explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1434: Where Do Birds Go

2014-10-15T18:25:28Z

108.162.219.206: Moved my content to the end.

Hehe, are we suggesting that "bird" may be a phase of dihydrogen monoxide? I like that.
--[[User:Stg|Stg]] ([[User talk:Stg|talk]]) 05:11, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I recommend we keep the answer out of the explain page since it wasn't included in the comic. Birds can google it themselves. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 06:25, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

:Why are you so mean to poor birds? Do you know how hard is to type with beak? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:08, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

::It really is a pain. They have to hunt and peck.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 12:25, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

::Especially on a touch screen! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 13:57, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I added the thing about catcher in the rye, but now I think that might not be right.[[User:Cheeselover724|Cheeselover724]] ([[User talk:Cheeselover724|talk]]) 06:28, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

:I haven't read Catcher in the Rye, but I purely read it as Superman & Clark Kent are the same thing, implying that birds and rain are the same thing. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:34, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Cueball assumes it's a question common to all of internet-accessed humans, making it seem like a beautiful thing. In the end, it turns out those are actually helpless birds asking this question worldwide, not people. I'd advise you add a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog] reference.
The ice/catcher in the rye connection is far fetched. Judging by the Clark/Superman comparison, Randall suggests that birds turn into the rain as part of the water/ice phases and not hide from it. Because Clark doesn't go when Superman arrives, he turns into Superman. [[User:Dulcis|Dulcis]] ([[User talk:Dulcis|talk]]) 08:01, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

:Actually, I think Clark will end up on bottom of the phone booth. Superman must assume that noone will steal his disguise while he will do the rescuing ... meanwhile, there is lot of water in birds, but also lot of other molecules, so the transformation wouldn't work. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:08, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

::In older continuity, "Clark" (or at least his clothing) would get folded up, compressed and tucked into a pocket on the underside of the cape.... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.117|199.27.128.117]] 16:36, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

[https://www.google.com/webhp?q=where%20do%20birds%20go%20when%20it%20rains the google query] [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.100|141.101.98.100]] 08:14, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Birds can use the internet? Before we know it, they will start tweeting. [[User:Diszy|Diszy]] ([[User talk:Diszy|talk]]) 11:58, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:ICY what you did there -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:41, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:And then they'll move on to Facebeak, [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 15:11, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

How do we know that is a pokedex? It looks more like a tablet to me. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.202|173.245.56.202]] 12:05, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

So for the transcript, I'm thinking until the full text in every screen snippet is transcribed and each source result website is identified, it will be technically incomplete - any commentary on this (?) -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:43, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

: While maybe technically incomplete, surely we have to be sensible, and take the decision to omit text which isn't really relevant to the comic. Take the top right screenshot as an exampe, I would argue that the following should be omitted: Top left word??, Search Replies, Previous Page, Next Page, social media share/like text, Username, Text in geen, UserID: 520655, United States.. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:19, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:: Agreed, as I believe I did when creating what is there right now, and as I summarized below at the same time you were writing your reply -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:31, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:Alright, well, I did for the first 20 screen snippets what I think would be good to do for the remaining ones (find the source site and page, then quote what seems to be the pertinent question and answer text that is visible in the snippet, disregarding usernames, dates, categories and similar meta data). It could probably also be done for at least ten more with a bit more effort, but I don't wanna waste my time if the community just says "WAYY TOO MUCH! DELETE!!") -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:29, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I also kind of think that the transcript should have the links to the source sites (since they are screen snippets), while the explanation should have the translations for any non-english text and any needed explanation for differences in cultural context. Regardless, having links to the source sites seems unnecessary to have in BOTH places, but they're links, so... they don't take up any more room, I suppose... -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:40, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

: Great job on the transcript. Personally I like the link to original source as you've done, though perhaps other would disagree. I'm tempted to say it should also be in the explanation, as that is where I assume others would expect that type of information to be. I'm actually quite impressed at what a quality page this is after only a matter of hours, especially given that it isn't the simplest comic. Images, tables, translations, original sources... Beautiful! --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:42, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

: I could help out with the Dutch translation, and I could make a stub for the German one (It'd probably be wise to have a *real* German check that one though) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.86|108.162.254.86]] 16:00, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I love how this comic will inevitably increase the internet searches and queries for "Where do birds go when it rains." If this weren't the question that united us before, it certainly is now. XKCD making a difference![[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.206|108.162.219.206]] 18:24, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1434: Where Do Birds Go

2014-10-15T18:24:18Z

108.162.219.206: compliment

Hehe, are we suggesting that "bird" may be a phase of dihydrogen monoxide? I like that.
--[[User:Stg|Stg]] ([[User talk:Stg|talk]]) 05:11, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I recommend we keep the answer out of the explain page since it wasn't included in the comic. Birds can google it themselves. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 06:25, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

:Why are you so mean to poor birds? Do you know how hard is to type with beak? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:08, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

::It really is a pain. They have to hunt and peck.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 12:25, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

::Especially on a touch screen! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 13:57, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I added the thing about catcher in the rye, but now I think that might not be right.[[User:Cheeselover724|Cheeselover724]] ([[User talk:Cheeselover724|talk]]) 06:28, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

:I haven't read Catcher in the Rye, but I purely read it as Superman & Clark Kent are the same thing, implying that birds and rain are the same thing. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 08:34, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Cueball assumes it's a question common to all of internet-accessed humans, making it seem like a beautiful thing. In the end, it turns out those are actually helpless birds asking this question worldwide, not people. I'd advise you add a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog] reference.
The ice/catcher in the rye connection is far fetched. Judging by the Clark/Superman comparison, Randall suggests that birds turn into the rain as part of the water/ice phases and not hide from it. Because Clark doesn't go when Superman arrives, he turns into Superman. [[User:Dulcis|Dulcis]] ([[User talk:Dulcis|talk]]) 08:01, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

:Actually, I think Clark will end up on bottom of the phone booth. Superman must assume that noone will steal his disguise while he will do the rescuing ... meanwhile, there is lot of water in birds, but also lot of other molecules, so the transformation wouldn't work. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:08, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I love how this comic will inevitably increase the internet searches and queries for "Where do birds go when it rains." If this weren't the question that united us before, it certainly is now. XKCD making a difference![[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.206|108.162.219.206]] 18:24, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

::In older continuity, "Clark" (or at least his clothing) would get folded up, compressed and tucked into a pocket on the underside of the cape.... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.117|199.27.128.117]] 16:36, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

[https://www.google.com/webhp?q=where%20do%20birds%20go%20when%20it%20rains the google query] [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.100|141.101.98.100]] 08:14, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Birds can use the internet? Before we know it, they will start tweeting. [[User:Diszy|Diszy]] ([[User talk:Diszy|talk]]) 11:58, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:ICY what you did there -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:41, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:And then they'll move on to Facebeak, [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 15:11, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

How do we know that is a pokedex? It looks more like a tablet to me. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.202|173.245.56.202]] 12:05, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

So for the transcript, I'm thinking until the full text in every screen snippet is transcribed and each source result website is identified, it will be technically incomplete - any commentary on this (?) -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:43, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

: While maybe technically incomplete, surely we have to be sensible, and take the decision to omit text which isn't really relevant to the comic. Take the top right screenshot as an exampe, I would argue that the following should be omitted: Top left word??, Search Replies, Previous Page, Next Page, social media share/like text, Username, Text in geen, UserID: 520655, United States.. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:19, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:: Agreed, as I believe I did when creating what is there right now, and as I summarized below at the same time you were writing your reply -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:31, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:Alright, well, I did for the first 20 screen snippets what I think would be good to do for the remaining ones (find the source site and page, then quote what seems to be the pertinent question and answer text that is visible in the snippet, disregarding usernames, dates, categories and similar meta data). It could probably also be done for at least ten more with a bit more effort, but I don't wanna waste my time if the community just says "WAYY TOO MUCH! DELETE!!") -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:29, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I also kind of think that the transcript should have the links to the source sites (since they are screen snippets), while the explanation should have the translations for any non-english text and any needed explanation for differences in cultural context. Regardless, having links to the source sites seems unnecessary to have in BOTH places, but they're links, so... they don't take up any more room, I suppose... -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 14:40, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

: Great job on the transcript. Personally I like the link to original source as you've done, though perhaps other would disagree. I'm tempted to say it should also be in the explanation, as that is where I assume others would expect that type of information to be. I'm actually quite impressed at what a quality page this is after only a matter of hours, especially given that it isn't the simplest comic. Images, tables, translations, original sources... Beautiful! --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:42, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

: I could help out with the Dutch translation, and I could make a stub for the German one (It'd probably be wise to have a *real* German check that one though) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.86|108.162.254.86]] 16:00, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1331: Frequency

2014-10-03T05:20:01Z

108.162.219.206: request

I have began the transcript. Should a table be embedded with all the statements?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.11|108.162.250.11]] 07:33, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
:That would be apt. Dammit Randall, why couldn't you have made the comic one image so it'd be easy to put up here? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:36, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
:::If I've calculated it correctly (from the core numbers of prime factors extracted from the set of millisecond cycles extracted below by the script), a ''single'' image that contained each and every cycle (exactly as they are individually, without fudging any of them to avoid awkward factors) before repeating from the start again would have a total duration of 8.74E+056ms. (That's around 2.77E+046 ''years''!) I haven't worked out how many frames that would require (at approx 300kp, each, before compression)although I would hazard a guess that most (if not all of them) would probably sustain at a duration of no more than a single figure of milliseconds.
:::You might be able to make a more efficient and vastly smaller representation with the .swf format, but I've not used that for a while so might have forgotten some limitations that would apply in that event.
:::(Realistically, recreating the array of individual images is the best solution you have. Another case where Randall goes outside the 'traditional' single, simple image format, and messes with everyone's automated XKCD-strip-grabbing scripts, no doubt. At least this time round. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.41|141.101.99.41]] 02:02, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
::I have created a table but someone else has already updated the transcript in a different style; here is my attempt
<pre><table>
<tr>
<th>Heartbeat</th>
<th>One Birth</th>
<th>One Death</th>
<th>Someone Edits Wikipedia</th>
<th>Someone Buys a Vibrator</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>China Builds a Car</td>
<td>Japan Builds a Car</td>
<td>Germany Builds a Car</td>
<td>The US Builds a Car</td>
<td>Someone Else Builds a Car</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>A European Union President Has Their First Kiss</td>
<td>A US Fire Department Puts Out a Fire</td>
<td>Someone Hits a Hole-In-One</td>
<td>My Turn Signal Blinks</td>
<td>The Turn Signal of the Car in Front of Me Blinks</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Earthquake (Magnitude 1)</td>
<td>Earthquake (Magnitude 2)</td>
<td>Earthquake (Magnitude 3)</td>
<td>Earthquake (Magnitude 4)</td>
<td>Member of the UK Parliament Flushes a Toilet</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>An Airline Flight Takes Off</td>
<td>Someone Buys To Kill A Mockingbird</td>
<td>Someone's Pet Cat Kills a Mockingbird</td>
<td>Someone in Pheonix Buys New Shoes</td>
<td>Someone in Pheonix Puts on a Condom</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Someone Locks Their Keys in Their Car</td>
<td>A Sagittarius Named Amelia Drinks a Soda</td>
<td>A Dog Bites Someone in the US</td>
<td>Someone Steals a Bicycle</td>
<td>A Bald Eagle Catches a Fish</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>50,000 Plastic Bottles are Produced</td>
<td>50,000 Plastic Bottles are Recycled</td>
<td>A Bright Meteor is Visible Somewhere</td>
<td>Old Faithful Erupts</td>
<td>A fishing Boat Catches a Shark</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Someone in the US is Diagnosed With Cancer</td>
<td>Someone in the US Dies from Cancer</td>
<td>Someone Adopts a Dog from a Shelter</td>
<td>Someone Adopts a Cat from a Shelter</td>
<td>Someone gets Married</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Someone Registers a Domain</td>
<td>Someone in the US Buys a House</td>
<td>Someone in the US gets a Tattoo</td>
<td>The Star PSR J1748-2446AD Rotates 1,000 Times</td>
<td>Someone Lies About their Age to Sign up for Facebook</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Someone Breaks an iPhone Screen</td>
<td>A Little League Player Strikes Out</td>
<td>Someone has Sex in North Dakota</td>
<td>Justin Bieber Gains a Follower on Twitter</td>
<td>Someone in Denver Orders a Pizza</td>
</tr>
</table>
</pre> [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.11|108.162.250.11]] 10:06, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

:::Thanks, I have replaced the transcript with this one as it is closer to the actual comic format. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.152|173.245.53.152]] 10:24, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

I would like to point out a few things: the title text refers to an experiment that shows a piece of tar, if I remember correctly, which looks like a solid material, dripping very very slowly. It takes a year or more for a drop to fall, and there should be a live stream of it somewhere, I think.

The second is the turning signal being out of sync with the other car. Randall made a comic about that one already. It's a recurring thing.[[User:Dulcis|Dulcis]] ([[User talk:Dulcis|talk]]) 07:57, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
:A year? It took 12 years for the last drop to fall... {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.114}}

: About turning signals, see [[165|XKCD #165]]--[[User:Koundelitchnico|KoundelitchNico]] ([[User talk:Koundelitchnico|talk]]) 09:32, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

:: Thanks, I thought of that one too. I have added this in the explanations column of the table I created, feel free to add more / edit if you feel the need to do so. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.152|173.245.53.152]] 10:24, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

I found a simple tool that calculates the duration of GIF files on github: https://raw.github.com/alimony/gifduration/master/gifduration.py
Slightly edited, this is the output:
<pre>
amelia.gif: 7790 ms (7.79 seconds)
bieber.gif: 4730 ms (4.73 seconds)
bike.gif: 24930 ms (24.93 seconds)
birth.gif: 240 ms (0.24 seconds)
book_mockingbird.gif: 42050 ms (42.05 seconds)
bottles.gif: 1270 ms (1.27 seconds)
car_china.gif: 1890 ms (1.89 seconds)
car_elsewhere.gif: 1030 ms (1.03 seconds)
car_germany.gif: 5800 ms (5.80 seconds)
car_japan.gif: 4010 ms (4.01 seconds)
car_us.gif: 6950 ms (6.95 seconds)
cat.gif: 21300 ms (21.30 seconds)
cat_mockingbird.gif: 1820 ms (1.82 seconds)
death.gif: 560 ms (0.56 seconds)
denverpizza.gif: 1270 ms (1.27 seconds)
dogbite.gif: 7010 ms (7.01 seconds)
dog.gif: 15600 ms (15.60 seconds)
domain.gif: 640 ms (0.64 seconds)
eagle.gif: 2690 ms (2.69 seconds)
earthquake1.gif: 2430 ms (2.43 seconds)
earthquake2.gif: 24260 ms (24.26 seconds)
earthquake3.gif: 242600 ms (242.60 seconds)
earthquake4.gif: 2426000 ms (2426.00 seconds)
facebook.gif: 4320 ms (4.32 seconds)
fire_dept.gif: 23000 ms (23.00 seconds)
flight.gif: 930 ms (0.93 seconds)
heartbeat.gif: 860 ms (0.86 seconds)
holeinone.gif: 180000 ms (180.00 seconds)
house.gif: 6220 ms (6.22 seconds)
iphone.gif: 930 ms (0.93 seconds)
keys.gif: 2430 ms (2.43 seconds)
kiss.gif: 5530 ms (5.53 seconds)
littleleague.gif: 1230 ms (1.23 seconds)
meteor.gif: 1150 ms (1.15 seconds)
ndsex.gif: 1380 ms (1.38 seconds)
oldfaithful.gif: 5640000 ms (5640.00 seconds)
parliament_toilet.gif: 10060 ms (10.06 seconds)
phoenix.gif: 2050 ms (2.05 seconds)
phoenixshoes.gif: 1080 ms (1.08 seconds)
pulsar.gif: 1400 ms (1.40 seconds)
recycled.gif: 4640 ms (4.64 seconds)
shark.gif: 830 ms (0.83 seconds)
tattoo.gif: 2060 ms (2.06 seconds)
turnsignal1.gif: 940 ms (0.94 seconds)
turnsignal2.gif: 900 ms (0.90 seconds)
us_cancer_death.gif: 54340 ms (54.34 seconds)
us_cancer.gif: 18990 ms (18.99 seconds)
vibrator.gif: 2990 ms (2.99 seconds)
wedding.gif: 750 ms (0.75 seconds)
wikipedia.gif: 670 ms (0.67 seconds)
</pre>
This could be useful in creating some kind of table in the Explanation.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.109|108.162.231.109]] 09:25, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

:Thanks, I'm working on an explanation right now. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.152|173.245.53.152]] 09:57, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
::OK, I'll leave it at this - the conversions to events per minute don't make sense for all of the tiles and some of them can use more explanation but I'll leave that for someone else to pick up - need to go back to work :-) --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.152|173.245.53.152]] 10:12, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

:::The edits on Wikipedia doesn't seem very accurate: 0.67s are 3.9M edits per month, while [http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesDatabaseEdits.htm] has only edit counts around 3M for the last available months for English Wikipedia. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.160|108.162.254.160]] 11:17, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

::Is that why the explaination is currently locked? I was going to add a few things to the comment column, but I'm aparently not allowed to at the moment. [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 16:11, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Suggestion: grid like coordinates to refer to other flashing text? (think E4, B6, D5, ...) sirKitKat [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.173|173.245.53.173]] 11:19, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Someone from the UK parliment flushed the toilet while someone in Phoenix used a condom, while a bald eagle caught a fish... (I know, it's just the frequency, not the exact time it is shown to occur) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.131|141.101.98.131]] 11:28, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Shouldn't the North Dakota one have been "two people"? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 11:57, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

He should have added a PNG saying "your screen's refresh rate"... --[[User:Kronf|Kronf]] ([[User talk:Kronf|talk]]) 12:06, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

;Technically possible

Technically you can create an animated GIF that will repeat every 10 years. The standard says that maximum interval between frames is 65535*0.01 seconds, so to create a 10-year video you'll need 31557600*10/655.35=481538 frames. Since GIF registers only changes pixels for each frame, most of these frames will be empty (I'm not sure about the size, but around 20 bytes), so the whole file would be around 9.6 megabytes. Please include this in the explanation (possibly correcting numbers). --[[User:Zverik|Zverik]] ([[User talk:Zverik|talk]]) 13:18, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
: @Zverik; Any reason you not just adding that to the explanation yourself? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 20:31, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Update: Randall used some Adobe software to create highly redundant animated GIFs (with a color profile written to every frame). The thing is, frames are not equal, they gradually change brightness, so each frame is written anew and takes 3670 bytes (measured with oldfaithful.gif). So the estimate for 10-year animated GIF with that software would be 1.77 gigabytes (1.65 GiB). That would be too much indeed. --[[User:Zverik|Zverik]] ([[User talk:Zverik|talk]]) 13:51, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

: Still, there are only 166 shades of gray between black and the default gray. So all it would take is an additional 166 bigger (in terms of number of bytes) frames. That he uses inferior software is no excuse. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.181|108.162.254.181]] 14:58, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Is it possible that the comment ''Amelia is the most common US name'' [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1331:_Frequency&diff=next&oldid=60214] is made in good faith? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 16:05, 17 February 2014 (UTC). It also said that Sagittarius is the most common star sign, which is false, so I deleted the comment. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 16:16, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

: In fact it appears the most common star sign in the US is going to be Leo or Virgo: http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/7/1512.long . Being part way through the cycle, Sagitarius is probably about 1/12 of the population. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.10|141.101.98.10]] 09:11, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Anybody understand why there are so many references to Phoenix ? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 20:31, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
:Because 2 references are not really "many". [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 20:40, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
:high birthrate perhaps? people down there seem to have large families (in my experience), at least that may be what he is saying about the condoms.[[User:Ercannon|Ercannon]] ([[User talk:Ercannon|talk]]) 22:24, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
:I'll hazard a guess here by saying that multiple references to a common item using unrelated topics is a comedic element in itself! In addition, referring to the comment immediately below, unnecessary or impossible precision is also an element of comedy. [[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 23:51, 17 February 2014 (UTC)ExternalMonolog
;Excess precision
To 108.162.245.114 who said that all members of the UK parliament flush a toilet 3,136,938 times per year, please read {{w|False precision}}. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.84|173.245.50.84]] 22:10, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

This should work for the heading, but it's a complete mess and messes up the entire layout. Could someone have a look at this monstrosity:
<pre>
<table class cellspacing="5"
style="background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; color: black; font-size: 88%; line-height: 1.5em;
margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em; padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; width:98%; {{{bodystyle|}}}"><tr><td><ul style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 10px;" class="no-link-underline">{{#ifexist:{{#expr:1331 - 1}}|<li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{#expr:1331 - 1}}|< Prev]]</li>|<li style="display: inline; font-size: 16px; margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 12px;">                </li>}}<li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;"
class="plainlinks">[http://www.xkcd.com/1331/ Comic #1331 (February 17, 2014)]</li>{{#ifexist:{{#expr:1331 + 1}}|<li style="background-color: #6E7B91;
border: 1.5px solid #333333; border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 5px 0 gray;
display: inline; font-size: 16px; font-variant: small-caps; font-weight: 600;
margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 0;">[[{{#expr:1331 + 1}}|Next >]]</li>|<li style="display: inline; font-size: 16px; margin: 0 4px; padding: 1.5px 12px;">                </li></ul></td></tr><tr><td style="font-size: 20px; padding-bottom:10px">Frequency</td></tr>}}<tr><td><center><table><tr>
<td>[[File:heartbeat.gif]]</td>
<td>[[File:birth.gif]]</td>
<td>[[File:death.gif]]</td>
<td>[[File:wikipedia.gif]]</td>
<td>[[File:vibrator.gif]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:car china.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:car japan.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:car germany.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:car us.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:car elsewhere.gif ]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:kiss.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:fire dept.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:holeinone.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:turnsignal1.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:turnsignal2.gif ]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:earthquake1.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:earthquake2.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:earthquake3.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:earthquake4.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:parliament toilet.gif ]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:flight.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:book mockingbird.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:cat mockingbird.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:phoenixshoes.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:phoenix.gif ]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:keys.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:amelia.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:dogbite.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:bike.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:eagle.gif ]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:bottles.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:recycled.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:meteor.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:oldfaithful.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:shark.gif ]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:us cancer.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:us cancer death.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:dog.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:cat.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:wedding.gif ]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:domain.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:house.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:tattoo.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:pulsar.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:facebook.gif ]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[ File:iphone.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:littleleague.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:ndsex.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:bieber.gif ]]</td>
<td>[[ File:denverpizza.gif ]]</td>
</tr></table> Title text: This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.</td></tr></table></center>
</pre> [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.184|173.245.53.184]] 22:31, 18 February 2014 (UTC)
:I'm currently adding the ability to put replace the image field with an optional custom field. Will keep you posted. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:40, 18 February 2014 (UTC)
::See [[Template:comic]], in particular the last parameter and the last bullet point in the notes section. Added just for you. This'll be pretty useful for other comics that we've made in the past as well. Thanks for making me get off my butt and do something useful with my admin powers. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:13, 18 February 2014 (UTC)
:::Cool. Next up: click and drag :D [[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.121|108.162.231.121]] 12:24, 19 February 2014 (UTC)
::::The awesome thing is, it might be possible for us to port Randall's code/enable javascript and duplicate that comic exactly as it appears on the main xkcd site. The custom field isn't limited to just images, so we can literally represent anything that can be rendered by mediawiki now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:28, 20 February 2014 (UTC)
−
::I don't understand this problem. The HTML-Code is just from the main page, it doesn't explain your problem. I did add all the GIF images yesterday, and for entering all that links in an easy way I changed this table layout to an easy WIKI-Table. In my opinion all the sortable tags should be removed, this is not increasing the depth at this explain. But this is still an open task here, yesterday I just did focus on all the missing GIFs here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:53, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Am i alone in thinking that there are many "references to other comics" which are not references at all, but merely about the same subject? "One birth" is supposedly a reference to 746, with presumably the only reason that they both handle the subject of concieving children. The only "correct" reference in my opinion is the reference to 165 (turn signals). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.215|141.101.80.215]] 15:24, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

Just returning to the "10 years = too large a GIF" thing, without trying to slot into the huge mess it became above ... the thing we should be looking at here is not overall file size, but *rate*. The overall size was somewhere beyond 10mb? OK, but, so what - we've got 10 years to download it, and GIF is an inherently streaming format (each frame displays as it loads, if there hasn't been enough time / bandwidth to pre-buffer it). 1 megabyte per year is 2871 bytes per average day, 120 per hour, 1.99 per minute... and a grand total of 0.266 BITS per second (ie 3.76 seconds per bit). A tortoise could transmit that GIF using morse code and it wouldn't be badly delayed. And the amount of storage represented by 10mb by the time it's finished sending won't even be worth calculating in terms of cost or percentage of available space, when a 16gb flashdrive already costs under £10 retail.

Also, these GIFs seem to be pretty inefficiently compressed; I'm following another webcomic at the moment where most of the frames are high-resolution full-colour aniGIFs, and each one tends to clock in around 40 to 100kb unless there's a lot of action in it... but the "magnitude 1 earthquake" one here is 123kb. Even so, the mag 4 quake GIF - 1000x longer - is but 280kb, so the size obviously doesn't scale linearly with length. The difference is most likely in levels of grey shown during the fade, and as even the 42-second "to kill a mockingbird" one is noticeably slower fading than the more frequent ones around it (not quite enough, at 30fps and maybe 3-4 seconds of fading, to cover the whole 166 shades between lightest and darkest text - but the mag 4 one would easily manage it even at a lower framerate, as it probably takes a good 30 seconds if not a couple minutes). It's possible that 300kb is all it takes for the actual image payload even of a full-fade panel with a lot of high frequency, non repeating patterned text, and all the rest is just padding / blank / repeat overheads.

Which means even our 0.27-bit-per-second tortoise would get all THAT sent in a little over three months, not much more time than would be needed to show the likely fadeout in realtime if it was the first thing that actually appeared. If it was sent by any other realistic communication method, even as POST data from the client end of a 1200/75 baud modem, it'd have entirely ample time to buffer (the first frame would likely appear within 1 to 5 minutes), and your more realistic concern would be not only stopping your computer from rebooting before the GIF had time to run through a cycle, but keeping it running continuously for that length of time (and, if needed, downloading the file really slowly throughout) in any case. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.150|141.101.98.150]] 19:08, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Anyone notice how the explanations for the car-related frequencies are nonsensical? They're so nonsensical that I can't tell how to fix them without actually knowing the subject. Please fix.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.206|108.162.219.206]] 05:20, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1338: Land Mammals

2014-09-26T18:32:34Z

108.162.219.206: response to comment

Is it mass or weight? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.119|173.245.53.119]] 06:38, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:It says weight. Since most land animals live on the... land, there is not much difference. I suppose if a lot of aninimals lived near a [https://xkcd.com/852/ prime pole vaulting location] it could skew the results. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 06:40, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::Ton is a unit of the quantity mass, not weight. Weight is a force and forces would be measured in newtons. Hence the comic is making a mistake. One that 99% of the people do. Mass would be correct since it is a more fundamental quantity and is usually what is meant when people talk about weight. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.105|108.162.254.105]] 18:29, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Ton is actually a unit of weight, at least assuming the comic is using the short ton (widely used in the US). 1 ton = 2000 pounds, and pounds are a unit of weight. A metric ton, tonne, and long ton are units of mass, defined as a quantity of kilograms.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.206|108.162.219.206]] 18:32, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
:::Based on his comments on the subject in a [http://what-if.xkcd.com/112/ What If comic], I strongly suspect that he doesn't care about the distinction in cases where: a) the values of the measurements are equal, and b) it's just a comic, not a research paper. [[User:Marcus Erronius|Marcus Erronius]] ([[User talk:Marcus Erronius|talk]]) 17:42, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I'm really curious, what are the other, unlabeled groupings? [http://vaclavsmil.com/the-earths-biosphere-evolution-dynamics-and-change/ Author's website] {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}

<pre>
On page 186 of Smil's referenced book, there is a bar chart with the following values in millions of tons (*=not used in Randall's graphic):
elephants 0.8
horses 40
pigs 100
cattle 450
people 280
*whales 80
*all wild vertebrates 30
*all domesticated vertebrates 650
</pre> {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}

I think that this graph is actually more illustrative of how much support humans need to maintain themselves (the amount of cattle is astonishing). [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:58, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:''need''? I don't think we ''need'' so much cattle. It's just that most people prefer hamburgers and steaks to beans. So, how much we ''use'' to maintain ourselves would be better. (BTW, you don't count yourself as human?) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:According to [http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201209/how-many-dogs-are-there-in-the-world] there are 525 million dogs, assuming 20 kg as average weight, this should give 10 squares in the diagram. I can't find reliable numbers for cats, but there are more cats than dogs, but they don't weigh as much, so their total weight could be similar to that of the dogs. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.160|108.162.254.160]] 08:42, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

The blob of 13 under the word Livestock may very well represent both dogs and cats. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.46}}

===Layout of the blocks===
Does anybody see a reason for the particular layout of the blocks? My first impression was a globe but obviously it doesn't correspond to any continents, etc. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.66|108.162.254.66]] 08:44, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
: I've been wondering myself... I do think it is a picture of something. My ideas so far: an eye, a fried egg, a cell. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 09:29, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::It may simply be something-like-a-circle of humans with the rest surrounding it. But it DOES look like a cell. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Could it be a sort of relationship diagram? It looks like we're in the centre, with the animals we have the closest relationships with — our pets and our food — nearest, and those we're less concerned with further away. [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 11:34, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::Yes, the overall layout is human-centric, but that doesn't explain the intentionally lumpy and asymmetric regions. It would have been easier to place the blocks in regular shapes (circular, rectangular or otherwise) but Randall chose to do it this way. Cell with a nucleus is a reasonable guess. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 14:00, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::::I think it resembles a (low resolution) globe, with humanity representing the major continent [[User:Boxy|Boxy]] ([[User talk:Boxy|talk]]) 14:19, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::::I think it shows the relationship of the title text (assuming we are part of land mammals): there are about 1.2K squares in total representing a factor of 1K:1 overall. Thus the shape (resembling bacterium) is explained, the incorporation of all mammals into the shape, and the potential central location of humans (assuming most bacteria lives in our gut). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.31|108.162.219.31]] 16:09, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::::I'm thinking the data points are placed using a polar coordinate system (although what the axis are I don't know, other than that being human gets you close to the center) combined with a mapping onto an x-y grid. Does that make any sense? --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 20:56, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:::::: I think the layout is intended to show two legged mammals in the middle and four legged surrounding it. There are not sufficient six legged mammals to make yet another circle outside the four legged circle. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 16:47, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

::::::: You know of ANY six legged mammal? Any six-appendages {{w|vertebrate}} I know of is mythological creature (like {{w|pegasus}} or some {{w|dragon}}s) or non-earth origin (like {{w|List_of_alien_species_in_the_Honorverse#treecats|tree cats}} or {{w|Pandoran_biosphere|Pandora-native}}). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:58, 7 March 2014 (UTC)

: I think we humans are afraid of the wild animals, and are huddling in the center and have either gathered the domesticated animals around us to protect us, or they have surrounded us on their own to protect us. [[User:Chrullrich|Chrullrich]] ([[User talk:Chrullrich|talk]]) 07:51, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Don't think there is anything to the layout, other than making it fit as a evenly distributed in a circle, placing the wild species near the domesticated relatives -- my vote is to remove the layout from the incomplete tag [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 21:48, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

===Identifying the groups===
I would love to identify specific groups. The unlabelled animals come in groups, even the wild animals, even though only *one* of those groups (elephants for some reason) has been labelled. —[[User:TobyBartels|TobyBartels]] ([[User talk:TobyBartels|talk]]) 13:05, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
:Reason for elephant label == "This is how much/little the whole population of the largest land mammals amass to."? (Actually, given the scarcity of elephants, I'm surprised it's a full block. I suspect something else that could have been labelledsuch as "rats" would be far more.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 14:07, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Per the wikipeda page[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel#Distribution_and_numbers] on camels I expect that they are the blob of 3 gray squares. [[User:Mwiser|Mwiser]] ([[User talk:Mwiser|talk]]) Update: I hadn't seen the 1 billion kg == 1 million tons notation which has since appeared. I therefore added camels (and also donkeys) to the table below. [[User:Mwiser|Mwiser]] ([[User talk:Mwiser|talk]])

Non [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_SI_definitions SI] units should just die [http://xkcd.com/526/ already]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 20:39, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:Is Randall's ton the metric {{w|tonne}} or the US {{w|short ton}}? -- [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.65|108.162.219.65]] 22:06, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
::Considering that Randall is very aware of the SI confusion, I'm sure he would have made it clear if he where NOT using metric tonne - so I would say his tonne is 1,000 kg! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:53, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

===Stab at the numbers===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto; text-align: center; font-size: 95%; table-layout: fixed; line-height:1.25"
|-
! Land Mammal
! population in Billions
! Average Kilograms
! Total Kilograms in Billions
! xkcd value
! Notes
|-
! Humans
| 7.2
| 70
| {{sort|00504|504}}
| 358
| as of 2013
|-
! Cattle
| 1
| 1740
| {{sort|01740|1740}}
| 520
| as of 2012
|-
! Pigs
| 1
| 350
| {{sort|00350|350}}
| 90
|
|-
! Chickens
| 19
| 1
| {{sort|00019|19}}
|
| not mammals
|-
! Goats
| 0.865
| 46
| {{sort|00039.7|39.7}}
| 39
| as of 2008... [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat#Worldwide_goat_population_statistics src]
|-
! Sheep
| 1
| 80
| {{sort|00080|80}}
| 135
|
|-
! Elephants
| 0.000105670
| 5000
| {{sort|00000.5|0.5}}
| 1
| as of 2012 [http://www.elephantdatabase.org/preview_report/2013_africa/Loxodonta_africana/2012/Africa src]
|-
! Horses
| 0.058372106
| 500
| {{sort|00029|29}}
| 29
| as of 2006 [http://horsetalk.co.nz/2007/09/12/world-horse-population-58m/#axzz2v7dtQwJK src]
|-
! Rats
| 10
| 0.35
| {{sort|00003.5|3.5}}
| 2
| 10B is a guess
|-
! Cats
| 0.6
| 5
| {{sort|00003|3}}
| 2
|
|-
! Dogs
| 0.4
| 40
| {{sort|00016|16}}
| 6
|
|-
! Seal
| 0.022
| 200
| {{sort|00004.4|4.4}}
|
| not a land mammal
|-
! Mole
|
| 0.075
|
|
| Numbers are slightly exaggerated, but [http://what-if.xkcd.com/4 it would be nice] to have those quantities
|-
! Krill
| ?
| ?
| {{sort|00300|175-725}}
|
| Wild species with largest biomass (not a land mammal)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_krill#Biomass_and_production src]
|-
! Camel
| 0.014
| 465
| {{sort|00006.51|6.51}}
|
| As of 2010 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel src]
|-
! Donkey
| 0.04
| 160
| {{sort|00006.4|6.4}}
|
| As of 206 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey src] [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDkQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ed.ac.uk%2Fpolopoly_fs%2F1.21412!%2FfileManager%2Fdonkey%2520fact%2520sheet.pdf&ei=HO4XU6mlD4WbygGMlICoCg&usg=AFQjCNH4aPhQCgltmd0nkgxB6Zb4QU_qLw&bvm=bv.62577051,d.aWc&cad=rja mass src]
|-

|}
* 1 billion kg == 1 million tons [https://www.google.ca/search?q=convert:+1+kg+to+metric+tons src]
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heaviest_land_mammals
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_mammals_by_population
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 16:19, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

===Talk about the table===
:uhh.... chickens aren't... mammals? (?) [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 17:22, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

::Apparently not. http://www.ask.com/question/are-chickens-mammals --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 03:23, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: fixed [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Where does these XKCD numbers come from? Cattle 1740? Humans 556? According to the comic there are 520 Cattle and 358 Humans (million ton). This table makes no sence in the XKCD number department. Appart from that it would be a great table to include in the comic... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:52, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: fixed [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Where does the average weight come from? As the human race is very young (26% below 15 years) and the cattle population has is changed very rapidly - thus there will also be many calves all the time - reducing the average weight far below that of an average adult animal ready to made in to beef... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:55, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Click on the wiki links below the table and a few more clicks you will find the numbers... add direct source links if you like [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.8|108.162.241.8]] 19:39, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

:Maybe the seal is considered a land mammal by Randal? Only wales are really not land mamals. The link to elephant population seems only to cover African elephants not Asian... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:01, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

:Does Randall consider cattle to be all the genus Bos? Waterbuffalo for example weigh about 400kg and wikipedia claims a world population of 130M. That would be 52 blocks. So, I'd assume that since there aren't any free blocks that large, that they are considered cattle. So, then Yaks and Wildebeests should be considered cattle as well, no? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 22:06, 7 March 2014 (UTC)rbnm

::Sorry I meant Tribe Bovini not genus Bos [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]]rbnm

:Rodentia? If the average rodent weighs something like 0.67kg, then 15B rodents would make up 13 squares. 0.67kg comes from the log average of the smallest and largest. If this includes rats (4B per the WHO) - is it reasonable that the rest of Rodentia includes 11B, 1-2 rodents per person on the Earth? That would include: squirrels, porcupines, beavers, guinea pigs, and hamsters; although guinea pigs might be considered pet/livestock (mmm... cuye!). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.36|108.162.215.36]] 23:56, 7 March 2014 (UTC)rbnm

===Title Text===
The title text mentions that bacteria outweigh humans by thousands (plural) to one. The notation 1000:1 used in the explanation is therefore not correct.
:True - I did not spot that. I have corrected it to the same version as the title text[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:15, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

===Rabbit===
This mammals belong to "Pets/Livestock" and "Wild animals". Any ideas where this does fit in here? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:47, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
:There are several other animals where there could be both a wild and a domesticated (or pet) version. Foes Zoo animals count as pets? Elephant is a good example as they are domesticated in India. Is domesticated only animals where we have changed them - like cows and pigs? In that case the elephant is not domesticated - as it has not been breed into a different race... {{unsigned|Kynde}}

===Deer===
This belongs to "Wild animals". Any ideas where this does fit in here? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:52, 9 March 2014 (UTC)

== Smil table ==
he singles out elephants in the table, and uses Mt of Carbon as a unit. The % of carbon is ~18,5% in humans (I guess this is pretty average for mnammals too, so checking the numbers should take this in to account.

Guessing the unlabeled groups is a pretty futile exercise, are yaks cattle or not, what of reindeers, are both camels and llama and alpacas marked separately. largest wild is likely though rodents, and the smallest likely all wild carnivora. odd-toeds, even-toeds, marsupials, all other mammals are some other likely groups in the 'wilds' section.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.8|108.162.212.8]] 04:40, 26 March 2014 (UTC)