Difference between revisions of "1729: Migrating Geese"
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[Single frame with title "Understanding migrating geese"] | [Single frame with title "Understanding migrating geese"] | ||
− | A roughly v-shaped formation of silhouetted bird shapes as seen from above, in flight. Various geese are labelled. | + | A roughly v-shaped formation of silhouetted bird shapes as seen from above, in flight. Most of the geese are headed directly upwards in the frame. Various geese are labelled. |
Lead goose is labelled "Head goose (4th in line to the British Throne)" | Lead goose is labelled "Head goose (4th in line to the British Throne)" | ||
− | Left side of V has seven geese | + | Left side of V has seven geese: |
* Second to fifth have a shared label "Shock front" | * Second to fifth have a shared label "Shock front" | ||
* Area where the eighth and ninth would appear is labelled "Missing valence geese" | * Area where the eighth and ninth would appear is labelled "Missing valence geese" | ||
− | + | Right side of V has nine geese: | |
− | Right side of V, | + | * First is labelled "Quarterback" |
− | + | * Third is labelled "Comptroller" | |
− | + | * Fifth is labelled "Migration abort goose" | |
+ | * Seventh is labelled "Twin-engine model", it appears to have a jet engine mounted on each wing | ||
+ | * Eighth is labelled "CIA informant" | ||
+ | * The ninth is a long way to the right of the others, and heading away from the group. It is marked "Kevin". | ||
Others: | Others: | ||
+ | * In the area in the centre of the V is an area labelled "Stealth cargo being escorted" | ||
+ | * Behind this area, on the left, are two geese labelled "Backups" | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} |
Revision as of 14:34, 5 September 2016
Migrating Geese |
Title text: "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin." |
Explanation
This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Only a rough draft, my first submission If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks. |
Migration in computer programming is the process of changing a program to make it possible to run it on other devices or platforms. In this case migrating refers to the actual meaning of changing a habitat, like it happens every year with geese travelling long distances as to not experience cold seasons. When geese fly to their new habitat they tend to fly in a very clear shape or formation which resembles a flipped V. This formation is shown and explained here like a military formation with different roles:
Name | Explanation | |
---|---|---|
Head Goose | ||
Quarterback | ||
Comptroller | ||
Migration abort goose | ||
Twin-Engine Model | ||
Kevin | ||
CIA Informant | ||
Backups | ||
Missing Valence Geese | ||
Shock Front | ||
Transcript
[Single frame with title "Understanding migrating geese"] A roughly v-shaped formation of silhouetted bird shapes as seen from above, in flight. Most of the geese are headed directly upwards in the frame. Various geese are labelled. Lead goose is labelled "Head goose (4th in line to the British Throne)" Left side of V has seven geese:
Right side of V has nine geese:
Others:
DiscussionKevin sounds familiar, has he been in a previous xkcd? Mikemk (talk) 13:51, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
I think "Missing valence geese" refers to electron configuration, where they would give/take electrons to become "stable". 162.158.49.66 14:34, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
This is my first contribution here so I hope I didn't do too many things wrong, I thought if there's nothing there yet I can't break too much. Thanks for fixing the table, it looks much better now :) I don't know why you removed the part about programming though, because while it's maybe normal that geese migrate it is definitely not normal to have a guide ("Migrating") on doing so. Treed (talk) 14:57, 5 September 2016 (UTC) Edit: Goose also is a network protocol (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_Substation_Events#Generic_Object_Oriented_Substation_Events_.28GOOSE.29) which would further support that it plays on the technical kind of migration. Treed (talk) 15:17, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
The quarterback is usually in the second row of an American football formation like the associated goose. 172.68.18.239 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~) You would think Randal would have made a reference to Ramanujan, since this is the 1729th comic, yet he doesn't. --Jessep13 (talk) 22:52, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
Any idea what the 'comptroller' is doing in the formation? 108.162.229.49
In Europe, Kevin is a name, but it also became an insult in gaming community as someone who's is like an arrogant child, or a noob that don't understand what he's doing. 108.162.229.112 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~) 'Damnit Kevin' is a meme. It is used when something goes wrong or someone is really dump. There is also a youth word/name "Alpha Kevin" meant as an insult (like King of idiots). See: http://9gag.com/gag/aqZn9yp/god-f-king-damnit-kevin, http://de.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dammit%20Kevin!, https://www.reddit.com/r/Wellthatsucks/comments/40gzbl/damnit_kevin/ and more 162.158.85.9 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~) Am I the only one that was hoping for a taxicab number comic? Anyways, I don't see any special meaning to "forth in line for the throne" (as in, who is 1st, 2nd, 3rd). 162.158.126.231 01:52, 7 September 2016 (UTC) I am almost certain that Kevin is a reference to the character from the comic Poorly drawn lines, that is the first thing that popped into my head and Randall lists it under "comics I enjoy" http://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/kevins-ideas/ He is a bird that often does silly things to kick off the plot of the comic, and Kevin split off from the group of migrating birds sounds just like the start of a Poorly Drawn lines comic.172.68.55.72 11:13, 10 September 2016 (UTC) It might bee that Randall stumbled over this paparazzi photo of Princess Charlotte Bmuenzer (talk) 08:38, 13 September 2016 (UTC) The incomplete notification mentioned the possibility of slang related to royalty and the phrase "Head Goose." I Googled the phrase in tandem with the word "Britain;" no relevant results came up. --OriginalName (talk) 04:53, 16 May 2017 (UTC) Randall spelling 'dammit' with two m's could be a reference to the title text of [1]. 84596Gamma (talk) 18:52, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
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