explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

778: Scheduling

2014-10-23T09:05:15Z

141.101.64.65: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 778
| date = August 11, 2010
| title = Scheduling
| image = scheduling.png
| titletext = 'How about a little ... *family growth*?' 'Dude, that's not until round two.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|"You have starting player" means what?}}

This comic is a take on the common plots of pornographic movies. There are several "stereotypical" setups for porn videoes - the suggestive pizza deliveryman ("hot sausage" being a suggestive pun), the French maid who finds out her master is home early and the wife is still away, and the plumber who, while performing routine repairs on a woman's house, becomes enamored with her. In all cases it is usually a simple plot in order to set up a scenario for the pornography. In this comic, all three of these common stereotypical plots seem to have occurred at once. Realizing that none of their intended targets for sex (ostensibly members of the Jones family) are at home, and thus they are all in the house alone with nothing to do, one of them grabs a game of {{w|Agricola (board game)}} off of the shelf, and they sit down to play, their confusion about this mixing of scenarios forgotten. Then the Joneses come home and are baffled by the assemblage of random professionals playing Agricola on their floor.

Agricola's objective is to build a stable family farm, contrasting with the apparently dysfunctional family in the comic.
In Agricola one can choose among certain actions with your (very limited) "workers" (Thus it's called a worker placement game). Those actions contain for instance "Take a grain" and "Be starting player (the next round)". Other examples are "Build a fence", "Take a cow", "Plowing" and other farm related things.
The starting player has the advantage of choosing the first item/ressource/action the next round. Once an item/action/ressource ist occupied by a player it can't be chosen by another player in that round. The game is easy to learn and hard to master since it needs a lot of planning and anticipating the other player's next moves. As such "scheduling" is a very important part of the game.
To make it short: Maid choose "Take grain" as her (first) action in that round, while Pizza-guy has chosen to be the first player in the next round with his first action that round. But it seems as if it was his plan to take that grain with his second action which is now denied by Maid.

The title text references "family growth", which could be interpreted as a cheesy euphemism for sex (in the porn-movie-plot context) or as a game mechanic for gaining another worker (in the Agricola-game context). The "not until round two" response could be used for either interpretation.

==Transcript==
:[A pizza delivery guy enters through a door and a maid is dusting.]
:Pizza guy: Pizza delivery! Did someone order a ''hot sausag—''
:Maid: Mon dieu! Monsieur is home early—
:Both: Wait, who are ''you''?

:Pizza guy: Wait, this is the Joneses', right? Their daughter was supposed to be having a party!
:Maid: No, I thought Mr. Jones was coming home early.

:[The pizza guy is off-panel left as a plumber enters from the right.]
:Pizza guy: But I thought—
:Plumber: Howdy, Mrs. Jones. I hear you need some ''plumbi''— Who are you?

:[The pizza guy looks in a cabinet; the others are off-panel right.]
:Maid: Sorry, big mixup.
:Pizza guy: Hey, check it out—the Joneses have ''Agricola''!
:Plumber: I love that game!

:[Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones arrive home. The pizza guy, the maid, and the plumber are sitting on the floor playing Agricola.]
:Mr. Jones: What in the name of...
:Pizza guy: Dammit, ''I'' wanted that grain.
:Maid: Hush, you have starting player.

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

778: Scheduling

2014-10-23T09:02:17Z

141.101.64.65: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 778
| date = August 11, 2010
| title = Scheduling
| image = scheduling.png
| titletext = 'How about a little ... *family growth*?' 'Dude, that's not until round two.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|"You have starting player" means what?}}

This comic is a take on the common plots of pornographic movies. There are several "stereotypical" setups for porn videoes - the suggestive pizza deliveryman ("hot sausage" being a suggestive pun), the French maid who finds out her master is home early and the wife is still away, and the plumber who, while performing routine repairs on a woman's house, becomes enamored with her. In all cases it is usually a simple plot in order to set up a scenario for the pornography. In this comic, all three of these common stereotypical plots seem to have occurred at once. Realizing that none of their intended targets for sex (ostensibly members of the Jones family) are at home, and thus they are all in the house alone with nothing to do, one of them grabs a game of {{w|Agricola (board game)}} off of the shelf, and they sit down to play, their confusion about this mixing of scenarios forgotten. Then the Joneses come home and are baffled by the assemblage of random professionals playing Agricola on their floor.

Agricola's objective is to build a stable family farm, contrasting with the apparently dysfunctional family in the comic.
In Agricola one can choose among certain actions with your (very limited) "workers" (Thus it's called a worker placement game). Those actions contain for instance "Take a grain" and "Be starting player (the next round)". Other examples are "Build a fence", "Take a cow", "Plowing" and other farm related things.
The starting player has the advantage of choosing the first item/ressource/action the next round. Once an item/action/ressource ist occcupied by a player it can't be chosen by another player in that round. The game is easy to learn and hard to master since it needs a lot of planning and anticipating the other player's next moves. As such "scheduling" is a very important part of the game.
To make it short: Maid choose "Take grain" as her (first) action in that round, while Pizza-guy has chosen to be the first player in the next round with his first action that round before. But it seems as if it was his plan to take that grain with his second action which is now denied by Maid.

The title text references "family growth", which could be interpreted as a cheesy euphemism for sex (in the porn-movie-plot context) or as a game mechanic for gaining another worker (in the Agricola-game context). The "not until round two" response could be used for either interpretation.

==Transcript==
:[A pizza delivery guy enters through a door and a maid is dusting.]
:Pizza guy: Pizza delivery! Did someone order a ''hot sausag—''
:Maid: Mon dieu! Monsieur is home early—
:Both: Wait, who are ''you''?

:Pizza guy: Wait, this is the Joneses', right? Their daughter was supposed to be having a party!
:Maid: No, I thought Mr. Jones was coming home early.

:[The pizza guy is off-panel left as a plumber enters from the right.]
:Pizza guy: But I thought—
:Plumber: Howdy, Mrs. Jones. I hear you need some ''plumbi''— Who are you?

:[The pizza guy looks in a cabinet; the others are off-panel right.]
:Maid: Sorry, big mixup.
:Pizza guy: Hey, check it out—the Joneses have ''Agricola''!
:Plumber: I love that game!

:[Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones arrive home. The pizza guy, the maid, and the plumber are sitting on the floor playing Agricola.]
:Mr. Jones: What in the name of...
:Pizza guy: Dammit, ''I'' wanted that grain.
:Maid: Hush, you have starting player.

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

Talk:778: Scheduling

2014-10-23T09:01:00Z

141.101.64.65:

What does "Hush, you have starting player" mean? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:07, 6 October 2014 (UTC)
: Added an explanation, but left the incomplete-tag since I'm not a native speaker, and I'm not quite sure about the grammar, but I hope it's clear now, what the explanation of "Having starting player" is. Maybe someone could just re-read my text and correct it if needed. And than remove the tag. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.65|141.101.64.65]] 09:00, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

Talk:778: Scheduling

2014-10-23T09:00:08Z

141.101.64.65:

What does "Hush, you have starting player" mean? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:07, 6 October 2014 (UTC)
: Added an explanation, but left the incomplete-tagsince I'm not a native speaker, and I'm not quite sure about the grammar, but I hope it's clear now, what the explanation of "Having starting player" is. Maybe someone could just re-read my text and correct it if needed. And than remove the tag. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.65|141.101.64.65]] 09:00, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

778: Scheduling

2014-10-23T08:58:45Z

141.101.64.65: Added explanation of "having starting player"

{{comic
| number = 778
| date = August 11, 2010
| title = Scheduling
| image = scheduling.png
| titletext = 'How about a little ... *family growth*?' 'Dude, that's not until round two.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|"You have starting player" means what?}}

This comic is a take on the common plots of pornographic movies. There are several "stereotypical" setups for porn videoes - the suggestive pizza deliveryman ("hot sausage" being a suggestive pun), the French maid who finds out her master is home early and the wife is still away, and the plumber who, while performing routine repairs on a woman's house, becomes enamored with her. In all cases it is usually a simple plot in order to set up a scenario for the pornography. In this comic, all three of these common stereotypical plots seem to have occurred at once. Realizing that none of their intended targets for sex (ostensibly members of the Jones family) are at home, and thus they are all in the house alone with nothing to do, one of them grabs a game of {{w|Agricola (board game)}} off of the shelf, and they sit down to play, their confusion about this mixing of scenarios forgotten. Then the Joneses come home and are baffled by the assemblage of random professionals playing Agricola on their floor.

Agricola's objective is to build a stable family farm, contrasting with the apparently dysfunctional family in the comic.
In Agricola one can choose among certain actions with your (very limited) "workers" (Thus it's called a worker placement game). Those actions contain for instance "Take a grain" and "Be starting player (the next round)". Other examples are "Build a fence", "Take a cow", "Plowing" and other farm related things.
The starting player has the advantage of choosing the first item/ressource/action the next round. Once an item/action/ressource ist occcupied by a player it can't be chosen by another player in that round. The game is easy to learn and hard to master since it needs a lot of planning and anticipating the other player's next moves. To make it short: Maid choose "Take grain" as her (first) action in that round, while Pizza-guy has chosen to be the first player in the next round with his first action that round before. But it seems as if it was his plan to take that grain with his second action which is now denied by Maid.

The title text references "family growth", which could be interpreted as a cheesy euphemism for sex (in the porn-movie-plot context) or as a game mechanic for gaining another worker (in the Agricola-game context). The "not until round two" response could be used for either interpretation.

==Transcript==
:[A pizza delivery guy enters through a door and a maid is dusting.]
:Pizza guy: Pizza delivery! Did someone order a ''hot sausag—''
:Maid: Mon dieu! Monsieur is home early—
:Both: Wait, who are ''you''?

:Pizza guy: Wait, this is the Joneses', right? Their daughter was supposed to be having a party!
:Maid: No, I thought Mr. Jones was coming home early.

:[The pizza guy is off-panel left as a plumber enters from the right.]
:Pizza guy: But I thought—
:Plumber: Howdy, Mrs. Jones. I hear you need some ''plumbi''— Who are you?

:[The pizza guy looks in a cabinet; the others are off-panel right.]
:Maid: Sorry, big mixup.
:Pizza guy: Hey, check it out—the Joneses have ''Agricola''!
:Plumber: I love that game!

:[Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones arrive home. The pizza guy, the maid, and the plumber are sitting on the floor playing Agricola.]
:Mr. Jones: What in the name of...
:Pizza guy: Dammit, ''I'' wanted that grain.
:Maid: Hush, you have starting player.

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

Talk:1434: Where Do Birds Go

2014-10-16T12:17:45Z

141.101.64.65:

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

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

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

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

::Especially on a touch screen! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 13:57, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:::Really, they only have trouble with the newer capacitive touchscreens - the older resistive ones (used in e.g. Palm Pilot) were much easier to use with a beak-- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 20:08, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
::::The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homing_pigeon#Navigation iron in pigeon beaks] makes it a bit easier for them to use capacitive screens, but not much. --[[User:Okofish|Okofish]] ([[User talk:Okofish|talk]]) 21:07, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:::::Just one more thing that makes them man's best friend with rats, I mean wings with friends... umm words with friends... it's a bit too early for me... -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 09:36, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

: Great job on the transcript. Personally I like the link to original source as you've done, though perhaps other would disagree. I'm tempted to say it should also be in the explanation, as that is where I assume others would expect that type of information to be. I'm actually quite impressed at what a quality page this is after only a matter of hours, especially given that it isn't the simplest comic. Images, tables, translations, original sources... Beautiful! --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:42, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:: welp, I've done all I think I can do - there's one more under the Japanese one that is almost definitely from a Yahoo! Answers site, but I can't make out enough of it to identify it positively, so, its identity might be lost to Randall's archive forever *sniffle* -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 11:34, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

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

I love how this comic will inevitably increase the internet searches and queries for "Where do birds go when it rains." If this weren't the question that united us before, it certainly is now. XKCD making a difference![[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.206|108.162.219.206]] 18:24, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
:Not only will it increase the searches, but since it has a transcription of all of the other searches, it's the top result on Google today, too! -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 11:34, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

The pale posting near the bottom that begins "Burung Dapat Bertahan...Hujan ?" is either Malay or Indonesian and means something like "Can birds survive...rain?" [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 23:23, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
: So here is the link: https://id.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101215231444AAAVxSM [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 00:22, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

This search phrase will get a sky high [http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html Pigeon Rank] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.5|108.162.217.5]] 23:41, 15 October 2014 (UTC)
: Well, there's the explanation! -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 09:38, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

The non-capitalization of the German nouns in the given example is perhaps caused by the input device. I can never write proper German on my Nokia cell phone, for example, as it only capitalizes after a period/full stop. [[User:Gearoid|Gearoid]] ([[User talk:Gearoid|talk]]) 10:57, 16 October 2014 (UTC)
:Usually there is a shift-key type function somewhere - is this a smart phone? -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 11:34, 16 October 2014 (UTC)
::On some phones it is indeed a pain in the ass to capitalize mid-sentence words (as on mine), but I'm not aware of any where it's impossible to do so. Based upon that assumption it has to be classified as "laziness", I think. And as Gearoid said: "it" capitalizes. I'm quite sure you could do it manually by yourself in some way or another.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.65|141.101.64.65]] 12:17, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1434: Where Do Birds Go

2014-10-16T12:16:18Z

141.101.64.65:

1434: Where Do Birds Go

2014-10-16T08:57:30Z

141.101.64.65: Just clarified "some words" as nouns...

{{comic
| number = 1434
| date = October 15, 2014
| title = Where Do Birds Go
| image = where_do_birds_go.png
| titletext = Water/ice has a lot of weird phases. Maybe asking 'where do birds go when it rains' is like asking 'where does Clark Kent go whenever Superman shows up?'
}}
[[File:Wet_kookaburra_6674_Crop_Edit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5| A wet bird sitting in the rain. (from Wikimedia Commons)]]
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Decide how to handle linking to original source website.}}
Cueball searches [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=where+do+birds+go+when+it+rains%3F Google] to find out where birds go when it rains. He finds that the question is asked worldwide, across different languages and websites, and that everyone wants to know the answer. A variety of screenshots are shown of different websites and forums with users asking where birds go when it rains, with at least seven languages shown. The bottom of this panel fades to white, suggesting that the occurrence of these questions stretches on and on.

Cueball says that worrying about birds getting wet is "the thing that unites us"; but the last panel reminds us that birds too, probably worry about it.

In reality birds, just like humans, seek shelter when it rains. Getting wet is not a problem for birds, but it does complicate flying. On a rainy day you can usually find birds in leafy trees, caves or other kinds of cover.

The lower panels turn the question on its head, pointing out that the question "Where do birds go when it rains?" is not just something that curious humans may wonder, but a serious practical question for the birds themselves. As it starts to rain around a bird, it flies down to a smartphone on the ground and begins searching on the query, ostensibly to find instruction as to where it should go. This could also suggest that the reason the question appears posted so many times, is because in actuality it is the birds who are posting it (since there are more birds than humans, this could easily account for the number of posts).

The title text whimsically suggests that birds might actually be an additional undiscovered exotic {{w|Phase (matter)|phase}} of water (in addition to its familiar phases of {{w|ice}}, {{w|water vapor|vapor}}, and {{w|water|liquid water}}, water does have more exotic phases such as {{w|Ice#Phases|low-temperature and high-pressure ices}} and {{w|Supercritical_fluid|supercritical gases}}). If so, birds disappear when it rains because they actually turn into the rain. This is similar to how, in the {{w|Superman}} comics, Clark Kent disappears whenever Superman is around because they are actually the same person.

{| class="wikitable"
!Websites shown in image (English)
|-
|https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110223085537AAiOFTk
|-
|-
|http://www.enature.com/expert/expert_show_question.asp?questionID=23847
|-
|-
|http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/1452078/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains-
|-
|-
|http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message979308/pg1
|-
|-
|http://randomthoughtsfrommidlife.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/where-do-the-birds-go-when-it-rains/
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! Language
! Question
! Translation
|-
|French
|[https://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110327100813AAMj2hy Où se cachent les oiseaux quand il pleut?]
|Where do the birds hide themselves when it rains?
|-
|rowspan="3"|German
|[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/was-passiert-jetzt-eigentlich-mit-den-voegeln-die-bei-dem-wetter-in-den-baeumen-sitzen Was passiert jetzt eigentlich mit den vögeln, die bei dem wetter in den bäumen sitzen?]
|What actually happens with the birds that are sitting in the trees in this weather?<ref>In proper German, all nouns should be capitalized. The author leaves them uncapitalized, characteristic of lazy/hurried typing.</ref>
|-
|[http://www.vogel.info/schlechtes_wetter.htm Was machen Vögel bei schlechtem Wetter?]
|What do birds do in bad weather?
|-
|[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/wohin-gehen-voegel Wohin gehen Vögel?]
|Where do birds go?
|-
|rowspan="2"|Spanish
|[http://noticias.lainformacion.com/ciencia-y-tecnologia/ciencias-meteorologicas/que-pasa-con-las-aves-durante-un-huracan_g1DV8AL9LSG6Bzy7q5G8s7/ Qué pasa con las aves durante un huracán?]
|What happens to the birds during a hurricane?
|-
|[https://espanol.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120525145152AABvmOq ¿A donde se van los pajaritos cuando llueve?]
|Where do the little birds go when it rains?
|-
|Dutch
|[http://www.willemwever.nl/vraag_antwoord/dieren-en-planten/waar-blijven-de-vogels-als-het-heel-hard-stormt Waar blijven de vogels als het heel hard stormt?]
|Where do birds stay when it is storming very hard?
|-
|Finnish
|[http://ihmepuu.vuodatus.net/lue/2014/05/minne-linnut-menevat-sateella Minne linnut menevät sateella?]
|Where do the birds go when it rains?
|-
|rowspan="3"|Chinese (simplified)
|[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q55741469.htm 下雨时鸟儿往哪躲]
|Where do birds hide when it rains?
|-
|[http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/270774126.html 下雨的时候小鸟住在哪里？]
|Where do birds live while it rains?
|-
|[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q145038794.htm 为什么鸟儿下雨的时候在天上飞不会因为淋湿掉下来?]
|Why isn't birds falling to the ground for getting wet while it rains?
|-
|Japanese
|[http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2136533586764388601 【雑学】暴風雨の時、鳥はどこに避難してるの？]
|Miscellaneous Knowledge: Where do birds take shelter during a rainstorm?
|-
|Malay (Indonesian)
|[https://id.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101215231444AAAVxSM Burung Dapat Bertahan Terbang Berapa Lama Disaat Hujan ?]
|How Long Can Birds Survive Flying In the Rain ?
|}
<references/>

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
[The comic is separated into three sections, with Cueball and Megan having a discussion in the first section, websites found through Google search results depicted in the second, and a bird depicted in the third]

;[First Section - Cueball is sitting at his computer]:
Cueball: "Where do birds go when it rains?" is my new favorite Google search.

Megan [off screen]: Why?

Cueball: It gives the answer, but also shows you an endless torrent of other people asking the same question. Pages and pages of them across regions and cultures.

[Megan enters the frame and shows interest in the computer]

Cueball: I love the idea that somehow this is the universal question, the thing that unites us. When it rains, we wonder where the birds go, and hope they're staying dry.

;[Second Section - A collage of screen snippets]:

[[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110223085537AAiOFTk from Yahoo! Answers]]: '''Where do the birds go when it rains?''' I've noticed I rarely see birds flying around or in trees or on power lines when it's raining, So where do they go?

[[http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message979308/pg1 from Godlike Productions]]: '''Where do birds go when it rains really hard?'''
Ok, maybe I'm an idiot for asking this, but during the slew of several storms in California the last couple weeks, I began to wonder where the poor birds go to stay dry? The ducks, seagulls, owls, sparrows, hummingbirds, hawks, etc...I see them all the ti[...]

[[http://randomthoughtsfrommidlife.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/where-do-the-birds-go-when-it-rains/ from Random Thoughts From Midlife]]: Where do the birds go when it rains?

[[http://www.answers.com/Q/Where_do_birds_go_when_it_rains from Answers.com]]: Where do birds go when it rains?

[[https://espanol.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120525145152AABvmOq from Yahoo! Respuestas]]: ¿A donde se van los pajaritos cuando llueve?

[[http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/1452078/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains- from Active Rain]]: '''Where do Birds go When it Rains?''' I'm no youngster...and I have no answer for this. I've talked to alot of people about the likelihood of where birds go when it rains and everyone has a different perspective.

[[http://ask.metafilter.com/27499/Where-do-the-birds-go-when-it-rains from Ask MetaFilter]]: '''Where do the birds go when it rains?''' BirdFeederFilter: When it's gloomy and rainy, I don't see any birds at my birdfeeder for days on end. Then as soon as it's sunny, they're all over the place. What gives? What do they do on rainy days, just forage near their nest?

[[http://snippets.com/where-do-city-birds-go-when-it-rains.htm from Snippets]]: Where do city birds go when it rains?

[[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q55741469.htm from http://wenwen.sogou.com/]]: 下雨时鸟儿往哪躲
没有大树,没有屋檐,怎么办

'''Storm shelter''' In Florida, where I live, we get many thunderstorms, but I never see the birds in trees during the storms. We recently had a tropical storm and I did not see any birds in the trees. Where do birds go when it rains or storms? Just like at night, birds will seek shelter during storms. I remember watching a flock of American robins dive into[...]

[[https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110730055427AApJlDb from Yahoo! Answers]]: When it is raining heavily, where do the birds go...i don't see them on the trees, where do they take shelter?

[[https://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110327100813AAMj2hy from Yahoo! Questions Réponses]]: Où se cachent les oiseaux quand il pleut? De ma fenêtre, je n'en aperçois plus un!!!...Les pies semblent avoir abandonné leurs nids...

[[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/was-passiert-jetzt-eigentlich-mit-den-voegeln-die-bei-dem-wetter-in-den-baeumen-sitzen from gutefrage.net]]: '''was passiert jetzt eigentlich mit den vögeln, die bei dem wetter in den bäumen sitzen?''' bei uns regnet es heftig und der orkanartige wind wechelst ständig richtung und geschwindigkeit. können sich die vögel da in den bäumen halten? retten sie sich instinktiv vorher irgendwohin, wo sie windgeschützt sind?

[[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140607171044AAwamou from Yahoo! Answers]]: Where do birds go when it rains? I never see any out...?

[[http://noticias.lainformacion.com/ciencia-y-tecnologia/ciencias-meteorologicas/que-pasa-con-las-aves-durante-un-huracan_g1DV8AL9LSG6Bzy7q5G8s7/ from lainformacion.com]]: ¿Qué pasa con las aves durante un huracán?

[[http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/270774126.html from Baidu]]: '''下雨的时候小鸟住在哪里？''' 下雨的时候小鸟住在哪里？如果是在春天夏天那还好，有树叶遮挡着，但是到了秋天冬天下雨小鸟住在哪里？还住在在树上搭的窝里吗？不怕冻坏自己和小幼崽吗？如果躲雨那就在哪里躲雨呢？怎么没见过它们躲雨？谢谢。

[[http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/219540.html from Fairfax Underground]]: '''What do birds do when it rains?''' Recently I installed a bird feeder outside my bedroom window. It is so wonderful the diversity of our feathered friends that frequent the feeder! I love it. My question that I haven't found an answer to is this: What do the little birdies do when it rains? I mean, do they stay put in the trees that they find themselves in,

[[http://ihmepuu.vuodatus.net/lue/2014/05/minne-linnut-menevat-sateella from a blog on vuodatus.net]]: '''Minne linnut menevät sateella?''' Tänään satoi rankasti. Kuljin metsän halki. Kuulin linnun laulavan. Yksinäinen, mutta itsenäinen ja vahva, tulkitseva ääni. Kaunis. Minne linnut menevät sateella? En ole koskaan nähnyt lintuja rankkasateessa. Luulen, että ne yrittävät löytää suojan. Kuusien ja mäntyjen oksistossa on varmaan suojaisaa. Kallioiden koloihin ja pieniin luolastoihin voi ehkä lintukin hiipiä. Rohkeille löytyy pihoilta suojapaikkoja. Ehkä linnulla oli oma pesäkolo. Siellä oli lämmintä ja kuivaa. Sieltä saattoi rauhassa katsella sateen vierailua metsässä. Siellä saattoi jopa iloita sateesta ja laulaa.

[[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110530163957AAaw1S3 from Yahoo! Answers]]: '''What do the birds do when it RAINS like crazy?''' I live in upstate new york and just moved here and there are so many many birds here especially where I live, the other day I saw a broken egg on the ground in the drive way from a [...show more link] '''Update''': I know they get wet btw but was wondering if they did anything extra to [...show more link] '''Best Answer''' Well ... it depends on the species of bird, for one. Some are more adapted for rain then others.

[[http://www.willemwever.nl/vraag_antwoord/dieren-en-planten/waar-blijven-de-vogels-als-het-heel-hard-stormt from Willem Wever]]: '''Waar blijven de vogels als het heel hard stormt?''' Bij hevige stormen zoekt een vogel de beschutting die bij hem past. Er zijn een aantal vogels die met storm wel vliegen. Maar bij een echte hevige storm schuilen [...]

[[http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2136533586764388601 from Naver Matome]]: '''【雑学】暴風雨の時、鳥はどこに避難してるの？''' 人間が歩くのも困難な暴風雨。その時、一番影響を受けるのは空を飛んでいる鳥達ですよね。彼らはどのように風雨を凌いでいるのか？ずーっと気になっていた事を調べてみました！

[..several more similar questions, fading into white...]

;[Third section - A bird on a wire fence]:
[A bird sits on a wire fence with no rain falling]

[Zoomed in on the bird as it looks at a rain drop splashing on the fence wire]

[Zoomed out on the bird looking at the rain as it increases in intensity]

[The bird flies down to an small smart-phone-shaped object lying on the ground, as the rain increases in intensity even more]

[The bird lands on the object, with puddles increasing in size around the object]

[The bird pecks at the object, ostensibly typing] W... H... E... R... E... D... O... B... I... R... D... S...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Animals]]

415: Restraining Order

2014-09-24T10:23:51Z

141.101.64.65: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number =415
| date =April 25, 2008
| title =Restraining Order
| image =restraining_order.png
| titletext =On Mondays I go running, so you'll have to get up early and follow along a parallel street. What fun!
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|restraining order}} is a legal injunction requiring a party to do, or refrain from doing, certain acts, under penalty of fines or imprisonment. The kind of restraining order referred to in this comic is one that forbids someone from getting within a certain distance of the other person, and is designed to safeguard the complainant's life.

But the joke in this comic is that [[Ponytail]] has gotten a restraining order against [[Cueball]] that requires him to stay between 500 yards (457 m) and 600 yards (549 m) of her at ''all times,'' which needless to say will cause a major disruption to his life.

The title text says he'll have to get up early on Mondays and follow her jogging course along a parallel street. Of course, such a restraining order could not exist in reality.{{Citation needed}}

A {{w|yard}} is a unit of length used in the UK and the United States, 1 yard = 0.91 metre.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail stand facing one another. Both hold sheets of paper.]
:Not content with normal restraining orders, my ex got creative.
:Cueball: Wait... I can't get closer than 500 yards of you... or more than 600 yards away?
:Ponytail: You'll have to move somewhere within this ring.

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

Little Bobby Tables

2014-06-06T13:22:58Z

141.101.64.65: wording "elder" for famly relations

{{Infobox character
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| first_appearance = [[327: Exploits of a Mom]]
}}

'''<code>Robert'); DROP TABLE students;--</code>''', nicknamed '''Little Bobby Tables''', is the youngest son of elite hacker [[Mrs. Roberts]]. His elder sister is [[Elaine Roberts]]. His "full" name is known to cause problems with some computers. When he was first enrolled in school ([[327: Exploits of a Mom]]), it exploited a vulnerability in the parsing of student's names into the school's student database resulting in the school losing all the student records for the year.

In {{w|SQL}}, commands are separated by semicolons '''<code>;</code>''' and data is often quoted using single quotes '''<code>'</code>'''. Commands may also be enclosed in parentheses '''<code>(</code>''' and '''<code>)</code>'''. Data is stored in tables of similar items (e.g. '''<code>students</code>''') and individual entries are "rows" in the table. To delete an entire table (and every row of data in that table), you use the command '''<code>DROP</code>''' (e.g. '''<code>DROP TABLE students</code>'''). The '''<code>--</code>''' represents the start of a {{w|Comment_(computer_programming)#SQL|SQL comment}} which ensures that the rest of the command is ignored so an error will not occur.

The exploited vulnerability is that the single quote in the name input was not properly "escaped" by the software. Thus, when the name is embedded into some SQL statement, the quote is erroneously parsed as a closing quote inside that statement, rather than being parsed as part of the name. Lack of such escaping is a common SQL vulnerability; this type of exploit is referred to as {{w|SQL injection}}.

The name Bobby Tables inspired a website, [http://bobby-tables.com/ bobby-tables.com], a guide for beginning programmers to learn the right way to avoid SQL injection in their code..

A similarly named character appears in [[884: Rogers St.]], with the same code injection in his middle name. It appears in [[1253: Exoplanet Names]] as one of the suggested planet names.

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:Characters]]