explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3097: Bridge Types

2025-06-03T01:32:06Z

108.162.245.126: /* Transcript */ cats

{{comic
| number = 3097
| date = June 2, 2025
| title = Bridge Types
| image = bridge_types_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x581px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Pontoon bridges are just linear open-sided waterbeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

Talk:687: Dimensional Analysis

2025-05-15T20:47:32Z

108.162.245.126:

Is it customary to just slap a new contributor after 5 minutes because the page was not done perfectly on the first editing? Now I will NOT research and add the actual numbers you would have to plug into the equation and I will leave this to Dave22. Genius. [[User:Stamfest|Stamfest]] ([[User talk:Stamfest|talk]]) 09:36, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
:We do put those fields there for a reason. Most editors just make a page and leave them incomplete with fields deleted or blank, oftentimes leaving admins with heaps of maintenance work to deal with. I probably *should* have waited for you to finish, but prior experience and me being busy with two simultaneous continuously updating comics led me to treat it like most other incomplete pages. Will wait in the future though, since I know how you edit now. Discussion hidden, as it covers matters outside of the comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:01, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
::And I added the comment of a (very) initial explanation to the initial version. If you only want immediately perfect content, then just say so at page creation-time. This is totally against all wiki rules I have ever experienced. It is also against basic netiquette to call new contributors names upon their first submission. You might consider to change your attitude if you run or are involved with such a project. OTOH, if this is YOUR project, you are free to treat contributors all the way you want, but do not expect them to add more content if you behave like that. But the good thing is: your reaction shifted my attention back to work. Thanks for that. This won't help the page, though. Bad luck, I guess. Also, I only found out now that it is not possible to delete accounts on a wikimedia wiki... [[User:Stamfest|Stamfest]] ([[User talk:Stamfest|talk]]) 13:10, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
:Someone posted that I've been wasting electrons on here. I didn't quite know how to take that, it being true and all. I had the impression that it was the whole point of comics that you waste time on them. Some of us just have too many electrons; obviously. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 16:33, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

:: Then they should stop being so negative and get some grounding. [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 13:26, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
This comments should be removed from this topic. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

I am not sure if this is relevant but I laughed more reading Stamfest vs Daviddy22 then Randall :D but Dgbrt may have a point of removing it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.83|173.245.62.83]]ck

Made a minor addition to the explanation as it relates to the "Buckingham Pi" formalization. This may be a 2nd order pun in the comic.[[User:Tardyon|Tardyon]] ([[User talk:Tardyon|talk]]) 15:05, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

The units only check out if mileage is given in the form liters/100 km. If you use miles/gallon you end up with units of length^-4.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.5|108.162.217.5]] 22:17, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

Or, maybe the Plank Energy will decrease... [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 04:01, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

Why is he breaking from his usual black and white style? The green was a suprise [[Special:Contributions/162.158.39.207|162.158.39.207]] 22:06, 27 November 2016 (UTC)Davy

England is part of the mainland of Britain and can't float anywhere on its own without tearing itself away from the rest of the land. It's like suggesting that California can float away from America. (Maybe that wasn't a good example, what with the San Andreas Fault, and all...) [[User:Brenda|Brenda]] ([[User talk:Brenda|talk]]) 09:52, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

The final number does not agree with the inputs provided in the example. I get 3.00, not 3.51, when I follow the data on the page. Additionally, when I put I use the range or core pressures provided, I get between 2.92 and 3.18. That confirms the comic's assertion with the provided data.--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.211|172.69.33.211]] 18:14, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Toyota *has* made a better Prius. As of the [https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=26425&id=48861 2025 model year] achieving 57 mpg, England must have drifted out to sea by ~4.5km, making the English Channel ~37.7km wide. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.126|108.162.245.126]] 20:47, 15 May 2025 (UTC)

3063: Planet Definitions

2025-03-15T06:04:22Z

108.162.245.126: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3063
| date = March 14, 2025
| title = Planet Definitions
| image = planet_definitions_2x.png
| imagesize = 653x1435px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Under the 'has cleared its orbital neighborhood' and 'fuses hydrogen into helium' definitions, thanks to human activities Earth technically no longer qualifies as a planet but DOES count as a star.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The explanation is too short.[''Are you kidding me?''] }}

This comic addresses the {{w|IAU definition of planet|controversy of whether of Pluto is a planet}} and explores many definitions, most of them humorous/nonsensical, of what a planet could be.

;Traditionalist: {{w|Pluto}} is a planet (9 planets)
:In modern times, there was {{w|IAU definition of planet#Background|no formal definition of a "planet"}} prior to 2006. However, it was generally accepted as a colloquialism that there were nine planets around the {{w|Sun}}, Pluto included (starting with Pluto's discovery in 1930 ([[988|Tradition]] is whatever Baby Boomers grew up with). As more sophisticated methods of mapping the {{w|Solar System}} were developed and {{w|Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris}} was discovered to be even more massive than Pluto, it became clear to astronomers that a more standardized definition was needed. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) published their formal redefinition of a "planet" to require a planet to be gravitationally dominant within its orbit, disqualifying Pluto (and Eris) which is now considered a "dwarf planet." This has been subject to push back from countless people, including [https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.15285 some planetary scientists], but in mostly nostalgic laypeople dissatisfied with Pluto being "demoted" or otherwise relegated when schoolchildren and adults alike have 'known' that there are nine planets for the most part of the last century.

;Modern: Pluto is not a planet (8 planets)
:When the IAU redefined what a planet is in 2006, Pluto no longer qualifies as a planet. (since it wasn't able to clear its neighborhood around its orbit) Using the modern, and recentky official, definition of a planet, only eight celestial objects qualified.

;Expansive: Dwarf planets are planets (17+ planets)
:It is likely that since the term "dwarf planet" contained "planet" in its name, Randall considered those as also planets under this category.
:It is also likely that the number of planets includes the ones that are considered planets and the ones that are considered to have compacted into fully solid bodies, {{w|Dwarf planet#Most likely dwarf planets| as defined by Grundy ''et al.'',}} those being {{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}}, Pluto, Eris, {{w|Makemake}}, {{w|Haumea}}, {{w|Gonggong (dwarf planet)|Gonggong}}, {{w|Quaoar}}, {{w|Orcus (dwarf planet|Orcus}} and {{w|Sedna (dwarf planet)|Sedna}}.
:The basis for this viewpoint is the possible alternative re-evaluation that the IAU could have adopted, in that all newly discovered things ''like'' Pluto (being considered a planet) should therefore be considered a planet. Indeed, Ceres had been observed some time before Pluto and had been called a planet (or a "minor planet") within both scientific and public realms.

;Ultratraditionalist: Only the classical planets are planets (5 planets)
:The {{w|classical planets}} are objects found and considered by the Greek astronomers in classical antiquity to be considered planets. Their definition of "planet" considered visible objects that move across the sky relative to the fixed stars, the original word itself being translated as "wanderer". There are seven classical planets, but if one were to only consider the ones that fall under the IAU's definition of a planet (this being ''less'' traditional), then there would only be five. (The Sun and the {{w|Moon}} would be disqualified.)
:Being (mostly) true to the spirit of the historic naming convention, this would be a conservative but 'valid' version of the criterium.

;Condescending: Only giant planets are planets; the rest are big {{w|asteroid}}s (4 planets)
:This definition may refer to the {{w|giant planets}}, planets much larger than the {{w|Earth}}. Only the four outer (IAU-defined) planets fall under this definition.
:Relegation of anything smaller, including our own planet, is an extreme attitude, but most of the initial [[:Category:Exoplanets|exoplanets]] discovered were, by practical necessity in their detection, also only of the "giant planet" mind.

;Simplistic: Anything gravitationally round is a planet (37+ planets)
:Using the Wikipedia {{w|list of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System}}, there are 37 objects listed. That includes the Sun, 8 planets, 9 dwarf planets and 19 {{w|Natural satellite|moon}}s, but falls short of also highlighting all of the smallest visible objects (as per Universalist, below).
:This definition is essentially ''part'' of the actual current definition of a planet, leaving out the main factor that specifically disqualifies Pluto.

;Grounded: Only objects a spaceship has landed on are planets (10 planets)
:This list includes objects in the Solar System that a spacecraft has {{w|List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies| performed a soft landing on}}. The list includes {{w|Venus}}, Earth, {{w|Mars}}, the Moon, {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}, {{w|433 Eros|Eros}}, {{w|25143 Itokawa|Itokawa}}, {{w|162173 Ryugu|Ryugu}} and {{w|101955 Bennu|Bennu}}. Notably, {{w|comet}} {{w|Philae (Spacecraft)| landings}} are not included in the list.
:The justicication for this seeks to be that we must 'touch' the object before we consider it as worthy of being classified as more than a mere blob (or dot) in space.

;Regolithic: Anything covered in dirt and ice and stuff is a planet (infinite)
:This list excludes the {{w|Gas Giant}}s and the {{w|Ice Giant}}s. The list would likely include dwarf planets, asteroids, moons and comets. This is effectively the opposite of the "condescending" definition: every object in the solar system is included in one definition or the other (except for the Sun, which inhabits ).
:This is also an extension on the prior classicication. In this case ''could'' we meaningfully touch the object, with predominatingly atmospheric bodies being not considered so.

;Lunar: You can't be a planet if you don't have a moon (12+ objects)
:Only some objects in the solar system have known and acknowledged moons orbiting them. The value given may be {{w|List of natural satellites| the number of planets and dwarf planets}} that have moons, when excluding {{w|Haumea}} for not reaching {{w|hydrostatic equilibrium}} despite having moons. The Sun is excluded because its satellites are not moons, because ... oh, look, a Squirrel!
:Adopting this definition would suggest that a planetary body is not worthy of the name if it doesn't (with no matter for what reason) demonstrably have the means to dominate its local area by being the overwhelming focus of all adjacent bodies' own orbits.

;Solipsistic: Earth is the only planet (1 planet)
:{{w|Solipsism}} is the idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. Randall extrapolated this idea to mean that only one's own planet that they are standing on is sure to exist.
:This projects (and relies upon) a more philosophical and/or semiotic assesment than any scientific one.

;Judgemental: Only the prettiest ones are planets (6 planets)
:This list is likely formulated from Randall's own perception of the prettiest planets in the Solar System. Strangely, seven objects are highlighted:
:* Earth
:* Jupiter
:* One of Jupiter's moons (unclear)
:* Saturn
:* One of Saturn's moons (unclear, possibly Titan)
:* Neptune's moon (probably Triton)
:* Pluto
:The subjectivity of this version of the definition makes it unlikely that a consensus of this form could be established.

;Empiricist: Only worlds that I, author of this table, have personally seen are planets (12 planets)
:This list may refer to the celestial objects in the Solar System that have been made visible at night, probably using with an optical telescope (a hobbyist one, perhaps Randall's, or from time borrowed on a major institutional installation). Jupiter's {{w|Galilean moons|four largest moons}} are [https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024151/http://denisdutton.com/jupiter_moons.htm technically visible to the naked eye] but hard to distinguish due to Jupiter's brightness, while Neptune is considered too faint to see (even if you know where to look). It may also be the case that Randall has never taken the time to look for Neptune while using a telescope. Apparently Randall has seen Uranus, which technically [https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-see-uranus-in-night-sky Uranus ''is'' visible to the naked eye] under the very best viewing conditions, but these conditions are rare and it again requires knowing exactly where to look.
:The omission of the Sun from the list of worlds that Randall has personally seen is interesting. Yes, people are not supposed to stare at the Sun, but it is not too uncommon to accidentally look in its direction for a split-second before instinctively closing one's eyes and turning one's head away.
:As a different form of subjectivity, the value of this grouping's criteria is questionable, but not uncommon in other 'softer' sciences.

;Marine biologist: Only objects with oceans are planets (6+ planets)
:This list includes Earth, {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}, {{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}}, {{w|Callisto (moon)|Callisto}}, Titan, and {{w|Enceladus}}. Most of these have had the presence of significant water identified from the way local magnetic/electric fields are detected, but see the following item.
:There is a resemblance, here, to a loose understanding of what a "world" is, i.e. one that possesses various distinct 'terrains' beyond mere dry (and possibly considered featureless) rock. A marine biologist would, of course valid a marine (if not pellagic or bathyspheric) environment to be an essential element of any world.

;Maritime: Only objects with ''surface'' oceans are planets (2 planets)
:In the comic, only Earth and a Saturnian moon (likely to be Titan) are highlighted. Earth is the only body known in the solar system to have liquid water on the surface significant enough to be called an ocean. Titan's cold and dense atmosphere notably maintains surface 'seas' of methane and nitrogen, where other moons (given as additonal in the prior item) seem to have their liquid water beneath either whole-surface ice caps or otherwise deep under the surface.
:From the narrower point of view of a sailor, for example, there is no benefit in considering water hidden away far beneath the surface.

;Universalist: They're all planets (infinite)
:This list claims that all objects are planets, all drawn items (as also would presuming all undrawn/undrawable items) being marked as such, including the Sun.
:Giving up on any thought of exclusivity, this unconventional view willingly inducts all visible objects into consideration.

;Existantialist: What if {{w|outer space|space}} ''itself'' is a planet??? (Duude)
:This list is different from the list above as it claims that all of space, rather than only the objects existing in space, are planets. The interjection ''Duude'' expresses one's amazement at this 'revelation' and replaces the number count— and is sometimes stereotyped to imply the speaker is high on marijuana or other drugs popular with the 1960s hippie counterculture.
:The strange stretch of imagination, as prompted by some narcotic or other, abandons all pretense at sensibly sorting everything into "planet" or "not planet", as not only is everything a planet, but so is the nothing ''between'' these titular planets.

;Spiteful: ''Only'' Pluto is a planet (1 planet)
:This list is a malicious play on the demotion of Pluto by demoting all other planets except Pluto instead, leaving Pluto as the only planet in the solar system.
:This is the taxonomic of refusing to play and taking your ball home to spite those who you think don't deserve it.

;(title text) {{w|Star}}: Earth is a star (2 stars)
:In May 1934, Mark Oliphant, Paul Harteck and Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory, published an intentional deuterium fusion experiment, and made the discovery of both tritium and helium-3. This is widely considered the first experimental demonstration of fusion. Randall considers that this makes Earth fall into the category of a star due to the human-induced ability for Earth to fuse hydrogen into helium using nuclear fusion.
:By changing not only the definition, but the term being defined, this drifts further still away from any consensus view on the original question.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A table with 3 columns, and 17 rows below the the header row, labelled "Definition", "# of planets" and "Solar system".]
:[In each row, the first column has a single word, in bold, then a descriptive sentence. The second column has a digit or other 'value'. The third column is a not-to-scale drawing of the Solar system, featuring the Sun, various 'planetary' bodies and an apparently selective sample of moons/asteroids, as follows: The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth + The Moon, Mars + two moons (Phobos and Deimos), a small selection of Asteroid Belt bodies (Ceres in the midst of other, smaller, examples), Jupiter + four moons (likely Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), a ringed Saturn + usually one moon (probably Titan) or two (possibly Enceladus or Iapetus, as required), Uranus + four or five moons (likely to be Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon, but one of these (shown upon the face of Uranus) only appears in some iterations of the base image), Neptune + one moon (probably Triton), Pluto + one moon (Charon), four more plutoid/Kuiper Belt objeccts (too little context to identify, but possibly Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong and Eris, in distance order), the first two of them with distinct moons indicated (entirely dependent upon which main objects they are).]
:[Each row's illustrated solar system has indivudal combinations of green highlights applied to the otherwise repeated diagram.]
:[Row 1: Definition:] Traditionalist: Pluto is a planet [Number:] 9 [Highlit: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto]
:[Row 2: Definition:] Modern: Pluto is not a planet [Number:] 8 [Highlit: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune]
:[Row 3: Definition:] Expansive: Dwarf planets are planets [Number:] 17+ [Highlit: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres (in Asteroid Belt), Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and the further main bodies]
:[Row 4: Definition:] Ultratraditionalist: Only the classical planets are planets [Number:] 5 [Highlit: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn]
:[Row 5: Definition:] Condescending: Only giant planets are planets; the rest are big asteroids. [Number:] 4 [Highlit: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune]
:[Row 6: Definition:] Simplistic: Anything gravitationally round is a planet [Number:] 37+ [Highlit: The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, Ceres (without other asteroids), Jupiter + moons, Saturn with Titan, Uranus and its moons, Neptune with its moon, Pluto and the four further dwarf planets]
:[Row 7: Definition:] Grounded: Only objects a spaceship has landed on are planets [Number:] 10 [Highlit: Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, five (non-Ceriese) asteroids and Titan]
:[Row 8: Definition:] Regolithic: Anything covered in dirt and ice and stuff is a planet [Number:] [infinity symbol] [Highlit: Mercury, Venus, Earth, The Moon, Mars, Ceres with all other asteroids depicted in the Asteroid Belt, the moons of Jupiter, the sole moon! of Saturn, the moons of Uranus, the moon of Neptune, Pluto with Charon, and all remaining dwarf planets with their moons]
:[Row 9: Definition:] Lunar: You can't be a planet if you don't have a moon [Number:] 12+ [Highlit: Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and three of the other dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt, including one with no obviously drawn moon]
:[Row 10: Definition:] Solipsitic: Earth is the only planet [Number:] 1 [Highlit: The Earth]
:[Row 11: Definition:] Judgemental: Only the prettiest ones are planets [Number:] 6 [Highlit: The Earth, Jupiter with one of its moons (not identified), Saturn, one of ''two'' Saturnian moons in this image and Pluto]
:[Row 12: Definition:] Empiricist: Only worlds that I, author of this table, have personally seen are planets [Number:] 12 [Highlit: Mercury, Venus, The Earth, The Moon, Mars, Jupiter with its four moons, Saturn and Uranus]
:[Row 13: Definition:] Marine biologist: Only objects with oceans are planets [Number:] 6+ [Highlit: The Earth, three Jovian moons, the two illustrated Saturnian moons]
:[Row 14: Definition:] Maritime: Only objects with [next word in italics] surface oceans are planets [Number:] 2 [Highlit: The Earth and Titan]
:[Row 15: Definition:] Universalist: They're all planets [Number:] [infinity symbol] [Highlit: All drawn objects, including The Sun and all other objects including all the moons/asteroids]
:[Row 16: Definition:] Existantialist: What if space [next word in italics] itself is a planet??? [Word, in italics:] Duude [Highlit: The whole third column cell]
:[Row 17: Definition:] Spiteful: [next word in italics] Only Pluto is a planet [Number:] 1 [Highlit: Pluto]

==Trivia==
*The 'Judgemental' definition has 7 colored objects instead of the labelled 6.
*[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/6/66/20250314195557%21planet_definitions_2x.png The initially released version of the comic] had two errors that were later fixed:
**The 'Traditionalist' definition had Neptune's satellite {{w|Triton (moon)|Triton}} colored instead of Pluto.
**The images for 'Traditionalist' and 'Modern' were swapped, resulting in Pluto being incorrectly highlighted in 'Modern' and incorrectly omitted in 'Traditionalist.'
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

2326: Five Word Jargon

2020-06-30T01:19:37Z

108.162.245.126: /* Explanation */ Baryogenesis

{{comic
| number = 2326
| date = June 29, 2020
| title = Five Word Jargon
| image = five_word_jargon.png
| titletext = My other (much harder) hobby is trying to engineer situations where I have an excuse to use more than one of them in short succession.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by BARYOGENESIS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Another comic in [[Randall]]'s [[: Category:My Hobby|My Hobby series]], this hobby involves "collecting" and presumably using 5 word technical jargon. In the comic, [[White Hat]] uses one of his phrases when talking to [[Cueball]], causing Cueball to look up the jargon on his phone. Randall then proceeds to list 4 such phrases as a caption below the panel.

In the title text, Randall says that he has a second hobby to find or create situations to use ''multiple'' such phrases in a conversation.

'''Anomalous Electroweak Sphaleron Transition Baryogenesis''':

: Particle physics/cosmology. {{w|Baryon|Baryons}} are subatomic particles containing an odd number of quarks; protons and neutrons are the most familiar examples. {{w|Baryogenesis}} is the hypothetical physical process that took place during the early universe that produced more matter than antimatter in the observable universe (or it could be any process that produces baryons). {{w|Sphaleron}} is a static (time-independent) solution to the {{w|electroweak}} field equations of the Standard Model of particle physics, and is involved in certain hypothetical processes that change the number of baryons or {{w|leptons}} (e.g. forming baryons and removing leptons).

=== Citations ===
'''Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt Placement''':
: At nih.gov, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16850140/
'''Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity Model''':
: At scirp.org, https://www.scirp.org/html/11-1241334_99870.htm
'''Unicellular Diazotrophic Cyanobacteria Group A''':
: At nih.gov, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4303622/
'''Anomalous Electroweak Sphaleron Transition Baryogenesis''':
: (Google reports no matches for the entire phrase in quotes, but shows about 70 results unquoted, indicating it finds only partial matches).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[White Hat is speaking to Cueball, who has his phone out, searching the phrase. White Hat has his palm raised.]
:White Hat: Yeah, I learned about it when I was researching anomalous electroweak sphaleron transition baryogenesis.
:Cueball: Cooool.
:Phone: ''A-N-O-M-''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My Hobby: Collecting really satisfying-sounding five-word technical phrases.

:Current favorites
:<li>Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt Placement
:<li>Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity Model
:<li>Unicellular Diazotrophic Cyanobacteria Group A
:<li>Anomalous Electroweak Sphaleron Transition Baryogenesis

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]

1728: Cron Mail

2016-09-02T20:59:15Z

108.162.245.126: Fixed example parameters, minutes and hours were reversed.

{{comic
| number = 1728
| date = September 2, 2016
| title = Cron Mail
| image = cron_mail.png
| titletext = Take THAT, piece of 1980s-era infrastructure I've inexplicably maintained on my systems for 15 years despite never really learning how it works.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Format information, the bottom two paragraphs should be at the top. Also shorten and simplify explanation.}}
On {{W|Unix}}-like systems, {{W|Cron|cron}} is a system program running in background which allows one to schedule jobs to run at well-defined time slots. It is conceptually the same software which has been used since, at least, the 1980s and is still heavily used in modern operating systems, for example in several {{w|Linux}} distributions. Many administrative tasks on servers can be automated with cron, like monitoring or updates. Most people administrating a server-like system with a UNIX-like operating system will therefore know it, at least the basics.

When one of these jobs produces output, that output is sent as an email to the user, using the {{w|Sendmail|sendmail}} program. A common situation on many Unix-like systems is that sendmail (or another email program) is not configured to send email to the actual email address of the person behind the user account that configured the cron job, and writes the mail in question to the file <code>/var/mail/username</code> (in {{w|Mbox|mbox}} format) instead. Most shells will check that file, and produce a message "You have new mail" when its timestamps have changed; however, if a person doesn't know how to check their mail they will likely end up just ignoring that message.

The "/etc" directory is used for configuration files on UNIX-systems; therefore "/etc/crontab" is the main configuration file of cron and is expected to contain lines such as the following:

#m h dom mon dow user command
17 * * * * root cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly

Comment lines are designated by a # and are ignored, as are blank lines. On a non-comment non-blank line, the first 5 parameters tell it exactly when that line is supposed to run (in this case every hour on the 17th minute of the hour), the next part is what user the command is supposed to run as (root in this case), and the rest is the actual command that is supposed to run (cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly). The 5 time parameters, in order are minutes, hours, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week. A * means everything matches. So something could run as frequently as every minute (* * * * *) or as infrequently as once a year (i.e. January 2nd at 10:20am is 20 10 2 1 *). If a line that doesn't follow the correct format is added to /etc/crontab, it may cause the entire crontab file to be ignored, even those entries that are otherwise valid.

When a cron job runs, it is expected to do something with all text that might normally go to the screen -- a lot of times a command will redirect it to a log file of its own, or deliberately make it go nowhere (/dev/null). If anything does end up "on the screen", cron captures it and sends it as an email to the user, assuming it's data the user wants to view and be aware of. If local email is not configured to go somewhere the user actually knows to check, it usually ends up tacked on to the end of a file in /var/mail/username where it will sit forever, or until the user actually does something with it (either configures a local email program, sets up a forward to an email account they actually check, or deletes the file). Ponytail's suggestion to "fix the cron" means figure out why the cron job is outputting data to the screen, which is thus generating an email, and instead having the cron job handle its own messages in a better way. Once the cron jobs are no longer "talking" all the time, her further suggestion to point the MAILTO= to somewhere else would help Cueball be immediately aware if something goes wrong with a cron job that is normally quiet, so he can address the problem immediately instead of it going on for years undetected.

[[Cueball]] is not aware of all of the above, and expresses surprise at the repeated messages. [[Ponytail]] tells him to check check <code>/var/mail/cueball</code> which contains a lot of messages from cron from all those 15 years he used cron without properly understanding how it works.

When he realizes what has happened, he configures the mail system so that it writes all mail for his user to the <code>/etc/crontab</code> file, which is the main configuration file of cron (the <code>{{W|/etc}}</code> directory is used for configuration files on Unix-like systems), most probably breaking it. Of course, none of the jobs normally scheduled to run will run anymore either, so he will likely be surprised when other things that used to work no longer work. There are a number of system cron jobs that are usually present on Linux and Unix-like systems that one would not want to disable, including checking for updates, rotating log files including deleting old logs files, backups, etc.

In the worst case, cron might actually see the junk that [[Cueball]] is now directing into its configuration as valid configuration data and produce even more mail – resulting in a feedback situation that would eventually fill up the disk partition. It's unclear (especially to [[Cueball]]) whether this is actually possible – but it's certainly a risk.

The Title Text shows that Cueball is somewhat aware of what cron does, including the fact that it's existed pretty much unchanged for several decades, but he hasn't bothered to really get into understanding it, treating it more as a foe to vanquish rather than as a tool to understand and use.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a table in an office chair working on his laptop. Ponytail walks up to him.]
:Cueball: I've been getting these "You have new mail" UNIX notifications for like 15 years, but I've never bothered to figure out what it's talking about.

:[Ponytail has stopped behind Cueball who is typing on his laptop. When Ponytail (and later Cueball) mentions code, the text uses both small and capital letters (as opposed to only capital letters in all other text).]
:Ponytail: Look in /var/mail?
:Cueball: OK...
:Cueball: Oh, wow, there's like a gigabyte of stuff from Cron in here.

:[In a frame-less panel Ponytail is facepalming. Cueball is replying from off-panel with a starburst indicating his position.]
:Ponytail: *Sigh*
:Ponytail: You should fix your Cron, then point "MAILTO=" somewhere you actually see-
:Cueball (off-panel): Better idea:

:[Same setting as panel 2 but Cueball is visibly typing on the laptop as shown with three small curved lines over his hands on the keyboard.]
:Cueball: export MAILTO=/etc/crontab
:Cueball: There. Your move, Cron.
:Ponytail: Wow. Hardball.
:Cueball: Let's see how important it thinks that mail really is.

{{comic discussion}}

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

Talk:1704: Gnome Ann

2016-07-10T19:46:50Z

108.162.245.126:

The lotr reference is about the Witch King of Angmar instead of Sauron
Source:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-king_of_Angmar

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.196.143|162.158.196.143]] 05:05, 8 July 2016 (UTC)Dege

I'm surprised there's no reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphemus Polyphemus] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer Homer's] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey Odyssey]. Or is there one that I haven't seen?

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.85.165|162.158.85.165]] 08:00, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

I saw the first panel, and honestly thought the pun was between Gnome Ann and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomon gnomon] of a sundial. The rest made pretty clear of what's up, though.
:Exactly! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.218|162.158.114.218]] 15:34, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.5|108.162.219.5]] 10:01, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

Between the trenches: Gnome Ann's land. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.10.34|172.68.10.34]] 11:29, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

Great comic. I really like this one. The idea is old but is put into new perspective with the drawings. Guess this can be made in different languages. Have seen one in Danish where a person was named ''Ingens'' = no one. So if something was owned by no one it was his... Must admit I did not get it until the Star Trek reference but I'm not native English and had to try it out to hear the no man in gnome ann where I would also pronounce the g hard although not for the reason mentioned in the explanation but because the Danish word Gnom is pronounced like that and not like nome. We need a Star Trek category I would say! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:26, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
:[[:Category:Star Trek|Done]]! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:42, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

It might still be considered a 'literary quotation' but, strictly speaking, the line "I am no man" is from the movie. The original dialogue in the book isn't quite that simple, and the "Gnome Ann" joke probably wouldn't work. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.220|162.158.214.220]] 14:28, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
:Given that it depicts the scene from the movie that is a perfect quote for this comic. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:42, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=26686 Language Log] has more of these. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 15:34, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

Gnome Ann is an island. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.211|108.162.237.211]] 16:39, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
:[https://zgrep.org/draw/island.png I could not resist.] {{User:Grep/signature|18:31, 08 July 2016}}

Do you think Gnome Ann does double crit damage? She is no man, and she is Gnome Ann. {{unsigned ip|162.158.214.149}}

Re: The last paragraph of the explanation, is this false splitting, which seems to involve historical changes in words by dividing in the wrong place, or is this a [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen mondegreen]? The example which came first to mind is Jimi Hendrix, from Purple Haze : "Excuse me while I kiss (this guy / the sky)." I'm not nearly enough of a grammarian to be sure about the distinction. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 02:25, 9 July 2016 (UTC)
:It is a mondegreen, but there definitely is a false splitting there also: "the sky" becomes "this guy", the 's' migrates from the latter word to the former. {{unsigned ip|172.68.11.87}}

"Gnome Ann mistakenly thinks that 'no man' is actually a reference to her own name." Citation needed. I see no reason to think that she is mistaken about anything. She's not a man; she's not even human. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 08:47, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

Gnome Ann threatens a messenger. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.37}}

These comments above belong in Gnome Ann's land :-D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:53, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

"Our Mission: To boldly go where Gnome Ann has gone before." Maybe the dangerous part is Gnome Ann still lurking around? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.243.238|198.41.243.238]] 08:06, 10 July 2016 (UTC)

Could this also be about Randall's gripe with English orthography? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.230|162.158.222.230]] 11:33, 10 July 2016 (UTC)

What is up with that trigger warning? It doesn't seem misogynist to me. {{unsigned ip|141.101.111.238}}
: I would suppose that they feel that giving women more ability (such as killing an unkillable demon, controlling time and tides, someone who goes after the wicked, has explored the galaxy, etc.) makes them less of a woman. I would then suppose that they neither wish women nor men to be in any way above each other, and that they should be fully equal. Generally throughout history there have been heroes from many walks of like, which today appears to upset people. Sometimes, when one is in a greater position of power there can be much more burden placed on them and as such freedoms may be lost because there may be a desire to keep specific standards or a lack of privacy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.97|108.162.221.97]] 16:44, 10 July 2016 (UTC)
: This comic is offensive to some people as it comes across as sick male power fantasy and the whole point of the comic is to poke fun at a woman just because of her name. This comic would not work if it was a guy's name, but it's perfectly OK for you to make fun of women. Ha ha ha, how funny. You're sick.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.150|162.158.214.150]]ConcernedFeminist
: Quite the opposite of misogyny, but I actually read this as Randall poking fun at the gender bias in the phrase 'no man'. I thought it was mostly intended as ironic, especially the last panel: "no man can kill me" - but Gnome Ann can, because she's a woman. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.67|141.101.70.67]] 17:55, 10 July 2016 (UTC)
: re ConcernedFeminist. I think you're misunderstanding the comic. The point isn't that Randall is making fun of women, it's that the oft used phrase "no man" sounds like the a gnome with the name "Ann". Thus, it's humerus to imagine a small gnome controlling time, exploring the galaxy, and crashing weddings. How is it a power fantasy? How is gnome Ann being made fun of? If anything, she's incredibly powerful and accomplished.

1688: Map Age Guide

2016-06-02T04:54:43Z

108.162.245.126: /* Post-Soviet branch (1991-) */

{{comic
| number = 1688
| date = June 1, 2016
| title = Map Age Guide
| image = map_age_guide.png
| titletext = Does the screeching chill your blood and herald death? If yes, banshee. If no, seagull.
}}

*A [http://xkcd.com/1688/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Many is still missing.}}
Flowchart depicting various ways to tell what era a map is from based on present country borders and land forms. (Except in the Not a Political Map Branch (from "Can you see the familiar continents?" downwards), the comic assumes a political map.) Most of the options are very serious, with a few bizarre options (mistaking a seagull and breadbox for a map) or references to things like the {{w|Discworld}} books and Middle-earth, the setting of the Lord Of the Rings series. He also mentions US President Jimmy Carter being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit, an event previously referenced by [[204]].

Additionally, (possible) future maps including a "Radioactive Exclusion Zone" in the place of Colorado are mentioned. It predicts that some kind of nuclear incident will occur in Colorado (possibly at Rulison or Rio Blanco nuclear testing sites) in 2022. It also predicts that the area will be infested by radioactive spiders one year later.

The title text continues the path where the user has confused a seagull for a map by inquiring if the (presumed) seagull might be a banshee based on the effect of its screams.

There is no recursive loop.

(First Draft, please expand.)

Going through the flowchart, taking the leftmost path first, recursively. See {{w|Depth-first search}}. "Prior Date Range" is the range determined immediately before the question, carried over from the previous question; "Question Date Range" is the range each answer choice implies; "New Date Range" is the intersection of the Prior Date Range and the Question Date Range for each choice, and is the range determined by all questions hiherto answered. Branches are self-containing units that do not lead to anything outside.

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! # !! Question !! Explanation !! Prior Date Range !! Question Date Range !! New Date Range
|-
! 1
| '''Istanbul or Constantinople'''
| The largest city in Turkey is famous for having different names at different times or to different people. Variations on both names go back at least 1,000 years. Other names have also been used at various points. {{w|İstanbul}} has been the official name since the 1920's, although Western maps often referred to it as Constantinople as late as the 1960's; on the flowchart, the choice of name appears to go with the 1920's date. The name changes are the subject of a [http://mentalfloss.com/article/60314/original-istanbul-not-constantinople song], originally by the Four Lads, but now mainly known for the They Might Be Giants recording.
| '''Start here'''
|
* Constantinople: -329 - 1928
* Neither: inconclusive
* Istanbul: 1928+
|
* Constantinople: -329 - 1928 (Go to 2)
* Neither: inconclusive
* Istanbul: 1928+
|-
! colspan="6" | Canada/Alaska/Tokyo Branch
|-
! 2
| '''Do any of these exist?'''
* '''Independent Canada'''
* '''US Territory of Alaska'''
* '''Tokyo'''
| All these seem to specify a date cut-off of 1867/8, but there are caveats attached to each:
* Canada gained its independence gradually, but it would appear as its own country on maps some time between the {{w|Constitution Act, 1867}} (which created Canada as a British dominion) and the {{w|Statute of Westminster 1931}} (which made Canada largely self-governing).
* The {{w|Territory of Alaska}} existed between 1912 (previously, it was a US district) and 1959 (when it became a state). The US has owned Alaska since the 1867 {{w|Alaska Purchase}}, but it was not a territory then.
* {{w|Tokyo}} was once called Edo. It was renamed Tokyo (which means "Eastern Capital") when it became the capital in 1868. [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Tokyo%2CTokei&year_start=1870&year_end=1880&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTokyo%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CTokei%3B%2Cc0 Most English books around then] would actually have called it "Tokei", the Chinese reading. The name Tokyo didn't take off until {{w|Hepburn romanization}} was popularized in the 1880s.
| -329 - 1928 (From 1)
|
* No: 1867-
* Yes: 1868+
|
* No: -329 - 1867 (Go to 3)
* Yes: 1868 - 1928 (Go to 11)
|-
! colspan="6" | Holy Roman Empire Subbranch
|-
! 3
| '''The Holy Roman Empire'''
| The predecessor to modern Germany, the {{w|Holy Roman Empire}} was a union of hundreds of small states in Central Europe. Nationalism and the concept of the {{w|nation state}} hadn't taken off yet, so countries as we know them didn't really exist. There were just small lands, often with keenly contested borders, owned by minor aristocracy who pledged allegiance to one of the big powers. The HRE was dissolved in 1806 after it was invaded by Napoleon, arguably the first leader to realise the potential of making a nation salute a flag.
| -329 - 1867
|
* Yes: 899 - 1806
* No: 899- or 1806+
|
* Yes: 899 - 1806 (Stated in comic as 1805-, since modern map-making was fuzzy as a concept prior) ('''Stop''')
* No: -329 - 899 or 1806-67 (Go to 4)
|-
! 4
| '''The United States?'''
| The original 13 colonies declared independence in 1776. A map that does not include ''either'' the HRE ''or'' the USA must be older than the HRE which would put the map some time prior to 1000 AD, when there really were no countries, and English wasn't used yet, hence Randall's comment.
| -329 - 899 or 1806-67
|
* No: 1776-
* Yes: 1776+
|
* No: -329 - 899 (Not stated in comic, since a map in this period is probably not in English, which violates a proviso of the comic) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1806-67 (Go to 5)
|-
! 5
| '''Texas is... Part of Mexico? Independent? Part of the US?'''
| Mexico occupied the area modern day Texas from around 1718 ([[w:Spanish Texas|when the first permanent Spanish settlements were founded]]) to the {{w|Texas Declaration of Independence}} in 1836 (the comic appearantly cited 1834 as the date) - the land called "Texas" was only a small part of the modern day state. The {{w|Republic of Texas}} only lasted a decade, and joined the US in 1846.
| 1806-67
|
* Part of Mexico: 1718 - 1836
* Independent: 1836-46
* Part of the US: 1846+
|
* Part of Mexico: 1806-36 (Go to 6)
* Independent: 1836-46 (stated in comic as 1834-45 - a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
* Part of the US: 1846-67 (Go to 9)
|-
! 6
| '''Florida is part of... Spain? The US?'''
| Spain occupied {{w|Florida}} (as East Florida and West Florida) but frankly they didn't actually want it - it was expensive to send people to settle it, and there wasn't much economic value in it. So they gave it to the US for free in the 1819 {{w|Adams–Onís Treaty}} (which took effect in 1821) in exchange for the US giving up parts of Mexico and paying off angry Spanish settlers. (For some reason, the comic treats Florida as part of the US in 1818; see questions 7 and 8.)
| 1806-36
|
* Spain: 1565 - 1763 or 1783 - 1821
* The US: 1821+
|
* Spain: 1806-21 (Go to 7)
* The US: 1821-36 (Go to 8)
|-
! 7
| '''{{w|Paraguay}}?'''
| Declared independence from Spain in 1811 (although it might appear on older maps as the Spanish Province of Paraguay).
| 1806-21
|
* No: 1811-
* Yes: 1811+
|
* No: 1806-11 (stated in comic as 1806-10) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1811-21 (stated in comic as 1811-17 - a discrepancy (see question 6)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 8
| '''{{w|Venezuela}} and/or {{w|Ecuador?}}'''
| Both declared independence from {{w|Gran Colombia}} (Greater Colombia) in 1830.
| 1821-36
|
* No: 1830-
* Yes: 1830+
|
* No: 1821-30 (stated in comic as 1818-29 - a discrepancy (see question 6)) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1830-36 (stated in comic as 1830-33 - a discrepancy (see question 5)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 9
| '''Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?'''
| The 1858 {{w|Treaty of Aigun}} brought the Russian border to the Sea of Japan.
| 1846-67
|
* No: 1858-
* Yes: 1858+
|
* No: 1846-58 (Go to 10)
* Yes: 1858-67 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 10
| '''The US's southern border looks... Weird Normal'''
| The last southward expansion of the US is the 1854 {{w|Gadsden Purchase}}, where the US bought a chunk of what is now Arizona and New Mexico so they could build a railway that avoided unfavourable terrain. The southern border looks "weird" before that because we are accustomed to the current border shape.
| 1846-58
|
* Weird: 1854-
* Normal: 1854+
|
* Weird: 1846-54 (stated in comic as 1846-53) ('''Stop''')
* Normal: 1854-58 (stated in comic as 1854-56 - a discrepancy (where is 1857?)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | South Africa Subbranch
|-
! 11
| '''{{w|South Africa}}?'''
| The Union of South Africa was created in 1910, but South Aferica was then not yet fully independent from the United Kingdom (which would not happen until 1931).
| 1868 - 1928
|
* No: 1910-
* Yes: 1910+
|
* No: 1868 - 1910 (Go to 12)
* Yes: 1910-28 (Go to 16)
|-
! 12
| '''Rhodesia?'''
|
| 1868 - 1910
|
* No:
* Yes:
|
* No: (Go to 13)
* Yes: (Go to 15)
|-
! 13
| '''Is Bolivia landlocked?'''
|
|
|
* No:
* Yes:
|
* No: (Go to 14)
* Yes: ('''Stop''')
|-
! 14
| '''"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"?'''
|
|
|
* Buda and Pest:
* Budapest:
|
* Buda and Pest: ('''Stop''')
* Budapest: ('''Stop''')
|-
! 15
| '''Is Norway part of Sweden?'''
|
|
|
* Yes:
* No:
|
* Yes: ('''Stop''')
* No: ('''Stop''')
|-
! 16
| '''Austria-Hungary?'''
|
| 1910-28
|
* Yes:
* No:
|
* Yes: (Go to 17)
* No: (Go to 18)
|-
! 17
| '''Albania?'''
|
|
|
* No:
* Yes:
|
* No: ('''Stop''')
* Yes: ('''Stop''')
|}

'''"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"''' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest#Etymology Buda and Pest] were originally two different cities

'''Rhodesia?''' The dates down the chain suggest this is about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia_(region) Rhodesia the Region] not [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia Rhodesia the Unrecognized state] nor [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia] the British Colony

'''Does the Soviet Union exist?'''
The Soviet Union is one of the largest countries ever to exist consisting of Russia and large portions of eastern Europe and central Asia. It was a major political force from 1922, when several allied Soviet republics united, to 1991, when it broke up. It's very simple to find on any map that has it.

This question actually appears twice on the graph — once if you choose "Istanbul", once if you choose "neither". If you choose Istanbul, it's given that the

'''Saudi Arabia?'''
This entry can only be accessed in the Neither branch. Saudi Arabia was established in 1932, so any maps without it would have been from before then.

'''North Korea?'''
If the Soviet Union does not exist, it was in one of two periods: the period before North Korea existed (which would have been pre-1922), and the period in which North Korea does exist (which would be post-1991). If North Korea does exist, then the period is the same period in which the capital of Turkey was called Istanbul, so they both lead to the same question about Zaire.

=== West Africa branch (1933-1991) ===

'''Is most of West Africa a giant French blob?'''
Before 1960, most of West Africa consisted of a number of French colonies united under [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_West_Africa French West Africa].

'''Pakistan?'''
Pakistan was officially recognized as its own country separate from India in 1947.

'''How many Germanys are there?'''
During WWII, the Nazi Party invaded a large swath of Europe, which would make Nazi Germany huge on the map during that period. After the war, it split up into two countries — West Germany which was part of NATO, and East Germany which was part of the Warsaw Pact.

'''Persia or Iran?'''
Persia was renamed Iran in 1935.

'''How many Vietnams are there?'''
On April 30, 1975, forces from North Vietnam captured Saigon, and reunified the country, in an event known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunification_Day Reunification Day], which marked the end of the Vietnam War. Maps before this date would have "North Vietnam" and "South Vietnam" on them rather than a single "Vietnam".

'''The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is [Hot Springs 1948-49] or [Truth or Consequences 1950-52]'''
I-25 didn't exist for any of the years listed for this item, since the Interstate Highway System wasn't launched until 1956. The highway designation on maps printed during the years listed was U.S. 85. The town continues to be called "Truth or Consequences", although locals say that it provides more of the latter than of the former.

'''Jimmy Carter is...'''
On April 20, 1979, Jimmy Carter was attacked by a giant swimming rabbit, a fact referenced in [[204|204: America]]. This fact would not normally be referenced on a map, however, and is simply a joke entry that leads to the next question.

'''Canada is...'''
In 1949, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_of_Newfoundland Dominion of Newfoundland] became a part of Canada. Before that, it was marked as its own region on the map, so maps from 1948 and before would have Canada "missing a piece" on its east coast as compared to how it looks today.

'''(Number of Yemens) + (Number of Germanys) = ?'''
In 1990, two unification events took place: the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemeni_unification Yemeni unification] on May 22, and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification German reunification] on October 3. Before these events, in early 1990, there would have been four Yemens and Germanys total. In mid-1990, when only the Yemeni unification had taken place, there would be one Yemen and two Germanys. and in late 1990, after both events took place, there would be one of each for a total of two.

=== Post-Soviet branch (1991-) ===

'''Zaire?'''
Zaire was one of a series of names for what is today called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1996 a (successful) revolt began to oust the reigning government from power. As part of this revolution, the country was renamed. The original name change away from 'Congo' was part of an 'Africanisation' naming campaign, although 'Congo' is in origin an authentic African name for the river that set the boundaries of the nation.

'''Serbia and Montenegro are...'''
Serbia and Montenegro were a remnant of Yugoslavia. Montenegro voted to become its own country in 2006.

'''East Timor?'''
East Timor is a nation north of Australia and south east of Indonesia. During the dutch colonization of Indonesia east Timor remained in Portuguese hands. While occupied and annexed by Indonesia since 1976, east Timor retained its own culture and voted for independence, then had a nasty militia action that required UN peacekeeping action, and finally become independent in 2002.

'''How many Sudans are there?'''
In 2011, after a long history of violence between the two portions of the country (which can be characterized as Islamic vs. Christian and Traditional Religions), South Sudan became independent from its northern neighbor.

'''Is Crimea disputed?'''
In 2014, a revolution ousted the current Ukrainian president. Crimea had its own civil unrest, and Russian troops exploited the unrest to launch an invasion. A referendum, where many nations, including all member states of the EU, the USA, and Canada, disputed the democratic legitimacy of the referendum, was held during this and ostensibly decided in favor of russian annexation.

====Radioactive Colorado Subbranch====

'''"Colorado" or "Danger—Radioactive Exclusion Zone—Avoid"?'''
This entry and the one below it are now referring to hypothetical future events: specifically, a huge radioactivity event in Colorado that takes place some time in 2022.

'''Does the warning mention the spiders?'''
Presumably in 2022, the radioactive exclusion zone is also infested with mutant spiders.

=== Not a Political Map Branch ===

'''Can you see the familiar continents?'''
This question asks if the usual continents are present on the map, after the reader has indicated that Jan Mayen is not on the map. This means that either the map is not a political map (in which case it is a satellite image), or it is not a map of Earth at all, in which case the question starts asking about characteristics of fictional maps instead.

==== Topological Map / Satellite Image Subbranch ====

'''This sounds like a physical map or satellite photo.'''
The following questions are about physical geography. Many of these features are not generally tracked accurately in maps - many maps still show the Aral Sea, even though it's now mostly evaporated - but are clearly visible in photos.

'''Is there a big lake in Southern California? (created by mistake)'''
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea Salton Sea] A previously dry lakebed accidentally flooded in 1905 while attempting to increase irrigation to the area from the Colorado River

'''How far East do the American Prairies reach?'''
The Northwest Territory was incorporated in pieces ~1820s, there may be something more relevant to draw the line at Indiana though. Likely this [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_removals_in_Indiana]

'''Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (Created on Purpose)'''
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Volta Lake Volta]

====Fitional Map / Non-Map Subbranch====

'''Rivers 'Sirion' or 'Anduin'?'''
The rivers Sirion and Anduin are part of Middle Earth, the fictional setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's ''Lord of the Rings'' books. If either of these rivers are present on the map, then the map is of Middle Earth, in which case the questions following are questions to determine which age the map is of. If these rivers are not present, then the questions continue trying to determine which fictional world the map represents.

'''Cair Paravel?'''
[[http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Cair_Paravel Cair Paravel]] is the capital of the Kingdom of Narnia. It is a common point for all the books in the Chronicles of Narnia except for The Magician's Nephew (which covers the period of history before the castle was built). It is sufficiently important that it would presumably be included in any map accompanying a Narnia book, even if none of the action in the story occurs there.

=====Narnia Subbranch=====

'''Calormen?'''
[[http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Calormen Calormen]] is an foreign empire in the Chronicles of Narnia. While it was indirectly referenced in the first three books C.S. Lewis published, it was not included in maps until the later books in the series.

'''Weird Recursive Heaven?'''
This refers to the last book in the Narnia series, The Last Battle, where the protagonists find themselves in [[http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Aslan's_Country Aslan's Country]], a glorious afterlife of which Narnia (along with Earth and presumably every other world) is only a shadowy reflection.

'''Lotta Islands?'''
This refers to [[http://www.charliewstarr.com/_Media/mapdawntreader.gif this map]] from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which focused on a ship voyage from Cair Paravel to the eastern edge of the world and back.

'''Beruna (Ford/Bridge)'''
This refers to [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-54_2TDRUbHY/TpJHzFBzmiI/AAAAAAAALOA/q3RnPSvfdJ0/s1600/IMG.jpg the map]] of Narnia originally published in Prince Caspian. During the time of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the people of Beruna crossed the Great River via a ford, but it had been replaced by a bridge at the beginning of Prince Caspian.

'''Narnia Subbranch ends'''

'''Mossflower'''
A forest from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwall Redwall] book series.

==Transcript==

Guide to figuring out the age of an undated world map

(Assuming it's complete, labeled in english, and detailed enough)

Start:
* Istanbul or Constantinople?
** Constantinople:
*** Do any of these exist? Independent Canada; US Territory of Alaska; Tokyo.
**** No:
***** The Holy Roman Empire?
****** Yes:
******* 1805 or earlier (before this point, the modern idea of a complete political map of the world gets hard to apply.)
****** No:
******* The United States?
******** No:
********* How sure are you that this map is in english?
******** Yes:
********* Texas is...
********** Part of Mexico:
*********** Florida is part of...
************ Spain:
************* Paraguay?
************** No: '''1806-10'''
************** Yes: '''1811-17'''
************ The US:
************* Venezuela and/or ecuador?
************** No: '''1818-29'''
************** Yes: '''1830-33'''
********** Independent: '''1834-45'''
********** Part of the US:
*********** Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?
************ No:
************* The US's southern border looks...
************** Weird: '''1846-53'''
************** Normal: '''1854-56'''
************ Yes: '''1858-67'''
**** Yes:
***** South Africa?
****** No:
******* Rhodesia?
******** No:
********* Is Bolivia landlocked?
********** No:
*********** "Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"?
************ Buda and Pest: '''1868-72'''
************ Budapest: '''1873-83'''
********** Yes: '''1884-95'''
******** Yes:
********* Is Norway part of Sweden?
********** Yes: '''1896-1905'''
********** No: '''1906-09'''
****** Yes:
******* Austria-Hungary?
******** Yes:
********* Albania?
********** No: '''1910-12'''
********** Yes: '''1913-18'''
******** No:
********* Leningrad?
********** No: '''1919-23'''
********** Yes: '''1924-29'''
** Neither:
*** Does the Ottoman Empire exist?
**** Yes: '''[[#canada-alaska-tokyo]]'''
**** No:
***** The Soviet Union?
****** Yes:
******* Saudi Arabia?
******** Yes:
********* Is most of West Africa a giant french blob?
********** Yes:
*********** Bangladesh?
************ No:
************* Is the area south of Lake Victoria...
************** British:
*************** The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is...
**************** Hot Springs: '''1948-49'''
**************** Truth or Consequences: '''1950-52'''
************** Tanganyika: '''1961-64'''
************** Tanzania: '''1965-71'''
************ Yes: '''1972-75'''
********** No:
*********** How many Vietnams are there?
************ Two:
************* [[#bangladesh]]
************ One:
************* Jimmy Carter is...
************** Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit: '''April 20, 1979'''
************** Fine:
*************** The Sinai is part of what country?
**************** Israel: '''1976-79'''
**************** Mostly Israel: '''1980'''
**************** Mostly Egypt: '''1981'''
**************** Egypt:
***************** What's the capital of Micronesia?
****************** Kolonia:
******************* Republic of the Upper Volta or Burkina Faso?
******************** Upper Volta: '''1982-84'''
******************** 1985-88
****************** Palikir:
******************* (number of Yemens) + (number of Germanys) = ?
******************** Four: '''1989-early 1990'''
******************** Three: '''mid-1990'''
******************** Two: '''late 1990-1991'''
******** No: '''1922-1932'''
****** No:
******* North Korea?
******** Yes:
********* Zaire? or: '''"Hong Kong (UK)"'''
********** Yes: '''1992-96'''
********** No:
*********** Serbia/Montenegro are...
************ One country:
************* East Timor?
************** No: '''1997-2001'''
************** Yes: '''2002-06'''
************ Two countries:
************* How many Sudans are there?
************** One: '''2007-11'''
************** Two:
************** Is Crimea disputed?
*************** Yes:
**************** "Colorado" or "Danger—Radioactive Exclusion Zone—Avoid"?
***************** Colorado: '''2014-21'''
***************** Danger:
****************** Does the warning mention the spiders?
******************* No: '''2022'''
******************* Yes: '''2023 or later'''
*************** No: '''2012-13'''
******** No:
********* Saint Trimble's Island
********** No:
*********** Is Jan Mayen part of the Kingdom of Norway?
************ Not yet:
************* [[#canada-alaska-tokyo]]
************ What?
************* Can you see the familiar continents?
************** Yes:
*************** This sounds like a physical map or satellite photo.
**************** Yes, that's it
***************** Is Lake Chad missing?
****************** No:
******************* How far east do the American Prairies reach?
******************** Indiana: '''before 1830'''
******************** The Mississippi: '''1830s-80s'''
******************** Nebraska:
********************* Is there a big lake in the middle of Southern California? (created by mistake)
********************** No: '''1860s-1900s'''
********************** Yes: '''1910s'''
******************** What prairies?
********************* Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (created on purpose)
********************** No: '''1920s-50s'''
********************** Yes: '''1960s-70s'''
****************** Yes:
******************* Is the Aral Sea missing?
******************** No: '''1970s-90s'''
******************** Yes: '''2000s+'''
************** No:
*************** Rivers "Sirion" or "Anduin"?
**************** Yes:
***************** Mordor?
****************** No:
******************* Beleriand?
******************** Yes: '''First Age'''
******************** No: '''Early Second Age'''
****************** Yes:
******************* Númenor?
******************** Yes: '''Late Second Age'''
******************** No:
********************* The forest east of the Misty Mountains is...
********************** Greenwood: '''Early Third Age'''
********************** Mirkwood: '''Late Third Age'''
********************** The Wood of Greenleaves: '''Fourth Age'''
**************** No:
***************** Cair Paravel?
****************** Yes:
******************* Calormen?
******************** No:
********************* Lotta Islands?
********************** No:
*********************** Beruna
************************ Ford: '''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'''
************************ Bridge:
********************** Yes: '''Prince Caspian'''
******************** Yes:
********************* Weird recursive heaven?
********************** No: '''one of the random later books'''
********************** Yes: '''The Last Battle'''
****************** No:
******************* Mossflower?
******************** Yes:
********************* Redwall
******************** No:
********************* Is the world on the back of a turtle?
********************** Yes: '''Discworld'''
********************** No:
*********************** Are you ''sure'' this is a map?
************************ Yes:
************************* Did you make it yourself?
************************** Yes:
*************************** It's very nice.
**************************** Thank you!
************************ No:
************************* Is it trying to bite you?
************************** No:
*************************** Is it larger than a breadbox?
**************************** Yes: '''tuba'''
**************************** No: '''stapler'''
**************************** About the same: '''breadbox'''
************************** Yes:
*************************** If you let it go, what does it do?
**************************** Hisses and runs away: '''cat'''
**************************** Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things: '''seagull'''
************ Yes:
************* Pakistan?
************** No:
*************** How many Germanys are there?
**************** One:
***************** Persia or Iran?
****************** Persia: '''1930-34'''
****************** Iran: '''1935-40'''
**************** One, but it's ''huge'': '''1941-45'''
**************** Two: '''1946-47'''
************** Yes:
*************** Cambodia?
**************** No:
***************** Eritrea is part of...
****************** Italy:
******************* Canada is...
******************** Missing a piece: '''1948'''
******************** Fine: '''1949-52'''
****************** Ethiopia: '''1952-53'''
**************** Yes:
***************** The United Arab Republic?
****************** No: '''1954-57'''
****************** Yes: '''1958-60'''
********** Yes: '''No, I made that one up.'''
** Istanbul:
*** Does the Soviet Union exist?
**** Yes:
***** [[#west-africa-french-blob]]
**** No:
***** [[#zaire]]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Geography]]

1508: Operating Systems

2016-05-23T06:45:11Z

108.162.245.126: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1508
| date = April 6, 2015
| title = Operating Systems
| image = operating systems.png
| titletext = One of the survivors, poking around in the ruins with the point of a spear, uncovers a singed photo of Richard Stallman. They stare in silence. "This," one of them finally says, "This is a man who BELIEVED in something."
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Randall]] gives an {{w|Gantt chart|overview}} of past, present and (speculatively) future of the {{w|operating system}}s running in his house at any given time. Notably, because Randall is fascinated by technology, he has had more than one OS running in his household since the mid '90's. The timeline tracks how Operating Systems have come and gone over the years, and the gradual shift from desktop Operating Systems to mobile can be observed. Beyond the present day, we see some of Randall's humorous predictions as to which technologies and companies will dominate the Operating System landscape in the future.

It may be that the OS that is closest to the time-line is also the one he mainly uses during these extended periods.

Previous and current systems:
*{{w|MS-DOS}} (Microsoft Disk Operating System): The default, command-line-based OS on most IBM PC-compatible computers. Early versions of Windows operated as shells on top of MS-DOS rather than stand-alone OSes in their own right, which may explain part of the overlap in those two bars.
*Apple's {{w|Mac OS}} (Macintosh Operating System): The OS of Apple's Macintosh line of computers. Randall's bar indicates that he stopped using Macs in 2001, after Mac OS had been superseded by the new and then-buggy {{w|Mac OS X}}.
*{{w|Linux}}: An open-source (typically free) Unix-like OS. Randall's bar indicates that he likely used it on one or two PCs starting from 1999 while still using Windows on other PCs, or perhaps was dual-booting one or more PCs with Windows, until abandoning Windows in 2007 to use Linux full-time. This timing coincides with the release of Microsoft's controversial {{w|Windows Vista}} and the advent of more user-friendly Linux distributions.
*{{w|OS X}} (Macintosh Operating System v10): The successor OS of Apple's Macintosh line of computers. Although it was sometimes marketed as merely the 10th version of the earlier Mac OS, it was largely a new product. The bar indicates Randall's renewed use of Macintosh computers in 2009 after the OS had matured and Macs had transitioned to Intel processors.
*{{w|Android_(operating_system)|Android}}: The upper layers of the OS running on Android phones and tablets, above the Linux {{w|Kernel_(operating_system)|kernel}}. Randall is indicating that he has at least one of these devices.
*Apple's {{w|iOS}}: The OS of {{w|iPhone}}, {{w|iPad}}, {{w|iPad mini}}, {{w|iPad Air}}, {{w|iPod Touch}} and {{w|Apple TV}}. Randall is indicating that he also has at least one of these devices.

His predictions for the future include:
*2018: That {{w|OS X}} and {{w|iOS}} will merge. There is frequent speculation on technology blogs as to whether or not this merging will come to pass in the future. The two OSes have a common origin, share a lot of software, and are maintained by the same company that would benefit from the efficiency of maintaining a single unified OS. Opposing this is the fact that interaction patterns are very different between traditional computers and tablets/phones and a one-size-fits-both solution may not be feasible, and the fact that Apple spends some time in each of its recent keynotes mocking computers like the Microsoft Surface Pro which use both standard computer and touch control.
*2019: That an operating system designed with and for {{w|Javascript}} will become attractive, perhaps along the lines of [http://node-os.com/ NodeOS] and/or [http://github.com/runtimejs/runtime#readme Runtime.js].
*2022: That there'll be an OS based on the {{w|Tinder_(application)|Tinder}} dating app.
*2024: That there'll be an OS from {{w|Nest Labs}}, presumably oriented towards home automation and the {{w|Internet of things}}.
*2029: That {{w|Elon Musk}} will come up with an operating system.
*2030: That {{w|Disk_operating_system|DOS}} would make a comeback, but only in an ironic fashion (maybe because there would be no more disks left for it to operate from).
*2034: That Randall will be deploying an [http://geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/07/genetically-engineered-red-blood-cells-could-be-drug-delivery-drones/ autonomous drug-delivery drone] in his body.
*2042: Human civilization comes to a fiery end, maybe due to some unholy combination of the above innovations. Another possible explanation is that human civilization will be wiped out by an artificial super-intelligence, superior to human intelligence, as Elon Musk, Ray Kurzweil, Bill Gates and many tech pundits foresee that 2045 will be the year to see such technology becoming real, and as Elon Musk, Bill Gates and many other tech pundits fear that it will be the extinction of all life on earth, as explained [http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html on this page].
*2059: At this time his operating system will be {{w|GNU}}/{{w|Hurd}}. This infamously and perennially late [http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html GNU/Hurd] OS will finally make it in to Randall's home after human civilization has been wiped out. The joke is that GNU/Hurd began to be developed in 1990, and while it was expected to be released in a relatively short time, even now only unstable builds have been released. So Randall is saying that he will finally run it in his house a decade or two after the end of civilization. GNU/Hurd will presumably have an advantage as humanity rebuilds civilization due to the widespread availability of its code and development tools, and perhaps also because of Stallman's depth of belief, based on the title text. Alternatively, GNU/Hurd might be finished by the same force that finished humankind, for instance {{w|Skynet (Terminator)|Skynet}}, in case of {{w|Cybernetic revolt|AI Apocalypse}}. (Interestingly, although still far from completion, [http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/hurd/hurd.git/commit/?id=b8ffab7c38f3ede424b8a07553d6ee6b16abb85b a new version of GNU/Hurd] was released less than a week after this comic.)

The title text refers to {{w|Richard Stallman}}, the founder of the {{w|Free Software movement}} and the GNU and Hurd projects. A survivor of the fire that ended the human civilization has uncovered a slightly burned ({{w|Singe|singed}}) picture of him. Those gathered can see, either directly from the picture or because they already know of Stallman, that this was a man that really believed in something. In this case it was ''free software''. Inspired by his image, they rebuild their lost civilization and finish Hurd development.

Or maybe he means that a "herd" of {{w|Wildebeest|Gnus}} will be "running" in his living room, as wild animals reclaim the Earth after the end of human civilization.

GNU is a collection of free software utilities, particularly the system utilities used with the Linux Kernel to form the Linux operating system (often called GNU/Linux by those who wish to emphasize the contribution of the GNU project). Hurd is an operating system kernel designed as part of GNU project that could be used in place of the Linux kernel to produce a complete GNU operating system. Hurd has a microkernel architecture, which has many perceived advantages over Linux's monolithic kernel, and is thought by many to be technically superior, despite its low adoption rate compared to the Linux kernel.

Randall has made several comics about free software and also about Stallman. See this list of [[:Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman|comics featuring Richard Stallman]]. Most of these are also about free software in some form.

==Transcript==
:[At the top of the panel:]
::'''Operating Systems'''
::running in my house

:[At the bottom there is time-line that runs from 1990 to 2066. It has small indicators for every year, larger for every 5 years and largest for every 10 years. Below the 10 year indicators are written the years. Also the year 2015 is marked:]
:1990 2000 2010 Now 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060

:[Bars above the time-line in four levels are labeled with operating system names, representing the time period for that OS. Below is a list of the bars on the time-line in order of first appearance (with approximate year ranges given). Also the level from 1-4 is indicated, with level 1 just above the time-line and level 4 the highest level above the line:]

:[Level 1 from 1988 to 1998 (extends a little left past the beginning of the time-line but not off panel):]
::MS DOS
:[Level 2 from 1993 to 2007:]
::Windows
:[Level 3 from 1994 to 2001:]
::Mac OS
:[Level 1 from 1999 to 2018:]
::Linux
:[Level 2 from 2009 to 2023. On the way the bar merges with iOS around 2019:]
::OS X
:[Level 3 from 2009 to 2016:]
::Android
:[Level 4 from 2013 to 2023. On the way to 2023 the bar moves down past Android to merge with OS X around 2019:]
::iOS
:[Level 1 from 2018 to 2028. The text is written in square brackets:]
::[Something].js
:[Level 3 from 2022 to 2029:]
::TinderOS
:[Level 2 from 2023 to 2032:]
::Nest
:[Level 1 from 2028 to 2041:]
::Elon Musk Project:
:[Level 3 from 2030 to 2036:]
::DOS, but ironically
:[Level 2 from 2034 to 2041:]
::Blood Drone
:[This is not a bar, but the text (in three lines) is in a, double bar-height (level 1-2), square bracket. The bracket extends from 2042 to 2051:]
::[Human civilization ends in fire]
:[Level 1 from 2059 going past the end of the panel past 2066:]
::GNU/Hurd

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Elon Musk]]