explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2700: Account Problems

2022-11-20T16:29:11Z

108.162.210.232: unexpected behavior of at sign

What was going on with this page? [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 00:58, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

:Vandalism. I mentioned it on the [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests|Admin requests]] page. It's getting reverted back to normal pretty quickly when it happens, but it will probably keep happening until an admin bans the person doing it, or the person doing it gets bored and stops on their own. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 01:05, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

are two nazis actually in an edit war or is it just one person astroturfing --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.100|162.158.63.100]] 01:18, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

I'm trying to combat it, but I'll only be able to keep this up for around another 20 minutes or so. [[User:InfoManiac|InfoManiac]] ([[User talk:InfoManiac|talk]]) 01:21, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

:Is TheusafBot ofline or something? Generally it handles this sort of stuff pretty well--[[User:Mapron01|Mapron01]] ([[User talk:Mapron01|talk]]) 01:44, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
::I'm pretty sure he is. [[User:Starstar|Starstar]] ([[User talk:Starstar|talk]]) 02:23, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

This reminds me of the time I used a character in my password that was the "stty kill" character for one workstation's default console terminal settings. I normally logged in via ssh, and occasionally logged in via xdm, but the time I tried logging in via the console, it really didn't like what was left of my password. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.180|162.158.62.180]] 01:25, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:Ah, the good old days when ordinary printing characters were used for erase and kill. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 01:43, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

Vandals are just looking for a fun time, generally. Solution: make it not a fun time for them. Revert their edits dryly, patiently, with no particular comment or anything. Eventually they will get bored and find something else to do. Or, perhaps they'll sit there vandalizing while we revert them, we dozens against probably just one vandal. But if you make your irritation clear, that's "fun" to them, and they'll keep at it with renewed vigour. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.239|108.162.216.239]] 01:37, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

I accidentally used a backspace character in a username one time. It caused all sorts of problems with my account.

Also, I've never found the whole "The trolls will leave you alone if you don't move." thing to be effective. But I've never found anything else to be effective at universally adjusting behavior either.
-Master Areth

I wrote most of the current page after the first paragraph. It's a fairly sloppy first draft that could probably use some editing. Anyone who can should feel free to clean it up. Especially since the page is now protected (I'm not complaining; it was necessary) and so I can't edit it any more. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 05:57, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:Hi [[User:Equites|Equites]], I [[Special:Diff/299457|rewrote]] the explanation, hope that's okay. I removed the references to the security aspect because I didn't think it was relevant. (Also pinging [[User:FrankHightower|FrankHightower]].) --[[User:Hddqsb|Hddqsb]] ([[User talk:Hddqsb|talk]]) 07:59, 20 November 2022 (UTC)

Seems to be another Tech issue comic, its a tech issue with Cueball talking to Megan and the tech issue is extremely cursed. Should we add this one?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.22.98|162.158.22.98]] 06:00, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

"since there is no sequence of keys he could type that would result in a null terminator" ... I can type a NULL (ASCII 00) just fine in my editor on Linux (ctrl-v ctrl-@, the latter I type as ctrl-shift-2). However, I am not quite sure how to phrase this in the explanation without sounding like "Áctually! ...." [[User:henrikar|Henri]]
:I am amused that both in the main text and in this comment something has converted the "at sign" into [email protected].

The title text is likely a reference to [https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/yqof9f/comment/ivrd9ur/ this reddit post]. [[User:Pb|Pb]] ([[User talk:Pb|talk]]) 07:06, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
: I don't think that's likely... --[[User:Hddqsb|Hddqsb]] ([[User talk:Hddqsb|talk]]) 08:50, 20 November 2022 (UTC)

The only thing is I'm pretty sure it's not terribly difficult to enter a null string character, you just have to know what it is. On a PC with a keyboard that has a number pad, you can press Alt-[Number] to enter special characters using their ASCII code (Alt-65 will get "A", Alt-8 is backspace or delete, I forget which but I think BS, etc. MIGHT need leading zeroes to be 3 digits). The 0 to 31 codes - 32 is space, starting the normal characters - tend to have all the special characters, I think null string is 0? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:14, 20 November 2022 (UTC)
:It is. And (with caveats, depending upon other issues and circumstances) Alt-numpad0 would give me the null-char wherever it's practical and not blocked (intentionally or just because it isn't specifically catered for).[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.206|172.71.178.206]] 15:25, 20 November 2022 (UTC)

As Cueball is showing and handing over his laptop, I don't think the issue is about a website account (where he could probably do a password reset), but his local account on the laptop, of which he is now locked out, and hopes Poneytail can break into it? [[User:Ghen|ghen]] ([[User talk:Ghen|talk]]) 18:28, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:Good point, updated to avoid referring to "website" specifically. (Another possibility is that it is the password for some installed application.) --[[User:Hddqsb|Hddqsb]] ([[User talk:Hddqsb|talk]]) 07:17, 20 November 2022 (UTC)

''"Suppose a website's registration form allows the user's new password to have up to 20 characters, but due to a programmer error the login page only accepts passwords with up to 18 characters."'' 
There are also cases where page or application is updated with the expectation that old user accounts will still be working, but updated page no longer accepts same characters (or number of characters) than the old one, locking some people out. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:35, 20 November 2022 (UTC)
: Good point. I don't think it's worth adding this to the explanation though ("keep it simple"). --[[User:Hddqsb|Hddqsb]] ([[User talk:Hddqsb|talk]]) 07:20, 20 November 2022 (UTC)

Talk:512: Alternate Currency

2021-05-13T00:28:22Z

108.162.210.232:

I predict that Bitcoin will be succeeded by this [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.114|108.162.241.114]] 01:24, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

This could be an even deeper jab at Bitcoin. The principle of Bitcoin is that information equals value. (Oversimplified, I know)

Now, I think Cueball says that even funnies and image macros are more valuable currency because each one has an ''inherent'' value - most are mildly entertaining. That's not a whole lot of inherent value, but at least, it's a nonzero amount.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.70|141.101.104.70]] 10:56, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Hey! Apparently people have been selling their collections on eBay. The future has arrived!--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.157|173.245.56.157]] 06:18, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

Wouldn't the pictures just be spam ctrl-c, ctrl-ved?{{unsigned|Dontknow}}
:Yes, that process is generally known as "inflation". --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:21, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Randal predicted NFTs? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.232|108.162.210.232]] 00:28, 13 May 2021 (UTC)

1758: Astrophysics

2016-11-17T11:13:53Z

108.162.210.232: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1758
| date = November 11, 2016
| title = Astrophysics
| image = astrophysics.png
| titletext = DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSCIENCE / Motto: "If I hear the phrase 'mirror neurons' I swear to God I will flip this table."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Are there other theories than MOND and the new paper? Seems like there must have been many examples to get such a motto? It would make general relativity more complicated is not good evidence of MOND not being a good model}}

The theory of gravity produced by {{w|general relativity}} is generally very accurate—it predicts the orbits of planets precisely, even details like the {{w|Two-body problem in general relativity#Anomalous precession of Mercury|precession of Mercury}} which Newton couldn't fully explain. However, the predictions for the behavior of galaxies are wrong—{{w|Galaxy rotation curve|the galaxies seem to spin at the wrong rates}}.

The standard explanation is that there is something else filling these galaxies, which has mass (and therefore exerts a gravitational pull) but which can't be seen with current telescopes. This is called {{w|dark matter}}, and most astrophysicists believe it exists—either in the form of {{w|Massive compact halo object|an unknown type of star that is too dim to see}}, or {{w|Weakly interacting massive particles|an undiscovered subatomic particle}}.

However, an alternative theory which gets proposed regularly is {{w|modified Newtonian dynamics}} (MOND). In MOND, gravity doesn't simply follow the {{w|inverse square law}} but has more complicated behavior. Usually, the extra behavior is either to say that gravitational force can be affected by the acceleration of the particle, or that it goes from inverse-square to just inverse at large distances. It "sounds good" because it's relatively simple—it just changes our understanding of Newton's law of gravitation, rather than requiring entirely new forms of matter or unknown stars to exist—and because it has some nice side-effects, such as explaining why there seems to be a limit on the density of galaxies.

Unfortunately, as the sign says, MOND doesn't fit all the scientific data. One famous counterexample is the {{w|Bullet Cluster}}—two colliding galaxy clusters that are ripping through each other, and from which the mass distribution can be inferred through gravitational lensing. The collision, and the differing ways that ordinary and dark matter interact, have separated the dark matter from ordinary matter to a certain extent, which can be seen in the mass distribution. Another counterexample is MOND's incompatibility with observations of the motion of galaxies in galaxy clusters. Even if MOND ''is'' correct in some way, we still need dark matter to explain the Bullet Cluster. More generally, MOND isn't compatible with general relativity—which has a huge amount of experimental data in its favour—and a MOND-compatible general relativity would be very complicated and ugly.

The specific impetus for this comic may be [https://arxiv.org/abs/1611.02269 this] recent publication by {{w|Erik Verlinde}} (see popular description of the paper [http://phys.org/news/2016-11-theory-gravity-dark.html here]). It was released on-line three days before the release of this comic. Verlinde's theory ({{w|entropic gravity}}) isn't MOND—rather, it's derived from {{w|thermodynamics}} and {{w|quantum information theory}}—but it has a lot in common with it. The paper got a lot of "This will prove Einstein wrong" coverage (see [[1206: Einstein]]), even though it's just a {{w|pre-print}} and hasn't been peer-reviewed or experimentally verified yet. Verlinde's theory also doesn't match the data—[http://motls.blogspot.de/2010/01/erik-verlinde-why-gravity-cant-be.html it disagrees with experimental results showing how particles interact with gravity].

Apparently, whoever put up this sign was getting tired of news agencies stating that dark matter has been "disproven".

The title text lists the text on a similar sign standing outside the Department of {{w|Neuroscience}}. Their motto is "If I hear the phrase 'mirror neurons' I swear to God I will flip this table." {{w|Mirror neurons}} are brain cells which trigger when watching someone else do something. Experiments claim to have found mirror neurons in humans and apes, and there are theories that make mirror neurons the foundation of learning, empathy, language and consciousness itself. However, {{w|mirror neurons#Doubts concerning mirror neurons|the evidence for mirror neurons is still patchy}}, and even if they exist, it's very simplistic to try to attribute so much of human behavior to a single type of relatively simple cell. In light of this, the motto of the neuroscientists at the department may reflect their frustration and even rage, over what they see as a common misperception.
[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/flipping-tables Flipping tables] is a common depiction for expressing extreme outrage. It is used also as a pun because mirrors flip the image in front of them.

A similar story of a paper questioning science and leading to press coverage was mentioned two days before the release of this comic on the YouTube channel Space Time from PBS Digital Studios in their newest video with the title [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UNLgPIiWAg Did Dark Energy Just Disappear?]. This was based on the press coverage of the paper [http://www.nature.com/articles/srep35596 Marginal evidence for cosmic acceleration from Type Ia supernovae]. The conclusion in the video is that dark energy is still the best explanation. Note this is about the existence of dark energy rather than dark matter. The two are not related!

Science papers with results that supposedly disprove solidly founded theories have been the subject before in [[955: Neutrinos]].

==Transcript==
:[A sign on two posts, in the grass in front of a building with windows and double doors, a window on each door, and bars facing outwards. There is a cement walk leading to the doors. On the sign is the text:]
:<big>'''Department of Astrophysics'''</big>
:'''Motto:'''
:''Yes, everybody has already had the idea, "Maybe there's no dark matter—Gravity just works differently on large scales!" It sounds good but doesn't really fit the data.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:1684: Rainbow

2016-05-25T05:23:05Z

108.162.210.232:

How do I find the official transcript?[[User:Transuranium|Transuranium]] ([[User talk:Transuranium|talk]]) 11:00, 23 May 2016 (UTC)Transuranium
:Most recent comics do not have official transcripts. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|11:13, 23 May 2016}}
::But now there is one here ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:38, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Religion... geez. It's some weird stuff, huh. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.10|108.162.219.10]] 17:05, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Now that XKCD adopts the voice of God, it's time to write him off and move elsewhere. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.109|141.101.70.109]] 11:56, 23 May 2016 (UTC)
: Nice of you to decide for everyone. Just like god would do, right? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.27|141.101.80.27]] 13:38, 23 May 2016 (UTC)
:Word of God has appered before, as in Comic 224 or 258. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.161|162.158.86.161]] 17:09, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

For the sake of doctrinal accuracy, God (assuming the comic is in fact referring to the Jewish God who set his war bow in the cloud after the Flood) never promised not to destroy the earth by fire. Christian theology (2 Peter 3:10) implies God fully intends to destroy the earth by fire - or at least by unprecedented universal nuclear fission. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 11:59, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

: Good point, but for universal respect you should capitalise His pronouns. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.109|141.101.70.109]] 12:16, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

:: Ok, really? So the bible says "I will destroy the earth by '''universal nuclear fission'''" ? I must have missed something on the first reading -- could you tell me the page number? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.219|162.158.255.219]] 19:20, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

::: "And the elements shall melt with a fervent heat." 3500ºC is enought to melt everything, but when combined with Colossians 1:17 "in Him all things are held together" that implies he could stop holding things together - voila, every single element on the table separates into a soup of protons, neutrons, electrons, and enough free energy to destroy a universe - oh wait that's the point. Okay, so that's just speculation, but it sounds cool to watch. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 11:48, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

:: It doesn't mention a nuclear catastrophe in so many words. It does mention a massive asteroid will destroy the planet and that angels will collapse the pillars of reality which are all the rules God built the universe on. It's actually an incredibly visual passage for such abstract concepts, wonderfully well written. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 20:31, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

When the conditions are right, various types of [[wikipedia:Rainbow#Variations|multiple rainbow]] may be visible. [[User:Rhubbarb|Rhubbarb]] ([[User talk:Rhubbarb|talk]]) 12:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Drabkikker Atmospheric optics enthusiast] signing in. That's right. Although the "third faint bow near the sun" Cueball mentions might indeed refer to the 22° halo, another possibility is that he means the (very rare) ''tertiary'' or ''third-order'' rainbow. See [[wikipedia:Rainbow#Higher-order_rainbows]]. [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111005111001.htm Here]'s a picture of one. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.78|141.101.104.78]] 13:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Should we mention multiple rainbow discussion in [http://what-if.xkcd.com/150/ today's What If?]? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:54, 23 May 2016 (UTC)
:Yes it is now included in the explanation. Given that the third panel halo has sun dogs it is not a third order rainbow that Noah sees though. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:14, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

There is nothing within the Bible to indicate that the earth was destroyed by fire before the flood. As already mentioned, there is mention in the Bible that God intends to destroy the world by fire in the future. Second Peter 3 contains a number of references to this, especially verses 7 and 10. note the phrase "and the elements will be dissolved (or melt) with fervent heat" which could mean nuclear holocaust, or worse. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.230|162.158.2.230]] 04:19, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

Regarding the what if. Does anyone now which video it is he will not make any reference to in the image with Megan touching the rainbow. It seems like it should be easy to find it, but unless it is the commercial for touching the rainbow (which shows nothing like in this picture), it does not seem to be easy to find. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:14, 24 May 2016 (UTC)

While I agree that mentioning Noah is probably worthwhile, nothing in the comic directly indicates that Cueball is in fact Noah as opposed to just some random fellow talking to God. In the Genisis account (Genesis 9) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+9&version=NIV God tells him about the covenant and the rainbow, rather than being asked about it - thus Cueball is clearly someone other than a person familiar with the whole deal. [[User:J-beda|J-beda]] ([[User talk:J-beda|talk]]) 23:10, 24 May 2016 (UTC)
:Perhaps, but most people only have a passing familiarity with the bible and many assume they have a greater knowledge than they do. Also the author has changed how things happen before for the sake of the comic. In the past we would have the official transcript to settle the matter but lately this hasn't been included. While the person in the comic may not be Noah I would say Noah is notable enough to reference and for the moment we should refer to him as Noah because it wouldn't serve to make the explanation clearer if we don't, it would just be pointless nitpicking which clutters up an otherwise alright explanation. [[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 00:43, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

I feel like the section on "halos" is fairly irrelevant (and to a lesser extent the following section for the final panel). Cueball doesn't say he sees a ring AROUND the sun, he says "what about that faint third bow near the sun", "bow" being short for rainbow. He's seeing a third rainbow near the sun, probably faint because of being close to the sun in the sky. I believe the gag here isn't describing real life conditions, it's that god is rather incorrigable, constantly apologizing but never improving, continuously putting up apology rainbows. After all, even a second rainbow is rather uncommon. It's a silly image for Cueball to be seeing rainbows all over the sky. I think that's the gag, and the current explanation is just overthinking it. - NiceGuy1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.77|108.162.218.77]] 04:07, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
:Read the What-If. It was over-thought before the explanation was ever written. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.232|108.162.210.232]] 05:23, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Talk:342: 1337: Part 2

2016-05-15T23:42:59Z

108.162.210.232:

Well, imho the reference to the master in the mountain hideaway is clearly a reference to Kill Bill, but I am not skilled enough in English to write it myself...
[[Special:Contributions/217.162.253.103|217.162.253.103]] 13:06, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
:Next time, don't be so shy! Just do the best you can and someone else can help correct it. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 00:21, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't see why dijkstra's algorithm would use less memory than A*. Any ideas? [[Special:Contributions/24.18.133.138|24.18.133.138]] 01:44, 13 July 2013 (UTC)
:Dijkstra's algorithm only needs to store one distance value per node, whereas A* needs at least an additional priority queue. Sometimes A* also precalculates and stores its heuristic. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 09:42, 13 July 2013 (UTC)

The mountain hideaway is a staple of Kung Fu movies. Kill Bill was effectively spoofing the genre, and so is this cartoon (rather than specifically spoofing Kill Bill). [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 04:17, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

Is that an ice pack he's holding in the first panel? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.232|108.162.210.232]] 23:42, 15 May 2016 (UTC)

Talk:745: Dyslexics

2016-05-09T18:41:59Z

108.162.210.232:

Can someone explain this sentence: "I kept doing 'doing 'doing it wrong' wrong' wrong."? Other than the 3 nested quotes, I don't get the point. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 16:10, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

He's expanding the "it" in "doing it wrong." The joke of the comic itself is that the dyslexics are having difficulty making a mistake--they're doing "doing it wrong" wrong. In the title-text, Randall reveals he was having difficulty doing that wrong--he was doing "doing "doing it wrong" wrong" wrong. --[[User:Hatkirby|Hatkirby]] ([[User talk:Hatkirby|talk]]) 07:17, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

It's a nested statement. Perhaps made clearer with parenthesis. He's {doing [doing (doing it wrong) wrong] wrong}. In other words. He's incorrectly executing the incorrect execution of "doing it wrong" [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.112|199.27.128.112]] 03:27, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

A := "doing it wrong" 
This is referring to the mispelling of 'unite' as 'untie' by the dyslexic designer of the T-shirt.
B := "doing A wrong" == "doing 'doing it wrong' wrong" 
This refers to Randall's purposefully mispelling 'untie' as 'unite' to parody the The Far Side comic (which spelled 'unite' as 'untie').
C := "doing C wrong" == "doing 'doing 'doing it wrong' wrong' wrong" 
This refers to Randall getting confused and writing out 'untie' instead of 'unite'. He is messing up his parody of the The Far Side joke.
Steven Chartis [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.124|108.162.237.124]] 22:48, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
:I think you meant to say "doing B wrong" at the end instead of C. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.232|108.162.210.232]] 18:41, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

"an invresion" is likely a typo but it's on-topic so I'm totally leaving it there [[Special:Contributions/188.114.97.133|188.114.97.133]] 00:54, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

I actually saw "untie" on first glance... that sukcs... [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 10:09, 9 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1500: Upside-Down Map

2015-04-02T19:12:52Z

108.162.210.232: commentary re: inverted height map concept

What's the point? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.173|108.162.249.173]] 09:59, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

:In my opinion, part of the joke which is hinted at but never explicitly stated in the explanation, is that normal south-up orientation maps are just as "correct" as their north-up counterparts, but they still appear "wrong" to us. The fact that correctly projected south-up maps feel "wrong" supposedly reveals some deep-seeded biases about how we view the world, or at least shows that we have very limited and rigid worldviews. The joke here is that this map isn't just showing the world differently, it's blatantly distorting the geography of the entire planet. At a glance, you may think it's a typical south-up map, but the humor is revealed as you notice all the new associations created by the rotation. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.194|173.245.54.194]] 14:13, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Australia is still the "right" way up! {{unsigned|Thematkinson}}
:No it is not. But Tasmania stays put as it is an island. Maybe that has caused some confusion? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:46, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:What sort of projection have you been looking at if you think these three look the same when rotated 180 degrees? I'd forgive someone for thinking that about New Guinea, but for the other three it just seems laughable. Especially if you know what "map of Tasmamia" is slang for. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.190|108.162.249.190]] 14:13, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

"People often say that maps with the south pole at the top will change your perspective." Is this really something that people ''often'' say? I've never heard anyone say it... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 10:06, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:I have heard it... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:46, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:I agree with Pudder. Who are these people and how often to they say it? Explanation edited. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.120|199.27.128.120]] 15:23, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:I disagree, I NEVER heard it until NOW in XKCD. ([[Special:Contributions/141.101.103.208|141.101.103.208]] 21:18, 23 March 2015 (UTC))

Is perhaps the comic's explanation about a previous map version? The comment about Australia being the normal way is wrong. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.80|108.162.254.80]] 10:10, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:could be - I see Australia as being pivoted just like all the other continents (?) {{unsigned|Brettpeirce}}
::Agreed - see my comment above when this was first mentioned here. Now it has been corrected in the explain. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:46, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Should the title text not say South Korea, rather than North Korea? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.101|141.101.106.101]] 10:41, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:Well it is North Korea we have issues with today. But maybe it is not the former South Korea instead...? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:46, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

UK was rotated, Japan was not rotated. Sardinia, Cyprus and other are missing. Hmm... is it a pre-alpha release?
[[Special:Contributions/188.114.103.245|188.114.103.245]] 13:18, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:Japan sure looks rotated. Maybe it just looks similar upside-down? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.180|108.162.237.180]] 13:45, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:Japan is rotated. As a Sardinian, I noticed the absence of Sardinia (and Sicily) and now I'm wondering whether I'd live near Japan (my sister would be extremely happy about it) or near China [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.246|108.162.229.246]] 14:59, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
::Then why northern Hokkaido is towards north, and only Honshu is rotated? [[Special:Contributions/188.114.103.245|188.114.103.245]] 16:19, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:::It is not that Japan is rotated. It is the individual island that are rotated. So the island to the north would still be to the north. And also this map is not so detailed that you can expect to see the difference if some fairly rotational symmetric islands are rotated. Also - thee are many islands that are not included. But for Sardinia and Cyprus. Since they are islands they will not be rotated with the Mediterranean Sea. So they would stay far away from Japan. Progably under some part of Asia where there is no seas to show them. The fact that many island must disappear after the rotation, and also the likeliness that some islands that are shown should have disappeared is mentioned in the explain --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:33, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

The explanation is inaccurate in a few spots in the "jokes" section. Specifically, all the points that say "X is now on the east/west (formerly west/east) of Y" are inaccurate. The whole point is that the spatial relationships of the land masses are unchanged with respect to the cardinal directions. In other words, Cuba is still off the east coast of the US, it's just that Seattle is where Miami used to be. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.193}}
:Well someone changed this back from the true version. I have changed this back. Also the main part of this "joke" was that it was now next to the Canada. It would just be wrong to say it was only next to the Canada as was written originally, since it is next to the border between US and Canada. Made a small correction also for this to be more clear. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:37, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

I always wanted a height-inverted map (ocean trenches are mountain ridges, and vice-versa), with realistic national boundaries set upon the land (that was sea) based on where they might have existed in the sea (that, for us, is land). But I suppose one could go ''too'' far in such fripperies... ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.63|141.101.98.63]] 14:44, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:Hey, that would be pretty neat! Would your aim be to preserve the same total volume of seawater (ie., same km^3 quantity of water), or to preserve the same total land area? Because I think if you inverted the height, you'd wind up with a few extremely high mountainous landmasses and plateaus, and much of the rest would be pretty shallow seas. The highest mountain range would be the Marianas. :) -[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.232|108.162.210.232]] 19:12, 2 April 2015 (UTC)
I thought this was a reference to clickbait based on the caption, where you are told it will change your perspective, and it didn't, it was just a stupid map. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.173|199.27.128.173]] 16:19, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Yay comic 1500!
17:48, 18 March 2015 (UTC) or 12:48, 18 March 2015 (EDT)

It's not on the map, but I'm curious what happens to Antarctica in this little exercise? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.53|108.162.216.53]] 17:05, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:Not that much probably since it is faily centered on the pole and except for one "tail" it is rather rotational symmetric. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:40, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

What's the island southwest of Newfoundland? It looks large for Prince Edward Island, and most of Nova Scotia isn't an island. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.160|173.245.52.160]] 19:08, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
:While Randall will know which squiggles arise from which real-world features, I reckon there'll be some contention regarding the small islands, given the resolution of the 'pen and ink' sketch doesn't do justice to the smallest (and often least familiar, to start with) perimiter-shapes. I've just gone and edited the bit about "The Falkland Islands" (mainly because I didn't like the technical "''it'' is", grammatically... maybe the better solution would have been for me to just to have made it "The Falkland Islands group|archipelago", though) and while I was there allowed for the fact that it's actually hard to say what that single island blob is precisely intended to be representative of. Note all the other little rocks also out there (but not generally lumped into the same island group), like South Georgia, and the nigh-on numberless ones of similar scale elsewhere around the planet, like the Canaries. Or the Hawaiian islands (if those aren't represented by the above-questioned blob).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.63|141.101.98.63]] 19:18, 18 March 2015 (UTC)
::Wouldn't it be rather Colombia and maybe Venezuela that could claim the Falklands? Ecuador and especially Peru are way too in the North I think. --[[User:Nezmo|Nezmo]] ([[User talk:Nezmo|talk]]) 21:02, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Can someone explain why an upside down map changes your perspective? I've seen many before but no explanation of why it is any different. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.222|141.101.98.222]] 07:19, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

There are three main reasons I have heard for upside down maps changing one's perspective, although only the first one is inherently a question of vertical orientation. 1) We associate up-ness with superiority. Because we read top down and therefore habitually see what's at the top of a page as being first, but also as evidenced by phrases like "things are looking up", "at the top of her field", "coming out on top", "high up in the organisation", "top of the food chain", etc. etc. Wikipedia mention this in their page on South-up Map Orientations, and cite a paper "Spatial Metaphor and Real Estate North–South Location Biases Housing Preference", which claims to have demonstrated it with various studies. You can google the paper and read its abstract for free. 2) The fact that most maps one sees in Europe put Europe in the centre makes everything else seem a bit peripheral. 3) The projection increases the size of countries towards the top and bottom of the map, relative to those in the middle, so that, for example, Greenland and Africa look about the same size, when really Africa is 14 times larger (that factoid comes from an article in The Economist entitled "The True True Size of Africa"). Although this doesn't significantly increase the relative size of Europe and America, because they're about in the middle, it does make e.g. Canada and Russia seem much larger than they are, and massively diminish the relative size of Africa. I imagine, speculatively, that this could be a big deal for Africans who feel that the importance of their continent is overlooked. (I'm not familiar with the protocol on this page, so I haven't included links to the articles I mentioned, but anyone who wants to can easily do so.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.165|108.162.229.165]] 10:53, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

In my opinion, the point of this comic is an observation of a fact how much of our deep-rooted and regarded as inevitable inter-human dealings and problems are utterly determined by purely random factors such as Earth plate tectonics and the actual nick of time (in the geological scale) at which human civilization developed into a global one. -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.225|141.101.88.225]] 12:50, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

I interpreted it as a reference to the book by (recently deceased) Terry Pratchett, 'Nation', one of the messages of which was "changing the way you look at the map changes your perspective". {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.32}}

Chile is rotated, but "Tierra del fuego" part of Chile and Argentina is not moved, and missing the divition on Chile and Argentina sides, and named "Tierra del fuego" rater than "chile" "argentina", so there is either Randall not remmember that "tierra del Fuego" is either that island and to some extent a liitle of the sourth cone of Chile/Argentina after the Patagonia or think in it a a holw different countrie or something else. ([[Special:Contributions/141.101.103.208|141.101.103.208]] 21:18, 23 March 2015 (UTC))

I also note that we have acquired a new set of islands off the (now) west coast of Florida, perhaps these were the San Juan and other Seattle-area islands? OTOH, we seem to have lost the Florida Keys entirely, which is a shame ... I enjoy thinking about what Key West would be like if it were way at the end of 150 miles of bridges from Seattle. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 15:53, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

Did anyone else have problems understanding upsidedown as rotated 180 degrees? For me, upsidedown would be flipped, that is, left / right would stay but up /down would switch (with the "back" side now being to the front). (Imagine the continents as puzzle pieces.) I looked at this, and was confused by why in addition to being upsidedown, the continents were also flipped left to right... {{unsigned ip|198.41.242.240}}

1491: Stories of the Past and Future

2015-03-11T17:47:37Z

108.162.210.232: /* Works listed */

{{comic
| number = 1491
| date = February 25, 2015
| title = Stories of the Past and Future
| image = stories_of_the_past_and_future.png
| titletext = Little-known fact: The 'Dawn of Man' opening sequence in 2001 cuts away seconds before the Flintstones theme becomes recognizable.
}}
A [http://xkcd.com/1491/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com which can as always be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|A complete explanation of the comic is needed.}}
How to read the graph:
*X-axis: Date of publication.
*Y-axis, "Years in the future": Number of years the story's events take place, after the story's publication.
*Y-axis, "Years in the past": Number of years the story's events take place, before the story's publication.
:For example, "Water Margin" was published in the 14th century (x ~= 1300) and relates events from the 12th century, about 200 years before its publication (y ~= 200 in the past).
:Another example: The film ''{{w|The Bridge on the River Kwai}}'' was released in 1957 and it was set around 14 years before (~1942-43).
*Grey area in the "Years in the future" part: Stories set in the future (relative to their publication date), for which the date of the events in the story is already in the past (relative to now). The white and gray areas in this part of the graph are defined as "still possible" and "obsolete", respectively. The gray area (obsolete) will expand over time, assuming more works aren't added in the future: predictions from science fiction or futuristic work that are not confirmed by reality are doomed to be obsolete.
*Grey area in the "Years in the past" part: Stories set in the past (relative to their publication date) but published closer to their setting than to today. The warning "Modern audiences may not recognize which part were supposed to sound old" is a recurrent theme in the author's work, being already formulated in [[771: Period Speech|Period Speech]] comic. The white area seems to be the region where modern readers will be able to distinguish the past setting of a work from the age of the work itself. This gray area will grow over time (again assuming new works set in the past are not added) with more and more works being indistinguishable as works set in the past.
Randall's intent with this comic might be to point out that modern readers' universe is collapsing, with non-obsolete future predictions and recognizable depictions of the past both shrinking.

Taking the "years in the past" on the y-axis to be read as negatives like in most graphs one can write
*Dates on the lower line satisfy the equation y = x-2015. Corresponding works were published in the year x = 2015+y and are set in the year x+y = 2015+2y.
*Dates on the upper line satisfy the equation y = 2015-x. Corresponding works were published in the year x = 2015-y and are set in the year x+y = 2015.
Thus it's clear that the definitions of the lines are consistent with each other as they follow similar but inverted functions.
The graph uses variable {{w|logarithmic scale}}s, adjusting the scale in various regions to the temporal density of works being plotted. If the scale were linear, the graph would in fact represent a (bidimensional) {{w|Minkowski diagram}}, which depicts the moving cones of past and future in spacetime as one's present advances in time.

The title text jokes that ''2001'' cuts from Prehistoria to the future before ''The Flintstones'' theme can become recognizable. Besides both being works from the 60s based around cavemen, Randall must be comparing the hominid screams preceding the famed "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtbOmpTnyOc bone becomes satellite]" with the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PPf3aaZmUw horns of the TV show's opening].

===Works listed===
Differences listed in bright red are "former period pieces." Differences listed in dark red are other works set in the past. Differences listed in bright green are "obsolete" works set in the future. Differences listed in dark green are other works set in the future.

Asterisks (*) after a year of publication denote that it applies to the first installment in a series that spanned more than one year.

You can sort by a specific column in this table by clicking on its header.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Publication'''
! align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Description'''
! align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;" data-sort-type="number"|'''Year written'''
! align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;" data-sort-type="number"|'''Year difference'''
! align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;" data-sort-type="number"|'''Year set in'''
! align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Notes'''
|-
| ''{{w|Epic of Gilgamesh}}''|| ancient Mesopotamian epic poem || data-sort-value="-2100"|~2100 BCE||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="500" | ~500|| data-sort-value="-2600"|~2600 BCE|| {{w|Enmebaragesi}}, a historically attested ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' character, is thought to have lived around 2600 BCE
|-
| ''{{w|Iliad|The Iliad}}''||epic written by Greek poet Homer || data-sort-value="-750"|700s BCE ||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="500" | ~500 || data-sort-value="-1260"| 1260–1240 BCE ||
|-
| ''{{w|Book of Genesis}}''||first book of the Bible, describing the creation of the world || data-sort-value="-500"|500s–400s BCE ||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="4200" | ~4200 || data-sort-value="-3761"| 3761 BCE || The ''{{w|Anno Mundi}}'' epoch, the product of scriptural calculations by {{w|Maimonides}}, places the Genesis date of the creation of the world at October 7, 3761 BCE in the {{w|proleptic Julian calendar}}
|-
| ''{{w|History of the Peloponnesian War}}''||history written by Thucydides|| data-sort-value="-400"|~400 BCE||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="100" | ~10|| data-sort-value="-431"|431–411 BCE||
|-
| ''{{w|Gospels}}''|| collection of literary works detailing the life of Jesus of Nazareth || data-sort-value="65"|~65–110 CE ||style="color:#FF0000;" | 25–75 || data-sort-value="-7"|7–2 BCE – 30–33 CE || Setting dates are those of Jesus' estimated lifetime. Writing dates are as follows: Mark 65–73 CE; Matthew 70–100 CE; Luke 80–100 CE; John 90–110 CE. Randall's difference calculation seems to be based on the date of Jesus' death, as the majority of the Gospels' events takes place during the three years prior to Jesus's death.
|-
| ''{{w|Ashokavadana}}''||narrative of the life of Ashoka the Great||100s CE||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="400" | ~400|| data-sort-value="-304"|304–232 BCE||
|-
| ''{{w|The Pillow Book}}''||book written by Sei Shōnagon||1002||style="color:#FF0000;" | 6||996||
|-
| ''{{w|Water Margin}}''||novel by Shi Nai'an|| data-sort-value="1375"|late 1300s||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="150" | ~150|| data-sort-value="1100"|early 1100s
|-
| ''{{w|Richard III (play)|Richard III}}''||play by William Shakespeare||1597||style="color:#FF0000;" | 112–119||1478–1485||
|-
| ''{{w|Henry IV (play)|Henry IV}}''||plays by William Shakespeare||1598*||style="color:#FF0000;" | 185–196||1402–1413||
|-
| ''{{w|King Lear}}''||play by William Shakespeare||1608||style="color:#8B0000;" | 2400|| data-sort-value="-700"|700s BCE||
|-
| ''{{w|King John (play)|King John}}''||play by William Shakespeare||1623||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="400" | ~400|| data-sort-value="1200"|~1200–1216||
|-
| ''{{w|Henry VIII (play)|Henry VIII}}''||play by William Shakespeare||1623||style="color:#FF0000;" | 90–102||1521–1533||
|-
| ''{{w|Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar}}''||play by William Shakespeare||1623||style="color:#8B0000;" | 1667–1670|| data-sort-value="-45"|45–42 BCE||
|-
| ''{{w|Memoirs of the Twentieth Century}}''|| book written by Samuel Madden||1733||style="color:#00FF00;" | 264||1997||
|-
| ''{{w|Rip Van Winkle|Rip Van Winkel}}'' [sic]||short story by Washington Irving||1819||style="color:#FF0000;" | 32–52||1767–1787||It's not clear why Randall has chosen 1787 as the year that Rip Van Winkle awakes.
|-
| ''{{w|The Last of the Mohicans}}''||novel by James Cooper||1826||style="color:#FF0000;" | 69||1757||
|-
| ''{{w|Moby-Dick}}''||novel by Herman Melville||1851||style="color:#FF0000;" | 5+|| data-sort-value="1845"|before 1846 || Inspired by events occurring in 1820, the late 1830s, and the early 1840s
|-
| ''{{w|A Tale of Two Cities}}''|| book by Charles Dickens ||1859||style="color:#FF0000;" | 84||1775
|-
| ''{{w|Les Misérables|Les Miserábles}}'' [sic]||novel by Victor Hugo||1862||style="color:#FF0000;" | 47||1815–1832||
|-
| ''{{w|Treasure Island}}''||novel by Robert Louis Stevenson||1883||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="120" | ~120|| data-sort-value="1760"|~1760||
|-
| ''{{w|Looking Backward}}''|| novel written by Edward Bellamy||1888||style="color:#00FF00;" | 112||2000||
|-
| ''{{w|A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court}}''||novel by Mark Twain||1889||style="color:#8B0000;" | 1361||528||
|-
| ''{{w|Golf in the Year 2000}}''|| novel written by J. McCullough||1892||style="color:#00FF00;" | 108||2000||
|-
| ''{{w|The Time Machine}}''|| novel written by H.G. Wells||1895||style="color:#006400;" | 800,000– 1 billion||802,701– 1 billion|| Note that Randall has included only part of the book; which includes scenes all the way from the time of writing to the death of the last life on Earth. The part of the story marked is so far in the future that the hundred plus years between publication of the book and the comic have no noticeable effect on the timing of the setting.
|-
| ''{{w|Enoch Soames}}''|| short story by Max Beerbohm||1897||style="color:#00FF00;" | 100||1997||
|-
| ''{{w|Gone With The Wind}}''|| novel by Margaret Mitchel ||1936||style="color:#FF0000;" | 75||1861
|-
| ''{{w|Lest Darkness Fall}}''||alternate history SF novel by L. Sprague de Camp||1939||style="color:#8B0000;" | 1404||535||
|-
| ''{{w|Casablanca (film)|Casablanca}}''||film directed by Michael Curtiz||1942||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="0.9" | <1||1941||
|-
| ''{{w|Oklahoma!}}''||Broadway musical||1943||style="color:#FF0000;" | 37||1906||
|-
| ''{{w|Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984}}''||novel written by George Orwell||1949||style="color:#00FF00;" | 35||1984||
|-
| ''{{w|The Bridge on the River Kwai}}''||film by David Lean||1952||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="10" | ~10||1942–1943||
|-
| ''{{w|Gunsmoke}}''||American radio and television series||1952*||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="75" | ~75||1870s||1952 is when the radio series started. The TV series didn't start until 1955.
|-
| ''{{w|The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments}}''||film by Cecil B. DeMille||1956||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="3000" | ~3000|| data-sort-value="-1446"|{{w|The Exodus#Date|~1446 BCE}}||The full timespan is supposedly 80 years (40 before Moses is exiled, then 40 in exile).
|-
| ''{{w|The Music Man}}''||Broadway musical||1957||style="color:#FF0000;" | 45||1912||
|-
| ''{{w|Wythnos yng Nghymru Fydd|A Week in the Wales of the Future}}''||novel written by Islwyn Ffowc Elis||1957||style="color:#006400;" | 76||2033||
|-
|''{{w|Asterix}}''||French comic by Goscinny and Uderzo||1959*||style="color:#8B0000;" | 2009|| data-sort-value="-50"|50 BCE||
|-
| ''{{w|The Flintstones}}''||TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera||1960*||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="2,500,000" | ~2.5 million|| data-sort-value="-2,500,000"|{{w|Stone Age|Stone Age}}||
|-
| ''{{w|Catch-22}}'' (Book)||novel by Joseph Heller||1961||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="17" | ~17||1942–44||
|-
| ''{{w|The Jetsons}}''||TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera||1962*||style="color:#006400;" | 100||data-sort-value="2062"|~2062||
|-
| ''{{w|Lawrence of Arabia}}''||film by David Lean||1962||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="44" | ~44||1916–1918||
|-
| ''{{w|The Great Escape (film)|The Great Escape}}''||film by John Sturges||1963||style="color:#FF0000;" | 20||1943–1944||
|-
| ''{{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek}}'' (TOS)||TV series created by Gene Roddenberry||1966*||style="color:#006400;" | 298||2264||
|-
| ''{{w|Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde}}''||film by Arthur Penn||1967||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="33" | ~33||1932–1934||
|-
| ''{{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey}}''||novel written by Arthur C. Clarke||1968||style="color:#00FF00;" | 33||2001||
|-
| ''{{w|2001: A Space Odyssey|2001: A Space Odyssey}}'' (prologue)||prologue to novel written by Arthur C. Clarke||1968||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="3,000,000" | 3 million|| data-sort-value="-3,000,000"|3 million BCE||4 million years BCE in the movie
|-
| ''{{w|Catch-22 (film)|Catch-22}}'' (Movie)||film by Mike Nichols||1970||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="26" | ~26||1942–1944||
|-
| ''{{w|MASH (film)|M*A*S*H}}''||film by Robert Altman||1970||style="color:#FF0000;" | 19||1951||
|-
| ''{{w|Patton (film)|Patton}}''||film by Franklin J. Schaffner||1970||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="25" | ~25||1943–1945||
|-
| ''{{w|American Graffiti}}''||film by George Lucas||1973||style="color:#FF0000;" | 11||1962||
|-
| ''{{w|Blazing Saddles}}''||film by Mel Brooks||1974||style="color:#8B0000;" | 100||1874||
|-
| ''{{w|Chinatown (1974 film)|Chinatown}}''||film by Roman Polanski||1974||style="color:#FF0000;" | 37||1937||
|-
| ''{{w|Happy Days}}''||TV series||1974*||style="color:#FF0000;" | 19–29||1955–1965||
|-
| ''{{w|Space: 1999}}''||TV series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson||1975*||style="color:#00FF00;" | 24||1999||
|-
| ''{{w|Annie (musical)|Annie}}'' (play)||Broadway musical||1977||style="color:#8B0000;" | 44||1933||
|-
| ''{{w|Roots (miniseries)|Roots}}''||TV series, adapted from eponymous novel||1977||style="color:#8B0000;" | 90–227||1750–1882||
|-
| ''{{w|Star Wars#Original trilogy|Star Wars}}'' (IV – VI)||original film trilogy ||1977*|| style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="1,000,000,000" | 1 billion || data-sort-value="-1,000,000,000"|"A long time ago"|| It's not clear why Randall has chosen 1 billion years here. Wookieepedia puts the age of the ''Star Wars'' galaxy at [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/13,000,000,000_BBY ~13 billion years], and our Universe is only 13.8 billion years old, and the oldest known galaxy took 380 million years to form... So it would seem ''Star Wars'' should be no farther than 400 million years in the past, give or take.
|-
| ''{{w|Grease (film)|Grease}}''||film by Randall Kleiser||1978||style="color:#FF0000;" | 20||1958||
|-
| ''{{w|Apocalypse Now}}''||film by Francis Ford Coppola||1979||style="color:#FF0000;" | 10||1969||
|-
| ''{{w|Chariots of Fire}}''||film by Hugh Hudson||1981||style="color:#8B0000;" | 57||1924||
|-
| ''{{w|2010: Odyssey Two}}''||novel written by Arthur C. Clarke||1982||style="color:#00FF00;" | 28||2010||
|-
| ''{{w|Annie (1982 film)|Annie}}'' (movie)||film adaptation of the above by John Huston||1982||style="color:#8B0000;" | 49||1933||
|-
| ''{{w|Gandhi (film)|Gandhi}}''||film by Richard Attenborough||1982||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="34" | ~34||1893–1948||
|-
| ''{{w|The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff}}''||film by Philip Kaufman||1983||style="color:#FF0000;" data-sort-value="20" | ~20||1947–63||
|-
| ''{{w|The Transformers (TV series)|Transformers}}'' (TV Series)||TV series||1984*||style="color:#00FF00;" data-sort-value="20" | ~20||data-sort-value="2004"|~2004||Only seasons 3 and 4 are set in the year 2005 onwards. Seasons 1 and 2 were set in 1984-85.
|-
| ''{{w|Back to the Future}}''||film by Robert Zemeckis||1985||style="color:#FF0000;" | 30||1955||
|-
| ''{{w|Platoon (film)|Platoon}}''||film by Oliver Stone||1986||style="color:#FF0000;" | 21||1967||
|-
| ''{{w|Dirty Dancing}}''||film by Emile Ardolino||1987||style="color:#FF0000;" | 24||1963||
|-
| ''{{w|Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek: The Next Generation}}''||TV series created by Gene Roddenberry||1987*||style="color:#006400;" | 377||2364||
|-
| ''{{w|2061: Odyssey Three}}''||novel written by Arthur C. Clarke||1987||style="color:#006400;" | 74||2061||
|-
| ''{{w|The Wonder Years}}''||TV series||1988*||style="color:#FF0000;" | 20–25||1968–1973||
|-
| ''{{w|Back to the Future Part II|Back to the Future Part II}}''||film directed by Robert Zemeckis||1989||style="color:#00FF00;" | 26||2015||Only the first part of the movie is set in 2015; later the setting moves to an alternate 1985 and a revisit of 1955.
|-
| ''{{w|Zero Wing}}''||arcade/computer game||1989||style="color:#006400;" | 112||2101||Previously referenced in [[887: Future Timeline]]
|-
| ''{{w|Back to the Future Part III}}''||film by Robert Zemeckis||1990||style="color:#8B0000;" | 105||1885||
|-
| ''{{w|JFK (film)|JFK}}''||film by Oliver Stone||1991||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="22" | ~22||1963–1969||
|-
| ''{{w|Terminator 2: Judgment Day|Terminator 2}}'' (1995 Portion)||film directed by James Cameron||1991||style="color:#00FF00;" | 4||1995||
|-
| ''{{w|The Sandlot}}''||film by David Mickey Evans||1993||style="color:#8B0000;" | 31||1962||
|-
| ''{{w|Schindler's List}}''||film by Steven Spielberg||1993||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="50" | ~50||1939–1945||
|-
| ''{{w|Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13}}''||film by Ron Howard||1995||style="color:#8B0000;" | 25||1970||
|-
| ''{{w|Raptor Red}}''||novel by Robert Bakker||1995||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="65,000,000" | ~65 million|| data-sort-value="-65,000,000"|{{w|Cretaceous Period}}||
|-
| ''{{w|Evita (1996 film)|Evita}}''||film by Alan Parker||1996||style="color:#8B0000;" | 44||1952||
|-
| ''{{w|3001: The Final Odyssey}}''||novel written by Arthur C. Clarke||1997||style="color:#006400;" | 1004||3001||
|-
| ''{{w|The Big Lebowski}}''||film by the Coen Brothers||1998||style="color:#FF0000;" | 7||1991||
|-
| ''{{w|The Prince of Egypt}}''||animated film by DreamWorks||1998||style="color:#8B0000;" | 3400||data-sort-value="-1446"|{{w|The Exodus#Date|~1446 BCE}}||Despite the same plot of ''The Ten Commandments'', it covers only about 30 years given its Moses is much younger.
|-
| ''{{w|Saving Private Ryan}}''||film by Steven Spielberg||1998||style="color:#8B0000;" | 54||1944||
|-
| ''{{w|That '70s Show}}''||TV series||1998*||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="22" | ~22|||1976–1979||
|-
| ''{{w|Freaks and Geeks}}''||TV series||1999*||style="color:#8B0000;" | 19||1980–1981||
|-
| ''{{w|Star Wars#Prequel trilogy|Star Wars}}'' (I – III)||prequel film trilogy||1999*||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="1,000,000,000" | 1 billion || data-sort-value="-1,000,000,000"|"A long time ago"|| See note at episodes IV–VI
|-
| ''{{w|Pearl Harbor (film)|Pearl Harbor}}''||film by Michael Bay||2001||style="color:#8B0000;" | 60||1941||
|-
| ''{{w|Star Trek: Enterprise|Enterprise}}''||TV series||2001*||style="color:#006400;" | 150||2151||
|-
| ''{{w|I Love the '80s (U.S. TV series)|I Love the '80s}}''||TV miniseries by VH1||2002||style="color:#8B0000;" | 13–22||1980–1989||
|-
| ''{{w|Ice Age (film series)|Ice Age}}''||animated films by Blue Sky Studios||2002*||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="12,000" | ~12,000|| data-sort-value="-12,000"|{{w|Last glacial period|Paleolithic-Mesolithic}}||
|-
| ''{{w|Hotel Rwanda}}''|| film directed by Terry George||2004||style="color:#FF0000;" | 10||1994||
|-
| ''{{w|I Love the '90s (U.S. TV series)|I Love the '90s}}''|| TV miniseries on VH1||2004||style="color:#FF0000;" | 5–14||1990–1999||
|-
| ''{{w|United 93 (film)|United 93}}''|| film directed by Paul Greengrass||2006||style="color:#FF0000;" | 5||2001||
|-
| ''{{w|300 (film)|300}}''||film by Zack Snyder||2007||style="color:#8B0000;" | 2487|| data-sort-value="-480"|{{w|Battle of Thermopylae|480 BCE}}||
|-
| ''{{w|Mad Men}}''||TV series||2007*||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="47" | ~47||1960–1970||
|-
|''{{w|10,000 BC (film)|10,000 BC}}''||film by Roland Emmerich||2008||style="color:#8B0000;" | 11,992|| data-sort-value="-10,000"|10,000 BCE||
|-
| ''{{w|Year One (film)|Year One}}''||film by Harold Ramis||2009||style="color:#8B0000;" | 2008||1 CE||
|-
| ''{{w|Downton Abbey}}''||TV series||2010*||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="90" | ~90||1912–1923||
|-
| ''{{w|The Wolf of Wall Street}}''||film by Martin Scorsese||2013||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="18" | ~18||1987–1995||
|-
| ''{{w|I Love the 2000s|I Love the 2000s}}''|| TV miniseries on VH1||2014||style="color:#8B0000;" | 14||2000||
|-
| ''{{w|Star Wars sequel trilogy|Star Wars}}'' (VII – IX)||sequel film trilogy||2015*||style="color:#8B0000;" data-sort-value="1,000,000,000" | 1 billion || data-sort-value="-1,000,000,000"|"A long time ago"|| See note at episodes IV–VI
|-
|}

==Errors==

===Dates===
*''{{w|Star Trek: The Next Generation}}'' is vertically positioned at about 500 years in the future, slightly too high for its actual date. This may be to allow room for other nearby labels.
*The {{w|Gospels}} are horizontally positioned at about the year 250 CE, when they should be positioned slightly further to the left, near the 100 CE line. (While there is debate on their date of authorship, the range of "years in the past" indicated on the graph would require authorship between roughly 50 and 100 CE.)
*''{{w|Lest Darkness Fall}}'' takes place about 1400 years in the past, in the year 535. Its placement on the graph indicates it takes place about ''535'' years in the past, in the year ''1400''.

===Spelling===
*Author Washington Irving titled his work ''{{w|Rip Van Winkle}}'', not ''Rip van Winkel'' as [[Randall]] spells it. That said, ''van {{w|nl:Winkel|Winkel}}'' may be a more historically authentic spelling.
*''{{w|Les Misérables}}'' has been misspelled ''Les Miserábles'' (note that French doesn't use the character "á").

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:'''Date of publication'''
:[A logarithmic scale running horizontally, from 3000 BCE to past 2015 CE.]
:'''Years in the future'''
:[A logarithmic scale running vertically, from 1 billion down to 0.]
:'''Stories set in the future''' (science fiction, prediction)
::Stories set in 2015
::[A line divides this region into two. The upper side is labelled "still possible"; the lower side is labelled "obsolete".]
:[From left to right.]
::Memoirs of the Twentieth Century [1700, 265 years in the future]
::Looking Backward [1888, 112 years in the future]
::Golf in the Year 2000 [1892, 108 years in the future]
::The Time Machine [1895, 800 thousand to 30 million years in the future]
::Enoch Soames [1916, ''circa'' 60 years in the future]
::1984 [1949, 35 years in the future]
::A Week in the Wales of the Future [1957, 76 years in the future]
::The Jetsons [1962-63, 100 years in the future]
::Star Trek [1966-69, 300 years in the future]
::2001: A Space Odyssey [1968, 33 years in the future]
::Space: 1999 [1975-77, 24 years in the future]
::2010: Odyssey Two [1982, 28 years in the future]
::Transformers (TV series) [1984-87, 20 years in the future]
::2061: Odyssey Three [1987, 74 years in the future]
::Star Trek: The Next Generation [1987-94, ''circa'' 500 years in the future]
::Back to the Future Part II [1989, 26 years in the future]
::Zero Wing [1989, 112 years in the future]
::Terminator 2 (1995 portion) [1991, 4 years in the future]
::3001: The Final Odyssey [1997, 1004 years in the future]
::Enterprise [2001-2005, 150 years in the future]
::This chart [2015, 0 years in the future]
:'''Years in the past'''
:[A logarithmic scale running vertically, from 0 down past 1 billion to "Big Bang"]
:'''Stories set in the past''' (History, Period Fiction)
::Stories written X years ago and set 2X years ago
::[A line divides this region into two. The upper side is labelled as follows.]
::'''Former period pieces'''
::Stories set in the past, but created long enough ago that they were published closer to their setting than to today.
::Modern audiences may not recognize which parts were ''supposed'' to sound old.
:[From left to right.]
::The Epic of Gilgamesh [''circa'' 2100 BCE, 600 years in the past]
::The Iliad [''circa'' 800 BCE, 450 years in the past]
::History of the Peloponnesian War [''circa'' 390 BCE, 10 years in the past]
::Book of Genesis [''circa'' 500 BCE, 4000 years in the past]
::Ashokavadana [''circa'' 100 BCE, 300 years in the past]
::Gospels (various estimates) [''circa'' 250 CE, 24 to 75 years in the past]
::The Pillow Book [1000 CE, 5 years in the past]
::Water Margin [''circa'' 1300, 195 years in the past]
::Richard III [''circa'' 1590, 115 years in the past]
::Julius Caesar [1599, 1650 years in the past]
::King John [''circa'' 1600, 500 years in the past]
::Henry IV [''circa'' 1600, 190 years in the past]
::King Lear [''circa'' 1606, 3000 years in the past]
::Henry VIII [''circa'' 1612, 105 years in the past]
::The Last of the Mohicans [1826, 69 years in the past]
::Rip Van Winkel [1819, 31-51 years in the past]
::A Tale of Two Cities [1859, 60 years in the past]
::Moby-Dick [1851, anywhere from 4 to 14 years ago]
:::"Some years ago--never mind how long precisely..."
::Les Miserábles [1862, 30 years in the past]
::Treasure Island [1883, 130 years in the past]
::A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court [1889, 2000 years in the past]
::Gone with the Wind [1936, 70 years in the past]
::Lest Darkness Fall [1939, 550 years in the past]
::Casablanca [1942, 1 year in the past]
::Oklahoma! [1943, 37 years in the past]
::The Ten Commandments [1956, 1400 years in the past]
::The Bridge on the River Kwai [1957, 13 years in the past]
::Gunsmoke [1952-61, 80 years in the past]
::The Flintstones [1960-66, 100,000 years in the past]
::Catch-22 (book) [1961, 18 years in the past]
::The Great Escape [1963, 20 years in the past]
::Asterix
::Lawrence of Arabia
::The Music Man
::Bonnie and Clyde
::2001: A Space Odyssey (prologue)
::American Graffiti
::Patton
::Catch-22 (movie) [1970, 27 years in the past]
::Chinatown
::Blazing Saddles
::Apocalypse Now
::Happy Days
::Grease
::M*A*S*H
::Annie (play)
::Roots
::Chariots of Fire
::Star Wars (IV-VI)
::Annie (movie)
::The Right Stuff
::Back to the Future
::Gandhi
::Platoon
::Dirty Dancing
::Back to the Future Part III
::The Wonder Years
::JFK
::The Sandlot
::Schindler's List
::Raptor Red
::Apollo 13
::Star Wars (I-III)
::The Big Lebowski
::Evita
::Saving Private Ryan
::The Prince of Egypt
::Freaks and Geeks
::Hotel Rwanda
::I Love the '80s
::That '70s Show
::Pearl Harbor
::Ice Age
::I Love the '90s
::United 93
::300
::10,000 BC
::Year One
::The Wolf of Wall Street
::I Love the 2000s
::Mad Men
::Downton Abbey
::Star Wars (VII-IX)

{{comic discussion}}
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