Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
(Explaining)
(Latest comic: Cutting a little whitespace and references, cruft from an older time.)
(109 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
''Welcome to the Explain XKCD wiki''
+
__NOTOC__{{DISPLAYTITLE:explain xkcd}}
 +
<center>
  
__TOC__
+
<font size=5px>''Welcome to the '''explain [[xkcd]]''' wiki!''</font><br>
 +
We have an explanation for all [[:Category:All comics|'''{{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:All comics|R}}-1}}''' xkcd comics]],
 +
<!-- Note: the -1 in the calculation above is to discount "comic" 404,
 +
    which is not really a comic, even though we've categorised it so. -->
 +
and only {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}}
 +
({{#expr: {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}} / {{LATESTCOMIC}} * 100 round 0}}%) [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|are incomplete]]. Help us finish them!
 +
</center>
 +
== Latest comic ==
 +
<div style="border:1px solid grey; background:#eee; padding:1em;">
 +
<span style="float:right;">[[{{LATESTCOMIC}}|'''Go to this comic explanation''']]</span>
 +
<br clear="right">
 +
{{:{{LATESTCOMIC}}}}</div>
  
== Explaining ==
+
<small>''Is this out of date? {{Purge|Clicking here will fix that}}.''</small>
Please sign up for an account and contribute to the Explain XKCD wiki!  We need explanations for comics, characters, themes, memes and everything in between.  If it is referenced in an XKCD comic, it should be in here.
 
 
XKCD [http://www.xkcd.com]
 
  
If you need help with the wiki syntax, Mediawiki has a great wealth of information to help you the syntax right.
+
== New here? ==
Navigation. [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Navigation]
+
<div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em">{{Special:ContributionScores/10/7/nosort,notools}}<div style="font-size:0.85em; width:25em; font-style:italic">[[Special:ContributionScores|Lots of people]] contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors, listed above, have [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=newbie just joined]. You can do it too! Create your account [[Special:UserLogin/signup|here]].</div></div>
Editing. [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing_pages]
 
  
== Getting started ==
+
You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at [[explain xkcd]]. Feel free to [[Special:UserLogin/signup|sign up for an account]] and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|comics]], [[:Category:Characters|characters]], [[:Category:Comics by topic|themes]] and [[:Category:Meta|everything in between]]. If it is referenced in an [[xkcd]] web comic, it should be here.
For new comic pages:
 
  
1. Every registered user can upload images.
+
* If you're new to wiki editing, see [[mw:Help:Editing pages|how to edit wiki pages]]. There's also a handy {{w|Help:Cheatsheet|wikicode cheatsheet}}.
  
2. Put the comic number, the date it was posted and a link to the comic above the photo.
+
* Discussion about the wiki itself happens at the [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]].
  
3. Put the image text below the photo.
+
* You can browse the comics from [[List of all comics]] or by navigating the category tree at [[:Category:Comics]].
  
4. Explain away below that.
+
* There are incomplete explanations listed [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|here]]. Feel free to help out by expanding them!
  
If you are setting up a new page for a new (or old) comic, please make sure you also redirect the comic number to that page as well.
+
* We sell advertising space to pay for our server costs. To learn more, go [[explain xkcd:Advertise Here|here]].
  
The syntax for redirects is:
+
== Rules ==
 
 
<nowiki>#REDIRECT [[pagename]]</nowiki>
 
 
 
For example, on the page for 1045 is:
 
  
<nowiki>#REDIRECT [[Constraints]]</nowiki>
+
Don't be a jerk.
  
That allows the users of the site to search via the comic number or the name of the comic.
+
There are a lot of comics that don't have set-in-stone explanations; feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.
  
== Rules ==
+
If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its discussion page.
Don't be a jerk.  There are a lot of comics that don't have set in stone explanations, feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.
 
  
If you want to talk about a specific comic, the Discussion page is perfect for that.
+
Please only submit material directly related to (and helping everyone better understand) xkcd... and of course ''only'' submit material that can legally be posted (and freely edited).  Off-topic or other inappropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked.
  
If you have a message for an admin, feel free to leave a message on their personal discussion page.
+
If you need assistance from an [[explain xkcd:Administrators|admin]], post a message to the [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests|Admin requests]] board.
  
The Admins are:
+
[[Category:Root category]]
[[Explain XKCD:Administrators]]
 

Revision as of 09:15, 8 February 2016

Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 2912 xkcd comics, and only 3 (0%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!

Latest comic

Go to this comic explanation

Cursive Letters
𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓛 𝓲𝓼 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓫𝓪𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓺 𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻.
Title text: 𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓛 𝓲𝓼 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓫𝓪𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓺 𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a 𝓑𝓞𝓣 𝓦𝓘𝓣𝓗 𝓓𝓔𝓒𝓔𝓝𝓣 𝓗𝓐𝓝𝓓𝓦𝓡𝓘𝓣𝓘𝓝𝓖 - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.

This graph ranks cursive Latin script letters. The type of cursive used is closest to D'Nealian (notably the Q) though a few of the letters appear to be in the Zaner-Bloser style of cursive (specifically the P and p). The graph uses two criteria: legibility and coolness.

According to the graph in the comic: 'L' is in the top-right quadrant indicating it is both cool and easy to read; 'C' is in the top-left, meaning it is easy to read, yet not cool; 'Z' and 'z' are in the bottom-right which means cool looking, yet not easy to read; and 'r' which is bottom-left indicating it is neither particularly cool nor very easy to read (perhaps being confusable as a form of 'n', or even 'M', at least until actual cursive versions of those are comparable against).

The purpose of cursive is to allow efficient handwriting and make characters look nice and more "connected" at the same time. The possible downside of this is the legibility of the individual letters. This may be due to the similarity of cursive letter shapes (e.g. 'U' and 'V' in the graph), especially when joined to other letters, or due their dissimilarity from more familiar "block letter" counterparts (e.g. 'Z' and 'z' in the lower right corner).

In the title text, Randall states 'L' and 'q' are letters that he enjoys writing in cursive, which could possibly add a third axis (most fun to least fun) to the graph. Notably, some RSS apps have challenges displaying the font and result in settings of '???'s.

The title text is written in cursive-looking font using upper unicode characters (encoded as UTF-8). Example: the cursive I character 𝓘 (Unicode 120024 U+1D4D8) is F0 9D 93 98 in UTF-8. The title text includes 22 of 26 characters in the English lowercase alphabet and is thus 4 characters short of a pangram (missing letters: j, v, x and z). Pangrams are often used to show the characters in a typeface in print or on a computer screen. It is unclear if the comic deliberately chose the words in the title text to show almost all the characters in cursive or if it is simply a coincidence.

Transcript

Ambox notice.png This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.
[A graph with 10 ticks on both the X and Y axes. The graph contains cursive uppercase and lowercase Latin letters. X axis is labeled "Looks cool" with an arrow pointing right and Y axis is labeled "Easy to tell what letter it's supposed to be" with an arrow pointing upward. From top to bottom, left to right, the letters are: C, B, P, K, d, X, R; M, N, c, O, x, t, y, L; D, W, a, Y, o, i; H; A, b, j; p, h; w, Q; m, u, k, g; E, I, l, q; f, J; U, V, T, e; n; v, F; G; r, S, s, z, Z.]


Is this out of date? Clicking here will fix that.

New here?

Last 7 days (Top 10)

Lots of people contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors, listed above, have just joined. You can do it too! Create your account here.

You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to sign up for an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for comics, characters, themes and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd web comic, it should be here.

  • There are incomplete explanations listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!
  • We sell advertising space to pay for our server costs. To learn more, go here.

Rules

Don't be a jerk.

There are a lot of comics that don't have set-in-stone explanations; feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.

If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its discussion page.

Please only submit material directly related to (and helping everyone better understand) xkcd... and of course only submit material that can legally be posted (and freely edited). Off-topic or other inappropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked.

If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.