explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2324: Old Days 2

2020-06-26T01:15:33Z

108.162.216.208: The city is the capital, the building is the capitol.

{{comic
| number = 2324
| date = June 24, 2020
| title = Old Days 2
| image = old_days_2.png
| titletext = The git vehicle fleet eventually pivoted to selling ice cream, but some holdovers remain. If you flag down an ice cream truck and hand the driver a floppy disk, a few hours later you'll get an invite to a git repo.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIT ICE-CREAM VAN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this sequel to [[1755: Old Days]], which was released more than 3.5 years ago, the conversation continues, as if no time has passed, between (young) [[Cueball]] and (old) [[Hairbun]] about computer programming in the past. As in the first comic in [[:Category:Old Days|this series]], Cueball, having only a faint idea of just how difficult and byzantine programming was "in the old days", asks Hairbun to enlighten him on the specifics. Hairbun promptly seizes the opportunity to screw with his head.

The claims:
* The cloud was smaller and called a "Mainframe" and was near Sacramento.
** This is a joke on many {{w|Cloud computing|cloud services}} replacing {{w|mainframe}}s. In those early days, it is true that large mainframes would handle multiple people's jobs at once, using techniques like {{w|time-sharing}} (although they were not necessarily located near {{w|Sacramento}}, the capital of California.). What's more, the basic ideas behind how cloud computing are used go way back. {{w|Multics}} was an early time-sharing system designed to "support a computing utility similar to the telephone and electricity utilities". The idea was similar to the cloud, where anybody could just hook up and get computing service, as well as other services built into the mainframe. For this reason, many of the computer security concepts we have today - such as {{w|Kernel_(operating_system)|kernelized operating systems}} - come from early systems like Multics.
* It was on the state landline.
** In the days of mainframes, remote users often used {{w|landline}}s (i.e. hard wired telephone connections) to communicate, via {{w|dial-up modem}}s, and so users would have to disconnect for making phone calls. Even in the age of all landlines, there was never such a thing as "the state landline", imagined as an immense shared {{w|Party line (telephony)|party line}} to which the governor would have priority access for making calls.
* No memory protection; instead, people would call around to ask whether anyone else using an address, and Microsoft's early foothold in computing was because of {{w|Bill Gates}} lying about his usage of addresses.
** {{w|Memory protection}} protects storage from access by other programs or users. Many computer systems provide hardware and operating systems to support this. Hairbun is correct in that this sort of code was not well-developed early on. She claims that management of the memory was all done manually by agreement of the developers, and the only way to check if editing a particular address in the Mainframe was safe was physically asking all the other developers if they were already using it. Her implication is that Bill Gates took advantage of this honor system to restrict people not working for {{w|Microsoft}} from making changes, allowing the company to take ownership of a lot of code. In early PCs it was common to use specific memory locations, defined by the operating system, to communicate with the operating system or perform particular functions.
* "Git" was a van that drove around gathering tapes to copy, and the term "pull request" came from the van physically pulling over when signaled with an air horn.
** {{w|Git}} is a {{w|version control system}}, which employs and manages a centralized copy of a coding project to prevent and resolve conflicts from multiple people editing the project at once. It works by having individual contributors {{w|Pull request|pull}} the project onto their device, make their changes, and then push those changes back to the master copy to be integrated into it. Bulk data used to be stored on {{w|magnetic tape}}; in order for version control to exist at this time, there would have to be a master tape that was copied and physically distributed to each contributor, and then the edited tapes would be gathered afterward and conflicts resolved. Hairbun claims that Git provided this service back then using vans. In reality, Git did not exist until 2005, long after digital computers and networked servers became widely accessible and the "early internet" was history.
* Before terminals we all used punch cards, which were originally developed to control looms, and so the Mainframe would produce sweaters when code was run.
** Another initial truth going into complete nonsense. It is true that some looms were controlled by {{w|punch card}}s (dating back to 1745), and so were early computer precursors. At the same time {{w|Charles Babbage}} used them around 1830 to control his {{w|Analytical Engine}}. However, Hairbun's statement is that because of this, the ''same'' punch card machines would run both ''simultaneously'', such that feeding a set of cards to compile code would necessarily cause a sweater to be produced by the connected loom, which was then sent to the developer. For one: a loom doesn't produce sweaters, but a piece of fabric (which is often patterned if punch cards are involved). And it's not likely that any punch patterns used in computer coding would be interpretable as a suitable pattern for a sweater.
* (From the title text) You can still hand in a floppy disk to an ice cream truck and get an invite to a git repo a few hours later.
** Git repo is short for Git {{w|Repository (version control)|repository}}, the place where all the files associated with a project are stored. Hairbun tries to convince Cueball that modern ice cream truck drivers service Git in the same way she says the vans did before and that it's still possible to give them a {{w|floppy disk}} (a magnetic storage device) in order to gain access to a repo. The ice cream industry has no connection to computing.{{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[In a slim panel, Cueball and Hairbun are walking together to the right. Hairbun has her palm raised.]
:Cueball: What was the Internet like in the olden days, for a developer?
:Hairbun: Oh, things were very different.

:[Cueball and Hairbun have stopped walking. Zoomed in on Hairbun.]
:Hairbun: The cloud was a lot smaller. It was called a "mainframe" and it was near Sacramento.
:Hairbun: It was on the state landline, so the whole industry paused when the governor had to make a phone call.

:[Zoomed back out. Hairbun has her palm raised.]
:Hairbun: There was no memory protection. If you wanted to write to an address, you would call around to ask whether anyone else was using it.
:Hairbun: Often Bill Gates would say he was, even when he wasn't. That's how Microsoft got its early foothold.
:Cueball: Wow.

:[Zoomed back in Hairbun. Cueball responds off-screen.]
:Hairbun: "Git" was originally a van that circled around gathering data tapes to copy and distribute. We all took turns driving it.
:Hairbun: When you saw it coming you'd blow an air horn to request that it pull over.
:Hairbun: That's where "pull request" came from.
:Cueball (off-screen): Oh, neat!

:[Cueball and Hairbun continue walking to the right. Hairbun has her palm raised.]
:Hairbun: Before terminals, we all used punch cards, which were originally developed to control looms.
:Hairbun: Early mainframes would produce a sweater each time you ran your code.
:Hairbun: Eventually we got them to stop. We had enough sweaters.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Old Days]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Old Days]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Version Control]]

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-03T13:22:52Z

108.162.216.208: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collectors Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. The space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at `https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png`, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom urls, for example the periodic elements can be found at `https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-XX.png`, where XX is the element, and text loot at `https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-X.png`, where X is the sentence.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row|| || ||
|-
|Get out the (US) vote|| || ||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| || ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source|| || ||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || ||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock ||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors ||
|-
|Take a ride in a barrel|| || ||
|-
|I want to believe|| || ||
|-
|Bleeped|| || ||
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick|| || ||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[2195: Dockless Roombas]]||An electric scooter||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[2032: Word Puzzles]] || ||
|-
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699]] || ||
|-
|Participation trophy|| || ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover ||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart ||
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove ||
|-
|Take it from the top|| || ||
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| || ||
|-
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements|| || ||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| || ||
|-
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist ||
|-
|Call the plumber|| || ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?|| || ||
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda ||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || ||
|-
|A new model released each year|| || ||
|-
|Tea Time||[[579: The Race: Part 3]] ||Floor tea ||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || ||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] ||maze ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish|| || ||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||No chest - hint disappears ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!|| || ||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though|| || ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[351: Trolling]] || ||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]]|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]]|| ||
|-
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] || ||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99|| || ||
|-
|Going in circles|| || ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign||
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? ||
|-
|Fool me twice||[[880: Headache]] ||Raptor Attack ||
|-
|oOOOoooo|| || || https://xkcd.com/316/ ?
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes|| || ||
|-
|HACK THE PLANET|| || ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur|| || ||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help|| || ||
|-
|Go big to go small|| || ||
|-
|Are you projecting|| || ||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs|| || ||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?|| || ||
|-
|Another rulebook?|| || possibly https://xkcd.com/393/? ||
|-
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]] || MOOOOOON ||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || ||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace|| || ||
|-
|Community contribution|| || ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[2218: Wardrobe]] || ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day|| || ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || ||
|-
|Try a different approach|| || ||
|-
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake ||
|-
|Go big to go small|| || ||
|-
|Joanna, fire.|| || ||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| || ||
|}

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic, and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

2258: Solar System Changes

2020-01-28T17:55:45Z

108.162.216.208: Neith

{{comic
| number = 2258
| date = January 22, 2020
| title = Solar System Changes
| image = solar_system_changes.png
| titletext = "Actually, Jupiter already has a very impressive ring system!" --someone who knows Jupiter is within earshot
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MYSTERIOUS PLANET. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows a drawing with a standard sketch of the {{w|Solar System}}, featuring the Sun, 8 planets, the asteroid belt, and Pluto. [[Randall]] then proposes eight changes to the solar system that he would make if he had the power to do so. Each change is drawn in red with explanatory labels. Performing these changes would be impossible in practice{{Citation needed}}, and would probably make the solar system unstable if actually performed{{Citation needed}}.

See explanations of each proposed change in the [[#Table of proposed changes|table]] below.

The title text refers to {{w|Rings of Jupiter|Jupiter's rings}}, which exist but which are not nearly as prominent as Saturn's.

The title text is being spoken by "someone who knows [that] Jupiter is within earshot," implying that the speaker does not wish to offend Jupiter. which does have its own ring system, just one so small that it's not visible via telescope. Considering that Jupiter is known to disrupt the asteroid belt and send asteroids towards the inner solar system (cf. {{w|Kirkwood gap}}) and completely destroy other celestial bodies ({{w|Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9}}), someone who is "within earshot" of Jupiter may wish to reassure the planet that they think its ring system is already very impressive when they really don't.

Randall has in the past proposed other types of ridiculous changes, such as in [[1061: EST]], [[1069: Alphabet]], and [[1902: State Borders]].

==Table of proposed changes==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Proposed change !! Explanation
|-
| Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit || In the 19th century, scientists found discrepancies between Mercury's predicted orbit and observations. They proposed a hypothetical planet, {{w|Vulcan (hypothetical planet)|Vulcan}}, to account for this discrepancy. After general relativity was discovered by Albert Einstein in the 20th century, it was found to account for these discrepancies.

Planets inside Mercury's orbit would be "mysterious" because they would be difficult to see (due to being above the horizon only during the day and a short period of twilight) or visit (spacecraft travelling inside Mercury's orbit are subject to enormous amounts of sunlight, causing them to overheat). If such planets existed, it's plausible that flybys wouldn't have occurred until very recently.
|-
| After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon || Billions of years ago, Venus and Earth are believed to have been almost identical objects orbiting the Sun. However, orbiting somewhat closer to the Sun, Venus became sufficiently hot that its oceans evaporated, cloaking the surface with gases that caused the Sun's heat to become trapped. This made the planet even hotter, causing a [[1519|runaway greenhouse effect]], and ultimately Venus became very much hotter than the Earth. In turn, the lack of water caused Venerean plate tectonics to fail, causing Venus to have periodic "resurfacing" events where the entire crust is recycled by volcanism. On top of that, Venus was almost certainly hit by an enormous object, hard enough that its spin was completely reversed. Randall may be saying that Venus has fared so badly throughout its life that it deserves some compensation, like rings or a moon.

Alternatively, Randall could be referring to how we see Venus now as opposed to in the past. A hundred years ago, scientists considered Venus and Mars to be equally likely candidates for life and future human exploration - one being a little warmer than Earth and the other a little colder. However, when we sent spacecraft to Venus and Mars in the 1960s, we quickly discovered that [https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ Venus is a terrible place]. Its atmosphere is more than 90 times as dense as Earth's and its surface temperature is over 450° C (800° F), not to mention the sulfuric acid rain. Spacecraft that have landed on its surface have lasted a couple hours at most. As a result, missions to Venus have become far rarer since the 1960s, while missions to Mars have remained frequent. Randall might be saying that most people don't consider Venus to be nearly as fascinating place as they used to, and that it would be far more interesting with rings, or at least a moon like Earth or Mars.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, some astronomers (most notably Giovanni Cassini) claimed to have found a {{w|Neith (hypothetical moon)|moon of Venus}}, but that was later determined to be an illusion.

Note that, due to the retrograde spin of Venus, any prograde-orbiting moon would inspiral due to tidal drag (the same effect causing the Moon to slowly move away from the Earth). It is unknown whether Venus used to have moons that were destroyed by this mechanism (possibly passing through a ring state in the process).
|-
| Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions. || Mars has a lot more geological variety than the moon, and is much larger and has active weather patterns, and would therefore look far more interesting than the moon when seen from Earth. In addition, by replacing Earth's current moon with Mars, sending spacecraft to the moon and Mars wouldn't require separate missions and could thus be consolidated into a single one. This would benefit NASA's space exploration efforts, which have suffered from presidents alternating targets for human exploration between "moon-to-Mars" versus "Mars direct" architectures.

Unfortunately, replacing our moon with Mars would have some negative side-effects for both worlds. Mars is 8.7 times more massive than the moon, which means that it would raise much stronger tides on Earth than our moon does now. As for Mars, it would now be significantly warmer than in its present orbit. The ice caps would likely sublimate, and what little water is left on the planet could boil away due to the lack of a thick atmosphere.

Incidentally, the Moon is thought to have been formed by an impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. While Randall probably means well, the situation could get out of control very quickly.
|-
| The solar system needs a super-Earth || {{w|Super-Earth|Super-Earths}} are a type of {{w|Exoplanet|exoplanet}} -- a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun -- that are significantly larger than Earth but significantly smaller than the gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). While they are relatively common among systems in which smaller exoplanets have been found, our Solar System doesn't have any super-Earths, and with Mars being moved to replace the Moon, its location would be open to a new planet. With a super-Earth nearby, astronomers would be able to get a much better idea of what they are like. A super-Earth might also be an exciting place to colonize, although [https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition30/tryanny.html it would not be possible to return to orbit from such a planet] with current rocket technology.
|-
| More asteroids! || Asteroids belts are usually portrayed in fiction as being incredibly crowded with asteroids, so much so that they pose a significant hazard for spaceships. In reality, the asteroid belt is much more boring, as most large asteroids are millions of miles from their nearest neighbor. The number of asteroids in the asteroid belt is indeterminate, as they range in size from dwarf planets {{w|Asteroid|down to about a meter across}}, and more than 100,000 have been found. Despite this, the density of asteroids in the belt is low enough that spacecraft have no problem flying through the belt untouched. Randall wants more asteroids.
|-
| Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn") || Jupiter is the largest planet, with a volume larger than all other planets combined, and it displays striking weather patterns such as the {{w|Great Red Spot}}. Saturn, with its prominent ring system, is perhaps the most spectacular, but the planet itself looks very bland. Randall would merge the two, creating one planet that would dominate by both size and appearance. The two planets' moons would also be combined: the "Jaturn" diagram shows both the Galilean moons (the four largest moons of Jupiter) and Titan (the largest moon of Saturn) orbiting outside of Jaturn's rings.
|-
| Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair. || Uranus and Neptune are often regarded as being planetary "fraternal twins." Both have approximately the same size, the same mass, and the same composition - they even have similarly bizarre magnetic fields. Uranus's most notable trait is that its axial tilt is almost 98°, meaning it lies on its side and has a seasonal cycle unlike that of any other planet. However, this causes Uranus to look completely featureless most of the time, which makes it less interesting, while Neptune has more active weather patterns, including, episodically, a {{w|Great Dark Spot}} similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The name "Uranus" is also {{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|subject to ridicule}} by English speakers.
|-
| Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune || Pluto was considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until 2006, when the International Astronomical Union changed its definition of "planet" and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. However, many people who grew up with Pluto listed as the ninth planet of the solar system were unhappy with the change, a topic that has been the topic of several other xkcd comics ([[473: Still Raw]], [[1551: Pluto]], [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]], etc.). Randall proposes a {{w|Solomonic compromise}} to "satisfy" both the camps who prefer to think of Pluto as "not a dwarf planet" and "not a planet" by making it into a moon. The diagram shows that Charon will also be made a moon of Neptune, and presumably Pluto's other moons as well. Even if the entire Pluto system were transplanted all at once, tidal forces would cause the bodies to drift apart and orbit Neptune independently.

Interestingly, one of the original hypotheses for Pluto's origin is that it and Triton were originally both moons of Neptune, but Triton knocked Pluto out of its orbit into a new orbit around the sun, while Triton remained with Neptune.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A not-to-scale diagram of the solar system is shown with the right edge of the sun on the left side, featuring all eight planets along with their major moons, Pluto (along with its major moon), and the asteroid belt. The original solar system is drawn in black, but several changes have been proposed. If some of the existing planets are removed or changed, they are greyed out, possibly with red crosses over them or red circles or arrows. New planets, moons, rings and asteroids have been added all in red. Each change has been labeled with red text. Only the Sun and Mercury are completely unchanged, Earth and Neptune are not changed directly but their moons have changed. The only black text is a caption at the top:]
:<big>Changes I Would Make to the Solar System</big>

:[Below each of the changes to the solar system is mentioned from left to right, with their labels, that are all in red text. Except for the label under Jupiter and Saturn, there is a line going from the changes to the relevant label.]

:[Three additional planets, one Mercury sized and two smaller on either side very close to each other, have been drawn in between Mercury and the Sun. A bracket marks all three of them and a long line goes from that to the label above, which is even above the next label positioned above the planets.]
:Add mysterious planets inside Mercury's orbit

:[A ring has been drawn around Venus, and a dot representing a moon has been added on its left. A small line goes from the label beneath to Venus.]
:After what it's been through, Venus deserves rings and a moon

:[Next to Earth, drawn with four of the major continents visible, the Moon has been grayed out and crossed out with a red X. Also Mars has been grayed out and it is inside a red circle. An arrow goes from the circle around Mars to the Moon. a small line goes from the arrow between the Moon and Mars to the label above the planets.]
:Replace our moon with Mars. Mars is more interesting and we can consolidate missions.

:[An additional planet, all in red, has been added between Mars and the asteroid belt, about halfway in size between Earth and Neptune. Four continents are visible in a large ocean, along with weather patterns as in an atmosphere. A small line goes from the planet to the label beneath.]
:The Solar System needs a super-Earth

:[Numerous asteroids have been drawn, half in black, with the other half in red added to the existing asteroids that were already there. A small line goes from the asteroids to the label beneath.]
:More asteroids!

:[Jupiter and Saturn have both been greyed out and also crossed out with two red X'es. Two arrows points from each of the original planets to a new larger red planet drawn above the two. This new planet has the belts, zones, Red Spot, and size of Jupiter, and the hexagon on the north pole and rings of Saturn. It also has the four largest moons from Jupiter on one side and the largest moon from Saturn on the other side, with all five drawn similarly to the original moons. Below the two original planets is a label.]
:Merge the big planet and the ringed planet into a big ringed planet ("Jaturn")

:[Uranus is greyed out and also crossed out with a red X. A line goes down to the label beneath it.]
:Cut Uranus. Uranus and Neptune are redundant and Neptune is better. Tough but fair.

:[Pluto and Charon have both been greyed out and are inside a red circle. An arrow points from Pluto and Charon to the right side of Neptune, where Pluto and Charon have been redrawn in red. Neptune's own largest moon is on the other side of Neptune. A line goes from the arrow up to a label above the planet.]
:Settle the planet thing by making Pluto a moon of Neptune

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2239: Data Error

2019-12-09T18:34:59Z

108.162.216.208: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2239
| date = December 9, 2019
| title = Data Error
| image = data_error.png
| titletext = Cyanobacteria wiped out nearly all life on Earth once before, and they can do it again!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by some <s>anomolous</s> ''perfectly normal'' algae. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Black Hat and Megan stand facing each other.]
:Megan: I can't believe this data error invalidates a year and a half of my research.
:Megan: I was about to publish.

:Black Hat: Don't panic. You have two options.
:Megan: Yeah?

:Black Hat: 1) Redo your analysis and share whatever results you can, whether positive or negative. It's disappointing, but these things happen.

:Black Hat: 2) Destroy the evidence. Use your materials and research methods to build a superweapon. Conquer Earth and rule with an iron fist.
:Megan: '''Tremble before my anomalously productive algae!'''
:Megan: Except the anomaly was an artifact.
:Megan: '''Tremble before my normal algae!'''

{{comic discussion}}

2239: Data Error

2019-12-09T18:33:13Z

108.162.216.208: /* Transcript */

2239: Data Error

2019-12-09T18:32:15Z

108.162.216.208: /* Transcript */

Talk:2170: Coordinate Precision

2019-07-01T20:47:05Z

108.162.216.208:

The coordinates seem to show a NASA building, so in the end you're still soing something space related. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.196|172.69.55.196]] 19:47, 1 July 2019 (UTC)Some random European.
:The more precise coordinates are actually in the middle of the Rocket Garden at the Visitor's Center of the Kennedy Space Center complex. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:58, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

The atom-level coordinates are obtained by appending digits of e and pi to the Rocket Garden coordinates. [[User:Ichoran|Ichoran]] ([[User talk:Ichoran|talk]]) 20:21, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

I always find it very funny to see all those decimals. Regular GPS devices have an uncertainty of 3 meters if there is no interference from trees, buildings or whatever. That puts you at about 4 to 5 decimals I guess. [[User:Palmpje|Palmpje]] ([[User talk:Palmpje|talk]]) 20:26, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

So combining this comic with #2169, is Randal suggesting he'll be at the Rocket Garden on July 28th (much as he did in #240)? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 20:47, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2130: Industry Nicknames

2019-03-29T16:04:49Z

108.162.216.208: comment.

While I understand the humor value of using "big" as part of each nickname, "Detroit" would be a more realistic choice instead of "Big Car" (or even "Big Auto") for the car companies. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 16:04, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2117: Differentiation and Integration

2019-02-27T19:09:37Z

108.162.216.208: comment typo. dumb language person here...

Darn, I have no idea what this comic is about. Randal has eluded my yet again. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 17:43, 27 February 2019 (UTC)
:Calculus. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.143|162.158.79.143]] 18:16, 27 February 2019 (UTC)

And Calc 2 is why I stopped being a Computer Science major and moved (eventually) to majoring in English. Consistent 4.0s in math through Trig and Calc I ... 1.6 in Calc II, retook and got a 1.8. Without the Calc, couldn't do the physics; without the physics, couldn't get my 2-yr degree and move on from community college to a full university. I don't know what all the integration stuff in the flowchart is (since I didn't do well in Calc and it was a long time ago), but there's so very many things that become [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonelementary_integral nonelementary integrals] that all sorts of special tricks have to be employed for things that look like they should be easy. It's like having a problem that's very easy to do division on, but requires special advanced mathematical tricks to use multiplication upon.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 19:07, 27 February 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2117: Differentiation and Integration

2019-02-27T19:07:53Z

108.162.216.208: Calculus proves that if there was a divine creator, he, she, it, or they was certainly malevolent and not benevolent as commonly portrayed!

Darn, I have no idea what this comic is about. Randal has eluded my yet again. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 17:43, 27 February 2019 (UTC)
:Calculus. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.143|162.158.79.143]] 18:16, 27 February 2019 (UTC)

And Calc 2 is why I stopped being a Computer Science major and moved (eventually) to majoring in English. Consisted 4.0s in math through Trig and Calc I ... 1.6 in Calc II, retook and got a 1.8. Without the Calc, couldn't do the physics; without the physics, couldn't get my 2-yr degree and move on from community college to a full university. I don't know what all the integration stuff in the flowchart is (since I didn't do well in Calc and it was a long time ago), but there's so very many things that become [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonelementary_integral nonelementary integrals] that all sorts of special tricks have to be employed for things that look like they should be easy. It's like having a problem that's very easy to do division on, but requires special advanced mathematical tricks to use multiplication upon.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 19:07, 27 February 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2098: Magnetic Pole

2019-01-14T20:36:59Z

108.162.216.208:

GPS relies on satellites not the magnetic pole, so it wouldn't be affected.

I was wondering about that. Just added {{Citation needed}} to that and a couple of other alleged facts that should really be cited if true, and removed if not. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 20:35, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

2098: Magnetic Pole

2019-01-14T20:36:34Z

108.162.216.208: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2098
| date = January 14, 2019
| title = Magnetic Pole
| image = magnetic_pole.png
| titletext = People keep trying to come up with reasons that we should worry about the magnetic field collapsing or reversing, but honestly I think it's fine. Whatever minor problems it causes will be made up for by the mid-latitude auroras.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CONVECTION CURRENT IN THE OUTER CORE and a chicken. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Over the last couple of months, Earth's magnetic fields have been shifting rapidly. Although the magnetic fields do move regularly, the current shift has been unexpected and unprecedented. As GPS and many other location systems are reliant on the magnetic fields to function{{Citation needed}}, the accuracy of such tools is being shifted beyond the maximum acceptable error.

Locational and navigational systems use the magnetic field, in addition to a model, to do fancy math and pop out data. Due to the rapid shifts, a new model was scheduled to be out; however, because of the US government shutdown, the model has been considerably delayed.

As shifts occur, the error of geopositional data will increase until a new model is released. The effect is especially pronounced as you move toward the poles.

Since the movement is only equal to about two-fifths of a degree{{Citation needed}}, it wouldn't cause very much disruption for [[Cueball]] or require him to adjust anything about his lifestyle or habits, but since the speed of the change has been steadily increasing over the past few years, it may mean we are heading for a geomagnetic reversal in the next few decades; something be very exciting indeed. During a magnetic reversal, the poles wouldn't just switch places, but several different poles would form and interact very chaotically{{Citation needed}}, and, statistically speaking, it's likely that one of them would end up close enough to where [[Randall]] lives to cause auroras to become more common at some point during the transition

In the title text, Randall mentions that there are reasons people could be concerned, but says that they would be more than made up for by newly being able to experience mid latitude auroras.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Cueball are talking to each other. White Hat has a cellphone in his hand, while Cueball is raising his hands in the air in mock exasperation.]
:White Hat: I just read that the Earth's North magnetic pole is drifting rapidly.
:Cueball: Oh no! I must update our declination tables post haste, lest our merchant schooners run aground on the shoals!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I like when the Earth's magnetic field does weird stuff, because it's a huge, cool, urgent-seeming science thing, but there's nothing I personally need to do about it.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2098: Magnetic Pole

2019-01-14T20:35:27Z

108.162.216.208:

GPS relies on satellites not the magnetic pole, so it wouldn't be affected.
I was wondering about that. Just added {{Citation needed}} to that and a couple of other alleged facts that should really be cited if true, and removed if not. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 20:35, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

2098: Magnetic Pole

2019-01-14T20:34:18Z

108.162.216.208: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2098
| date = January 14, 2019
| title = Magnetic Pole
| image = magnetic_pole.png
| titletext = People keep trying to come up with reasons that we should worry about the magnetic field collapsing or reversing, but honestly I think it's fine. Whatever minor problems it causes will be made up for by the mid-latitude auroras.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CONVECTION CURRENT IN THE OUTER CORE and a chicken. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Over the last couple of months, Earth's magnetic fields have been shifting rapidly. Although the magnetic fields do move regularly, the current shift has been unexpected and unprecedented. As GPS and many other location systems are reliant on the magnetic fields to function{{Citation needed}}, the accuracy of such tools is being shifted beyond the maximum acceptable error.

Locational and navigational systems use the magnetic field, in addition to a model, to do fancy math and pop out data. Due to the rapid shifts, a new model was scheduled to be out; however, because of the US government shutdown, the model has been considerably delayed.

As shifts occur, the error of geopositional data will increase until a new model is released. The effect is especially pronounced as you move toward the poles.

Since the movement is only equal to about two-fifths of a degree, it wouldn't cause very much disruption for [[Cueball]] or require him to adjust anything about his lifestyle or habits, but since the speed of the change has been steadily increasing over the past few years, it may mean we are heading for a geomagnetic reversal in the next few decades; something be very exciting indeed. During a magnetic reversal, the poles wouldn't just switch places, but several different poles would form and interact very chaotically{{Citation needed}}, and, statistically speaking, it's likely that one of them would end up close enough to where [[Randall]] lives to cause auroras to become more common at some point during the transition

In the title text, Randall mentions that there are reasons people could be concerned, but says that they would be more than made up for by newly being able to experience mid latitude auroras.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Cueball are talking to each other. White Hat has a cellphone in his hand, while Cueball is raising his hands in the air in mock exasperation.]
:White Hat: I just read that the Earth's North magnetic pole is drifting rapidly.
:Cueball: Oh no! I must update our declination tables post haste, lest our merchant schooners run aground on the shoals!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I like when the Earth's magnetic field does weird stuff, because it's a huge, cool, urgent-seeming science thing, but there's nothing I personally need to do about it.

{{comic discussion}}

2098: Magnetic Pole

2019-01-14T20:30:52Z

108.162.216.208: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2098
| date = January 14, 2019
| title = Magnetic Pole
| image = magnetic_pole.png
| titletext = People keep trying to come up with reasons that we should worry about the magnetic field collapsing or reversing, but honestly I think it's fine. Whatever minor problems it causes will be made up for by the mid-latitude auroras.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CONVECTION CURRENT IN THE OUTER CORE and a chicken. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Over the last couple of months, Earth's magnetic fields have been shifting rapidly. Although the magnetic fields do move regularly, the current shift has been unexpected and unprecedented. As GPS and many other location systems are reliant on the magnetic fields to function, the accuracy of such tools is being shifted beyond the maximum acceptable error.

Locational and navigational systems use the magnetic field, in addition to a model, to do fancy math and pop out data. Due to the rapid shifts, a new model was scheduled to be out; however, because of the US government shutdown, the model has been considerably delayed.

As shifts occur, the error of geopositional data will increase until a new model is released. The effect is especially pronounced as you move toward the poles.

Since the movement is only equal to about two-fifths of a degree, it wouldn't cause very much disruption for [[Cueball]] or require him to adjust anything about his lifestyle or habits, but since the speed of the change has been steadily increasing over the past few years, it may mean we are heading for a geomagnetic reversal in the next few decades; something be very exciting indeed. During a magnetic reversal, the poles wouldn't just switch places, but several different poles would form and interact very chaotically, and, statistically speaking, it's likely that one of them would end up close enough to where [[Randall]] lives to cause auroras to become more common at some point during the transition

In the title text, Randall mentions that there are reasons people could be concerned, but says that they would be more than made up for by newly being able to experience mid latitude auroras.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Cueball are talking to each other. White Hat has a cellphone in his hand, while Cueball is raising his hands in the air in mock exasperation.]
:White Hat: I just read that the Earth's North magnetic pole is drifting rapidly.
:Cueball: Oh no! I must update our declination tables post haste, lest our merchant schooners run aground on the shoals!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I like when the Earth's magnetic field does weird stuff, because it's a huge, cool, urgent-seeming science thing, but there's nothing I personally need to do about it.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2096: Mattresses

2019-01-09T18:44:14Z

108.162.216.208:

'''Image quality'''


I wonder if the fact that it's unclear is in intentional, or if it was somehow a mistake [[User:Zachweix|Zachweix]] ([[User talk:Zachweix|talk]]) 13:46, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

Is it just me, or has the image got some graphical artifacts?[[User:Cyclic3|Cyclic3]] ([[User talk:Cyclic3|talk]])

It's not just you! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.221|141.101.96.221]] 13:52, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

I see it too, I saved a picture in case he fixes it [[User:Catnerd8695|Catnerd8695]] ([[User talk:Catnerd8695|talk]]) 14:09, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

Both "1x" and 2x versions are black and white, not grayscale, causing artifacts. The 2x image, being larger, have less artifacts. Maybe it's caused by some kind of bug, otherwise, if it was intentional, both versions would look similar.

Maybe Randall is having problems with his computer and had to scan the comic with a far less capable software tool than usual. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:15, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

How does one contact him to let him know that he messed up when saving/editing/uploading/whatevering this comic? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:16, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

Also, does he actually have a podcast? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:18, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

I thought it might be a pun based on "new years resolution" but that would've been a couple of comics ago. Came here to see if anyone could explain it as there is normally reason behind his madness.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.71|141.101.99.71]] 14:29, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

It's a 2-bit png, haven't seen one of those for over a decade [[Special:Contributions/172.68.215.112|172.68.215.112]] 14:31, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
:So you mean the only difference is that it has no greyscales? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:36, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

Maybe we should pre-emptively add the original image to the trivia section. [[User:Blacksilver|Blacksilver]] ([[User talk:Blacksilver|talk]]) 15:07, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
:I don't think so. If it stays, nobody will get notified of it and it might stay there for a very long time. And even if it changes, it will be wrong to say something like "it originally looked like this" until that actually happened. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 15:10, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
Just a thought, it's not on purpose, is it? Something to do with the quality of the mattress vs. the quality of the image? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.95|172.68.132.95]] 15:09, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

I think this refers to the fact that casper mattresses, meundies and stamps.com are heavy advertisers on many podcasts, and that podcast advertising is often made by the host and mixed with actual podcast content.
[[User:Dromaeosaur|Dromaeosaur]] ([[User talk:Dromaeosaur|talk]]) 15:20, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

Zooming fixes the issue. Would it be possible for someone to rescale it properly, and then set that as the image, until Randall fixes it? [[User:Cyclic3|Cyclic3]] ([[User talk:Cyclic3|talk]]) 15:25, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
:No, it does not. Your browser or image viewer might interpolate between white and black pixels if you zoom in, but that's actually an even lower image quality. And you might not notice it too much if you only look at a single line. But no, zooming does not fix it. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 15:28, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

Any chance of steganography? {{unsigned|172.68.150.82}}
:What? What does that have to do with this comic? And what are you expecting to happen or have happened? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 15:37, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

Hey, it's just been fixed! I'll start uploading the new one now. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 15:46, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

:Instead of uploading as a new image in the wiki, shouldn't we just update the existing image with the new file? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 16:07, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
::The comic image always has to be updated and the file name must NOT be changed. The name is the same as the comic name and appears automatically in some lists. While someone already had done the proper update I've changed the link at this explanation back to the original and deleted the now unnecessary duplicate. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:07, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

'''Post Office'''

The named products are not from the comic and seem to reflect the writers bias. Besides postmates, it could as well be stamps.com. I am not sure, but I believe to remember that other matress and underware companies advertise on podcasts as well. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.10|162.158.75.10]] 17:34, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
:There is no way that this is referencing Postmates. It's definitely Stamps.com -- which advertises on nearly every podcast I listen to. It also makes more sense -- the Stamps.com ad directly references avoiding going to the post office. Casper and Meundies also have to be correct -- listening to podcasts, that's basically all I hear.
[[User:Joefresco|User:Joefresco]] ([[User talk:User:Joefresco|talk]]) 18:03, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
:: I have heard a lot of adds about tommyjohn on Pod Safe America (https://medium.com/crookedmedia/crooked-codes-866128fda384) and Mack Weldon as well. They also have advertisements for Helix Sleep another mattress. I think there is a good reason the comic doesn't mention company names but product categories.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 18:44, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

'''Floor'''

Next week there is actually a "flooring" fair in Hannover. Pretty fitting to the title text, but not very fitting to my plans for using trains, because that messes up their departure times.

German website for it: https://www.visit-hannover.com/Messen-Kongresse/Messekalender-Hannover/Messen-2019/DOMOTEX-Hannover-Service [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 15:18, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

1180: Virus Venn Diagram

2018-12-26T19:30:18Z

108.162.216.208:

{{comic
| number = 1180
| date = March 1, 2013
| title = Virus Venn Diagram
| image = virus venn diagram.png
| titletext = Within five minutes of the Singularity appearing, somebody will suggest defragging it.
}}

==Explanation==
Randall uses an {{w|Euler diagram}} (technically not a {{w|Venn diagram}}) to make fun of clueless computer users. The circles in the diagram don't overlap, meaning problems that people suspect are caused by viruses are never really caused by viruses, and problems that are actually caused by viruses are never suspected by people to be caused by a virus.

When computers don't function as expected, a common response from ordinary users is "Maybe it has a {{w|Computer virus|virus}}?". However, most of these situations can be explained by faulty hardware (freezing, blue screen, etc.) or software (crashes, errors, apparent lack of response to input, etc.), a general lack of maintenance (too slow to start up, too much clutter on screen, etc.), or user error. A virus can potentially cause those symptoms, but it's much more common for them either to cause immediate and massive damage (rendering the computer completely unusable, wipe the disk, display obvious propaganda, etc.), or to remain stealthy with no obvious symptoms (logging keystrokes, exfiltrating sensitive information, receiving commands in the background, etc.). Of course there is no clear separation and there is always some overlap between the two scenarios, so the diagram is not meant to be taken literally.

The title text refers to the {{w|technological singularity}}, a hypothetical point in the future when {{w|superintelligence}} emerges in computers, so that they can build new computers with ever increasing intelligence. It is seen as impossible to predict what would happen beyond this point; hence the term "singularity". [[1084: Server Problem]] makes a joke on this.

"Defragging" is short for {{w|disk defragmentation}}, an easy, user-friendly action that PC users can undertake to supposedly make their computers run faster. It is therefore a common all-round recommendation to do this, regardless of the problem. [[Randall]] suggests the same clueless users would encounter the singularity and attempt defragging. It probably won't help much.

==Transcript==
:[Euler diagram with two circles that don't intersect.]
:Green circle: Computer problems that make people say, "Maybe it has a virus?"
:Blue circle: Computer problems caused by viruses

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Euler diagrams]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Singularity]]

Talk:2086: History Department

2018-12-17T19:31:09Z

108.162.216.208:

The business about the 1750s probably has something to do with the British doing their changeover from Julian to Gregorian calendars then, but you can't look too carefully at the details. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.16|108.162.219.16]] 18:51, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

I'm confused. Is there any joke apart from the obvious "haha, studying history by fully covering time slices instead of topics"? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 19:05, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
: There's also the joke about taking longer to study a period of time than that time took to pass. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 19:31, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

1989: IMHO

2018-05-06T18:20:04Z

108.162.216.208: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1989
| date = May 4, 2018
| title = IMHO
| image = imho.png
| titletext = "Ugh, TMI." "Yeah, that's some tantalizing meat info."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs to be expanded. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The conversation begins with a reference to the controversy between whether IMHO stands for "in my '''honest''' opinion" or "in my '''humble''' opinion". Some older internet users, including Cueball, use the H to mean "humble", which Cueball references as being the norm in the 1990s. However, many younger internet users, including, apparently, Ponytail, use it to mean "honest", which became the norm after another SMS abbreviation, TBH (to be honest) became popular c. 2011. However, the joke veers into absurdity with Ponytail sharing her unusual opinions on other internet controversies, including:

*Believing the G in {{w|GIF}} (Graphics Interchange Format) is silent, so she pronounces it "if", as opposed to the two main camps claiming it should be either a soft G (as in "giantess") or a hard G (as in "graphics").
*Believing that the S in SMDH (Shaking My Damn Head) stands for "Swallowing".
*Believing that the G in OMG (Oh My God or Oh My Goodness) stands for either "Giantess" or "Genitals".
*Believing a viral picture of {{w|the_dress|a dress}} that usually appears black and blue to some people and white and gold to others is actually black and white. Though the dress may also appear blue and brown to some people, virtually no individual perceives the dress as black and white. The dress was previously mentioned in [[1492: Dress Color]].
*Believing that the database language {{w|SQL}} (Structured Query Language) is pronounced "Squill" as opposed to the two main camps claiming it should be "Sequel" (two syllables) or sounding out the initials S-Q-L ("Ess Cue Ell"; three syllables).
*Using {{w|tab_key|tabs}} after {{w|Full_stop|periods}}, instead of the two main opposing camps of using either one or two {{w|Sentence spacing|spaces}}. Before the 20th century, it was common typographical practice to use an em-space (or other similar wide-space) between sentences. In the 1930s, common practice was to use smaller inter-sentence spacing, and by the 1950s, inter-sentence spaces were the same size as inter-word spaces. Although modern style guides all insist on single-spacing between sentences, many people prefer to include two spaces, possibly out of habit from typewriter usage (which commonly used two spaces to mimic the 19th century typographic standards). (See also: [[1285: Third Way]].) Tabs vs. Spaces also refer to the programmers' debate on how to {{w|Indentation_(typesetting)#Indentation_in_programming|indent}} code correctly.

In the last panel, Cueball exclaims "OMG" (meaning "Oh My God") to which Megan replies "Yeah, mine too", taking the meaning as "Oh My Genitals" from the 5th panel. This leads to the title text "TMI" (Too Much Information). The pun on periods (typographical and menstruation) might also explain the reaction.

In the title text, another incorrect belief Ponytail has is believing TMI to be "Tantalizing Meat Info," as opposed to Too Much Information. (Remarkably, this makes sense in the context of Megan's comment about her genitals.)

The comic also obliquely references the mistaken opinion that website polling is an accurate measure of anything; selection bias (among many other problems) renders them almost useless for measuring the general population.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail stand together, talking.]
:Cueball: I thought the "H" in "IMHO" was "Humble," but Buzzfeed ran a poll and "Honest" won.
:Megan: That can't be true. Their readers are messing with us.

:[Cueball and Megan look at Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Are you sure? I always used it to mean "Honest."
:Megan: ...What?!

:[Close up of Cueball holding a phone. A box with usage of "IMHO" and "TBH" from Google Trends shows "TBH" suddenly rising in 2011, with a second spike in 2014.]
:Cueball: It was definitely "Humble" in the 1990s.
:Cueball: Maybe people who picked it up after the rise of "TBH" in 2011 interpreted it as "Honest" and used it that way.

:[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail as before.]
:Megan: I can't get over this. What other wrong opinions do you have?
:Megan: The "G" in "G-I-F"?
:Ponytail: Silent.

:[Close up of Ponytail, with Megan talking from offscreen.]
:Megan: The "S" in "SMDH"?
:Ponytail: "Swallowing."
:Megan: The "G" in "OMG"?
:Ponytail: "Giantess" or "Genitals."

:[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail as before.]
:Megan: The Dress?
:Ponytail: Black and White.
:Megan: Is the database language "Sequel" or "Ess Cue Ell"?
:Ponytail: I've always said "Squill."

:Cueball: Okay, the big one: how many spaces after a period?
:Ponytail: None; I use tabs.
:Cueball: OMG.
:Megan: Yeah, mine too.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

1971: Personal Data

2018-04-21T16:35:03Z

108.162.216.208: /* Taxes */ they -> they're

{{comic
| number = 1971
| date = March 23, 2018
| title = Personal Data
| image = personal_data.png
| titletext = Do I just leave money in my mailbox? How much? How much money do they need, anyway? I guess it probably depends how the economy is doing. If stocks go up, should I leave more money in my mailbox or less?
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic poking fun at adults who have trouble dealing with grown-up issues.

The comic starts with [[Cueball]] wondering what "{{w|personal data}}" is, saying he doesn't understand what it is, and it is an abstract concept. [[Ponytail]] follows by pointing out she doesn't understand what "{{w|Economy|the economy}}" is, and conjecturing that it is related to "{{w|Stock|stocks}}", although admitting that she also does not understand what stocks are. The punchline comes when [[White Hat]] says that he doesn't understand what "{{w|taxes}}" are and asks if he really has to pay them and to who. This surprises Cueball and Ponytail, who promptly advise him to learn about that one soon. The title text has White Hat asking another series of tax-related questions that adults are expected to know already, further compounding his troubles. See details on these four difficult [[#Topics|topics]] below.

The joke is that White Hat has mistakenly associated taxes with the economy and personal data as "grown-up" topics which are too confusing to fully grasp. Like the other two topics, taxes are a complex issue which many adults don't fully understand and have a vague sense that they should know more about or interact with. However, most people can remain passively ignorant about the significance of the economy or personal data without it disrupting their lives; this is not true of taxes, which people must actively pay and file annually or suffer financial and possibly criminal penalties.

White Hat not knowing what taxes are indicates that he may not have paid his taxes in previous years, which would be alarming since tax evasion is punishable as a crime. Ponytail's remark that he should do this ideally in the next few weeks is referring to this year's US {{w|Tax Day (United States)|Tax Day}} which falls on April 17, 2018, less than four weeks after the release of this comic. So if you do not have your tax preparation under control, it is time to research how it works now.

This is not the first time [[Randall]] has made a comic about people having trouble understanding the US tax system in relation to an approaching tax day. Other instances include the title text of [[1805: Unpublished Discoveries]] from March the year before this comic, and this one from August 2015: [[1566: Board Game]].

===Topics===
This comic references several advanced topics that people commonly talk about, but may not actually understand well:

====Personal data====
Personal data is usually thought of as any information that pertains to a private person. But this definition is very vague and can encompass a huge variety of data ranging from very sensitive (Social Security number, bank account details, passwords) to less sensitive (first name, color of pet cat). Different people also have different ideas of what information is considered sensitive. For example, some may want eagerly to share the location of their weekend activity with the world, whereas others may prefer not to let everyone know their location.

Even though it is generally advised to keep personal data private and not to expose it to the public or to companies (especially online, e.g. Facebook and Google), not everyone agrees on the level of privacy that should be afforded to the data. Some hold the view that even innocent-looking personal data can be harvested and used for unsavory purposes (for example, a health insurance company can use social media posts about eating fast food as a cause to raise premiums, or a government can use cat pictures as evidence of pet ownership and demand license fees), and therefore all personal data should be strictly controlled. Others hold the view that sometimes it is worth exchanging some degree of privacy for other conveniences (for example, meeting friends by sharing their location info or getting cheaper prices from targeted advertising based on web browsing history).

Personal data breaches were in the news a few days before the publishing of this comic when the UK's Channel Four released an investigative documentary about political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Among the revelations of the documentary were that the company had used Facebook to not only harvest the personal data of users taking their polls, but the friends and family of those users, without their knowledge or consent. They used this information to attempt to influence both the 2016 United States elections and the UK's 'Brexit' vote. This sparked an ongoing discussion about the security of personal data and the role of social media in securing it. Such data breaches has been the topic of at least one previous comic: [[1286: Encryptic]].

Technological changes in the past few decades have made personal data much easier to collect, share, and analyze in bulk, raising new questions and concerns that have not been considered before. Even people who can define what data is personal to them may not realize the full extent of how others might use it, or how it impacts their lives.

====The economy====
The economy, at a basic level, is the circulation of money which enables productivity. For example, a bus driver might use their money to watch a movie, the movie producer might use their revenue (gathered from the bus driver and many others) to purchase editing software, the software maker might use their revenue (from the movie producer and others) to buy food, and the food producer might use that money to take a bus, thus returning the money back to the bus driver. The total amount of money has not changed, it merely circulated in a loop, but everyone in the loop received benefits and produced value in the form of goods or services.

The real world economy has much larger and more complex networks of buyers and producers compared to the example above, but nevertheless it works on the same principle. Many people correctly associate the economy with money (or stocks in Ponytail's case), but may not understand the full picture.

Circulation of money is critical to a healthy economy. In a recession, financial hardship causes people to spend less money, which leads to fewer goods being produced, fewer jobs available, and people earning and spending even less money. That is why (somewhat counter-intuitively) governments need to spend ''more'' money during a recession in order to infuse money back into the economy and get it circulating again. The mint printing more money is also a planned, strategic move to cause inflation, which encourages people to spend their money now rather than save it for later because it will lose value over time. Again, getting people to spend their money is necessary to maintain the economy.

Randall made a comic where stock and economy was an integral part of the largest of the panels: [[980: Money]]

====Stocks====
Stocks in this context refers to companies listed on public stock exchanges, in which investors can buy and sell an economic stake, or share of the company's ownership. Companies offer stocks as a way to raise funds for its operation and expansion, selling off partial ownership of the company in exchange for cash. Investors mainly trade stocks for financial gain as well, collecting part of the company's profits as dividends and potentially selling the same shares at a higher price later.

The value of stocks depends on a subjective valuation of the company. Stock price generally rises if the company is doing well and investors expect it to keep growing and make more profit. It generally falls if the company is doing poorly and investors don't see a brighter future. However, it is also influenced easily by external factors like political climate, release of (mis-)information, or even investors' mood. It is very hard even for experts to predict stock price movements accurately. This is why scientist should not think they can figure out the stock market, which was the topic of this comic: [[1570: Engineer Syllogism]].

Through pension funds, mutual funds and other investment vehicles, a large portion of the population of developed countries have an indirect stake in the success (or otherwise) of many of the businesses that make up a significant element of the economy (see above). An economy that is experiencing healthy growth would generally see the value of those businesses increase, and that is reflected in the value at which investors would be willing to buy and sell those shares. So a growing economy would tend to associated with rising stock prices.

In the past, stock ownership has been tracked using paper certificates which owners can hold and store, like cash. Nowadays most stock transactions are performed electronically and no physical items are sent. The intangibility of shares and volatility in price makes stocks feel like only a virtual concept that can be hard to grasp.

====Taxes====
Taxes are money that governments collect from people under their jurisdiction in order to fund government agencies providing public services. To answer White Hat's other questions (including the ones in the title text):
* Almost every adult with income is incentivised to pay taxes (or at least submit a tax return showing no taxes owed).
* Tax returns and payments are submitted to the government (Internal Revenue Service for federal taxes in the US).
* The amount is calculated based on income and deductions as defined by applicable tax laws.
* How much they're incentivised is defined by the government's budget, which is renewed periodically.
* How the economy is doing does have some impact on how the budget is planned.
* Stock prices may have an impact on a person's reported income, but this is not a major concern for most people, as it is unlikely that they receive much of their income from stocks.
* Do not leave money in your mailbox, without postage!

While the concept of paying taxes is simple, the processing of filling out the paperwork is often complex and laborious. This is because the calculations leading to the final tax amount needs to take many many factors into account:
* Everyone has a different amount of income, and taxes are usually not a simple number or fixed percentage of income.
* Some taxes are withheld ahead of time (e.g. employers usually deduct taxes from pay checks before employees receive them), while others are not (e.g. no one takes away taxes before a waiter collects their tip).
* Different forms of income can be disincentive differently (e.g. salary vs. investment gains).
* Some expenses can be incentivised (e.g. medical costs, charitable donations, retirement savings).
* There are multiple different taxes (federal vs. state and local, income tax vs. sales tax, etc.) that can affect each other.
... and much more.

Most people would not be familiar enough with the tax code to be able to do all their paperwork alone.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail and White Hat. Both of them are looking at Cueball.]
:Cueball: Everyone keeps talking about "personal data." To be honest, I don't really know what it ''is''.
:Cueball: I mean, I understand the idea and know it's a thing I should protect. But it's so... abstract.

:[Close-up on Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Yeah.
:Ponytail: It's like "the economy." I don't really know what the economy is, if we're getting specific. I know stocks going up is good. For people who own stocks, at least.
:Ponytail: Whatever "stocks" are.

:[White Hat responds holding his arms slightly out. Both Ponytail and Cueball are looking at him.]
:White Hat: Yeah, or taxes. Everyone talks about taxes. What '''''are''''' they? Do '''''I''''' have to pay them? And to who?
:Cueball: OK, wait, you definitely need to learn about that one.
:Ponytail: Yeah, ideally sometime in the next few weeks.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

1975: Right Click

2018-04-02T05:09:08Z

108.162.216.208: Clarifies what the D&D option is

{{comic
| number = 1975
| date = April 1, 2018
| title = Right Click
| image = right_click.png
| titletext = "Right-click or long press (where supported) to save!"
}}
<div class="toclimit-3" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;">__TOC__</div>
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.''' 
To experience the interactive content, click [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ here]. 
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please add an explanation table of all functions This is an April Fools comic, so it'll take a while to get organized and much longer to fill out. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In an additional fool it introduces the [https://uni.xkcd.com/ Unix XKCD] as a reference to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telenet Telenet]. 

===Table - Main Context Menu===

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! # !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items
|-
!1
| '''Save'''
| Only appears after successfully completing the ADVENT.EXE game.
| Save image> Downloads this image. [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]

|-
! 2
| '''File'''
| Needs Explanation
|Close> Closes menu, does nothing.
Open: A:\, C:\, / (See more [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])

Find: Where, When, How, (not usable) What, Why

|-
! 3
| '''Edit'''
| Enables a mode allowing the user to draw on the webpage. Pressing Esc asks "Aw, that looks nice though. Really delete?" and the page returns to normal if OK is clicked.
| None
|-
! 4
| '''System'''
| Needs Explanation
|Shut Down> Changes the only menu option to "Power on", then once that is used, system returns to normal.

/ (See [[#Table - Filesystems Menu|below]])
|-
! 5
| '''View'''
| Needs Explanation
|Cascade>Links to [http://wiki.xkcd.com/geohashing/Mt._St._Helens,_Washington]

Tile> Links to [[245: Floor Tiles]]

Minimize> Changes pointer to a smaller pointer.

Full Screen> Enters full screen.
|-
! 6
| '''Utilities'''
| Needs Explanation
|Park drives> Nothing.

Check space usage> (cannot click) Space usage: -Dark matter -Hydrogen -Helium -Scattered clumps of heavier elements -Stars -Rocks -Some space probes -Earth

Spell check> English (links to [[1069: Alphabet]]) and Colors (links to [https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/])

Train AI> links to [[1838: Machine Learning]]

Identify song> opens a long word-by-word menu for song lyrics.

Advanced> several Unix commands, including that random string that breaks it for whatever reason.

'); DROP TABLE Menus;-- links to [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]
|-
! 7
| '''Games'''
| Needs Explanation
| Twenty Questions> A Twenty Questions interface that gets really confusing.

Rock Paper Scissors> A Rock Paper Scissors game where the computer always matches your move.

D&D> A complex Dungeons and Dragons interface. Allows you to cast various spells from D&D 5e which link to various pages.

ADVENT.EXE> A text-based game. If played correctly, you can win, unlocking 'Save'>'Save image' from the beginning menu, which links to [https://xkcd.com/1975/v6xso1_right_click_save.png]

Hoverboard> Links to [[1608: Hoverboard]].

Mornington Crescent> This appears to be a list of locations in London surrounding Mornington Crescent. There are several nearby Subway stations sharing the names but not all stations on the map exist in this directory. Someone more familiar with the area may be able to discern a pattern. With enough looking, one may reach 'Vauxhaul'>'Easter basket'>'Take egg', also allowing you to save. It may be an homage to the game mornington crescent from the bbc radio show 'I'm sorry i haven't a clue' which is explained on Wikipedia.
|-
! 8
| '''Help'''
| Contains various submenus, all of which, barring Credits, loop back recursively to this menu:
|Tutorial
Support

Manual

Troubleshooting

FAQ

Guide

Q&A

User forums

--------------

Credits
|-
! 9
| '''Do Crimes'''
| Contains several "crimes" that can be committed. This option is unlocked by File > Open > C:\ > Bookmarks/ > Secret > Enable Dark Web.
| Steal Bitcoins > Grayed out.
Say swears > Several clean swears that all link to [[771: Period Speech]].

Hack > Three sub-options that link to various related comics. (Gibson: Nothing. Election: [[1019: First Post]]. Planet: [[1337: Hack]].)

Forge a Scrabble Tile > Several sub-options that don't do anything. (U, Z, <this menu option intentionally left blank>, and two special characters, one appearing like a reversed 'E' modeled on a 'C' and the second being crossed swords)
|}

===Table - Filesystems Menu===

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! Drive !! Menu Item !! Explanation !! Sub-Menu Items
|-
! A:\
| '''Insert'''
| Only appears before inserting a floppy disk.
|Floppy disk> Unlocks other options for drive A:\, which are identical to drive C:\
Chip card> A long sequence of being told 'Please wait. Authorizing...' ending in 'Chip error! REMOVE CARD NOW!'
|-
! C:\
| '''Documents/'''
| Nothing.
| None.
|-
! C:\
| '''Music/'''
| Leads into a long string of prompts for song lyrics. 'Hey now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me' inverts the webpage's color.
|-
! C:\
| '''Bookmarks/'''
| Similar to Music/, Bookmarks/> Comics leads to a chain from which many comics are titled and linked. Bookmarks/> Secret> Enable Dark Web adds the 'Dark Web' option to the initial menu.
|-
! C:\
| '''Games/'''
| Same as 'Games' from the initial menu.
|-
! C:\
| '''Sequences/'''
| Fill in, I have no clue.
| After several single-option menus, it links to this Youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHWBEK8w_YY
|-
! /
| '''home/'''
| Nothing.
| guest> links to [//uni.xkcd.com]

user> Same files as C:\

root> Displays 'You are not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.'
|-
! /
| '''opt/'''
| Does nothing.
| None.
|-
! /
| '''sbin/'''
| Does nothing.
| None.
|-
! /
| '''usr/'''
| Opens an infinite sequence of options, each similar to the last, but replacing the previous selection with another folder.
|-
! /
| '''dev/'''
| Nothing.
|random/> links to a random xkcd comic.
urandom/> links to [[221: Random Number]]
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Empty frame with Cueball slightly right of center.]

[Caption]

Editor's Note: Today's comic is optimized for local viewing. To see the full version, just save a copy of the image!

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1972: Autogyros

2018-03-26T23:40:36Z

108.162.216.208:

;Land vertically?

Hi, searching 'autogyro' has led me to find autogyros can't land vertically. Could this be a mistake on Randall's part, or am I missing a joke here?

[[Special:Contributions/172.69.186.58|172.69.186.58]] 13:55, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

:I just read about them on Wikipedia and I see that they can't take off vertically, but there are kinds (possibly all) that can land vertically [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 14:01, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::The Wikipedia article was edited this morning to claim that they could not land vertically, but the edit was short-lived and reverted. So, be careful what you trust. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::It appears they can land vertically with the correct wind conditions. Here is a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAoK9zM8FFQ - and they say "Actually it is a 'Zero GROUND Speed Landing' approx. 25 kts headwind".

::Here is a YouTube video of a zero ground speed takeoff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd7_V4pW--Q

::I think the confusion here is that yes, it can land vertically: for that matter, so can any airplane. What matters isn't ground speed but airspeed, and as long as there's as much headwind as the landing airspeed of the aircraft, it will land vertically. Now, with fixed wing airplanes the landing speed is at least 40-50 mph, and you don't often find headwinds like that. The much lower landing airspeed of an autogyro makes that feasible. [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 21:26, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::: "Landing vertically"...having so little forward airspeed on touchdown that it is negligible[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 23:40, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

;Trivia
First successful flight of an autogyro was in 1923, so they have been around for close to 100 years. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 17:04, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
The 1981 movie ''Mad Max II'' prominently featured an autogyro as part of the action. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 17:04, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
Also James Bond 007 flew the autogyro 'Little Nellie' in " You Only Live Twice". Reputedly prompting a bit of an autogyro revival. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 17:46, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

First of all, I've converted section headings to bold labels - we should avoid them in discussion content. Secondly, my take on how to order the labels around the autogyro is down the left side, then across the top, and finally down the right side. I realize it's entirely up to the reader, but that order makes the most sense to me instead of clockwise - the text on the lower-right seems to be climactic in a strange Randell-esque way. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 18:15, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
:Agree with your entire comment, and have changed the order in the transcript --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Has Megan been seen wearing goggles before? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 23:05, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1972: Autogyros

2018-03-26T23:39:24Z

108.162.216.208:

;Land vertically?

Hi, searching 'autogyro' has led me to find autogyros can't land vertically. Could this be a mistake on Randall's part, or am I missing a joke here?

[[Special:Contributions/172.69.186.58|172.69.186.58]] 13:55, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

:I just read about them on Wikipedia and I see that they can't take off vertically, but there are kinds (possibly all) that can land vertically [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.76|108.162.219.76]] 14:01, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::The Wikipedia article was edited this morning to claim that they could not land vertically, but the edit was short-lived and reverted. So, be careful what you trust. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::It appears they can land vertically with the correct wind conditions. Here is a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAoK9zM8FFQ - and they say "Actually it is a 'Zero GROUND Speed Landing' approx. 25 kts headwind".

::Here is a YouTube video of a zero ground speed takeoff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd7_V4pW--Q

::I think the confusion here is that yes, it can land vertically: for that matter, so can any airplane. What matters isn't ground speed but airspeed, and as long as there's as much headwind as the landing airspeed of the aircraft, it will land vertically. Now, with fixed wing airplanes the landing speed is at least 40-50 mph, and you don't often find headwinds like that. The much lower landing airspeed of an autogyro makes that feasible. [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 21:26, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

::: "Landing vertically"...having so little forward airspeed on touchdown that it is negligible

;Trivia
First successful flight of an autogyro was in 1923, so they have been around for close to 100 years. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 17:04, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
The 1981 movie ''Mad Max II'' prominently featured an autogyro as part of the action. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 17:04, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
Also James Bond 007 flew the autogyro 'Little Nellie' in " You Only Live Twice". Reputedly prompting a bit of an autogyro revival. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 17:46, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

First of all, I've converted section headings to bold labels - we should avoid them in discussion content. Secondly, my take on how to order the labels around the autogyro is down the left side, then across the top, and finally down the right side. I realize it's entirely up to the reader, but that order makes the most sense to me instead of clockwise - the text on the lower-right seems to be climactic in a strange Randell-esque way. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 18:15, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
:Agree with your entire comment, and have changed the order in the transcript --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Has Megan been seen wearing goggles before? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 23:05, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-24T19:26:50Z

108.162.216.208: /* Taxes https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-by-check-or-money-order */

{{comic
| number = 1971
| date = March 23, 2018
| title = Personal Data
| image = personal_data.png
| titletext = Do I just leave money in my mailbox? How much? How much money do they need, anyway? I guess it probably depends how the economy is doing. If stocks go up, should I leave more money in my mailbox or less?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Add explanation tax (and thanks for the explanation of the other three topics). PLEASE. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another comic poking fun at adults who have trouble dealing with grown-up issues.

The comic starts with [[Cueball]] wondering what "{{w|personal data}}" is, saying he doesn't understand what it is, and it is an abstract concept. [[Ponytail]] follows by pointing out she doesn't understand what "{{w|Economy|the economy}}" is, and conjecturing that it is related to "{{w|Stock|stocks}}", although admitting that she also does not understand what stocks are. The punchline comes when [[White Hat]] says that he doesn't understand what "{{w|taxes}}" are and asks if he really has to pay them and to who. This surprises Cueball and Ponytail, who promptly advise him to learn about that one soon. The title text has White Hat asking another series of tax-related questions that adults are expected to know already, further compounding his troubles. See details on these four difficult [[#Topics|topics]] below.

White Hat not knowing what taxes are indicates that he may not have paid his taxes in previous years, which would be alarming since tax evasion is punishable as a crime. Ponytail's remark that he should do this ideally in the next few weeks is referring to this year's US {{w|Tax Day (United States)|Tax Day}} which falls on April 17, 2018, less than four weeks after the release of this comic. So if you do not have your tax preparation under control, it is time to research how it works now.

This is not the first time [[Randall]] has made a comic about people having trouble understanding the US tax system in relation to an approaching tax day. Other instances include the title text of [[1805: Unpublished Discoveries]] from March the year before this comic, and this one from August 2015: [[1566: Board Game]].

===Topics===
This comic references several advanced topics that people commonly talk about, but may not actually understand well:

====Personal data====
Personal data is usually thought of as any information that pertains to a private person. But this definition is very vague and can encompass a huge variety of data ranging from very sensitive (Social Security number, bank account details, passwords) to less sensitive (first name, color of pet cat). Different people also have different ideas of what information is considered sensitive. For example, some may want eagerly to share the location of their weekend activity with the world, whereas others may prefer not to let everyone know their location.

Even though it is generally advised to keep personal data private and not to expose it to the public or to companies (especially online, e.g. Facebook and Google), not everyone agrees on the level of privacy that should be afforded to the data. Some hold the view that even innocent-looking personal data can be harvested and used for unsavory purposes (for example, a health insurance company can use social media posts about eating fast food as a cause to raise premiums, or a government can use cat pictures as evidence of pet ownership and demand license fees), and therefore all personal data should be strictly controlled. Others hold the view that sometimes it is worth exchanging some degree of privacy for other conveniences (for example, meeting friends by sharing their location info or getting cheaper prices from targeted advertising based on web browsing history).

Personal data breaches were in the news a few days before the publishing of this comic when the UK's Channel Four released an investigative documentary about political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Among the revelations of the documentary were that the company had used Facebook to not only harvest the personal data of users taking their polls, but the friends and family of those users, without their knowledge or consent. They used this information to attempt to influence both the 2016 United States elections and the UK's 'Brexit' vote. This sparked an ongoing discussion about the security of personal data and the role of social media in securing it. Such data breaches has been the topic of at least one previous comic: [[1286: Encryptic]].

Technological changes in the past few decades have made personal data much easier to collect, share, and analyze in bulk, raising new questions and concerns that have not been considered before. Even people who can define what data is personal to them may not realize the full extent of how others might use it, or how it impacts their lives.

====The economy====
The economy, at a basic level, is the circulation of money which enables productivity. For example, a bus driver might use their money to watch a movie, the movie producer might use their revenue (gathered from the bus driver and many others) to purchase editing software, the software maker might use their revenue (from the movie producer and others) to buy food, and the food producer might use that money to take a bus, thus returning the money back to the bus driver. The total amount of money has not changed, it merely circulated in a loop, but everyone in the loop received benefits and produced value in the form of goods or services.

The real world economy has much larger and more complex networks of buyers and producers compared to the example above, but nevertheless it works on the same principle. Many people correctly associate the economy with money (or stocks in Ponytail's case), but may not understand the full picture.

Circulation of money is critical to a healthy economy. In a recession, financial hardship causes people to spend less money, which leads to fewer goods being produced, fewer jobs available, and people earning and spending even less money. That is why (somewhat counter-intuitively) governments need to spend ''more'' money during a recession in order to infuse money back into the economy and get it circulating again. The mint printing more money is also a planned, strategic move to cause inflation, which encourages people to spend their money now rather than save it for later because it will lose value over time. Again, getting people to spend their money is necessary to maintain the economy.

Randall made a comic where stock and economy was an integral part of the largest of the panels: [[980: Money]]

====Stocks====
Stocks in this context refers to companies listed on public stock exchanges, in which investors can buy and sell an economic stake, or share of the company's ownership. Companies offer stocks as a way to raise funds for its operation and expansion, selling off partial ownership of the company in exchange for cash. Investors mainly trade stocks for financial gain as well, collecting part of the company's profits as dividends and potentially selling the same shares at a higher price later.

The value of stocks depends on a subjective valuation of the company. Stock price generally rises if the company is doing well and investors expect it to keep growing and make more profit. It generally falls if the company is doing poorly and investors don't see a brighter future. However, it is also influenced easily by external factors like political climate, release of (mis-)information, or even investors' mood. It is very hard even for experts to predict stock price movements accurately. This is why scientist should not think they can figure out the stock market, which was the topic of this comic: [[1570: Engineer Syllogism]].

Through pension funds, mutual funds and other investment vehicles, a large portion of the population of developed countries have an indirect stake in the success (or otherwise) of many of the businesses that make up a significant element of the economy (see above). An economy that is experiencing healthy growth would generally see the value of those businesses increase, and that is reflected in the value at which investors would be willing to buy and sell those shares. So a growing economy would tend to associated with rising stock prices.

In the past, stock ownership has been tracked using paper certificates which owners can hold and store, like cash. Nowadays most stock transactions are performed electronically and no physical items are sent. The intangibility of shares and volatility in price makes stocks feel like only a virtual concept that can be hard to grasp.

====Taxes====
Taxes are money that governments collect from people under their jurisdiction in order to fund government agencies providing public services. To answer White Hat's other questions:
* Almost every adult with income is incentivised to pay taxes (or at least submit a tax return showing no taxes owed).
* Tax returns and payments are submitted to the government (Internal Revenue Service for federal taxes in the US).
* Do not leave money in your mailbox, without postage.
* The amount is calculated based on income and deductions as defined by applicable tax laws.
* How much they incentivise is defined by the government's budget, which is renewed periodically.
* How the economy is doing does have some impact on how the budget is planned.
* Stock prices only have an effect on one's personal taxes if one traded stocks during the tax year that resulted in personal gains or losses.
* Do not leave money in your mailbox, without postage!

While the concept of paying taxes is simple, the processing of filling out the paperwork is often complex and laborious. This is because the calculations leading to the final tax amount needs to take many many factors into account:
* Everyone has a different amount of income, and taxes are usually not a simple number or fixed percentage of income.
* Some taxes are withheld ahead of time (e.g. employers usually deduct taxes from pay checks before employees receive them), while others are not (e.g. no one takes away taxes before a waiter collects their tip).
* Different forms of income can be disincentive differently (e.g. salary vs. investment gains).
* Some expenses can be incentivised (e.g. medical costs, charitable donations, retirement savings).
* There are multiple different taxes (federal vs. state and local, income tax vs. sales tax, etc.) that can affect each other.
... and much more.

Most people would not be familiar enough with the tax code to be able to do all their paperwork alone.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Ponytail and White Hat. Both of them are looking at Cueball.]
:Cueball: Everyone keeps talking about "personal data." To be honest, I don't really know what it ''is''.
:Cueball: I mean, I understand the idea and know it's a thing I should protect. But it's so... abstract.

:[Close-up on Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Yeah.
:Ponytail: It's like "the economy." I don't really know what the economy is, if we're getting specific. I know stocks going up is good. For people who own stocks, at least.
:Ponytail: Whatever "stocks" are.

:[White Hat responds holding his arms slightly out. Both Ponytail and Cueball are looking at him.]
:White Hat: Yeah, or taxes. Everyone talks about taxes. What '''''are''''' they? Do '''''I''''' have to pay them? And to who?
:Cueball: OK, wait, you definitely need to learn about that one.
:Ponytail: Yeah, ideally sometime in the next few weeks.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

Talk:1970: Name Dominoes

2018-03-24T13:17:43Z

108.162.216.208:

This comic is a long list of names overlayed onto black domino tiles, arranged so that each touching side corresponds with the first or last name of another person. This will be difficult to transcribe. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.53}}
:Would it be possible to use a fixed width format and try and transcribe like an actual scrabble board? I think there are unicode characters for upside-down and rotated text that we could use for the flipped names. But yes, definitely will be difficult.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.244|172.68.211.244]] 18:21, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
::The transcript doesn't need upside-down and rotated text. It should be enough to mention that some tiles are. A first draft with all names would be good, but even mentioning all the connections would be to complex to read. Think about the reader... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:39, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
::How about using a fixed-width font and then representing each domino with an alphanumeric character, and then put a list below of what each character corresponds to? Even though there are more dominoes than characters, duplicate uses of a character (but referring to different names) can be easily disambiguated if we assign each character in order, left to right and top to bottom. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.71|172.69.70.71]] 20:04, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
:::I have made an image where each tile is numbered from left to right. See this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1970-_Name_Dominoes_-_The_large_image_with_numbers.jpg picture] and [[1970: Name Dominoes/Numbered images|Explanation]] here. I have created a transcript from this list. And the table --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:01, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
:::Do you think that maybe Randall created this comic just to screw with this wiki? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 14:51, 22 March 2018 (UTC)Martin
::::Certainly, a real explanation to Randall's ''Name Dominoes'' doesn't need a numbered list or one of these overwhelming tables. A short overview (a small bullet list would be the best) to the rules implied by the image and shown in the title text would be a proper explanation. Everything else is trivia at maximum. And I can't resist: This table, whenever it will be completely filled, tops them all...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:30, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
::The purpose of the transcript is so someone can search the site for a phrase (or in this case, a name) used in a strip, and find the page for it. Encode the words using upside-down UNICODE letters would defeat that purpose. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 22:12, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

I see alternative names or nicknames sometimes matches together. But is the Chris Pratt/Chris Evans match with Topher Grace a bit of a stretch? I see that Topher is a variation of Chris'''topher''' and Chis is a shortening of the same. But I guess it must be an acceptable move if Randle put it in the comic. Maybe it’s worth special points or something. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.70|162.158.38.70]] 18:14, 21 March 2018 (UTC)TheStewart

Walter White/Walt Whitman is a reference to Breaking Bad. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.101|172.68.58.101]] 18:20, 21 March 2018 (UTC)Pat

And Garnet being used to join Ruby and Saffire is clever...
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.64|141.101.98.64]] 18:23, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
This is a reference to Steven Universe where there is a character, Garnet, who is a fusion of Ruby and Sapphire.

"The title text spells out a rule that a player may only place a tile if they know who that person is" is mention as a reason for it not to be a fixed set of dominos, But I took it to mean you can't use "Jim Jones" unless you know of Jim Jones; as in, I could challenge your use of it by asking "okay who is he?". Maybe saying "oh, he went to school with me" or something wouldn't count, anymore than "crft is too a word!" works in Scrabble [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]]) 19:36, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Harrison Ford is from Blade Runner I believe. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.124|162.158.2.124]] 23:07, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Ma Bell is interesting... is it the only one that not an actual person? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System

Alistair Cooke's name is misspelt "Alistiar"; it'll be interesting to see if this gets corrected (as errors sometimes do). Not to be confused with Alistair Cookie, a short distance away! -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 08:45, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

I think maybe Chris Isaac (Canadian football quarterback) was intended to be Chris Isaak (American rock musician, singer, and actor). Can we just assume that was a mistake?
[[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 14:29, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

== Maybe a table? ==

I think a table would be a useful and user-friendly way of capturing everything that's going on here. Forgive this feeble attempt. I am not an html coder. I know enough to go steal something somewhere and see if it works:

{| class="wikitable"
!style="width:15%"|Domino
!style="width:35%"|Notability
!style="width:15%"|Connections
!style="width:35%"|Mode
|-
|Alistair Cookie
|A parody of Alistair Cooke "played" by Cookie Monster in the Sesame Street sketch "Monsterpiece Theatre" in the 1980s, a parody of the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre".
|James Cook 
Alastair Reynolds
|Last-Last (approximate) 
First-First (approximate)
|-
|James Cook
|18th century British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy.
|Alistair Cooke 
Cokie Roberts 
Alistair Cookie 
James Fenimore Cooper
|Last-Last (approximate) 
Last-First (approximate) 
Last-Last (approximate) 
First-First
|-
|Chris Columbus
|Film director and screenwriter.
|Columbo 
Christopher Columbus 
Chris Hughes
|Last-Only (approximate) 
First-First (approximate) and Last-Last 
First-First

|}

[[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 23:27, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
: I like that idea. Especially because it would mean that all those links are removed from the transcript. As far as I understand transcripts (at least in this wiki) they don't inlcude any meta information (e.g. nothing that is not shown in the comic). [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:48, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
::Yes great example of a table, and yes no wiki links in transcript. I will put this in the explanation now. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:42, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
:::I have now made an image where each tile is numbered from left to right. See this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1970-_Name_Dominoes_-_The_large_image_with_numbers.jpg picture] and [[1970: Name Dominoes/Numbered images|Explanation]] here. I have created a transcript from this list. And the table --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:01, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
::::Great job, thanks for the effort :) Should the table be moved to a separate page? Beacuse it's really massive... And another thing: I think the name list in the transcript as it was before (excluding links, of course) was better. At least for someone who is not visually impaired [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 14:52, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

And I thought Alistair Cookie was a reference to the fact Alistair Cook is batting like a muppet.
BTW I have WG Grace and Grace Darling in my hand - but i cannot seem to fit them in.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.204|141.101.107.204]] 17:16, 22 March 2018 (UT

I've created a table/spreadsheet of all the numbers, with a,b,c meaning first, second, and third part of name, respectively, [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tcxq1Hp3-AcGFrfkv3xRD1wNg9OO12gpN05D1H42-sU/edit?usp=sharing here]. Also, Van Jones is missing in both the numbered image and all text on this page. [[User:Ad1217|Ad1217]] ([[User talk:Ad1217|talk]]) 04:40, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
:Cool. Thanks for pointing out that I failed to number the tile after 249. I'm now correcting the image adding this as number 250 and correcting the numbers after that. Ad1217 could you update your spreadsheet, and would it be OK to add a picture of this to the explanation? (I spotted an error in your spreadsheet as well, as you have used 286b rather than 268b at the bottom, but correctly used 268a --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:55, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
:: Feel free to use it however you like! Also, it's publicly editable, so feel free to fix any other issues. My plan is to write a script to map names->boxes, then ideally make an html table with text transformed correctly, but it could take a bit of time before I get that working right. [[User:Ad1217|Ad1217]] ([[User talk:Ad1217|talk]]) 08:24, 24 March 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone else see the connection between "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" and the fact that this picture is basically a network/graph? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.136|108.162.249.136]] 05:25, 23 March 2018 (UTC)
: I was disappointed that Kevin Bacon isn't a clear node of some sort. The joke could have been extended by adding a [[wikipedia:Erdős_number|Paul Erdős]] tile. --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 08:41, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

I wonder if Randall used an algorithm to build this. It would be interesting to generate dense domino packings automatically. Does he have an official github account or similar? --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 08:42, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

I'll continue looking into it, and thought it might be worth mentioning. Could this be some kind of QR code?

Talk:1968: Robot Future

2018-03-17T13:28:26Z

108.162.216.208:

Seems strange that the only "explanation" so far is a plug for a YouTube video. Can we get some text up in here? {{unsigned|ProphetZarquon}}
:It seems the video says it all. {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.172}}
::Please sign your comments ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 00:26, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

I'm sad it was not about [[799: Stephen Hawking|Stehpen]] today... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 00:26, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Instead of a tribute today, all I saw was a short, violent dystopian film. But this is quite an important matter, look at the video. Certantly more important... But still, can't wait for the tribute. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:07, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

If memory serves, Hawking is cited with similar concern about AI technology, and it's potential to out think humans exponentially (not just a buzz word, but actually exponentially). However he did advocate for needs that aren't met in the immediate, not the theoretical future. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 13:28, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1964: Spatial Orientation

2018-03-08T01:12:44Z

108.162.216.208:

Dunno where to put this, but Captcha is giving a deprecation notice and asking to move to reCaptcha... [https://miguelpiedrafita.com/ Miguel Piedrafita] 17:46, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Someone better make a pocket stonehenge now. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 17:42, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this comic was published two weeks before the vernal equinox [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.45|162.158.62.45]] 19:20, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

I started to nerd snipe myself as I tried to figure out that latitude/earth tilt thing. I have come to the conclusion that it depends on the time of year. He would be 39 degrees on the equinoxes, 16 degrees on the summer solstice, and 52 degrees on the winter solstice. I assume this is in relation to the solar system, but I know pretty much nothing about astrophysics, and I probably worded it all wrong in the first place.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.137|172.69.70.137]] 20:54, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Is there a category for overly thinking things? If not, should we create one? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 23:21, 7 March 2018 (UTC)
:I don't think there is a category, but there is a word; "nerd-sniping" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 01:12, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1964: Spatial Orientation

2018-03-08T00:58:40Z

108.162.216.208:

Talk:1964: Spatial Orientation

2018-03-08T00:58:01Z

108.162.216.208:

Dunno where to put this, but Captcha is giving a deprecation notice and asking to move to reCaptcha... [https://miguelpiedrafita.com/ Miguel Piedrafita] 17:46, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Someone better make a pocket stonehenge now. [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 17:42, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this comic was published two weeks before the vernal equinox [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.45|162.158.62.45]] 19:20, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

I started to nerd snipe myself as I tried to figure out that latitude/earth tilt thing. I have come to the conclusion that it depends on the time of year. He would be 39 degrees on the equinoxes, 16 degrees on the summer solstice, and 52 degrees on the winter solstice. I assume this is in relation to the solar system, but I know pretty much nothing about astrophysics, and I probably worded it all wrong in the first place.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.137|172.69.70.137]] 20:54, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Is there a category for overly thinking things? If not, should we create one? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 23:21, 7 March 2018 (UTC)
I don't think there is a category, but there is a word; "nerd-sniping" ::::

498: Secretary: Part 5

2017-10-15T05:06:08Z

108.162.216.208: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 498
| date = October 31, 2008
| title = Secretary: Part 5
| image = secretary part 5.png
| titletext = And they choose Al Gore as Internet Secretary.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the 5th and final comic in the Secretary story-arc. The culmination has [[Black Hat]] up to his usual shenanigans in the {{w|United States Senate chamber|US Senate chamber room}}.

Of course, [[playpen balls]] have been the topic of many comics before. Notably [[150: Grownups]].

{{w|Tron (video game)|Tron}} was an arcade game, based on the {{w|Tron (movie)|movie}} of the same name, and both released in 1982. The characters would play on a grid in lightcycles which left behind walls of light. The objective of the game was to force the opponent to run into the wall of light, similar to the {{w|Snake (game)|Snake game}}.

The Senate or a Senate committee, in reality, cannot sentence a person to death, as that would be a {{w|Bill of attainder|bill of attainder}}, which Congress is prohibited from passing by Article I, Section 9, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution: "No Bill of Attainder ... shall be passed." "An unorthodox move," indeed.

{{w|Al Gore}} was the {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice President}} under President {{w|Bill Clinton}} and ran as the Democratic nominee for President in 2000.

Al Gore has had {{w|Al Gore and information technology|quite a history with the Internet}}, including one oft-misquoted (rather, quoted out of context) interview with CNN in which he told {{w|Wolf Blitzer}}, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Many spun this to mean he claimed to have actually invented the Internet himself, although its pioneers agreed with Gore's assessment.

Cory Doctorow offers Black Hat a lift and asks if he's a fugitive now, and Black Hat replies that they never had his name, which is odd, considering that they know he's stolen a nuclear submarine and built a death ray.

Back at Congress, they seem to have forgotten about Black Hat's "gleeful mayhem" and are jumping off the balcony into the ball pit below.

All comics in the [[:Category:Secretary|Secretary]] series:
*[[494: Secretary: Part 1]]
*[[495: Secretary: Part 2]]
*[[496: Secretary: Part 3]]
*[[497: Secretary: Part 4]]
*498: Secretary: Part 5 (this one)

This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.

It is possible that this series is a continuation of [[493: Actuarial]], in which Black Hat demonstrates great power over even Internet trolls via his sociopathic ways. This would explain why Black Hat was nominated as Internet secretary.

==Transcript==
:[The Senate. Black Hat sits before the committee at his hearing to become Internet Secretary.]
:Chairman: We were convened here to review your nomination for the position of internet secretary.

:Chairman: However, on review of your qualifications, we've decided to sentence you to death.

:Chairman: An unorthodox move, sure. But the vote was unanimous.
:[Black Hat is leaning back in his chair.]

:[Meanwhile...]
:Tron Paul: There's no grid! How do I steeeeer!!!!!

:[Back at the Senate. Black Hat is standing.]
:Black Hat: Well, it's been fun. But I was never actually interested in taking the position. Good lord; listening to internet arguments all day? No thank you.

:Chairman: Then why did you sit through all those hearings?

:Black Hat: It was taking us a while to move the pumps into the maintenance tunnels.

:[The committee members murmur among themselves.]

:[There is a panel in the floor between Black Hat and the committee.]
:''RUMBLE''
:''plink plink''

:[A red playpen ball bursts out of the panel and rolls towards the committee chairman.]
:''plink''

:[The room is still. Black Hat's arms are folded.]

:[A geyser of red, white, and blue playpen balls bursts through the panel in the floor. Black Hat is already gone.]
:''FOOM''

:[The committee members chase Black Hat out the door as the Senate floor floods with playpen balls.]

:[The chase continues into the rotunda, as does the flood of playpen balls.]

:[Black Hat stands in the middle of the rotunda as it fills with playpen balls, surrounded by members of the committee.]
:Committee Members: Security! Someone!
:Committee Members: Get Him!

:[Tron Paul bursts through the wall.]
:''CRASH''
:Tron Paul: Aaaaa!

:[Black Hat grabs the bottom of the lightcycle as Tron Paul goes by.]
:''snag''
:Tron Paul: Hey!

:[Black Hat swings onto the top of the light cycle.]

:[Black Hat crouches on top of the light cycle.]
:Tron Paul: Get Off!

:[Tron Paul and Black Hat crash through the far wall of the rotunda.]
:''CRASH''

:[Tron Paul hits the ground.]
:''WHAM''
:Tron Paul: Ow!

:[Black Hat runs away.]
:Tron Paul: Ughhh.

:[The lightcycle disappears.]
:Tron Paul: I feel queasy...
:Cory Doctorow, above: Hey!
:Black Hat: Hi, Cory.
:Cory Doctorow: Need a lift?
:Black Hat: Sure.

:{Black Hat and Cory Doctorow depart in Doctorow's balloon.}
:Cory Doctorow: So are you, like, a fugitive now?
:Black Hat: Well, I never did give them my name...

:[But in the rotunda]
:[Senators play in the playpen balls.]
:Senators: Let's jump down here from the balcony!
:Senators: Senior senators first!
:Senators: Wheeee!
:Senators: I'm a submarine!
:[All is forgiven.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Secretary|05]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Secretary]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Playpen balls]]

Talk:1860: Communicating

2017-07-14T13:23:18Z

108.162.216.208:

Joke's on Alice, Humpty Dumpty doesn't have any stuff!
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.136|162.158.165.136]] 12:01, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

I took this to be a critique of deconstruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction and other similarly ridiculous approaches to hermeneutics/semiotics. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.88|162.158.2.88]] 00:15, 10 July 2017 (UTC)



Isn't this [[Science Girl]], and not necessarily "Alice"? Although they could be one and the same, in this comic and all comics? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 16:45, 7 July 2017 (UTC)
*I agree that this is [[Science Girl]], but she could be playing the role of Alice, or alternatively she could be merely visiting the Looking Glass world as Alice also did. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 17:13, 7 July 2017 (UTC)

I've heard that the nursery rhyme never makes explicit that Humpty is an egg. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 18:36, 7 July 2017 (UTC)
:It’s my understanding that the original nursery rhyme was a riddle where the question was “What is Humpty Dumpty?” and the answer is “an Egg.” [[User:Rylon|Rylon]] ([[User talk:Rylon|talk]]) 21:51, 7 July 2017 (UTC)
::If that is the case, then the riddle is nearly as bad as "Words that end in -gry." [[User:OriginalName|OriginalName]] ([[User talk:OriginalName|talk]]) 04:08, 8 July 2017 (UTC)

http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/origins1-humpty-dumpty-and-the-fall-of-colchester.html

I took this to mean politicians stating false things then equivocating by saying the words they used mean something different from what the traditional meaning the listeners assumed they meant were. Maybe I just watch too much late night TV tho. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:44, 7 July 2017 (UTC)
:Can't you children discuss in a nonpartisan matter instead of turning literally everything into politics? Maybe you should have voted instead of gathering in mass pro-illegal-immigrant protests. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.137|108.162.246.137]] 23:42, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
:The comic's subject matter is applicable to many things, but that doesn't mean it's about those things. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 04:33, 8 July 2017 (UTC)
::[[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]]'s comment ''was'' nonpartisan. ~ [[User:Quackslikeaduck|Quackslikeaduck]] ([[User talk:Quackslikeaduck|talk]]) 11:37, 10 July 2017 (UTC)
:::The comic is not meant to be nonpartisan (see #1756). The political context IS what surrounds Trump. Many Trump supporters agree with his claim that various establishment voices (NYT, CNN, certain US Courts) are "fake." I agree it's very hard to write an explanation about this that is neutral enough to not devolve into a political debate - which it should not be. But the explanation is incomplete if it doesn't mention the very pervasive political topic right now where the veracity of basic facts and words are called into question in a way that was not happening until the 2016 election.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:30, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

I agree - this reminded me of how politicians especially Trump claim their meaning after people react.
: True, it is something Trump and right wing does a lot at the moment, but this isn't a Trumpism though. Bill Clinton did the same when he redefined "having sex with".
:: You've provided a good example of how the political debate right now is, where historical events are re-defined and re-examined. In the late 1990s it was universally agreed that Clinton tried to redefine a word "sex" and in doing so was being deceptive. That is not the same situation now. Right now Trump redefines words and many see that as deceptive but a large number agree with his redefinition and instead question basic facts from the NYT, CNN or other formerly not very controversial news sources. This comic is very much about the Trump era. However it doesn't take a specific side and pro- and anti- trump debaters could claim their own side in this comic. I think we need to put this political context into the explanation. But someone more neutral than me should do it because I'm not able to write the pro-trump view in any neutral kind of way because I just can't wrap my brain around it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:37, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

I think this might be the first time I've seen Randall draw a facial expression in one of his comics. Surely this can't be the only one, right? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.22|108.162.241.22]] 18:03, 8 July 2017 (UTC)
: I wasn't able to finish, I got up to 1516. Here's a list of comics which include expressions by humans. 1, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 23, 24, 38, 39, 46, 53, 57, 67, 68, 78, 93, 109, 110, 119, 130, 133, 135, 142, 143, 160, 380, 463, 824, 902. Also 778 if a detailed skull is a facial expression, 1004 if that's Joker's face and not make up, 1256, 1393, if the ghostly afterlife is just a phase of being human and if ghosts have faces. I also have comics that include animals, didn't think that was in the spirit of the question but most of the animals in xkcd have faces.
: Time for a new list of comics with facial expressions! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.52|172.68.110.52]] 12:36, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
This reminds me of Samantha Bee's "Semantic Vortex" on the June 21 episode of ''Full Frontal''. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.22|172.68.78.22]] 18:02, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
::This is exactly the topic of this comic. Comedy relies on context. This comic is topical. While the Lewis Caroll angle is great literary context to add, the "post-truth" meme is more well known as an internet meme that this comic addresses. If we do not add that context it will be hard to understand this comic in a few years when people don't remember the political landscape right now. So, some mention of Trump needs to be added here. Though xkcd is generally not very political Comic #1756 makes it pretty clear that the context of the comics is not totally devoid of contemporary political context.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:23, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

Awwww.... I'm unfamiliar with Carroll's take on Humpty Dumpty, so I took this as Science Girl searching for hidden meaning where there is none, which people keep doing to me, LOL! I really identified with it, until I read here that Humpty is messing around and aggressively trying to be misunderstood. *sigh* [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:54, 11 July 2017 (UTC)

I got a strong, but unspecific political vibe out of this. Like there's something going on in the news that I hadn't heard about yet. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 13:23, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

1779: 2017

2016-12-30T21:04:09Z

108.162.216.208: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1779
| date = December 30, 2016
| title = 2017
| image = 2017.png
| titletext = Things are looking good for the eclipse--Nate Silver says Earth will almost definitely still have a moon in August.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft of an explanation,}}

[[Randall]] shares some of his thoughts about 2016, a year that many people eagerly await the end of because of its increased turmoil (terrorist attacks, controversial political events in numerous countries, and, in the United States, the deaths of an unusually large number of well-known and beloved celebrities). It is also known that Randall is a {{w|Hillary Clinton}} supporter (as shown in the [[1756: I'm With Her]] comic), so an additional reading of that tile could be that we are headed into 2017 "without" a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Instead of simply condemning 2016 as a terrible year and expecting 2017 to be significantly better, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] observe that much of what made 2016 bad is the effect that it will have upon future years rather than the actual events themselves (for instance, a divisive {{w|U.S. presidential election}} has caused significant controversy in 2016, but he will actually take office and begin to affect the world — either for good or for bad — in 2017). However, Randall also offers a glimpse of hope in the last few panels by observing that, just as all of the bad things in 2016 were unexpected, good things in 2017 that are unexpected are equally likely to happen. As such, he argues that we should hold on to our hope even though things seem difficult right now.

The last panel may also serve as a reminder that the world continues to spin on despite all of the turmoil. This is true both literally, as the {{w|solar eclipse|eclipse}} Randall is excited about is caused by the orbits of several celestial bodies lining up just right (the sun, Earth, and moon), but also figuratively, as he notes that prime-numbered years have typically been good ones, and so illustrates the positive attitude that people can choose to take in order to see all that which is good and to spread a little bit more cheerfulness.

The title text is a reference to Nate Silver who is well-known (in the United States) as an election predictor on Five Thirty Eight. His model allowed for a slightly higher chance that Donald Trump would win the presidency compared to other similar models — though the fact that his prediction was still wrong may be contributing to getting humor from the idea that he may be wrong again, and the Moon could possibly vanish in 2017, making the year definitely worse than 2016. This is accentuated by the qualifier "almost definitely", which is of humorously low confidence for presenting a fact as certain as the Moon not somehow disappearing within the next year.

==Transcript==

[Cueball and Megan walking outdoors]

:Cueball: Can't wait for this stupid year to be over.

[The two approach a fallen tree]

:Megan: I can. This year made the future scarier. So much of why 2016 was bad was because of the things it sent us into 2017 without.

[Megan has hopped up onto the tree trunk and begins to walk along it]

:Cueball: You gotta have hope, though.
:Megan: You say that, but you also said all this awful stuff couldn't happen, and it did. You're as clueless as the rest of us.

[Cueball also walks along the tree trunk as Megan stops and turns to look at him]

:Cueball: Well, if we're wrong about which bad things can happen, it's got to make us at least a ''little'' less sure about which good things can't.

[Closeup of Megan hopping down from the tree]

:Megan: I guess.

[A distant shot of Megan and Cueball walking along again]

:Cueball: Plus, 2017 has a cool eclipse in it.
:Megan: Ooh, yeah!
:Cueball: And it's prime. Prime years have always been good for me.
:Megan: Sure, I'll take it.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

958: Hotels

2014-12-09T21:19:52Z

108.162.216.208: Added possible interpretation of title text

{{comic
| number = 958
| date = September 30, 2011
| title = Hotels
| image = hotels.png
| titletext = 'Rating: 1/5. Room filled to brim with semen, and when front desk clerk opened mouth to talk, bedbugs poured out.'
}}

==Explanation==
Alright, it is pretty clear what [[Black Hat]] is doing here. He is putting bad reviews on all the hotels he has stayed at and likes and wants to stay in again, and it is true that this would lower demand for said hotel. Putting positive reviews on bad hotels, on the other hand, would steer other people there so there are more vacancies at good hotels. He claims he is not enough influence to put them out of business.

The {{w|Tragedy of the commons}} "is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen." This situation is not a complete example of this concept as Black Hat is the only one doing it. He understands, however, that if others do it, it would apply.

In the last frame, Black Hat references the {{w|invisible hand}} which is the term economists use to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. Black Hat appears to be taking advantage of this invisible hand by literally cutting it with a knife and eating it.

The title text is an example of Black Hat's negative review. It does not seem very credible, even in the context of the abysmal standards usually seen in such reviews. The title text may also be a joke where, under slightly more normal circumstances, the room may be full of bedbugs and the desk clerk's mouth may be full of semen. Black Hat may have reversed this to make a terrible review even less credible.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk with a laptop, looking at a review website]
:Cueball: What's with this negative review? You ''liked'' that hotel.
:Black Hat: I have a script that posts a bad review for every hotel I stay at. It reduces demand, which means more vacancies and lower prices next time.

:Cueball: What if the place sucks?
:Black Hat: I change the review to positive to steer other people over there.

:Cueball: You punish companies you like!
:Black Hat: The odds of ''my'' review putting a hotel out of business are negligible.
:Cueball: If we all did that the system would collapse!
:Black Hat: Doesn't affect my logic. Tragedy of the commons.

:Cueball: That's not even the tragedy of the commons anymore. That's the tragedy of you're a dick.
:Black Hat: If you're quick with a knife, you'll find that the invisible hand is made of delicious invisible meat.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Psychology]]

505: A Bunch of Rocks

2014-11-28T18:09:08Z

108.162.216.208: /* Notes */

{{comic
| number = 505
| date = November 17, 2008
| title = A Bunch of Rocks
| image = a_bunch_of_rocks.png
| titletext = I call Rule 34 on Wolfram's Rule 34.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|What is the diagram to the right of the Epitaph of Stevinus? Many items are not well explained.}}

[[Cueball]] awakens to find himself trapped for eternity in an endless expanse of sand and rocks. At first, he uses this time to derive all of mathematics and physics, including {{w|quantum mechanics}} and {{w|general relativity}}. Next Cueball creates a computer that can process any possible function, out of rocks and rules for the interaction between rocks. He then simulates a particle followed by the interactions between particles, followed by the entire universe. The amount of time it takes to simulate the change in the universe from one instant to the next ({{w|Planck time}}) takes an extremely long time as the time it takes to update just one row of rocks can be measured in eons.

Cueball then apologizes for any flaws we see in the simulation. This implies that the audience is living in Cueball's simulation, making Cueball essentially God.

The final frame cuts to a classroom where a bored student stares at his hands waiting for class to end. Cueball admonishes the student for thinking that class is lasting forever. The joke being that the boredom felt in a classroom is nothing compared to the boredom that inspires Cueball to spend his time toiling to keep the universe moving.

The title text suggests that {{w|Rule 34 (Internet meme)|Rule 34}} should be called on {{w|Elementary cellular automaton#Random initial state|Wolfram's Rule 34}}. Rule 34 (see [[305: Rule 34]]) is a humorous rule of the Internet which states "If you can imagine it, there is porn of it. No exceptions." Wolfram's Rule 34 is a cellular automaton. Therefore the title text says that someone should make pornography featuring the cellular automaton in question.

===Graphs===
The three diagrams in the "Physics, too. I worked out the kinks..." panel are, from left to right:
#The {{w|Normal distribution}} of the {{w|Gaussian curve}} marking the points that represent a of a standard deviation of σ and 2σ. This is one of the fundamental building blocks of statistics.
#The {{w|Inclined plane#History|Epitaph of Stevinus}}, an explanation of the mechanical advantage of using an {{w|inclined plane}}. The inclined plane is one of the six classical {{w|simple machine}}s, one of the fundamental building blocks of mechanical and civil engineering.
#A weird diagram with lines in it [Nugui suggest partitioning of phase space into fundamental cells dqdp = h (Planck's Constant)].

The graph that represents partial interaction is a {{w|Feynman Diagram}}. This shows the interaction of subatomic particles who collide and exchange some momentum via a photon. The slope of the middle line represents the distance moved and the time lost/gained during the interaction.

===Notes===
The Swiss patent office line refers to {{w|Albert Einstein}}, who was employed as a Swiss patent clerk while coming up with his theory of special relativity. Also there is a standing joke that very few important inventions have come from Switzerland, since the country hadn't been involved in the world wars, and thus has not been part of the weapons race, nor was it a driving force in the preceding Industrial Revolution.

Cueball mentions that if we see an artifact flutter in and out of reality he must have made a mistake in the last "billions and billions of millennia." This implies the small period of time artifact is present in his time is longer than our universe has existed. This is a ''very'' long time.

===Cellular Automaton===
Cueball uses the rocks to build a {{w|cellular automaton}}, a computational model based on simple rules to advance from one state to the next. Certain cellular automata are {{w|Turing-complete}}, which means that they can be used to represent any conceivable algorithm if expanded infinitely. He specifically seems to be running Wolfram's {{w|Rule 110}}, which is capable of universal computation.
When using Rule 110 for universal computation, one builds a background pattern, which can be seen in the comic as the pattern of smaller triangles, and then performs computation by sending out "rockets" to collide and interact with each other.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is walking alone in a desert, narrating his own situation.]
:So I'm stuck in this desert for eternity.
:I don't know why. I just woke up here one day.

:I never feel hungry or thirsty.

:I just walk.

:Sand and rocks

:stretch to infinity.
:As best as I can tell.

:[Cueball is sitting in the desert, in a contemplative position.]
:There's plenty of time for thinking out here.
:An eternity really.

:[Cueball is sketching stuff in the sand.]
:I've rederived modern math in the sand
:and then some.

:[Different graph types are depicted.]
:Physics too. I worked out the kinks in quantum mechanics and relativity.
:Took a lot of thinking, but this place has fewer distractions than a Swiss patent office.

:[Cueball is walking along the desert, laying out rocks.]
:One day I started laying down rows of rocks.

:[Cueball continues to deploy rocks.]
:Each new row followed from the last in a simple pattern.

:[Image continues to zoom out showing laid out rocks.]
:With the right set of rules and enough space,

:I was able to build a computer.
:Each new row of stones is the next iteration of the computation.

:Sure it's rocks instead of electricity, but it's the same* thing.
:Just slower.
:<nowiki>*Turing-complete</nowiki>

:[Cueball in contemplative pose.]
:After a while, I programmed it to be a physics simulator.

:[A particle labeled by binary strings.]
:Every piece of information about a particle was encoded as a string of bits written in the stones.

:[A {{w|Feynman diagram}} showing two particles interacting.]
:With enough time and space, I could fully simulate two particles interacting.

:[Cueball standing before the vastness of the desert.]
:But I have ''infinite'' time and space.

:[Depiction of various galaxies and other systems.]
:So I decided to simulate a universe.

:[Cueball is walking about his rocks, moving them around.]
:The eons blur past as I walk down a single row.

:[Zoom out of the rows of rocks.]
:The rows blur past to compute a single step.

:[Shows placement of two particles.]
:And in the simulation...

:[The two particles have moved; an after-image of their previous placement is present.]
:...another instant ticks by.

:[A person observes a mote of dust vanish.]
:So if you see a mote of dust vanish from your vision in a little flash or something

:[Cueball is holding two rocks, rearranging them.]
:I'm sorry. I must have misplaced a rock
:sometime in the last few billions and billions of millennia.

:[Cueball in front of the vastness of his infinite desert.]
:Oh and...

:[Cueball in a classroom setting with head in hands, girl and professor are present; there are apparently less than five minutes left in the class.]
:If you think the minutes in your morning lecture are taking a long time to pass for ''you''...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]