https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=GameZone&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-19T09:46:23ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1268:_Alternate_Universe&diff=493851268: Alternate Universe2013-09-23T16:32:38Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1268<br />
| date = September 23, 2013<br />
| title = Alternate Universe<br />
| image = alternate_universe.png<br />
| titletext = As best as I can tell, I was transported here from Earth Prime sometime in the late 1990s. Your universe is identical in every way, except for the lobster thing and the thing where some of you occasionally change your clocks for some reason.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
Randall is trying to make the point that eating {{w|Lobster|lobsters}} is as weird as eating spiders. {{w|Crustacean|Crustaceans}} and {{w|Arachnid|arachnids}} (as well as insects) are both {{w|Arthropod|arthropods}}, members of the same phylum, so his comparison isn't too far off. Lobsters were once considered the "cockroaches of the sea", and a captain trying to feed his crew with lobster would often be seen as cruel. On the other side, {{w|Spider#Benefits_to_humans|cooked tarantula spiders are considered a delicacy in Cambodia}}.<br />
<br />
{{w|Earth Prime}} means the original (usually our) Earth in a {{w|multiverse}}, a multitude of universes. The title text also references changing clocks to and from {{w|Daylight Saving Time}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Imagine you were transported to an alternate universe just like your own, except people occasionally ate spiders.<br />
:You can't convince anyone this is weird.<br />
:[Megan is holding a spider.]<br />
:Megan: MMM...<br />
:Cueball: ''No!'' What are you ''doing!?''<br />
:This is how I feel about lobster.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1266:_Halting_Problem&diff=493611266: Halting Problem2013-09-23T08:55:51Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1266<br />
| date = September 18, 2013<br />
| title = Halting Problem<br />
| image = halting_problem.png<br />
| titletext = I found a counterexample to the claim that all things must someday die, but I don't know how to show it to anyone.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In 1936 {{w|Alan Turing}} proved that it's not possible to decide whether an arbitrary program will eventually halt, or run forever. This was later called the {{w|Halting problem}} by {{w|Martin Davis}}. The official definition of the problem is to write a program (actually, a {{w|Turing Machine}}) that accepts as parameters a program and its parameters. That program needs to decide, in finite time, whether that program will ever halt running these parameters.<br />
<br />
The halting problem is a cornerstone problem in computer science. It is used mainly as a way to prove a given task is impossible, by showing that solving that task will allow one to solve the halting problem.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]], however, is providing a simpler solution. He implements his own code for the question ''"Does it halt?"'' which always returns "true", and directs us to think about the bigger picture.<br />
<br />
From a '''physical''' perspective, according to our current understanding of physics, this is right. Given enough time, any program will halt. This is due to factors external to the actual program. Sooner or later, electricity will give out, or the memory containing the program will get corrupted by cosmic rays, or corrosion will eat away the silicon in the CPU, or the {{w|second law of thermodynamics}} will lead to the {{w|Heat death of the universe}}. Nothing lasts forever, and this includes a running program.<br />
<br />
From a '''mathematical''' point of view, this is not true: a Turing machine will never have a hardware failure because it's not a physical machine. It's a theoretical construct, and it's '''defined''' mathematically, independent of any physical hardware. Similarly, 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 1 no matter what any physical hardware you are computing it on claims.<br />
<br />
From a '''practical''' point of view, there are of course times that a programmer would want to return "false", since some programs can be mathematically shown to run forever (or at least to run longer than the application is willing to wait).<br />
<br />
The title text further relates to this issue by claiming to have found a case where something need not die, but Randall does not know how to actually show it to anyone, because just the fact everyone will die sooner than this thing it doesn't prove it will not die. The wording of the title text might also be a reference to {{w|Fermat's Last Theorem}}.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that Randall's solution, barring its unsoundness, solves more than the halting problem in the form it is usually stated. The halting problem requires two parameters (a program and its parameters), while Randall's function only accepts one (the program). The question of whether a program halts for every input can be shown to be even harder to solve than the halting problem, meaning that even if a Turing machine had an additional instruction allowing it to check whether a program halts with given parameters, it still could not always confirm that a given program that halts for all parameters does so.<br />
<br />
The code in this comic is written in {{w|pseudocode}}, to demonstrate the "algorithm" rather than an implementation in some existing programming language. The syntax resembles a mix of {{w|C (programming language)|C}} and {{w|Python (programming language)|Python}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Today's strip is in the form of a short computer program.]<br />
'''Define''' DoesItHalt(program):<br />
{<br />
'''return''' true;<br />
}<br />
:The big picture solution to the halting problem.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*A similar useless computer program can be found here: [[221: Random Number]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1267:_Mess&diff=493601267: Mess2013-09-23T08:55:11Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1267<br />
| date = September 20, 2013<br />
| title = Mess<br />
| image = mess.png<br />
| titletext = 'Sorry, I left out my glass of water from last night.' OH GOD I APPARENTLY LIVE IN A GARBAGE PIT.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
Many self-conscious people apologize for "the mess" in their home whenever they have guests over, no matter how neat their house looks.<br />
<br />
If the house is neater than the guest's own home, the guest is likely to say to himself: "If she thinks THIS is messy, what would she think of my place?!"<br />
<br />
There is a common psychological phenomenon which causes people to mentally magnify their own flaws, while failing to notice the flaws of others.<br />
<br />
The title text takes this even further.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and a friend walk into a bedroom. There's a bed, a picture on the wall, some curtains, a rug, and one item on the floor. On the whole, the room is immaculate.]<br />
:Friend: Sorry it's such a disaster in here.<br />
:Cueball: (inside a thought bubble) whoa— what's ''wrong'' with me?<br />
:My room never looks as nice as the rooms other people apologize for.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1268:_Alternate_Universe&diff=493591268: Alternate Universe2013-09-23T08:53:38Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1268<br />
| date = September 23, 2013<br />
| title = Alternate Universe<br />
| image = alternate_universe.png<br />
| titletext = As best as I can tell, I was transported here from Earth Prime sometime in the late 1990s. Your universe is identical in every way, except for the lobster thing and the thing where some of you occasionally change your clocks for some reason.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
Randall is trying to make the point that eating lobsters is as weird as eating spiders. Crustaceans and arachnids (as well as insects) are both arthropods, members of the same phylum, so his comparison isn't too far off. Lobsters were once considered the "cockroaches of the sea", and a captain trying to feed his crew with lobster would often be seen as cruel. <br />
<br />
{{w|Earth_prime|Earth Prime}} is usually a reference to an alternate Earth in a parallel dimension. The title text also references Daylight Savings Time.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Imagine you were transported to an alternate universe just like your own, except people occasionally ate spiders.<br />
:You can't convince anyone this is weird.<br />
:[Megan is holding a spider.]<br />
:Megan: MMM...<br />
:Cueball: ''No!'' What are you ''doing!?''<br />
:This is how I feel about lobster.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=609:_Tab_Explosion&diff=49334609: Tab Explosion2013-09-23T04:03:04Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 609<br />
| date = July 13, 2009<br />
| title = Tab Explosion<br />
| image = tab_explosion.png<br />
| titletext = Cracked.com is another inexplicable browser narcotic. They could write a list of '17 worst haircuts in the Ottoman Empire' and I'd still read through to the end, then click on all the links at the end.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage TVtropes] is a popular site which allows conversation on {{w|tropes}}. A common joke with the site is how you will read a page, find a certain trope, which will open another tab on your web page. Then, as you read another article, you'll open even more pages. Pretty soon, this will cause an extremely long cycle of opening new pages and closing old ones.<br />
<br />
In the comic, this is exactly what happens to our unfortunate victim. He starts on a single page, then opens more and more tabs on different pages. Pretty soon, he finds himself stuck in a loop of opening pages.<br />
<br />
The last frame refers to {{w|Rickrolling}}, which is the practice of being linked to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" on YouTube.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the comedy site [http://www.cracked.com Cracked.com]. This site is also known for its addictive articles. Most articles are formatted in the same way the title text notes.<br />
<br />
The original comic links to TVtropes' page of [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UniversalTropes Universal tropes]. TVtropes has taken notice and has a welcome letter for you at the end of the main article.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Huh.<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stares at the computer.]<br />
:Cueball: I never noticed that!<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Haha, yeah.<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:Cueball: So true.<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stares at the computer.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stares at the computer.]<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stares at the computer.]<br />
:''Click''<br />
<br />
:Voice: Are you in there?<br />
:Cueball: Help!<br />
<br />
:Megan: Okay, who linked you to TVTropes? What's with that site?<br />
:Cueball: Can't... stop...<br />
:Megan: It's like Rickrolling, but you're trapped all day.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=534:_Genetic_Algorithms&diff=49333534: Genetic Algorithms2013-09-23T03:59:49Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 534<br />
| date = January 23, 2009<br />
| title = Genetic Algorithms<br />
| image = genetic_algorithms.png<br />
| titletext = Just make sure you don't have it maximize instead of minimize.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In the computer science field of artificial intelligence, a genetic algorithm is a search heuristic that mimics the process of natural evolution. This heuristic is routinely used to generate useful solutions to optimization and search problems. Genetic algorithms belong to the larger class of evolutionary algorithms, which generate solutions to optimization problems using techniques inspired by natural evolution, such as inheritance, mutation, selection, and crossover.<br />
<br />
In particular, genetic algorithms are designed to evolve, with various mechanisms being used to mimic natural selection. One such mechanism is to assign "costs" to various aspects of the program, and to select for programs which minimize these costs (thus mimicking organisms in an environment where they have to compete for limited resources).<br />
<br />
The line indicated by an arrow is a reference to the Terminator series, in which the main antagonist is an artificial intelligence known as Skynet. By setting an absurdly high cost for an algorithm transforming into Skynet, the coder makes a preventative measure against the algorithm achieving such sentience.<br />
<br />
The line about water crossing is a possible reference to the old computer game Oregon Trail, in which crossing water was hazardous.<br />
<br />
The title text appears to be referring to the method by which the program select the desired option, with minimizing being where the program seeks the lowest possible cost, and maximizing where the program seeks the highest possible cost, presumably suggesting that if the program maximized, it would chose the BecomingSkynet option before any other due to its massive cost.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Code displayed, presumably from an IDE.]<br />
:def getSolutionCosts(navigationCode):<br />
::fuelStopCost = 15<br />
::extraComputationCost = 8<br />
:[There is a giant arrow pointing to the next line.]<br />
::thisAlgorithmBecomingSkynetCost = 999999999<br />
::waterCrossingCost = 45<br />
:Genetic algorithms tip: '''''Always''''' include this in your fitness function.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1265:_Juicer&diff=493321265: Juicer2013-09-23T03:57:47Z<p>GameZone: Undo revision 49314 by 146.115.129.252 (talk) Hahaha no.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1265<br />
| date = September 16, 2013<br />
| title = Juicer<br />
| image = juicer.png<br />
| titletext = But the rind is where all the vitamins are!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
;Juicing Gushers<br />
Juicers are typically used to crush fruits and/or vegetables, thereby extracting the liquid juice and eliminating the task of chewing the solids. However, in this case, instead of actual fruits or vegetables, someone is making juice from {{w|Fruit_Gushers|fruit gushers}}, a chewy fruit-flavored candy, thereby extracting a nearly nutritionless artificial "juice" out of a candy casing which was formulated specifically for human consumption.<br />
<br />
The title text asserts that the rind is where all the {{w|Vitamin|vitamins}} in the fruit reside. This is a common belief of actual fruits, although it is an untrue {{w|Urban legend|urban legend}} for many fruits; even fruits like apples do not contain most of the {{w|fiber}} and many {{w|Antioxidant|antioxidants}} in the skin itself, but rather directly below; although when you peel an apple you remove more than just the skin, losing also that area with high fiber and antioxidant content anyway. There is a simple rule: If your thumbnail can reach the flesh of a fruit don't remove the skin. It is absolutely absurd as in this case, though, as the "rind" of a Fruit Gusher consists mainly of sugar. This text mocks the usual sentiment that the less desirable part of a food is the part that is "better" for you.<br />
<br />
The comic is thus also a parody of the notion that buying a juicer (or other things like exercise equipment) will automatically make people healthier. Here it is shown that what you do with the juicer is the relevant factor (for example, if one juiced solely apples every day, they would not get nearly the same nutritional benefits as someone who juiced other fruits and vegetables with more and varied nutrients).<br />
<br />
An alternative reading that expands on that theme is that the comic shows a juicer with three full bottles of real juice, indicating that the owner of the juice machine is making regular juice with the intention of drinking it, but not consuming juice at the rate it is produced. The comic also shows a Fruit Gusher snack, indicating the unhealthy option that the juicer owner just can't stop eating. But the color of the juices makes the first explanation more likely.<br />
<br />
;Linguistic note on Hard '''g''' vs soft '''g''' and ways of pronouncing '''c'''<br />
Some native English speakers may think that some non-native English speakers may think that "Gushers" /ˈgʌʃərz/ should be pronounced as "juicers" /ˈdʒusərz/. I.e., if you know enough to be dangerous about English spelling you could think that both words are pronounced /ˈdʒuʃərz/, but that's non-sense. Never the less...<br />
*The plain-English word "gush" (meaning to flow rapidly) is pronounced with a hard 'g' and a 'u' as in 'flush' or 'gut.'<br />
*The American television commercials for this product make it absolutely clear that "Gushers" is also pronounced with a hard 'g' and the 'u' as above.<br />
*A 'g' can signify a soft-g sound (/dʒ/ as in 'gin'). However, natives know that the soft-g sound never appears in the combination "gu".<br />
*A 'u' can signify a {{w|Close_back_rounded_vowel|close back rounded vowel}}, /u/ as in 'flute,' but that is exceedingly rare when the 'u' follows a hard 'g' (gun, gull, gut, gum, Gus). <br />
*The letter 'c' can be pronounced /ʃ/ as in 'ocean' /ˈoʊʃən/. The pronunciation of 'cer' as /ʃər/ is not common, except in dialectical words like "[http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_36.html grocery"].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[We see a shelf. On it, from left to right, are: a bag of fruit gushers; a juicer; a bottle of bright red liquid; a bottle of bright blue liquid; and another bottle of bright red liquid.]<br />
:"Oh yeah, juicers are great! I use mine all the time."<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=365:_Slides&diff=49331365: Slides2013-09-23T03:56:55Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 365<br />
| date = January 2, 2008<br />
| title = Slides<br />
| image = slides.png<br />
| titletext = Did you know they can actually physically throw you out of SIGGRAPH?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
The expression "bear with me for a moment" usually implies that what you are talking about is not random—the connection is to be explained later. This is not the case in the comic: Cueball is showing random slides which have no connection to each other.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to {{w|SIGGRAPH}}, an annual computer graphics conference held since 1974, making the joke that people who attend computer graphics conferences are stereotypically not very athletic and therefore unlikely to be able to physically throw someone.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: That chart explained the quantum hall effect. Now, if you'll bear with me a moment, this next graph shows rainfall over the amazon basin...<br />
:If you keep saying "bear with me a moment" people will take a while to figure out that you're just showing them random slides.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1266:_Halting_Problem&diff=493021266: Halting Problem2013-09-22T02:57:17Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1266<br />
| date = September 18, 2013<br />
| title = Halting Problem<br />
| image = halting_problem.png<br />
| titletext = I found a counterexample to the claim that all things must someday die, but I don't know how to show it to anyone.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
In 1936 {{w|Alan Turing}} proved that it's not possible to decide whether an arbitrary program will eventually halt, or run forever. This was later called the {{w|Halting problem}} by {{w|Martin Davis}}. The official definition of the problem is to write a program (actually, a {{w|Turing Machine}}) that accepts as parameters a program and its parameters. That program needs to decide, in finite time, whether that program will ever halt running these parameters.<br />
<br />
The halting problem is a cornerstone problem in computer science. It is used mainly as a way to prove a given task is impossible, by showing that solving that task will allow one to solve the halting problem.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]], however, is providing a simpler solution. He implements his own code for the question ''"Does it halt?"'' which always returns "true", and directs us to think about the bigger picture.<br />
<br />
From a '''physical''' perspective, according to our current understanding of physics, this is right. Given enough time, any program will halt. This is due to factors external to the actual program. Sooner or later, electricity will give out, or the memory containing the program will get corrupted by cosmic rays, or corrosion will eat away the silicon in the CPU, or the {{w|second law of thermodynamics}} will lead to the {{w|Heat death of the universe}}. Nothing lasts forever, and this includes a running program.<br />
<br />
From a '''mathematical''' point of view, this is not true: a Turing machine will never have a hardware failure because it's not a physical machine. It's a theoretical construct, and it's '''defined''' mathematically, independent of any physical hardware. Similarly, 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 1 no matter what any physical hardware you are computing it on claims.<br />
<br />
From a '''practical''' point of view, there are of course times that a programmer would want to return "false", since some programs can be mathematically shown to run forever (or at least to run longer than the application is willing to wait).<br />
<br />
The title text further relates to this issue by claiming to have found a case where something need not die, but Randall does not know how to actually show it to anyone, because just the fact everyone will die sooner than this thing it doesn't prove it will not die. The wording of the title text might also be a reference to {{w|Fermat's Last Theorem}}.<br />
<br />
It should be noted that Randall's solution, barring its unsoundness, solves more than the halting problem in the form it is usually stated. The halting problem requires two parameters (a program and its parameters), while Randall's function only accepts one (the program). The question of whether a program halts for every input can be shown to be even harder to solve than the halting problem, meaning that even if a Turing machine had an additional instruction allowing it to check whether a program halts with given parameters, it still could not always confirm that a given program that halts for all parameters does so.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Today's strip is in the form of a short computer program.]<br />
'''Define''' DoesItHalt(program):<br />
{<br />
'''return''' true;<br />
}<br />
:The big picture solution to the halting problem.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*A similar useless computer program can be found here: [[221: Random Number]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Programming]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=882:_Significant&diff=49300882: Significant2013-09-22T02:53:37Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 882<br />
| date = April 6, 2011<br />
| title = Significant<br />
| image = significant.png<br />
| imagesize = <br />
| titletext = So, uh, we did the green study again and got no link. It was probably a-- "RESEARCH CONFLICTED ON GREEN JELLY BEAN/ACNE LINK; MORE STUDY RECOMMENDED!"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is about the often difficult relationship between science, statistics and the media. [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] commission some research on the link between jelly beans and acne. At first the scientists do not want to stop playing the addictive game {{w|Minecraft}} (which has been referenced in a [[861|previous xkcd]]), but they do eventually start.<br />
<br />
First some basic statistical theory. Let's imagine you are trying to find out if jelly beans cause acne. To do this you could find a group of people and randomly split them into two groups - one group who you get to eat lots of jelly beans and a second group who are banned from eating jelly beans. After some time you compare whether the group that eat jelly beans have more acne than those who do not. If more people in the group that eat jelly beans have acne then you might think that jelly beans cause acne. However, there is a problem.<br />
<br />
Some people will suffer from acne whether they eat jelly beans or not and some will never have acne even if they do eat jelly beans. There is an element of chance in how many people prone to acne are in each group. What if, purely by chance, all the group we selected to eat jelly beans would have had acne anyway while those who didn't eat jelly beans were the lucky sort of people who never get spots? Then, even if jelly beans did not cause acne, we would conclude that jelly beans did cause acne. Of course it is very unlikely that all the acne prone people end up in one group by chance, especially if we have enough people in each group. However, to give more confidence in the result of this type of experiment, scientists use statistics to see how likely it is that the result they find is purely by chance. This is known as {{w|statistical hypothesis testing}}. Before we start the experiment, we choose a threshold known as the significance level. In the comic the scientists choose a threshold of 5%. If they find that that more of the people who ate jelly beans had acne and the chance it was a purely random result is less than 1 in 20, they will say that jelly beans do cause acne. If however, the chance that their result was purely by random chance is greater than 5% they will say they have found no evidence of a link. The important point is this - '''there could still be a 1 in 20 chance that this result was purely a statistical fluke'''.<br />
<br />
In the comic, the scientists find no link between jelly beans and acne (the probability that the result is by chance is more than 5% i.e. p > 0.05) but then Megan and Cueball ask them to see if only one colour of jelly beans is responsible. They test 20 different colors each at a significance level of 5%. If the probability that each trial gives a false positive result is 1 in 20, then by testing 20 different colors it is now highly likely that at least one jelly bean test will give a false positive. In this case they find that green jelly beans do cause acne. <br />
<br />
This leads to a big newspaper headline saying '''GREEN JELLY BEANS CAUSE ACNE''' but when the scientists {{w|Reproducibility|repeat the experiment}} (another key part of the scientific method) they find no evidence for a link. They try to tell the reporter that it was probably a coincidence but that is not news. Instead it leads to another major headline saying '''RESEARCH CONFLICTED'''.<br />
<br />
This can be an issue with more serious matters than jelly beans and acne - at any one time there are many studies about possible links between substances (e.g. red wine) and illness (e.g. cancer). Because only the positive results get reported, this limits the value any single study has - especially if the mechanism linking the two things is not known. For more information see: http://www.fallacyfiles.org/multcomp.html<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail runs up to another person, who subsequently points off-panel where there are presumably scientists.]<br />
:Ponytail: Jelly beans cause acne!<br />
:Another: Scientists! Investigate!<br />
:Scientists: But we're playing Minecraft! ...Fine.<br />
<br />
:[Two scientists. Cueball has safety goggles, Megan has a sheet of notes.]<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:[Back to the original two.]<br />
:Another: That settles that.<br />
:Ponytail: I hear it's only a certain color that causes it.<br />
:Another: Scientists!<br />
:Scientists: But Miiiinecraft!<br />
<br />
:[20 near identical small panels follow, 4 rows 5 columns.]<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between purple jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between brown jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between pink jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between blue jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between teal jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between salmon jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between red jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between turquoise jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between magenta jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between yellow jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between grey jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between tan jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between cyan jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found a link between green jelly beans and acne (p < 0.05).<br />
:Off-panel: ''WHOA!''<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between yellow jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between beige jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between lilac jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between black jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between peach jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
:Cueball: We found no link between orange jelly beans and acne (p > 0.05).<br />
<br />
:[Newspaper front page.]<br />
:NEWS Green Jelly Beans Linked To Acne! 95% Confidence<br />
:[There is a picture of 3 green jelly beans.]<br />
:Only 5% chance of coincidence!<br />
:Scientists...<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=221:_Random_Number&diff=49289221: Random Number2013-09-21T17:21:55Z<p>GameZone: Undo revision 49278 by 141.39.226.227 (talk) Dice is the plural version of die.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 221<br />
| date = February 9, 2007<br />
| title = Random Number<br />
| image = random_number.png<br />
| titletext = <nowiki>RFC 1149.5</nowiki> specifies 4 as the standard IEEE-vetted random number.<br />
}}<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic specifies a function (in a {{w|C (programming language)|C-like}} syntax), which should return a random number. Most functions of this form are random number ''generators'', implying that they return on subsequent calls ''different'' numbers. But the programmer has instead created a function that just returns always the same ''random'' number; random, because it was chosen by rolling a die as the comment documented. This function is essentially worthless, as it could simply be replaced by a "4" wherever it is used. And in fact, most modern compilers would do this automatically.<br />
<br />
The {{w|IEEE}} is the organization responsible for maintaining a number of computer standards. An RFC, or {{w|Request for Comments}}, is a formal document put out to computing experts by {{w|IETF}} in the hopes of becoming a future standard. However, RFC 1149 was an {{w|April Fools' Day Request for Comments|April Fools' joke}}, defining how carrier pigeons have to be used to transmit Internet packets. Ironically, although the RFC was written in 1990, a homing pigeon with a couple microSD cards tied to its leg might well be faster than your typical consumer Internet connection in the US today. The <nowiki>RFC 1149.5</nowiki> simply does not exist.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
int getRandomNumber()<br />
{<br />
return 4; //chosen by fair dice roll.<br />
//guaranteed to be random.<br />
}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Programming]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=238:_Pet_Peeve_114&diff=49274238: Pet Peeve 1142013-09-21T00:27:23Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number =238<br />
| date =March 21, 2007<br />
| title =Pet Peeve 114<br />
| image =pet_peeve_114.png<br />
| titletext =I'm reading a goddamn book, thank you very much.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A {{w|pet peeve}} is a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to them, to a greater degree than others may find it. [[Cueball]] counts his pet peeves, this is number 114.<br />
<br />
Cueball's friend calls him and on finding out that he is reading a book on a "Saturday Night". Saturday night or on weekends in general people are supposed to be time for enjoying or partying with friends after five weekdays of work. But Cueball is annoyed by the fact that people are stuck with the stereotype of partying out on weekends. In his view, reading a good book is also great way of enjoying the weekend. His annoyance is expressed in the title text.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball reading a book in a chair.]<br />
:Pet Peeve #114:<br />
:Voice on the phone: Really? What are you doing <u>reading</u>? It's ''Saturday night!''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=204:_America&diff=49260204: America2013-09-20T19:40:53Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number =204<br />
| date =January 1, 2007<br />
| title =America<br />
| image =america.png<br />
| titletext =The younger folk in the audience think this is a joke.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
On April 20, 1979, U.S. President {{w|Jimmy Carter}} was allegedly "{{w|Jimmy_Carter_rabbit_incident|attacked by a giant swimming rabbit}}", while solo-fishing on a boat in his hometown. The reality is a little more nuanced: According to Carter, the rabbit had actually been chased into the water by some hounds and swam near his boat. Carter splashed some water on it to compel the rabbit not to come any closer.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, the newspapers ate it up, with respected paper ''{{w|The Washington Post}}'' putting the story "President Attacked by Rabbit" on the front page. Since the White House refused to release the photograph, the paper created a cartoon parody of the rabbit, calling it PAWS, in reference to the blockbuster film ''{{w|Jaws (film)|JAWS}},'' about a killer shark. Carter's opponents used it as fodder for their arguments that Carter's presidency was weak and ineffectual, and basically, the whole thing was blown way out of proportion by the American media, as so often happens with goofy events such as this.<br />
<br />
This comic treats the Killer Rabbit attack as a dark day for the United States, and uses the phrase "America Must Never Forget", which usually applies to days like the {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor attack}} or {{w|September 11 attacks|9/11}}. It essentially shows that, for the entire history of the United States (which starts with the signing of the {{w|Declaration of Independence}}), it is the only event worth remembering.<br />
<br />
The title text is an assumption that the event has not been remembered in the way the comic jokes that it should have been, and as a result, younger readers will think he is kidding when he says Carter was attacked by a rabbit.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Timeline.]<br />
:1776; Declaration of independence<br />
:1979; Jimmy carter attacked by giant swimming rabbit<br />
:2007; Present day<br />
<br />
:America must never forget.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1267:_Mess&diff=492591267: Mess2013-09-20T19:37:47Z<p>GameZone: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1267<br />
| date = September 20, 2013<br />
| title = Mess<br />
| image = mess.png<br />
| titletext = 'Sorry, I left out my glass of water from last night.' OH GOD I APPARENTLY LIVE IN A GARBAGE PIT.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
Many self-conscious people apologize for "the mess" in their home whenever they have guests over, no matter how neat their house looks.<br />
<br />
If the house is neater than the guest's own home, the guest is likely to say to himself: "If she thinks THIS is messy, what would she think of my place?!"<br />
<br />
There is a common psychological phenomenon which causes people to mentally magnify their own flaws, while failing to notice the flaws of others.<br />
<br />
The title text takes this even further.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball visits a friend at home, entering a tidy room with one article of clothing on the floor.]<br />
:Friend: Sorry it's such a disaster in here.<br />
:Cueball (thinking): Whoa— what's ''wrong'' with me?<br />
:My room never looks as nice as the rooms other people apologize for.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=977:_Map_Projections&diff=49203977: Map Projections2013-09-19T00:49:10Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 977<br />
| date = November 14, 2011<br />
| title = Map Projections<br />
| image = map_projections.png<br />
| 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?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Map projection}}s, or how to represent the spherical Earth surface onto a flat support (paper, screen...) to have a usable map, is a long-time issue with very practical aspects (navigation, geographical shapes and masses visualization, etc.) as well as very scientific/mathematic ones (involving geometry or even abstract algebra among other things). There is no universal solution to this problem, any 2D map projection will always distort in a way the spherical reality; many projections have been proposed in various contexts, each intending to minimize distortions for specific uses (for nautical navigation, for aerial navigation, for landmass size comparisons, etc.) but having drawbacks from other points of view. Some of them are more frequently used than other in mass media and therefore more well-known than others, some are purely historical and now deprecated, some are really obscure, etc.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] suggests here the idea that someone's "favorite" map projection can reveal aspects of their personality, and goes through a series of them and what they can mean:<br />
<br />
;Mercator<br />
:The {{w|Mercator projection}} was introduced by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. The main purpose of this map is that at any point the vertical and horizontal scales are the same, so locally i.e. considering only a small part of the map, geographical features (shapes, angles) are well represented, which helps a lot in recognizing them on-the-field, or for local navigation in that small part only. For this reason that projection (or a close variant) is used in several online mapping services such as Google Maps, which means that people commonly see it nowadays. No angle distortion also means that a straight line on the map corresponds to a course of constant bearing (direction), which was very useful for nautical navigation during centuries (and thus made that projection very well-known).<br />
<br />
:However from a global point of view, this projection is radically incorrect in how it shows the size of landmasses (for instance Antartica or Greenland seem gigantic), and furthermore it always excludes a small region around each pole (otherwise the map would be of infinite height), so it doesn't provide a complete solution for the problem of map projection. The comic implies that people who like that projection aren't very interested with map issues, and typically use what they are offered without thinking a lot about it.<br />
<br />
;Van der Grinten<br />
:The {{w|Van der Grinten projection}} is not much better than the Mercator. It was adopted by {{w|National Geographic}} in 1922 and was used until they updated to the Robinson projection in 1988.<br />
<br />
:The Van der Grinten projection is circular as opposed to the Mercator projection. Circles look happier than squares, leading to the conclusion that people who like the projection are optimistic.<br />
<br />
;Robinson<br />
:The {{w|Robinson projection}} was developed by {{w|Arthur H. Robinson}} as a map that was supposed to look nice. National Geographic moved to this projection in 1988, and used it for ten years, moving to the Winkel-Tripel in 1998.<br />
<br />
:{{w|The Beatles}} was a rock band that enjoyed great commercial success in the 1960s. The Beatles, coffee, and running shoes suggest an ordinary, easygoing lifestyle paralleled by the projection.<br />
<br />
;Dymaxion<br />
:Also called the Fuller Map, the {{w|Dymaxion Map}} takes a sphere and projects it onto an icosahedron, that is a polyhedron with 20 triangular faces. It is far easier to unwrap an icosahedron than it is to unwrap a sphere into a 2D object and has very little skewing of the poles.<br />
<br />
:Randall associates the projection to geek subculture and niche markets:<br />
:*{{w|Isaac Asimov}} was an American science-fiction writer, that (as well as publishing many textbooks) is considered the father of the modern concept of robots. He invented the {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}. He also worked on more than 500 books throughout his career.<br />
:*{{w|XML}} is the eXtensible Markup Language. It is used to represent data in a format that machines can read and understand, as well as being human-readable. In practice, XML is cumbersome to read.<br />
:*{{w|Vibram FiveFingers|Toed-Shoes}} are a [[1065|favorite]] of Randall's to pick on. In society they are seen as a {{w|Hipster (contemporary subculture)#Late 1990s through late 2000s|hipster}} clothing item.<br />
:*Brought to the world by {{w|Dean Kamen}}, the {{w|Segway PT}} was supposed to be a device that changed the way cities were built. In reality, most principalities have put in place rules specifically against Segways, making them a frustration to own and use within the law (In some states in Australia, it is illegal to use them on public footpaths or roads). Also, the former owner of {{w|Segway Inc.}}, the late {{w|Jimi Heselden}}, accidentally rode his Segway off a cliff in 2010.<br />
:*{{w|Virtual reality|3D goggles}} are a very niche market only pursued by enthusiasts. In the 1990s the promise of virtual realities was very tantalizing, many companies attempted to perfect it, but fell short of the mark. Also the phrase "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." is relevant.<br />
:*{{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak}} is an alternate keyboard layout to QWERTY. Where QWERTY was invented to help keep manual typewriters from jamming (by placing the most used keys further away from each other), Dr. {{w|August Dvorak}} performed many studies and found the mathematically optimal keyboard layout to reduce finger travel for right handed typists. While technically better than QWERTY, QWERTY had become the standard. All the keyboards were laid out in QWERTY format, and retraining the brain after becoming a touch typist is extremely difficult.<br />
<br />
;Winkel Tripel<br />
:Proposed by {{w|Oswald Winkel}} in 1921, this map tried to reduce the three (German: tripel) main problems with map projections: area, direction, and distance. The {{w|Kavrayskiy VII projection|Kavrayskiy projection}} is very similar to the Winkel Tripel and was used by the USSR, but very few in the Western world know of it.<br />
<br />
:The comic links this projection to {{w|hipster}} subculture. The whole point of hipsters is to avoid conforming to mainstream fashions. "Post-" refers to a variety of musical genres such as {{w|post-punk}}, {{w|post-grunge}}, {{w|post-minimalism}}, etc. that branch off of other genres.<br />
<br />
;Goode Homolosine<br />
:The {{w|Goode homolosine projection}} takes a different approach to skewing a sphere into a roughly circular surface. An orange peel can be taken off of an orange and flattened with fair success, this is roughly the procedure that {{w|John Paule Goode}} followed in creating this projection.<br />
<br />
:Common people make arguments that if normal people would run the United States, then the US wouldn't be in the trouble it is. This is from the belief that career politicians are simply out to make money and will only act in the interest of their constituency when their continued easy life is threatened (usually around election time).<br />
<br />
:Airline food is another, much maligned, problem. How do you store enough food to feed people on long airplane trips? The common solution is to use some kind of sub-standard microwave-able dinner. Randall is saying that the people in favor of the Goode Homolosine wonder why the airlines don't simply order meals from the restaurants in the airport, store that food, and serve it, rather than using frozen, and microwaved food.<br />
<br />
:Older cars burned oil like mad fiends and oil back then would become corrosive to the innards of an engine, so oil had to be changed often. But, with the introduction of synthetic motor oil and better designed engines, new cars only need their oil changed about ever 10,000 to 15,000 miles. Allegedly. Perhaps this is a conspiracy built by the collusion of the car manufacturers and big oil companies!<br />
<br />
:All of these references suggest that people who like the Goode Homolosine projection are fans of practical solutions to simple problems.<br />
<br />
;Hobo-Dyer<br />
:The {{w|Hobo–Dyer projection}} was commissioned by Bob Abramms and Howard Bronstein and was drafted by Mick Dyer in 2002. It is a modified {{w|Behrmann projection}}. The goal was to be a more visually pleasing version of the Gall-Peters.<br />
<br />
:As is discussed in the Gall-Peters explanation, the Gall-Peters was developed to be equal area, so that economically disadvantaged areas can at least take comfort in the fact that their country is represented correctly by area on maps.<br />
<br />
:Randall associates the Hobo-Dyer projection to "crunchy granola" — a stereotype associated with vegetarianism, environmental activism, anti-war activism, liberal political leanings, and some traces of {{w|hippie}} culture.<br />
<br />
:With the new general acceptance of homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered persons, some have begun to invent gender-neutral pronouns so that when referring to a person whose gender is not known they cannot be offended by being referred to by the wrong pronouns. In old English 'they' and 'their' were accepted gender-less pronouns that could replace 'he', 'she' as well as be used to represent a crowd. This usage is now considered archaic, so, a whole host of new pronouns are being invented in an attempt to keep from ever offending anyone ever again.<br />
<br />
;Plate Carrée<br />
:Also known as the {{w|Equirectangular projection}} that has been in use since, apparently, 100 AD. The benefit of this projection is that latitude and longitude can be used as x,y coordinates. This makes it especially easy for computers to graph data on top of it.<br />
<br />
:According to the comic, the projection appeals to people who find much beauty in simplicity.<br />
<br />
;A Globe!<br />
:In any good discussion there has to be at least one smart-ass. This is a comic about map projections, that is, the science of taking a sphere and flattening it into 2 dimensions. The smart-ass believes that we shouldn't even try: a sphere is, in fact, the perfect representation of a sphere.<br />
<br />
:To quote ''{{w|The Princess Bride}}'': "Yes, you're very smart. Shut up."<br />
<br />
;Waterman Butterfly<br />
:Similar to the Dymaxion, the {{w|Waterman butterfly projection}} turns a sphere into an octahedron, and then unfolds the net of the octahedron, which was devised by mathematician {{w|Waterman polyhedron|Steve Waterman}} based upon the work of {{w|Bernard J.S. Cahill}}<br />
<br />
:Bernard Cahill published a [http://www.genekeyes.com/B.J.S._CAHILL_RESOURCE.html butterfly map] in 1909. Steve Waterman probably has the only extant "ready to go" map following the same general principles, though Gene Keys may not be far behind. Waterman has a poem with graphics in a similar vein to this xkcd comic that is worth reading.[http://watermanpolyhedron.com/worldmap.html]<br />
<br />
:The Cahill/Keyes/Waterman projections are arguably the only map projections, thus far, that more or less equally balance the inevitable “all maps lie” distortions in size, shape and area.<br />
<br />
:The joke is that the person responding deeply understands map projections; anyone who knows of this projection is a person that Randall would like to get to know.<br />
<br />
;Peirce Quincuncial<br />
:The {{w|Pierce quincuncial projection}} was devised by {{w|Charles Sanders Peirce}} in 1879 and uses {{w|complex analysis}} to make a {{w|conformal mapping}} of the Earth, that conforms except for four points which would make up the south pole.<br />
<br />
:{{w|Inception}} was a 2010 movie about {{w|meta}} {{w|lucid dream}}ing. It has a complex story that is difficult to follow and leaves the viewer with many questions at the end, and almost needs to be watched multiple times to be understood.<br />
<br />
:The human brain is not well developed to deal with oddly obvious things. One example is that everyone has a skeleton, but everyone is surprised when a bone pokes through the skin after it has been broken. Another is the fascinating complexity of the human hand, a machine that is amazingly complex driven by a complex interplay of electrical and chemical signals and yet is the size of the hand and is so useful.<br />
<br />
;Gall-Peters<br />
:The {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} is mired in controversy, surprising for a map. {{w|James Gall}} a 19th century clergyman presented this projection in 1855 before the {{w|British Association for the Advancement of Science}}. In 1967, the filmmaker {{w|Arno Peters}} created the same projection and presented it to the world as a "new invention" that put poorer, less powerful countries into their rightful proportions (as opposed to the Mercator). Peters played the marketing game and got quite a few followers of his map by saying it had "absolute angle conformality," "no extreme distortions of form," and was "totally distance-factual" in an age when society was very concerned about social justice. All of these claims were in fact false. The polar regions are horribly distorted, and south of the Mediterranean Sea is "taller" than it should be.<br />
<br />
:Anyone who loves such a politically charged map that has become popular by way of marketing stunts, Randall would rather not have anything to do with.<br />
<br />
The title text makes a joke that goes to the familiar meme from ''{{w|CSI: Miami}}'', in which the star, David Caruso starts on sentence, then [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses|puts on his sunglasses]] and then ends it with a corny pun. This internet meme has been mentioned previously by xkcd in comic [[626]] and possibly others.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:What your favorite<br />
:'''Map Projection'''<br />
:says about you<br />
:[All of these are organized as Title, a copy of the particular projection underneath, and what it says about you under that]<br />
<br />
:*Mercator<br />
:**You're not really into maps.<br />
:*Van der Grinten<br />
:**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!<br />
:*Robinson<br />
:**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.<br />
:*Dymaxion<br />
:**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.<br />
:*Winkel-Tripel<br />
:**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–".<br />
:*Goode Homolosine<br />
:**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.<br />
:*Hobo-Dyer<br />
:**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.<br />
:*Plate Carrée <small>(Equirectangular)</small><br />
:**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.<br />
:*A Globe!<br />
:**Yes, you're very clever.<br />
:*Waterman Butterfly<br />
:**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?<br />
:*Peirce Quincuncial<br />
:**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.<br />
:*Gall-Peters<br />
:**I ''hate'' you.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Puts on sunglasses]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=888:_Heaven&diff=49202888: Heaven2013-09-19T00:48:16Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 888<br />
| date = April 20, 2011<br />
| title = Heaven<br />
| image = heaven.png<br />
| imagesize = <br />
| titletext = If you've never had sex, this is what it feels like. Complete with the brief feeling of satisfaction, followed by ennui, followed by getting bored and trying to make it happen again.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic shows the popular video game {{w|Tetris}}, in which you use different shaped pieces to fill in lines to score points. The more lines you fill at a time it results in more points.<br />
<br />
Heaven is, when you get the perfect piece in Tetris that fills out all the empty space you have on the board. The next piece here is really odd, but it fits exactly the empty spaces.<br />
<br />
The title text compares this experience with an orgasm. After "the brief feeling of satisfaction" you are bored, ennui means a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest, but at the end you want more.<br />
<br />
A fan even made a modified version of the classic Tetris game, where at a certain frequency, a 'heaven' perfectly fitting block comes along. The game can be found on. [http://www.gudmagazine.com/games/heaven/ http://www.gudmagazine.com/games/heaven/].<br />
<br />
Also see comic [[724: Hell]], which presents an opposing situation in which the game is impossible to play.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The display is a tetris game. A large oddly shaped piece is falling towards the board. The piece fits into the gaps exactly to complete multiple rows at once. The next piece is simply a very long brick.]<br />
:Top 0002187<br />
:Score 0002186<br />
:Level 5<br />
:(The above are within the game; the next line is outside the game.)<br />
:Heaven<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=724:_Hell&diff=49201724: Hell2013-09-19T00:47:16Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 724<br />
| date = April 7, 2010<br />
| title = Hell<br />
| image = hell.png<br />
| titletext = There's also a Katamari level where everything is just slightly bigger than you, and a Mario level with a star just out of reach.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Tetris is a game where the player has to manipulate falling blocks into forming complete rows. This comic is a play on this, presenting the player with a version of the game with a curved bottom that renders forming rows nearly impossible. Hell is a religious concept of a posthumous punishment for wrongdoers, depicted in many religions as eternal torment.<br />
<br />
The title text presents similar situations where frustration is likely to occur.<br />
<br />
Also see comic [[888: Heaven]], which presents an opposing situation in which the game is trying to help the player win.<br />
<br />
There is a playable version of this comic at [http://www.swfme.com/view/1046212 swfme], which, unsurprisingly, is frustratingly difficult to play. <br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A basic Tetris screen is depicted, with a next piece indicator, score and top score, and level listed as 01. The bottom of the pit is curved into a semicircle. A square and L piece are sitting crookedly in the pit; an S piece is falling.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1255:_Columbus&diff=492001255: Columbus2013-09-19T00:41:45Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1255<br />
| date = August 23, 2013<br />
| title = Columbus<br />
| image = columbus.png<br />
| titletext = And thus was smallpox introduced into the previously Undying Lands.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[White Hat]] tells two children that Christopher Columbus knew the world was round, but that others believed it to be flat. However, this is a false narrative known as the {{w|Myth of the Flat Earth}}. Educated people in Columbus's time knew the world was round, and knew the approximate radius of the Earth. Columbus claimed that the distance to sail west from Europe to Asia was drastically lower than others believed, but {{w|Christopher Columbus#Geographical_considerations|he was wrong about this}}. If another continent and the "{{w|West Indies}}" had not been fortuitously in the right place, Columbus and his crew probably would have died at sea.<br />
<br />
As White Hat begins his explanation, Megan objects, though not explaining why. White Hat continues, so Megan interrupts, saying that Columbus went in a straight line as the world curved away, ending up in {{w|Valinor}} and the {{w|Undying Lands}}. Megan's story is an allusion to ''{{w|The Silmarillion}}'', by {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}}, set in the same world as ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' and ''{{w|The Hobbit}}''. The claim that Columbus sailed on a tangent to the surface alludes to how the elves' ships leave the curved sea surface and sail in a straight line to reach Valinor on the same route that they sailed when the world was still flat. The mentions of a silmaril and the morning star are a reference to {{w|Eärendil|Eärendil the Mariner}}, the only mortal sailor to reach the Undying Lands, with one of the {{w|Silmaril}}s. Megan humorously conflates the two myths, suggesting that they are both equally false. In Megan's telling, Columbus ends up as the morning star, which is actually the planet {{w|Venus}} (the same fate as Eärendil in Tolkien's mythology).<br />
<br />
The joke is that when White Hat tells her to stop making up the story, Megan pointedly replies "You first", indicating that she originally complained about White Hat's retelling of the Columbus story because his account didn't really happen, and so he was also "making things up". Megan's fantasy tale was then delivered to make a point.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to the {{w|Smallpox#Human_history|transfer of small pox}} to North America by Europeans. The introduction of smallpox to the Undying Lands is ironic, given their name.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[White Hat talks to children.]<br />
:White Hat: Everyone said the world was flat, but Columbus knew it was round.<br />
:Megan: *Sigh* No, no, no.<br />
<br />
:White Hat: So he took his ships and sailed west—<br />
:Megan: —in a line tangent to the surface. The sea fell away, and he landed in ''Valinor.''<br />
<br />
:Megan: A silmaril on his brow, he wanders the heavens as the morning star, still believing he reached India.<br />
:White Hat: Stop making stuff up.<br />
:Megan: You first.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:LOTR]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1266:_Halting_Problem&diff=491411266: Halting Problem2013-09-18T07:34:09Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1266<br />
| date = September 18, 2013<br />
| title = Halting Problem<br />
| image = halting_problem.png<br />
| titletext = I found a counterexample to the claim that all things must someday die, but I don't know how to show it to anyone.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
'''Define''' DoesItHalt(program):<br />
{<br />
'''return''' true;<br />
}<br />
:The big picture solution to the halting problem.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=581:_The_Race:_Part_5&diff=49123581: The Race: Part 52013-09-17T22:10:57Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 581<br />
| date = May 8, 2009<br />
| title = The Race: Part 5<br />
| image = the_race_part_5.png<br />
| titletext = It was actually canceled because they just noticed he's been naked under that coat the whole time. There's a petition on Facebook to get Fox to un-cancel it, and one on Livejournal to get him to take off the coat.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
This is a continuation of the previous comic in "[[The Race]]" series, [[580: The Race: Part 4]].<br />
<br />
In panel 6 (2nd panel in the 2nd row), {{w|Nathan Fillion}} line is reminiscent of a similar quote from the 2nd episode of {{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}, {{w|The Train Job}}: "I just wanted you to face me so she could get behind ya." In the show, {{w|Malcolm Reynolds}} is aided by {{w|Zoë Washburne}}, his second in command, who gets behind the bar thug he is speaking to. In the comic, Nathan Fillion is using the line on a fan, but {{w|Gina Torres}} is not standing behind [[Cueball]] this time.<br />
<br />
Summer's line about growing but not retracting her hair appears to mean that because Nathan used her to stop Cueball, she has to stop him as well, which she neatly does.<br />
<br />
Summer's statement in the 10th panel about swallowing a bug is a reference to the movie Serenity, made in 2005 to conclude Firefly's storyline. While on the run from the Reavers, Summer's character accidentally swallows a bug while sitting in the open seated hovercraft.<br />
<br />
The final panel is a reference to {{w|Fox TelevisionTV}}'s treatment of Firefly. Firefly was cancelled after only 11 episodes of the 14 made were aired, leaving 3 episodes unaired.<br />
<br />
Internet petitions, contrary to the sarcastic suggestion in the final panel, rarely, if ever, work.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:<br />
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]<br />
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]<br />
*[[579: The Race: Part 3]]<br />
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]<br />
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Nathan skates in.]<br />
:Nathan: So you took care of him?<br />
:Summer: I can exude hair but not retract it.<br />
:Nathan: That a yes?<br />
:[Summer grabs Nathan's arm as he skates past her, pulling him off the board.]<br />
:Nathan: Bwah!<br />
:[An Andy Capp-esque meleè dust cloud.]<br />
:WHAP BAM POW WHAM<br />
:[Summer skates away.]<br />
:[A beat-up Nathan approaches an similarly battered Cueball.]<br />
:Nathan: She may have my board, but I can still beat you to the finish line if I bring you down.<br />
:Cueball: Bring it, Captain Tightpants.<br />
:Nathan: I've got nothing to bring. I just said that so she could get behind you.<br />
:[Cueball turns.]<br />
:Cueball: Who-<br />
:[Cueball is hit with his board.]<br />
:''WHAM''<br />
:[Nathan stands over a prone Cueball.]<br />
:Nathan: I just said THAT so I could get behind you. The serious fans always fall for the quotes.<br />
:[Wide panel of Summer crossing the finishing line on Nathan's board, breaking through the tape.]<br />
:Announcer: And the winner is...<br />
:Off-screen voice: Summer Glau?<br />
:Summer: I swallowed a bug again.<br />
:[Close-up of Cueball's beaten face.]<br />
:Cueball: All right, Fillion. I've had enough of your treachery and ...rugged good looks. This ends here.<br />
:[Equally close-up: Nathan's face, bearing several grazes.]<br />
:Nathan: All right, fanboy. Let this be our final battle. <br />
:[They rush at each other, fists ready to swing punches.]<br />
:Final battle canceled by Fox.<br />
:Try an Internet petition drive - those totally work.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nathan Fillion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Summer Glau]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:The Race]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=580:_The_Race:_Part_4&diff=49122580: The Race: Part 42013-09-17T22:09:52Z<p>GameZone: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 580<br />
| date = May 7, 2009<br />
| title = The Race: Part 4<br />
| image = the_race_part_4.png<br />
| titletext = Things are rarely just crazy enough to work, but they're frequently just crazy enough to fail hilariously.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} was a television series aired by FOX in 2002 that got cancelled mid-way through, but has a large fan base nowadays (for a more comprehensive explanation, see the Wikipedia page). The star of the show was Captain Malcolm (or Mal) Reynolds, played by {{w|Nathan Fillion}}. Other members of his crew were Kaylee (played by {{w|Jewel Staite}}) the ship's mechanic, River Tam (played by {{w|Summer Glau}}) was the seemingly crazy younger sister of Dr. Simon Tam (played by {{w|Sean Maher}}), as well as a few others.<br />
<br />
The "Crazy Ivan" maneuver is a reference an evasion technique used by the crew of the Serenity (the name of the main spacecraft in the show) to escape the Reavers (savage men) in the pilot episode of {{w|Firefly_(TV_series)|Firefly}} . The maneuver involves a sharp 180° turn to face the pursuing spacecraft and fly straight at, while barely missing it. This allows the more maneuverable Firefly-class spaceship to escape faster but less agile spacecraft. But as Jewel points out, this is less than useful on a skateboard, since the board spins in place while the rider continues forward unimpeded. <br />
<br />
In the show, Summer was known to do strange and unexpected things.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:<br />
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]<br />
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]<br />
*[[579: The Race: Part 3]]<br />
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]<br />
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Nathan Fillion are ready on the start line on their electric skateboards.]<br />
:Voice off panel: On your mark...<br />
<br />
:Voice: Get set...<br />
:Nathan: Remember episode 11, when I got all naked in that desert?<br />
<br />
:Voice: Go!<br />
:[Nathan speeds away leaving Cueball standing at the start line.]<br />
<br />
:Voice: ...I said "Go."<br />
:Voice: Someone throw some water on him.<br />
:Cueball: Can't...get it...out of my head...<br />
<br />
:[Nathan on walkie talkie, speeding on his skateboard.]<br />
:Nathan: He's right behind me. Kaylee, I'm gonna try a Crazy Ivan.<br />
:Jewel [on walkie talkie] ([[579]] shows Nathan's naming confusion): That doesn't make any sense, Nathan.<br />
:Nathan: Trust me.<br />
<br />
:Jewel: No, I mean it's not a skateboard maneuver. The concept doesn't even apply to this situation.<br />
:Nathan [via walkie talkie]: That's why it ''just might work!''<br />
:Jewel: No, that's the ''opposite'' of true!<br />
<br />
:Nathan: On my mark, override the remote differential and throw her into a spin.<br />
:Jewel [via walkie talkie]: okay, but—<br />
:Nathan: Mark!<br />
:''WHAM''<br />
<br />
:[Nathan lying injured on the ground next to his skateboard, Cueball cruises past.]<br />
:''Whirrrrrrrr''<br />
<br />
:[Nathan, trying to stand up.]<br />
:Nathan: I'm down. Tell Summer "The chickens are in the hayloft. Plan Gamma is a go."<br />
<br />
:[Nathan, one foot on skateboard, looking at walkie talkie.]<br />
:''mumbling from walkie talkie''<br />
:Jewel: She says, "Plan gamma acknowledged. The meerkats are in the bag.<br />
:[Summer Glau is walking off panel.]<br />
<br />
:Jewel [to walkee talkie]: So we're good?<br />
:Nathan: Hard to tell with her. Do you see an actual bag of meerkats?<br />
:Jewel: No.<br />
:Nathan: Then we're probably good.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball screeching to a halt as he sees Summer Glau.]<br />
:Cueball: Oh! Hi, Miss Glau! I'd love to talk, but Nathan's back on his feet and catching up.<br />
<br />
:[Summer grabs Cueball's arm.]<br />
:''Grab''<br />
:Cueball: Wha—<br />
<br />
:[Summer kicks Cueball in the face whilst pulling his arm towards her, he flies off his skateboard.]<br />
<br />
:[Summer walking away as Cueball lies crippled on the floor with his sunglasses beside him.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball still lying on the floor.]<br />
<br />
:Cueball [thinking]: I've never been so turned on in my life.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The xkcd's own transcript for this episode is radically wrong, and words like {{Wiktionary|maneuver}} are spelled incorrectly.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Jewel Staite]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nathan Fillion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Summer Glau]]<br />
[[Category:The Race]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=579:_The_Race:_Part_3&diff=49120579: The Race: Part 32013-09-17T22:08:49Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 579<br />
| date = May 6, 2009<br />
| title = The Race: Part 3<br />
| image = the_race_part_3.png<br />
| titletext = No, the best things about The Sarah Connor Chronicles were: (1) watching Sarah and Cameron try to pass for normal, and (2) Cameron throwing people and things through walls. Everything else was pretty secondary.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} was a television series aired by FOX in 2002 that got cancelled mid-way through, but has a large fan base nowadays (for a more comprehensive explanation, see the Wikipedia page). The star of the show was Captain Malcolm (or Mal) Reynolds, played by {{w|Nathan Fillion}}. Other members of his crew were Kaylee (played by {{w|Jewel Staite}}) the ship's mechanic, Inara Serra (played by {{w|Morena Baccarin}}) was a Companion (As Mal would say: whore) that helped Serenity (the ship) gain a landing on many planets that otherwise would have nothing to do with Mal, River Tam (played by {{w|Summer Glau}}) was the seemingly crazy younger sister of Dr. Simon Tam (played by {{w|Sean Maher}}), as well as a few others.<br />
<br />
In the last panel, Kaylee apparently wired up Mal's controller to broadcast on the frequency of [[Cueball]]'s skateboard, so it took control of his board, where Mal's stood still. (Buy a few RC models ({{w|Radio-controlled model}}) to play with friends and inevitably this will happen. Where two controllers broadcast on the same frequency, so the two models are confused by the signals they receive.)<br />
<br />
{{w|Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles}} was a television series aired by FOX from 2008-09. Summer Glau played the role of Cameron, a Terminator; Cameron was played in a distinctly "strange" manner as a humanoid robot who finds much about humanity puzzling.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:<br />
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]<br />
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]<br />
*[[579: The Race: Part 3]]<br />
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]<br />
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Nathan, Cueball, and Summer Glau standing around with electric skateboards.]<br />
:Nathan: Meet a few of my friends. This is-<br />
:Cueball: Summer Glau! You were the best part of ''Chronicles''.<br />
<br />
:Summer: I eat my bodyweight in food every 31 days. That's slightly faster than the human average.<br />
<br />
:[Summer stares off into space.]<br />
<br />
:Nathan: Yeah, there's a reason she only plays strange roles.<br />
:Cueball: Ah.<br />
:Summer (from below): I'm part of the floor now.<br />
<br />
:[They find Jewel Staite working on a skateboard's engine.]<br />
:Nathan: And this is Kaylee.<br />
:Jewel: My name is Jewel, Nathan.<br />
<br />
:Nathan: Kaylee—<br />
:Jewel: ''Jewel''.<br />
:Nathan: —Jewel is fixin' up my new board.<br />
:Jewel: Almost done!<br />
<br />
:Cueball: So wait. Summer's actually weird, Jewel's actually a mechanical whiz...<br />
:Cueball: ...will Morena Baccarin be here? Is she really a—<br />
:Nathan and Jewel: No.<br />
<br />
:The racers set up<br />
:[Nathan and Jewel are to the far left of a full-width panel. Nathan is standing on his skateboard holding a controller. Cueball is on his skateboard which is careening out of control on the far right of the panel.]<br />
:Nathan: Kaylee, I've been gunnin' the radio hand throttle thingy for a while, but it ain't movin'.<br />
:Jewel: Oh, I must've set it to the wrong frequency!<br />
:Cueball (riding around on haywire board): AAAAAAAA<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Jewel Staite]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nathan Fillion]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Summer Glau]]<br />
[[Category:The Race]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=578:_The_Race:_Part_2&diff=49119578: The Race: Part 22013-09-17T22:07:36Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 578<br />
| date = May 5, 2009<br />
| title = The Race: Part 2<br />
| image = the_race_part_2.png<br />
| titletext = The Hammer + Captain Tightpants == Captain Hammerpants?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} was a television series aired by FOX in 2002 that got cancelled mid-way through, but has a large fan base nowadays (for a more comprehensive explanation, see the Wikipedia page). The star of the show was Captain Malcolm (or Mal) Reynolds, played by {{w|Nathan Fillion}}.<br />
<br />
Megan tries to play the rational card, and insist that the characters of major TV shows must get tired of fans' never-ending need to see them playing that character, and never being themselves. Nathan Fillion, however, appears to miss the days of Firefly.<br />
<br />
In the fourth panel Cueball suggests they race for charities, which would mean the winner gets to donate the prize money to their charity of choice. In the fifth panel Fillion, takes the phrase and twists it to mean that the winner gets the charity. This is why Cueball says the confused line "Come again?"<br />
<br />
The title text refers both to Mal being referred to by Kaylee as "Captain Tightpants" in the episode "Shindig," and to Captain Hammer, a superhero played by Nathan Fillion in another series created by Joss Whedon: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:<br />
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]<br />
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]<br />
*[[579: The Race: Part 3]]<br />
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]<br />
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball with skateboard and gear and Megan are talking.]<br />
:Cueball: "Why race him?" He's ''Captain Reynolds!''<br />
:Megan: Mr. Fillion is an actor. Firefly was years ago.<br />
<br />
:[They go over to a computer; Cueball is using a phone and presumably looking up a phone number.]<br />
:Megan: He has his own life to live, and I'm sure the last thing he wants to do is indulge a fan by playing Mal for him.<br />
<br />
:Meanwhile...<br />
:[Nathan Fillion is standing in front of a mirror in a trenchcoat.]<br />
:Nathan: (into the mirror) Name's Captain Reynolds, ma'am. *ahem* Name's Captain Reynolds, ma'am.<br />
:Someone offpanel: Nathan? Telephone!<br />
:Nathan: That's ''Captain!''<br />
:Someone offpanel: Fine, Captain Nathan.<br />
:Nathan: No, use my '''space''' name!<br />
:Someone offpanel: *sigh*<br />
<br />
:[Nathan and Cueball talk on the phone.]<br />
:Cueball: So, how about we race for charities?<br />
<br />
:Nathan: Sure. Always did want a charity of my own.<br />
<br />
:Cueball (between panels): Come again?<br />
<br />
:Nathan: You know, boxes in supermarkets collecting food. 'Course, ought to tack up a list sayin' which wines I like best...<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Uh, that's not quite—<br />
:Nathan (over the phone): Listen, I'm the captain here.<br />
:Cueball: ...I just got goosebumps when you said that.<br />
<br />
:Nathan: Yeah, happens to me too whenever I get captainy. I cut such a strapping figure. <br />
:Nathan: Buckle! Swash!<br />
:Nathan: All right, let's do this race.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nathan Fillion]]<br />
[[Category:The Race]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=577:_The_Race:_Part_1&diff=49118577: The Race: Part 12013-09-17T22:06:04Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 577<br />
| date = May 4, 2009<br />
| title = The Race: Part 1<br />
| image = the_race_part_1.png<br />
| titletext = Great, and you JUST finished paying off the settlement over the Wayne Coyne hamster ball incident.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Explanation ==<br />
This is sort of a continuation of [[139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards]].<br />
<br />
{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} was a television series aired by FOX in 2002 that got cancelled mid-way through, but has a large fan base nowadays (for a more comprehensive explanation, see the Wikipedia page). The star of the show was Captain Malcolm (or Mal) Reynolds, played by {{w|Nathan Fillion}}.<br />
<br />
So in this comic, [[Megan]] tells [[Cueball]] that Nathan Fillion has an electric skateboard. [[Cueball]] immediately starts planning a trip to visit and race Nathan Fillion.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to an earlier comic ([[211: Hamster Ball Heist]]), where [[Cueball]] kidnaps Wayne Coyne in his hamster ball.<br />
<br />
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:<br />
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]<br />
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]<br />
*[[579: The Race: Part 3]]<br />
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]<br />
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]<br />
<br />
This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Megan: Huh, cool. Nathan Fillion (Mal from Firefly) has an electric skateboard. Just like you!<br />
<br />
:[Cueball leaves the room.]<br />
<br />
:Megan: Did you hear that? Nathan-<br />
:''Ratchet Zip Buckle''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball returns wearing helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, sunglasses and holding his electric skateboard.]<br />
:Cueball: I heard. Gimme the computer. I need to book a flight.<br />
<br />
:To be continued...<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Nathan Fillion]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:The Race]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=442:_xkcd_Loves_the_Discovery_Channel&diff=49117442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel2013-09-17T22:05:03Z<p>GameZone: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 442<br />
| date = June 27, 2008<br />
| title = xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel<br />
| image = xkcd_loves_the_discovery_channel.png<br />
| titletext = I love the title-text!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a parody of the {{w|Discovery Channel}} commercial showing various clips of people singing a song with the chorus line [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_f98qOGY0 'Boom De Yada']. The comic is divided into a grid of 4 by 6 panels, each depicting a character or situation from a previous XKCD strip. In each panel is written a part of a song similar to the song from the Discovery Channel commercial."<br />
<br />
The campaign from the {{w|Discovery Channel}} was not called "Boom De Yada", but {{w|I Love The World}}. It's possible that the title "xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel" is in reference to that.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The comic is in parody of the Discovery Channel commercial showing various clips of people singing a song with the chorus line "Boom De Yada."]<br />
:[The comic is divided into a grid of 4 by 6 panels, each depicting a character or situation from a previous XKCD strip.]<br />
:[In each panel is written a part of a song similar to the song from the Discovery Channel commercial.]<br />
<br />
:Panel 1: [[162|(Reference Comic 162)]]<br />
:[Megan spinning around.]<br />
:I love momentum.<br />
<br />
:Panel 2: [[413|(Reference Comic 413)]]<br />
:[Megan laying on floor tinkering with EEE PC hamster ball robot.]<br />
:I love to engineer.<br />
<br />
:Panel 3: [[452|(Reference Comic 452)]]<br />
:[Beret Guy standing in bakery holding a loaf of bread in each hand, sign with "PIE!" in background.]<br />
:I love this bakery!<br />
<br />
:Panel 4: [[239|(Reference Comic 239)]]<br />
:[Cory Doctorow in goggles and red cape flying superman-style.]<br />
:I love the blogosphere!<br />
<br />
:Panel 5: [[152|(Reference Comic 152)]]<br />
:[Cueball running in large hamster ball.]<br />
:I love the whole world<br />
<br />
:Panel 6:<br />
:[Depiction of 4chan's /b/-Random.]<br />
:And all its messed-up folks.<br />
<br />
:Panel 7: [[150|(Reference Comic 150)]]<br />
:[Cueball and Megan immersed in playpen balls.]<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
<br />
:Panel 8:<br />
:[Mass of playpen balls with speech "I put on my robe and wizard hat" originating from it.]<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
<br />
:Panel 9: [[72|(Reference Comic 72)]]<br />
:[Black Hat taking gift away from kid with party hat.]<br />
:I love your suffering.<br />
<br />
:Panel 10: [[153|(Reference Comic 153)]]<br />
:[Diagram showing RSA fingerprint authentication between two people.]<br />
:I love cryptography.<br />
<br />
:Panel 11: [[230|(Reference Comic 230)]]<br />
:[Cueball and Megan in bed covered by red sheet.]<br />
:I love entangled sheets.<br />
<br />
:Panel 12: (Blag or [[235|Reference Comic 235)]]<br />
:[Cueball hanging from kite string holding camera.]<br />
:And kite photography.<br />
<br />
:Panel 13: [[256|(Reference Comic 256)]]<br />
:[Map of the internet.]<br />
:I love the whole world<br />
<br />
:Panel 14: [[8|(Reference Comic 8)]]<br />
:[Cube with red spider on top.]<br />
:And all its mysteries.<br />
<br />
:Panel 15: [[303|(Reference Comic 303)]]<br />
:[Two people sword-fighting on rolling office chairs.]<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
<br />
:Panel 16: [[263|(Reference Comic 263)]]<br />
:[Classroom with two students and Mrs. Lenhart.]<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
<br />
:Panel 17:<br />
:[Cueball saying "Barack me Obamadeus!" to another man speaking energetically at a podium.]<br />
:I love elections.<br />
<br />
:Panel 18:<br />
:[Cueball holding schematic diagram of a transistor in front of his crotch.]<br />
:I love transistors.<br />
<br />
:Panel 19: [[69|(Reference Comic 69)]]<br />
:[Cueball and Megan in bed, Cueball saying "There ''must'' be taft slash fiction."]<br />
:I love weird pillow talk.<br />
<br />
:Panel 20: (Reference Comic [[49]], [[279]], [[317]])<br />
:[Cueball speaking to Megan.]<br />
:I love your sister.<br />
<br />
:Panel 21: [[249|(Reference Comic 249)]]<br />
:[Roller coaster with Cueball in front car holding chess board and thinking about a move.]<br />
:I love the whole world.<br />
<br />
:Panel 22: [[167|(Reference Comic 167)]]<br />
:[Beret Guy standing in the midst of leafless trees.]<br />
:The future's pretty cool!<br />
<br />
:Panel 23: [[108|(Reference Comic 108)]]<br />
:[Megan doing the MC Hammer slide towards Cueball.]<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
<br />
:Panel 24: [[409|(Reference Comic 409)]]<br />
:[Cueball and Megan on an electric skateboard.]<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
:Boom De Yada<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This comic was enacted by Olga Nunes and various famous people as [http://www.olganunes.com/xkcd ''We Love xkcd''].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Playpen balls]]<br />
[[Category:Red Spiders]]<br />
[[Category:Songs]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]<br />
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=561:_Well&diff=49116561: Well2013-09-17T22:01:56Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 561<br />
| date = March 27, 2009<br />
| title = Well<br />
| image = well.png<br />
| titletext = I'll concede ergonomics anecdotally, but none of the studies of Dvorak were at all rigorous (the most-cited Navy study was overseen by Dvorak himself). And the 'slow typists down' thing is a myth. Also EMACS RULES VI DROOLS WOOOOOOO!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Uncomfortable truths are truths that exist, but no one wants to have to think about them.<br />
<br />
The first is about {{w|Firefly (TV Series)|Firefly}} the TV series created by {{w|Joss Whedon}} and canceled by {{w|FOX}}, due to poor ratings performance, after airing the first 13 episodes out-of-order. In Firefly, the main languages spoken are English and Chinese (in equal measure), because apparently between the present day and the events of Firefly Chinese society took over the whole of humanity. However, there are [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumansAreWhite very few actual Asians] on-screen.<br />
<br />
Dr. {{w|August Dvorak}} introduced the Dvorak keyboard layout in 1936 that is supposed to be far superior to the QWERTY keyboard layout. However, Dvorak has not replaced QWERTY, despite it being "better".<br />
<br />
The title text perpetuates the Emacs vs. vi {{w|Editor war|debate}}.<br />
<br />
All comics in the [[:Category:Well|Well]] series:<br />
*[[561: Well]]<br />
*[[568: Well 2]]<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A sign sits by a well.]<br />
Sign: The Uncomfortable Truths Well<br />
<br />
[A guy and Ponytail are lined up for the well; the guy throws a coin in.]<br />
Well: For a universe that's supposed to be half Chinese, Firefly sure doesn't have any Asians.<br />
<br />
[The guy is gone, a couple arrives behind Ponytail; Ponytail throws a coin in.]<br />
Well: There's no solid evidence DVORAK's better than QWERTY. The standard histories are urban legends.<br />
<br />
[Just the couple remain; Cueball throws another coin in.]<br />
Well: You've never said "I love you" and meant it. It was always just words.<br />
<br />
[Megan now throws in a coin.]<br />
Well: You meant it every time.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Sarcasm]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Firefly]]<br />
[[Category:Well]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=474:_Turn-On&diff=49109474: Turn-On2013-09-17T20:32:20Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 474<br />
| date = October 10, 2008<br />
| title = Turn-On<br />
| image = turn-on.png<br />
| titletext = Supercollider? I 'ardly know her!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic refers to the first start up of CERN's {{w|Large Hadron Collider}} (LHC). There was a theoretical concern that that the LHC experiments could create a {{w|black hole}} which would suck in our planet.<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] uses this concern when telling [[Megan]] this could be their last night on Earth, but since the scene is in a Bar it is more likely that he just wants to stay the next night together with her. Megan answers as a physicist and expresses scientists have determined that the fears are unfounded.<br />
<br />
Cueball is annoyed about her answer and leaves her, but then he comes back and continues the conversation by using three of the six {{w|Quark}} flavours in his first sentence ({{w|Up quark}}, {{w|Charm quark}}, and {{w|Strange quark}}). Megan is impressed and asks if she has to be on top or bottom ({{w|Top quark}} and {{w|Bottom quark}}). Then, while Cueball complains that he even hasn't bought her a drink, Megan does the order, just straight down ({{w|Down quark}}).<br />
<br />
The quarks are some fundamental particles the LHC is generating. All six {{w|Flavour (particle physics)|flavours}} of quarks are in the last panel: Up, Charm, Strange, Top, Bottom, and Down.<br />
<br />
The title text is of course a very old joke "I 'ardly know her!", using this at the wrong moment it could be bad for a nice romance.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A bar.]<br />
:Cueball: So, the LHC's turning on. This could be our last night on earth.<br />
:Megan: Gimme a break. They're not even colliding yet, and it won't do anything cosmic rays haven't.<br />
:[Cueball starts to turn away.]<br />
:Megan: Hey, I didn't say no.<br />
:Megan: I'm a physics grad student. I need the excuse to party.<br />
:Cueball: So, you're up for a night with a charming stranger?<br />
:Megan: Depends. Top or bottom?<br />
:Cueball: Hey, I haven't even bought you a drink.<br />
:Megan: Barkeep, two whiskey sours, straight down.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=645:_RPS&diff=49107645: RPS2013-09-17T20:29:08Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 645<br />
| date = October 5, 2009<br />
| title = RPS<br />
| image = rps.png<br />
| titletext = It looks good, but it needs more postfixins.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
''{{w|Reverse Polish notation}}'' is a method of writing mathematical expressions, where operators are after their operands, not between. For example, 2 + 2 becomes 2 2 +, and (2 × 2) / 3 becomes 2 2 * 3 /. This comic plays on that, by placing a Polish Sausage (a North American term for {{w|Kielbasa}}) after both halves of the bun instead of between.<br />
<br />
The title text is a pun on the fact that ''Reverse Polish Notation'' is also known as ''Postfix notation''. "Fixins" is a Southern US slang for condiments such as mustard, chopped onions, and more.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A sausage is sitting to the right of an empty bun.]<br />
:Reverse Polish Sausage<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=969:_Delta-P&diff=49090969: Delta-P2013-09-17T08:19:20Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 969<br />
| date = October 26, 2011<br />
| title = Delta-P<br />
| image = delta p.png<br />
| titletext = If you fire a Portal gun through the door of the wardrobe, space and time knot together, which leads to a frustrated Aslan trying to impart Christian morality to the Space sphere.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe}} is a book in which four children accidentally wander into a world known as {{w|Narnia}} through a wardrobe that only allows passage through to Narnia when you aren't looking for it. In the comic, someone connects an anchor to the wardrobe and throws it into the ocean. The formula describes the flow of water through the open doors, which means that a steady stream of water at an approximate velocity of 200 meters per second will flow into Narnia.<br />
<br />
The evil {{w|White Witch}}, who has made it [http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/93155-always-winter-but-never-christmas "always winter, and never Christmas,"] could not have anticipated that the wardrobe portal would suddenly begin spewing approximately 400,000 liters of water per second into Narnia which would presumably freeze very quickly and make the whole world very slick.<br />
<br />
Delta-P is a mathematical expression for the difference in pressure. Here the difference is between the depths of the ocean and the open air of a forest that creates the flow of water.<br />
<br />
The title text references the video game "{{w|Portal (video game)|Portal}}" in which you fire a portal gun into walls and etc. to make "portals" that can open holes in other places so that you may portal through. In the game you cannot shoot a portal through a portal, but [[Randall]] is saying that if you try to create a portal with the portal gun through the wardrobe, space and time knot together. {{w|Aslan}}, the lion in the title, was [http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/lewis/cs-lewis.htm written by Lewis to be an actual representation] (scroll to the section "Is Narnia an allegory?") of {{w|Jesus Christ}}. The {{w|Characters in the Portal series#Personality Cores|Space Core}} is a Personality Core from {{w|Portal 2}} that doesn't care about anything but [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVn1oQL9sWg wanting to go to space].<br />
<br />
This is a classic [[xkcd]] based on the intersection of literature, math and video games.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[A wardrobe, with a boat anchor attached to one corner, falling towards water]<br />
<br />
Q = A * sqrt(2 * g * d)<br />
<br />
Q = flow rate<br />
<br />
A = area of opening<br />
<br />
d = ocean depth (2&nbsp;km)<br />
<br />
g = Earth gravity<br />
<br />
<br />
Flow: ~400,000 <sup>liters</sup>/s<br />
<br />
Water jet velocity: ~200 <sup>m</sup>/s<br />
<br />
<br />
Caption: The White Witch didn't know what hit her.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=536:_Space_Elevators&diff=49089536: Space Elevators2013-09-17T08:16:05Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */ I'm not sure how a page can format good and format bad at the same time.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 536<br />
| date = January 28, 2009<br />
| title = Space Elevators<br />
| image = space_elevators.png<br />
| titletext = If you think space elevators are good, but just too boring and practical, check out the 'space fountain'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Arthur C. Clarke}} was a science fiction writer and a futurist. The quoted remark provides a benchmark for how long it will take to create something as massive and advanced as a {{w|space elevator}}: when the idea reaches the point where it is considered seriously rather than dismissed out of hand, about fifty years of further effort will make it a reality.<br />
<br />
The ''{{w|space fountain}}'', mentioned in the title text, is another proposed method of overcoming the planet's gravitational barrier, involving an effect similar to that of a {{w|coil gun}}.<br />
<br />
''{{w|Mind of Mencia}}'' was an American television comedy series running from 2005 to 2008. [[Cueball]] implies that the show is so unfunny that putting it on every channel would destroy everyone's sense of humor, thus preventing them from laughing at anything, space elevators included.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan sit beside a moonlit lake.]<br />
:Cueball: Arthur C. Clarke said space elevators will be built 50 years after everybody stops laughing.<br />
:[Closeup of Cueball.]<br />
:Cueball: So all we have to do is get Mind of Mencia on every channel and wait.<br />
:Megan: Oh, hush.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*[[697: Tensile vs. Shear Strength]] also features a space elevator.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=667:_SkiFree&diff=49035667: SkiFree2013-09-16T08:06:37Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| horizontal = yes<br />
| number = 667<br />
| date = November 25, 2009<br />
| title = SkiFree<br />
| image = skifree.png<br />
| titletext = And from that day on, I wore this little 'F' pendant everywhere I went.<br />
| imagesize = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|SkiFree}} is a free to play video game. In it, you're a downhill skier trying to go as far as you can down the hill without crashing. At some point, a monster similar to one in the comic will begin to chase you and will inevitably try to hunt you down. Since it's much faster than you normally, you'll get caught.<br />
<br />
One of the lesser known commands in SkiFree is the 'F' key, which speeds you up, even faster than the monster. <br />
<br />
The joke here is that [[Megan]] has thought long and hard about the concept of the monster and is shattered in an instant from a less popular command.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to pendants that are used to ward off death. Here, it's implied that SkiFree is taken so seriously that the command to escape death, the monster, will seemingly save them in reality.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[We see a screenshot of SkiFree, with the abominable snowman running towards the player]<br />
<br />
:[Megan is sitting at her computer.]<br />
:Megan: (thinking) I've always thought of the SkiFree monster as a metaphor for the inevitability of death.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball comes up behind her.]<br />
:Cueball: SkiFree, huh? You know, you can press "F" to go faster than the monster and escape.<br />
<br />
:[The screenshot again. The player is zooming away from the monster.]<br />
<br />
:[Megan sits at her computer in silence.]<br />
{{Comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=562:_Parking&diff=49033562: Parking2013-09-16T03:46:50Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 562<br />
| date = March 30, 2009<br />
| title = Parking<br />
| image = parking.png<br />
| titletext = Police reported three dozen cheerful bystanders, yet no one claims to have seen who did it.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
There are few things so annoying as when a parking lot is full, and someone has decided to build in a buffer-zone to their parking job like this. (Perhaps that someone wanted to exchange the risk of someone accidentally scratching their car, for the risk of someone [[1030: Keyed|doing it on purpose.]]) However, there are a few non-violent ways to tackle the problem; [http://www.threadless.com/product/187/I_Park_Like_an_Idiot politely leave a note], or if possible move their car. Of course, [[Black Hat]] takes the less traveled path involving some kind of {{w|blow torch}} or {{w|cutting torch}} and what looks to be a {{w|circular saw}}.<br />
<br />
He's [[496: Secretary: Part 3|admittedly]] done this kind of thing before.<br />
<br />
The title text indicates that a small crowd watched Black Hat at work but refused to identify him, presumably because they feel that the car owner deserved what he got. (It's also possible that they are aware of Black Hat's reputation and do not wish to incur his wrath.)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Black Hat is in a car driving around a parking lot.]<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat's car pulls up next to a red car, that's parked over a line at an angle that block two spaces.]<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat gets out of his car.]<br />
:''SLAM''<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat is now holding a blow torch and a rotary saw, He's also wearing goggles and fuel tanks on his back. The blow torch is lit.]<br />
:''Fwoosh''<br />
<br />
:[The badly parked car has been cut in half along a diagonal, and the half of the car that was in the second slot has been moved into the same slot as the rest of the car. Black Hat's car occupies the newly freed space.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=697:_Tensile_vs._Shear_Strength&diff=49032697: Tensile vs. Shear Strength2013-09-16T03:42:07Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 697<br />
| date = February 3, 2010<br />
| title = Tensile vs. Shear Strength<br />
| image = tensile_vs_shear_strength.png<br />
| titletext = Although really, the damage was done when the party planners took the hole punch to the elevator ribbon to hang up the sign.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Tensile strength represents how hard you can pull on something without it breaking. Shear strength represents how hard you can try to cut it without it breaking. Many materials have great tensile strength but low shear strength (such as dental floss — try to break it by just pulling on two ends), including whatever this space elevator is made of. It can hold the elevator in place, with one end on the ground and one in space, but it can be cut with a simple pair of pruning shears (also a pun on shear strength). <br />
<br />
The title text makes the point that even before [[Black Hat]] cut the space elevator's pole in two, it was ruined by the holes in it for the banner. The holes would reduce the surface area of the cross section of the pole, dwarfing its ability to keep the elevator attached to the ground.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A banner flutters in the breeze, evidently attached to the elevator it mentions in its text. It reads "SPACE ELEVATOR" "GRAND OPENING".]<br />
:[A space elevator occupies the height of the frame, consisting of a base, a ribbon extending out into space, and an elevator unit with standard elevator features such as sliding doors and up/down buttons.]<br />
:[The following lines appear split across the elevator itself, the rhyming portions of the text separated from the others.]<br />
<pre><br />
After countless engineers<br />
Spend trillions over fifty years,<br />
A modern babel disappears<br />
Because some fuck brought pruning shears<br />
</pre><br />
<br />
:[Five individuals stand at the base of the elevator: Megan, Cueball, Ponytail who has recently opened a bottle of champagne, an alarmed man, and Black Hat, who has smuggled the aforementioned shears into the ceremony and unceremoniously turned it into a ribbon cutting.]<br />
:''SNIP''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1081:_Argument_Victory&diff=490241081: Argument Victory2013-09-15T21:32:32Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1081<br />
| date = July 13, 2012<br />
| title = Argument Victory<br />
| image = argument victory.png<br />
| titletext = Really, the comforting side in most conspiracy theory arguments is the one claiming that anyone who's in power has any plan at all.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] is arguing on the internet via his phone with [[Hairy]] on his laptop. They appear to be arguing about some conspiracy theory. Since these arguments are interminable, Cueball "wins" the argument by going down a waterslide (carrying his phone, which doesn't seem like a great idea since the phone could get wet). In doing so, he willfully abandons trying to change the [[Hairy]]'s mind to go have fun instead, while [[Hairy]] is still at his computer, trying to win an Internet argument.<br />
<br />
The point here is that sometimes the battle isn't worth fighting. Cueball didn't really win the debate, but he's certainly having a lot more fun.<br />
<br />
The title text suggests that conspiracy theorists give the people in power too much credit for planning and organization -- in reality, they seem to be just muddling through, a prospect even more worrisome than the conspiracy theories.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Cueball: I can't believe you're so wrong. I'm backed by Snopes, Wikipedia, and a half-dozen journals. You're citing .net pages with black backgrounds and like 20 fonts each.<br />
:Man: It's sad how you buy into the official story so unquestioningly. Guess some people prefer to stay asleep.<br />
:Cueball: Watch closely— I'm about to win this argument.<br />
:Man, responding electronically: how?<br />
:Cueball: By ''going down a waterslide''.<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at the very top of a waterslide preparing to descend]<br />
:Man: So? what does that prove?<br />
:Cueball: ''Wheeee..''<br />
:Man: You didn't win the argument!<br />
:Cueball: ''...eeee''<br />
:''sploosh''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=202:_YouTube&diff=49023202: YouTube2013-09-15T21:29:35Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 202<br />
| date = December 27, 2006<br />
| title = YouTube<br />
| image = youtube.png<br />
| titletext = I pray GunPistolMan never learns the word 'sheeple'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
This comic is pointing out the fact that many of the comments on YouTube videos are insipid and poorly informed, being pointless arguments over some minor topic, or factually incorrect position.<br />
<br />
In this case, the moon landing hoaxers are at the receiving end of [[Randall|Randall's]] pen.<br />
<br />
The comment by ''bigmike133'' confuses the {{w|Space Shuttle}} (which was never capable of landing on the moon) with the {{w|Apollo Lunar Module}}.<br />
<br />
The comment from ''GunPistolMan'' claims that the video is fake due to the mistaken belief that the moon would have no gravity, whereas the gravity is really approximately 1/6th G.<br />
<br />
{{w|Louis Armstrong}} was a famous jazz musician, who may have [http://lyrics.wikia.com/Louis_Armstrong:Moon_Song waxed] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5x8HnyIYHE lyrical] about the moon, but never went there. The ill-informed ''CrackMonkey74'' meant the astronaut {{w|Neil Armstrong}}. The dare to accuse Armstrong to his face may be a reference to an incident where moon-hoax conspiracy theorist {{w|Bart Sibrel}} confronted Buzz Aldrin and called him "a coward, and a liar, and a thief". Aldrin responded by punching Sibrel; Sibrel's attempt to bring charges was dismissed on the grounds that he had provoked Aldrin to the point where the punch was a justified response.<br />
<br />
Finally, ''simpleplan2009'' presents the ludicrous position that the moon shot was faked by suggesting that the footage was filmed by actors on {{w|Mars}}, a planet that at its closest approach to Earth is over a hundred times farther away than the moon. Landing humans on Mars (much less landing enough people and equipment to set up a soundstage) is a feat that has still not been accomplished, and if it had been possible during the Apollo era, the landing on the moon would have been trivial task in comparison. In other words, why go through all the trouble of faking it, if doing it for real would have been no trouble at all?<br />
<br />
The title text is the first reference to [[:Category:Sheeple|Sheeple]] which appeared a few more times in xkcd comics.<br />
<br />
The reputation of YouTube comment threads as a cesspool of trolling and abject stupidity is revisited in [[481: Listen to Yourself]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:The Internet has always had loud dumb people, but I've never seen anything quite as bad as the people who comment on YouTube videos.<br />
:[A YouTube comments page for a moon landing video.]<br />
:Comments & Responses<br />
:rocckir (48 minutes ago)<br />
:this is so obviously faked its unbilevable, why r people so gullible??? morons<br />
:bigmike133 (35 minutes ago)<br />
:ive seen the space shuttle ass hole it definetly landed on the moon do some research...<br />
:GunPistolMan (22 minutes ago)<br />
:if it was real why is their gravity? americans r fucken sheep<br />
:crackmonkey74 (17 minutes ago)<br />
:u dont think we went to the moon why not tell louis armstrong to his face<br />
:simpleplan2009 (5 minutes ago)<br />
:it was a soundstage on mars<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*On August 25, 2012 Neil Armstrong passed away. He died at an age of 82.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:YouTube]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]<br />
[[Category:Sheeple]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=806:_Tech_Support&diff=48979806: Tech Support2013-09-14T21:35:13Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 806<br />
| date = October 15, 2010<br />
| title = Tech Support<br />
| image = tech support.png<br />
| titletext = I recently had someone ask me to go get a computer and turn it on so I could restart it. He refused to move further in the script until I said I had done that.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] runs into some problems with his network connection and contacts his ISP's tech support for help. The customer service agent is not very helpful, giving unhelpful advice from his script. Cueball gives up and asks to speak to someone more knowledgeable about the technology. Noticing the {{w|Tux|stuffed penguin}} and the {{w|Richard Stallman|bearded dude with swords}} &mdash; signs of a Linux geek &mdash; the agent transfers him over to an engineer, who immediately recognizes the problem and fixes it. Then she tells him of a secret word (shibboleet) which, if he speaks on the phone, will transfer him to a tech-savvy person able to help him. At this point Cueball wakes up and unfortunately, the incident turns out to be a dream.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is on the phone, and holding up some networking hardware.]<br />
:Cueball: ... restart my computer? I know you have a script to follow, but the uplink light on the modem is going off every few hours. The problem is between your office and the modem.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: My computer has nothing to do with ... okay, whatever, I "restarted my computer."<br />
:Cueball: It's still down, and even if it comes back, it's going to die again in a few hours, because your—<br />
<br />
:Cueball: I don't ''have'' a start menu. This is a Haiku install, but that's not import—<br />
:Cueball: Haiku? It's an experimental OS that I ... oh, never mind.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: I'm sorry, but this won't get fixed until I talk to an engineer. Can you look around for someone wearing cargo pants, maybe a subway map on their wall?<br />
<br />
:[The tech support person on the other end is wearing a headset, and looks around.]<br />
:Tech: There's a chick two phones over with a stuffed penguin doll and a poster of some bearded dudes with swords.<br />
:Cueball: Perfect. Can you put her on?<br />
:Tech: Sure.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is now talking to the engineer.]<br />
:Cueball: Hey, so sorry to bother you, but my connection—<br />
:Engineer: Yeah, I see it. Lingering problems from a server move.<br />
:<type type><br />
:Engineer: Should be fixed now.<br />
:Cueball: Thank you ''so much.''<br />
<br />
:Engineer: No problem. Hey, in the future, if you're on any tech support call, you can say the code word "shibboleet" at any point and you'll be automatically transferred to someone who knows a minimum of two programming languages.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Seriously?<br />
:Engineer: Yup. It's a backdoor put in by the geeks who built these phone support systems back in the 1990's.<br />
:Engineer: Don't tell anyone.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Oh my god, this is the greatest—<br />
:[Cueball wakes up.]<br />
:Cueball: Wha—<br />
:Cueball: ... ''Dammit.''<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*The word Shibboleet is formed by combining the terms "shibboleth" and "leet".<br />
*{{w|Leet}} is an internet/hacker/gamer term for elite or skilled. See also "[[:Category:1337|1337]]", which means "leet" using "leetspeak" substitutions of numbers and other ASCII characters for letters.<br />
* A {{w|shibboleth}} is a word that a person unfamiliar with the language will not pronounce correctly, and thus may be used as a test to detect them. The origin of the term is the Biblical account of a battle in chapter 12 of Judges, in which the defeated Ephraimites could be prevented from trying to hide their identity by challenging them to say "shibboleth" (river); the lack of the "sh" sound in the Ephraimite dialect would give them away.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}} <br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1263:_Reassuring&diff=489691263: Reassuring2013-09-14T21:05:50Z<p>GameZone: Undo revision 48963 by 190.96.57.18 (talk) Original transcript.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1263<br />
| date = September 11, 2013<br />
| title = Reassuring<br />
| image = reassuring.png<br />
| titletext = 'At least humans are better at quietly amusing ourselves, oblivious to our pending obsolescence' thought the human, as a nearby Dell Inspiron contentedly displayed the same bouncing geometric shape screensaver it had been running for years.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
''{{w|Go (game)|Go}}'' is an abstract strategy board game considered computationally difficult, compared to chess. Because of the size and number of possible combinations, computers don't have an easy way to exhaustively search for the best move. Still, {{w|Computer Go|they are getting better and better playing it}}. [[Megan]] suggests that computers may soon reach the level of being able to beat the best human players, an {{W|artificial intelligence}} milestone that has already been accomplished with other games. According to Randall in [[1002: Game AIs]], Go is one of the last games where a computer can still be beaten by top humans.<br />
<br />
As a common human response, [[Cueball]] attempts to offer the consolation or defensive statement that humans remain better than computers at something else. In this case, the first thing he thinks of is that humans are better at making such consoling statements. However, Megan disproves Cueball’s statement by creating a script in the {{w| Python (programming language)|Python programming language}} to create an abundant supply of such statements.<br />
<br />
Another such statement is made in the title text, that humans are better at quietly amusing themselves, oblivious to our “pending obsolescence” (which may refer alternatively to our inevitable deaths, or to the comic’s own topic of our being replaced and surpassed by computers). The title text then again suggests, however, that the human statement is not true, referring to an Inspiron model of {{w|Dell}} computer which “quietly amuses itself” by showing a geometric {{w|screensaver}} as it presumably one day will be obsolete and replaced by a newer computer.<br />
<br />
Presumably the Dell Inspiron has a liquid crystal display; the original purpose of screen saver programs (as opposed to simply shutting the entire screen down) was to prevent images or characters from being burned into the phosphor layer of the older CRT displays. Thus the screensaver itself is already obsolete.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is sitting at a computer, and Cueball is standing behind her.]<br />
:Megan: Looks like computers will beat humans at '''Go''' pretty soon.<br />
:Cueball: Wow.<br />
:Cueball: That's the last of the big ones.<br />
:Megan: Yeah.<br />
:[Megan looks back over her shoulder at him.]<br />
:Cueball: Well, at least humans are still better at, uh, coming up with reassuring parables about things humans are better at?<br />
:Megan: Hmm.<br />
:[Megan types on her computer.]<br />
:''type type''<br />
:[She leans back over her chair again and addresses Cueball.]<br />
:Megan: I made a Python script that generates thousands of reassuring parables per second.<br />
:Cueball: ''Dammit.''<br />
:Computer: Computers will never understand a sonnet computers will never enjoy a salad comp—<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=202:_YouTube&diff=48961202: YouTube2013-09-14T19:30:29Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 202<br />
| date = December 27, 2006<br />
| title = YouTube<br />
| image = youtube.png<br />
| titletext = I pray GunPistolMan never learns the word 'sheeple'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
This comic is pointing out the fact that many of the comments on YouTube videos are insipid and poorly informed, being pointless arguments over some minor topic, or factually incorrect position.<br />
<br />
In this case, the moon landing hoaxers are at the receiving end of [[Randall|Randall's]] pen.<br />
<br />
The comment by ''bigmike133'' confuses the {{w|Space Shuttle}} (which was never capable of landing on the moon) with the {{w|Apollo Lunar Module}}.<br />
<br />
The comment from ''GunPistolMan'' claims that the video is fake due to the mistaken belief that the moon would have no gravity, whereas the gravity is really approximately 1/6th G.<br />
<br />
{{w|Louis Armstrong}} was a famous jazz musician, who may have [http://lyrics.wikia.com/Louis_Armstrong:Moon_Song waxed] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5x8HnyIYHE lyrical] about the moon, but never went there. The ill-informed ''crackmonkey74'' meant the astronaut {{w|Neil Armstrong}}. The dare to accuse Armstrong to his face may be a reference to an incident where moon-hoax conspiracy theorist {{w|Bart Sibrel}} confronted Buzz Aldrin and called him "a coward, and a liar, and a thief". Aldrin responded by punching Sibrel; Sibrel's attempt to bring charges was dismissed on the grounds that he had provoked Aldrin to the point where the punch was a justified response.<br />
<br />
Finally, ''simpleplan2009'' presents the ludicrous position that the moon shot was faked by suggesting that the footage was filmed by actors on {{w|Mars}}, a planet that at its closest approach to Earth is over a hundred times farther away than the moon. Landing humans on Mars (much less landing enough people and equipment to set up a soundstage) is a feat that has still not been accomplished, and if it had been possible during the Apollo era, the landing on the moon would have been trivial task in comparison. In other words, why go through all the trouble of faking it, if doing it for real would have been no trouble at all?<br />
<br />
The title text is the first reference to [[:Category:Sheeple|Sheeple]] which appeared a few more times in xkcd comics.<br />
<br />
The reputation of YouTube comment threads as a cesspool of trolling and abject stupidity is revisited in [[481: Listen to Yourself]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:The Internet has always had loud dumb people, but I've never seen anything quite as bad as the people who comment on YouTube videos.<br />
:[A YouTube comments page for a moon landing video.]<br />
:Comments & Responses<br />
:rocckir (48 minutes ago)<br />
:this is so obviously faked its unbilevable, why r people so gullible??? morons<br />
:bigmike133 (35 minutes ago)<br />
:ive seen the space shuttle ass hole it definetly landed on the moon do some research...<br />
:GunPistolMan (22 minutes ago)<br />
:if it was real why is their gravity? americans r fucken sheep<br />
:crackmonkey74 (17 minutes ago)<br />
:u dont think we went to the moon why not tell louis armstrong to his face<br />
:simpleplan2009 (5 minutes ago)<br />
:it was a soundstage on mars<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*On August 25, 2012 Neil Armstrong passed away. He died at an age of 82.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:YouTube]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]<br />
[[Category:Sheeple]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=44:_Love&diff=4896044: Love2013-09-14T19:27:42Z<p>GameZone: /* Trivia */ Dammit, know how to trivia.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 44<br />
| date = October 19, 2005<br />
| title = Love<br />
| image = love.jpg<br />
| titletext = This one makes me wince every time I think about it<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Couples sometimes expresses their love similarly to this comic, continuing to escalate the claims of how much they love each other, satisfied that they love each other a lot.<br />
<br />
But what if the woman agrees that, yeah, he does love her more? The awkwardness of such an admission is further punctuated by the title text.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing one another.]<br />
<br />
:Cueball: I love you!<br />
:Megan: I love you!<br />
<br />
:Cueball: I love you more!<br />
<br />
:Megan: Yeah.<br />
<br />
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing one another - saying nothing.]<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This is the twenty-first comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous was [[21: Kepler]]. The next was [[40: Light]].<br />
*This is the last strip drawn on graph paper.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=140:_Delicious&diff=48959140: Delicious2013-09-14T19:25:48Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 140<br />
| date = August 11, 2006<br />
| title = Delicious<br />
| image = delicious.png<br />
| titletext = I'm currently in the I Have Cheese phase of this cycle.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The simplest explanation for the comic is the recipe for nachos. You take some tortilla chips, spread them out on a plate, sprinkle them with grated cheese and perhaps some other ingredients like salsa, beans, or guacamole, and put the plate in the oven until the cheese is melted. As usual with a full bag of snacks, you always end up with that tiny bit left at the bottom of the bag. In this case, it is either leftover grated cheese (left) or tortilla chips (right). So you end up buying another package of the other ingredient to make nachos again.<br />
<br />
The lower caption is a play on the words {{w|Virtuous circle and vicious circle|vicious cycle}}, in which a negative feedback loop reinforces itself - in contrast to a ''virtuous cycle'' in which a positive feedback loop is established.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Frame is split by a diagonal.]<br />
:[First half: Cueball in front of open fridge.]<br />
:Cueball: I have leftover cheese. I should get chips and make nachos.<br />
<br />
:[Second half: Cueball with bag of chips.]<br />
:Cueball: I have leftover chips. I should get cheese and make nachos.<br />
<br />
:A delicious cycle<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=274:_With_Apologies_to_The_Who&diff=48944274: With Apologies to The Who2013-09-14T08:27:44Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 274<br />
| date = June 8, 2007<br />
| title = With Apologies to The Who<br />
| image = with_apologies_to_the_who.png<br />
| titletext = Trivia: Roger Daltry originally wrote "Don't try an' Digg what we all say" but erased the second "g" when he moved to reddit.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic refers to the song "{{w|My Generation}}" by the British rock band {{w|The Who}}, which was released in 1965. The song is about {{w|intergenerational conflicts}} and has been regarded as a very decided proclamation of youthful rebellion.<br />
<br />
The original lyrics of the song run as follows:<br />
:People try to put us d-d-down<br />
:Just because we get around<br />
:Things they do look awful c-c-cold<br />
:I hope I die before I get old<br />
:[...]<br />
:Why don't you all f-fade away<br />
:And don't try and dig what we all s-s-say<br />
:I'm not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation<br />
:I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-generation''<br />
<br />
In the comic, [[Cueball]] adapts the lyrics to describe his own generation, the {{w|Generation Y}}. As people born from the 1980s onwards grew up with the internet, this generation is also nicknamed "{{w|digital natives}}". It is therefore natural that the updated lyrics should refer to {{w|blogging}} and {{w|internet slang}}. The actions performed by Cueball while typing the text relates to the original [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594WLzzb3JI music video], in which The Who smash their instruments in a true rock star fashion. Cueball wails his keyboard like a guitar and smashes his monitor in the end.<br />
<br />
"Grok" is a neologism from the classic 1961 science-fiction novel ''Stranger in A Strange Land'', by Robert Blenheim.<br />
<br />
The title text jokingly suggests that the band's {{w|Roger Daltrey|lead singer}} originally meant the line<br />
:And don't try and Digg what we all s-s-say<br />
as a reference to the social news site {{w|Digg}} but changed it after switching to its competitor {{w|Reddit}}.<br />
<br />
Note that "My Generation" was in fact covered and adapted by various bands, including {{w|Oasis (band)|Oasis}}, {{w|The Sweet}}, {{w|Iron Maiden}} and {{w|Generation X (band)|Generation X}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk with a computer, typing.]<br />
:Monitor: People try to shut us d-d-down <br />
:just 'cause our music gets around<br />
:[Cueball is standing on his chair and typing with his keyboard across his hip.]<br />
:Monitor: Old folks act like total noobs<br />
:get off our net; <u>you</u> block the tubes<br />
:[Cueball is really wailing on the keyboard.]<br />
:Monitor: Why don't you all just d-d-disconnect<br />
:and don't try an' grok our d-d-dialect<br />
:[Cueball smashes the keyboard into the monitor.]<br />
:Monitor: I'm not tryin' to cause a big s-s-sensation <br />
:I'm just bloggin' 'bout my generation<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1013:_Wake_Up_Sheeple&diff=488921013: Wake Up Sheeple2013-09-13T06:35:28Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1013<br />
| date = February 6, 2012<br />
| title = Wake Up Sheeple<br />
| image = wake_up_sheeple.png<br />
| titletext = You will be led to judgement like lambs to the slaughter--a simile whose existence, I might add, will not do your species any favors.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] is going through the traditional loudspeaker-having person refrain about the government having control over our lives and uses the refrain "Wake Up Sheeple", which has been referenced [[610|at least]] [[496|two other]] [[202|times]] in xkcd. Sheeple is a {{w|portmanteau}} (another thing that is loved in xkcd) of "sheep" and "people" used as a derisive term to describe people who thoughtlessly wander through their daily lives going exactly where they are "herded" by the powers that be.<br />
<br />
However, in this comic, "sheeple" are not that, instead are a race of half sheep/half person who have slumbered beneath the Earth for ten thousand years and are apparently going to destroy the human race. Repeating a specific phrase 3 times is the same as used in [[555: Two Mirrors]].<br />
<br />
The title text says the humans will be led "like lambs to the slaughter" which is a phrase that appears many times in older texts, the Bible as an example. The phrase means that someone or something would be led to its destruction without it thinking to escape from the disaster. The Sheeple are likely to take it amiss, because it indicates the uncaring frequency with which humans kill sheep.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball yells into a megaphone.]<br />
:Cueball: Your government has turned against you! Corporations control your every thought! - Open your eyes!<br />
<br />
:[Head-on view of Cueball.]<br />
:Cueball: Wake up, sheeple! Wake up, sheeple! - '''WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!!'''<br />
<br />
:[In between two panels.]<br />
:[The man takes the megaphone away from his mouth.]<br />
:''RUMBLE''<br />
<br />
:[A half-sheep half-man creature rises through the cracking earth, holding aloft a gnarled staff.]<br />
:''B-A-A-A-A-A...''<br />
<br />
:[Close-up on the sheep-man's eye.]<br />
:TEN THOUSAND YEARS WE SLUMBERED... ''NOW WE RIIIIIIIISE'' baaaaaaa<br />
<br />
:[A clearly upset Megan goes up to Cueball, hands held out in front of her plaintively.]<br />
:Megan: OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD ''WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!''<br />
:Cueball: What? But I didn't—<br />
:Out-of-frame #1: He awoke the Sheeple!<br />
:OOF #2: Heaven forgive us!<br />
:OOF #3: All is lost!<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Sheeple]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=464:_RBA&diff=48891464: RBA2013-09-13T06:24:56Z<p>GameZone: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 464<br />
| date = August 18, 2008<br />
| title = RBA<br />
| image = rba.png<br />
| titletext = This is a story all about how I started drinking.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A "Bel-Air" is an internet meme where a poster on a message board starts a post on a serious topic, but partway through the post switches to repeating the lyrics to the opening theme song of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", a 1990s sitcom starring Will Smith (previously known in his rapping career as the "Fresh Prince") as a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who has been sent to live with his affluent and stuffy Aunt and Uncle in Bel Air, Los Angeles by his mother as a consequence of a single altercation with a couple of no-good guys who were making trouble in his previous neighbourhood.<br />
<br />
[[Megan]] in the comic reverses the traditional arrangement by starting the conversation with a recitation of the lyrics to said theme song, and then switching partway through to a very serious discussion of the status of their relationship culminating in a break up.<br />
<br />
The lyrics goes like this<br />
<br />
:Now this is the story all about how <br />
:My life got flipped, turned upside down <br />
:And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there <br />
:I'll tell you how I became ''the prince of a town called Bel-air''<br />
<br />
The title ''RBA'' is an acronym for ''Reverse Bel-Air''.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan walks up to Cueball pouring himself a drink.]<br />
:Megan: Now, this is a story all about how<br />
:Megan: My life got flipped turned upside down<br />
:Megan: And I'd like to take a minute<br />
:Megan: Just sit right there<br />
:Megan: I'll tell you how I became uncertain about our relationship. I think you just like having a girlfriend, it doesn't matter who.<br />
:Megan: I think we should break up.<br />
:[Cut to dropped glass, drink spilled on ground.]<br />
:[The reverse Bel-Air only works once, so make it something unforgettable.]<br />
:Cueball: ...wait, seriously?<br />
:Megan: Yeah.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=506:_Theft_of_the_Magi&diff=48858506: Theft of the Magi2013-09-12T15:15:33Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 506<br />
| date = November 19, 2008<br />
| title = Theft of the Magi<br />
| image = theft_of_the_magi.png<br />
| titletext = Every Roomba needs a dueling harness.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a satirical play on O Henry's short story {{w|The Gift of the Magi}}. In O Henry's story, a couple with very little money go to great lengths to show purchase gifts for one another. The wife sells her prized possession, her hair, to purchase a fancy chain for her husband's prize possession, a watch; while the husband sells his watch to purchase some fancy hair accessories (clips/combs) for his wife. The story is about selflessness, as each party sold their prize possession to purchase something to enhance the other's prize possession.<br />
<br />
In this comic however, the opposite occurs: [[Black Hat]] sold [[Danish]]'s {{w|Roomba}} (an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner) to buy {{w|Left 4 Dead|a new game}} for his {{w|Xbox}}, while Danish sold Black Hat's Xbox to buy a "dueling harness" for her Roomba, highlighting their possibly mutually destructive selfishness.<br />
<br />
The "dueling harness", also mentioned in the title text, is apparently an invention by [[Randall]], perhaps imagining that Roombas might be pitted in some kind of {{w|Robot Wars (TV series)|Robot Wars}}.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Black Hat is holding up a video game. Danish is holding up a harness.]<br />
:Black Hat: Hey. I sold your Roomba on Craigslist so I could buy myself ''Left 4 Dead''.<br />
:Danish: But I eBayed your XBox so I could get this dueling harness for my Roomba!<br />
:Black Hat: Aww.<br />
:Danish: Aww.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1002:_Game_AIs&diff=488481002: Game AIs2013-09-11T19:46:08Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1002<br />
| date = January 11, 2012<br />
| title = Game AIs<br />
| image = game_ais.png<br />
| imagesize = <br />
| titletext = The top computer champion at Seven Minutes in Heaven is a Honda-built Realdoll, but to date it has been unable to outperform the human Seven Minutes in Heaven champion, Ken Jennings.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
To understand the comic, you have to understand what the games are, so let's go (but first, the years in parenthesis in the comic are the year that the game was mastered by a computer):<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Tic Tac Toe|Tic-Tac-Toe}}''' (or '''Noughts and Crosses''' in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and the rest of the British Commonwealth countries), is a pencil-and-paper game for two players, X and O, who take turns marking the spaces in a 3×3 grid.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Nim}}''' is a mathematical game of strategy in which two players take turns removing objects from distinct heaps. On each turn, a player must remove at least one object, and may remove any number of objects provided they all come from the same heap.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Ghost (game)|Ghosts}}''' is a spoken word game in which players take turns adding letters to a growing word fragment, trying not to be the one to complete a valid word. (See [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2290/ghosts Board Game Geek].)<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Connect Four}}''' (or '''Captain's Mistress''', '''Four Up''', '''Plot Four''', '''Find Four''', '''Fourplay''', '''Four in a Row''', '''Four in a Line''') is a two-player game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping their colored discs from the top into a seven-column, six-row vertically-suspended grid.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Gomoku}}''' (or '''Gobang''', '''Five in a Row''') is an abstract strategy board game. It is traditionally played with go pieces (black and white stones) on a go board (19x19 intersections); however, because once placed, pieces are not moved or removed from the board, gomoku may also be played as a paper and pencil game. This game is known in several countries under different names.<br />
: Black plays first, and players alternate in placing a stone of their color on an empty intersection. The winner is the first player to get an unbroken row of five stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Draughts|Checkers}}''' (in American English, or '''Draughts''' in British English) is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Scrabble}}''' is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a gameboard marked with a 15-by-15 grid.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Counter-Strike|Counterstrike}}''' most likely refers to the popular multiplayer shooter video game about terrorists and counter-terrorists. Counter-Strike is notorious for the large variety of cheating tools that have been made for it; a computer would have essentially perfect accuracy and reflexes, essentially making it the {{w|aimbot}} from hell. It is theoretically possible for a skilled player to beat an AI, but it would be ''extremely'' difficult to do so.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Beer pong}}''' (or '''Beirut''') is a drinking game in which players throw a ping pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in a cup of beer on the other end.<br />
:[http://hacknmod.com/hack/beer-pong-robot-precision-air-pressure/ Here's the video] of the University of Illinois robot mentioned in the comic.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Reversi}}''' (marketed by Pressman under the trade name '''Othello''') is a board game involving abstract strategy and played by two players on a board with 8 rows and 8 columns and a set of distinct pieces for each side. Pieces typically are disks with a light and a dark face, each face belonging to one player. The player's goal is to have a majority of their colored pieces showing at the end of the game, turning over as many of their opponent's pieces as possible.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Chess}}''' is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns, each of these types of pieces moving differently.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Jeopardy|Jeopardy!}}''' is an American quiz show featuring trivia in history, literature, the arts, pop culture, science, sports, geography, wordplay, and more. The show has a unique answer-and-question format in which contestants are presented with clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in question form.<br />
: Ken Jennings, mentioned in the title text, is a famous Jeopardy champion who was beaten by {{w|Watson (computer)|Watson}}, an IBM computer.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Starcraft}}''' is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game. The game revolves around three species fighting for dominance in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy known as the Koprulu Sector: the Terrans, humans exiled from Earth skilled at adapting to any situation; the Zerg, a race of insectoid aliens in pursuit of genetic perfection, obsessed with assimilating other races; and the Protoss, a humanoid species with advanced technology and psionic abilities, attempting to preserve their civilization and strict philosophical way of living from the Zerg.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Poker}}''' is a family of card games involving betting and individualistic play whereby the winner is determined by the ranks and combinations of their cards, some of which remain hidden until the end of the game.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Arimaa}}''' is a two-player abstract strategy board game that can be played using the same equipment as chess. Arimaa was designed to be more difficult for artificial intelligences to play than chess. Arimaa was invented by Omar Syed, an Indian American computer engineer trained in artificial intelligence. Syed was inspired by Garry Kasparov's defeat at the hands of the chess computer Deep Blue to design a new game which could be played with a standard chess set, would be difficult for computers to play well, but would have rules simple enough for his then four-year-old son Aamir to understand.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Go (game)|Go}}''' is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago. The game is noted for being rich in strategy despite its relatively simple rules. The game is played by two players who alternately place black and white stones on the vacant intersections (called "points") of a grid of 19×19 lines (beginners often play on smaller 9×9 and 13×13 boards). The object of the game is to use one's stones to surround a larger portion of the board than the opponent.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Snakes and Ladders}}''' (or '''Chutes and Ladders''') is an ancient Indian {{w|race game}}, where the moves are decided entirely by die rolls. A number of tiles are connected by pictures of ladders and snakes (or chutes) which makes the game piece jump forward or backward, respectively. Since the game is decided by pure chance, it occupies the limbo where a computer will always be ''exactly'' as likely to win as a human.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Mao (game)|Mao}}''' (or '''Mau''') is a card game of the Shedding family, in which the aim is to get rid of all of the cards in hand without breaking certain unspoken rules. The game is from a subset of the Stops family, and is similar in structure to the card game Uno or Crazy Eights.<br />
: The game forbids its players from explaining the rules, and new players are often told only "the only rule you may be told is this one." The ultimate goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all the cards in their hand.<br />
<br />
* '''{{w|Seven Minutes in Heaven}}''' is a teenagers' party game first recorded as being played in Cincinnati in the early 1950s. Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark enclosed space and do whatever they like for seven minutes. Sexual activities are allowed; however kissing and making out are more common.<br />
<br />
And finally<br />
* '''{{w|Calvinball}}''' is a reference to the comic strip {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}} by {{w|Bill Watterson}}.<br />
: Calvinball is a game played by Calvin and Hobbes as a rebellion against organized team sports; according to Hobbes, "No sport is less organized than Calvinball!" Calvinball was first introduced to the readers at the end of a 1990 storyline involving Calvin reluctantly joining recess baseball. It quickly became a staple of the comic afterwards.<br />
: The only hint at the true creation of the game ironically comes from the last Calvinball strip, in which a game of football quickly devolves into a game of Calvinball. Calvin remarks that "sooner or later, all our games turn into Calvinball," suggesting a similar scenario that directly led to the creation of the sport. Calvin and Hobbes usually play by themselves, although in one storyline Rosalyn (Calvin's baby-sitter) plays in return for Calvin doing his homework, and plays very well once she realizes that the rules are made up on the spot.<br />
: The only consistent rule states that Calvinball may never be played with the same rules twice. Scoring is also arbitrary, with Hobbes at times reporting scores of "Q to 12" and "oogy to boogy." The only recognizable sports Calvinball resembles are the ones it emulates (i.e., a cross between croquet, polo, badminton, capture the flag, and volleyball.)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
Difficulty of Various Games for Computers<br />
<br />
[A diagram. The left column describes various levels of skill for the most capable computers in decreasing performance against humans. The right side lists games in each particular section, in increasing game difficulty. There are labels denoting the hard and easy ends of the diagram.]<br />
<br />
Easy<br />
{| border="1"<br />
| rowspan="6" | Solved - Computers can play perfectly<br />
| rowspan="4" | Solved for all possible positions<br />
| Tic-Tac-Toe<br />
|-<br />
| NIM<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost(1989)<br />
|-<br />
| Connect Four(1995)<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="2" | Solved for starting positions<br />
| Gomoku<br />
|-<br />
| Checkers(2007)<br />
|-<br />
| rowspan="6" colspan="2" | Computers can beat top humans<br />
| Scrabble<br />
|-<br />
| CounterStrike<br />
|-<br />
| Beer Pong (UIUC robot)<br />
|-<br />
| Reversi<br />
|-<br />
| Chess <br />
* February 10, 1996 - First win by computer against top human<br />
* November 21, 2005 - Last win by human against top computer<br />
|-<br />
| Jeopardy<br />
|-<br />
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" | Computers still lose to top humans<br />
(but focused R&D could change this)<br />
| Starcraft<br />
|-<br />
| Poker<br />
|-<br />
| Arimaa<br />
|-<br />
| Go<br />
|-<br />
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" | Computers may ''never'' outplay humans<br />
| Snakes and Ladders<br />
|-<br />
| Mao<br />
|-<br />
| Seven Minutes in Heaven<br />
|-<br />
| Calvinball<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
Hard<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1263:_Reassuring&diff=488071263: Reassuring2013-09-11T06:40:46Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1263<br />
| date = September 11, 2013<br />
| title = Reassuring<br />
| image = reassuring.png<br />
| titletext = 'At least humans are better at quietly amusing ourselves, oblivious to our pending obsolescence' thought the human, as a nearby Dell Inspiron contentedly displayed the same bouncing geometric shape screensaver it had been running for years.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
*Concerns advancements in computer AI.<br />
*''Go'' is an abstract strategy board game considered computationally difficult, compared to chess. Because of the size and number of possible combinations, computers don't have an easy way to exhaustively search for the best move.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is sitting at a computer, and Cueball is standing behind her.]<br />
:Megan: Looks like computers will beat humans at '''Go''' pretty soon.<br />
:Cueball: Wow.<br />
:Cueball: That's the last of the big ones.<br />
:Megan: Yeah.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Well, at least humans are still better at, uh,<br />
:Cueball: Coming up with reassuring parables about things humans are better at?<br />
:Megan: Hmm.<br />
<br />
:''type type''<br />
<br />
:Megan: I made a Python script that generates thousands of reassuring parables per second.<br />
:Cueball: ''Dammit.''<br />
:Computer: Computers will never understand a sonnet Computers will never enjoy a salad comp—<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1263:_Reassuring&diff=488061263: Reassuring2013-09-11T06:40:35Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1263<br />
| date = September 11, 2013<br />
| title = Reassuring<br />
| image = reassuring.png<br />
| titletext = 'At least humans are better at quietly amusing ourselves, oblivious to our pending obsolescence' thought the human, as a nearby Dell Inspiron contentedly displayed the same bouncing geometric shape screensaver it had been running for years.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete}}<br />
<br />
*Concerns advancements in computer AI.<br />
*''Go'' is an abstract strategy board game considered computationally difficult, compared to chess. Because of the size and number of possible combinations, computers don't have an easy way to exhaustively search for the best move.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
[Megan is sitting at a computer, and Cueball is standing behind her.]<br />
:Megan: Looks like computers will beat humans at '''Go''' pretty soon.<br />
:Cueball: Wow.<br />
:Cueball: That's the last of the big ones.<br />
:Megan: Yeah.<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Well, at least humans are still better at, uh,<br />
:Cueball: Coming up with reassuring parables about things humans are better at?<br />
:Megan: Hmm.<br />
<br />
:''type type''<br />
<br />
:Megan: I made a Python script that generates thousands of reassuring parables per second.<br />
:Cueball: ''Dammit.''<br />
:Computer: Computers will never understand a sonnet Computers will never enjoy a salad comp—<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1074:_Moon_Landing&diff=487941074: Moon Landing2013-09-11T03:03:05Z<p>GameZone: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Comic<br />
| number = 1074<br />
| date = June 27, 2012<br />
| title = Moon Landing<br />
| image = moon_landing.png<br />
| imagesize =<br />
| titletext = Ok, so Spirit and Opportunity are pretty awesome. And Kepler. And New Horizons, Cassini, Curiosity, TiME, and Project M. But c'mon, if the Earth were a basketball, in 40 years no human's been more than half an inch from the surface.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|title text does not match the title text}}<br />
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space. You have probably seen him on many different TV shows from anything on the Discovery Channel to The Big Bang Theory.<br />
<br />
There are a number of {{w|moon landing conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories}} that the moon landing was a hoax. Tyson offers a pretty compelling argument against them, but [[Megan]] presents an even more convincing refutation, snarkily implying that NASA really hasn't done anything spectacular since 1969.<br />
<br />
And, of course, [[Cueball]] responds with a pun on the word "burn". Burn can mean a particularly effective insult, or it can mean the consumption of fuel for propulsion. In this case, the "burn" was so effective it pushed the spaceship out of orbit (which usually takes a very large amount of burning, depending on the gravity of the planet or moon).<br />
<br />
=== Title text ===<br />
NASA's Spirit and Opportunity are Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) on an ongoing robotic space mission exploring the planet Mars.<br />
<br />
NASA's Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.<br />
<br />
NASA's New Horizons is a robotic spacecraft mission currently en route to the dwarf planet Pluto. It is expected to be the first spacecraft to flyby and study Pluto and its moons, Charon, Nix, Hydra and S/2011 P 1, with an estimated arrival date at the Pluto-Charon system of July 14, 2015.<br />
<br />
NASA's Cassini–Huygens is a flagship-class NASA-ESA-ASI spacecraft sent to the Saturn system. It has studied the planet and its many natural satellites since arriving there in 2004, also observing Jupiter, the Heliosphere, and testing the theory of relativity.<br />
<br />
NASA's Curiosity is a Mars rover launched on November 26, 2011. Currently On the planet as planned, it was scheduled to land in Gale Crater at about 05:31 UTC on August 6, 2012. The rover's objectives include searching for past or present life, studying the Martian climate, studying Martian geology, and collecting data for a future manned mission to Mars.<br />
<br />
NASA's TiME or Titan Mare Explorer is a proposed spacecraft lander that, if launched, would probe Titan, the largest moon of the planet Saturn, and would perform the first exploration of an extraterrestrial sea.<br />
<br />
Project M was a proposed NASA project headed by Stephen J. Altemus, to send a Robonaut to the Moon.<br />
<br />
The final sentence of title text notes that all manned missions since the Moon landings have taken place in low-earth orbit, which in cosmic terms is barely off of the Earth's surface. If the Earth were scaled to the size of a regulation basketball, approximately 24 cm (9-1/4 inches) in diameter, those manned missions would have all taken place within 1.25 cm (1/2 inch) of the ball's surface. Unmanned missions, such as those named above or the Voyager and Mariner probes of the 1960s and 1970s, have travelled much further.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is sitting at a table with a laptop open. His hands are on the keys.]<br />
:Cueball: Hah-- Neil DeGrasse Tyson has a great reply to people who doubt astronauts went to the moon.<br />
:Voice off-screen: Oh?<br />
:Cueball: "Atop 3,000 tons of rocket fuel, where ''else'' do you think they were headed?"<br />
<br />
:[The voice off screen turns out to be Megan. She is depicted, and now Cueball is off-screen.]<br />
:Megan: Cute. But it overlooks an even simpler argument.<br />
:Cueball: Which is?<br />
<br />
:[Both Megan and Cueball are now visible. Cueball has turned his chair around to face her.]<br />
:Megan: If NASA were willing to fake great accomplishments, they'd have a second one by now.<br />
:Cueball: Ouch.<br />
:Megan: ...Too mean?<br />
:Cueball: That burn was so harsh I think you deorbited.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=732:_HDTV&diff=48793732: HDTV2013-09-11T03:00:54Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 732<br />
| date = April 26, 2010<br />
| title = HDTV<br />
| image = hdtv.png<br />
| titletext = We're also stuck with blurry, juddery, slow-panning 24fps movies forever because (thanks to 60fps home video) people associate high framerates with camcorders and cheap sitcoms, and thus think good framerates look fake.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic pokes fun at the differing standard between image quality for television sets and electronic devices, even though both standard are based on essentially the same standards. When rating television sets, a 1080p screen, that is, a screen 1080 pixels tall with progressive scan, is considered impressive. In contrast, the same resolution with a computer device is considered standard fare, given that a computer screen 1,024 pixels wide is expected, though computer screens can reach 1,366 pixels.<br />
<br />
The title texts explains another disparagement involving images and popular opinion. The feeling that a viewer gets from watching a film in a theatre is different from the feeling from a home film, or again, between a serialized programme from an international television channel and a locally-broadcast programme. The disparity is that the small-time productions actually implement better-quality equipment than the big-time productions. The problem is that public opinion associates the better-quality equipment with the less ambitious films (while being lower quality in other areas, for example, plot) due to the proliferation of the less-ambitious films, yet public opinions associates the worse-quality equipment with the more ambitious films due to they not only being of a wider reach than the less-ambitious films but also (probably) due to the more-ambitious films using the same equipment for decades (possibly to cut costs). This focus on public opinion cased the more-ambitious films to keep using worse-quality equipment in order to avoid the stigma public opinion has with better-quality equipment. (This is changing, however, since the films {{w|The Hobbit}} and {{w|Avatar 2}} are going to be shot with better framerates, though, at the time that this explanation is written, the effects have yet to be seen...)<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:One person is pointing to a huge flatscreen HDTV on the wall. The other is holding a cell phone.<br />
:HDTV Owner: Check out my new HDTV--a beautiful, high-def 1080p.<br />
:Friend: Wow, that's over ''TWICE'' the horizontal resolution of my cell phone.<br />
:Friend: In fact, it almost beats the LCD monitor I got in 2004.<br />
:It baffles me that people find HDTV impressive.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>GameZonehttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=462:_Freemanic_Paracusia&diff=48792462: Freemanic Paracusia2013-09-11T02:59:04Z<p>GameZone: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 462<br />
| date = August 13, 2008<br />
| title = Freemanic Paracusia<br />
| image = freemanic_paracusia.png <br />
| titletext = It's amazing what it does for YouTube comments.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Paracusia}} is a form of hallucination that involves perceiving sounds without auditory stimulus.<br />
<br />
{{w|Morgan Freeman}} is an American actor, film director, and narrator. He is known for his soothing and mellow voice, which helps amplify his performances, such as God in {{w|Bruce Almighty}} and its sequel {{w|Evan Almighty}}, as well as narrator in {{w|War of the Worlds (2005 film)|War of the Worlds}} by {{w|Steven Spielberg}}.<br />
<br />
The comic is a play on the combination of the two. The idea is that while reading a text, instead of hearing you own voice in your mind's ear, you substitute it for Freeman's voice, giving a new perspective on the contents of the text.<br />
<br />
The title text suggests to apply this specifically on the mostly stupid comments on YouTube.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is sitting behind a desk with a computer.]<br />
:Freemanic Paracusia: A disorder wherein you hear everything you read in the comforting voice of Morgan Freeman.<br />
:[There is a thought bubble of Cueball's thoughts, within it is Morgan Freeman reading text.]<br />
:Morgan Freeman: Why, you could enlarge your penis for cheap. My, my. Isn't that ''something.''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:YouTube]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]</div>GameZone