explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:76: Familiar

2023-06-01T17:31:05Z

108.162.216.71:

What do you reckon is missing from the explanation? ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 14:26, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
:I'm running through the first comics and when I feel that something is missing it just gets the incomplete tag. Everyone is welcome to fix and remove this tag. The most worse error here was :) instead of :(.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:22, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
::The happy smiley was ''after'' the sentence dryly ''explaining'' the fairly obvious thing that a sad smiley means sadness. It was totally intentional, meant as a joke, funny or not! It could have been ;) though. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 07:55, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
:::The title text shows :( not more or less. If you have ideas beyond of this explain it, but do not change the original text.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:14, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
::::This is confused. How do you mean, I changed the original text? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 09:36, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
:::::Go here: [[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=76:_Familiar&diff=prev&oldid=43148]], you did change the ":(" to ";)" and a few edits before you did ":)". I just did edit this to the correct sadness symbol. When Randall talks about apples you can't explain bananas.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:44, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
::::::I'm removing the sentence. It was just a joke, but it wasn't appreciated. :( ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 19:19, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
:::::::What the hell you are doing? We need an explain for the title text, even when it's simple.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:32, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
::::::::No. You don't need to explain what a smiley is. Everybody knows. Especially on the internet. There's got to be a limit; we don't, for example, explain the meaning of common english words. –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 08:18, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
:: *worst, not 'most worst'. :) [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 14:17, 16 March 2021 (UTC)
Is this the shortest title text? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 10:56, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
:If you don't count comics without any title text at all, then yeah, I'm pretty sure it is. [[User:SuperSupermario24|SuperSupermario24]] 06:32, 1 June 2019 (UTC)

== Comic rotation ==

Anyone else notice the comic is rotated 90 degrees clockwise for them on the xkcd website? I’m using Safari on an iPhone. {{unsigned|172.68.142.209}}
:It's fine in Chrome on Android and Debian. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 01:13, 12 May 2019 (UTC)
::Exif.Image.Orientation is set to rotate the image. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.238|108.162.219.238]] 21:10, 13 February 2020 (UTC)
::Also rotated in Chrome on Mac as of May 2020
:::As well as for Chrome on PC as of July 2020.[[User:Blueshoes317|Blueshoes317]] ([[User talk:Blueshoes317|talk]]) 16:26, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
:Currently not rotated in Firefox on Debian. [[User:ExcarnateSojourner|ExcarnateSojourner]] ([[User talk:ExcarnateSojourner|talk]]) 02:47, 4 July 2020 (UTC)
::Rotated in Firefox on Ubuntu as of September 2020. [[User:LegionMammal978|LegionMammal978]] ([[User talk:LegionMammal978|talk]]) 18:37, 24 September 2020 (UTC)
:Yeah, I was actually coming here to see if anyone else was getting the same problem. [[User:Thexkcdnerd|Thexkcdnerd]] ([[User talk:Thexkcdnerd|talk]]) 08:59, 26 January 2023 (UTC)
:Rotated in Chrome on a Chromebook as of March 20, 2020. [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 17:45,

20 March 2021 (UTC)
As of 2021 it is roatated on chrome on iPad

2021-12-08, rotated on Chrome on a Windows 10 laptop. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.45|172.70.110.45]] 15:18, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

2022-Mar-09, rotated on Edge on a Windows 10 PC.

2022-May-26, rotated on Chrome on a Chromebook running Chrome OS 101. [[User:KirbyDude25|KirbyDude25]] ([[User talk:KirbyDude25|talk]]) 14:04, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

2022-Jun-12, rotated on Opera on a Windows 10 laptop.

2022-Sep-6, not rotated on Web/Epiphany on Ubuntu. - JuL

2022-Dec-1, rotated on Chrome in Android. -DM

2023-Jan-6th, rotated on Chrome on Mac -RIG

2023-Jan-6th, rotated on safari on iPad 4 [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.3|172.70.131.3]] 03:30, 7 January 2023 (UTC)

2023-May-1st, rotated on Firefox on Android [[Special:Contributions/172.71.234.64|172.71.234.64]] 00:15, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

2023-Jun-1, rotated on Chrome on Windows 10 PC

2023-Jun-1, rotated on Chrome on Mac

2023-Jun-1, rotated on Safaru on Mac

2023-Jun-1, rotated on Edge on Windows 10 PC

Talk:1756: I'm With Her

2016-11-08T03:02:23Z

108.162.216.71:

The "I'm with her" and H with an arrow are CLEARLY the respective campaign slogan and campaign logo for Hillary Clinton, not some vagueness having to do with bringing a significant other. {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.78}}
:I see it more as him endorsing voting regardless of who you vote for (as evidenced by half the comic is about "Here's how you vote" without any mention of candidates or issues) and the endorsing Clinton part is an add-on as if to say "This is how I'm voting; vote for her if you agree with me." [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 18:39, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Has Randall endorsed a presidential candidate before? --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 17:14, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:He supported Obama on his blog in '08, not in the comic though. {{unsigned ip|162.158.214.230}}

He could have said any number of clever things about the election, and all he did was put up a campaign sign. Disappointing. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 17:37, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:I'm hoping Wednesday will be a newspaper saying "American immigration continues north" and below, "40% of the population move to Canada", but only if Trump wins.

what a cuck --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.63|172.68.51.63]] 17:45, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: leaving aside the most ridiculous slur of the past few years, I don't know what else did you expect from Randall. I guess you must have stumbled upon this wiki by chance and have never heard of xkcd before.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 17:59, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: AHAHAHAHA. *Ahem.* Hooray for pejorative misappropriation of a kink. /s [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.55|108.162.246.55]] 19:07, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is the first time I still don't get the joke even after reading the explainxkcd page [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.123|108.162.219.123]] 18:09, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:It isn't a joke. [[Randall]] is simply encouraging people to vote. [[User:GizmoDude|GizmoDude]] ([[User talk:GizmoDude|talk]]) 20:55, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
;Bit disappointing...

I was hoping for a comic today. oh well. Interesting to see how he's planning to vote, though - it's a shame that there are no candidates this year in favor of strong encryption. {{unsigned ip|172.68.55.80}}

Funny how females outdo males in this 'comic' but in terms of frequency and of elevation. Oh well. xkcd has long been overrepresenting females, it was to be expected. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>{{unsigned ip|162.158.201.90}}
:Seriously? You're whinging 'what about the men?' in a geek web comic?! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.212|108.162.215.212]] 18:21, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
::And there are 11 characters and they are split 5 to 6, and if Blondie represents Clinton then there are 5 to 5 M vs W supporters. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:58, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:"Overrepresenting"?! If there were too many guys you wouldn't bat an eye because it's 'accurate' to whatever demographic you think xkcd is supposed to represent, but as soon as Randall draws 'too many women' you whinge about the oppression of men. First off, even if the readership is male-dominated, that doesn't have any impact on who the comic can portray. Second, there is nothing oppressive about seeing women portrayed in equal numbers or -heaven forbid- in positions of power.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.118.191|172.68.118.191]] 00:28, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

The only disappointing this are comments like those two above. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 18:11, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: Females being overrepresented in comics like xkcd (but also other ones) with respect to their controlled interest in science in reality is a fact. Therefore, you are calling facts disappointing. How geeky of you. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>{{unsigned ip|162.158.201.90}}
:: So, your real problem is that Randall likes using female stick figures, yes? Also, why are you afraid to "un-nowiki" your signature...? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 19:15, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
::: No. Allow me to repeat my point as you had apparently misunderstood: 'females being overrepresented'. This is something else than 'females being represented'. The more you know, the less chance there is for you to accidentally twist another person's words as misogyny/sexism. Also, identity is not relevant to discussion. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>{{unsigned ip|162.158.201.90}}
:::: I understood you perfectly fine. My point still stands: You don't like Randall's preference for female stick figures. I never said you're being misogynic/sexist, so please don't imply I did. Thing with your "hidden" identity is that it's plain visible in the history of this page, so there's really no need to nowiki the signature, that's all. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 20:42, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
::::: You are extremely skilled at saying things that are false and asserting that they're true. First you confused objecting to female overrepresentation (over-presence) with objecting to female representation (presence) ('your real problem is that Randall likes using female stick figures'). Then you moved to confusing objecting to female overrepresentation with objecting to *Randall's* female overrepresentation. My objection does not pertain to who is doing overrepresenting, but to the mere fact of it. I would have objected identically to any other writer. Also, your attributing of opposition to female presence in comics (after doing which which you proceeded to asserting my being personally hostile to Randall) is accusing of sexism/misogyny by definition. Also, I am obviously aware of edit history; my use my signature constitutes a reminder that identity is, as I said, irrelevant in discussion. It does not serve to obscure anything. You have a remarkable record of falsehoods. <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>{{unsigned ip|162.158.201.90}}

A little disappointing to have a normally lighthearted comic dive seriously into politics, if even for one strip. Not really a fan of either candidate, but would like to see stuff like this stay above the fray. {{unsigned ip|162.158.69.100}}
:Completely agreed. [[User:SeanAhern|SeanAhern]] ([[User talk:SeanAhern|talk]]) 18:27, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Completely agreed 2. At first I though it's some kind of a romance statement ("be with her"). And from explainxkcd I have learnt that it's an US campaign ad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.150|162.158.202.150]] 22:19, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
::Lighthearted? Try to read the comics in the [[:Category:Politics]] and [[:Category:Climate change]]. Also there are many other comics that are not at all light hearted. You must have mistaken this with some other web comic? :) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:33, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

This is a first... comics 500 and 1130 (possibly 1131 too) were related to the election, but didn't endorse a candidate. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.89|108.162.219.89]] 18:41, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:I think Randall is pretty much just saying '''OH GOD PLEASE DONT VOTE FOR TRUMP''' [[User:GizmoDude|GizmoDude]] ([[User talk:GizmoDude|talk]]) 20:59, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:: If Randall was saying that, he'd also be bringing up third party candidates (honestly surprised he didn't endorse Jill Stein considering she's more pro-science than Hillary. And before anyone says "anti-vax", check snopes. Jill Stein is so pro-vax [she's volunteered time vaccinated children and is on record saying she wants to increase vaccination rates], pro-addressing-climate[she's green party who has that as a primary platform], and wants to replace the people with business degrees on the panels of the FDA with people with science degrees. Jill is so pro-science and that it makes Hillary look like a flat-earther.) --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.42|108.162.246.42]] 21:30, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:::Jill Stein's stance on nuclear energy is an unscientific as it gets. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.196|108.162.210.196]] 23:28, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
::::No no no. If Randal just wish that Trump should not become president there is only one way to achieve this and that is by making Hillary win. This is not even saying that he likes her, he just dislikes the alternative more. Voting for anyone else might just help Trump. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:33, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Also, it looks like minutephysics has done a similar thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDeL4LGuBx4 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.89|108.162.219.89]] 00:44, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

I came here to see what the tone of the comments were going to be. I was half expecting to find an all-out flamewar in progress. I was happy to see that the comments have not devolved into the kind of attacks that one would expect to find pretty much anywhere else on the Internet. Geeks are the best people. :) [[User:Mwburden|mwburden]] ([[User talk:Mwburden|talk]]) 18:47, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm very dissappointed. Randall never took sides before and - be it as it may - this comic is not a comic but plain out political campaign. Up until now I held xkcd in EXTREMELY high esteem - this comic put a serious dent in that opinion..
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.60|162.158.91.60]] 18:56, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: I'm really torn about this one. On the one hand I feel that you HAVE to take sides in this one, if your only other option is Donald Trump... on the other hand, I never liked when web comics express political opinions. It will always end in a flame war and almost never have anything to do with the web comic itself. Randall should've just put up a "go vote becaues it's important" sign without taking sides. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 19:17, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
: Don't let the door hit you on the way out. I'm sure there are other comics out there that would agree with your ideology. [[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 19:25, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Randall should do whatever Randall thinks he should do. Should he put up "go read about global warming" comics instead of take the side of AGW? If you think this example is an inappropriate one to use in contrasting this comic with the current political election cycle then you've completely ignored the stances of the two popular candidates. But back to the original point: if you don't like XKCD anymore because of this one comic then go find another comic or start your own. All of art is an expression of the person. Randall knew not everyone would like his beliefs when he pushed this out to the world and is obviously prepared to deal with any consequences of taking a stand on his website. I, for one, applaud him for doing so {{unsigned ip|162.158.69.19}}
:: Randall did a comic about global warming a while back, which was very interesting. Because I heard the "earth has warmed up before" argument before and even used it myself at least once. The difference about the global warming comic is that he backed it up with scientific facts, which is well within the scope of this comic. Political opinions aren't (or did the slogan change to ''A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language and politics''?). Yes, of course he can do with his web comic whatever he wants to. But readers can express their opinions about what he does with it. It's called "freedom of speech", you know?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.201.96|162.158.201.96]] 20:47, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:::[[1357|There's a comic for that.]] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.230|162.158.214.230]] 21:19, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
::::Randall has endorsee Obama in 2008 and it is his comic and he can use it to endorse anyone he likes. I'm pretty sure he believes that he will only loose a few real fans of xkcd over this comic, because those who really enjoys all his comics in spite of for instance climate comics would really not like to see Trump as president. And would thus be happy if this comic helped in any way to avoid that. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:34, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Can you help list all the characters in the transcript? From left to right; they're Joanna (ponytail with EMP cannon) from [[322]]; Black Hat; unknown with kite; White Hat; possibly Miss Lenhart (but his hair is somewhat different from [[1519]]); unknown possibly Megan; cueball; unknown woman with glasses; Hairbun; Beret Guy; Cueball with toy sword from [[303]]. [[User:B jonas|B jonas]] ([[User talk:B jonas|talk]]) 19:10, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Not Miss Lenhart. Blondie. They are listed now. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:34, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Good for Randal. I had been noticing how many Hillary leaning artists had been pulling their punches this election, likely out of fear of trolling or loss of revenue. You want to know what courage looks like? This is is. [[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 19:25, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Title text hasn't been explained yet. Is it a reference to the German chancellor Angela Merkel's phrase "Wir schaffen das!'? Don't know if Clinton has a slogan like Obama's "Yes, we can!". {{unsigned ip|162.158.91.36}}

I find (linking to )this civicinnovation website rather questionable. They want to audit peoples address books based on who the names in there might vote for? That sounds like Erich Mielkes wildest dreams come true. Even German newspapers (where i'm from), which are 100% anti-Trump, have in the last days noted concern about the methods of Clintons supporters bullying the other side, and this is a disquieting new piece in that picture. I'll hope this is just a ploy to step up with Trump on the ''bad manners'' side. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.160|162.158.91.160]] 19:37, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

;Not all comics have to be humorous

From [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics#Etymology]
:The English term ''comics'' derives from the humorous (or "[[wikt:comic|comic]]") work which predominated in early American newspaper comic strips; usage of the term has become standard for non-humorous works as well. {{unsigned ip|162.158.69.57}}

:The problem is that this isn't a comic, this is a campaign ad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.38|162.158.238.38]] 20:32, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

;Could we please just NOT get politics involved in the comments, guys?

Just... please? [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 20:34, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Are you serious. What had you expected :-) This is the most loaded comic of all time. It will even take down [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]], even though [[388:_Fuck_Grapefruit#Controversy|it beat his blog]] about his Obama endorsement. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:58, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Randall has taken a side in a political Argument before: Not counting the near-invisible easter egg, comic 1005 consists solely of Randall taking a stance on something political and providing links to show how you can help. That wasn't too long ago, but no one freaked out about a serious, political strip back then.
[[User:CJB42|CJB42]] ([[User talk:CJB42|talk]]) 20:39, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Policy to candidates is not an apples to apples comparison. People get much more up in arms when the topic is either a candidate or policy that goes against religious text or teachings. SOPA and PIPA were neither (well, unless you count GNU as some kind of internet religion). [[User:Zernin|Zernin]] ([[User talk:Zernin|talk]]) 21:22, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

It's sad to see a guy who is so smart in some areas, yet can not see Hillary Clinton for the terrible president she would be. (Granted, part of the reason we only have a few other choices is because of our messed up voting system.) {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.177}}
:I agree with you that Hillary may be worse than almost any one else from the Democrats. But Trump is sooo much further out on a limp, and I'm sure this might be the only reason Randall makes this comic. He is seriously afraid of what woudl happen to the US and the rest of the world if Trump wins --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:38, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Instead of comic, post contained a political statement. I am not amused. I want a refund. I don't vote, and I don't even live anywhere near USA. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.96.102|141.101.96.102]] 18:40, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:A refund? For what? You pay to read this comic? [[User:Zorlax the Mighty|Zorlax the Mighty'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:Zorlax the Mighty|talk]]) 21:53, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Darn right you better be with her. If you say anything else, you will "commit suicide". Just ask Vince Foster or Seth Rich if you think I'm crazy.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.77|173.245.48.77]] 21:46, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

What, Randy does not say "Bernie or Bust"? I feel cheated now. :P --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.228|162.158.150.228]] 22:54, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
:Poor Bernie. Poor America. Poor world. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 23:07, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Just good luck America (and the rest of the world where I belong), whatever happens tomorrow. But I'm hoping Randall can help his candidate win! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:58, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm with her... unfortunately : (. I just didn't think it made sense to donate to a billionaire. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.106|162.158.74.106]] 00:56, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

Don't get political in the comments? The fucking "comic" is a fucking political ad. We're going to call this fucker out on his cuckery. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.27|162.158.74.27]] 01:02, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

Honestly, I don't give a damn. Sure, I might not agree with his political leanings (hell, I don't want either of them in the WH), but it's just 1 comic. On Wednesday, he'll probably go back to the same stuff he's been doing for 1755 other strips. This will be nothing special. Just one comic. Sure, it might be politically fueled, but just because a person lets their leanings known doesn't mean you should be allowed to call them a "cuck" or cause a talk page for a popular comic, or a Reddit for a popular comic, devolve into the equivalent of monkeys flinging crap at walls. So just please deal with it and move on.
Yours truly, [[User:GranadalandDreamer|GranadalandDreamer]] ([[User talk:GranadalandDreamer|talk]]) 01:14, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

Randall's with *her*? good to know that randall considers arab life worthless/supports financiers over single African-american mothers/refuses to understand encryption/would rather spend public money on coal than retrain miners/loves trade deals that will hurt the poorest, increase inequality, damage the environment, homogenize culture, allow private corporations to sue elected governments/can't make his mind up over the Dakota Access pipeline/changes his accent depending on which state he is stumping in/was late to supporting gay marriage/lied repeatedly about coming under sniper fire in bosnia/has had to repeatedly plead incompetence or rely on bureaucratic politics to evade formal breach of contract or charges of criminality. Iowa, Utah and Wisconsin may have Gloria la Riva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation on the ballot, if you want a candidate who isn't an elitist. And if you didn't want splitters, you should have voted for Bernie. [[User:Cockhorse|Cockhorse]] ([[User talk:Cockhorse|talk]]) 02:12, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

I mean it's not like Trump is going to be a whole lot better for Arab people, Black people, gay people, or pretty much anyone who's not a straight white dude. It's quite possible he voted for Bernie, but at this point it's a little late for him to be asking others to support Sanders.

1584: Moments of Inspiration

2016-09-14T18:07:51Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1584
| date = September 30, 2015
| title = Moments of Inspiration
| image = moments_of_inspiration.png
| titletext = Charles, I just talked to John and Mildred, who run that company selling seeds and nuts, and their kids with MOUTHS are starving!
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Isaac Newton}}'s original examples describing the {{w|Newton's law of universal gravitation|force of gravity}} show an apple falling from a tree in order to explain why the apple falls toward the Earth, instead of the Earth falling toward the apple. He often said to have been inspired by watching {{w|Isaac_Newton#Apple_incident|falling apple}}s; in common folklore this developed into the legend that he was actually ''struck'' by an apple. The first part of this comic retells that famous legend. The later panels depict similar (but more implausible) legends that could emerge if we were to assume that other scientists' most famous examples and discoveries were based on actually observing some mundane everyday event taking place.

In the first situation we not only see the apple fall on Newton's head, we also see the Moon. This was one of the first astronomical objects on which he used his theory of gravity. He calculated its orbit around the Earth and found that it fit with the theory.

In the second situation Cueball throws a baseball towards {{w|Lise Meitner}}, but when she fails to catch the ball it hits one of her porcelain model-atoms. In this way Meitner discovered a way to split the atom. Cueball may represent {{w|Otto Hahn}}, since they were part of the Hahn-Meitner-Strassmann team that worked on this problem. Hahn was later awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, where Meitner was overlooked. Throwing something at someone and asking them to [http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/think-fast-throwing-something.1984437/ think fast] is a common "joke", where the receiver rarely has a chance to actually catch the object. But in this case it could also be a reference to the fact that she then thought fast then made a major discovery. Or if it is Hahn, then he thought faster and got the award instead of her. The porcelain models might also be a reference to {{w|Meissen porcelain}}, in German called "Meißner Porzellan", where "Meißner" is phonetically very similar to "Meitner". (Meitner has previously been mentioned in the comic [[896: Marie Curie]], which more or less explains why [[Randall]] did not choose the more famous {{w|Marie Curie}} as the female example in this comic. Meitner is not very well known in the public, compared to the three men or Curie, but this may exactly be the point for choosing her. She should have been just as famous considering what splitting the atoms has been {{w|Nuclear power|leading}} {{w|Nuclear weapon|to}}!) Also, there's not much in Marie's story that could be put down to fanciful anecdote. "All" she did was extract a few chemicals and study their properties.

In the third situation it is indicated that half of {{w|Charles Darwin}}'s children had {{w|beaks}}, a property not normally found in human children{{Citation needed}}. This would make it very difficult for them to drink soda from a glass or through a straw, compared to his normal children with mouths. Based on this assumption he developed his ideas about natural selection and {{w|evolution}}. The comic is unclear on whether this makes them more or less fit to survive and reproduce. This is a reference to Darwin's initial findings on the {{w|HMS Beagle}} on how {{w|Galapagos}} {{w|finches}} with differently shaped beaks are better suited for specific types of food, and therefore are better selected for environments where those foods are available. The title text furthers this, see below. Darwin later in life feared that having married his cousin since their {{w|consanguinity}} would increase the risk that {{w|Charles_Darwin#Children|his children}} would be born with birth defects (although he did not fear that they would be born with beaks). The difficulty caused by beaks when drinking liquids could be a reference to the Aesop's fable ''{{w|The Fox and the Stork}}''.

In the fourth situation {{w|Albert Einstein}} remarks to a man that it's annoying that the man's twin brother keeps flashing a light from a train when Einstein is trying to check his clock. He then comes to a sudden revelation. This references several of Einstein's (separate—it makes little sense together in this manner) thought experiments on {{w|special relativity}}, such as the {{w|twin paradox}} (the twin on the train should be younger after decelerating to a stop), a clock built from a beam of light, and the {{w|time dilation}} experienced by the observer in the moving {{w|frame of reference}}.

In the title text there is a description of how beaks rather than mouths are more useful when the foods have shells that need to be cracked open like nuts and seeds. Here it is clear that in the John and Mildred family you starve if you cannot eat the bird food, and thus it would be an advantage to have a beak for survival instead of a normal mouth. "John" and "Mildred" may be Mildred and {{w|John T. Scopes}} of the famous 1925 "{{w|Scopes Trial|monkey trial}}" in which John was fined $100 for teaching evolution in a Tennessee school.

==Trivia==
This comic appeared on xkcd's ten-year anniversary

==Transcript==
:[Isaac Newton, with curly long hair, sits under a tree. A waning crescent moon can be seen. An apple falls and hits him on the head. There is a caption in a frame that breaks the top border of the main frame:]
:Isaac Newton
:Apple falling: Bonk
:Isaac Newton: ''Ow!''

:[Isaac Newton rubs his sore head.]
:Isaac Newton: Aha!

:[Cueball throws a baseball towards Lise Meitner with short dark hair. (The ball can be seen in the next frame). She turns towards him too late to react and completely fails to even try catching the ball. There is a caption in a frame that breaks the top border of the main frame:]
:Lise Meitner
:Cueball: Hey Lise! Think fast!
:Ball hitting something (off-screen): Crash

:[Lise takes her hands to her mouth and she watches the broken porcelain atom lying in two pieces on the floor where it has fallen of a desk. On the desk three other intact atoms can be seen. The baseball lies behind her.]
:Lise Meitner: Oh no! My collection of porcelain atoms!
:Lise Meitner:...Hmm.

:[Four kids are standing in front of Megan and Charles Darwin (with a big beard and hair behind the ears). All the kids are trying to drink a glass of soda with a straw in them. The first kid is a boy with dark flat hair and sips soda through the straw with his mouth. The next kid is a boy with standing black hair, he tries in wain to drink with his beak open on each side of the glass. The third kid is a girl with her hair in a bun. She tries to get her beak into the glass which she has put on the floor. The last kid is a boy version of Cueball who slurps his soda through the straw. There is a caption in a frame that breaks the top border of the main frame:]
:Charles Darwin
:Megan: I gave our kids soda, but the ones with beaks always have trouble drinking it.
:Charles Darwin: I've noticed that...
:Boy with flat dark hair: Sip sip
:Boy with standing black hair and a beak: Crunch
:Girl with her hair in a bun and a beak: Peck peck
:Cueball like kid: Sluurp

:[A hairy guy is standing in front of Albert Einstein (with wild hair and a moustache), who is holding one hand to his head and has a clock in his other hand. Behind them is a train, with a locomotive at the front and a wagon behind that stretches beyond the frame. Another hairy guy has his head out of the front window of the wagon and is flashing a light towards the other two. In the next three windows can be seen passengers, two with Cueball like heads and one with hair. There is a caption in a frame that breaks the top border of the main frame:]
:Albert Einstein
:Albert Einstein: I wish your twin brother would stop shining lights at us from that train. I can barely see my clock!
:Albert Einstein: ...Wait!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]

1588: Hardware Reductionism

2015-10-09T11:59:04Z

108.162.216.71:

{{comic
| number = 1588
| date = October 9, 2015
| title = Hardware Reductionism
| image = hardware_reductionism.png
| titletext = My MRI research shows a clear correlation between the size of the parietal lobe--the part of the brain that handles spatial reasoning--and enjoyment of 3D Doritos®.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:277: Long Light

2015-05-08T06:22:28Z

108.162.216.71:

The driver seems to know that the light always takes forever and yet there he is. Sometimes people get what they deserve. {{unsigned|99.234.144.69}}

when I'm at a long light like this, I don't blame the engineer of that light, I blame the city planner who decided to put that light at that intersection when a different system would have worked better (one that adjusts to time of day and/or uses sensors to notice that someone's waiting and there's no traffic). just sayin' [[Special:Contributions/70.72.16.171|70.72.16.171]] 13:42, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

:Not that 70.72.16.171 will necessarily see this, but there are traffic engineers, who design intersections (not only the types, number, and arrangement of individual signal assemblies and sensors in a given intersection, but also any timing or sensor-based relationship with other intersections and several other things not signal-related). I think the engineer in the comic is one of these traffic engineers (maybe that's what ...16.171 is calling a city planner?). It's not the one that designed the actual assembly of bulbs, lenses, circuits and housing that makes up a given "signal" - which would also no doubt be an engineer (somewhere in the civil/electrical area I might venture to guess)[[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 18:28, 18 February 2014 (UTC

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.203|108.162.250.203]] 06:44, 27 April 2014 (UTC)Doesn't mean Cueball can't reverse away to get the engineer off his car. Unless it's a one-way street.
:Or there's another car behind him that we can't see because of reasons of artistic brevity. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.221|108.162.249.221]] 04:50, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

The punchline gets funnier based on how far away you are from the forthcoming Tuesday. Only share this comic on Wednesdays.

1018: Good Cop, Dadaist Cop

2015-03-09T18:08:29Z

108.162.216.71: /* Irrationality */

{{comic
| number = 1018
| date = February 17, 2012
| title = Good Cop, Dadaist Cop
| image = good_cop_dadaist_cop.png
| titletext = NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a play on the well known {{w|Good cop/bad cop|Good Cop/Bad Cop}} police interrogation strategy and the artistic movement {{w|Dadaism}}.

Dadaism is an artistic movement which by its definition is irrational. The movement embraces the free flow of unreasoned thought and prizes nonsense and rejection of established norms.

"Good Cop/Bad Cop" is a psychological tactic that may be employed during joint questioning or interrogation, whereby one interrogator acts in an aggressive, abusive and threatening manner (Bad Cop), and the other is compassionate, kind and reasonable in comparison (Good Cop). If successful, the suspect feels he can trust and co-operate with the good cop, or merely complies out of fear of the bad cop.

The comic starts with the "Good Cop", [[Cueball]], and the "Dadaist Cop", [[Ponytail]], working out their plan to interrogate the suspect, [[Hairy]]. After Cueball makes a few statements, intended to build trust with Hairy, and leaves to get coffee, [[Ponytail]] enters the interrogation and starts asking Hairy absurd questions. Hairy quickly becomes agitated, and questions what is wrong with Ponytail.

Good Cop/Bad Cop hinges on the suspect's fear and distrust of the intentions of the bad cop; Ponytail's "Dadist Cop" seems to preserve this, if only because of her harsh, aggressive demeanor toward the suspect.

The title text builds on the joke as by asking a suspect to give the whereabouts of the money in a dadaist manner, which would be completely useless in finding it. Such a statement could be used as a confession though.

===Irrationality===
*See this? It's Mark Zuckerberg's Mortgage. So why is it written in CHURCH LATIN?
**{{w|Mark Zuckerberg}} (the co-founder of {{w|Facebook}}) was renting in 2011[//allfacebook.com/mark-zuckerberg-moves-into-another-rental-house_b29174] and therefore did not have a {{w|mortgage}}.
***Even if Mark Zuckerberg had bought a property, it is unlikely (given his financial status) that he would have take out a mortgage.
**Modern mortgage are typically written in the local vernacular; it would be very strange for one to be written in a dead language like {{w|Church Latin}}.
*“WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL?”, “What's wrong with ART?”
**These are {{w|Non_sequitur_(logic)|non sequiturs}} and therefore have no place in an investigation.
*The title text: NOW INVENT AN IMPOSSIBLE-TO-TRANSLATE LANGUAGE AND USE IT TO TELL US WHERE THE MONEY IS.
**The location of the money cannot be conveyed to Ponytail if the information were expressed in a newly-invented language that cannot be translated, and therefore would be useless to an investigation.

==Transcript==
:[Two cops look through a window into an interrogation chamber holding a handcuffed suspect.]
:Good Cop: All right, let's try good cop, dadaist cop

:[Good Cop is seated in front of the suspect.]
:Good Cop: Look, you're a good guy. We can work this out. Hey, lemme get us some coffee.

:[CHANGE PLACES.]

:[Dadaist Cop holds up a document of indeterminate contents and threatens the suspect with it.]
:Dadaist Cop: See this? It's Mark Zuckerberg's Mortgage. So why is it written in '''''CHURCH LATIN'''''?

:[Dadaist cop physically rattles the suspect.]
:Dadaist Cop: '''''WHY ARE MY BONES SO SMALL'''''?
:Suspect: What's ''WRONG'' with you!?
:Dadaist Cop: What's wrong with '''''ART'''''?
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

Talk:1470: Kix

2015-02-13T22:35:00Z

108.162.216.71:

Is there a category:comics with strong language? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.71|108.162.225.71]] 11:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

From now on I don't think I'll ever see a box of Kix in the store without thinking, "Kid Tested, Mother Fucker!"[[User:Bmmarti3|Bmmarti3]] ([[User talk:Bmmarti3|talk]]) 13:16, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Is it just me or does the last item in the list seem a little out of place for something Randall would write/post? It doesn't seem to me that he normally takes to swearing (at all) in any of his strips. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:34, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

What's wrong with swearing, you guys? This is XKCD; we're supposedly a mature audience who doesn't shy away from using words simply because they're about sex and sex is bad. XKCD has dealt with sexual subject matter before, I don't think Randall ever tried to market it as a 'family-oriented' webcomic. If your kid gets XKCD jokes, I think they're mature enough to learn about sex! :P [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.171|173.245.56.171]] 14:14, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
: Actually this is xkcd, and I'm not saying there's a problem - just that Randall doesn't usually directly swear in his comics. It's just an observation. BTW, where'd the sex thing come from? [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:39, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:: I'm not entirely sure which webcomic you're thinking of... (?) because it couldn't be xkcd... I would agree that xkcd is about romance, sarcasm, math and language, and not ''about'' swearing... but by searching for your chosen epithet using the search box at the top of this page (I chose and found 27 examples of "fuck"), you can find such words used whenever he needed them (and occasionally even when they weren't ''needed'' per se) used in the titles, dialogue, labels, and title text. Please, take a couple moments and confirm for yourself. Without thorough analysis, I'd guess there was a "swear word" of one sort or another in nearly 10% of xkcd comics -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:11, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:::xkcd.com/90 "Where's my fucking jacket?" "Over there, next to your regular one" one of my favorite classic xkcd, redefined my perseption of the word "fucking" in conversation. It is perpetually hyphenated in my mind. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.91|173.245.48.91]] 03:37, 8 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons
:::xkcd.com/37 "Hyphen" "My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right. Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car." - Another favorite...also pretty much has swearing at the heart of the comic. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.189|108.162.221.189]] 15:14, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

: The word 'fucker' is traditionally considered obscene because of it refers to sexual intercourse, which is considered a taboo subject that should be approached with care and sensitivity in Western Culture. So what I meant was that unless you consider that approach to the word warranted, it's not entirely logical to proscribe saying the word either. But since you don't seem to have an issue with that, I do agree: Randall doesn't swear in excess, but he does it when the occasion calls for it (like here), and that's completely fine. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.171|173.245.56.171]] 15:59, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

The last one sounds like something Donald Draper would come up with if he was an increasingly cynical ad exec in the 70's or 80's when this came out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.170|108.162.216.170]] 14:15, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I don't believe the use of Mother Fucker is sexual in this context, just an epithet. And Randall has used swearwords throughout the lifetime of xkcd, albeit not liberally. [[User:Mattdevney|Mattdevney]] ([[User talk:Mattdevney|talk]]) 14:28, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Maybe he has never used the mother F word - and it does only appear here if you think it through... But the F word is used several time in the comics as can be seen by a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=fuck&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch simple search]. See for instance: [[388:_Fuck_Grapefruit]]. [[114: Computational Linguists]], [[874: Time Management]], [[566: Matrix Revisited]], [[714: Porn For Women]], [[931: Lanes]] and especially the title text of [[110: Clark Gable]] [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:03, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:: There's also the infamous "Bangarang, motherfucker" from [[813: One-Liners]]. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.190|173.245.49.190]] 09:36, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:::Thanks for that - and I just realized that the word is written as one word not split up. So I just checked and he has actually also used it once more here [[1212: Interstellar Memes]] - though it is hard to find. But the star usees the Die Hard staement written here below in the next answer to the comment above ours. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:32, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
: I agree, it's more in the spirit of Die Hard's "Yippie ki yay, motherfucker" or the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDfZ5HmA6fs Usual Suspects]'s "Hand me the fucking keys, you fucking cocksucker". It's an additional expletive to show disrespect and contempt of the person you're talking to and about to get medieval on. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 20:03, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
: I also Agree that Rather then Sexual I went to more of a Samuel L. Jackson sounding tone of it. [[User:Jimmyjazzx|Jimmyjazzx]] ([[User talk:Jimmyjazzx|talk]]) 03:29, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
''From the xkcd website:'' '''Warning: this comic ''occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children)'', unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)'''... I do think we need a category for these occasions of strong language. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.71|108.162.225.71]] 16:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
::We should include special categories for "unusual humor" and "advanced mathematics" as well [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.180|173.245.48.180]] 20:31, 7 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons
:: If we need such a category, we could as well call it "unsuitable for children". [[Special:Contributions/188.114.98.238|188.114.98.238]] 19:52, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

In the interest of science, I have created a category for comics with strong language. [[User:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|ImVeryAngryItsNotButter]] ([[User talk:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|talk]]) 18:35, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Seems like someone did not like it - if you did do that? There is no such category now. Which is also not needed in my opinion. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:48, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
This being XKCD, I think it's more appropriate if you made a category for "any comics not fitting the catagories" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.52|141.101.80.52]] 11:23, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

I just noticed that if you read downward (acrosticly) from the last letter in "SELECTED" you get "DEFEC" - which implies a different rhyming response.--[[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 19:18, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

When I read "Kid tested, mother not notified" I thought more of "Kid tested for substance abuse, mother not notified of the (positive) test result". {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.50}}

I had a sometimes different take on the explanation:
:For "Mother Selected", my first thoughts were that the mother was ''herself'' selected (for unknown purposes) despite/because of the kid being the one assessed for suitability.
:"Mother Perfected" seemed to suggest that after checking the child that she created, she was tweaked (genetically?) so that future kids wouldn't perhaps have some fault discovered in the first one.
:"Mother Not Notified", as already given in this Talk section, was "not told of the result of the test".
:"Mother Watching Helplessly" - per concensus.
:"Mother Infected", someone checked the kid for some disease or other, but it was actually the mother that was ill.
:"Mother Consumed", Mommy entered the food-chain (either as too old to bother testing the same as her child, or as part of the assessment process ''by'' the child).
:And the last assessment I agree with (although was half expecting a "MILF" reference... but there's not one there that I can see).
...but I can't argue with what's already been given. Consider the above as supplementary only. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.118|141.101.99.118]] 20:27, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I believe "Kid tested, Mother consumed" means that the kid tested the product and didn't want to eat it but the mother also tasted it and decided that she liked it and possibly became addicted [[User:Carlosm|Carlosm]] ([[User talk:Carlosm|talk]]) 21:53, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

"Kid tested, Mother infected": they tested the kid (because they couldn't test the mother) and if confirms their suspicions: the mother is infected (and the kid as well). {{unsigned ip|173.245.53.103}}

:I did a significant rewrite of the explanation and incorporated most of these alternative interpretations. :) [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 01:42, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

;Revert on 1/9/15
Hey, I just saw [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1470:_Kix&diff=82393&oldid=82376 this revert] and wanted to discuss it with the person who did that revert. I was the one who had put quite a bit of time into trying to improve the quality of the explanation yesterday. I believe that the new text I put in did not substantially change the overall meaning of the explanation or any of the individual items in that list. I also took care to account for additional ideas that made sense from this discussion page. By reverting all of that, you threw quite a bit of work away that I (and possibly a number of other people) felt was valuable. Please, before reverting it again, could you work with us on this? Thanks. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 00:30, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
:Looking at the edit log, it looks a lot like a straight up revert through multiple peoples' edits, which I really can't say I a fan of. Try to avoid doing stuff like that, it destroys good edits along with the ones you disagree with. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:20, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
::Given the edit summary on the revert (that "someone" had "incorrectly" changed the definitions), I can't help but see it as terribly ironic, seeing as how the comic (and the explanation) is about how people can interpret things differently. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 09:34, 10 January 2015 (UTC)

Maybe last word "Fucker" is a cameo for SOAD and their song Chop Suey {{unsigned|Valdemar}}

I think "Kid tested, mother infected" sounds like a thinly veiled AIDS joke. (edit: This is my first time editing xkcd, the other contributions aren't me)--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]] 22:33, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1470: Kix

2015-02-13T22:33:34Z

108.162.216.71:

Is there a category:comics with strong language? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.71|108.162.225.71]] 11:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

From now on I don't think I'll ever see a box of Kix in the store without thinking, "Kid Tested, Mother Fucker!"[[User:Bmmarti3|Bmmarti3]] ([[User talk:Bmmarti3|talk]]) 13:16, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Is it just me or does the last item in the list seem a little out of place for something Randall would write/post? It doesn't seem to me that he normally takes to swearing (at all) in any of his strips. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:34, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

What's wrong with swearing, you guys? This is XKCD; we're supposedly a mature audience who doesn't shy away from using words simply because they're about sex and sex is bad. XKCD has dealt with sexual subject matter before, I don't think Randall ever tried to market it as a 'family-oriented' webcomic. If your kid gets XKCD jokes, I think they're mature enough to learn about sex! :P [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.171|173.245.56.171]] 14:14, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
: Actually this is xkcd, and I'm not saying there's a problem - just that Randall doesn't usually directly swear in his comics. It's just an observation. BTW, where'd the sex thing come from? [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:39, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:: I'm not entirely sure which webcomic you're thinking of... (?) because it couldn't be xkcd... I would agree that xkcd is about romance, sarcasm, math and language, and not ''about'' swearing... but by searching for your chosen epithet using the search box at the top of this page (I chose and found 27 examples of "fuck"), you can find such words used whenever he needed them (and occasionally even when they weren't ''needed'' per se) used in the titles, dialogue, labels, and title text. Please, take a couple moments and confirm for yourself. Without thorough analysis, I'd guess there was a "swear word" of one sort or another in nearly 10% of xkcd comics -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 15:11, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:::xkcd.com/90 "Where's my fucking jacket?" "Over there, next to your regular one" one of my favorite classic xkcd, redefined my perseption of the word "fucking" in conversation. It is perpetually hyphenated in my mind. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.91|173.245.48.91]] 03:37, 8 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons
:::xkcd.com/37 "Hyphen" "My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right. Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car." - Another favorite...also pretty much has swearing at the heart of the comic. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.189|108.162.221.189]] 15:14, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

: The word 'fucker' is traditionally considered obscene because of it refers to sexual intercourse, which is considered a taboo subject that should be approached with care and sensitivity in Western Culture. So what I meant was that unless you consider that approach to the word warranted, it's not entirely logical to proscribe saying the word either. But since you don't seem to have an issue with that, I do agree: Randall doesn't swear in excess, but he does it when the occasion calls for it (like here), and that's completely fine. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.171|173.245.56.171]] 15:59, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

The last one sounds like something Donald Draper would come up with if he was an increasingly cynical ad exec in the 70's or 80's when this came out. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.170|108.162.216.170]] 14:15, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I don't believe the use of Mother Fucker is sexual in this context, just an epithet. And Randall has used swearwords throughout the lifetime of xkcd, albeit not liberally. [[User:Mattdevney|Mattdevney]] ([[User talk:Mattdevney|talk]]) 14:28, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Maybe he has never used the mother F word - and it does only appear here if you think it through... But the F word is used several time in the comics as can be seen by a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=fuck&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch simple search]. See for instance: [[388:_Fuck_Grapefruit]]. [[114: Computational Linguists]], [[874: Time Management]], [[566: Matrix Revisited]], [[714: Porn For Women]], [[931: Lanes]] and especially the title text of [[110: Clark Gable]] [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:03, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:: There's also the infamous "Bangarang, motherfucker" from [[813: One-Liners]]. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.190|173.245.49.190]] 09:36, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:::Thanks for that - and I just realized that the word is written as one word not split up. So I just checked and he has actually also used it once more here [[1212: Interstellar Memes]] - though it is hard to find. But the star usees the Die Hard staement written here below in the next answer to the comment above ours. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:32, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
: I agree, it's more in the spirit of Die Hard's "Yippie ki yay, motherfucker" or the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDfZ5HmA6fs Usual Suspects]'s "Hand me the fucking keys, you fucking cocksucker". It's an additional expletive to show disrespect and contempt of the person you're talking to and about to get medieval on. [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 20:03, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
: I also Agree that Rather then Sexual I went to more of a Samuel L. Jackson sounding tone of it. [[User:Jimmyjazzx|Jimmyjazzx]] ([[User talk:Jimmyjazzx|talk]]) 03:29, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
''From the xkcd website:'' '''Warning: this comic ''occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children)'', unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)'''... I do think we need a category for these occasions of strong language. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.71|108.162.225.71]] 16:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
::We should include special categories for "unusual humor" and "advanced mathematics" as well [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.180|173.245.48.180]] 20:31, 7 January 2015 (UTC)BLuDgeons
:: If we need such a category, we could as well call it "unsuitable for children". [[Special:Contributions/188.114.98.238|188.114.98.238]] 19:52, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

In the interest of science, I have created a category for comics with strong language. [[User:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|ImVeryAngryItsNotButter]] ([[User talk:ImVeryAngryItsNotButter|talk]]) 18:35, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Seems like someone did not like it - if you did do that? There is no such category now. Which is also not needed in my opinion. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:48, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
This being XKCD, I think it's more appropriate if you made a category for "any comics not fitting the catagories" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.52|141.101.80.52]] 11:23, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

I just noticed that if you read downward (acrosticly) from the last letter in "SELECTED" you get "DEFEC" - which implies a different rhyming response.--[[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 19:18, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

When I read "Kid tested, mother not notified" I thought more of "Kid tested for substance abuse, mother not notified of the (positive) test result". {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.50}}

I had a sometimes different take on the explanation:
:For "Mother Selected", my first thoughts were that the mother was ''herself'' selected (for unknown purposes) despite/because of the kid being the one assessed for suitability.
:"Mother Perfected" seemed to suggest that after checking the child that she created, she was tweaked (genetically?) so that future kids wouldn't perhaps have some fault discovered in the first one.
:"Mother Not Notified", as already given in this Talk section, was "not told of the result of the test".
:"Mother Watching Helplessly" - per concensus.
:"Mother Infected", someone checked the kid for some disease or other, but it was actually the mother that was ill.
:"Mother Consumed", Mommy entered the food-chain (either as too old to bother testing the same as her child, or as part of the assessment process ''by'' the child).
:And the last assessment I agree with (although was half expecting a "MILF" reference... but there's not one there that I can see).
...but I can't argue with what's already been given. Consider the above as supplementary only. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.118|141.101.99.118]] 20:27, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I believe "Kid tested, Mother consumed" means that the kid tested the product and didn't want to eat it but the mother also tasted it and decided that she liked it and possibly became addicted [[User:Carlosm|Carlosm]] ([[User talk:Carlosm|talk]]) 21:53, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

"Kid tested, Mother infected": they tested the kid (because they couldn't test the mother) and if confirms their suspicions: the mother is infected (and the kid as well). {{unsigned ip|173.245.53.103}}

:I did a significant rewrite of the explanation and incorporated most of these alternative interpretations. :) [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 01:42, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

;Revert on 1/9/15
Hey, I just saw [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1470:_Kix&diff=82393&oldid=82376 this revert] and wanted to discuss it with the person who did that revert. I was the one who had put quite a bit of time into trying to improve the quality of the explanation yesterday. I believe that the new text I put in did not substantially change the overall meaning of the explanation or any of the individual items in that list. I also took care to account for additional ideas that made sense from this discussion page. By reverting all of that, you threw quite a bit of work away that I (and possibly a number of other people) felt was valuable. Please, before reverting it again, could you work with us on this? Thanks. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 00:30, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
:Looking at the edit log, it looks a lot like a straight up revert through multiple peoples' edits, which I really can't say I a fan of. Try to avoid doing stuff like that, it destroys good edits along with the ones you disagree with. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:20, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
::Given the edit summary on the revert (that "someone" had "incorrectly" changed the definitions), I can't help but see it as terribly ironic, seeing as how the comic (and the explanation) is about how people can interpret things differently. [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 09:34, 10 January 2015 (UTC)

Maybe last word "Fucker" is a cameo for SOAD and their song Chop Suey {{unsigned|Valdemar}}

I think "Kid tested, mother infected" sounds like a thinly veiled AIDS joke. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]] 22:33, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

1395: Power Cord

2014-07-16T10:30:17Z

108.162.216.71: All balloons have helium

{{comic
| number = 1395
| date = July 16, 2014
| title = Power Cord
| image = power_cord.png
| titletext = In this situation, gzip /dev/inside to deflate, then pipe the compressed air to /dev/input to clean your keyboard. Avert your eyes when you do.
}}

==Explanation==
Always remember: DO NOT put any electrical cords in your mouth. You can be severely shocked.

In this comic, we see [[Beret Guy]] walking in from the left, as [[Cueball]] is sitting on a couch, typing on a laptop on his lap, with its power cord unplugged. Instead of connecting it to the wall socket, Beret Guy picks it up and blows air into the loose end of the cord, as if inflating a balloon--and the laptop inflates. It then floats away, making Cueball grab for it as Beret Guy casually walks away.

While it is not possible to inflate a laptop like this, nor (probably) to inflate ''anything'' by blowing down a power cord, Beret Guy has previously demonstrated supernatural abilities with power cords, such as in [[1293: Job Interview]]. (Although the laptop should not actually float given that Beret Guy's breath should be ordinary air, not a lighter-than-air gas such as helium, it is a standard cartoon convention that [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllBalloonsHaveHelium inflating something with breath nonetheless makes it lighter than air].)

The title text involves two puns on {{w|Unix shell}} commands. The first pun is on “deflation”; {{w|DEFLATE}} is a basic data compression algorithm used by the gzip utility. Using gzip to deflate (compress) the fictitious device /dev/inside is implied to deflate (remove air from) the inside of the computer. The second pun is on “{{w|Pipeline (Unix)|piping}}”, the act of using the output of one operation as the input to another. As the output of deflating (removing air from) the computer would be air, a ''physical'' pipe could be used to direct the air somewhere useful. The suggestion is to direct the air to /dev/input (the input device, i.e. the keyboard) to clean it, similar to "compressed air" dusting cans. As this might cause a spray of unpleasant detritus (compare [[237: Keyboards are Disgusting]]), the reader is advised to avert their eyes.
==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy enters to find Cueball typing on a laptop. Cueball's power cord is unplugged from the wall.]
:Cueball typing: Type type

:[Beret Guy picks up the power cord]
:Cueball typing: Type type

:[Beret Guy blows into the plug end of the cord blowing up the laptop]
:Beret Guy: '''Pbbbbt'''
:Laptop: '''Foomp'''

:[Beret Guy walks away, leaving Cueball to retrieve his laptop, which is floating away.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

1361: Google Announcement

2014-04-28T15:45:18Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */ grammar fix

{{comic
| number = 1361
| date = April 28, 2014
| title = Google Announcement
| image = google_announcement.png
| titletext = The less popular 8.8.4.4 is slated for discontinuation.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|I'm sure there's more to the DNS thing.}}

Recently Vic Gundotra left Google. Because he was the head of Google+, this has caused many people, including [http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/24/google-is-walking-dead/ TechCrunch], to theorize that Google+ is going to be shut down, despite the continuing comments from Google that it will remain active and updated.

The comic extrapolates this to an announcement that Google would be closing '''all''' its popular services, up to and including its e-mail service, Gmail, and even the core business of the company, its Internet search engine, to wholly concentrate on a relatively obscure part of its product lineup. According to Google, its Public DNS servers, better known by their IPv4 addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, are supposed to be a faster alternative to using one's ISP's DNS servers (because of caching effects due to a large user base), as well as less susceptible to censorship. When Turkey started blocking access to Twitter and YouTube in March of 2014, Turkish ISPs first did this on the DNS level by manipulating the results from their name servers. The most popular workaround was using Google's DNS server instead, so much so that its address was written as [http://gawker.com/turkish-graffiti-spreads-the-ip-addresses-of-googles-d-1548946312 graffiti on the side of a building].

The joke may also be related to the fact that 8.8.8.8 is an IP address heavily used by network administrators to perform connectivity tests (''ping'') because it is easy to remember and fast to type. Google would want to concentrate on this feature to build a business model using that fact.

The reason behind this decision may be that Google considers a DNS server, a fairly low-level component of the Internet's service stack, to be the optimal place to collect information on its users, an accusation leveled at Google ever since it introduced the service.

The title text refers to the impression held by some that Google will shut down services that prove less popular than desired at short notice, even though they may in fact have a significant user base. A recent example of that is the closure of the RSS aggregation service, Google Reader, in July 2013. While the same DNS service is provided under both addresses, the more memorable 8.8.8.8 is likely to receive far more requests than 8.8.4.4.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing at a podium marked Google.]
:Cueball: The rumors are true. Google will be shutting down Plus—
:Cueball: Along with Hangouts, Photos, Voice, Docs, Drive, Maps, Gmail, Chrome, Android, and Search—
:Cueball: To focus on our core project:
:Cueball: The 8.8.8.8 DNS Server.

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

Talk:1354: Heartbleed Explanation

2014-04-13T03:36:36Z

108.162.216.71:

I assume everybody got the (truncated) reference to the password "CorrectHorseBatteryStaple"... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.210|141.101.89.210]] 06:51, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Until I read this wiki, I did not get that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.50|108.162.216.50]] 10:09, 11 April 2014 (UTC)BK201
:There are also references to (if I recall correctly): [[Missed Connections]], "snakes but not too long" from [[Umwelt]], there's boats (of which many comics exist), "bees in car why" may be slightly related to [[Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]... that's all I see. Also the ip (375.381.283.17) doesn't seem to represent anything, but you never know. {{User:Grep/signature|11:04, 11 April 2014}}

While the bug is explained very good, there is one point missing: The word "user" seems to imply that Meg is known to server. But the bug doesn't require that - ANYONE can ask the server. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:03, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
: Nope, the word "user" does not indicate a logged in user. It's just a reference to anybody who happens to "use" (actually: connect to) the server at the moment. In fact, it is a particular network connection (TCP or else), on which other end there is a "user" Meg. -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.111|108.162.210.111]] 12:07, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

The transcript should include all the text in the servers memory, not just the highlighted text. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Nope, it can only do 64k per request. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.91|108.162.216.91]] 16:04, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::I meant that the transcript here above the talk page should include all text. When I wrote my comment, only the highlighted text in the computers thoghts where transcripted. Now that I visit the page again, it seems to be complete. The text in the servers last speech is only half the 500 charachters long (251) but that is explained by OnePointEight in the comment below. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:20, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:The speech bubble is formatted as truncated, but if it were complete it would be 500 characters which is what was requested by Megan and within the 64k max.[[User:OnePointEight|OnePointEight]] ([[User talk:OnePointEight|talk]]) 19:39, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Heartbleed Explanation Explanation. Lovely. Also, I see that Eve is an administrator. Eavesdropper? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 15:24, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:Also the attacker is Meg, which can be thought of as an alternate to Mallory/Trudy [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.65|108.162.221.65]] 16:45, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::This is absurd. Meg is a common nickname for Margaret. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 20:38, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
:::As my main language is not English I'm not familiar with nicknames, but if Meg is a common nickname for Margaret then that is important and should be included in the explanation of the title text. I did not understand why Margaret suddenly turned up... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:28, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
::::The explanation of the title text has presumably been expanded since you visited it. It's a reference to a book. --[[User:V2Blast|V2Blast]] ([[User talk:V2Blast|talk]]) 03:34, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

"Snakes but not too long"... great! --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.241|108.162.210.241]] 15:49, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

It looks like the "server key" is a phone number: 1-483-503-8534 {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.228}}

The User Ada is a reference to Ingress, in which Ada is the head of the blue team. Ingress, being an ARG, would be an IRL game.{{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}

Why has everyone here missed the reference to Portal 2? It almost seems so obvious :). [[User:YetAnotherGeek|YetAnotherGeek]] ([[User talk:YetAnotherGeek|talk]]) 09:23, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

Are we sure that the hacker in the comic is Megan? She has long, curly hair as opposed to short straight hair. Considering she has long hair and has malicious intent, she might be Danish.

1324: Weather

2014-02-01T08:05:42Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1324
| date = January 31, 2014
| title = Weather
| image = weather.png
| titletext = At least if you're really into, like, Turkish archaeology, store clerks aren't like 'hey, how 'bout those Derinkuyu underground cities!' when they're trying to be polite.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|For the Turkish archaeology geeks out there: flesh that part out!}}

Social norm accepts casual small-talk as an ice breaker for interaction -- usually it is always safe to talk about the weather without hitting any disagreement as there are rarely any personal view point about the weather -- in contrast small talk is never about political subjects or similar where chances are that there are strong personal view points.

In this strip [[Cueball]] is an expert in weather systems, and when Hairy makes a comment about the weather he has problem deciphering if [[Hairy]] is asking for his expert opinion or is simply trying to make small-talk -- only weather experts would have this problem, as almost no other topic is suitable for opening a conversation in casual small-talk. Cueball switches to small-talk once he understand that Hairy is confused and didn't expect to get detailed expert tech-talk.

As to the jargon;

* {{w|Jet stream|Jet streams}} are strong air currents high in the atmosphere which have a big influence on the weather.

* 18z is 18:00 {{w|Coordinated Universal Time|UTC}} (6 PM in Greenwich, England, 10 AM in California). See {{w|ISO 8601}} at Wikipedia. The letter "Z" is used as 'Zulu' in the {{w|NATO phonetic alphabet}}, meaning just UTC.

* GFS is the {{w|Global Forecast System}} (also known as NCEP-GFS). It is a computer model used by the {{w|National Weather Service}} to predict the weather up to 16 days in advance. The model is run 4 times a day and the output is distinguished by the UTC hour it was started (18z in this case).

* Part of the prediction is the {{w|atmospheric pressure}} expressed in {{w|Bar (unit)|mbar}} (or mb). 960 mbar is very low pressure, which is usually associated with seriously bad weather (record low pressure for Minnesota was 963 mbar till 1998).

Store clerks are known for small talk about the weather as part of their sales talk. In title text, a clerk instead makes small talk about {{w|Derinkuyu Underground City|Derinkuyu Underground Cities}}, one of the most well-known {{w|History of Turkey|archaeological sites in Turkey}}, which is a country very well known for its many well-preserved ancient sites from a broad range of time periods. It would be very tempting for Turkish archaeology geek to launch into a detailed conversation on the subject or related news.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Hairy are talking.]
:Hairy: So, how 'bout this weather?
:Cueball: I ''know,'' right? The whole jet stream layer is ''nuts!''
:Hairy: Um, sure...
:Cueball: The 18z GFS forecasts 960mb by Tuesday. Think it'll verify?
:Hairy: What?
:Cueball: ...Right. Sorry. Uh, yeah! Weather sure has been crazy.

:Weather geeks have it tough.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

User:GameZone

2014-01-31T06:43:07Z

108.162.216.71:

I was [[User:50.151.2.168|50.151.2.168]], then I was [[User:108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]], then I was [[User:108.162.237.8|108.162.237.8]], then I was [[User:108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]], then I was [[User:108.162.238.220|108.162.238.220]], then I was 108.162.216.71 again, then I was 108.162.238.220 again, now I'm 108.162.216.71 again. Not sure what the hell is going on.

Contributions: [[Special:Contributions/GameZone]]

1324: Weather

2014-01-31T05:15:05Z

108.162.216.71:

1016: Valentine Dilemma

2014-01-29T03:13:56Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1016
| date = February 13, 2012
| title = Valentine Dilemma
| image = valentine_dilemma.png
| titletext = The worst resolution to the Valentine Prisoner's Dilemma when YOU decide not to give your partner a present but your PARTNER decides to testify against you in the armed robbery case.
}}

==Explanation==
Both [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are agonizing over what to get each other for Valentine's Day. Both panic and do weird things. At the heart of the way they are acting is the {{w|prisoner's dilemma}}, which [[696: Strip Games|has been referenced before]] in xkcd.

The prisoner's dilemma is a canonical example of a game analyzed in {{w|game theory}} that shows why two individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interest to do so. Wikipedia has a great example of prisoner's dilemma, which illustrates it very well:

:Two men are arrested, but the police do not possess enough information for a conviction. Following the separation of the two men, the police offer both a similar deal—if one testifies against his partner (defects/betrays), and the other remains silent (cooperates/assists), the betrayer goes free and the cooperator receives the full one-year sentence. If both remain silent, both are sentenced to only one month in jail for a minor charge. If each 'rats out' the other, each receives a three-month sentence. Each prisoner must choose either to betray or remain silent; the decision of each is kept quiet. What should they do?

In this way, both Cueball and Megan are kept separate, each not knowing what the other is going to do for Valentine's Day in the Valentine Dilemma as it is named in the title of this comic. And both do weird things for Valentine's Day, which ends up being the perfect result to the Valentine Dilemma as both end up with the same level of weirdness and don't go for the grand gesture.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball standing with hand to mouth.]
:Cueball: Flowers seem so... trite. Something homemade? Easy to look halfhearted.

:[Megan sitting at a computer.]
:Megan: Valentine's day is a corporate construct.
:Megan: But hard to opt out of.
:Megan: I don't want to be a corporate tool ''or'' an inconsiderate jerk.

:[Cueball pacing.]
:Cueball: How do I fight cliche? I could get her a gift on a ''different'' day.
:Cueball: But what am I proving?

:[Megan leaning back with laptop in hand.]
:Megan: It's such a contrived ritual. But maybe rituals are necessary social glue.

:[Cueball panicking.]
:Cueball: Forty presents. No, ''none!'' No, give her five items and then steal two from her.
:Cueball: OK, breathe, keep it together.

:[Megan sweating.]
:Megan: And what if he gets me something and I don't reciprocate?
:Megan: Prisoners dilemma!
:Megan: ''AAAAAAAAAA!!''

:[Cueball and Megan talking. Cueball is holding a basket and a jar of hammers. Megan's hand is stapled to her face.]
:Cueball: I got you Easter candy and a jar of hammers.
:Megan: I panicked and stapled my hand to my face.
:Cueball: We overthought this.
:Megan: Yes.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Valentines]]

1042: Never

2014-01-28T05:12:08Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1042
| date = April 13, 2012
| title = Never
| image = Never.png
| titletext = I'll never forget you--at least, the parts of you that were important red flags.
}}

== Explanation ==
This comic plays with that some phrases are generally interpreted as communicating positive sentiments, although they strictly are ambiguous.

[[Cueball]] is mulling over a previous relationship. Usually when someone says something like “I will never have with anyone what I had with {{w|Nomen nescio|NN}}” it implies that the couple had something so good that it could never be replaced. But when he thinks “Thank God”, it is suddenly implied that the relationship was so horrible he’s thankful he’ll never have to experience it again.

The title text goes along the same line: “I’ll never forget you” is usually positive – but then it becomes clear that it is the {{w|red flag (signal)|red flags}}, the warning signs about the person (that they would not be a good fit for a serious relationship and marriage), that he’ll never forget.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball staring into a pond]
:Cueball: I know that no matter where I go, or who I build a life with,

:Cueball: I will never have with anyone, what I had with you.

:[Cueball walks off]
:Cueball: Thank god.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]

1258: First

2014-01-28T02:38:43Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */ I just decided to remove it.

{{comic
| number = 1258
| date = August 30, 2013
| title = First
| image = first.png
| titletext = Fortunately, exactly zero other annoying internet behaviors have developed during this time.
}}

==Explanation==
Cueball is commenting on the [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/first urge] some people have to be the first to make a comment on any given posting (be it a blog post or a youtube video or some other commentable content), and to obnoxiously point out that they have made the first comment. This often manifests as the poster simply posting the word "First" without contributing any actual content to the discussion. Cueball appears glad that the practice seems to be slowly dying out. However, someone (Offscreen) is worried he will jinx it, only encouraging more people to do so.

The title text ironically states that no new annoying internet behaviors have emerged since the "first post" trend began which would continue to annoy users: a fact which is clearly wrong to anyone who spends a length of time on the internet.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at his desk, using a computer.]

:[Cueball is still sitting at the desk, but with hands off the keyboard in his lap.]

:[Cueball is in the same position as before, talking with off-panel.]
:Cueball: After a couple of unbearable decades, the "first post" thing seems to be dying a quiet death.
:Off-screen: ''Shh.'' You'll jinx it.

==See also==
*[[269: TCMP]]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]

266: Choices: Part 3

2014-01-28T02:15:24Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 266
| date = May 23, 2007
| title = Choices: Part 3
| image = choices_part_3.jpg
| titletext = Wait, this is space -- how are you talking to me? And, as an afterthought, what's up with the hole in reality?
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] is very unsure about what to think of her situation. Is it a dream? Is she in danger? In the title text she realizes that if she were in real space she wouldn't be able to hear any {{w|sound}}, like the voice talking to her, due to the lack of atmosphere.

All parts of "[[:Category:Choices|Choices]]":
*[[264: Choices: Part 1]]
*[[265: Choices: Part 2]]
*[[266: Choices: Part 3]]
*[[267: Choices: Part 4]]
*[[268: Choices: Part 5]]

==Transcript==
:[Megan floats in a bubble against a space backdrop.]
:Megan: I should feel scared.

:Megan: But I don't.

:Megan: Maybe this is a dream.

:Megan: But it doesn't feel like one.

:Disembodied voice: Okay, found you.
:Megan: Who are you?
:Voice: Er, hang on. This next part might be a little weird.

:[Beat panel.]

:[Many copies of Megan whirl around her bubble; a lightning bolt appears in the background.]

:[All the copies have disappeared except for one.]

:Copy: Sorry— Hi, me.
:Megan: ...Hi.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Choices]]
[[Category:Physics]]

803: Airfoil

2014-01-27T09:20:08Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 803
| date = October 8, 2010
| title = Airfoil
| image = airfoil.png
| titletext = This is a fun explanation to prepare your kids for; it's common and totally wrong. Good lines include "why does the air have to travel on both sides at the same time?" and "I saw the Wright brothers plane and those wings were curved the same on the top and bottom!"
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is about the common teaching that an {{w|airfoil}} works because the air on top of the wing must travel faster to "keep up" with the air flowing across the bottom of the wing. The theory goes that, because the air on top of the wing is traveling faster, it must, as a result of {{w|Bernoulli's Principle}}, create an area of lower pressure above the wing; this causes {{w|lift (force)|lift}} (that is, the wing rises) because the higher pressure below the wing (symbolized thick "up" arrow arrow) pushes it up more than the low pressure above the wing. As it turns out, this is, to put it mildly, a vast oversimplification of how lift is truly created.

In the next panel, a student asks a particularly insightful question: Why, if the theory is true, can planes fly upside down? (If the simple airfoil theory is all that permits planes to stay up in the air, then flying upside down should reverse the pressures — pushing the plane down and causing it to crash.) The teacher thinks about it and clearly has no answer.

The final set of panels posit three potential responses from the teacher, upon realizing her theory has been disproved. In the "right" one, the teacher realizes that perhaps the model she's been using to explain how an airfoil works is wrong (or, at a minimum, too simple). She is curious about it and suggests that this is an area for further exploration, and encourages additional study — in effect, rewarding the student for his insight. In the "wrong" panel, the teacher, out of apparent embarrassment, avoids the question entirely, saying simply that it's complicated (and implying that such questions are outside the student's understanding). In the "very wrong" panel, not only does the teacher avoid answering the question, she attempts to distract them (or even punish them for asking such an insightful question) by telling the kids that Santa Claus isn't real and that Santa Claus is really their parents — something that would obviously distress them (in addition to distracting them from the question they've asked) and constitute harsh punishment for pointing out the teacher's ignorance.

The alt-text suggests additional reasons for re-thinking the common theory as to how airfoils create lift. It points out that (1) it is absurd to believe the air has to get across the airfoil's two sides in the same amount of time, and (2) the Wright brothers plane's wings were curved the same amount on both sides of the airfoil, meaning that the distance that the air needs to travel to get across the wing is not the dispositive factor in creating lift.

The strip is correct in noting that lift is a far more complicated process than the simple theory posited by the teacher. While the role of Bernoulli's Principle (that is, the difference in pressures) cannot be entirely discounted, the theory here is vastly too simple. As an initial matter, as suggested by the title text, there is no reason that the air on top of the wing should be compelled to "keep up" with the air on the bottom of the wing. Indeed, as demonstrated by the illustration below, in the time that the air below the wing travels across, the air on top of the wing has not only traveled the length of the entire top of the wing (a distance that may be farther than the distance under the wing, due to its shape), but often additional distance.

[[File:Karman trefftz.gif]]

Lift may be more usefully described as resulting from the deflection of air, although this explanation still does not explain how symmetrical wings will work (at least, absent effects caused by a change in the "angle of attack") nor how a plane may fly upside down. The Wikipedia article on {{w|lift (force)|lift}} provides a more detailed explanation. It in fact gives an explanation as to these two issues. It explains that with zero angle of attack, a symmetrical wing will not generate lift (though it is possible that other factors may generate other slight upward force, such as updrafts, the shape of the plane, and the angle of the engine relative to the wings. It also explains that an asymmetrical (or "cambered") wing may adjust angle of attack to compensate and still generate lift.

Finally, to answer the question in the second panel in a general sense: most planes ''can't'' fly upside down for an extended period of time. Many aerobatic aircraft achieve an inverted attitude only momentarily, and are experiencing positive g forces. In fact, almost any airplane can do a barrel roll, given sufficient altitude (a {{w|Boeing 707#Model 367-80 origins|Boeing 707 prototype}} once did this).

==Transcript==
:Handling a student who challenges your expertise with an insightful question:
:[There's a picture of the cross section of an airfoil, with an arrow above and below, pointing from right to left. Layered on top of these arrows, pointing up and down at the cross section, are a larger arrow below and a smaller arrow above.]
:[This panel just contains text, and has a speech curlicue hanging towards the person in the next panel.]
:Teacher: So, kids, the air above the wing travels a longer distance, so it has to go faster to keep up. Faster air exerts less pressure, so :the wing is lifted upward.

:Student: But then why can planes fly upside down?

:[The teacher is standing, pondering the question. Three arrows point out of this panel, leading to each of the next three panels which are :arranged vertically.]

:Right:
:Teacher: Wow, good question! Maybe this picture is simplified - or wrong! We should learn more.

:Wrong:
:Teacher: It's... complicated.
:Teacher: And we need to move on.

:Very wrong:
:Teacher: Santa Claus is your parents.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Physics]]

User:GameZone

2014-01-27T09:17:03Z

108.162.216.71:

I was [[User:50.151.2.168|50.151.2.168]], then I was [[User:108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]], then I was [[User:108.162.237.8|108.162.237.8]], then I was [[User:108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]], then I was [[User:108.162.238.220|108.162.238.220]], and now I'm 108.162.216.71 again. Yup.

Contributions: [[Special:Contributions/GameZone]]

77: Bored with the Internet

2014-01-27T09:12:42Z

108.162.216.71:

{{comic
| number = 77
| date = March 17, 2006
| title = Bored with the Internet
| image = bored_with_the_internet.jpg
| titletext = I used to do this all the time.
}}
==Explanation==
A character that has hair (not to be confused with [[Hairy]]) suggests to [[Black Hat]] that he is wasting his life on the internet and they should go explore the world. They appear to walk a great distance, through what appears to be a swamp or perhaps a forest in winter, across a plain, and down to a river valley. At the last panel they agree to post their journey on Livejournal, thus indicating that they can't get the Internet of their mind.

{{w|Livejournal}} is a website on which users can make accounts and, effectively, blog; although the site is designed around the premise that the blogs ought to be used as personal journals, with the ability to privatize the journal or only let certain friends see certain entries. Livejournal was an early social network and an early blog platform, and was a good way for people to let others know what was going on in their lives. As of 2013, Livejournal still exists; although sites like Facebook have become far more powerful and popular sites for sharing one's daily life.

Unlike in most of his appearances (especially later ones), Black Hat does not exhibit any of his signature like at "[[72: Classhole ]]".

The title text suggests that [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] similarly thinks about being on his computer while out doing other things.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Hair are talking in a room with a computer on.]
:Hairy: I feel like I'm wasting my life on the internet. Let's walk around the world.
:Black Hat: Sounds good.
:[The two men are shown walking through trees.]
:[The two men are shown walking on flat stretch, with mountains in the distance.]
:[The two men are shown in a magnificent canyon. They stand, silently looking at the scene.]
:Hairy: And yet all I can think is, "This will make for a great LiveJournal entry."

==Trivia==
*Livejournal was the site where Randall presented his comics before starting xkcd.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Internet]]

135: Substitute

2014-01-27T09:09:54Z

108.162.216.71: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 135
| date = July 31, 2006
| title = Substitute
| image = substitute.png
| titletext = YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the film ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'', a 1993 movie based on the 1990 novel by {{w|Michael Crichton}}. The film centers around a billionaire who bought an island and opened a zoo or theme park for dinosaurs which he has cloned from DNA recovered from blood found in fossilized mosquitoes. Naturally, everything goes haywire, and several of the creatures, among which are the {{w|Velociraptor}}s subject of this comic, try to devour every human in the theme park.

Velociraptors (often shortened to "raptors") are a species of relatively small, carnivorous {{w|dinosaur}} which play a central role in the original film, as well as its sequels. In the film, herds of Velociraptors antagonize the main characters at various points, even entering buildings. According to newer researches, the Velociraptors in the film were erroneously based on the {{w|Utahraptor}} species of dinosaur. Unlike the movie, in which they are depicted as having a reptilian skin, both species of dinosaur in reality are theorized to have been feathered. The word "raptor" also refers to modern {{w|Bird of prey|birds of prey}}.

[[Randall]] is asked to substitute for [[Miss Lenhart]] in math class. The test he devises contains three questions, which have the recurring theme of humans running from said velociraptors. As Randall says in the comic: “This material is more vital than anything you've ever learned,” the joke being that Randall is somehow fearful that such a things could happen.

Velociraptors, and in particular, the irrational fear of being attacked by them in the modern world, [[:Category:Velociraptors|appear several times]] in [[xkcd]]. This is the second such instance, the first is [[87: Velociraptors]]

==Transcript==
:[In a class room, the board says "Math" on the top-left corner, and "Mr. Munroe" in the middle. A stick figure is standing in front of it, speaking to the class.]
:Randall: Miss Lenhart couldn't be here today, so she asked me to substitute.
:Randall: I've put out your tests. Please get started.

:[A student in the first row raises the exam paper and says.]
:Student: Mr. Munroe, Miss Lenhart never taught us this.

:Randall: That's because Miss Lenhart doesn't understand how important certain kinds of math are.
:Student: But this just looks--
:Randall: This material is more vital than anything you've ever learned
:Student: But--
:Randall: No buts.

:Randall: This is a matter of life and death.

:[Excerpt from the exam paper.]
:Name: _________

:[A stick figure is standing, hands over head. A velociraptor is running towards it.]

:1. The velociraptor spots you 40 meters away and attacks, accelerating at 4 m/s^2 to its top speed of 25 m/s. When it spots you, you begin to flee, quickly reaching your top speed of 6 m/s. How far can you get before you're caught and devoured?

:2. You're at the center of a 20m equilateral triangle with a raptor at each corner. The top raptor has a wounded leg and is limited to a top speed of 10 m/s.

:[A stick figure is shown in the above situation. The picture has a legend "(Not to scale)".]

:The raptors will run toward you. At what angle should you run to maximize the time you stay alive?

:3. Raptors can open doors, but they are slowed by them. Using the floor plan on the next page, plot a route through the building, assuming raptors take 5 minutes to open the first door and halve the time for each subsequent door. Remember, raptors run at 10 m/s and they do not know fear.

==Trivia==
*Answers to the first two questions can be found in [http://fora.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=120&start=40 this topic] on the forum board.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]

1321: Cold

2014-01-25T02:11:19Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1321
| date = January 24, 2014
| title = Cold
| image = cold.png
| titletext = 'You see the same pattern all over. Take Detroit--' 'Hold on. Why do you know all these statistics offhand?' 'Oh, um, no idea. I definitely spend my evenings hanging out with friends, and not curating a REALLY NEAT database of temperature statistics. Because, pshh, who would want to do that, right? Also, snowfall records.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| needs some textual editing, the title text joke has been in many xkcd comics, need to be referred to}}

The comics reacts to simplified view of {{w|global warming}} by amateurs, including media. Phenomena like {{w|Polar vortex}} or even random changes are taken as example or counter-example of global warming. In short, some people fail to understand the difference between climate and weather. If you want real proof for or against global warming, you need to look at global (not local) and long-term (not short-term) temperature changes.

For non US citizen: 0 °F (Fahrenheit) is -17.8 °C (Celsius), which is ''really fucking cold''. The city {{w|St. Louis}} is roughly at the same {{w|latitude}} as {{w|Lisbon}} (Portugal) or {{w|Beijing}} (China). But at Lisbon those low temperatures never do happen because of the {{w|Gulf Stream}}. If the Gulf Stream stops, which could happen caused by small changes in the global climate, the temperatures may drop at that regions.

The only dispute on global warming is, are the humans the main factor on this changes or is it just a natural change like it did happen in much higher levels in the past. The vast majority of scientists agree that man-made global warning is currently happening.

Title text suggest the reason WHY this occurs: getting the knowledge needed to actually know something about global warming is time-consuming and would be the kind of stuff only a real nerd would do. Normal people would rather hang out with friends, or at least spend their time with some more fun nerd activity, like playing computer games.

=== Previous comics referring global warming ===
* [[164: Playing Devil's Advocate to Win]]
* [[887: Future Timeline]] (partially)
* [[1225: Ice Sheets]] (title text only)

==Transcript==
:[It's cold, and Cueball and Black Hat are walking wearing stocking caps. Cueball is shivering.]
:Cueball: It's '''''brutal''''' out. So much for global warming, huh?
:Black Hat: ''*sigh*'' This used to happen all the time.
:Cueball: What?

:[Shows a graph relating the number of days with lows below zero fahrenheit by year since 1970.]
:Black Hat (off-screen): You're from St. Louis, right?
:Black Hat: On average, it used to get below 0°F there a handful of days per year.
:Black Hat: But you haven't had a day like that since the nineties.

:[Black Hat has stopped walking.]
:Black Hat: Then, in 2014, when the first polar vortex hit, it dipped below zero for two days. And everyone freaked out.

:[They continue walking.]
:Black Hat: Because what used to be normal; now feels too cold.
:Cueball: It ''is'' too cold!

:The Future:
:[Cueball is pointing at a patch of ice.]
:Cueball: Look at this—'''''ice!''''' In '''''St. Louis!''''' So much for global warming.
:Off-screen: *sigh*

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

1321: Cold

2014-01-24T22:42:38Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1321
| date = January 24, 2014
| title = Cold
| image = cold.png
| titletext = 'You see the same pattern all over. Take Detroit--' 'Hold on. Why do you know all these statistics offhand?' 'Oh, um, no idea. I definitely spend my evenings hanging out with friends, and not curating a REALLY NEAT database of temperature statistics. Because, pshh, who would want to do that, right? Also, snowfall records.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| needs some textual editing, the title text joke has been in many xkcd comics, need to be referred to}}

The comics reacts to simplified view of {{w|global warming}} by amateurs, including media. Phenomena like {{w|Polar vortex}} or even random changes are taken as example or counter-example of global warming. In short, some people fail to understand the difference between climate and weather. If you want real proof for or against global warming, you need to look at global (not local) and long-term (not short-term) temperature changes.

For non US citizen: 0 °F (Fahrenheit) is -17.8 °C (Celsius), which is ''really fucking cold''. The city {{w|St. Louis}} is roughly at the same {{w|latitude}} as {{w|Lisbon}} (Portugal) or {{w|Beijing}} (China). But at Lisbon those low temperatures never do happen because of the {{w|Gulf Stream}}. If the Gulf Stream stops, which could happen caused by small changes in the global climate, the temperatures may drop at that regions.

The only dispute by scientists on global warming is, are the humans the main factor on this changes or is it just a natural change like it did happen in much higher levels in the past.

Title text suggest the reason WHY this occurs: getting the knowledge needed to actually know something about global warming is time-consuming and would be the kind of stuff only a real nerd would do. Normal people would rather hang out with friends, or at least spend their time with some more fun nerd activity, like playing computer games.

=== Previous comics referring global warming ===
* [[164: Playing Devil's Advocate to Win]]
* [[887: Future Timeline]] (partially)
* [[1225: Ice Sheets]] (title text only)

==Transcript==
:[It's cold, and Cueball and Black Hat are walking wearing stocking caps. Cueball is shivering.]
:Cueball: It's '''''brutal''''' out. So much for global warming, huh?
:Black Hat: ''*sigh*'' This used to happen all the time.
:Cueball: What?

:[Shows a graph relating the number of days with lows below zero fahrenheit by year since 1970.]
:Black Hat (off-screen): You're from St. Louis, right?
:Black Hat: On average, it used to get below 0°F there a handful of days per year.
:Black Hat: But you haven't had a day like that since the nineties.

:[Black Hat has stopped walking.]
:Black Hat: Then, in 2014, when the first polar vortex hit, it dipped below zero for two days. And everyone freaked out.

:[They continue walking.]
:Black Hat: Because what used to be normal; now feels too cold.
:Cueball: It ''is'' too cold!

:The Future:
:[Cueball is pointing at a patch of ice.]
:Cueball: Look at this—'''''ice!''''' in '''''St. Louis!''''' So much for global warming.
:Off-screen: *sigh*

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

1321: Cold

2014-01-24T19:27:40Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1321
| date = January 24, 2014
| title = Cold
| image = cold.png
| titletext = 'You see the same pattern all over. Take Detroit--' 'Hold on. Why do you know all these statistics offhand?' 'Oh, um, no idea. I definitely spend my evenings hanging out with friends, and not curating a REALLY NEAT database of temperature statistics. Because, pshh, who would want to do that, right? Also, snowfall records.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| needs some textual editing, the title text joke has been in many xkcd comics, need to be referred to}}

The comics reacts to simplified view of {{w|global warming}} by amateurs, including media. Phenomena like {{w|Polar vortex}} or even random changes are taken as example or counter-example of global warming. In short, some people fail to understand the difference between climate and weather. If you want real proof for or against global warming, you need to look at global (not local) and long-term (not short-term) temperature changes.

Title text suggest the reason WHY this occurs: getting the knowledge needed to actually know something about global warming is time-consuming and would be the kind of stuff only a real nerd would do. Normal people would rather hang out with friends, or at least spend their time with some more fun nerd activity, like playing computer games.

=== Previous comics referring global warming ===
* [[164: Playing Devil's Advocate to Win]]
* [[887: Future Timeline]] (partially)
* [[1225: Ice Sheets]] (title text only)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:[It's cold, and Cueball and Black Hat are walking wearing stocking caps. Cueball is shivering.]
:Cueball: It's '''''brutal''''' out. So much for global warming, huh?
:Black Hat: ''*sigh*'' This used to happen all the time.
:Cueball: What?

:[Shows a graph relating the number of days with lows below zero fahrenheit by year since 1970.]
:Black Hat (off-screen): You're from St. Louis, right?
:Black Hat: On average, it used to get below 0°F there a handful of days per year.
:Black Hat: But you haven't had a day like that since the nineties.

:[Black Hat has stopped walking.]
:Black Hat: Then, in 2014, when the first polar vortex hit, it dipped below zero for two days. And everyone freaked out.

:[They continue walking.]
:Black Hat: Because what used to be normal; now feels too cold.
:Cueball: It ''is'' too cold!

:The Future:
:[Cueball is pointing at a patch of ice.]
:Cueball: Look at this - '''ice!''' in '''St. Louis!''' So much for global warming.
:Off-screen: *sigh*

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

98: Fall Apart

2014-01-24T19:22:09Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 98
| date = May 5, 2006
| title = Fall Apart
| image = fall_apart.jpg
| titletext = #pugglewumper Tashari got me some ink pens! I've been experimenting with them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Incomplete.}}
Despite [[Randall]] being enthusiastic about receiving ink pens, he experimented them in a contrastingly depressing comic the subject matter dealing with how the uncertainty of time can bring elements that can cause a relationship to fall apart, a feeling made concrete when even the comic itself fall apart, representing their 'world falling apart' when their relationship does... Even the people's attempts to rescue the relationship end up in ruins, leading to the ruins of the individual and in one case isolation.

==Transcript==
:[Various people struggle as the comic disintegrates. Toward the top, people are standing calmly, some holding hands. As the parts of the comic break apart, people try to reach for each other, hold parts together, or curl up into a ball. By the bottom, a person is falling, surrounded by pieces of the comic.]

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

1321: Cold

2014-01-24T19:20:53Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1321
| date = January 24, 2014
| title = Cold
| image = cold.png
| titletext = 'You see the same pattern all over. Take Detroit--' 'Hold on. Why do you know all these statistics offhand?' 'Oh, um, no idea. I definitely spend my evenings hanging out with friends, and not curating a REALLY NEAT database of temperature statistics. Because, pshh, who would want to do that, right? Also, snowfall records.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| needs some textual editing, the title text joke has been in many xkcd comics, need to be referred to}}

The comics reacts to simplified view of {{w|global warming}} by amateurs, including media. Phenomena like {{w|Polar vortex}} or even random changes are taken as example or counter-example of global warming. In short, some people fail to understand the difference between climate and weather. If you want real proof for or against global warming, you need to look at global (not local) and long-term (not short-term) temperature changes.

Title text suggest the reason WHY this occurs: getting the knowledge needed to actually know something about global warming is time-consuming and would be the kind of stuff only a real nerd would do. Normal people would rather hang out with friends, or at least spend their time with some more fun nerd activity, like playing computer games.

=== Previous comics referring global warming ===
* [[164: Playing Devil's Advocate to Win]]
* [[887: Future Timeline]] (partially)
* [[1225: Ice Sheets]] (title text only)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:[It's cold, and Cueball and Black Hat are walking wearing stocking caps. Cueball is shivering.]
:Cueball: It's '''''brutal''''' out. So much for global warming, huh?
:Black Hat: ''*sigh*'' This used to happen all the time.
:Cueball: What?

:[Shows a graph relating the number of days with lows below zero fahrenheit by year since 1970.]
:Black Hat (off-screen): You're from St. Louis, right?
:Black Hat: On average, it used to get below 0°F there a handful of days per year.
:Black Hat: But you haven't had a day like that since the nineties.

:[Black Hat has stopped walking.]
:Black Hat: Then, in 2014, when the first polar vortex hit, it dipped below zero for two days. And everyone freaked out.

:[They continue walking.]
:Black Hat: Because what used to be normal; now feels too cold.
:Cueball: It ''is'' too cold!

:The Future:
:[Cueball is pointing at a patch of ice.]
:Cueball: Look at this - '''ice!''' in '''St. Louis!''' So much for global warming.
:Someone outside the scene: *sigh*

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

1246: Pale Blue Dot

2014-01-23T08:26:22Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1246
| date = August 2, 2013
| title = Pale Blue Dot
| image = pale_blue_dot.png
| titletext = Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. There is no road out of this oblivion; we must embrace it. We must join with the darkness. Ba'al the Annihilator offers us no happiness, no answers, naught but the cold embrace of the void. To imagine any other end is delusion. We must give in to the will of Ba'al, for he will one day consume us and our world alike. I therefore call on Congress to fully fund space exploration, and to join with Ba'al, the Eater of Souls. Thank you.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The last two sentences of the title text need an explain.}}
The {{w|Pale Blue Dot}} is a picture of the Earth taken in 1990 by the {{w|Voyager 1}} spacecraft at a distance about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles). It was part of the {{w|Family Portrait (Voyager)|Family Portrait}}, a series of images of the entire {{w|Solar System}} from beyond it.

The picture was taken at the request of {{w|Carl Sagan}}, a well known space scientist at that time. In 1994 Sagan wrote the book "{{w|Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space}}" inspired by this picture. In the book, Sagan waxed eloquent about the picture in a widely-quoted passage. The complete passage can be found illustrated in this [http://zenpencils.com/comic/100-carl-sagan-pale-blue-dot/ Zen Pencils comic].

[[Cueball]] quotes from a condensed version of this passage until he is interrupted by an argument over ''which'' speck in the picture is actually the Earth. When Cueball cries out in exasperation that it doesn't matter, then the entire authenticity of the image is called into question. This pokes fun at the fact that the Pale Blue Dot picture has very little visual attractiveness, apart from the intellectual interest relying on the viewer's knowledge that the central speck is actually our home planet seen from a great distance.

The first two sentences of the title text are also a quotation from Sagan's paean to the Pale Blue Dot picture, but then the text veers humorously into non-scientific mysticism that starkly contrasts with the attitude and intent of the original work.

The title text evokes {{w|Cosmicism}}, a philosophy developed and exemplified by the fictional {{w|Cthulhu_mythos|Cthulhu Mythos}}. This Mythos is expounded in fantasy/horror works of H.P. Lovecraft and, later, August Derleth, and features a cosmology in which humanity is depicted as inconsequential within a greater existence that is unknowable and frightening. Cosmicism asserts that humanity is doomed to destruction through the workings of vastly more powerful supernatural forces beyond our understanding. There are many instances in the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft of factions that embrace the destruction of humanity and actively work towards bringing about that end through the invocation of the unknowable and powerful forces that supporters of Cosmicism believe surround everything.

The text also references {{w|Ba'al}}, originally a Semitic deity that has been since associated with demonic or otherwise evil forces. The name Ba'al, and other variants of the same, has been included in many other fictional works often as a villain or antagonist. For example, the fictional System Lord {{w|Ba'al (Stargate)#Ba.27al|Ba'al}} from the television show {{w|Stargate}}. The title text supplants all of the supernatural forces associated with Cosmicism in the works of other authors with Ba'al. The speaker in the title text is acting as a Cosmicist and is calling on the congress to which he is speaking to fund the space exploration program as a means to join with Ba'al, the Eater of souls.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands on a podium, the Pale Blue Dot picture is behind him]
:Cueball: Consider this Pale Blue Dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. Everyone you love, every human being who ever was, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived out their lives on this mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. All our -
:[Heckling]: I think that's a stuck pixel. We're the speck on the left.
:Cueball: ...Ok, '''''this''''' Pale Blue Dot is everything you -
:[Heckling]: No, you were right before. ''That'' one is earth.
:Cueball: '''''Look, it doesn't matter!'''''
:[Heckling]: I ''knew'' it!
:[Heckling]: I think this is just a lens cap picture.

==Trivia==
*At the time when this comic was published NASA did reveal two other pictures, showing our home planet from a long distance, [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20130722.html Saturn] and [http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=1228 Mercury] probes did picture the Earth at the same time. Earth appears as a tiny dot in these images as well as a result of the vast distance between Earth and the probes.

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1319: Automation

2014-01-20T08:13:24Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */ ew ew ew ew ew ew ew i can't look at this ew

{{comic
| number = 1319
| date = January 20, 2014
| title = Automation
| image = automation.png
| titletext = 'Automating' comes from the roots 'auto-' meaning 'self-', and 'mating', meaning 'screwing'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|nothing here.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

781: Ahead Stop

2014-01-19T20:13:53Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 781
| date = August 18, 2010
| title = Ahead Stop
| image = ahead_stop.png
| titletext = They actually started the reversed-text practice in 1977 -- not for ease-of-reading reasons, but because too many people were driving backward down the highway blasting the Star Wars opening theme.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to how, in some countries including the US, words or instructions written on the highway are always backwards from how you would read them. It seems that the "highway" engineers write the words as if you would read them as your car goes over them. Sometimes this approach works, other times (probably most of the time) it is terribly confusing. The sentence on the comic is: Highway Engineers Think I Read Backward. Adding the period is a perfectly hilarious touch, as there are probably not too many periods on the highways.

The title text is referring to how the {{w|Star Wars opening crawl|words of the opening sequence}} of ''{{w|Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope}}'' (released in 1977) move from the bottom of the screen to the top so that it can be read by a normal human being. However, the image text says the engineers initially reversed the text because people were driving BACKWARDS down the highway trying to re-enact the opening sequence, so they started reversing the word order to get people to drive the "correct" direction.

The title of the comic ("Ahead Stop") is also a reference to this phenomenon because the common "Stop Ahead" instruction would be written on the highway as "Ahead" and then "Stop".

This could also be a reference to {{w|Posting_style#Top-posting|Top-posting}} in email threads and online discussion forums, as summarized in the following comedic signature line:

:A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
:Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
:A: Top-posting.
:Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

==Transcript==
:[Words are painted in white on a black road.]
:BACKWARD.
:I READ
:THINK
:ENGINEERS
:HIGHWAY

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1318: Actually

2014-01-17T08:25:09Z

108.162.216.71:

I started reading the comic from the topmost line "Actually, measurements suggest it's flat." It seemed that he was talking about the planet, but it's also a response to the curved-space line from before. Upon further reading, I can't tell if the discussion is about a planet or a universe, and it looks like you can go around the circle twice and assume both. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.72|173.245.50.72]] 05:13, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

: It is about the shape of the Earth. The Earth exists in a curved universe. The alt text is referring to the fact that by being more and more specific you can always get the last word in but it may alienate you from your peers. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 05:14, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

The transcript needs some way to show that Cueball is talking to the second Hairy in the end. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]] 08:25, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

1318: Actually

2014-01-17T08:18:20Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */ Just realized it needs a way to show that Cueball is talking to the second Hairy.

{{comic
| number = 1318
| date = January 17, 2014
| title = Actually
| image = actually.png
| titletext = Protip: You can win every exchange just by being one level more precise than whoever talked last. Eventually, you'll defeat all conversational opponents and stand alone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|More detail and formatting should be added.}}

* The picture is designed to have us thinking about a planet (presumably Earth), such that when we read the first speaker's comment, we interpret it as "The Earth is flat", which was the earliest view of the planet. (The speaker does not explicitly state their subject, however, which leads to the comic's punchline.)
* The second speaker explains that the Earth is actually a sphere, tracking the progression of knowledge of the Earth's shape.
* The third speaker provides further detail on the shape, that rather than being spherical, the Earth is actually an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblate_spheroid oblate spheroid]. On Earth, this occurs because a rotating body tends to bulge at the equator (where the matter experiences greater centripetal forces - analogous to experiencing more force at the outside of a round-a-bout rather than the centre), and is known as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equatorial_bulge equatorial bulge].
* A more accurate description is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EGM96 Earth Gravitational Model 1996] which provided a detailed map of Earth's gravitational field. This therefore refines the oblate spheroid model even further.
* The next speaker notes that this is still a very high level model of the planet (necessary because of the sizes involved) and that the true shape of the planet is given by the actual local topography (i.e., mountains, hills, valleys, etc.) which can be thought as overlaid on the planet wide models.
* Changing tack, the remaining speaker notes that our planet sits in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity curved space-time], where our planet's gravity, as well as all other objects, bend the space and time around them. On the largest scale, this has the potential to lead to a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_universe curvature] of the four dimensional space-time of the universe, hence "universe that is curved". Such a universe can either be "open" or "closed", depending on how much mass and energy there is. In an "closed" universe, if you drew a large enough triangle in space, you would find that the angles did not add up to to 180 degrees (just like if it was drawn on the surface of a balloon - in this case, the angles would add up to less than 180 degrees because the points would be shrunk). In an "open" universe, the angles would be more than 180 degrees.
* Finally, the first speaker comments again, and we now interpret this as referring not to the planet but to the universe itself - current observations suggest that the balance of matter and energy in the universe is such that the universe is, in fact, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_universe#Flat_universe flat] on the largest scales. (Whether this is coincidence or reflective of underlying laws is currently unknown.)
* The arguments could continue around the circle, now referring to the universe, but aren't generally applicable.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[Six people are standing upon a white circle as if it were a miniature planet. Each person says something and the text is displayed over their heads in a closed circle that encloses the whole picture.]
:[From topmost, going clockwise.]
::Cueball: '''''Actually,''''' measurements suggest it's flat.
::Ponytail: '''''Actually,''''' it's a sphere.
::White Hat: '''''Actually,''''' it's an oblate spheroid.
::Megan: '''''Actually,''''' it's a sphere defined by the EGM96 coefficients.
::Hairy 1: '''''Actually,''''' it's that plus local topography.
::Hairy 2: '''''Actually,''''' it's embedded in a universe that's curved.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

1318: Actually

2014-01-17T08:15:44Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1318
| date = January 17, 2014
| title = Actually
| image = actually.png
| titletext = Protip: You can win every exchange just by being one level more precise than whoever talked last. Eventually, you'll defeat all conversational opponents and stand alone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|More detail and formatting should be added.}}

* The picture is designed to have us thinking about a planet (presumably Earth), such that when we read the first speaker's comment, we interpret it as "The Earth is flat", which was the earliest view of the planet. (The speaker does not explicitly state their subject, however, which leads to the comic's punchline.)
* The second speaker explains that the Earth is actually a sphere, tracking the progression of knowledge of the Earth's shape.
* The third speaker provides further detail on the shape, that rather than being spherical, the Earth is actually an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblate_spheroid oblate spheroid]. On Earth, this occurs because a rotating body tends to bulge at the equator (where the matter experiences greater centripetal forces - analogous to experiencing more force at the outside of a round-a-bout rather than the centre), and is known as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equatorial_bulge equatorial bulge].
* A more accurate description is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EGM96 Earth Gravitational Model 1996] which provided a detailed map of Earth's gravitational field. This therefore refines the oblate spheroid model even further.
* The next speaker notes that this is still a very high level model of the planet (necessary because of the sizes involved) and that the true shape of the planet is given by the actual local topography (i.e., mountains, hills, valleys, etc.) which can be thought as overlaid on the planet wide models.
* Changing tack, the remaining speaker notes that our planet sits in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity curved space-time], where our planet's gravity, as well as all other objects, bend the space and time around them. On the largest scale, this has the potential to lead to a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_universe curvature] of the four dimensional space-time of the universe, hence "universe that is curved". Such a universe can either be "open" or "closed", depending on how much mass and energy there is. In an "closed" universe, if you drew a large enough triangle in space, you would find that the angles did not add up to to 180 degrees (just like if it was drawn on the surface of a balloon - in this case, the angles would add up to less than 180 degrees because the points would be shrunk). In an "open" universe, the angles would be more than 180 degrees.
* Finally, the first speaker comments again, and we now interpret this as referring not to the planet but to the universe itself - current observations suggest that the balance of matter and energy in the universe is such that the universe is, in fact, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_universe#Flat_universe flat] on the largest scales. (Whether this is coincidence or reflective of underlying laws is currently unknown.)
* The arguments could continue around the circle, now referring to the universe, but aren't generally applicable.

==Transcript==
:[Six people are standing upon a white circle as if it were a miniature planet. Each person says something and the text is displayed over their heads in a closed circle that encloses the whole picture.]
:[From topmost, going clockwise.]
::Cueball: '''''Actually,''''' measurements suggest it's flat.
::Ponytail: '''''Actually,''''' it's a sphere.
::White Hat: '''''Actually,''''' it's an oblate spheroid.
::Megan: '''''Actually,''''' it's a sphere defined by the EGM96 coefficients.
::Hairy 1: '''''Actually,''''' it's that plus local topography.
::Hairy 2: '''''Actually,''''' it's embedded in a universe that's curved.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

1317: Theft

2014-01-15T07:20:36Z

108.162.216.71:

{{comic
| number = 1317
| date = January 15, 2014
| title = Theft
| image = theft.png
| titletext = Is he ALSO wondering at what point our thoughts diverged, if they even have yet? 'dude, I think he just took your credit card' AM I THE ORIGINAL? HOW DO I TELL?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}
The term "identity theft" usually refers to the theft of any type of identification used by the thief to pretend to be the victim. Randall's identity thief, however, (somehow) literally stole his personality. The thief has apparently inherited Randall's [[786: Exoplanets|love of space]], and his existentialism. (Megan's [[625: Collections|existentialism]] must have rubbed off on him.) The joke is that the identity thief is completely overwhelmed by having an entirely new personality. The title text wonders when the trains of thought of the two people (assuming that Randall's identity thief merely copied his personality, rather taking it) have or will diverge, until which point they are basically the same person. Another person then mentions that this is actually Randall overthinking the situation, and that the thief really did only take his credit card number, a common method for stealing money, but by this point Randall's anxiety has overwhelmed him and he ignores the speaker.

==Transcript==
:[A man sitting in front of a laptop, looking at his hands]
:Hairy: I feel paralyzed by overwhelming existential dread.
:Hairy: ...and yet for some reason I'm ''really'' excited about space?
:The thief who stole my identity has a lot to deal with.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

725: Literally

2014-01-14T05:18:33Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 725
| date = April 9, 2010
| title = Literally
| image = literally.png
| titletext = The chemistry experiment had me figuratively -- and then shortly thereafter literally -- glued to my seat.
}}

==Explanation==
The adverb "literally" implies that the action it describes actually happened, while its opposite, "figuratively", is used when the action it describes is being used as a figure of speech, and is not a representation of what actually happened. However, "literally" is often used colloquially to mean "really" or "very", and even though [http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0038-literally.htm Merriam-Webster] says it is a perfectly fine (if not correct) use of the word, a lot of people object to this usage.

In this comic, one of the two people (we'll call him [[Cueball]] for now) accidentally mentions he was ''literally'' glued to his seat (they had presumably just left a theater), at which point a crazy man off-panel loudly corrects him. The crazy man mentions that he has been stalking Cueball for eighteen years since an incident in seventh grade, where the crazy man (as a kid) incorrectly uses "literally" and young Cueball corrects him. He felt humiliated, overreacting to young Cueball's simple correction, and began to follow Cueball everywhere, vowing to be present when he makes the same mistake the crazy man had made in seventh grade.

When Cueball tells him that he is "literally the craziest person" he's ever met, the crazy man thinks that he incorrectly used the word "literally" again; however, Cueball reassures him that he did not misuse it, meaning that the crazy man actually is ''the'' craziest person he has ever met.

The title text points out that a chemistry experiment gone wrong is one of the few things that could cause someone to ''literally'' be glued to their seat, having previously been figuratively glued to their seat in fascination.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and a friend walking together. Cueball turns to the friend.]
:Cueball: I was literally glued to my seat through the entire-
:Crazy man [off-panel]: ''HAH! You mean "figuratively"!''

:[Crazy man walks into the panel. He has messy hair and a messy beard. The other people stop walking.]
:Cueball: Who are you?
:Crazy man: Eighteen years I've watched you! Waiting!

:Crazy man: Ever since that day in seventh grade when you humiliated me.
:[Short flashback panel. 4 kids are standing around talking to each other.]
:Kid #2 [Crazy man]: I told him and he literally exploded!
:Cueball: Uh, unless he physically ''burst,'' you mean "figuratively".
:Hairy: Hah.
:Crazy man [outside of flashback panel]: Remember?

:Crazy man: I knew one day you'd slip, and I vowed I'd be there to see you fall. ''How does it feel?''
:Cueball: You are literally the craziest person I've ever met.
:Crazy man: You did it again!
:Cueball: No, I didn't.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Language]]

1316: Inexplicable

2014-01-14T05:15:54Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1316
| date = January 13, 2014
| title = Inexplicable
| image = inexplicable.png
| titletext = 'It has a ghost in it. Take it back.' 'No.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Still?}}

[[Cueball]]'s laptop has a problem that has resisted many hours of concentrated effort at resolution. [[Megan]] offers to help, but almost immediately concludes that the laptop is haunted. Literally haunted, as in it is possessed by an evil spirit.

A similarly unresolvable problem can be seen in [[1084: Server Problem]]. In that case, no haunting is detected, and Megan suggests Cueball wait for the Singularity.

The title text indicates that when Megan tries to return the laptop to Cueball, he simply refuses. She willingly took possession of it in the first place, and Cueball has clearly decided that he no longer wants anything to do with it. Megan is welcome to it. This would be extremely vexing to Megan, who presumably wants to own a haunted laptop no more than would anybody else.

The use of the word "ghost" may also be an allusion to the philosophical problem known as {{w|Ghost in the machine}}. This has been popularized through cyberpunk literature and movies, such as {{w|The Matrix}} and {{w|Ghost in the Shell}}. The question is whether machines are, or could be, conscious and have their own free will.

The comic may also be intended to remind us how non-technical users see computers and technology in general. Often a non-technical person will anthropomorphize a gadget, assigning it a personality with quirks. In this case, it happens to take the form of a ghost. When they have problems, they often give the device to a slightly more technical person to deal with it, which they may not be able to do. This may end up confirming (at least in the mind of the non-technical person) the personality of the device. Note that Cueball is not "non-technical", so this possible interpretation does not literally match the depicted scenario.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is frustrated at a laptop.]
:Cueball: ''ARGH!''
:Megan (off-screen): What?
:Cueball: Why do I always have these inexplicable, impossible-to-diagnose computer problems?

:[Megan walks towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: After six hours of this, I've concluded nothing works or makes sense. I give up on logic.
:Megan: *sigh* Gimme. I'll figure it out.
:Cueball: You won't.

:[The laptop is now off the desk, and Megan is offscreen again.]
:''type type''
:''click''
:?
:''type type''
:''type''
:???

:[Megan has returned, a closed laptop in hand.]
:Cueball: How'd it go?
:Megan: Your computer is literally haunted.
:Cueball: ''Told'' you.

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

347: Brick Archway

2014-01-14T03:26:39Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 347
| date = November 21, 2007
| title = Brick Archway
| image = brick_archway.png
| titletext = The TI-86 was bad enough. I don't know how I'd have gotten through high school if I'd had a laptop+wifi.
}}

==Explanation==
Breakout is a game first created in 1976 and since which has gained much popularity and has been recreated in many different versions. In the game, the player controls a horizontal 'bat' at the bottom of the screen to make it move left or right. Above it are several layers of bricks which are destroyed when hit by the ball. The ball is not affected by gravity and will float around, bouncing off the walls, bricks and bat. The aim of the game is to keep the ball from touching the bottom of the screen (by deflecting it with the bat) long enough for the ball to hit and destroy all of the bricks.

[[Cueball]]'s approach to the game is to actually stand underneath a brick archway and throw a tennis ball at the structure above him in an attempt to destroy the bricks. Naturally, the physics in the game don't work in real life, and the aftermath of Cueball's actions is that one of the bricks in the archway comes loose and falls onto Cueball's head, causing possibly fatal damage.

The sentence at the bottom of the comic points out the illogical nature of the game when compared to real life.

The title text relates to a {{w|TI-86|programmable calculator}} from the late '90s which had a Breakout-like game pre-installed, or at least easily programmed into. This calculator (and others like it) was a requirement in many high schools in the United States after the early 1990s in spite of its $100+ price.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball lies on the ground, underneath the titular archway, next to two halves of a brick. Dust falls from the place in the archway where the he knocked the brick from with the tennis ball. The ball, meanwhile, has rolled about a meter away.]
:"Breakout" is a stupid game.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1101: Sketchiness

2014-01-14T03:25:06Z

108.162.216.71: I found the trivia very unnecessary.

{{comic
| number = 1101
| date = August 29, 2012
| title = Sketchiness
| image = sketchiness.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = factory --- spire --- onslaught --- extractor --- judge
}}

==Explanation==
Sketchy is an adjective meaning not thorough or detailed, but which in modern slang is often used to connote creepiness, or a general feeling that something is not quite right. Urban Dictionary provides a good definition of "someone or something that gives off a bad feeling".

In this comic, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] rates words by how sketchy they make the sentence "Hey baby, wanna come back to my sex ____?" when inserted into the blank. As noted from the scale (which already starts at "sketchy" and goes up to "very sketchy"), the sentence itself is already inherently sketchy, in that it sounds like it would be a pickup line delivered by a person attempting to solicit sex from a stranger.

The sketchiness is increased by the various words which run from the ''relatively'' common or understood to the obscure and unusual.

The first few are actual terminology: A sex party or sex orgy are basically group sex parties at which multiple parties engage in sexual activity. A sex dungeon is a location where BDSM (bondage/submission - think leather and handcuffs) activity is engaged in. "Sex House" is the name of an {{w|Onion_News_Network|Onion News Network}} parody of reality shows like Big Brother.

As the scale increases, the words become simply locations where sex might take place, which increase from comfortable to unusual and creepy (i.e. sex crate, sex ravine, sex tarp). It is particularly sketchy because of the phrasing of the sentence which implies the speaker has a specific [insert word] used for sex. It might be sketchy enough to walk up to someone and suggest "let's go down in the ravine and have sex", but it is made sketchier when the phrasing suggests going to "my sex ravine".

The title text continues the thought process with further possible sketchy words, beginning with more odd locations and moving on to "onslaught", an abundant wave of attack or overwhelming amount of something - in this case sex; "extractor" suggests some sort of device that might force someone to have sex; and finally "judge", suggesting the speaker has someone in mind to judge sex. Very sketchy indeed.

==Transcript==
:[A timeline style graph.]
:'''WORDS'''
:Arranged by how sketchy they make the sentence
:'''´´HEY BABY, WANNA COME BACK TO MY SEX ________?``'''
:sketchy <--------> very sketchy
:party --- orgy --- dungeon --- palace --- house --- shrine --- room --- basement --- truck --- platform --- van --- area --- crate --- chute --- ravine --- tarp

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Sex]]

1316: Inexplicable

2014-01-13T08:06:14Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1316
| date = January 13, 2014
| title = Inexplicable
| image = inexplicable.png
| titletext = 'It has a ghost in it. Take it back.' 'No.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incomplete, and explanation was written by someone who doesn't have English as their native language, so it probably has inaccuracies.}}
This comic is inexplicable and represents a self-referencing joke about explainxkcd.com.

In this comic, Cueball's laptop has a problem. After just a few types and clicks, Megan concludes that the laptop is haunted. While it might me a reasonable conclusion for a human, demons can't possess a computer. Similar problem can be seen in [[1084: Server Problem]], where Megan recommends Cueball to wait for the Singularity. The title text continues the dialog, and Megan suggests Cueball to return his laptop (probably to the shop where he bought it), but Cueball is against that.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is frustrated at a laptop.]
:Cueball: ''ARGH!''
:Megan (off-screen): What?
:Cueball: Why do I always have these inexplicable, impossible-to-diagnose computer problems?

:[Megan walks towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: After six hours of this, I've concluded nothing works or makes sense. I give up on logic.
:Megan: *sigh* Gimme. I'll figure it out.
:Cueball: You won't.

:[The laptop is now off the desk, and Megan is offscreen again.]
:''type type''
:''click''
:?
:''type type''
:''type''
:???

:[Megan has returned, a closed laptop in hand.]
:Cueball: How'd it go?
:Megan: Your computer is literally haunted.
:Cueball: ''Told'' you.

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

517: Marshmallow Gun

2014-01-13T08:03:03Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 517
| date = December 15, 2008
| title = Marshmallow Gun
| image = marshmallow_gun.png
| titletext = Except in reality crossing a stream of marshmallows would create a giant Bill Murray.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] decides to shoot marshmallows at Megan, who promptly silences him by using a super soaker (first seen in [[220: Philosophy]]). The next day, everyone shoots marshmallows at each other in the office. Someone realizes the "streams" of marshmallows are about to cross, and shouts a warning, but they cross anyway, which results in a a giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man appearing. Both of these are references to the movie, {{w|GhostBusters}}, in which crossing the ghost-capturing streams was "bad" and in which an ancient spirit took the form of a giant Marshmallow Man (though this did not happen in the movie as a result of crossing the streams). The Stay-Puft man sees what they are shooting and is justifiably upset, which Megan realizes is "bad."

The title text is a further GhostBusters reference, as Bill Murray was one of the stars of that movie. The text puts forward the idea that if you were to fire marshmallows and cross the streams, the inverse would happen and an enormous Bill Murray would appear.

==Transcript==

:I got this gun that shoots marshmallows.
:[Cueball removes a marshmallow gun from a box.]

:[Cueball shoots at Megan with marshmallow gun from offpanel.]
:''POP POP POP''
:''WHAP WHAP WHAP''

:[Megan facepalms.]
:''POP''
:Megan: Sigh.

:''POP POP''
:[Megan removes a super soaker from desk drawer.]

:[Megan shoots offscreen on Cueball with super soaker.]]
:Cueball (offscreen): AUGH!
:''FWOOSH''
:Cueball (offscreen): Man, I forgot that was there.

:[The next day, everyone else got them too.]
:[Megan and Beret Guy brandish marshmallow guns.]
:Megan: Hey, noob! Eat Stay-Puft®!

:[Megan shoots a marshmallow gun.]
:''POP POP POP''

:[Cueball shoots a marshmallow gun.]
:''POP POP POP''

:[Megan and Cueball shoot marshmallows into the air, crossing the streams of fire.]
:Beret Guy (offscreen): No! Don't cross the—

:''FOOM ROAAAR''

:[Megan, Cueball, and Beret Guy are all standing with weapons pointed at the ground.]
:Megan: Okay, this is bad.
:Offscreen: '''You're shooting what?'''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

517: Marshmallow Gun

2014-01-13T08:01:11Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 517
| date = December 15, 2008
| title = Marshmallow Gun
| image = marshmallow_gun.png
| titletext = Except in reality crossing a stream of marshmallows would create a giant Bill Murray.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] decides to shoot marshmallows at Megan, who promptly silences him by using a super soaker (first seen in [[220: Philosophy]]). The next day, everyone shoots marshmallows at each other in the office. Someone realizes the "streams" of marshmallows are about to cross, and shouts a warning, but they cross anyway, which results in a a giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man appearing. Both of these are references to the movie, {{w|GhostBusters}}, in which crossing the ghost-capturing streams was "bad" and in which an ancient spirit took the form of a giant Marshmallow Man (though this did not happen in the movie as a result of crossing the streams). The Stay-Puft man sees what they are shooting and is justifiably upset, which Megan realizes is "bad."

The title text is a further GhostBusters reference, as Bill Murray was one of the stars of that movie. The text puts forward the idea that if you were to fire marshmallows and cross the streams, the inverse would happen and an enormous Bill Murray would appear.

==Transcript==

:I got this gun that shoots marshmallows.
:[Cueball removes a marshmallow gun from a box.]

:[Cueball shoots at Megan with marshmallow gun from offpanel.]
:''POP POP POP''
:''WHAP WHAP WHAP''

:[Megan facepalms.]
:''POP''
:Megan: Sigh.

:''POP POP''
:[Megan removes a super soaker from desk drawer.]

:[Megan shoots offscreen on Cueball with super soaker.]]
:Cueball (offscreen): AUGH!
:''FWOOSH''
:Cueball (offscreen): Man, I forgot that was there.

:[The next day, everyone else got them too.]
:[Megan and Beret Guy brandish marshmallow guns.]
:Megan: Hey, noob! Eat Stay-Puft®!

:[Megan shoots a marshmallow gun.]
:''POP POP POP''

:[Cueball shoots a marshmallow gun.]
:''POP POP POP''

:[Megan and Cueball shoot marshmallows into the air, crossing the streams of fire.]
:Beret Guy (offscreen): No! Don't cross the—

''FOOM ROAAAR''

:[Megan, Cueball, and Beret Guy are all standing with weapons pointed at the ground.]
:Megan: Okay, this is bad.
:Offscreen: '''You're shooting what?'''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1158: Rubber Sheet

2014-01-13T07:28:21Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1158
| date = January 9, 2013
| title = Rubber Sheet
| image = rubber sheet.png
| titletext = It IS about physics. It ALL is.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to a [http://en.allexperts.com/q/Astronomy-1360/question-black-holes-1.htm common analogy] used to explain how mass distorts space-time - a bowling ball resting on a sheet of rubber distorts the sheet due to its weight. The system has some qualitative features in common with gravity; it's often [[895|misused]] to show that "mass warps spacetime".

The next part of the original analogy explains a black hole: the slope of the sheet becomes so deep that you can't climb out from the bottom anymore, similar to a black hole, which even light can't escape from. However, the comic subverts the analogy, and the sheet becomes a trampoline instead.

The line "Imagining is ''fun!''" is also a homage to Richard P. Feynman's "Fun to Imagine" Series of Interviews. 

Imagining is fun, but there's [[895: Teaching Physics|always]] got to be a spoil sport.

==Transcript==
:[Beret guy is standing on a giant bowling ball on a rubber sheet. Megan is watching.]
:Beret Guy: Imagine a giant bowling ball on a rubber sheet.
:Beret Guy: The ball's weight makes a dent in the sheet.

:[A rope is pulling the ball down into the sheet.]
:Beret Guy: Now imagine a rope that pulls the ball down even further.
:Beret Guy: ...Annnnd...

:[Rope lets go. Ball is catapulted with Beret Guy on it.]
:'''BOOOIING'''
:Beret Guy: Wheee

:[Beret guy and ball are falling back down.]
:Megan: ...Oh. I thought this was about physics.
:Beret Guy: Imagining is ''fun!''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Physics]]

1158: Rubber Sheet

2014-01-13T07:27:53Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1158
| date = January 9, 2013
| title = Rubber Sheet
| image = rubber sheet.png
| titletext = It IS about physics. It ALL is.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to a [http://en.allexperts.com/q/Astronomy-1360/question-black-holes-1.htm common analogy] used to explain how mass distorts space-time - a bowling ball resting on a sheet of rubber distorts the sheet due to its weight. The system has some qualitative features in common with gravity; it's often [[895|misused]] to show that "mass warps spacetime".

The next part of the original analogy explains a black hole: the slope of the sheet becomes so deep that you can't climb out from the bottom anymore, similar to a black hole, which even light can't escape from. However, the comic subverts the analogy, and the sheet becomes a trampoline instead.

The line "Imagining is ''fun!''" is also an hommage to Richard P. Feynman's "Fun to Imagine" Series of Interviews. 

Imagining is fun, but there's [[895: Teaching Physics|always]] got to be a spoil sport.

==Transcript==
:[Beret guy is standing on a giant bowling ball on a rubber sheet. Megan is watching.]
:Beret Guy: Imagine a giant bowling ball on a rubber sheet.
:Beret Guy: The ball's weight makes a dent in the sheet.

:[A rope is pulling the ball down into the sheet.]
:Beret Guy: Now imagine a rope that pulls the ball down even further.
:Beret Guy: ...Annnnd...

:[Rope lets go. Ball is catapulted with Beret Guy on it.]
:'''BOOOIING'''
:Beret Guy: Wheee

:[Beret guy and ball are falling back down.]
:Megan: ...Oh. I thought this was about physics.
:Beret Guy: Imagining is ''fun!''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Physics]]

909: Worst-Case Shopping

2014-01-13T07:23:03Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 909
| date = June 8, 2011
| title = Worst-Case Shopping
| image = worst case shopping.png
| titletext = Wait a minute. If I'm escaping from a submarine at 50 meters, then I'll *definitely* need a flashlight to find air pockets for gradual decompression on the way up. Time to start shopping professional dive lights.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is dreaming up reasons he should get a flashlight that is water resistant up to 40 meters instead of 10 meters.

In the dream sequence over the first 2 and a half frames, Cueball appears to be diving to find a key underwater, which he spots using his flashlight when he is at 8 meters. His flashlight goes out at 10 meters because he bought the "Hi-Brite" model. The dream sequence also references a "radio shed", which were only really used in the past for {{w|amateur radio}}s or some other military style bases/compounds—which would align with his "warn the President" line.

The title text takes Cueball's thought process to the next level (worse-case), because if he is getting a flashlight that works to 40 meters, he should probably be prepared for even deeper waters as well (even worse-case).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is diving in very deep, dark blue water. He shines a flashlight at the sea floor.]
:Cueball: (thinks) Eight meters. There's the wreckage... Yes! I see the key!

:[As he swims further toward it, his flashlight starts to cut out.]
:Cueball: (thinks) Gotta grab it, surface, get in to the radio shed, and warn the President! Just a few more...
:Flashlight: BZZT FIZZ

:[This panel has no border like the others, and is divided in half diagonally by a thought bubble.]
:[The left half of it is a dark blue thought bubble with the diver inside it. On the right hand side are packaged flashlights hanging on a shelf. The one called Hi-Brite is $24.95 and is labeled "water resistant to 10 meters." The one called "FenStar G6" is $49.95 and says "water resistant to 40 meters."]
:Cueball: (thinks) Oh no.

:[Cueball and a friend stand in front of a flashlight display in a store. Cueball looks down at the packages with his hand on his chin in thought. The thought bubble from the previous panel leads from his head. The friend stands behind him.]
:Cueball: ...maybe I should spring for the deeper water resistance.
:Friend: Why on earth would you care about that?
:Cueball: Look, you never know.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

536: Space Elevators

2014-01-13T06:06:19Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 536
| date = January 28, 2009
| title = Space Elevators
| image = space_elevators.png
| titletext = If you think space elevators are good, but just too boring and practical, check out the 'space fountain'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Arthur C. Clarke}} was a science fiction writer and a futurist. The quoted remark provides a benchmark for how long it will take to create something as massive and advanced as a {{w|space elevator}}: when the idea reaches the point where it is considered seriously rather than dismissed out of hand, about fifty years of further effort will make it a reality.

The ''{{w|space fountain}}'', mentioned in the title text, is another proposed method of overcoming the planet's gravitational barrier, involving an effect similar to that of a {{w|coil gun}}.

''{{w|Mind of Mencia}}'' was an American television comedy series running from 2005 to 2008. [[Cueball]] implies that the show is so unfunny that putting it on every channel would destroy everyone's sense of humor, thus preventing them from laughing at anything, space elevators included.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan sit beside a moonlit lake.]
:Cueball: Arthur C. Clarke said space elevators will be built 50 years after everybody stops laughing.

:[Closeup of Cueball.]
:Cueball: So all we have to do is get ''Mind of Mencia'' on every channel and wait.
:Megan: Oh, hush.

==Trivia==
*[[697: Tensile vs. Shear Strength]] also features a space elevator.

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

1316: Inexplicable

2014-01-13T06:03:58Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1316
| date = January 13, 2014
| title = Inexplicable
| image = inexplicable.png
| titletext = 'It has a ghost in it. Take it back.' 'No.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incomplete.}}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is frustrated at a laptop.]
:Cueball: ''ARGH!''
:Megan (off-screen): What?
:Cueball: Why do I always have these inexplicable, impossible-to-diagnose computer problems?

:[Megan walks towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: After six hours of this, I've concluded nothing works or makes sense. I give up on logic.
:Megan: *sigh* Gimme. I'll figure it out.
:Cueball: You won't.

:[The laptop is now off the desk, and Megan is offscreen again.]
:''type type''
:''click''
:?
:''type type''
:''type''
:???

:[Megan has returned, a closed laptop in hand.]
:Cueball: How'd it go?
:Megan: Your computer is literally haunted.
:Cueball: ''Told'' you.

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

1316: Inexplicable

2014-01-13T06:01:30Z

108.162.216.71: Did this as fast as possible.

{{comic
| number = 1316
| date = January 13, 2014
| title = Inexplicable
| image = inexplicable.png
| titletext = 'It has a ghost in it. Take it back.' 'No.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Incomplete.}}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is frustrated at laptop.]
:Cueball: ''ARGH!''
:Megan (off-screen): What?
:Cueball: Why do I always have these inexplicable, impossible-to-diagnose computer problems?

:[Megan walks towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: After six hours of this, I've concluded nothing works or makes sense. I give up on logic.
:Megan: *sigh* Gimme. I'll figure it out.
:Cueball: You won't.

:[The laptop is now off the desk, and Megan is offscreen again.]
:''type type''
:''click''
:?
:''type type''
:''type''
:???

:[Megan has returned, a closed laptop in hand.]
:Cueball: How'd it go?
:Megan: Your computer is literally haunted.
:Cueball: ''Told'' you.

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

186: Console Lines

2014-01-13T04:32:17Z

108.162.216.71: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 186
| date = November 20, 2006
| title = Console Lines
| image = console_lines.png
| titletext = If I get a Wii, it will be the first game console I've owned.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic relates to {{w|video game consoles}}. At that time, there were three major products competing: the {{w|Playstation 3}} by {{w|Sony}}, the {{w|Xbox 360}} by {{w|Microsoft}} and the {{w|Wii}} by {{w|Nintendo}}. When a game console gets released, fans are often waiting outside the stores or camping on the pavement. The comic shows such a console camp and points out the differences between the fan communities. While the fans waiting in line for a Sony or Microsoft product are very rude, the Nintendo fans are apologetic and try to comfort those who arrived too late to obtain a package. The cliché that Nintendo fans are nicer and more polite may be attributed to the fact that the Wii is targeted at children and families while the PS3 and the Xbox are targeted at the "serious gamer" crowd.

The title text primarily expresses [[Randall|Randall's]] distance from the console wars while also indicating an inclination towards the Nintendo Wii.

==Transcript==
:Fans turning away latecomers to all-night game console campouts:
:Sony/Microsoft:
:Cueball: The line is full, asshole! Fuck off!
:Nintendo:
:Cueball: I'm so sorry, all the consoles are spoken for.
:Cueball: Do... Do you want a hug?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Video games]]

1013: Wake Up Sheeple

2014-01-13T01:38:03Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1013
| date = February 6, 2012
| title = Wake Up Sheeple
| image = wake_up_sheeple.png
| titletext = You will be led to judgement like lambs to the slaughter--a simile whose existence, I might add, will not do your species any favors.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is going through the traditional loudspeaker-having person refrain about the government having control over our lives and uses the refrain "Wake Up Sheeple". Sheeple is a {{w|portmanteau}} (another thing that is loved in xkcd) of "sheep" and "people" used as a derisive term to describe people who thoughtlessly wander through their daily lives going exactly where they are "herded" by the powers that be.

However, in this comic, "sheeple" are instead a race of humanoid sheep-men who have slumbered beneath the Earth for ten thousand years, and who Cueball has inadvertently awoken with his repeated mantra (much as in [[555: Two Mirrors]]). The sheeple appear to be some kind of eldritch abomination who will destroy the human race, and somehow Cueball was the only one unaware of their existence.

The title text says the humans will be led "like lambs to the slaughter" which is a phrase that appears many times in older texts, the Bible as an example. The phrase means that someone or something would be led to its destruction without it thinking to escape from the disaster. The Sheeple are likely to take it amiss, because it indicates the uncaring frequency with which humans kill sheep.

See more Sheeple-related comics at [[:Category:Sheeple|Category:Sheeple]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball yells into a megaphone.]
:Cueball: Your government has turned against you! Corporations control your every thought! - Open your eyes!

:[Head-on view of Cueball.]
:Cueball: Wake up, sheeple! Wake up, sheeple! - '''''WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!!'''''

:[The man takes the megaphone away from his mouth.]
:''RUMBLE''

:[A half-sheep half-man creature rises through the cracking earth, holding aloft a gnarled staff.]
:''B-A-A-A-A-A...''

:[Close-up on the sheep-man's eye.]
:''TEN THOUSAND YEARS WE SLUMBERED... NOW WE RIIIIIIIISE'' baaaaaa

:[A clearly upset Megan goes up to Cueball, hands held out in front of her plaintively.]
:Megan: OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD ''WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!''
:Cueball: What? But I didn't—
:Out-of-frame #1: He awoke the Sheeple!
:OOF #2: Heaven forgive us!
:OOF #3: All is lost!

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

764: One Two

2014-01-13T01:36:25Z

108.162.216.71: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 764
| date = July 9, 2010
| title = One Two
| image = one two.png
| titletext = Cue letters from anthropology majors complaining that this view of numerolinguistic development perpetuates a widespread myth. They get to write letters like that because when you're not getting a real science degree you have a lot of free time. Zing!
}}

==Explanation==
The comic parodies {{w|Sesame Street}}, an American children's TV show. The Count is a character in Sesame Street who teaches counting to viewers. The Count usually laughs after counting numbers, an innocent version of the sinister laugh that is a stereotype of old Hollywood horror films. In the book {{w|One Two Three ... Infinity}}, the writer describes African tribes that only have words for numbers up to three and their inability to distinguish or comprehend larger numbers.

The title text mocks anthropology majors for what is considered a widespread myth among current anthropology majors about primitive tribes and their ability to count. Randall makes a jab at the anthropologists saying they would have time to write letters to complain about things because they don't have to spend time doing real science and thus real research.

==Transcript==
:[A television set with The Count from 'Sesame Street'.]
:The Count: One! Ah ah ah... Two! Ah ah ah... ...Many! ah ah ah...
:Primitive cultures develop Sesame Street.

==Trivia==
The comic may also reference the Indo-European language-family, of which the oldest members have three grammatical numbering systems, singular (one), dual (two), and plural (many).

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Language]]