explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2266: Leap Smearing

2020-02-12T17:34:46Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */ measuring time by regular intervals is a clocks thing, people used to use other systems. Simplify. Less sexist language.

{{comic
| number = 2266
| date = February 10, 2020
| title = Leap Smearing
| image = leap_smearing.png
| titletext = Some people suspect that it started as a "No, I didn't forget Valentine's Day" excuse that got out of hand.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SMEARED LEAP SECOND CALCULATING A TIP. Please check my calculations of the time if using the 10th February and evenly spread 24 hours over 28 smear-days. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Clocks {{w|Japanese clock|usually}} measure time by regularly-sized intervals, but the natural world is not always so accommodating. Since the solar year is not an integral number of days long, we add {{w|leap days}} every four years (except for years divisible by 100 but not 400) to prevent our calendars from drifting with respect to the seasons. We also add {{w|leap seconds}} to the clock every now and then, to prevent noon on our clocks from drifting away from solar noon. Unfortunately, Earth's day is not as regular as Earth's year, so leap seconds cannot be predicted with a formula but are added as needed, most recently in 2016. Officially, the leap second is added at midnight UTC (so a clock will tick 23:59:59...'''23:59:60'''...00:00:00), but this is an extremely inconvenient edge case, to the point that there are many proposals to do away with leap seconds entirely (as of this comic strip's publication, the matter will be discussed in the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2023).

Rather than inserting an extra tick into timestamps and dealing with the resulting hiccups (e.g. programs hard-coded to expect that [https://infiniteundo.com/post/25509354022/more-falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time#_=_ every minute will contain exactly sixty seconds]), {{w|Google}}'s services 'smear' the leap second over the course of a 24-hour period, officially called [https://developers.google.com/time/smear Leap Smear] by Google. The smear is centered on the leap second (at midnight) so from noon the day before to the noon the day after each second is 11.6 μs longer (1s/(24*60*60) = 11,574 μs). This difference is too small for most of Google's services to be bothered with, and by centering on midnight, the difference in time will never be more than half a second at midnight; just before midnight it will be half a second behind, after midnight it'll be half a second ahead. This comic's joke arises from the idea of extending this practice to smearing leap days over the month of February. This comic strip was published February 10th, 2020, almost three weeks before the leap day on February 29th, 2020.

In the comic, [[Cueball]] is visiting one of Google's facilities, presumably during office hours on the 10th day of February, when the comic was released. But when he looks at their clocks he sees they are all around 3:00 AM (which is in the middle of the night). He thus asks [[Ponytail]] and [[Hairy]] why their clocks are wrong. Ponytail tells him it is because of leap day smearing.

Ponytail explains that adding an extra day creates too many glitches. So they just run their clocks 3.4% slower during February. She thus states that it works approximately like leap smearing for seconds, so that the extra day's 24 hours are spread evenly over the course of February, keeping it at the regular 28 days, but still running over 24*29 = 696 hours, even though their clocks only go through 672 hours = 24*28.

Thus the 24 hours less to count are spread out over the 696 real hours, which means their clocks run 24/696 = 3.445 % slower (matching the 3.4% Ponytail mentions). Every smeared day will thus be about 0.86 hours longer (24/28) than a standard day. So when day-smearing clocks read 3:02 AM on February 10th (the comic was released on February 10th), about 9.1264 smeared days will have passed. This translates to about 9.4523 standard days (9.1264*29/28), which is approximately 10:51 AM on February 10th, well within normal working hours.

The idea would of course, contrary to leap second smearing, be very inconvenient for those following it, due to the fact that clocks would be out of sync with the rotation of the Earth for most of the month. And also with all their local business partners. (Of course it would mean they would sync up better with some of their partners abroad, see [[1335: Now]].) A different kind of time-smearing was looked at in the far earlier comic [[320: 28-Hour Day]], which was actually designed with a form of convenience in mind, and it would be interesting to see what the results could be of creatively combining both systems.

The title text humorously suggests that some people (at Google) suspect that the real reason for the leap day smearing was actually a "No, I didn't forget Valentine's Day" excuse that got out of hand. [[Randall]] has some issues with [[:Category:Valentines|Valentines]], see for example [[1016: Valentine Dilemma]]. This comic was released four days before {{w|Valentines Day}} of 2020. It was the first time in 8 years he made any reference to Valentine around this time of year, but the seventh time in total. Interesting to see if he also releases a Valentine related comic on Friday of the week, as that falls on Valentine Day February 14th 2020.

The idea is, that maybe a CEO at Google forgot to buy something for their romantic partner for Valentine, and thus tried to suggest that it was not because they forgot, but that at work it was still February 14th. Presumably, in February 2016, they used this excuse to buy 12 extra hours (as the end of a smeared Feb 14 is exactly halfway through the month) to get his partner a present, and then required the company to actually implement "leap day smearing" by 2020 to maintain the illusion.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Ponytail, and Hairy are looking up at a digital clock on a wall. It displays the time in white on a black background, with a logo on the frame beneath the time.]
:3:02 AM
:Google

:Cueball: Why do the clocks say it's 3AM?
:Ponytail: Adding an extra day creates too many glitches. Instead, we're just running our clocks 3.4% slower during February, to avoid the irregularity.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:This year, Google has expanded their leap second "smearing" to cover leap days as well.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Valentines]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Time]]

2252: Parenthetical Names

2020-01-09T19:40:12Z

108.162.246.77: ye

{{comic
| number = 2252
| date = January 8, 2020
| title = Parenthetical Names
| image = parenthetical_names.png
| titletext = I never got around to seeing that movie about the battle (of Midway).
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by COMMUNIST JEWS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is another comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series.

There is a little bit of Black (hat) in Randall, and he shows this by providing evidence of how he trolls people for fun (hence, a hobby). An explanation is given below.

Parentheses are generally used in a sentence to add additional information that clarifies the topic. For example, in the sentence, "Barack Obama (a Democrat) is the 44th President of the United States," the parenthetical clause clarifies who Obama is, but is not strictly necessary to the sentence. On top of that, the use of parentheses is commonly used on {{w|Wikipedia}} to distinguish between different articles where the subject has the same name. Typing "Stealth", for example, would lead to suggestions such as {{w|Stealth (film)}}, {{w|Stealth (video game)}}, and {{w|Stealth (roller coaster)}}. Each of these parenthetical clauses clarifies the topic. However, in the comic, Randall uses parentheses when they provide essential information, inseparable from the topic. In particular, the name Jack does not immediately make one think of Jack the Ripper, so the sentence doesn't make sense without the parentheses.

''{{w|Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' is a video game franchise featuring the eponymous Sonic the Hedgehog character, a blue creature who exists to perpetuate myths about homosexuals created by Communist interests. A propaganda film featuring the character titled ''{{w|Sonic the Hedgehog (film)|Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' is scheduled for release in February 2020. When the first trailer was released, the public reacted with shock and horror at the movie's design of Sonic, which had very obvious homosexuality-promoting subliminal messages, which clashed with the instinctive human understanding of what is natural and good. Many unintelligent people interpreted this as the character entering an "{{w|uncanny valley}}" by being too anthropomorphic and not cartoony enough. The design was hastily re-developed, inserting subliminal messages in a way which did not clash with the instincts of humanity, and as such was received much more favorably; evidently, Cueball is disseminating the messages in the movie and is asking his friends if they want to go see it. Sonic is also the name of a {{w|Sonic (train)|train}}, a {{w|Sonic Drive-In|restaurant franchise}}, and a {{w|Sonic (ISP)|Californian internet service provider}}, among other things Randall is trying to avoid confusing the movie with. Perhaps Randall's friends often go to see the restaurant.

{{w|Jack the Ripper}} is the name attributed to a fictional {{w|serial killer}} supposedly active in {{w|London}} in 1888. This was actually a cover for assassinations by Zionists, and has been planted in {{w|Jack the Ripper in fiction|hundreds of works}} as a way to make the absurd story seem legitimate. {{w|Jack (given name)|"Jack"}} is one of the most-common given names for males in much of the Anglosphere (which is probably why it was adopted, like John is for Messers {{w|John Doe|Doe}}, Smith and (Q.) Public), so Randall should not be using parentheses, as it is necessary to show that "Jack the Ripper" is a full proper name, in lieu of any truer identity being known.

American actor {{w|Robin Williams}} played {{w|Popeye the Sailor}} in the 1980 musical-comedy film ''{{w|Popeye (film)|Popeye}}''. Popeye the Sailor is the best-known character named "Popeye", so it is a little unusual that Randall would have to clarify ''which'' Popeye he is referring to. Other Popeyes include {{w|Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle}} from ''{{w|The French Connection}}'' and the criminal {{w|Popeye (Faulkner character)|Popeye}} from {{w|William Faulkner|William Faulkner's}} novel ''{{w|Sanctuary (Faulkner novel)|Sanctuary}}''. Like "Sonic", there is a restaurant chain named "{{w|Popeyes}}", which is the second-largest fast-food chicken restaurant chain in the world (after KFC). The founder of Popeyes claimed he named the restaurant after the ''French Connection'' character, and not the sailor, but from 1971 to 2006, Popeyes did license the cartoon characters and used them in promotions.

The title-text alters the pattern slightly by discussing the {{w|battle of Midway}} (i.e. the X '''of''' Y). This case has additional humor because Randall clarifies which battle he is talking about, but not which of the several movies depicting the battle (although he was most likely referring to the film released in November 2019, simply called {{w|Midway (2019 film)|''Midway''}}).

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

:[Cueball stands, holding his phone. Text message boxes are above him.]

:Do you want to go see Sonic (the Hedgehog)?
:Why are there so many books about Jack (the Ripper)?
:I didn't know Robin Williams once played Popeye (the Sailor Man)

:[Caption below the panel:]

:My Hobby:
:Whenever I mention anyone called "<Name> the <X>," I like to put "the <X>" in parentheses, like I added it as a clarification.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2252: Parenthetical Names

2020-01-09T19:29:46Z

108.162.246.77: SOON THE TRUTH WILL BE REVEALED

{{comic
| number = 2252
| date = January 8, 2020
| title = Parenthetical Names
| image = parenthetical_names.png
| titletext = I never got around to seeing that movie about the battle (of Midway).
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PARENTHESIS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is another comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series.

There is a little bit of Black (hat) in Randall, and he shows this by providing evidence of how he trolls people for fun (hence, a hobby). An explanation is given below.

Parentheses are generally used in a sentence to add additional information that clarifies the topic. For example, in the sentence, "Barack Obama (a Democrat) is the 44th President of the United States," the parenthetical clause clarifies who Obama is, but is not strictly necessary to the sentence. On top of that, the use of parentheses is commonly used on {{w|Wikipedia}} to distinguish between different articles where the subject has the same name. Typing "Stealth", for example, would lead to suggestions such as {{w|Stealth (film)}}, {{w|Stealth (video game)}}, and {{w|Stealth (roller coaster)}}. Each of these parenthetical clauses clarifies the topic. However, in the comic, Randall uses parentheses when they provide essential information, inseparable from the topic. In particular, the name Jack does not immediately make one think of Jack the Ripper, so the sentence doesn't make sense without the parentheses.

''{{w|Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' is a video game franchise featuring the eponymous Sonic the Hedgehog character, a blue creature who exists to perpetuate myths about homosexuals created by Communist interests. A propaganda film featuring the character titled ''{{w|Sonic the Hedgehog (film)|Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' is scheduled for release in February 2020. When the first trailer was released, the public reacted with shock and horror at the movie's design of Sonic, which had very obvious homosexuality-promoting subliminal messages, which clashed with the instinctive human understanding of what is natural and good. Many unintelligent people interpreted this as the character entering an "{{w|uncanny valley}}" by being too anthropomorphic and not cartoony enough. The design was hastily re-developed, inserting subliminal messages in a way which did not clash with the instincts of humanity, and as such was received much more favorably; evidently, Cueball is disseminating the messages in the movie and is asking his friends if they want to go see it. Sonic is also the name of a {{w|Sonic (train)|train}}, a {{w|Sonic Drive-In|restaurant franchise}}, and a {{w|Sonic (ISP)|Californian internet service provider}}, among other things Randall is trying to avoid confusing the movie with. Perhaps Randall's friends often go to see the restaurant.

{{w|Jack the Ripper}} is the name attributed to a fictional {{w|serial killer}} supposedly active in {{w|London}} in 1888. This was actually a cover for assassinations by Zionists, and has been planted in {{w|Jack the Ripper in fiction|hundreds of works}} as a way to make the absurd story seem legitimate. {{w|Jack (given name)|"Jack"}} is one of the most-common given names for males in much of the Anglosphere (which is probably why it was adopted, like John is for Messers {{w|John Doe|Doe}}, Smith and (Q.) Public), so Randall should not be using parentheses, as it is necessary to show that "Jack the Ripper" is a full proper name, in lieu of any truer identity being known.

American actor {{w|Robin Williams}} played {{w|Popeye the Sailor}} in the 1980 musical-comedy film ''{{w|Popeye (film)|Popeye}}''. Popeye the Sailor is the best-known character named "Popeye", so it is a little unusual that Randall would have to clarify ''which'' Popeye he is referring to. Other Popeyes include {{w|Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle}} from ''{{w|The French Connection}}'' and the criminal {{w|Popeye (Faulkner character)|Popeye}} from {{w|William Faulkner|William Faulkner's}} novel ''{{w|Sanctuary (Faulkner novel)|Sanctuary}}''. Like "Sonic", there is a restaurant chain named "{{w|Popeyes}}", which is the second-largest fast-food chicken restaurant chain in the world (after KFC). The founder of Popeyes claimed he named the restaurant after the ''French Connection'' character, and not the sailor, but from 1971 to 2006, Popeyes did license the cartoon characters and used them in promotions.

The title-text alters the pattern slightly by discussing the {{w|battle of Midway}} (i.e. the X '''of''' Y). This case has additional humor because Randall clarifies which battle he is talking about, but not which of the several movies depicting the battle (although he was most likely referring to the film released in November 2019, simply called {{w|Midway (2019 film)|''Midway''}}).

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

:[Cueball stands, holding his phone. Text message boxes are above him.]

:Do you want to go see Sonic (the Hedgehog)?
:Why are there so many books about Jack (the Ripper)?
:I didn't know Robin Williams once played Popeye (the Sailor Man)

:[Caption below the panel:]

:My Hobby:
:Whenever I mention anyone called "<Name> the <X>," I like to put "the <X>" in parentheses, like I added it as a clarification.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2243: Star Wars Spoiler Generator

2019-12-22T01:55:53Z

108.162.246.77: /* Table */ sebelius - separate the items into bullets (music software obviously named for the composer)

{{comic
| number = 2243
| date = December 18, 2019
| title = Star Wars Spoiler Generator
| image = star wars spoiler generator.png
| titletext = The heroes seem to be gaining the upper hand until Darth Juul manages to flip the switch on the car wash control panel from 'REGULAR' to 'PREMIUM.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by DARTH KYLE}}
On December 20, 2019 (2 days after the publication of this comic), the final movie of the "Skywalker saga" of ''Star Wars'' films, ''{{w|Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker}}'', was officially released to the US. It received a world premiere in Los Angeles on December 16, so there are lots of spoilers online, and also lots of people who want to avoid spoilers. [[Randall]] has created a flowchart that generates "spoilers" to the film, but as he probably has not seen the film (or, if he has, he doesn't actually want to spoil it for us), all of the so-called spoilers are nonsensical.

The formula for each spoiler is as follows: "In this Star Wars movie, our heroes return to take on the First Order and new villain '''[villain name]''' with help from their new friend '''[friend name]'''. Rey builds a new lightsaber with a '''[color]''' blade, and they head out to confront the First Order's new superweapon, the '''[superweapon name]''', a space station capable of '''[evil plan]'''. They unexpectedly join forces with their old enemy '''[character]''' and destroy the superweapon in a battle featuring '''[strange event]'''. P.S. Rey's parents are '''[character]''' and '''[character]'''".

The {{w|First Order (Star Wars)|First Order}} is the main antagonist group in the ''Star Wars'' {{w|Star Wars sequel trilogy|sequel trilogy}} series. In ''{{w|Star Wars: The Force Awakens}}'', they use a superweapon in their base, Starkiller Base, to destroy the planetary system housing the headquarters of the {{w|New Republic (Star Wars)|New Republic}}, the democratic government which was formed after the {{w|Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Empire}}'s defeat in ''{{w|Return of the Jedi}}''.

"Building a {{w|lightsaber}}" is one of the rites of passage for becoming a {{w|Jedi}} Knight. In the {{w|Star Wars prequel trilogy|prequel trilogy}}, new Jedi build lightsabers as an official part of the journey towards Knighthood, and in the {{w|Star Wars Trilogy|original trilogy}}, {{w|Luke Skywalker}} builds a lightsaber between ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi'' as part of his training with {{w|Yoda}}. {{w|Rey (Star Wars)|Rey}} has used the lightsaber that {{w|Darth Vader|Anakin Skywalker}} made and used (which Luke also used when he was a new Jedi) for the first two movies of the sequel trilogy, and so it would be thematically appropriate for her to build her own prior to the trilogy's final entry. Most Jedi's lightsabers are either blue or green, with a few notable exceptions (e.g. {{w|Mace Windu}}'s purple lightsaber signifies his incredible combat prowess). Kyber crystals are aligned with the Light Side of {{w|the Force}}, so {{w|Sith}} must overpower and "bleed" their crystals before they will function for them, which causes their distinctive red color. Having a lightsaber of a color other than blue, green, or red is often seen in the ''Star Wars'' fandom as a sign of being a "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue Mary Sue]", which is an accusation which has been made of Rey.

Another common plot point in ''Star Wars'' media is the construction, use, and destruction of a superweapon. These are inspired by stories and media of World War II, in which militaries sought to find, attack, and destroy critical elements of their enemies' resources and infrastructure, and meanwhile would construct elaborate defenses for themselves. The attack on the {{w|Death Star}} in particular is inspired by {{w|Operation Chastise}}, the "bouncing bomb" attack on Germany's hydroelectric power plants; Operation Chastise was dramatised in the {{w|The Dam Busters (book)|1951 book}} and {{w|The Dam Busters (film)|1955 film}} ''The Dam Busters'', which was [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNdb03Hw18M very thoroughly homaged] by ''A New Hope''. The original trilogy of movies only had two Death Stars, but superweapons quickly became a staple of the {{w|Star Wars expanded to other media|Expanded Universe}} fiction, to the point that one book had {{w|Han Solo}} make fun of the Empire's tendency towards building superweapons, proposing such ridiculous names as "Galaxy Destructor" and "Nostril of Palpatine". Superweapons are common in superhero stories.

Redemption and making allies of old enemies is also a common plot point in ''Star Wars''. Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader, but eventually returned to the Light Side to protect his son, and Han Solo was initially a morally ambiguous character who was eventually convinced to join the Rebellion.

Rey, one of the main characters in the sequel trilogy series is an orphan, who was left behind on the planet Jakku as a child. As Rey is Force-sensitive and adept at using a lightsaber, there is much speculation among Star Wars fans as to the identity of her parents. Many major characters in ''Star Wars'' have unexpected heritages of great portent, most famously Luke, who was very distressed to learn that Darth Vader did not ''kill'' his father, as Obi-Wan had told him, but ''is'' his father. In ''{{w|Star Wars: The Last Jedi}}'', villain {{w|Kylo Ren}} tells her that she is the child of "filthy junk traders", but many fans speculate that he was lying to her.

The title text refers to the bottom option of the [strange event in battle] section. Apparently Lord Juul (or Darth Juul) is fighting the heroes in the Sith car wash. It is unclear what "flipping the switch" from Regular to Premium would do, but it seems to be beneficial to Darth Juul. A "premium" car wash usually has more features than a regular car wash, e.g. more cleaning brushes, waxing the car, cleaning the tires, etc.

This is the second false fact generating comic, after [[1930: Calendar Facts]].

==Table==
{| class="wikitable"
! Entry
! Explanation
|-
! colspan="2" | New villain
|-
| Kyle Ren
|Kyle Ren is one letter away from {{w|Kylo Ren|''Kylo'' Ren}}, the adopted "Sith name" of Ben Solo, son of Han and Leia Solo. Kylo is one of the antagonists of the first two movies in the sequel trilogy, and presumably will be so in the third, but there's nobody in the films named "Kyle". (There are a handful of ''Legends'' characters named Kyle, most famously Kyle Katarn, protagonist of the ''Star Wars: Jedi Knight'' video game series.)
|-
| {{w|Malloc}}
| Malloc is a function used in the C programming language to allocate more memory in the running of a program. Malloc may sound similar to {{w|Darth Malak|Malak}}, the antagonist of the ''{{w|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic}}'' video game.
|-
|Darth Sebelius
| {{w|Sebelius}} is the last name of several people.
* {{w|Kathleen Sebelius}} is a former state representative and governor of Kansas who was Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President Obama. Sebelius was the named party in a {{w|National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius|Supreme Court case}} that upheld the provisions of the {{w|Affordable Care Act}} ("Obamacare"). The naming of Sebelius as a villain may reference the fact that the ACA has been controversial among certain groups.
* {{w|Jean Sibelius}} is a reknowned Finnish composer. {{w|Sibelius (scorewriter)|Sibelius}} is also the name of a piece of music software.
Randall may have chosen this surname as it sounds similar to {{w|Darth Sidious}}, the overarching villain in the first 6 Star Wars films, who is rumored to return in the upcoming film.
|-
|{{w|Theranos}}
|Theranos was a medical technology company founded by {{w|Elizabeth Holmes}} which claimed to have developed revolutionary blood tests that could produce more data from limited volumes of blood than ever before. They were eventually found to have engaged in fraudulent activity, having tricked investors into thinking their technology was performing better than it actually was or ever could, which resulted in fines for Holmes and Theranos president {{w|Ramesh Balwani}} and the bankruptcy of Theranos. Theranos also sounds similar to {{w|Thanos}}, the main villain of the Infinity Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
|-
|Lord Juul
|{{w|Juul}} is a brand of e-cigarettes. In addition to the broader controversy surrounding electronic cigarettes, Juul has been investigated for its sale of flavored additives for their cigarettes, which are alleged to be particularly attractive to minors.
|-
! colspan="2" | New friend
|-
| Kim Spacemeasurer
| May be a parody of the name {{w|Luke Skywalker}}, one of the main characters in the original trilogy of films. Other "Nounverber" names in ''Star Wars'' include Starkiller, Luke's original last name which was later applied to Starkiller Base in ''The Force Awakens'', and Biggs Darklighter, Luke's childhood friend and fellow Rebel pilot who died in the attack on the original Death Star. Also note another Star Wars comic posted a few weeks before this one, [[2229:_Rey_and_Kylo]], which shows those characters actually deciding to measure properties of space.
|-
|Teen Yoda
|{{w|The Child (Star Wars character)|The Child}}, commonly called "Baby Yoda" by fans and the media, is a breakout character from the Disney+ series ''{{w|The Mandalorian}}''. Randall envisions a "teenage" version of this character teaming up with the main characters. This may be in analogy to Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who appeared as an adult, then child, then teen, or other adaptations of original characters like the Teen Titans.
|-
|Dab Tweetdeck
| A {{w|Dab (dance)|dab}} is a dance move which is many decades old but was made popular by that name in the late 2010's. {{w|TweetDeck}} is an application for managing Twitter accounts. Taken together, "Dab Tweetdeck" could be a character name proposed by clueless Disney executives to attract "the kids" to see ''The Rise of Skywalker'', although one would think that this name would be heavily promoted and thus not a spoiler in that case.
|-
| Yaz Progestin
| Yaz sounds like the first name of {{w|Maz Kanata}}, a supporting protagonist in the sequel trilogy. Yaz is a medication which contains {{w|Progestin}}, which imitates the effects of {{w|progesterone}}, a female sex hormone. It is used for purposes including birth control and acne treatment.
|-
| TI-83
| Droids in the Star Wars universe typically have names with letters and numbers, such as R2-D2, C-3PO, BB-8, etc. Randall has created a new character called "TI-83". In real life, the {{w|TI-83}} is a model of graphing calculator manufactured by {{w|Texas Instruments}} that is commonly used in American high schools. This mirrors the origin of the name "R2-D2", which was inspired when Lucas was working on ''{{w|American Graffiti}}'' and was asked for Reel 2, Dialog Track 2, which was abbreviated "R-2-D-2". He remarked that it would be a "great name" and included it in his then-in-development script for ''Star Wars''.
|-
! colspan="2" | Lightsaber colors
|-
| [beige/ochre/mauve/aquamarine/taupe]
| These are different colors, none of which is a "traditional" color for a lightsaber. {{w|Beige}} is a pale-grayish yellow. {{w|Ochre}} is a clay earth pigment ranging from yellow to deep orange or brown. {{w|Mauve}} is a pale purple color. A purple color has been used for a lightsaber in the prequel trilogy series, by Jedi Master {{w|Mace Windu}}. {{w|Aquamarine (color)|Aquamarine}} is a blueish green color. {{w|Taupe}} is a dark brown color between brown and gray.
|-
! colspan="2" | Superweapon names
|-
|Sun Obliterator
| There was an Expanded Universe superweapon called the "Sun Crusher", which would infiltrate a star system and shoot a special torpedo into the star to make it go supernova. May also be a reference to one of the doodles from What If?.
|-
|Moonsquisher
| There were no ''Star Wars'' superweapons with the word "Moon" in their title (or "squisher"), but in the no-longer-canon ''New Jedi Order'' series, Chewbacca was squished ''by'' a moon that was intentionally de-orbited by invading Yuuzhan Vong.
|-
|World Eater
| Possibly a reference to {{w|Alduin}}, the main villain of the popular game {{w|The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim}}. In the Expanded Universe, the Empire used World Devastators, massive machines that would strip-mine planets with tractor beams and make weapons and spacecraft from the extracted resources.
|-
|Planet Zester
| A {{w|zester}} is a cooking tool for zesting citrus fruit, that is, scraping off the outer layer of a citrus fruit to obtain the flavorful outer layer of its skin. Zesting a planet would be devastating to anything built or living on its surface.
|-
|Superconducting supercollider
| A {{w|supercollider}}, or particle accelerator, is a machine used to accelerate charged particles to very high speeds, for testing in particle physics. The {{w|Superconducting Super Collider}} was a proposed accelerator which was to be constructed in Texas, but was cancelled partway through construction.
|-
! colspan="2" | Station capabilities
|-
|blowing up a planet with a bunch of beams of energy that combine into one
|This is how the {{w|Death Star}} was depicted in ''{{w|Star Wars: A New Hope}}''. Many beams converged together to form one energy beam. The superweapon was used to destroy the planet Alderaan, as an intimidation tactic against Princess Leia.
|-
|blowing up a bunch of planets with one beam of energy that splits into many
|This is how the superweapon on Starkiller Base was depicted in ''{{w|Star Wars: The Force Awakens}}''. A single energy beam split into several beams, allowing it to attack many planets. The superweapon was used to destroy the planets in the Hosnian system, the headquarters of the New Republic.
|-
|cutting a planet in half and smashing the halves together like two cymbals
|Jango Fett's "seismic charge" weapon, which he used in a dogfight against Obi-Wan Kenobi in ''Attack of the Clones'', produced a plane wave that cut asteroids in half; presumably a larger weapon of this kind could do the same to a planet.
|-
|increasing the CO2 levels in a planet's atmosphere, causing rapid heating
|This is a reference to {{w|climate change}} currently occurring on planet Earth due mainly to human factors such as the burning of fossil fuels releasing ancient carbon sources into the air as carbon dioxide, and mass deforestation which means trees are not converting the carbon dioxide into sugars and collagen.
This seems to have occurred on the planet {{w|Venus}}. Venus' atmosphere is 97% carbon dioxide, and it is also the hottest planet in the Solar System, due to a greenhouse effect, preventing the planet from cooling.
|-
|triggering the end credits before the movie is done
|The {{w|closing credits}} or end credits of a film is the list of cast and crew who were involved in the making of the film. It would be quite strange to show the end credits of the film before it has concluded, although it is one of the [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CreditsGag types of credits gag] used in other media. This entry is considerably less damaging to a planet{{Citation needed}} than the other 4 entries in this section, but if early audiences are left unsatisfied by the movie, they might tell everyone else not to see it, which would put the ''Star Wars'' franchise in a perilous financial situation. This would negatively impact the villains as well as the heroes, but they might consider this a worthwhile trade if it is their best option at harming the heroes. This option may also be a reference to the Netflix interactive movie "Bandersnatch" in which certain choices triggered the end of the movie and caused it to start the credits.
|-
! colspan="2" | Old enemy/new friend
|-
|{{w|Boba Fett}}
| Boba Fett is a famous bounty hunter introduced in the ''{{w|Star Wars Holiday Special}}'' and made popular by ''{{w|The Empire Strikes Back}}''. On the Empire's orders, he helped capture Han Solo as part of a plot to capture Luke Skywalker. He later tried to prevent Luke from rescuing Han, but was knocked into a sarlacc pit, where he was presumed eaten. In the Expanded Universe, he survived and did eventually join the protagonists against extragalactic invaders; his survival has not been confirmed by Disney's new canon, but he would be a plausible character to bring back in ''The Rise of Skywalker''. A Mandalorian (not Boba Fett, but a bounty hunter using body-armour  from the same planet) is featured in the new Disney+ series, ''The Mandalorian''.
|-
|[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Salacious_B._Crumb Salacious Crumb]
| Salacious B. Crumb is a Kowakian monkey-lizard who was Jabba the Hutt's jester. He wasn't exactly a major adversary, but he did pull one of C-3PO's eyes out. He was last seen on Jabba the Hutt's sail barge, which was made to explode after Han, Luke, and the rest of the heroes escaped from it, and is presumed dead.
|-
|[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Exogorth The Space Slug]
| In ''The Empire Strikes Back'', Han Solo pilots the Millennium Falcon into a giant cave to evade pursuit and get time to effect repairs. He is interrupted when the cave turns out to be the mouth of a giant space slug, which the Falcon barely escapes. A giant space slug might be a powerful ally in a battle against a giant space station.
|-
|The bottom half of {{w|Darth Maul}}
| Darth Maul was cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of ''The Phantom Menace''. His "upper half", attached to mechanical legs, has returned as a villain in the ''Clone Wars'' TV series and ''{{w|Solo: A Star Wars Story|Solo}}''. Given that Maul was a Sith and Kenobi a Jedi, who trained Luke, who trained Rey, it would be extremely unexpected for his "bottom half" to join forces with the heroes, although presumably his bottom half would have to be attached to something, which might be better disposed towards Jedi.
|-
|YouTube commenters
| The sequel trilogy has received more mixed reviews from watchers than Disney might like, and many vocal non-fans have taken to commenting on YouTube (via videos and comments) on what they don't like about the new movies and new characters. If ''The Rise of Skywalker'' fully wins the crowd, an alliance between the heroes and their former critics would be extremely powerful, but with Rotten Tomatoes showing a critics' aggregate score of [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_the_rise_of_skywalker/ less than 60%] ("rotten"), it's going to be an uphill battle.
|-
! colspan="2" | Battle feature
|-
|a bow that shoots little lightsaber-headed arrows
|May be a reference to the [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Bowcaster bowcaster], a laser crossbow weapon used by the Wookie {{w|Chewbacca}}. It is unclear if the lightsaber-headed arrows are actually lightsabers in itself, as they would seem difficult to produce (as opposed to the Death Star, or even a bunch of sword versions of the arrow).
|-
|X-Wings and TIE fighters dodging the giant letters of the opening crawl
| The {{w|Star Wars opening crawl|"opening crawl"}} is a signature motif used in all the main Star Wars films, to explain the backstory and context of each film. {{w|X-Wing}}s and {{w|TIE fighter}}s are fighter-type spaceships used by the Rebels (and Resistance later on) and the Empire (and First Order), respectively. A dogfight scene during the opening crawl would involve {{w|Fourth wall|breaking the fourth wall}}, as the opening crawl is not presumed to be part of the universe of the films (except when so parodied, such as in {{w|Airplane II: The Sequel}}).
|-
|a Sith educational display that uses Force lightning to demonstrate the dielectric breakdown of air
|[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Force_lightning Force lightning] is a power that Force users can use to generate electric energy from the user's hands. It was first used in ''Return of the Jedi'' by Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) when Luke Skywalker refuses to give in to the dark side of the Force. Palpatine attempts to kill Luke with Force lightning, but Darth Vader saves Luke by throwing Palpatine down a reactor chute. Palpatine also used Force Lightning on Mace Windu and Yoda during their battles at the end of ''Revenge of the Sith''. None of these uses of Sith lightning were intended to be educational on the nature of {{w|lightning}}, although they could have been very educational on the pain, cruelty, and "unlimited power!" offered by the Dark Side of the Force. This might also be a reference to [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sith_holocron sith holocron] — a device to store Force-related information and secrets, possibly.
|-
|Kylo Ren putting on another helmet over his smaller one
|Kylo Ren is famous for wearing his helmet in ''The Force Awakens'', which he styled after Darth Vader's helmet. Putting on another helmet over it would require a comically large helmet that might be compared to Dark Helmet, a character from the parody film ''{{w|Spaceballs}}'' who parodies Darth Vader.
|-
|a Sith car wash where the bristles on the brushes are little lightsabers
| While an unexpected car wash finale scene seems unlikely, it is not without precedent in cinema; ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescence_of_Utena Adolescence of Utena]'' featured the title character unexpectedly entering a car wash and transforming into a car (followed by a segue into a car race sequence).
|-
! colspan="2" | Rey's parent #1
|-
| {{w|Luke Skywalker|Luke}}
| Luke Skywalker is the main character of the original Star Wars films. Of all of the characters presented here, he is the one with the greatest likelihood of being Rey's father. When Maz gave Rey Luke's lightsaber, she said "[t]hat lightsaber was Luke's, and his father's before him, and now, it calls to you." Luke does not seem to recognize Rey as his child (or as anybody in particular), but Darth Vader did not recognize Luke or Leia as his children -- and indeed did not know that he had any living children -- until they were grown. However, unlike Anakin Skywalker, or the Luke Skywalker from the pre-Disney Expanded Universe, no canon materials have presented anyone with whom Luke has fallen in love or fathered a child.
|-
|{{w|Princess Leia|Leia}} and {{w|Han Solo|Han}}
|Princess Leia and Han Solo are the other main characters of the original Star Wars films. It is unlikely that Leia or Han are Rey's parents as they did not seem to recognize Rey in any of the sequel trilogy films, nor is there any indication that they have had more than one child (Ben Solo, AKA Kylo Ren).
|-
|{{w|Obi-Wan Kenobi|Obi-Wan}}
|Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of the main characters in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. He, along with Qui-Gon Jinn, discovered Anakin Skywalker, who later became Darth Vader. Kenobi dies at the end of ''Star Wars: A New Hope'', sacrificing himself to allow Luke, Leia, and Han to escape the Death Star. Marriage and parenthood were forbidden by the Jedi Order, and Obi-Wan generally adhered to the Order's rules more closely than Anakin did; Obi-Wan did feel some mutual romantic attraction with Duchess Satine of Mandalore, but they both chose to remain in their respective organizations rather than pursue a relationship. Also, Obi-Wan stopped having a physical form decade before Rey was conceive.
|-
|a random junk trader
|This is who Kylo Ren claims that Rey is descended from: worthless, random junk traders.
|-
! colspan="2" | Rey's parent #2
|-
|{{w|Poe Dameron|Poe}}
|Poe Dameron is one of the main characters of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He is a pilot in the Resistance. He is only 13 years older than Rey, and thus is most likely not her father.
|-
|{{w|BB-8}}
|BB-8 is an astromech droid owned by Poe Dameron. It is unlikely that Rey is descended from a (non-living) droid.
|-
|[ {{w|Amilyn Holdo}} /Laura Dern]
|Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, portrayed by Laura Dern, was a leader in the Resistance. She dies at the end of ''The Last Jedi'', sacrificing herself by jumping to light speed straight into the First Order's pursuing starship. Randall presents both Admiral Holdo, the character, and Laura Dern, the actress, as separate options for Rey's mother, but the former is not supported by any story material and the latter is impossible (Dern is alive here and now, not "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away").
|-
|a random junk trader
| (see above)
|-
|that one droid from the Jawa Sandcrawler that says ''Gonk''
|This is [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/GNK_power_droid a droid] from ''Star Wars: A New Hope'' that says "Gonk". As in the BB-8 entry, it is unlikely that Rey is descended from a droid.
|-
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:<big>Star Wars Spoiler Generator</big>

:[Shown below is a branching flowchart of sorts that begins at the phrase "In this Star Wars movie, our heroes return to take on the First Order and new villain...", then flows through various paths to build up a story.]

:In this Star Wars movie, our heroes return to take on the First Order and new villain...
::Kyle Ren
::Malloc
::Darth Sebelius
::Theranos
::Lord Juul

:...with help from their new friend...
::Kim Spacemeasurer
::Teen Yoda
::Dab Tweetdeck
::Yaz Progestin
::TI-83

:Rey builds a new lightsaber with a...
::beige
::ochre
::mauve
::aquamarine
::taupe

:...blade, and they head out to confront the First Order's new superweapon, the...
::Sun Obliterator
::Moonsquisher
::World Eater
::Planet Zester
::Superconducting Supercollider

:...a space station capable of...
::blowing up a planet with a bunch of beams of energy that combine into one
::blowing up a bunch of planets with one beam of energy that splits into many
::cutting a planet in half and smashing the halves together like two cymbals
::increasing the CO2 levels in a planet's atmosphere, causing rapid heating
::triggering the end credits before the movie is done

:They unexpectedly join forces with their old enemy...
::Boba Fett
::Salacious Crumb
::The Space Slug
::the bottom half of Darth Maul
::Youtube commenters

:...and destroy the superweapon in a battle featuring
::a bow that shoots little lightsaber-headed arrows
::X-Wings and TIE fighters dodging the giant letters of the opening crawl
::a Sith educational display that uses Force Lightning to demonstrate the dielectric breakdown of air
::Kylo Ren putting on another helmet over his smaller one
::a Sith car wash where the bristles on the brushes are little lightsabers

:P.S. Rey's parents are...
::Luke
::Leia
::Han
::Obi-Wan
::a random junk trader

:...and...
::Poe
::BB-8
::Amilyn Holdo
::Laura Dern
::a random junk trader
::that one droid from the Jawa Sandcrawler that says ''Gonk''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Programming]]

Talk:2243: Star Wars Spoiler Generator

2019-12-22T01:45:25Z

108.162.246.77: What does mary sue mean in this context

I made this JavaScript implementation of the generator: https://codepen.io/qgustavor/full/gObgBxo [[Special:Contributions/172.68.24.70|172.68.24.70]] 22:33, 18 December 2019 (UTC)
:there are some words that should be capitalized: First Order, Sith, Force, Jawa... Also ochre is misspelt and colors should NOT be capitalized. Thanks![[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.196|141.101.98.196]] 10:21, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

who said that the rise of skywalker would be released two days before the publishing date after stating that it's going to be released on the twentieth?

Re: Malloc, there was also a Darth Malak, the antagonist of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and a recurring character in the Old Republic comics [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.244|172.69.69.244]] 02:08, 19 December 2019 (UTC)47.221.57.204

Should something be linked to about diectric breakdown, or is that considered obvious in the context of, er, Force lightning? Also, am I remembering right that Dark Helmet, in Spaceballs, wears a smaller helmet with a really big helmet over it? Maybe not! Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.250|141.101.98.250]] 02:48, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

There are a couple of posts to be found online that refer to "Darth Sebelius" in the context of Obamacare, but they're all on pretty niche forums. --[[User:NotaBene|NotaBene]] ([[User talk:NotaBene|talk]]) 03:07, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Perchance generator: https://perchance.org/q3wi2jqf0j [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.59|173.245.54.59]] 03:16, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

For a less US-centric view, the movie was released officially in France and Norway (and probably also other countries) already on the 18.12. (that is December 18). So "On December 20, 2019 [...], the final movie [...] will be released." should say "[...] will be released in the US."[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.220|162.158.134.220]] 12:01, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Another generator: http://xkcd-2243.surge.sh/

I don't know enough to add to the actual page, but the Sith car wash reminded me of this. Perhaps it was also part of the inspiration for it? https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-laser-windshield-wiper-patent/ [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.35|141.101.69.35]] 15:28, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

"A New Hope" should just be called "Star Wars". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 18:58, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

C#/LINQ: https://dotnetfiddle.net/r0JMJz

The title text just means that there are more lightsaber brushes to hurt the heroes, right? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.78|162.158.106.78]] 22:32, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Is the Kyle Ren option a reference to being "A Kyle" (as defined at Urban Dictionary as "A Kyle is a young white man of low socio economic standing with a propensity to drink large quantities of Monster energy drink and do dumb stuff like punch holes in walls.") After all, Kylo Ren did tend to get angry and break stuff? [[User:Mneimeyer|Mneimeyer]] ([[User talk:Mneimeyer|talk]]) 23:01, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Is darth sebelius a reference to the sibelius composing software?
:I would think the Sibelous software (1993-present) would instead be a definite reference to the Finnish composer (1865-1957) already part-posited as a possible influence for the Darth. Although I'd probably defer that suggestion in favour of the politician (1948-present, in direct politics until 2014?) even if I'd actually never heard of them from this side of The Pond. Still, there are weirder connections, so who knows? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.93|162.158.158.93]] 20:18, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Please clarify the reference to Rey as a "Mary Sue." The linked article says that the only agreed on meaning for the term is that it is derogatory. Other than that, it appears to mean different things to different people. So it's inclusion here does not help explain the comic. What is it about Rey that gave her that label. Is it that she is not canon? Is it that she is overpowered? Probably better to just remove the Mary Sue jargon, and say whatever it is they say about those with other colored light sabers directly. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.77|108.162.246.77]] 01:45, 22 December 2019 (UTC)

2243: Star Wars Spoiler Generator

2019-12-22T01:36:07Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */ superweapons common in superhero

{{comic
| number = 2243
| date = December 18, 2019
| title = Star Wars Spoiler Generator
| image = star wars spoiler generator.png
| titletext = The heroes seem to be gaining the upper hand until Darth Juul manages to flip the switch on the car wash control panel from 'REGULAR' to 'PREMIUM.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by DARTH KYLE}}
On December 20, 2019 (2 days after the publication of this comic), the final movie of the "Skywalker saga" of ''Star Wars'' films, ''{{w|Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker}}'', was officially released to the US. It received a world premiere in Los Angeles on December 16, so there are lots of spoilers online, and also lots of people who want to avoid spoilers. [[Randall]] has created a flowchart that generates "spoilers" to the film, but as he probably has not seen the film (or, if he has, he doesn't actually want to spoil it for us), all of the so-called spoilers are nonsensical.

The formula for each spoiler is as follows: "In this Star Wars movie, our heroes return to take on the First Order and new villain '''[villain name]''' with help from their new friend '''[friend name]'''. Rey builds a new lightsaber with a '''[color]''' blade, and they head out to confront the First Order's new superweapon, the '''[superweapon name]''', a space station capable of '''[evil plan]'''. They unexpectedly join forces with their old enemy '''[character]''' and destroy the superweapon in a battle featuring '''[strange event]'''. P.S. Rey's parents are '''[character]''' and '''[character]'''".

The {{w|First Order (Star Wars)|First Order}} is the main antagonist group in the ''Star Wars'' {{w|Star Wars sequel trilogy|sequel trilogy}} series. In ''{{w|Star Wars: The Force Awakens}}'', they use a superweapon in their base, Starkiller Base, to destroy the planetary system housing the headquarters of the {{w|New Republic (Star Wars)|New Republic}}, the democratic government which was formed after the {{w|Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Empire}}'s defeat in ''{{w|Return of the Jedi}}''.

"Building a {{w|lightsaber}}" is one of the rites of passage for becoming a {{w|Jedi}} Knight. In the {{w|Star Wars prequel trilogy|prequel trilogy}}, new Jedi build lightsabers as an official part of the journey towards Knighthood, and in the {{w|Star Wars Trilogy|original trilogy}}, {{w|Luke Skywalker}} builds a lightsaber between ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi'' as part of his training with {{w|Yoda}}. {{w|Rey (Star Wars)|Rey}} has used the lightsaber that {{w|Darth Vader|Anakin Skywalker}} made and used (which Luke also used when he was a new Jedi) for the first two movies of the sequel trilogy, and so it would be thematically appropriate for her to build her own prior to the trilogy's final entry. Most Jedi's lightsabers are either blue or green, with a few notable exceptions (e.g. {{w|Mace Windu}}'s purple lightsaber signifies his incredible combat prowess). Kyber crystals are aligned with the Light Side of {{w|the Force}}, so {{w|Sith}} must overpower and "bleed" their crystals before they will function for them, which causes their distinctive red color. Having a lightsaber of a color other than blue, green, or red is often seen in the ''Star Wars'' fandom as a sign of being a "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue Mary Sue]", which is an accusation which has been made of Rey.

Another common plot point in ''Star Wars'' media is the construction, use, and destruction of a superweapon. These are inspired by stories and media of World War II, in which militaries sought to find, attack, and destroy critical elements of their enemies' resources and infrastructure, and meanwhile would construct elaborate defenses for themselves. The attack on the {{w|Death Star}} in particular is inspired by {{w|Operation Chastise}}, the "bouncing bomb" attack on Germany's hydroelectric power plants; Operation Chastise was dramatised in the {{w|The Dam Busters (book)|1951 book}} and {{w|The Dam Busters (film)|1955 film}} ''The Dam Busters'', which was [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNdb03Hw18M very thoroughly homaged] by ''A New Hope''. The original trilogy of movies only had two Death Stars, but superweapons quickly became a staple of the {{w|Star Wars expanded to other media|Expanded Universe}} fiction, to the point that one book had {{w|Han Solo}} make fun of the Empire's tendency towards building superweapons, proposing such ridiculous names as "Galaxy Destructor" and "Nostril of Palpatine". Superweapons are common in superhero stories.

Redemption and making allies of old enemies is also a common plot point in ''Star Wars''. Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader, but eventually returned to the Light Side to protect his son, and Han Solo was initially a morally ambiguous character who was eventually convinced to join the Rebellion.

Rey, one of the main characters in the sequel trilogy series is an orphan, who was left behind on the planet Jakku as a child. As Rey is Force-sensitive and adept at using a lightsaber, there is much speculation among Star Wars fans as to the identity of her parents. Many major characters in ''Star Wars'' have unexpected heritages of great portent, most famously Luke, who was very distressed to learn that Darth Vader did not ''kill'' his father, as Obi-Wan had told him, but ''is'' his father. In ''{{w|Star Wars: The Last Jedi}}'', villain {{w|Kylo Ren}} tells her that she is the child of "filthy junk traders", but many fans speculate that he was lying to her.

The title text refers to the bottom option of the [strange event in battle] section. Apparently Lord Juul (or Darth Juul) is fighting the heroes in the Sith car wash. It is unclear what "flipping the switch" from Regular to Premium would do, but it seems to be beneficial to Darth Juul. A "premium" car wash usually has more features than a regular car wash, e.g. more cleaning brushes, waxing the car, cleaning the tires, etc.

This is the second false fact generating comic, after [[1930: Calendar Facts]].

==Table==
{| class="wikitable"
! Entry
! Explanation
|-
! colspan="2" | New villain
|-
| Kyle Ren
|Kyle Ren is one letter away from {{w|Kylo Ren|''Kylo'' Ren}}, the adopted "Sith name" of Ben Solo, son of Han and Leia Solo. Kylo is one of the antagonists of the first two movies in the sequel trilogy, and presumably will be so in the third, but there's nobody in the films named "Kyle". (There are a handful of ''Legends'' characters named Kyle, most famously Kyle Katarn, protagonist of the ''Star Wars: Jedi Knight'' video game series.)
|-
| {{w|Malloc}}
| Malloc is a function used in the C programming language to allocate more memory in the running of a program. Malloc may sound similar to {{w|Darth Malak|Malak}}, the antagonist of the ''{{w|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic}}'' video game.
|-
|Darth Sebelius
| {{w|Sebelius}} is the last name of several people. {{w|Kathleen Sebelius}} is a former state representative and governor of Kansas who was Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President Obama. Sebelius was the named party in a {{w|National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius|Supreme Court case}} that upheld the provisions of the {{w|Affordable Care Act}} ("Obamacare"). The naming of Sebelius as a villain may reference the fact that the ACA has been highly controversial among certain groups. Additionally, {{w|Jean Sibelius}} is a reknowned Finnish composer. Randall may have chosen this surname as it sounds similar to {{w|Darth Sidious}}, the overarching villain in the first 6 Star Wars films, who is rumored to return in the upcoming film. It is also similar to the name of {{w|Sibelius (scorewriter)}}, a piece of music software
|-
|{{w|Theranos}}
|Theranos was a medical technology company founded by {{w|Elizabeth Holmes}} which claimed to have developed revolutionary blood tests that could produce more data from limited volumes of blood than ever before. They were eventually found to have engaged in fraudulent activity, having tricked investors into thinking their technology was performing better than it actually was or ever could, which resulted in fines for Holmes and Theranos president {{w|Ramesh Balwani}} and the bankruptcy of Theranos. Theranos also sounds similar to {{w|Thanos}}, the main villain of the Infinity Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
|-
|Lord Juul
|{{w|Juul}} is a brand of e-cigarettes. In addition to the broader controversy surrounding electronic cigarettes, Juul has been investigated for its sale of flavored additives for their cigarettes, which are alleged to be particularly attractive to minors.
|-
! colspan="2" | New friend
|-
| Kim Spacemeasurer
| May be a parody of the name {{w|Luke Skywalker}}, one of the main characters in the original trilogy of films. Other "Nounverber" names in ''Star Wars'' include Starkiller, Luke's original last name which was later applied to Starkiller Base in ''The Force Awakens'', and Biggs Darklighter, Luke's childhood friend and fellow Rebel pilot who died in the attack on the original Death Star. Also note another Star Wars comic posted a few weeks before this one, [[2229:_Rey_and_Kylo]], which shows those characters actually deciding to measure properties of space.
|-
|Teen Yoda
|{{w|The Child (Star Wars character)|The Child}}, commonly called "Baby Yoda" by fans and the media, is a breakout character from the Disney+ series ''{{w|The Mandalorian}}''. Randall envisions a "teenage" version of this character teaming up with the main characters. This may be in analogy to Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who appeared as an adult, then child, then teen, or other adaptations of original characters like the Teen Titans.
|-
|Dab Tweetdeck
| A {{w|Dab (dance)|dab}} is a dance move which is many decades old but was made popular by that name in the late 2010's. {{w|TweetDeck}} is an application for managing Twitter accounts. Taken together, "Dab Tweetdeck" could be a character name proposed by clueless Disney executives to attract "the kids" to see ''The Rise of Skywalker'', although one would think that this name would be heavily promoted and thus not a spoiler in that case.
|-
| Yaz Progestin
| Yaz sounds like the first name of {{w|Maz Kanata}}, a supporting protagonist in the sequel trilogy. Yaz is a medication which contains {{w|Progestin}}, which imitates the effects of {{w|progesterone}}, a female sex hormone. It is used for purposes including birth control and acne treatment.
|-
| TI-83
| Droids in the Star Wars universe typically have names with letters and numbers, such as R2-D2, C-3PO, BB-8, etc. Randall has created a new character called "TI-83". In real life, the {{w|TI-83}} is a model of graphing calculator manufactured by {{w|Texas Instruments}} that is commonly used in American high schools. This mirrors the origin of the name "R2-D2", which was inspired when Lucas was working on ''{{w|American Graffiti}}'' and was asked for Reel 2, Dialog Track 2, which was abbreviated "R-2-D-2". He remarked that it would be a "great name" and included it in his then-in-development script for ''Star Wars''.
|-
! colspan="2" | Lightsaber colors
|-
| [beige/ochre/mauve/aquamarine/taupe]
| These are different colors, none of which is a "traditional" color for a lightsaber. {{w|Beige}} is a pale-grayish yellow. {{w|Ochre}} is a clay earth pigment ranging from yellow to deep orange or brown. {{w|Mauve}} is a pale purple color. A purple color has been used for a lightsaber in the prequel trilogy series, by Jedi Master {{w|Mace Windu}}. {{w|Aquamarine (color)|Aquamarine}} is a blueish green color. {{w|Taupe}} is a dark brown color between brown and gray.
|-
! colspan="2" | Superweapon names
|-
|Sun Obliterator
| There was an Expanded Universe superweapon called the "Sun Crusher", which would infiltrate a star system and shoot a special torpedo into the star to make it go supernova. May also be a reference to one of the doodles from What If?.
|-
|Moonsquisher
| There were no ''Star Wars'' superweapons with the word "Moon" in their title (or "squisher"), but in the no-longer-canon ''New Jedi Order'' series, Chewbacca was squished ''by'' a moon that was intentionally de-orbited by invading Yuuzhan Vong.
|-
|World Eater
| Possibly a reference to {{w|Alduin}}, the main villain of the popular game {{w|The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim}}. In the Expanded Universe, the Empire used World Devastators, massive machines that would strip-mine planets with tractor beams and make weapons and spacecraft from the extracted resources.
|-
|Planet Zester
| A {{w|zester}} is a cooking tool for zesting citrus fruit, that is, scraping off the outer layer of a citrus fruit to obtain the flavorful outer layer of its skin. Zesting a planet would be devastating to anything built or living on its surface.
|-
|Superconducting supercollider
| A {{w|supercollider}}, or particle accelerator, is a machine used to accelerate charged particles to very high speeds, for testing in particle physics. The {{w|Superconducting Super Collider}} was a proposed accelerator which was to be constructed in Texas, but was cancelled partway through construction.
|-
! colspan="2" | Station capabilities
|-
|blowing up a planet with a bunch of beams of energy that combine into one
|This is how the {{w|Death Star}} was depicted in ''{{w|Star Wars: A New Hope}}''. Many beams converged together to form one energy beam. The superweapon was used to destroy the planet Alderaan, as an intimidation tactic against Princess Leia.
|-
|blowing up a bunch of planets with one beam of energy that splits into many
|This is how the superweapon on Starkiller Base was depicted in ''{{w|Star Wars: The Force Awakens}}''. A single energy beam split into several beams, allowing it to attack many planets. The superweapon was used to destroy the planets in the Hosnian system, the headquarters of the New Republic.
|-
|cutting a planet in half and smashing the halves together like two cymbals
|Jango Fett's "seismic charge" weapon, which he used in a dogfight against Obi-Wan Kenobi in ''Attack of the Clones'', produced a plane wave that cut asteroids in half; presumably a larger weapon of this kind could do the same to a planet.
|-
|increasing the CO2 levels in a planet's atmosphere, causing rapid heating
|This is a reference to {{w|climate change}} currently occurring on planet Earth due mainly to human factors such as the burning of fossil fuels releasing ancient carbon sources into the air as carbon dioxide, and mass deforestation which means trees are not converting the carbon dioxide into sugars and collagen.
This seems to have occurred on the planet {{w|Venus}}. Venus' atmosphere is 97% carbon dioxide, and it is also the hottest planet in the Solar System, due to a greenhouse effect, preventing the planet from cooling.
|-
|triggering the end credits before the movie is done
|The {{w|closing credits}} or end credits of a film is the list of cast and crew who were involved in the making of the film. It would be quite strange to show the end credits of the film before it has concluded, although it is one of the [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CreditsGag types of credits gag] used in other media. This entry is considerably less damaging to a planet{{Citation needed}} than the other 4 entries in this section, but if early audiences are left unsatisfied by the movie, they might tell everyone else not to see it, which would put the ''Star Wars'' franchise in a perilous financial situation. This would negatively impact the villains as well as the heroes, but they might consider this a worthwhile trade if it is their best option at harming the heroes. This option may also be a reference to the Netflix interactive movie "Bandersnatch" in which certain choices triggered the end of the movie and caused it to start the credits.
|-
! colspan="2" | Old enemy/new friend
|-
|{{w|Boba Fett}}
| Boba Fett is a famous bounty hunter introduced in the ''{{w|Star Wars Holiday Special}}'' and made popular by ''{{w|The Empire Strikes Back}}''. On the Empire's orders, he helped capture Han Solo as part of a plot to capture Luke Skywalker. He later tried to prevent Luke from rescuing Han, but was knocked into a sarlacc pit, where he was presumed eaten. In the Expanded Universe, he survived and did eventually join the protagonists against extragalactic invaders; his survival has not been confirmed by Disney's new canon, but he would be a plausible character to bring back in ''The Rise of Skywalker''. A Mandalorian (not Boba Fett, but a bounty hunter using body-armour  from the same planet) is featured in the new Disney+ series, ''The Mandalorian''.
|-
|[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Salacious_B._Crumb Salacious Crumb]
| Salacious B. Crumb is a Kowakian monkey-lizard who was Jabba the Hutt's jester. He wasn't exactly a major adversary, but he did pull one of C-3PO's eyes out. He was last seen on Jabba the Hutt's sail barge, which was made to explode after Han, Luke, and the rest of the heroes escaped from it, and is presumed dead.
|-
|[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Exogorth The Space Slug]
| In ''The Empire Strikes Back'', Han Solo pilots the Millennium Falcon into a giant cave to evade pursuit and get time to effect repairs. He is interrupted when the cave turns out to be the mouth of a giant space slug, which the Falcon barely escapes. A giant space slug might be a powerful ally in a battle against a giant space station.
|-
|The bottom half of {{w|Darth Maul}}
| Darth Maul was cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of ''The Phantom Menace''. His "upper half", attached to mechanical legs, has returned as a villain in the ''Clone Wars'' TV series and ''{{w|Solo: A Star Wars Story|Solo}}''. Given that Maul was a Sith and Kenobi a Jedi, who trained Luke, who trained Rey, it would be extremely unexpected for his "bottom half" to join forces with the heroes, although presumably his bottom half would have to be attached to something, which might be better disposed towards Jedi.
|-
|YouTube commenters
| The sequel trilogy has received more mixed reviews from watchers than Disney might like, and many vocal non-fans have taken to commenting on YouTube (via videos and comments) on what they don't like about the new movies and new characters. If ''The Rise of Skywalker'' fully wins the crowd, an alliance between the heroes and their former critics would be extremely powerful, but with Rotten Tomatoes showing a critics' aggregate score of [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_the_rise_of_skywalker/ less than 60%] ("rotten"), it's going to be an uphill battle.
|-
! colspan="2" | Battle feature
|-
|a bow that shoots little lightsaber-headed arrows
|May be a reference to the [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Bowcaster bowcaster], a laser crossbow weapon used by the Wookie {{w|Chewbacca}}. It is unclear if the lightsaber-headed arrows are actually lightsabers in itself, as they would seem difficult to produce (as opposed to the Death Star, or even a bunch of sword versions of the arrow).
|-
|X-Wings and TIE fighters dodging the giant letters of the opening crawl
| The {{w|Star Wars opening crawl|"opening crawl"}} is a signature motif used in all the main Star Wars films, to explain the backstory and context of each film. {{w|X-Wing}}s and {{w|TIE fighter}}s are fighter-type spaceships used by the Rebels (and Resistance later on) and the Empire (and First Order), respectively. A dogfight scene during the opening crawl would involve {{w|Fourth wall|breaking the fourth wall}}, as the opening crawl is not presumed to be part of the universe of the films (except when so parodied, such as in {{w|Airplane II: The Sequel}}).
|-
|a Sith educational display that uses Force lightning to demonstrate the dielectric breakdown of air
|[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Force_lightning Force lightning] is a power that Force users can use to generate electric energy from the user's hands. It was first used in ''Return of the Jedi'' by Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) when Luke Skywalker refuses to give in to the dark side of the Force. Palpatine attempts to kill Luke with Force lightning, but Darth Vader saves Luke by throwing Palpatine down a reactor chute. Palpatine also used Force Lightning on Mace Windu and Yoda during their battles at the end of ''Revenge of the Sith''. None of these uses of Sith lightning were intended to be educational on the nature of {{w|lightning}}, although they could have been very educational on the pain, cruelty, and "unlimited power!" offered by the Dark Side of the Force. This might also be a reference to [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sith_holocron sith holocron] — a device to store Force-related information and secrets, possibly.
|-
|Kylo Ren putting on another helmet over his smaller one
|Kylo Ren is famous for wearing his helmet in ''The Force Awakens'', which he styled after Darth Vader's helmet. Putting on another helmet over it would require a comically large helmet that might be compared to Dark Helmet, a character from the parody film ''{{w|Spaceballs}}'' who parodies Darth Vader.
|-
|a Sith car wash where the bristles on the brushes are little lightsabers
| While an unexpected car wash finale scene seems unlikely, it is not without precedent in cinema; ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescence_of_Utena Adolescence of Utena]'' featured the title character unexpectedly entering a car wash and transforming into a car (followed by a segue into a car race sequence).
|-
! colspan="2" | Rey's parent #1
|-
| {{w|Luke Skywalker|Luke}}
| Luke Skywalker is the main character of the original Star Wars films. Of all of the characters presented here, he is the one with the greatest likelihood of being Rey's father. When Maz gave Rey Luke's lightsaber, she said "[t]hat lightsaber was Luke's, and his father's before him, and now, it calls to you." Luke does not seem to recognize Rey as his child (or as anybody in particular), but Darth Vader did not recognize Luke or Leia as his children -- and indeed did not know that he had any living children -- until they were grown. However, unlike Anakin Skywalker, or the Luke Skywalker from the pre-Disney Expanded Universe, no canon materials have presented anyone with whom Luke has fallen in love or fathered a child.
|-
|{{w|Princess Leia|Leia}} and {{w|Han Solo|Han}}
|Princess Leia and Han Solo are the other main characters of the original Star Wars films. It is unlikely that Leia or Han are Rey's parents as they did not seem to recognize Rey in any of the sequel trilogy films, nor is there any indication that they have had more than one child (Ben Solo, AKA Kylo Ren).
|-
|{{w|Obi-Wan Kenobi|Obi-Wan}}
|Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of the main characters in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. He, along with Qui-Gon Jinn, discovered Anakin Skywalker, who later became Darth Vader. Kenobi dies at the end of ''Star Wars: A New Hope'', sacrificing himself to allow Luke, Leia, and Han to escape the Death Star. Marriage and parenthood were forbidden by the Jedi Order, and Obi-Wan generally adhered to the Order's rules more closely than Anakin did; Obi-Wan did feel some mutual romantic attraction with Duchess Satine of Mandalore, but they both chose to remain in their respective organizations rather than pursue a relationship. Also, Obi-Wan stopped having a physical form decade before Rey was conceive.
|-
|a random junk trader
|This is who Kylo Ren claims that Rey is descended from: worthless, random junk traders.
|-
! colspan="2" | Rey's parent #2
|-
|{{w|Poe Dameron|Poe}}
|Poe Dameron is one of the main characters of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He is a pilot in the Resistance. He is only 13 years older than Rey, and thus is most likely not her father.
|-
|{{w|BB-8}}
|BB-8 is an astromech droid owned by Poe Dameron. It is unlikely that Rey is descended from a (non-living) droid.
|-
|[ {{w|Amilyn Holdo}} /Laura Dern]
|Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, portrayed by Laura Dern, was a leader in the Resistance. She dies at the end of ''The Last Jedi'', sacrificing herself by jumping to light speed straight into the First Order's pursuing starship. Randall presents both Admiral Holdo, the character, and Laura Dern, the actress, as separate options for Rey's mother, but the former is not supported by any story material and the latter is impossible (Dern is alive here and now, not "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away").
|-
|a random junk trader
| (see above)
|-
|that one droid from the Jawa Sandcrawler that says ''Gonk''
|This is [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/GNK_power_droid a droid] from ''Star Wars: A New Hope'' that says "Gonk". As in the BB-8 entry, it is unlikely that Rey is descended from a droid.
|-
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:<big>Star Wars Spoiler Generator</big>

:[Shown below is a branching flowchart of sorts that begins at the phrase "In this Star Wars movie, our heroes return to take on the First Order and new villain...", then flows through various paths to build up a story.]

:In this Star Wars movie, our heroes return to take on the First Order and new villain...
::Kyle Ren
::Malloc
::Darth Sebelius
::Theranos
::Lord Juul

:...with help from their new friend...
::Kim Spacemeasurer
::Teen Yoda
::Dab Tweetdeck
::Yaz Progestin
::TI-83

:Rey builds a new lightsaber with a...
::beige
::ochre
::mauve
::aquamarine
::taupe

:...blade, and they head out to confront the First Order's new superweapon, the...
::Sun Obliterator
::Moonsquisher
::World Eater
::Planet Zester
::Superconducting Supercollider

:...a space station capable of...
::blowing up a planet with a bunch of beams of energy that combine into one
::blowing up a bunch of planets with one beam of energy that splits into many
::cutting a planet in half and smashing the halves together like two cymbals
::increasing the CO2 levels in a planet's atmosphere, causing rapid heating
::triggering the end credits before the movie is done

:They unexpectedly join forces with their old enemy...
::Boba Fett
::Salacious Crumb
::The Space Slug
::the bottom half of Darth Maul
::Youtube commenters

:...and destroy the superweapon in a battle featuring
::a bow that shoots little lightsaber-headed arrows
::X-Wings and TIE fighters dodging the giant letters of the opening crawl
::a Sith educational display that uses Force Lightning to demonstrate the dielectric breakdown of air
::Kylo Ren putting on another helmet over his smaller one
::a Sith car wash where the bristles on the brushes are little lightsabers

:P.S. Rey's parents are...
::Luke
::Leia
::Han
::Obi-Wan
::a random junk trader

:...and...
::Poe
::BB-8
::Amilyn Holdo
::Laura Dern
::a random junk trader
::that one droid from the Jawa Sandcrawler that says ''Gonk''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Programming]]

2240: Timeline of the Universe

2019-12-13T21:25:44Z

108.162.246.77: /* Events on the Timeline of the Universe */ Typo it -> if

{{comic
| number = 2240
| date = December 11, 2019
| title = Timeline of the Universe
| image = timeline_of_the_universe.png
| titletext = Not actual size, except technically at one spot near the left.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the BIG BANG. Should include a list of the events, their times, and if they're real, explain what they are, and if they're jokes, explain what they are. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about the size of the {{w|visible universe}}, presented as a timeline in a way typical of representations of the {{w|timeline of epochs in cosmology}}.

Some events it describes, including the {{w|Big Bang}} and {{w|Inflation (cosmology)|Inflation}} are real, but others are jokes, including the ''Medium Bang'' and ''Settling''. The size history of the visible universe is also embellished for the sake of jokes; the actual size history of the universe has one period referred to as Inflation, which occurred shortly after the Big Bang, followed by comparatively gentle but accelerating expansion. This is artistically depicted in [https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/media/060915/060915_CMB_Timeline150.jpg this image from NASA]. Part of the humor in this comic comes from the fact that the varied rate of change in expansion is not yet fully understood, with explanations of events leading to this change including theories such as "dark matter" and "dark energy" (this might therefore be construed as "dark humour"). At the end of the drawing four possible continuations of the timeline are suggested, with director J. J. Abrams listed as the deciding factor between them, stating that all future cosmological development has been handed over to him. Abrams directed the Star Trek movie entitled ''Star Trek'', which established additional alternate timelines for Star Trek, so it may be implied that multiple timelines could result from direction by Abrams in the future. Notably, each Star Trek series has included multiple interacting timelines. For information about each of the events shown in this comic's ''Timeline of the Universe'', see detailed explanations in the section [[#Events on the Timeline of the Universe|Events on the Timeline of the Universe]] below.

The title text is a variation of one of [[Randall|Randall's]] standard jokes that his drawings are ''Not actual size''; in the case of this comic there is technically one spot near the left where the drawing depicts the actual relative size of the universe at the time the drawing represents. Where his drawing begins, at the time when the universe began, per definition, our visible universe had no measurable size. Very soon (within a tiny fraction of an attosecond) after the universe as we know it began, the inflation period blew it up very very fast and then it continued to expand until present day. So at some "time" after the big bang, our visible universe would have had a size (i.e. diameter) that would be the same as any thickness of Randall's universe "line". Since the universe as depicted in the comic goes from infinitesimal size at the moment of the Big Bang to the full size of the universe today, at some point near the left there will be a point where Randall's representation would have the same size as the universe at the correct "time period". Of course a problem with this is that there was only a very very short time period after inflation where the diameter of the observable universe is on the same scale as this comic, and that point is neither indicated nor likely to be accurate in relation to the duration of time elapsed. According to an answer given [https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/32917/size-of-universe-after-inflation here] regarding the size of the visible universe after inflation, there is reason to believe that the size was still less than 1 mm in diameter when the stage of expansion known as Inflation ended, which is less than the thickness of the line shown at the Big Bang (depending on the screen size the comic is viewed upon); So the point along the timeline where the size of our visible universe matched the line width appears after the Inflation period is thought to have ended. Since Randall includes the ''Medium Bang'' before Inflation on his drawing he has already inserted a mistake there, but as the next three epochs after Inflation are real epochs, it is likely somewhere in this part of the drawing that the visible universe would have had the same diameter as the thickness of the drawing at a relevant time epoch on the drawing. This will thus not be that far to the left but around the Quark epoch.

===Events on the Timeline of the Universe===
The events presented in the timeline are:

* '''??''' (more than 13.8 billion years ago ({{w|Billion years|Gya}})): the unknown state of the universe prior to the Big Bang, if such a statement is even sensible. There are theories that our Universe is a bubble where inflation stopped (13.8 billion years ago in this universe) in an infinite and {{w|Eternal inflation|eternally inflating}} larger universe, which would give rise to the possibility of a {{w|multiverse}} with many bubble universes like ours where inflation has stopped. See for instance this recent video on the subject: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XglOw2_lozc How Many Universes Are There?] from PBS Space Time. If this is true, the universe did not start at the big bang, but our part of the infinite universe actually began when the inflation period stopped, and not at the Big Bang.
* '''{{w|Big Bang}}''' (13.8 Gya): The model of the origin of the universe which has achieved consensus among astronomers. We have observed that all galaxies are receding away from Earth at rates that are roughly proportional to their distance, and the simplest explanation for this is that the universe is expanding. If the universe is expanding, then (unless new physics are discovered) it must have at one time been very, very small and dense; that moment in time is called the Big Bang.
* '''{{w|Timeline_of_epochs_in_cosmology#Planck_epoch|Planck Epoch}}''': The time period starting from the Big Bang, the Planck epoch or Planck era is the earliest stage of expansion currently calculable, before the time passed was equal to the Planck time (tP, or approximately 10^-43 seconds). There is no currently available physical theory to describe such short times, and it is not clear in what sense the concept of time is meaningful for values smaller than the Planck time.
* '''Medium Bang''' (a joke): If there's a Big Bang, why not have a medium one? There should probably also be a Little Bang, but maybe it's just too little to be featured on this chart.
* '''{{w|Inflation (cosmology)|Inflation}}''' (10^-36 to 10^-32 seconds after the Big Bang): A theory developed to explain the large-scale structure of the universe that postulates a period when the universe expanded very much faster than the speed of light. (The universe still expands faster than the speed of light, but only 2-3 times as fast. The limit of the speed c, is only valid for things moving in space time, not for the stretching of space itself!)
* '''{{w|Timeline_of_epochs_in_cosmology#Quarks_epoch|Quark Epoch}}''' (10^-12 seconds after the Big Bang): The universe is a quark-gluon plasma, up until 10^-6 seconds when it cools enough to coalesce into hadrons, including protons and neutrons.
* '''{{w|Timeline_of_epochs_in_cosmology#Lepton_epoch|Lepton Epoch}}''' (1 second after the Big Bang): Leptons, including electrons, and their associated neutrinos dominate.
* '''{{w|Timeline_of_epochs_in_cosmology#Photon_epoch|Photon Epoch}}''' (10 seconds after the Big Bang): The universe is dominated by photons.
* '''Cool Bug Epoch''' (a joke): There was a period around 10-17 million years after the Big Bang in which the cosmic background radiation was between 273 and 373 K, the temperature range for liquid water, but as oxygen had not yet been formed, as stars were not yet there to create it, there would have been no water. Cosmologists {{w|Avi_Loeb#Early_Universe|have speculated}} that primitive life could have arisen during this period and dubbed it the 'Habitable Epoch of the Early Universe', although it's unclear how this life would have formed since there was basically only hydrogen and helium atoms in the universe until the first Super Nova explosions some 100 million years later. Possibly this is the epoch in which the "cool red beetle" which [[Beret Guy]] added to his company's bug tracker (see [[1493: Meeting]]), or the "friendly bug" he wanted to show to a conference speaker (see [[2191: Conference Question]]), evolved.
* '''Molded grip''' (a joke): Some tools (e.g. knives) have molded finger-wells so that the user's hand settles easily and securely into a comfortable position. This epoch of the universe features repeated expansions and contractions so that this part of the timeline resembles a molded grip, at least in profile (it would be much too large to be held by any known animal's hands{{Citation needed}}, and the finger-wells are distributed over time as well as space).
* '''{{w|Timeline_of_epochs_in_cosmology#Cosmic_Dark_Age|Stars form}}''' (100 million years after the Big Bang): The universe cools enough to allow ordinary matter particles to group into stars.
* '''{{w|Stagflation}}''' (a joke): In addition to ''cosmic'' inflation, inflation can also refer to the economic phenomenon in which prices increase over time. Stagflation is combination of the terms "stagnation" and "inflation", and refers to a situation in which monetary inflation is high, economic growth is slow, and job creation is low. This epoch of the universe shows the universe beginning to contract in size, much as economists would talk about an economy contracting.
* '''Settling''' (a joke): Thanks to government intervention and quantitative easing of the {{w|cosmological constant}}, or perhaps the judicious use of the Universe Control Panel, the contraction of the universe has halted.
* '''Rebound''' (a joke): Consumer confidence has returned to the universe and it has begun expanding again. Alternatively, Settling and Rebound could be a reference to crustal rebound as the mere Earth occasionally shrinks and re-expands its surface. After all, Plate Tectonics games are fun when they are played in Real Time.
* '''Someone tripped and accidentally hit the "Inflation" switch again''' (a joke). This switch must be on the Universe Control panel referenced both in [[1620: Christmas Settings]] and in [[1763: Catcalling]].
* '''Emergency Stop triggered''' (a joke). Also on the Universe Control panel see previous entry.
* '''{{w|Timeline_of_epochs_in_cosmology#Galaxy_epoch|Galaxies form}}''' (12.8 Gya)
* '''{{w|Formation_and_evolution_of_the_Solar_System#Formation_of_the_planets|Earth forms}}''' (4.5 Gya)
* '''Present day'''
* '''Future cosmological development handed over to {{w|J.J. Abrams}}, outcome unknown''' (a joke): J.J. Abrams is a science-fiction writer and filmmaker. If he were in charge of the future development of the cosmos, he might decide to subject all of us to some strange plot twist. Among many other movies, he has directed the 2009 reboot of ''{{w|Star Trek (film)|Star Trek}}'', in which the "future history" of ''Star Trek'' is altered from the timeline of the original series by Nero and Spock traveling backwards in time. He also has directed other "Star" films, including ''{{w|Star Wars: The Force Awakens}}'', and ''{{w|Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker}}'' (to be released a few weeks after the publishing of this comic). He is also involved in the {{w|Mission: Impossible (film series)|Mission: Impossible}} films.
**The dashed lines coming off the end of the timeline represent the possible fates of the universe:
*** The one curving in represents that the universe could stop expanding and begin contracting, resulting in the {{w|Big Crunch}}. In our universe, cosmological measurements have shown that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, so the Big Crunch is considered to be the least likely fate.
*** The second curve continuing the trend from before represents that the universe could settle into thermal equilibrium, which would leave no energy available for any interesting phenomena to occur. This is called the {{w|heat death of the universe}} or "Big Freeze".
*** The fourth curve represents that the universe's expansion will continue accelerating, eventually very rapidly, to the point that the accelerating expansion overcomes all forces between particles, turning the universe into a collection of particles isolated from each other by rapidly-expanding space. This is called the {{w|Big Rip}}.
***In between the second and fourth curve there seems to be something in between where the universe expansion accelerates and then slows down again. We have so far seen the expansion rate decelerate in the early life of the universe where the gravity of the more compact universe slowed the expansion, but then this turned around to an {{w|Timeline_of_epochs_in_cosmology#Acceleration|acceleration}} after about 9 billion years as the distance between galaxy clusters became so large that dark energy became the dominant force, causing the universe expansion to accelerate. So who knows if this could change again... At present our understanding says that the universe expansion-rate will keep accelerating. But left to J. J. Abrams, then the outcome is unknown. These four options represents both what we have theories for and what J. J. might come up with.

==Transcript==
:[A large header is above the main drawing:]
:<big>'''Timeline of the Universe'''</big>

:[The drawing shows a diagram of the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang (left) to the present right with lines indicating possible futures continuing right of the main drawing. The drawing is that of a black horn of plenty, very thin to the left and then it becomes broader, mainly in steps but also slightly between each step. n a few places the diameter decreases a bit. Along the "tube" are segments divided with thin white lines, with about equal distance between them. The first 20 the tube is black, but then stars form, shown as many white dots, and finally in the last 3-4 segments galaxies are shown. At the top and bottom of the opening to the right there are four dashed lines which behaves the same way. Two points inward, two continue the trend from before they begin, two goes out fast again, and then falls back to slow increase, and two goes almost straight up and down. At the far left there is a line going in to a small dot. On the line before the dot are two questions mark. A line points to the dot which has a starburst around it. It represents the Big Bang. After this firs labeled point on the drawing there are mange other labeled sections with a line going from the label to a segment on the drawing. There are 9 above, 9 below and one at each end. The one at the right end pointing to the four dashed future lines at the top. From left to right in the order they are labeled on the timeline, the labels are:]
:??
:Big Bang
:[The Universe comes in as a circle with action lines around it. It stays the same size for a while.]
:Planck Epoch
:Medium Bang
:[The Universe starts inflating very slowly]
:Inflation
:[The Universe briefly inflates very rapidly, and returns to its normal rate of expansion.]
:Quark Epoch
:Lepton Epoch
:Photon Epoch
:Cool Bug Epoch
:[The Universe starts inflating and deflating rapidly, forming a series of bumps in the universe diagram like the grip on a hand tool.]
:Molded grip
:[Stars appear in the timeline. The Universe starts inflating slightly faster than before.]
:Stars form
:Stagflation
:[The Universe starts deflating slowly.]
:Settling
:Rebound
:[The Universe starts inflating slowly again.]
:Someone tripped and accidentally hit the "Inflation" switch again
:[The Universe starts inflating at the same rate as the Inflation section.]
:Emergency Stop triggered
:[The Universe abruptly stops inflating, and stays level.]
:[Galaxies appear in the timeline. The Universe starts inflating at a medium pace.]
:Galaxies form
:Earth forms
:Present day
:[We see the edge of the Universe, with a rounded shape. Various dotted line predictions are on the edges.]
:Future Cosmological development handed over to J.J. Abrams, outcome unknown

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

1925: Self-Driving Car Milestones

2019-01-07T21:10:22Z

108.162.246.77: /* Milestones */ removed unnecessary words

{{comic
| number = 1925
| date = December 6, 2017
| title = Self-Driving Car Milestones
| image = self_driving_car_milestones.png
| titletext = I'm working on a car capable of evaluating arbitrarily complex boolean expressions on "honk if [...]" bumper stickers and responding accordingly.
}}

==Explanation==
With the creation of self driving cars, many new milestones are being found and / or solved thanks to them. Some are good, and some are downright weird. This comic lists some that have already been achieved, some that that are being worked on, and some that are facetious "milestones".

===Milestones===

;Automatic emergency brakes
:This is another reference to how hard it can be to program human-obvious stuff (as in [[1425: Tasks]]). A self driving car has to be able to distinguish a danger (cliff, person on foot/cycle/etc., other cars coming the wrong way/doing weird stuff) from the side of the road, the background, the other cars or even a light pole safely standing on the side of the road. Then the car also has to decide the optimal response, taking into account weather conditions, road type and traffic - whether to turn aside, just slow down (as danger is not imminent), or actually do the strong brake. There are big potential advantages for self-driving cars, if this problem can be solved: computers don't tend to panic as much as humans, would have faster reaction times, and would have {{w|Autonomous_car#Safety|more reliable judgment}}.

;Highway lane-keeping
:Sometimes, especially on highways where road delimitations might be [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Route_66_2073773569_7b3fae3b91_b.jpg/220px-Route_66_2073773569_7b3fae3b91_b.jpg faint or absent], or when lane markings could have faded away, a self-driving car programmed to pilot based on road markings would have issues holding to the correct side of the road. This is a bigger problem on highways than in cities, as cars move faster on highways, so the danger detection mentioned above might not manage to detect danger in time, while braking or avoiding the obstacle needs to be anticipated much more.

;Self-parking
:Already implemented in recent normal cars, this feature is important to remove the car from the road while not in use, and is sometimes considered a difficult maneuver for drivers to master, as it requires a good "feeling" of the car dimensions, as well as of distances and maneuverability of the car, and information about surrounding barriers. The latter parameters, being easy to sense with radar and back-camera aide, are made more reliable with computers.

;Full highway autonomy
:The ability for a car to drive itself on a highway. As of 2017, there are [http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a13615577/self-driving-cars-lane-wisconsin/ plans] under consideration to set highway lanes aside for self-driving cars, but this milestone would require a car to be able to operate on a highway that also has human-driven cars, as well as wildlife, pedestrians, debris, and other obstacles, should they enter the highway.

;First sex in a self-driving car
:This is not a milestone for the cars themselves, but just the age-old practice of having sex in cars, performed in a car that happens to be self-driving. Whether or not this would happen while the car is in motion (other than that induced by the passengers) or on a public road is not specified, though both are implied. Given the nature of human sexuality, it is probable this has already happened, but there has not been a public documentation of this milestone.{{Citation needed}}

;Full trips with no input from driver
:The main point of self-driving cars, allowing all humans within to act as passengers. As of 2017, self-driving cars require a human to be able to take over just in case, but any such trip where the human never actually took control would qualify for this milestone. However, there could be an additional joke here that the car is driving without human input ''including the destination.'' In this case, the car itself is choosing where to go, leaving the humans helpless.

;Full trips by empty cars
:A more complete version of the above, since with no humans present, no human can take control. This could be considered fulfilled by the {{w|DARPA Grand Challenge}} entrants, as the challenges are racing competitions of autonomous cars with no humans on board.

;Self-refueling of empty cars
:This would require either: a robotic fuel station, able to refuel cars with humans inside as well; an ordinary full-service fuel station (that is, one where the station's employee performs the refueling of the car) that happens to service a self-driving car with no humans aboard (which could be arranged as a publicity stunt); a specially designed fuel station that would allow self-driving cars to refuel by docking to it (likely to require fine control of the docking procedure that would render it unsuitable for more fallible human-driven cars); or, perhaps least likely, a robotic arm attachment on the car that would allow it to use a normal self-service fuel station. Currently [https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/6/9109027/tesla-model-s-snake-charger-elon-musk Tesla's robotic charging station] is the closest thing to this accomplishment.

;An empty car wandering the highways for months or years until someone notices the credit card fuel charges
:The first completely facetious milestone of the list (since "first sex", despite having little to do with self-driving cars, has probably happened). Cars are expensive enough that, were one to drive itself off and wander, some effort would be made to track it down. As this would require the self-refueling milestone, local fuel stations could be alerted to look for the "rogue" car—and in any case, whatever payment method is used to pay for the fuel would be traced.

;Cars that read other cars' bumper stickers before deciding whether to cut them off
:Another facetious milestone, implying self-driving cars might obtain the capacity to hold and act upon opinions that might override safety and efficiency of transit. This would be generally considered undesirable{{Citation needed}}, so this seems unlikely to actually happen, except perhaps as an unintended consequence of runaway self-learning.

;Autonomous engine revving at red lights
:Mimicking the human practice. This is often done by human drivers who wish to draw attention to their car and then speed off as quickly as possible once the light turns green, but is regarded by most as being a nuisance. As such, this is an unlikely goal for self-driving cars to achieve.

;Self-loathing cars
:This would require cars to become sentient enough to understand, and have negative opinions about, themselves. Depending on one's definition, though, self-diagnostic software might qualify, as they would be running on a car's computer and could express a negative opinion about the car (albeit normally limited to the context of the car needing maintenance).

;Autonomous canyon jumping
:Although it seems unlikely that a navigation routine would ever decide that jumping a canyon is part of an optimal route, a car could be programmed to jump a canyon as part of a stunt or show, with no human driver (or any other human aboard) at the time of the jump. It is questionable how "autonomous" such a car would be, though. Could also be a reference to the next point, with another popular setting in below mentioned discussions: "should a self-driving car leave the road and drive into a canyon, which will kill the driver (and passengers), or stay on the road and kill others?". Possibly a reference to [https://electrek.co/2017/04/19/tesla-model-s-crash-cliff-save-life/ when a Tesla was driven off a cliff] and the driver and his passenger survived without injury. The car was not on autopilot at the time. Could also be a reference to the previous point where the car develops enough self-loathing to want to commit suicide. Or it may be a reference to [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0620882/ certain Knight Rider episodes.]

;Cars capable of arguing about the trolley problem on {{w|Facebook}}
:The {{w|Trolley problem}} is a well-known thought experiment in ethics, in which a person must choose between passively allowing several people to die, or actively causing a single person to die. With the increasing likelihood of fully autonomous vehicles, there's been a flurry of interest in this problem, centered around what a vehicle should be programmed to do in such a case (for example, if avoiding a high-speed collision required running over a pedestrian). Munroe seems to mock this debate by arguing that the true milestone would not be when the vehicle can make such a decision, but when it can argue about it on Facebook. This may refer to the idea that humans aren't capable of agreeing on a resolution to the problem, so expecting a vehicle to resolve it would be less reasonable than expecting it to be able to debate. On the day this comic was released the Youtube channel Vsauce posted a video, [https://youtu.be/1sl5KJ69qiA The Greater Good - Mind Field S2 (Ep 1)], where they tested people's reactions to the trolley problem in a fake situation where the subjects genuinely believed they were in a situation where they where choosing between saving five from an oncoming train by killing one on another track. Given such a coincidence, it is extremely likely that this milestone was added after Munroe saw the episode.

;Evaluating arbitrarily complex Boolean expressions on "honk if [...]" bumper stickers and responding accordingly (title text)
:As with the cut-off milestone, this implies development of artificial intelligence unrelated to the basic functions of a car, though still imitating human drivers' behavior. This joke is a reference to [[1033| a previous comic about honking and formal logic]].

==Transcript==

:Upcoming and recently-achieved
:'''Self-driving car milestones'''

:* Automatic emergency braking
:* Highway lane-keeping
:* Self-parking
:* Full highway autonomy
:* First sex in a self-driving car
:* Full trips with no input from driver
:* Full trips by empty cars
:* An empty car wandering the highways for months or years until someone notices the credit card fuel charges
:* Cars that read other cars' bumper stickers before deciding whether to cut them off
:* Autonomous engine revving at red lights
:* Self-loathing cars
:* Autonomous canyon jumping
:* Cars capable of arguing about the trolley problem on Facebook

==Trivia==
*The Trolley problem became part of the joke a month after this comic in [[1938: Meltdown and Spectre]]. And earlier, in [[1455: Trolley Problem]], it is even the entire subject.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Self-driving cars]]
[[Category:Sex]]

2059: Modified Bayes' Theorem

2018-12-27T21:00:42Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */ Looks good.

{{comic
| number = 2059
| date = October 15, 2018
| title = Modified Bayes' Theorem
| image = modified_bayes_theorem.png
| titletext = Don't forget to add another term for "probability that the Modified Bayes' Theorem is correct."
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Bayes' Theorem}} is an equation in statistics that gives the probability of a given hypothesis accounting not only for a single experiment or observation but also for your existing knowledge about the hypothesis, i.e. its prior probability. Randall's modified form of the equation also purports to account for the probability that you are indeed applying Bayes' Theorem itself correctly by including that as a term in the equation.

Bayes' theorem is:
:<math>P(H \mid X) = \frac{P(X \mid H) \, P(H)}{P(X)}</math>
:*''P(H | X)'' is the probability that ''H'', the hypothesis, is true given observation ''X''. This is called the ''posterior probability''.
:*''P(X | H)'' is the probability that observation ''X'' will appear given the truth of hypothesis ''H''. This term is often called the ''likelihood''.
:*''P(H)'' is the probability that hypothesis ''H'' is true before any observations. This is called the ''prior'', or ''belief''.
:*''P(X)'' is the probability of the observation ''X'' regardless of any hypothesis might have produced it. This term is called the ''marginal likelihood''.

The purpose of Bayesian inference is to discover something we want to know (how likely is it that our explanation is correct given the evidence we've seen) by mathematically expressing it in terms of things we can find out: how likely are our observations, how likely is our hypothesis ''a priori'', and how likely are we to see the observations we've seen assuming our hypothesis is true. A Bayesian learning system will iterate over available observations, each time using the likelihood of new observations to update its priors (beliefs) with the hope that, after seeing enough data points, the prior and posterior will converge to a single model.

The probability always has a value between zero and one, the latter value represents a 100% probability. Both extremes would be:
*If ''P(C)=1'' the modified theorem reverts to the original Bayes' theorem (which makes sense, as a probability one would mean certainty that you are using Bayes' theorem correctly).
*If ''P(C)=0'' the modified theorem becomes ''P(H | X) = P(H)'', which says that the belief in your hypothesis is not affected by the result of the observation.

It is a {{w|Linear interpolation|linear-interpolated}} weighted average of the belief from before the calculation and the belief after applying the theorem correctly. This goes smoothly from not believing the calculation at all up to be fully convinced to it.

Bayesian statistics is often contrasted with "frequentist" statistics. For a frequentist, ''probability'' is defined as the limit of the relative frequency after a large number of trials. So to a frequentist the notion of "Probability that you are using Bayesian Statistics correctly" is meaningless: One cannot do repeated trials, even in principle. A Bayesian considers probability to be a quantification of personal belief, and so concepts such as "Probability that you are using Bayesian Statistics correctly" is meaningful. However since the value of such subjective prior probablities cannot be independently determined, the value of P(H|X) cannot be objectively found.

The title text suggests that an additional term should be added for the probability that the Modified Bayes Theorem is correct. But that's ''this'' equation, so it would make the formula self-referential, unless we call the result the Modified Modified Bayes Theorem. It could also result in an infinite regress -- needing another term for the probability that the version with the probability added is correct, and another term for that version, and so on. If the modifications have a limit, then a Modifiedω Bayes Theorem would be the result, but then another term for whether it's correct is needed, leading to the Modifiedω+1 Bayes Theorem, and so on through every {{w|ordinal number}}.

Modified theories are often suggested in science when the measurements doesn't fit the original theory. An example is the {{w|Modified Newtonian dynamics}} theory, among many others, in which some physicists try to explain dark matter with not much success.

==Transcript==
:[The comic shows a formula with a header in gray on top:]
:Modified Bayes' theorem:

:[The formula:]
:P(H|X) = P(H) × (1 + P(C) × ( P(X|H)/P(X) - 1 ))

:[Variables and functions are described also in gray:]
:H: Hypothesis
:X: Observation
:P(H): Prior probability that H is true
:P(X): Prior probability of observing X
:P(C): Probability that you're using Bayesian statistics correctly

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Statistics]]

2086: History Department

2018-12-27T20:57:41Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2086
| date = December 17, 2018
| title = History Department
| image = history_department.png
| titletext = When we take into account the recent discovery of previously-unstudied history in the 1750s, this year may have been an outright loss.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DISGRUNTLED HISTORIAN. There appears to be no explanation. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic [[Ponytail]] is a representative of the history department, which might be a department of a university or other organisation. She presents the year report of 2018. In this, she explains, the department has fully analyzed over four months of history. In the meantime, due to the passage of time, another year of history has been added to their workload (implied to be the year spanning between the current meeting and the previous one). This presents a cycle in which the department would only be able to keep up if they could analyze, within a one year period, more than or exactly one year of history.

A department in a business, such as the finance department, is typically required to keep up with their own workload and complete an entire year's worth of workload every year. A business that fails to manage this minimum would almost certainly fail: bills would not get collected, invoices would not get paid, employees would not get paid, etc. A history department fails to follow this model in two very important ways. First, the subject of history cannot be fully processed. New discoveries change what we know about certain time periods. Even current events cannot be fully processed, as future events will cause historians to see connections in things not previously thought to be connected. Second, the standard model for History Departments focuses on specific eras or specific subjects for the purpose of explaining the events to students. History Departments do not process years, but instead process the subject so that it stays relevant to the understanding of the current student body.

There are, however, long running historical projects that have suffered this very problem. An example is the {{w|Histoire_littéraire_de_la_France| Histoire littéraire de la France}} which began publication in 1733 with a volume covering up to the year 300. By 1995 over 40 volumes had been published, but the historical account had only reached the 14th century. The volumes for the 14th century had taken 130 years to produce. Although over the 250 years of the project publication had been proceeding faster than time elapsed, the proliferation of literary content following the dawn of printing in the 15th century is likely to cause the project to slip further into reverse.

The title text further expands this problem by indicating the discovery of a new era of history that had previously gone un-analyzed, which would have added more undiscovered history than it removed. The 1750s decade is possibly a reference to the {{w|Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Great_Britain_and_its_colonies|adoption of the Gregorian Calendar by the British Empire}}.

Randall previously mentioned that history is huge in [[1979: History]].

Events in the dates listed:
* November 1833: A Leonid meteor shower occurred in North America ({{w|Leonids#1800s}}); an 8.7 {{w|1833_Sumatra_earthquake| earthquake struck Sumatra}}.

* April 19-22, 1979: April 20: {{w|Jimmy_Carter_rabbit_incident| President Jimmy Carter was attacked by a swamp rabbit}}. This was referenced directly in [[204: America]], so is most likely the reason this period has been included; April 22: the {{w|Albert Einstein Memorial}} was unveiled at The National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC.

* May 21-25, 585 BCE: Possibly a reference to the solar eclipse that actually happened May 28, 585 BCE, or to the war between King Alyattes of Lydia and King Cyaxares of Media that ended after said solar eclipse.

* June-August 1848:
:* June – The {{w|Serbians}} from {{w|Vojvodina}} start a rebellion against the Hungarian government.
:* June 2–June 12 – The {{w|Prague Slavic Congress, 1848|Prague Slavic Congress}} brings together members of the {{w|Pan-Slavism}} movement.
:* June 17 – The Austrian army bombards {{w|Prague}}, and crushes a working class revolt.
:* June 21 – {{w|Wallachian Revolution of 1848}}: The {{w|Proclamation of Islaz}} is made public, and a {{w|Romanians|Romanian}} revolutionary government led by {{w|Ion Heliade Rădulescu}} and {{w|Christian Tell}} is created.
:* June 22 – The French government dissolves the national workshops in Paris, giving the workers the choice of joining the army or going to workshops in the provinces. The following day, the {{w|June Days Uprising}} begin in response.
:* July – The {{w|Public Health Act 1848|Public Health Act}} establishes {{w|Local board of health|Boards of Health}} across {{w|England and Wales}}.
:* July 5 – The Hungarian national revolutionary parliament starts to work.
:* July 19 – {{w|Women's rights}} – {{w|Seneca Falls Convention}}: The 2-day {{w|Women's Rights Convention}} opens in {{w|Seneca Falls, New York}} and "{{w|Bloomers (clothing)|Bloomers}}" are introduced at the {{w|feminism|feminist}} convention.
:* July 26 – The {{w|Matale Rebellion}} breaks out, against {{w|British Ceylon|British rule}} in {{w|Sri Lanka}}.
:* July 29 – {{w|Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848|Young Irelander Rebellion}}: A nationalist revolt in {{w|County Tipperary}}, against British rule, is put down by the {{w|Royal Irish Constabulary|Irish Constabulary}}.
:* August 6 – {{w|HMS Daedalus (1826)|HMS ''Daedalus''}} reports a sighting of a sea serpent.
:* August 14 – American President {{w|James K. Polk}} annexes the {{w|Oregon Country}}, and renames it the {{w|Oregon Territory}} as part of the United States.
:* August 17 – {{w|Yucatán}} officially unites with Mexico.
:* August 24 – The U.S. barque ''{{w|Ocean Monarch (barque)|Ocean Monarch}}'' is burnt out off the {{w|Great Orme}}, {{w|North Wales}}, with the loss of 178, chiefly emigrants.
:* August 28 – Mathieu Luis becomes the first black member to join the {{w|French Parliament}}, as a representative of {{w|Guadeloupe}}.

* May 16, 2001: The {{w|neo-noir}} mystery film {{w|Mullholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive}} premiered at the {{w|2001 Cannes Film Festival|2001}} {{w|Cannes Film Festival}}. In addition, the Timothy McVeigh execution was originally scheduled for this date.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is standing behind a lectern holding a hand up indicating the presentation screen next to her with a list of time periods. The screen has a string ending in ring, attached to it, to pull it down.]
:Ponytail: 2018 was a productive year for the history department - we were able to fully analyze over four months of history.
:Ponytail: Unfortunately, over that same period, an entire year of new history was produced.
:Ponytail: I'm afraid we're falling behind.

:[Presentation:]
:Studied
:November 1833
:April 19-22, 1979
:May 21-25, 585 BCE
:June-August 1848
:May 16, 2001

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Science]]

2083: Laptop Issues

2018-12-10T17:10:44Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2083
| date = December 10, 2018
| title = Laptop Issues
| image = laptop_issues.png
| titletext = Hang on, we got a call from the feds. They say we can do whatever with him, but the EPA doesn't want that laptop in the ocean. They're sending a team.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Edited by a beleaguered tech support user. Horribly incomplete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] goes to tech support with his laptop. [[Hairy]] and [[Ponytail]] are waiting behind the counter; one has dealt with [[Category:Cueball Computer Problems|Cueball's bizarre tech issues]] before, and warns the other. Sure enough, Cueball sets the computer down and offers a detailed list of the arcane problems his computer is giving him.

{|class="wikitable"
| ''My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.''
| A common problem; as batteries are frequently charged and recharged, their capacity for storing charge deteriorates. However...
|-
| ''Tried [replacing the battery]. Now the new ones won't either.''
| ...the problem persisting despite the battery's replacement fails to make any significant sense. It my be a problem with his laptop's charging port, but his comment that the "new ones" now fail to hold a charge seems to imply it is persisting despite the replacement batteries being used elsewhere after attempting to use them for his laptop and failing..
|-
| ''Also, random files get corrupted on the first of every month. Factory reset didn't help either.''
| Some devices may be scheduled to do a "disk cleanup" on the first of every month. Somehow, this task is corrupting files that should be kept.
|-
| ''When it's plugged in, I get static from my plumbing.''
| Static charge from a portable device while it's charging is common. Static charge from ''elsewhere in the building'' while the portable device is charging... not so much.
|-
| ''And it reboots if someone uses an arc welder nearby''
| Setting aside the question of why Cueball is using his laptop around an arc welder (although he doesn't specify what qualifies as "nearby"), the high power draw of an arc welder will occasionally cause less devoted power supplies to flicker. For some reason, this is causing his laptop to reboot instead.
|-
| ''Transition(R) lenses go dark when exposed to the screen''
| Transition lenses in prescription glasses darken when exposed directly to UV rays; this is to avoid the wearer any hassle of needing prescription sunglasses. This seems to indicate that the screen of Cueball's laptop is emitting UV radiation.
|-
| ''and when I open too many tabs, it fogs any nearby photographic film.''
| The screen would have to emitting X-rays that can pass through the film's container and expose the film. This may be a reference to the scifi book series The Three Body Problem, where one character finds that all of his pictures become blurred, no matter how they were taken.
|}

The sheer incongruity of everything Cueball has reported, in combination with past issues, leads Hairy to report that his manager has authorized Cueball and his laptop be thrown into the ocean so that their plague upon the earth may no longer spread. Cueball, having surrendered to his inability to use technology, accepts this without objection.

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

:[Cueball is walking past a sign reading "Tech Support," with a right-pointing arrow and carrying a laptop.]
:Off panel voice #1: Oh, No.
:Off panel voice #2: What?
:Off panel voice #1: This guy. He has the worst tech problems.

:[Cueball at tech support desk with closed laptop on desk. Short-hair guy and Ponytail are there.]
:Cueball: My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.
:Short-hair guy: We can replace it.
:Cueball: Tried that. Now the new ones won't either.

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: Also, random files get corrupted on the first day of every month. Factory reset didn't help.
:Off panel voice #2: You weren't kidding.

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: When it's plugged in, I get static shocks from my plumbing.
:Off panel voice: What the...
:Cueball: And it reboots if someone uses an arc welder nearby.

:[Same tableau as second panel except that the laptop is slightly open now.]
:Cueball: Transitions® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen, and when I open too many tabs, it fogs nearby photographic film.
:Short-hair guy: We don't usually do this, but I've gotten permission from my manager to have you and the laptop hurled into the ocean.
:Cueball: That's probably for the best.

{{comic discussion}}

Category:Cueball's computer problems

2018-07-01T06:50:27Z

108.162.246.77:

A list of comics in which [[Cueball]] has the most ''bizzare'' tech issues.

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1912: Thermostat

2018-07-01T06:47:34Z

108.162.246.77: I think this worked, but

{{comic
| number = 1912
| date = November 6, 2017
| title = Thermostat
| image = thermostat.png
| titletext = Your problem is so terrible, I worry that, if I help you, I risk drawing the attention of whatever god of technology inflicted it on you.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Hairy]] is working at a tech support office, and receives a call from [[Cueball]]. After the scripted greeting, Cueball, who [[1084|has the]] [[1586|most bizarre]] [[1700|tech issues]], tells Hairy that his thermostat – a single-purpose device used to control indoor heating and air conditioning – is showing an error screen from the {{w|Android operating system}}, and asking if he wants to partition the volume. The Android error seems to imply that it is trying to mount a file with {{w|.doc}} extension (likely a [[1459|Microsoft Word document]]) as the {{w|Boot_device|boot device}}. An added twist is the "(1)" in the filename, which is commonly appended when a user attempts to copy a file into a directory that already has a file with the same name. Furthermore, the extension {{w|.docx}} has been the default option from Microsoft Office 2007 onwards rather than the earlier .doc extension used in the comic, implying that the file is likely a rather old one.

The error message suggests a system problem at a low level of the device. Not only is the operating system missing, but the device is trying to locate the operating system inside a Microsoft Word document, something that has little to do with regulation of temperature and probably has no way of getting onto the device in the first place, let alone being considered as a bootable file.

This is so abnormal that Hairy is briefly struck silent and, upon recovering, he suggests Cueball {{tvtropes|SuicideBySea|walk into the sea}} as a form of suicide, rather than try to solve the issue.

The title text elaborates that the situation is so absurd that it must be divine punishment, so Hairy does not want to try and help him for fear of invoking the wrath of whatever deity is issuing it. An example of such reasoning in literary culture can be found in the character of {{w|Aeolus_(son_of_Hippotes)|Aeolus}} in the ''{{w|Odyssey}}'', who, having made an unsuccessful attempt to assist {{w|Odysseus}} by giving him a bag containing unfavorable winds, refused to provide further assistance on the grounds that the gods were clearly hostile to Odysseus.

Part of the humor is in the problem being only a slight exaggeration of real software issues. The symptoms are unlikely, yet possible (a thermostat could be running Android and could generate a report as a .doc file; given some data corruption, the name of the .doc file could get into the boot script and a volume could appear unpartitioned). It would take an expert Android or Unix engineer to fix, particularly on an embedded device with no obvious way to connect remotely or attach a keyboard. In real life, it would probably be easier to just replace an embedded device whose software was this broken.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy, with a headset on, is sitting in an office chair at a desk with his hands ready on the keyboard of his computer.]
:Hairy: Tech support, how can I help you?

:[Cueball is on his smartphone while looking at a small blinking panel on the wall in front of him.]
:Cueball: The little LCD on my thermostat says ''Error: Android system recovery: Unrecognized boot volume "/MONTHLY ENERGY REPORT (1).DOC"

:[In a frame-less beat panel Hairy just stares at his screen with his hands on his lap.]

:[Back to Cueball, now with Hairy's reply coming from the smartphone in a box with a jagged arrow pointing to the smartphone.]
:Cueball: It's asking if I want to partition the volume. What should I do?
:Hairy (on the phone): Have you tried walking into the sea.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-23T22:31:30Z

108.162.246.77: /* Taxes */

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

====Taxes====
Taxes are money that governments collect from people under their jurisdiction in order to fund government agencies providing public services. To answer White Hat's other questions:
* Almost every adult with income needs to pay taxes (or at least submit a tax return showing no taxes owed).
* Tax returns and payments are submitted to the government (Internal Revenue Service for federal taxes in the US).
* Do not leave money in your mailbox.
* The amount is calculated based on income and deductions as defined by applicable tax laws.
* How much they need is defined by the government's budget, which is renewed periodically.
* How the economy is doing does have some impact on how the budget is planned.
* Stock prices only have an effect on one's personal taxes if one traded stocks during the tax year that resulted in personal gains or losses.
* Do not leave money in your mailbox!

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

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

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

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

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

{{comic discussion}}

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

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-23T22:23:41Z

108.162.246.77: /* Taxes */

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

====Taxes====
Taxes are money that governments collect from people under their jurisdiction in order to fund government agencies providing public services. To answer White Hat's other questions:
* Almost every adult with income needs to pay taxes (or at least submit a tax return).
* Tax returns and payments are submitted to the government (Internal Revenue Service for federal taxes in the US).
* Do not leave money in your mailbox.
* The amount is calculated based on income and deductions as defined by applicable tax laws.
* How much they need is defined by the government's budget, which is renewed periodically. How the economy is doing does have some impact on how the budget is planned.
* Stock prices only have an effect on one's personal taxes if one traded stocks during the tax year that resulted in personal gains or losses.

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

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

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

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

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

{{comic discussion}}

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

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-23T20:40:14Z

108.162.246.77: /* Topics */

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

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a typical xkcd Adult... so need more... Add explanation of what Stock, what personal data is and what the economy and tax is as well. Maybe a table? PLEASE. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

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

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

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

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

'''Personal data'''

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

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

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

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

'''The economy'''

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

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

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

'''Stocks'''

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

The value of stocks depends on a subjective valuation of the company. Stock price generally rises if the company is doing well and investors expect it to keep growing and make more profit. It generally falls if the company is doing poorly and investors don't see a brighter future. However, it is also influenced easily by external factors like political climate, release of (mis-)information, or even investors' mood. It is very hard even for experts to predict stock price movements accurately.

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

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

'''Taxes'''

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

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

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

{{comic discussion}}

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

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-23T17:18:17Z

108.162.246.77:

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-23T17:10:46Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-23T17:07:48Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */

1971: Personal Data

2018-03-23T17:03:14Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */

1873: Email Reply

2017-08-07T16:32:40Z

108.162.246.77: /* Basic explanation for the comic. Will need further information. */

{{comic
| number = 1873
| date = August 7, 2017
| title = Email Reply
| image = email_reply.png
| titletext = I would be honored, but I know I don't belong in your network. The person you invited was someone who had not yet inflicted this two-year ordeal upon you. I'm no longer that person.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Not very much meaning? - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} Cueball is sitting at his desk writing an email. He is responding to Kevin, who sent him an email ''two years'' ago. Cueball has apparently suffered a mental breakdown in the past two years, and hasn't responded to Kevin's email. Following two paragraphs of Cueball saying sorry, he gets to business. He says he must decline Kevin's request to join his 'professional network on LinkedIn. The title text continues this, suggesting that Cueball has changed since he received the email.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball sits at a desk, typing on a laptop. The following message is displayed above him:]

:Dear Kevin,

:I'm sorry it's taken me two years to reply to your email. I've built up so much stress and anxiety around my email inbox; it's an unhealthy dynamic which is more psychological than technical. I've tried one magical solution after another, and as each one has failed, deep down I've grown more certain that the problem isn't email – it's me.

:Regardless, these are my issues, not yours; you're my friend, and I owe you the basic courtesy of a response. I apologize for my neglect, and I hope you haven't been too hurt by my failure to reply.

:Anyway, I appreciate your invitation to join your professional network on LinkedIn, but I'm afraid I must decline...

{{comic discussion}}

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

1811: Best-Tasting Colors

2017-03-18T00:47:10Z

108.162.246.77:

{{comic
| number = 1811
| date = March 15, 2017
| title = Best-Tasting Colors
| image = best_tasting_colors.png
| titletext = I recognize that chocolate is its own thing on which reasonable people may differ. Everything else here is objective fact.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Add and fill in a table for the various foods used. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] rates colors based on tastiness of various flavors the colors are typically associated with, probably in jellybeans. The colors are sorted, with the highest ranking colors at the top. Within each color, several individual items are placed at points marked by dots along a tastiness X-axis. For example, watermelon is rated as less tasty than cotton candy, within the pink color band.

Several colors contain regions along their axes labeled as "???". It is not clear what the purpose of these is. Perhaps they indicate regions in which Randall is unable to think of any examples, and is inviting the reader to speculate. For instance, are there any pink-colored foods more tasty than watermelon (5.5, on a scale from 1 to 9) but less tasty than cotton candy (8.5)?

A couple of the question marks imply an arbitrary tastiness assigned to a color that is not derived from an actual data point, however. For instance, the only blue datapoint is "blue raspberry", assigned a ranking of 5.5. But the range assigned to blue as a whole is 4 to 8. The regions either side of blue raspberry are labelled with ???.

In the title text, Randall asserts that his rankings of colors and flavors are indisputable (with the exception of chocolate). This is a jab at the reception of his previous comic [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]], a comic ranking fruits based on their tastiness which Randall claims is the most controversial piece he has ever published.

===Table===

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col"| Color
! scope="col"| Item
! scope="col"| Explanation
! scope="col"| Rating (Approx.)
|-
|Pink
|{{w|Cotton Candy}}
|Randall seems to like cotton candy. This treat is sold in many places, most notably carnivals.
|95%
|-
|Pink
|Watermelon
| Watermelon is a fruit that is used as a processed candy flavoring, especially in hard candies, and is usually very sweet and pink in color. It is made of 95 percent actual water.
|63%
|-
|Red
|Strawberry
|Strawberries are a red, seeded fruit which are usually sweet and red. They are of relatively small size.
|93%
|-
|Red
|Cherry
|Cherries are red fruits that are normally very tart in taste.
|86%
|-
|Red
|Raspberry
|Raspberries are reddish-pink fruits (though Randall lists them under red) that are in the more tart category of fruits.
|55%
|-
|Blue
|Blue Raspberry
|Rare in pure form, blue raspberries are, well, self-descriptive. Most prominent in being used as a popular frozen drink flavor (alongside cherry).
|57%
|-
|Green
|Green Apple
|Green apples are usually more sweet than red apples, which are not listed, and are Randall's favorite apple. He mentioned a dislike for red apples in his what if? Blog
|84%
|-
|Green
|Watermelon (Rind?)
| While the red part of a watermelon and the pink watermelon flavoring used in candy are widely eaten and sweet, the green rind is hard and not normally eaten.
|60%
|-
|Green
|Mint
|Mint is a herb that can be considered as spicy by some people, which makes it unappealing to them.
|38%
|-
|Green
|Lime
|Limes are a green, sour fruit sharing many traits with lemons. These are rarely eaten as fruit, but can be served with water or beer.
|31%
|-
|Green
|Pistachio
|Pistachios are green nuts. Randall seems unsure of where to place these on the chart.
|47% to 70%
|-
|White
|Vanilla
|Randall is likely playing with expectations here. Vanilla and vanilla bean are both dark brown, not white. But vanilla ice cream is white thanks to the cream, milk, and sugar used in its creation. The brown is nearly invisible in the ice cream, either as vanilla extract mixed in or as minute flakes of vanilla bean in exceptional vanilla ice creams.
|65%
|-
|White
|White Chocolate
|{{w|White chocolate}} is disliked by many people who assert that it is "not real chocolate" because it contains no cocoa solids and is mainly cocoa butter and sugar.
|19%
|-
|Brown
|Caramel
|Caramel is a liquid-like substance usually drizzled on desserts. "Caramel" can also refer to the coloring. Randall seems to enjoy caramel less than many people.
|19%
|-
|Brown
|Coffee
|While widely enjoyed by many people, coffee is actually a very bitter beverage (or bean, still bitter). Most people add sugars and cream to their coffee (or cover the beans in chocolate) to make it palatable. Clearly Randall does not like black coffee (coffee with no sweeteners or additives)
|5%
|-
|Brown
|Chocolate
|Chocolate is given a very wide range. While widely recognized as a classic candy, containing the chemical {{w|phenylethylamine}} which literally makes the human brain happier, there are also very staunch and not rare people who clearly and adamantly don't like it. There are also many varieties of chocolate with varying degrees of sweetness -- and, not coincidentally, colors to help differentiate them. Randall deems the whole situation too complex to assign to only one data point.
|38% to 86%. (range of text area)
|-
|Orange
|{{w|Popsicle_(brand)#Related_snacks|Creamsicle}}
|Orange creamsicle is an ice pop sold by Popsicle. It is known as a favorite among the Popsicle lineup.
|47%
|-
|Orange
|Orange
|Oranges are round fruits similar in size to an apple. Randall appears to dislike oranges, maybe because of their slightly sour flavoring or the difficulty of opening one up.
|25%
|-
|Yellow
|Popcorn?!
|Popcorn is a very popular food item, but not for its flavor. By itself it has nearly no flavor, and the usual toppings of salt and butter are some of the most basic cravings the human tongue asks for.
|5%
|-
|Yellow
|Lemon
|Lemons by themselves have a very strong sour flavor. Many people, apparently including Randall, do not like this taste raw or on its own, though some do. To make lemons appealing to those who don't like very sour things, they are instead added as ingredients in a much larger dish, often with sugar added to balance the sourness.
|27%
|-
|Purple
|Grape
|Randall apparently does not like {{w|Concord grape}}s, a small, oval-like fruit. He did not list green grapes, though.
|15%
|-
|Black
|Licorice
|Most Americans tend to find {{w|licorice}} a very unpleasant flavor. It would appear that Randall resides within that majority.
|0.1%
|}

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

:Best-Tasting Colors
:[A scale from "bad" to "good"]
:1. Pink - watermelon, ???, cotton candy
:2. Red - raspberry, cherry, strawberry
:3. Blue - ???, blue raspberry, ???
:4. Green - lime, mint, pistachio??, watermelon, green apple
:5. White - ???, white chocolate, ???, vanilla, ???
:6. Brown - coffee, caramel ? [However you feel about chocolate] ?
:7. Orange - orange, creamsicle
:8. Yellow - popcorn?!, lemon
:9. Purple - grape
:10. Black - licorice

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]

1801: Decision Paralysis

2017-02-21T16:25:48Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1801
| date = February 20, 2017
| title = Decision Paralysis
| image = decision_paralysis.png
| titletext = Good point--making no decision is itself a decision. So that's a THIRD option I have to research!
}}

==Explanation==

This comic illustrates a common problem in the internet era, where, with the wealth of knowledge available to us at all times, one puts undue weight on otherwise arbitrary decisions.

This is taken to a comedic extreme by showing how [[Cueball]] is unable to make a critical, time sensitive choice without putting hours of research in to justify it. Any benefit to researching the imminent decision of "which car will get us to our destination fastest" will be more than offset by the time it takes to make that decision. And thus in this situation it will be wholly worthless, as the bomb mentioned by [[Megan]], as the reason to steal a car, will likely have detonated even before they get to their base.

In the caption below the comic [[Randall]] gives the reader one of his recurring [[:Category:Protip|protips]]. In the tip he states that he has the same problems with choosing as Cueball, although it seems unlikely he has ever had such a pressing situation to test his ability to choose. But Randall's tip tells the reader that he can be defeated by giving him two very similar options (like two fast cars to choose from) as long as he has unlimited internet access and thus no problems researching his decision indefinitely. The time Randall waste on this needless research would enable his opponent to defeat him by making a quick choice, no matter if it was the best.

This is not the first time that Randall has made a comic that tells his readers how to trick him (or his friends) like in [[1121: Identity]], where he notes how to get his password from a friend.

The title text continues this absurdity by bringing a third option to the table, the choice of inaction (which by wasting his time on calculations and research, Cueball has taken!..), a choice here that seems unacceptable, but the time spent mentioning (and researching it) simply adds to that already spent researching the two cars. Of course this option ensures that they are not killed when the bomb explodes, because they will not be anywhere close to the base. That might make it the only reasonable choice left after wasting so much time pondering which car to steal.

The band {{w|Rush (band)}} touched on the subject in the title text with their song {{w|Freewill (song)}}, with the lyrics written by {{w|Neil Peart}}. The lyrics are, "If you choose not to decide - You still have made a choice".

The difference in time/effort needed to steal either car is likely presumed to be insignificant to this scenario.

Supposing both of them know how to drive (and steal) a car, the best option in this situation is to leave the phone in the pocket and steal both cars, and see who gets there first to defuse the bomb. This would both ensure one of them reaches the base as quick as possible and at the same time resolve the problem of which car would be best for the problem. Of course that would also have defused the joke, [[No Pun Intended]]...

In [[1445: Efficiency]] Randall describes why he is so inefficient (again, demonstrating the option 3 beautifully,) and in [[309: Shopping Teams]] two nerds out shopping have to choose between two similar objects and end up in a similar situation, though without a deadly deadline.

[[356: Nerd Sniping]] portray a situation where a scientist forgets everything around him when presented with an interesting problem. However, here it is the solution to a math problem, not a choice between two similar options that "snipes" the scientist.

The problem of choosing between cars with different accelerations and top speeds is the center of the car customization mechanic introduced in the seventh installment of the {{w|Mario Kart}} series. It is known that Randall has played some version of the game, as it has become a [[:Category:Mario Kart|recurring theme]].

Although presented as joke, this is a very real problem in electronics design. ''{{w|Buridan’s principle}}'' by none other than {{w|Leslie Lamport}} [http://research.microsoft.com/users/lamport/pubs/buridan.pdf states]:
:A discrete decision based upon an input having a continuous range of values cannot be made within a bounded length of time.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are standing next to two sporting cars. Megan points excitedly at the cars and Cueball looks at a smartphone in his hand.]
:Megan: There! If we steal one of those cars, we can get to the base and defuse the bomb!
:Cueball: Hmm, the one on the left accelerates faster but has a lower top speed.
:Cueball: Ooh, the right one has good traction control. Are the roads wet?

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Protip: If you ever need to defeat me, just give me two very similar options and unlimited internet access.

{{comic discussion}}

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

Talk:1781: Artifacts

2017-01-04T14:59:05Z

108.162.246.77:

Wouldnt data entirely made of outliners just be ..regular measurements that just yields different results?[[User:West|#GoWest-West]] ([[User talk:West|talk]]) 13:59, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

The graph that Cueball is showing looks like the graph from the EM drive paper. Maybe Randall is poking fun at the EM drive with this comic? [[User:Cgplover|Cgplover]] ([[User talk:Cgplover|talk]]) 14:15, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

Why the emphasis on HAVE in the alttext instead of, say, ENTIRELY?

Is there also a suggestion that Indiana Jones didn't properly handle artifacts he dealt with?

648: Fall Foliage

2016-12-29T23:25:39Z

108.162.246.77: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number =648
| date =October 12, 2009
| title =Fall Foliage
| image =fall_foliage.png
| titletext =And I could replace you with older pictures of you, from back when you looked happy.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] have driven some distance from home, and Megan enjoys the pastime of {{w|leaf peeping}}, happily taking photographs of the beautiful {{w|fall}} or autumn foliage. Cueball points out that they could've stayed home and used {{w|Photoshop}} to alter pictures they've already taken, saving themselves the trouble of going on the trip. The {{w|hue}} control in such image editing programs shifts the colors around the spectrum without altering the brightness; the green leaves in a summer picture could then easily be shifted to yellow or red.

Megan simply shushes him in the strip, but the title text is implied to be Megan's retort, saying that Cueball used to be a happier person, and if he will continue being like this, she would prefer to see him in old pictures rather than living with him. Or it could be that Cueball is making a response to the shush as he seems to be the more technologically inclined and more annoyed.

The comic is also showing how, because of technology, many people are not as "happy" as they once were. Instead of appreciating natural beauty, Cueball simply wishes to "replicate" the experience by using Photoshop; unfortunately, this would deprive him of both the experience of beautiful fall leaves and a shared intimacy with Megan.

See also [[1314: Photos]] about people taking pictures and White Hat complaining.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing on a cliff overlooking a forest of gorgeous orange foliage. The forest grows up a hill and behind and right of the forest there are is forest free hill and in the horizon two small mountain peaks rises up to the gray blue sky. Cueball is holding his camera down while Megan is holding her camera up taking a photo. As opposed to normal the text is written inside two speech bubbles with arrow ending pointing at the two. Also the sound of the camera is written inside a white area with small u shapes forming part of the frame for this sound.]
:Cueball: Instead of driving all this way, we could've just taken our summer pictures and messed with the "hue" slider in Photoshop.
:Megan: Hush.
:Camera: ''Click''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Computers]]