explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:557: Students

2018-07-13T09:29:39Z

141.101.98.142:

The project dream is so true. To this day I have dreams where I signed up but didn't even attend a class that was necessary for graduation. I dream that I'll likely fail the course and need to attend one more semester. [[User:Cflare|Cflare]] ([[User talk:Cflare|talk]]) 17:15, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

There are studies that people successfully passing tests/exams have this dreams way more often. Often also something in the lines of every achievement after college would be nullified when it came out that the testresult was not correct. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.221|108.162.230.221]] 10:12, 15 June 2015 (UTC)

I had the dream of fighting the green ranger (The original one) in Crisco once, it was weird, and I do not know how or why I had that dream.
-Swaphero[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.25|173.245.54.25]] 02:15, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

I graduated 15 years ago and I still have annoying dreams that I can't remember which locker was mine. - [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.58|162.158.214.58]] 19:22, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

Same here. Graduated long ago, still have this nightmare from time to time. (not the "green monster" though) Why? Are we really part of a computer game? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.4|162.158.63.4]] 03:48, 7 July 2018 (UTC)

I have this dream where I'm stranded on a random planet and start counting rocks and placing them in neat little piles. By the time I wake up, I've normally got over half a million rocks.

Talk:1975: Right Click

2018-04-02T09:17:04Z

141.101.98.142: Added information abotu an easter egg.

How are we going to handle submenus submenus and subitems etc? (Also Captcha outdated! Update immediately!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.34|162.158.238.34]] 01:46, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
Um, I don't see a reCapatcha. Just saying...
[[User:Fmccarthy|Fmccarthy]] ([[User talk:Fmccarthy|talk]]) 04:17, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
There is one when saving edits. I'm assuming this is the one they mean. Also, aside from a table with way too many columns I don't really know.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.215|162.158.79.215]] 04:21, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

I created this page manually. DgbrtBOT fail?

Also, notably, while the comic at xkcd.com works as intended (even from Chrome on Android, to a certain degree), the mobile site, m.xkcd.com, does not. It shows the standard system/browser-specific context menu. --[[User:Videblu|Videblu]] ([[User talk:Videblu|talk]]) 00:28, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Oh my gosh this is incredible. The Games section, especially, is mind boggling. Entropy! [[User:Hameltion|Hameltion]] ([[User talk:Hameltion|talk]]) 00:30, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Whoever owns this site update ReCaptcha! [[User:Sizzilingbird|Sizzilingbird]] ([[User talk:Sizzilingbird|talk]]) 00:40, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

WOO!!! [https://uni.xkcd.com/ Unicode XKCD]!!! [[User:Phoenix Up|Phoenix Up]] ([[User talk:Phoenix Up|talk]]) 00:44, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

This (uni.xkcd.com) is not new, I remember using this months (perhaps years) ago :P [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 02:44, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Is there a second for easter eggs in there? Fork bombs ( :(){ :|: &};: ) work, I'm not sure what else. [[User:Waterlubber|Waterlubber]] ([[User talk:Waterlubber|talk]]) 02:52, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Sorry if this is already well known, but there are a couple unlisted commands, e.g. you can delete things individually using rm -rf. It looks like auto-completion and * don't work. [[User:Power Factor|Power Factor]] ([[User talk:Power Factor|talk]]) 03:27, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Reluctant to call it an Easter Egg, but Utilities / Identify Song / Hey Now / Hey now na now / Sing "This Corrosion" to me inverts the colours on the comic/background [[User:Maslink|Maslink]] ([[User talk:Maslink|talk]]) 02:02, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

: He missed a chance for a Rick Roll there (For all we know there may be a Rick Roll in here) [[User:Phoenix Up|Phoenix Up]] ([[User talk:Phoenix Up|talk]]) 02:36, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

SPOILER:

I managed to save the image by playing ADVENT.exe, has anyone else found other ways? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.172|162.158.75.172]] 00:54, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

'''COMIC MAY BE UNDER CONSTRUCTION''' I think one of the menu options change since the comic was first posted. Randall may still be changing things. --[[User:Videblu|Videblu]] ([[User talk:Videblu|talk]]) 01:15, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
: Actually it's that once you do some things others "unlock". For instance, accessing File > Open > A:\ > Insert > Floppy disk, and then File > Open > A:\ you get the Games, Music, and the really cool Bookmarks catalog of comics. Also, as said above, completing the game ADVENT.exe lets you go to save:
{{Collapse top|title=Egg spoiler: Text adventure route}}
* Games
* ADVENT.EXE
* Castle
* Well
* Pull up the bucket
* Examine bucket
* Get key
* Back
* Back to the castle
* Open door
* Get clamp
* This might come in handy
* Get outta here
* Enter castle
* Examine machine
* Hmmm
* Put clamp in C-Remover
* Take lamp
* Leave
* Go back
* Cave
* Go deeper
* N
* E
* N
* N
* N
* W
* S
* W
* Examine nest
* Take egg
* ''Click''
Now you can save [https://i.imgur.com/X4LX3w9.png the image]! :)
{{Collapse bottom}}
: I made it hidden so that anyone who wants to explore on their own may still... [[User:Hameltion|Hameltion]] ([[User talk:Hameltion|talk]]) 02:01, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
:: The Help menu changed after I refreshed the page (that is what I see at first glance), other things may have changed as well. [[User:Phoenix Up|Phoenix Up]] ([[User talk:Phoenix Up|talk]]) 02:29, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
::: Ah - I don't recall it being different, but I may have missed an earlier version. Anyway here is another way to make the image available:
: C-remover is a reference to the interactive fiction "[http://emshort.com/counterfeit_monkey/ Counterfeit Monkey]".
{{Collapse top|title=Egg spoiler: London Underground route}}. (Adding it for future restructure)
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.142|162.158.134.142]] 08:00, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
* Games
* Mornington Crescent
* Euston
* Warren Street
* Goodge Street
* Tottenham Court Road
* Leicester Square
* Charing Cross
* Embankment
* Westminster
* St James's Park
* Victoria
* Pimlico
* Vauxhall
* Easter basket
* Take egg (''Click'')
Though in reality it may be [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Mornington+Crescent,+London+NW1+2JA,+United+Kingdom/Vauxhall,+London,+UK/@51.5103249,-0.1720918,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761b2037dd36b9:0x11812a2d5cfb2ea3!2m2!1d-0.1388607!2d51.5343884!1m5!1m1!1s0x487604ec2b79a13d:0xdfa3f51e98dee89c!2m2!1d-0.1227798!2d51.4861366!3e1 faster to bike]?
{{Collapse bottom}}
:::This is really fun! (and there's [https://xkcd.com/1975/kat-bun-small.png this]) --[[User:Hameltion|Hameltion]] ([[User talk:Hameltion|talk]]) 02:43, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

I followed the "Land of 1000 dances" "na-na"s over 1000 times and didn't hit an end. It may be infinite. [[User:Jedi.jesse|Jedi.jesse]] ([[User talk:Jedi.jesse|talk]]) 02:45, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Doing System > / > home/ > guest (''click'') takes you to [https://uni.xkcd.com/ uni.xkcd.com] which it pretty neat. [[User:Hameltion|Hameltion]] ([[User talk:Hameltion|talk]]) 02:53, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

List of D&D spells can be ported into explanation from [https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/88vwoe/xkcds_latest_comic_has_a_dd_easter_egg/ here].
And [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/88v6if/xkcd_1975_right_click/dwnp4ml/ here] is a path through Mornington Crescent to an easter egg.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.142|162.158.134.142]] 07:52, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_(game) Mornington Crescent is a joke nonsensical game from an old British radio show.

== Land of 1,000 Dances ==

This goes on forever. Or at least well over 1000 levels: [Media:https://i.imgur.com/iiHDE3e.png number of popups checked with jQuery]--[[User:MikeOShay|MikeOShay]] ([[User talk:MikeOShay|talk]]) 04:21, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

== Transscript ==
Is the transscript really unfinished? It transcribes the entirety of the comic image itself, and the menu part is in explanations. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.142|162.158.238.142]] 05:36, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

No effect for iOS. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.138.88|162.158.138.88]] 05:37, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

1890: What to Bring

2017-09-15T08:02:50Z

141.101.98.142:

{{comic
| number = 1890
| date = September 15, 2017
| title = What to Bring
| image = what_to_bring.png
| titletext = I always figured you should never bring a gun to a gun fight because then you'll be part of a gun fight.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Bare necessities, could use elaboration. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A graph based on variations of the phrase "never bring a knife to a gun fight", an idiom usually attributed to either {{w|Elmer Keith}} or ''{{w|The Untouchables (film)|The Untouchables}}''.

The second part of the graph is based on reactions to an {{w|Class B fire|oil fire}}, which should be extinguished by removing the oxygen (such as by covering it with a lid). Attempting to apply water to an oil fire will result in a large, potentially dangerous flame.

* If you bring a knife to a knife fight, you will be evenly matched with your opponent.

* If you bring a knife to a gunfight, you will be at a perilous disadvantage.

* Attempting to fight a wood fire with a knife will lead to you being burned.

* Attempting to fight an oil fire will lead to you being burned, in addition to causing metallic scrapes.

* Shooting either a wood or an oil fire is an ineffective way of extinguishing them.{{Citation needed}}

* Bringing a gun to a gunfight will leave you {{w|Mexican standoff|evenly matched with your opponent}}.

* Bringing a gun to a knife fight will leave your opponent at a perilous disadvantage.

* Splashing either a knife-wielder or a gunman with water will serve only to agitate your opponent.

* Wood fires are best extinguished with a well-aimed splash of water.

* Attempting to put a lid on the head of a knife-wielder or gunman will probably not help matters, as it may only serve to agitate said knife-wielder. There's a possibility that your attacker may be momentarily stunned by the surrealism of the situation, but even that will only buy you about a ten-foot running start.

* Trying to put out a wood fire with a lid would require a lid bigger than can possibly be considered 'brought with'.

* An oil fire is best extinguished by cutting it off from oxygen; stovetop oil fires generally spawn in cooking pans, which often come with lids suited to making an airtight seal.

The title text makes the observation that bringing a gun to a gunfight only raises your status from 'civilian' to 'combatant'.

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

{{comic discussion}}

1304: Glass Trolling

2017-08-19T16:16:05Z

141.101.98.142: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1304
| date = December 16, 2013
| title = Glass Trolling
| image = glass_trolling.png
| titletext = Plus, when someone finally grabs your glasses and stomps on them, it costs way less than $1,500 to replace them.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another strip in the [[My Hobby]] series.

{{w|Google Glass}} is a set of glasses frames worn like typical glasses that features an optical display and internet connectivity. It responds to voice commands starting with [https://support.google.com/glass/answer/3079305 "OK ''glass''"], for example to initiate video recording or to check tomorrow's weather. Strangers and other people surrounding the user would often find it annoying to hear someone talking to "himself", or to ''Glass''. Also many people who buy the newest gadgets, like Google Glass, like to brag about it, and thus would try to say ''OK Glass'' so loud that other people will notice they have these cool new glasses. This can be very annoying in general!

[[Randall|Randall's]] hobby, is saying "OK, ''glass''" before any sentence while he is only wearing regular glasses. Like here where he (drawn as usual like [[Cueball]], with regular glasses) is checking tomorrow's weather, not on the glasses but on his {{w|smartphone}}. Apparently this is even more annoying to the bystander than if he would actually wear a real ''Google Glass'' while saying so. He thus both annoys other people, mocks people who buy such glasses to brag about them, and in general mocks Google Glass.

In the title text, Randall states that there is an extra benefit by doing this while only wearing regular glasses. Because when someone is finally fed up with the annoyance and rips the glasses off and stomps on them, then it would cost much less for regular glasses than if he had to replace a "Google Glass". These are very expensive - $1,500 at the time of this comic, as the title text says. (Note regular glasses can also be very expensive, but you could choose to wear your reserve glasses for such a prank...)

The "OK, ''Glass''" keyword is not useless outside of ''Glass''; in the browser Chrome and the Android/iOS app ''Google Now'', "OK, ''Glass''" is also valid instead of "OK, ''Google''" to initiate a voice command. While Cueball may be using this app, it is not necessarily the case, given that the caption states that Cueball enjoys prefacing everything with the phrase.

It seems generally that Randall is no fan of Google Glass, which was also shown earlier in [[1251: Anti-Glass]]. Google Glass has become a [[:Category:Google Glass|recurring theme]] in xkcd.e

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:My Hobby:

:[Cueball, wearing regular glasses, is holding his smartphone up in one hand while typing, as shown with two times two small movement lines on either side of the phone. A voice from off-panel right emanates from a starburst at the frame.]
:Cueball: OK, Glass, check tomorrow's weather.
:Cueball: Ooh, snow!
:Off-panel voice: Oh my god, it's somehow even ''more'' annoying than if you had it.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Saying "OK, Glass" before everything while wearing regular glasses.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Google Glass]]

199: Right-Hand Rule

2017-03-07T11:18:08Z

141.101.98.142:

{{comic
| number = 199
| date = December 20, 2006
| title = Right-Hand Rule
| image = right_hand_rule.png
| titletext = To really expand your mind try some noncartesian porn. Edwin Abbot Abbott has nothing on "Girls on Girls in Tightly Closed Nonorientable Spaces"
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|right-hand rule}} is a mathematics and physics trick to learning how to find the {{w|cross product}} of two Cartesian vectors in three dimensions. First, position your right arm in the direction of the first vector (in the example diagram in the comic, this is to the left). Then, curl your fingers in the direction of the second vector (out of the page/screen, in the example). Now point your thumb perpendicular to the other fingers, and it will point in the direction of the cross product of those two vectors (upwards, in the example). Note that reversing the order of the two vectors also reverses the direction of the cross product.

The book rule is an actual alternative to the right hand rule that might be useful to some physics students doing exercises out of their textbooks. However, it would give incorrect results with books in languages that are read from right to left, as well as most Jewish prayer books.

The gun rule also technically works, but it would be extremely impractical, expensive, and dangerous to use and fire a loaded gun every time you want to find the result vector. It would also be very awkward to hold the gun in line with the vectors. It also assumes the safety latch is consistently on the same side of all guns; if a gun was made with the safety latch on the other side, then it would give incorrect results.

The body rule is for males only, which is very limiting for a rule that is meant to make math and physics problems easier. With the right arm oriented along one vector and the legs along the second, the result vector is found along the penis of the person, which is conveniently erected by watching porn.

The title text refers to {{w|Edwin Abbott Abbott}}, author of the book Flatland, a story about a two dimensional world.

{{w|Orientability}} is a property that refers to a space with continuously varying {{w|surface normal}}s, which are essentially just vectors that are perpendicular to the surface of the space. Nearly every space commonly encountered is orientable; this is likely why the porn is referred to as mind expanding and superior to Edwin Abbot Abbott's work.

==Transcript==
:[Picture of a right hand with fingers curved, thumb pointed away, with axes drawn to demonstrate the right-hand rule of physics.]
:Alternatives to the Right-Hand Rule in vector multiplication:
:[A slightly-open book with labeled axes drawn on.]
:Book Rule: Open the front cover along the first vector and the back cover along the second. The result vector is along the spine, out the top.
:[A handgun with axes.]
:Handgun Rule: Point the grip along the first vector and rotate it so that the second vector is on the safety latch side. Fire. The result vector is toward the bullet holes.
:[A person with right arm extended.]
:Body Rule (males only): Point your right arm along the first vector and your legs along the second, then watch some porn.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:177: Alice and Bob

2017-01-08T10:07:52Z

141.101.98.142:

This part: "but everything from the public-key authenticated signatures on the files to the lipstick heart smeared on the disk screamed "Alice." " reminds me of the song Alice by Tom Waits. May or may not be intentional.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.120|108.162.242.120]] 18:10, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

The title text refers to comic 153, the first time Randall claimes to be banned from a conference (others to follow, e.g. comics 463 and 541).
And I don't consider this comic to have a "twist ending" revealing that it's Eve talking. She says that she is commonly being labelled the attacker in the very first panel. --[[User:YMS|YMS]] ([[User talk:YMS|talk]]) 15:37, 12 January 2014 (UTC)

Is Danish's name actually Eve? They seem to look the same, and have the same character. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.5|108.162.246.5]] 17:51, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

Would that make [[Black Hat|Black Hat]] Bob? And who would be Alice? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.76|173.245.55.76]] 02:30, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

None of them because they aren't the same characters! -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 00:18, 16 July 2015 (UTC)

In addition to the obvious cryptography naming convention, I thought there was a reference to the 1969 movie classic Bob&Carol&Ted&Alice about infidelity and partners swapping. The climax scene has all 4 climb to bed together with Bob and Alice (married, but not to each other) kissing passionately. The movie inspired a genre of sexual comedies, and to this day, calling out a few of the names with a "&" between is used as a euphemism for "too sexually liberal for their own good." [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 16:13, 19 September 2015 (UTC)

;Isn't she Danish?

She looks very similar to the character called [[Danish]] after an enigmatic remark in [[515]]. But here she is called Eve. Shouldn't we rename the character everywhere? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.137|162.158.102.137]] 13:39, 12 March 2016 (UTC)

Hmm... the existance of http://aram.xkcd.com/ suggests that Black Hat Guy has the same name as his acknowleged inspiration, so does that make them Aram and Eve ;) ? -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.142|141.101.98.142]] 10:07, 8 January 2017 (UTC)