of various dashes is a question of pinotuatucn and typography, not grammar.#20: Yet another dangling modifier. Eleven items on your list of grammar rules have nothing to do with grammar; four out of 20 explanations contain grammatical errors themselves, and you are unable to identify 99% of the language's gender-neutral pronouns. Sorry, but you get an F' on this assignment; please stop trying to teach language skills until you acquire some.

== aScpLGJPHFkP ==

Waklnig in the presence of giants here. Cool thinking all around!

245: Floor Tiles

2012-11-23T11:58:05Z

188.143.232.12: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 245
| date = April 06, 2007
| title = Floor Tiles
| image = floor_tiles.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = The worst part is when sidewalk cracks are out-of-sync with your natural stride.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is walking according to a certain pattern of floor tiles which makes sense to him in his head. But as someone asks him why he is walking funny, he realises that the algorithm he is using for walking on floor tiles would be so tedious and time-consuming to explain to his friend that he decides instead to simply defend himself and say that he isn't walking funny. Either that, or he is embarrassed to explain. This being far simpler than trying to show his friend exactly how his logic works - in his head, he imagines a complex diagram.

Now I know who the brainy one is, I'll keep looknig for your posts.

24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey

2012-11-23T10:00:11Z

188.143.232.12: OIHyRDoMb

I can't hear anything over the sound of how awsoeme this article is.

Template:Incomplete

2012-11-23T09:03:30Z

188.143.232.12: QnLGcbaS

That's not just logic. That's really sesnilbe.

156: Commented

2012-09-20T23:04:13Z

188.143.232.12: UNVTOAolvamddHUSVw

Woot, I will cretainly put this to good use!

User:Lcarsos

2012-09-20T19:50:55Z

188.143.232.12: /* Things I Need to Remember */

The username is lcarsos. pronounced el-cars-oh-ess. The only other acceptable capitalizations are LCARSOS or LCARS OS. The second of those is frowned upon because that should be used for any project attempting to create an LCARS operating system, or overlay/window manager. And lastly, '''never''' Lcarsos, despicable.

I'm just a big xkcd and Star Trek fan (props if you got the reference).

Here, I'm just working backwards from the beginning to create missing pages, fix existing pages, updating them to the current header, adding categories, fixing double redirects, etc. I also try to find as much work for the admins as possible (just kidding).

==Personal Achievements==
Some of the things I've managed to do here, I'm very proud of. And by golly, I'm going to display them out in public so everyone else can see how vain I am.

===Named Characters===
*[[Ponytail]] - Brought back the name from a dimly remembered past.
*[[Danish]] - stumbled across [[377]] and suggested it to [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] to be used as her official name
*[[Miss Lenhart]] - doesn't really count, I just created all the pages for her. But I'm very proud that I managed to do it all correctly on my own.

===Huge Pages I Made===
*[[980: Money]] - not finished but a good start. Please other people work on it.
*[[977: Map Projections]] - Created an explanation of each projection with explanation of each of the things happening in the discussion. Phew!

This is the prfeect post for me to find at this time

==Ruby Importer script==
===Bugs, Questions, Comments, Heaping Adulation, Scathing Remarks===
[[User Talk:Lcarsos#Ruby Importer]] Please post there.

I'm trying to keep everything organized so nothing gets lost in the shuffle (lost cause, I know, but I can do my small part to battle entropy).

===Introduction===
Work on my import-assistant script is progressing. I'm using it to help create pages as I work my way backwards. Currently it is just using information from xkcd's json api and leaving explanation open for you to get.

I'm working on getting the explanation to pull in. But, managing to guess the right url alone was a difficult task, and it still doesn't get it right for some of the more odd ones, but it would be faster to just find the page manually than code for each exception to the rule. I'm going to do a bit more work on that, but I might just give it up and keep manually copying explanations in. Or at least write out a best-guess of what the url should be to get you close, if you aren't walking backward through the blog entries.

I want to be able to pull in the explanation so I can scan through it to get a rough idea of what characters appear to automatically generate Comics featuring ___ categories. But that's a bit of work, including lots of regular expressions ([[Regular Expressions|regex!]]) but it's good practice for basic data mining and pattern recognition.

I've found that already I'm much more productive simply by not having to type in the comic template info. And the page feels much more finished when it has the transcript.

Now, I'm going to give you a link, but I am requiring you to manually go through and look at what it generates and keep yourself engaged. As I explain in the README, there are things the human brain can do innately that computers need lots of work to get the logic hooked up.

You '''must''' go through and make links to appropriate wikipedia and external web pages. I can make links to the links that exist in the html, but ''you have to be a human'' and realize that if something has a wikipedia page it probably needs to be linked to.

Please tell me on my [[User Talk: Lcarsos#Ruby Importer]] page if you are using it, what features you want, and bugs you find.

===Link===

https://github.com/lcarsos/explainxkcd-importer/

===Change log===

* 20120917 - changed transcript parsing to use new indentation style, changing quotes into their pre-html version, as mediawiki correctly escapes them.

===Usage===
Generic:
:<tt>./importer.rb <number> ...</tt>
:<tt>ruby importer.rb <number> ...</tt> - for those that don't want to make the file executable.
Specific examples:
:<tt>./importer.rb 1000</tt>
:<tt>./importer.rb 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004</tt>
:<tt>./importer.rb `seq 1 600`</tt> ''Don't actually do that''

It accepts any number of comic numbers as arguments (space delimited, duh) and will iterate through all of them and spit out a text file <tt><number>.txt</tt> with Unix line-endings (if you open it up on Windows use Notepad++ or some other ''real'' text editor).

'''If I see you using this tool to blindly create pages without going through and cleaning things up I will kill you.'''

===Known Issues===
* '''Active Development Work'''
** Explanations are not being culled from the blog page.
* '''Noted As Feature'''
** Some transcripts come from the json api with extra newlines. Will not be fixed to encourage humans to look everything through. Good for fingerprinting brain-dead copy/paste usage.

==Formatting==
It is high time someone created one of these.

===Paragraphs===
Traditional paragraphs need to have an extra return between them

{| class="wikitable" |
! Typing this
!Produces this
|-
| width="50%" |
If this is a paragraph, and there is typing.

Then the next one is down here.
|
If this is a paragraph, and there is typing.

Then the next one is down here.
|-
| width="50%" |
If this is a paragraph, and there is typing.
Don't put the next paragraph on the next line.
|
If this is a paragraph, and there is typing.
Don't put the next paragraph on the next line.
|-
|}

The difference is that the wiki software will wrap the first example in paragraph tags, which means that it gets a margin between them. Where the behavior for the second seems a bit undefined. Sometimes you will end up with a line break, and sometimes it completely ignores it.

In only one instance can this be useful, and it is discussed in the Talk Pages section.

===Editorial Voice===
As you are going through, if you are using Jeff's explanations from the blog, please go through and edit the sentences to not include personal pronouns, e.g., "I". Since anyone can edit (nearly) every article here, there is no 'I'.

Next point, there is no 'we'. If you are referring to anyone who's edited the article, that could be anyone, there's hardly any consensus there. If you are referring to 'We' the editors of ExplainXKCD wiki, again, we don't agree on anything, don't believe it? Read the Community Portal pages.

'''For the purposes of this wiki''', saying 'we' is referring to ''human beings in general'', and it would have to be a very special case to mean any set/group of people smaller than that.

This is based off of the discussion that occurred in [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Editorial Voice]].

===Talk Pages===
Wikis have a well established tradition for how to use talk pages.

You begin your conversation, and someone else replies to you by commenting under the post and indenting by using the colon (":"). This mimics how threaded conversations work in blog comments.

Talk pages should not be dynamic like article pages are. Old and outdated information should not disappear. People use that as a reference for themselves. If suddenly a link they knew was there yesterday is not there today, it's hard to believe that you might actually be going insane. If information becomes outdated, post a reply saying the information is outdated or strike through it using the <nowiki><s>tag</s></nowiki> and it will magically <s>look like this</s>.

'''All comments on talk pages should be signed''' by using <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>. It is easy to forget this, but it is equally easy to get into the habit.

There are 2 canonical ways to handle multi-paragraph comments.
# Double returns between paragraphs and signature on its own separate line.
# Single returns between paragraphs and signature on the last line.

This makes it easy to scan through to see who's comments are whom's.

{| class="wikitable" |
! width="50%" | Typing this
! width="50%" | Produces this
|-
| width="50%" |
I think that there should be more lions.
<nowiki />
Of course, then we need more wildebeests.
<nowiki />
<nowiki>~~~~User1</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:That is a good idea.</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:And yes, then we would need more prey.</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:~~~~User2</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>::I'm replying to User2.</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>::Because he's funny.</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>::~~~~User3</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:I'm replying to User1, saying that we don't need lions.
Predators should be kept in cages ~~~~User4</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:I'm replying to User1 also, telling him he's a genius.
~~~~User5</nowiki>
| width="50%" |
I think that there should be more lions.

Of course, then we need more wildebeests.

User1

:That is a good idea.

:And yes, then we would need more prey.

:User2

::I'm replying to User2.

::Because he's funny.

::User3

:I'm replying to User1, saying that we don't need lions. Predators should be kept in cages User4

:I'm replying to User1 also, telling him he's a genius. User5
|-
| width="50%" |
I think that there should be more lions.
Of course, then we need more wildebeests. <nowiki>~~~~User1</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:That is a good idea.</nowiki>
<nowiki>:And yes, then we would need more prey. ~~~~User2</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>::I'm replying to User2.</nowiki>
<nowiki>::Because he's funny. ~~~~User3</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:I'm replying to User1, saying that we don't need lions.
Predators should be kept in cages ~~~~User4</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:I'm replying to User1 also, telling him he's a genius.
~~~~User5</nowiki>
| width="50%" |
I think that there should be more lions.
Of course, then we need more wildebeests. User1

:That is a good idea.
:And yes, then we would need more prey. User2

::I'm replying to User2.
::Because he's funny. User3

:I'm replying to User1, saying that we don't need lions. Predators should be kept in cages User4

:I'm replying to User1 also, telling him he's a genius. User5
|}

See how easy this is to read? And now we don't even have to start introducing bullet points into the discussion. Bullet lists can now be used for what they were intended: Making lists, even inside of a single post in a talk page.

But if you meet someone who doesn't know what they are doing everything breaks down quickly.

{| class="wikitable" |
! width="50%" | Typing this
! width="50%" | Produces this
|-
| width="50%" |
I think that there should be more lions.
Of course, then we need more wildebeests. <nowiki>~~~~User1</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:That is a good idea.</nowiki>
<nowiki>:And yes, then we would need more prey. ~~~~User2</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>::I'm replying to User2.</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>::Because he's funny. ~~~~User3</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:I'm replying to User1, saying that we don't need lions.
Predators should be kept in cages ~~~~User4</nowiki>
<nowiki />
<nowiki>:I'm replying to User1 also, telling him he's a genius.
~~~~User5</nowiki>
| width="50%" |
I think that there should be more lions.
Of course, then we need more wildebeests. User1

:That is a good idea.
:And yes, then we would need more prey. User2

::I'm replying to User2.

::Because he's funny. User3

:I'm replying to User1, saying that we don't need lions. Predators should be kept in cages User4

:I'm replying to User1 also, telling him he's a genius. User5
|}
For those of you that are now confused, don't worry I had to look back to my perfect example to see where I was coming.

Do you see that User3 has now managed to make the conversation very hard to read? By ending the line with a username it looks like that user posted a reply to themselves, and then by using 2 returns, made it look his own comment was also a reply. In reality these two should be part of the same comment. It can be frustrating to have different standards. But, it is extremely taboo to edit someone else's comment on a talk page. ''Don't do it.'' If the standard is single-returns within comments, double-returns between, do that. If the standard is double-returns throughout, do that. '''Do not''' go through the entire talk page and edit it to make it conform to your own personal feelings. If you start a talk page, then you may impose your will upon the unfortunate souls after you.

This is the only time in a wiki when paragraphs should not be double returned.

==Spam Bot Griefing log==
*{{diff|11133|Talk:402: 1,000 Miles North}}
*{{diff|11135|EnriquetwltktbgwhMccamant}}
*{{diff|11169|Talk:24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey}}