explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1886: Typing Notifications

2017-09-07T10:06:56Z

141.101.88.172: /* Explanation */ Update on the title text

{{comic
| number = 1886
| date = September 6, 2017
| title = Typing Notifications
| image = typing_notifications.png
| titletext = Over the years I've decided I'd rather have them on than not, but I'm glad there aren't "has opened a blank note to compose a reply to you" notifications.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Simple comic, anything missing? Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Randall]] has sent a message on an instant messenger to someone else. The message contains simple questions about a show Randall must have undertaken and he insists on an honest answer. The reader tries several times to give a proper answer, probably changing the text, until giving up and sending a simple kind reply.

Typing notifications are a feature of some {{w|instant messaging}} systems. They let you know when the other person in a conversation is typing and preparing a reply. They may appear in different forms, like the literal text "[Contact] is typing." or often has a answer (possibly a different color) containing three animated dots. They give the sender confidence that their message has been received and is being processed.

When the final response is received it is anodyne "It was great", suggesting that the first two deleted drafts could be far more critical. The fact that you know that a message has been deleted or edited twice provokes you to imagine what the deleted drafts may have contained. The issue with typing notifications that Randall is talking about might also just be the difficulty to interpret them. The distant contact might just have been doing something else at the same time, started typing in the wrong conversation, or corrected a typo, but the typing notifications make it seem like they weren't honest.

In the title text, Randall mentions opening a blank note to compose a reply, which consists of writing a reply in a separate application and pasting the fully written message before sending it. This may be done for several reasons, like knowing that the answer will be long, and wanting a more useful interface - like a bigger typing area. This may also be done when the person doesn't want their contact to know that an answer is being written, possibly because the answer is a difficult one, and will probably need several attempts and edits before sending. So while Randall thinks that typing notifications are overall a good thing, he is still glad that they don't include that side case, either because it leaves a way to bypass them, or because "has opened a blank note to compose a reply" informs the contact that the answer is not going to be a typical and nice short message.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A sequence of eight panels representing the same conversation in an electronic chat. The header always reads:]
:What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:[The reply area on the first seven panels is empty, but on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th the input is activated and showing three dots.]

:[On the last panel the reply area reads:]
:It was great!

:[Caption below the panels:]
:My least favorite aspect of typing notifications

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:1886: Typing Notifications

2017-09-06T17:19:11Z

141.101.88.172:

Sorry for the double explanation, if there was any notification that someone else had added an explanation before I was done editing (I saw an empty explanation when I started editing) I missed it. I went (mostly) back to the first explanation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.172|141.101.88.172]] 17:19, 6 September 2017 (UTC)

1886: Typing Notifications

2017-09-06T17:17:01Z

141.101.88.172: /* Explanation */ Fixed, there were two different explanations at the same time.

{{comic
| number = 1886
| date = September 6, 2017
| title = Typing Notifications
| image = typing_notifications.png
| titletext = Over the years I've decided I'd rather have them on than not, but I'm glad there aren't "has opened a blank note to compose a reply to you" notifications.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Early, surely incomplete - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Typing notifications are a feature of some instant messaging systems. They let you know when the other person in a conversation is typing and preparing a reply. They may appear in different forms, like the litteral text "[Contact] is typing." or often has a answer (possibly a different color) containing three animated dots. They give the sender confidence that their message has been received and is being processed.

The comic shows a transcript from such an instant messenger, such as "iMessage" on the iPhone.
In the comic, the receiver is asked if they like the sender's "show". They compose a reply, then seem to pause to delete it. This happens twice. When the final response is received it is anodyne "It was great", suggesting that the first two deleted drafts were far more critical. The fact that you know that a message has been deleted or edited twice provokes you to imagine what the deleted drafts may have contained. The issue with typing notifications that Randall is talking about might also just be the difficulty to interpret them. The distant contact might just have been doing something else at the same time, started typing in the wrong conversation, or corrected a typo, but the typing notifications make it seem like they weren't honest.



==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Sequence of panels representing the same conversation in an electronic chat:]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: It was great!

:[Caption below the panels:]
:My least favorite aspect of typing notifications

{{comic discussion}}

1886: Typing Notifications

2017-09-06T16:55:49Z

141.101.88.172: /* Explanation */ Changed the incomplete banner

{{comic
| number = 1886
| date = September 6, 2017
| title = Typing Notifications
| image = typing_notifications.png
| titletext = Over the years I've decided I'd rather have them on than not, but I'm glad there aren't "has opened a blank note to compose a reply to you" notifications.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Very first version, surely incomplete - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Typing Notifications are a cue provided by some written communication systems that someone is typing an answer to a conversation. They may appear in different forms, like the litteral text "[Contact] is typing." or often has a answer (possibly a different color) containing three animated dots. While they may be useful, showing that an answer can be expected in a short time, they also have some downsides. The one that Randall seems to present here is the fact that some non-verbal information is transmitted here, which usually isn't the case with written communication. Here the distant contact seems to be typing for some time, and more than once, only to send a very short answer. This probably shows that this was not the first typed answer, and that the initial answer was different. Maybe they weren't so honest after all.

It should be noted that the downside expressed by Randall might also be the difficulty to interpret those notifications. Here, while it looks like the distant contact was hesitating, they may just have been doing something else while typing, made and corrected a typo, or an autocorrect answer. The downside expressed by Randall would then be that Typing Notifications can make you a little paranoid.

Typing notifications are a feature of some instant messaging systems. They let you know when the other person in a conversation is typing and preparing a reply. They give the sender confidence that their message has been received and is being processed.

The comic shows a transcript from such an instant messenger, such as "iMessage" on the iPhone.
In the comic, the receiver is asked if they like the sender's "show". They compose a reply, then pause to delete it. This happens twice. When the final response is received it is anodyne "It was great", suggesting that the first two deleted drafts were far more critical. The fact that you know that a message has been deleted or edited twice provokes you to imagine what the deleted drafts may have contained.



==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Sequence of panels representing the same conversation in an electronic chat:]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: It was great!

:[Caption below the panels:]
:My least favorite aspect of typing notifications

{{comic discussion}}

1886: Typing Notifications

2017-09-06T16:54:42Z

141.101.88.172: /* Explanation */ First version

{{comic
| number = 1886
| date = September 6, 2017
| title = Typing Notifications
| image = typing_notifications.png
| titletext = Over the years I've decided I'd rather have them on than not, but I'm glad there aren't "has opened a blank note to compose a reply to you" notifications.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Typing Notifications are a cue provided by some written communication systems that someone is typing an answer to a conversation. They may appear in different forms, like the litteral text "[Contact] is typing." or often has a answer (possibly a different color) containing three animated dots. While they may be useful, showing that an answer can be expected in a short time, they also have some downsides. The one that Randall seems to present here is the fact that some non-verbal information is transmitted here, which usually isn't the case with written communication. Here the distant contact seems to be typing for some time, and more than once, only to send a very short answer. This probably shows that this was not the first typed answer, and that the initial answer was different. Maybe they weren't so honest after all.

It should be noted that the downside expressed by Randall might also be the difficulty to interpret those notifications. Here, while it looks like the distant contact was hesitating, they may just have been doing something else while typing, made and corrected a typo, or an autocorrect answer. The downside expressed by Randall would then be that Typing Notifications can make you a little paranoid.

Typing notifications are a feature of some instant messaging systems. They let you know when the other person in a conversation is typing and preparing a reply. They give the sender confidence that their message has been received and is being processed.

The comic shows a transcript from such an instant messenger, such as "iMessage" on the iPhone.
In the comic, the receiver is asked if they like the sender's "show". They compose a reply, then pause to delete it. This happens twice. When the final response is received it is anodyne "It was great", suggesting that the first two deleted drafts were far more critical. The fact that you know that a message has been deleted or edited twice provokes you to imagine what the deleted drafts may have contained.



==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Sequence of panels representing the same conversation in an electronic chat:]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: [...]

:Message: What did you think of my show? Did you like it? Be honest!
:Reply: It was great!

:[Caption below the panels:]
:My least favorite aspect of typing notifications

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1883: Supervillain Plan

2017-09-01T15:18:52Z

141.101.88.172:

California is UTC-8 during the winter, but UTC-7 during the summer. [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 15:16, 30 August 2017 (UTC)
:I've clarified this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:13, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

For some reason, I can't help but to think of this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wpm-gesOY Tom Scott] video. I guess it represents well the feeling programers must have when talking about time zones. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.100|162.158.126.100]] 16:49, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Is it at all clear that Cueball and Megan are "henchmen"? I assumed they were captured heros that were to be put to death, but first the supervillain was confessing his evil plan to them, ala {{tvtropes|EvilGloating}}. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:20, 30 August 2017 (UTC)
:I think their purely technical concerns would suggest they don't object to the plan itself, they just want to make sure it's as painless for them as possible [[User:Charith|Charith]] ([[User talk:Charith|talk]]) 19:38, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

:To me, the position with black hat on a throne and the people opposite him seems more like a villain gloating over his plan. But the heroes this week are programmers (who else would go up against a madman who seems to be building a drone army?) - and when they hear what he's actually planning, the time zone thing becomes their biggest concern. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.110|162.158.155.110]] 09:50, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

Also a nice one for programmers, when governments suddenly decide to change the rules: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34631326 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.177|141.101.69.177]] 20:07, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

:About arizona, [https://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/arizona-no-dst.html the article on timeanddate.com] might be a better explanation. (The current link is [https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-11-12/daylight-saving-donut-arizona-ken-jennings-maphead]). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.226.58|172.68.226.58]] 20:33, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Fun fact: this technology can also be used by the good guys to fight the evil. We could move the tectonic plates around to precisely control Earth's moment of inertia, eliminating the need for leap seconds! --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.76|172.68.54.76]] 03:00, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

To whoever wrote the sentence starting with "Humans often avoid this issue": Kudos! Best sentence I read here for a very long time! Plus: something funny to read: http://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:36, 31 August 2017 (UTC)
:Thanks! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.172|141.101.88.172]] 10:11, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

I also appreciate the presence of the "citation needed" in that sentence - brilliantly placed! I'm delighted that Randall has raised awareness on this issue, because it gives me a chance to bring up my latest time discovery, Amsterdam time from May, 1 1909 until July 1, 1937, which was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B00:20 GMT +0h 19m 32.13s] (yes - to the hundredth of a second). My family visited Amsterdam this past summer, and as luck would have it we got to climb the Westertoren, giving me ample opportunity to inform the guides about its special place in timezone management hell (amusing for a church tower)! [[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 11:46, 31 August 2017 (UTC)
:I'm glad the "citation needed" is back (no I didn't add it back myself), I had two "Citation needed" in that sentence but they were removed because "not funny anymore", and I did notice that it wasn't used for many pages, so I wondered if the trope was still up to date. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.172|141.101.88.172]] 10:11, 1 September 2017 (UTC)
::The "Citation needed" template was used too much in the past{{Citation needed}} which some still liked and others not{{Citation needed}}. But consider, it doesn't explain anything which is the main purpose of the article.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:45, 1 September 2017 (UTC)
:::That's why I didn't add it back myself, I understand that some people may think it has been used too often. I've just checked "What if" to see how Randall himself is using the joke (well, with more variation than the explainxkcd version) and although he had a "citation needed" in the very last answer, there was none for fourteen pages in a row. So I guess using it lightly is best aligned with Randall's sense of humor. Which was always the goal of the {{Citation needed}} trope IMHO, not to explain, but to keep in touch with the XKCD culture. But since no joke should be left unexplained here, maybe the explanation that this trope is used as a joke on very obvious statement should be made into a more visible disclaimer on the {{Citation needed}} page. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.172|141.101.88.172]] 15:18, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

:That was "Amsterdam time", the time on which the sun is at its highest point at noon in Amsterdam. Earlier in the 19th century, most cities held to their own time. In 1892, the railways decided to use _Greenwich_ time, even though more and more cities used Amsterdam time -- so the trains were always using a time 19m32.12 different from the rest of the country. Until 1909, as you note, when everybody had to switch to Amsterdam time, that mostly meant the railways. 08:21, 1 September 2017 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|141.101.105.228}}

I was working on an application with multiple remote devices measuring temperatures. The units had internal clocks, but some units were set to change automatically with daylight savings time, some weren't, and some apparently had the wrong dates set for the switchover. They were also located in two different time zones. I would have loved to have them all set to UTC and handle the time zone conversion at the central facility. However, this wasn't really practical as parts of the network were already installed. However, it was good enough since the real need was to record trends and report when temperatures were above alarm levels. There is also a time standard that doesn't use leap seconds (TAI). (This is used for the GPS system.) I have heard a number of proposals that the timing standard for computer equipment use the time without leap seconds for recording events. http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/systime.html UTC is TAI with adjustments for leap seconds. Look at http://gpsworld.com/leap-second-implementation-confuses-some-receivers/ (There were other situations) Some systems had some calculations using UTC and some using TAI, and mistakes in consistency caused some major problems. [[User:BradleyRoss|BradleyRoss]] ([[User talk:BradleyRoss|talk]]) 20:46, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1883: Supervillain Plan

2017-09-01T10:11:40Z

141.101.88.172:

California is UTC-8 during the winter, but UTC-7 during the summer. [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 15:16, 30 August 2017 (UTC)
:I've clarified this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:13, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

For some reason, I can't help but to think of this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wpm-gesOY Tom Scott] video. I guess it represents well the feeling programers must have when talking about time zones. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.100|162.158.126.100]] 16:49, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Is it at all clear that Cueball and Megan are "henchmen"? I assumed they were captured heros that were to be put to death, but first the supervillain was confessing his evil plan to them, ala {{tvtropes|EvilGloating}}. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:20, 30 August 2017 (UTC)
:I think their purely technical concerns would suggest they don't object to the plan itself, they just want to make sure it's as painless for them as possible [[User:Charith|Charith]] ([[User talk:Charith|talk]]) 19:38, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

:To me, the position with black hat on a throne and the people opposite him seems more like a villain gloating over his plan. But the heroes this week are programmers (who else would go up against a madman who seems to be building a drone army?) - and when they hear what he's actually planning, the time zone thing becomes their biggest concern. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.110|162.158.155.110]] 09:50, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

Also a nice one for programmers, when governments suddenly decide to change the rules: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34631326 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.177|141.101.69.177]] 20:07, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

:About arizona, [https://www.timeanddate.com/time/us/arizona-no-dst.html the article on timeanddate.com] might be a better explanation. (The current link is [https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-11-12/daylight-saving-donut-arizona-ken-jennings-maphead]). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.226.58|172.68.226.58]] 20:33, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Fun fact: this technology can also be used by the good guys to fight the evil. We could move the tectonic plates around to precisely control Earth's moment of inertia, eliminating the need for leap seconds! --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.76|172.68.54.76]] 03:00, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

To whoever wrote the sentence starting with "Humans often avoid this issue": Kudos! Best sentence I read here for a very long time! Plus: something funny to read: http://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:36, 31 August 2017 (UTC)
:Thanks! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.172|141.101.88.172]] 10:11, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

I also appreciate the presence of the "citation needed" in that sentence - brilliantly placed! I'm delighted that Randall has raised awareness on this issue, because it gives me a chance to bring up my latest time discovery, Amsterdam time from May, 1 1909 until July 1, 1937, which was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B00:20 GMT +0h 19m 32.13s] (yes - to the hundredth of a second). My family visited Amsterdam this past summer, and as luck would have it we got to climb the Westertoren, giving me ample opportunity to inform the guides about its special place in timezone management hell (amusing for a church tower)! [[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 11:46, 31 August 2017 (UTC)
:I'm glad the "citation needed" is back (no I didn't add it back myself), I had two "Citation needed" in that sentence but they were removed because "not funny anymore", and I did notice that it wasn't used for many pages, so I wondered if the trope was still up to date. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.172|141.101.88.172]] 10:11, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

That was "Amsterdam time", the time on which the sun is at its highest point at noon in Amsterdam. Earlier in the 19th century, most cities held to their own time. In 1892, the railways decided to use _Greenwich_ time, even though more and more cities used Amsterdam time -- so the trains were always using a time 19m32.12 different from the rest of the country. Until 1909, as you note, when everybody had to switch to Amsterdam time, that mostly meant the railways. 08:21, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

I was working on an application with multiple remote devices measuring temperatures. The units had internal clocks, but some units were set to change automatically with daylight savings time, some weren't, and some apparently had the wrong dates set for the switchover. They were also located in two different time zones. I would have loved to have them all set to UTC and handle the time zone conversion at the central facility. However, this wasn't really practical as parts of the network were already installed. However, it was good enough since the real need was to record trends and report when temperatures were above alarm levels. There is also a time standard that doesn't use leap seconds (TAI). (This is used for the GPS system.) I have heard a number of proposals that the timing standard for computer equipment use the time without leap seconds for recording events. http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/systime.html UTC is TAI with adjustments for leap seconds. Look at http://gpsworld.com/leap-second-implementation-confuses-some-receivers/ (There were other situations) Some systems had some calculations using UTC and some using TAI, and mistakes in consistency caused some major problems. [[User:BradleyRoss|BradleyRoss]] ([[User talk:BradleyRoss|talk]]) 20:46, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

1883: Supervillain Plan

2017-08-30T15:24:31Z

141.101.88.172: /* Explanation */ Added details on the difficulty of timezones and DST

{{comic
| number = 1883
| date = August 30, 2017
| title = Supervillain Plan
| image = supervillain_plan.png
| titletext = Someday, some big historical event will happen during the DST changeover, and all the tick-tock articles chronicling how it unfolded will have to include a really annoying explanation next to their timelines.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft, please help to expand. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic [[Black Hat]] is a {{w|supervillain}}, befitting his {{w|Black hat|character}}. He plans to use {{w|Unmanned aerial vehicle|drones}} and explosives to move the entire State California into the Pacific, a la {{w|Lex Luthor}} in the 1978 ''{{w|Superman (1978 film)|Superman}}'' movie.

His {{w|Henchman|henchmen}} are [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]]. The latter appears to be a programmer who does not want to have the mission (and hence the drones' coding) to account for time/date discrepancies such as {{w|time zone}}s and {{w|daylight saving time}}, which would be a factor if the event took place on the wrong date or the landmasses were pushed too far apart.

In computer programming, working with dates and times is often considered one of the more complicated tasks.
This is because timezones and DST can give seemingly nonsensical results results when used improperly. For example, a flight going west might leave at 02:00pm and reach its destination at 03:00pm while the reverse flight will leave at 02:00pm and arrive at 05:00pm. In both cases, the travel time is two hours, but the one hour difference between the two timezones makes it seem otherwise. You might even find yourself arriving at your destination at an earlier time than your departure! DST can also makes a given time mean two different things, if after 01:59am you go back to 01:00 am, 01:30am can either be one hour after 00:30am, or one hour before 02:30am. Or in the reverse change, some dates don't actually exist, like 02:30 when going straight from 01:59 to 03:00. Humans often avoid this issue by being in only one place at the same time{{Citation needed}}, or by sleeping when the DST changes happen, but computer communications often span over large distances, and drones don't need to sleep at night {{Citation needed}}. Megan wants to make sure she won't have to deal with the difficult problem of communication between drones and other systems with those issues, where a single poorly communicated date can have disastrous effects.

California is currently located entirely within the {{w|UTC−08:00|UTC-8}} time zone. In the comic, California floats West into the {{w|UTC−09:00|UTC-9}} time zone.

Note: Megan should be happy Black Hat hasn't planned [https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-11-12/daylight-saving-donut-arizona-ken-jennings-maphead to involve Arizona in his scheme].

==Transcript==
:[On the left of this single panel comic Black Hat sits on a high throne, showing a fist, and looking down to Cueball and Magan who stand in front of him on the right.]

:Black Hat: ... then, after our drones take control of the cities, we will detonate the devices. California will break off from the mainland and drift out to sea!
:Megan: How far out to sea? Will it put any of the cities in the UTC-9 time zone?
:Black Hat: What? I don't know.
:Megan: One request: Can we make sure this doesn't happen during the daylight saving changeover?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:You can tell when someone's been a programmer for a while because they develop a deep-seated fear of time zone problems.

==Trivia==
*Different time zones often confuse people. When [[xkcd]] comics are released on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday early as possible at 00:00 according to [[Randall|Randall's]] home at Eastern Time (EST/EDT) it is still the day before in the most regions of the United States further to the west. In California (PST/PDT) that would be 21:00 in the evening before. Nevertheless most comics are released later when the entire US is at the same day. This particular comic was released at 13:00 UTC, which was 09:00 EDT or 06:00 PDT.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Drones]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Programming]]