explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2906: Earth

2024-03-15T15:23:42Z

141.101.98.232:

I originally read the caption as "how badly ''we'd'' messed up", which... changes Sagan's tone somewhat. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.155.54|172.71.155.54]] 08:02, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

At first I thought the joke was that the rocket firing had somehow gone so catastrophically badly that the entire Earth had literally been reduced to dust. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 08:37, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
:I also had this notion at first. That after the failed burn Earth had been destroyed... But I think not so anymore. So thx explain xkcd. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:43, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

So, according to explainxkcd, that’s a ''square'' “spacecraft window”?? Why have we never seen a square spacecraft window in any other context, ever? Did Randall screw up that badly in the original comic, or was it a previous explainxkcd editor who screwed up here? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.60|172.70.214.60]] 08:58, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
:I'm not sure what you're on about and why anyone has to have screwed up. Why can't it be a rectangular (we don't know it's square) spacecraft window? [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 09:53, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
::This is very clearly a triangle shaped window in a very elongated spaceship [[User:Whimsical|Whimsical]] ([[User talk:Whimsical|talk]]) 11:24, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
::: Maybe it is part of a huge spider-shaped window? (I home people here will remember that meta-reference to What If) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.208|172.71.94.208]] 12:28, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
::::This picture from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupola_(ISS_module)#/media/File:Tracy_Caldwell_Dyson_in_Cupola_ISS.jpg Cupola] module of the ISS has trapeze like windows. But the one behind the astronaut could easily have been a rectangle from what can be seen in the picture. So to argue that this window could not have been shot the same is just silly. Of course it was important to the joke that you did not realize it was a window until reading the caption. Also if this space craft has held up to go so far form Earth with living inhabitants it is obviously not a space ship in use today! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:43, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
:::::There is precedent with the [https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/990677/view/crew-at-window-of-space-shuttle-discovery-2006 Space Shuttle] (aft flight-deck window, others were round, the 'forward flight-deck' ones were of course the main flight/piloting ones with awkward quadrilateral shapes and pesky instrument panels where none are in the comic). The windows in the Shuttle were actually a weight issue (certainly, at first, they were plain (chunky!) glass, and added a ''lot'' of weight to the design.
:::::Also look at {{w|File:Blue Origin M7.jpg|Blue Origin's capsule}} for more current design that could end up eventually on an orbital/extra-orbital vessel. Although Crew Dragon is more conservative, and {{w|File:MACES in Orion mock-up.jpg|Orion's interior}} looks like it isn't so big (while Starship's eventual window configuration might eventually be vastly more conservative than the Dan Dare/Flash Gordon aesthetic of the concept imagery).
:::::So... Possible, but depends upon the design needs for the craft (fully space-capable whilst ''intended'' to undergo re-entry, is all we really know). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.92|172.70.90.92]] 16:13, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

In my mind is the scene in C.S. Lewis's religious novel Out of the Silent Planet, where an English philologist, Ransom, is abducted by criminals into outer space and meets aliens. In chapter fifteen, a wise sorn tries to figure out which planet Ransom is from. Probably Thulcandra, the garbage planet of the Solar System. Ransom doesn't like the sound of that, but the sorn gets out something that isn't a telescope and he shows Thulcandra to Ransom, and yup, that's us. Lewis writes it better. I don't know if Carl Sagan had read this. --Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.75|141.101.99.75]] 13:12, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
:Hoo boy, yep that book (and its sequel) are beyond even Narnia in their religious symbolism (though the later environmentalist movements could definitely find an allegory in them, too, not sure how intended that was, in CSL's time, some time before a practical Gaia Hypothesis/etc). I can imagine Randall knows of the book (though clearly more influenced by Sagan in a direct lineage). Not entirely sure Sagan will have taken interest in that genre, nor taken the above to heart. Probably no more than his genuine scientific and rhetoric interests, which may be sufficient genesis for his own coined meme. But that's just my gut feeling. i.e. Worthy of note, but not directly (or singly-indirectly) connected. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.153|172.70.85.153]] 14:20, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
:: The Gaia Hypothesis is also religious, so it makes sense that it could be written into C. S. Lewis. Protecting the environment is important, but Mother Nature is basically a deity for misanthropes. {{unsigned ip|162.158.155.91|14:02, 15 March 2024}}
:::It ''can'' be believed religiously, and is named after a goddess, but also can be used to describe the (long-term) self-regulating interactions of the various elements of biomes and atmos/geos-/pedospheres that interact, in a more scientific way. (Some people religiously believe in evolution as God's "fire and forget" Creationist act to get us from the very start of Genesis until Revelations, for example, but it doesn't stop a strictly agnostic scientific analysis of natural selection getting us here, with or without writings that describe everything in traditional concepts that may not ''necessarily' be entirely accurate - but sustained "God's chosen people" in ways that mattered... to put just one teleological spin on it.)
:::It can just be considered a more complex (and entirelg natural) global thermostat. Which might have difficulty dealing with people lighting unexpected fires in the middle of their bedrooms (e.g.), and can't stop them burning their own house down if they start a runaway effect that it has no power to stop, but ''normally'' it can counteract variations of temperature by eventually adjusting the heating/cooling elements. Or, I suppose, decides that a hotter/colder house is better, so long as there are still some pot-plants that will thrive under the new conditions (until nudged back by other effects).
:::...that's simplistic, as an analogy, and in key ways 'not really correct', but it starts to reflect the no-god-needed tenet of the general idea. (Not sure I have confidence in "it'll be alright", but I would say it has better chance than "''we'll'' be alright", as we aren't vital to 'keep things going'. In fact, once we're gone then anything that remains will get its own chance to nudge conditions to a new equilibreum.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 15:23, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

The color for the blue dot seems to be around #B6C8EB. --[[User:1234231587678|1234231587678]] ([[User talk:1234231587678|talk]]) 15:18, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
:Zooming in, the central pixel is definitely #ABBBDC (a very easy color to hand type), with some artifacts around it of varying shades of grey. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.59.184|172.69.59.184]] 20:58, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
::I think we're discussing different versions of the two images. The single central pixel of the dot in the "regular-sized" image on the xkcd site, "earth.png" (364 x 472 pixels), is now #B5C6E9, while the ''six'' central pixels in the 2x image, "earth_2x.png" (728 x 945 pixels), are #BDCFF4. The "regular-sized" version here, "363px-earth_2x.png" (363 x 471 pixels) has a single central pixel, #ABBBDC, while the large image on *this* site, "545px-earth_2x.png" (545 x 707 pixels), has ''two'' central pixels, #BDCFF4. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 22:33, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
I'd say he nailed Sagan's hair... [[User:Inexplicable|Inexplicable]] ([[User talk:Inexplicable|talk]]) 19:11, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

Carl may *claim* to have messed up, but I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't aim the rocket for deep space, given half a chance.

:Sounds about right. It's Carl Sagan... and besides, who ''wouldn't'' want the opportunity to venture into the final frontier? (Also, please remember to sign your post next time.) [[User:OmniDoom|OmniDoom]] ([[User talk:OmniDoom|talk]]) 23:40, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

386: Duty Calls

2024-03-14T14:03:56Z

141.101.98.232: /* Alternative interpretation */ Slight punctuation change. Removing useless/unrendered linebreaks, while I'm here.

{{comic
| number = 386
| date = February 20, 2008
| title = Duty Calls
| image = duty calls.png
| titletext = What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]], and many people everywhere, feel an {{Wiktionary|irrepressible}} urge to correct people on the Internet, and often get intensely invested in arguments over mundane or insignificant topics. In this comic, Cueball is presented as an exaggerated example of one such arguer. His statement that "This is important" shows his excessive investment in whatever (unnamed) topic he is arguing about. Additionally, Cueball's interpretation of the argument as "someone is wrong, I need to correct them" rather than "someone disagrees with me, I should learn from them" parodies Internet arguers' insistence in the obvious, objective superiority of their viewpoint. The phrase "Duty Calls" used in the title is traditionally used in much more dramatic contexts (say, by a police officer, firefighter, doctor, etc. when talking about their job), so applying it to the job of arguing on the Internet is a humorous mismatch that puts Cueball's disproportionate investment into perspective. In [[955: Neutrinos]] another incarnation of Cueball is cured of a similar disease. A much later comic is simply called [[1731: Wrong]], but here it is not the other people who are wrong! A callback to this comic was made in [[2051: Bad Opinions]].

The title text reinforces the absurd nature of his emotional investment in this argument. His reasoning that "they'll keep being wrong!" if he leaves suggests that the only solution he sees is to continue to argue until everyone on the Internet has agreed with him on all issues–a ridiculously impossible plan. By taking this satire to its logical conclusion–an eternity of arguing on the Internet with no time for pleasure in real life–Randall reminds the reader that getting emotionally involved in Internet arguments at the expense of real life is a terrible, terrible idea.

===Alternative interpretation===

There are a lot of people in the Internet.{{Citation needed}} Some percentage of those people are objectively wrong about known things. In consequence, there are a lot of wrong people in the Internet. So, correcting those people is a {{w|Sisyphus#Punishment_in_the_underworld|never ending task}}. Also, some of those people are wrong because they are {{w|Crank#Slang|cranks}}, and won't accept even a clear demonstration of their error. But the people posting corrections can self-justify their effort because they are helping the {{w|Lurker|lurkers}} who otherwise could be led astray by the errors published.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is typing on a computer.]
:Voice outside frame: Are you coming to bed?
:Cueball: I can't. This is important.
:Voice: What?
:Cueball: Someone is WRONG on the Internet.

==Trivia==
This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125023401/https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints available as a signed print] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

2034: Equations

2019-01-11T22:48:03Z

141.101.98.232: Removed partial sentence.

{{comic
| number = 2034
| date = August 17, 2018
| title = Equations
| image = equations.png
| titletext = All electromagnetic equations: The same as all fluid dynamics equations, but with the 8 and 23 replaced with the permittivity and permeability of free space, respectively.
}}
==Explanation==

This comic gives a set of mock equations. To anyone not familiar with the field in question they look pretty similar to what you might find in research papers or on the relevant Wikipedia pages. Most of the jokes are related to the symbols or "look" of most equations in the given field.

The comic makes jokes about the fields of kinematics, number theory, fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, chemistry, quantum gravity, gauge theory, cosmology, and physics equations. Of course, all of the equations listed are not real equations (<math>\pi-\infty</math> and H2EAT are clearly jokes and making a mockery of the given field). As always, Randall is just having a laugh.

:<math>E=K_{0}t+\frac{1}{2}\rho{}vt^2</math>
:All kinematics equations

:<math>K_{n}=\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{\pi=0}^{\infty}(n-\pi)(i+e^{\pi-\infty})</math>
:All number theory equations

:<math>\frac{\partial}{\partial{t}}\nabla\cdot\rho=\frac{8}{23}\oint\!\!\!\!\oint\rho\,{ds}\,{dt}\cdot{}\rho\frac{\partial}{\partial\nabla}</math>
:All fluid dynamics equations

:<math>|\psi_{x,y}\rangle=A(\psi)A(|x\rangle\otimes|y\rangle)</math>
:All quantum mechanics equations

:<math>CH_4+OH+HEAT\rightarrow{}H_2O+CH_{2}+H_2EAT</math>
:All chemistry equations

:<math>SU(2)U(1)\times{}SU(U(2))</math>
:All quantum gravity equations

:Sg=(-1)/(2ε̄) ið(̂ ξ0 ⨢ pε ρvabc⋅η0)̂ f̵a0 λ(ξ) ψ(0a)
:All gauge theory equations

:<math>H(t)+\Omega+G\cdot\nabla...\begin{cases}...>0\textrm{\ (Hubble\ model)}\\
...=0\textrm{\ (Flat\ sphere\ model)}\\
...<0\textrm{\ (Bright\ dark\ matter\ model)}
\end{cases}</math>
:All cosmology equations

:Ĥ - u̧0 = 0
:All truly deep physics equations

* Most '''kinematics''' equations tend to make heavy use of constants, addition, powers, and multiplication. This specific equation resembles the actual kinematics equation d = vt + 1/2at^2, but replaces a (acceleration) with v (velocity) and replaces velocity with "K0", which is not a term used in kinematics.

* Randall jokes about how '''number theory''' often involves the use of summations. The use of ''π'' as an integer variable in the double summation is a joke, as ''π'' is essentially always used for the well-known constant 3.14159..., not a variable. The use of ''i'' as a summation variable '''is''' common, though it can also be confused with the imaginary unit √-1. The constants ''e'', ''i'', and ''π'', as well as the theoretical upper bound <math>\infty</math>, often appear in number theory equations.

* '''Fluid dynamics equations''' often involve copious integrals, especially those over closed contours as done here, which are often the main telling factors of those equations to an outsider.

* '''Quantum mechanics''' often involves some of the foreign-looking symbols listed, including {{w|Bra–ket notation|bra-ket notation}}, the {{w|Tensor product|tensor product}}, and the Greek letter Psi for a quantum state.

* '''Chemistry equations''' use formulas of chemical compounds to describe a chemical reaction. Such equations show the starting chemicals on the left side and the resulting products on the right side, as displayed. Sometimes such an equation might optionally indicate that an {{w|activation energy}} is required, for the reaction to take place in a sensible timeframe, e.g. by heating. A reaction requiring heating is usually indicated by a Greek capital letter Delta (''Δ'') or a specified temperature above the reaction arrow, however this comic uses the "+ HEAT" term on the left side instead. The joke is that Randall interprets "HEAT" to be another chemical, which reacts with Hydrogen (H) to H2EAT, which is non-sensical, as heat is transferred energy here, not added matter. Regardless of this, Randall gets the {{w|stoichiometry}} of this equation correct, with the same number of all types of 'atoms' on each side of the equation.

* '''Quantum gravity''' uses mathematical {{w|Group (mathematics)|groups}} denoted by uppercase letters, as shown. {{w|Special unitary group|SU(2)}}, {{w|Unitary group|U(1)}}, and {{w|Unitary group|U(2)}} are all well-studied groups, though 'SU(U(2))' makes no sense. The lack of relator means this expression isn't an equation. Here is a possible pun, on "Sue you too... you won"... "Sue you, you too", though it's unclear how it fits in here.

* '''Gauge theory''' is a subset of field theory. Most gauge theory equations appear to have many strange-looking constants and variables with odd labels.

* '''Cosmology''' is the science of the development and ultimate fate of the universe. The joke here may be pertaining to the different models accepted in the field of cosmology. H is the {{w|Hubble's law#Time-dependence of Hubble parameter|Hubble parameter}}, Ω is the universal {{w|Friedmann equations#Density parameter|density parameter}}, G is the {{w|gravitational constant}}, and Λ is the {{w|cosmological constant}}.

* The joke about the "truly deep physics equations" is that most of the universal physics equations are simple, almost exceedingly so. One example is Einstein's <math>E = mc^2</math>.

* The title text is referencing the fact that the electric and magnetic fields are often explained to physics students using an analogy with fluid dynamics, as well as the fact that they do share some similarities (only in terms of mathematical description as three-dimensional vector fields) with fluids. The permittivity constant (represented with ''ε''0) and the permeability constant (represented with ''μ''0) are coefficients that relate the amount of charge required to cause a specific amount of electric flux in a vacuum and the ability of vacuum to support the formation of magnetic fields, respectively. They appear frequently in Maxwell's equations (the equations that define the electric and magnetic fields in classical mechanics), so Randall is making the joke that any surface integral with them in it automatically is an electromagnetism equation.

==Transcript==
:[Nine equations are listed, three in the top row and two in each of the next three rows. Below each equation there are labels:]

:E=K0t+1/2 ρvt2
:All kinematics equations

:Kn=∑∞i=0∑∞π=0(n-π)(i-eπ-∞) [K sub n = the summation from i = 0 to infinity of the sum from pi = 0 to infinity of (n - pi) * (i-e^(pi-infinity))]
:All number theory equations

:∂/∂t ∇⋅ρ=8/23 (∯ ρ ds dt ⋅ ρ ∂/∂∇)
:All fluid dynamics equations

:|ψx,y〉=A(ψ)A(|x〉⊗|y〉)
:All quantum mechanics equations

:CH4+OH+HEAT→H2O+CH2+H2EAT
:All chemistry equations

:SU(2)U(1)×SU(U(2))
:All quantum gravity equations

:Sg=(-1)/(2ε̄) ið(̂ ξ0 ⨢ pε ρvabc⋅η0)̂ f̵a0 λ(ξ) ψ(0a)
:All gauge theory equations

:H(t)+Ω+G⋅Λ ...
:[There is a brace linking the three cases together.]
:... > 0 (Hubble model)
:... = 0 (Flat sphere model)
:... < 0 (Bright dark matter model)
:All cosmology equations

:Ĥ - u̧0 = 0
:All truly deep physics equations

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2034: Equations

2019-01-11T22:45:17Z

141.101.98.232: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2034
| date = August 17, 2018
| title = Equations
| image = equations.png
| titletext = All electromagnetic equations: The same as all fluid dynamics equations, but with the 8 and 23 replaced with the permittivity and permeability of free space, respectively.
}}
==Explanation==

This comic gives a set of mock equations. To anyone not familiar with the field in question they look pretty similar to what you might find in research papers or on the relevant Wikipedia pages. Most of the jokes are related to the symbols or "look" of most equations in the given field.

The comic makes jokes about the fields of kinematics, number theory, fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, chemistry, quantum gravity, gauge theory, cosmology, and physics equations. Of course, all of the equations listed are not real equations (<math>\pi-\infty</math> and H2EAT are clearly jokes and making a mockery of the given field). As always, Randall is just having a laugh.

:<math>E=K_{0}t+\frac{1}{2}\rho{}vt^2</math>
:All kinematics equations

:<math>K_{n}=\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{\pi=0}^{\infty}(n-\pi)(i+e^{\pi-\infty})</math>
:All number theory equations

:<math>\frac{\partial}{\partial{t}}\nabla\cdot\rho=\frac{8}{23}\oint\!\!\!\!\oint\rho\,{ds}\,{dt}\cdot{}\rho\frac{\partial}{\partial\nabla}</math>
:All fluid dynamics equations

:<math>|\psi_{x,y}\rangle=A(\psi)A(|x\rangle\otimes|y\rangle)</math>
:All quantum mechanics equations

:<math>CH_4+OH+HEAT\rightarrow{}H_2O+CH_{2}+H_2EAT</math>
:All chemistry equations

:<math>SU(2)U(1)\times{}SU(U(2))</math>
:All quantum gravity equations

:Sg=(-1)/(2ε̄) ið(̂ ξ0 ⨢ pε ρvabc⋅η0)̂ f̵a0 λ(ξ) ψ(0a)
:All gauge theory equations

:<math>H(t)+\Omega+G\cdot\nabla...\begin{cases}...>0\textrm{\ (Hubble\ model)}\\
...=0\textrm{\ (Flat\ sphere\ model)}\\
...<0\textrm{\ (Bright\ dark\ matter\ model)}
\end{cases}</math>
:All cosmology equations

:Ĥ - u̧0 = 0
:All truly deep physics equations

* Most '''kinematics''' equations tend to make heavy use of constants, addition, powers, and multiplication. This specific equation resembles the actual kinematics equation d = vt + 1/2at^2, but replaces a (acceleration) with v (velocity) and replaces velocity with "K0", which is not a term used in kinematics.

* Randall jokes about how '''number theory''' often involves the use of summations. The use of ''π'' as an integer variable in the double summation is a joke, as ''π'' is essentially always used for the well-known constant 3.14159..., not a variable. The use of ''i'' as a summation variable '''is''' common, though it can also be confused with the imaginary unit √-1. The constants ''e'', ''i'', and ''π'', as well as the theoretical upper bound <math>\infty</math>, often appear in number theory equations.

* '''Fluid dynamics equations''' often involve copious integrals, especially those over closed contours as done here, which are often the main telling factors of those equations to an outsider.

* '''Quantum mechanics''' often involves some of the foreign-looking symbols listed, including {{w|Bra–ket notation|bra-ket notation}}, the {{w|Tensor product|tensor product}}, and the Greek letter Psi for a quantum state.

* '''Chemistry equations''' use formulas of chemical compounds to describe a chemical reaction. Such equations show the starting chemicals on the left side and the resulting products on the right side, as displayed. Sometimes such an equation might optionally indicate that an {{w|activation energy}} is required, for the reaction to take place in a sensible timeframe, e.g. by heating. A reaction requiring heating is usually indicated by a Greek capital letter Delta (''Δ'') or a specified temperature above the reaction arrow, however this comic uses the "+ HEAT" term on the left side instead. The joke is that Randall interprets "HEAT" to be another chemical, which reacts with Hydrogen (H) to H2EAT, which is non-sensical, as heat is transferred energy here, not added matter. Regardless of this, Randall gets the {{w|stoichiometry}} of this equation correct, with the same number of all types of 'atoms' on each side of the equation.

use chemical formulas, as shown. The addition of H2EAT and HEAT is just a joke. Randall gets the {{w|stoichiometry}} of this equation correct, with the same number of all types of 'atoms' on each side of the equation.

* '''Quantum gravity''' uses mathematical {{w|Group (mathematics)|groups}} denoted by uppercase letters, as shown. {{w|Special unitary group|SU(2)}}, {{w|Unitary group|U(1)}}, and {{w|Unitary group|U(2)}} are all well-studied groups, though 'SU(U(2))' makes no sense. The lack of relator means this expression isn't an equation. Here is a possible pun, on "Sue you too... you won"... "Sue you, you too", though it's unclear how it fits in here.

* '''Gauge theory''' is a subset of field theory. Most gauge theory equations appear to have many strange-looking constants and variables with odd labels.

* '''Cosmology''' is the science of the development and ultimate fate of the universe. The joke here may be pertaining to the different models accepted in the field of cosmology. H is the {{w|Hubble's law#Time-dependence of Hubble parameter|Hubble parameter}}, Ω is the universal {{w|Friedmann equations#Density parameter|density parameter}}, G is the {{w|gravitational constant}}, and Λ is the {{w|cosmological constant}}.

* The joke about the "truly deep physics equations" is that most of the universal physics equations are simple, almost exceedingly so. One example is Einstein's <math>E = mc^2</math>.

* The title text is referencing the fact that the electric and magnetic fields are often explained to physics students using an analogy with fluid dynamics, as well as the fact that they do share some similarities (only in terms of mathematical description as three-dimensional vector fields) with fluids. The permittivity constant (represented with ''ε''0) and the permeability constant (represented with ''μ''0) are coefficients that relate the amount of charge required to cause a specific amount of electric flux in a vacuum and the ability of vacuum to support the formation of magnetic fields, respectively. They appear frequently in Maxwell's equations (the equations that define the electric and magnetic fields in classical mechanics), so Randall is making the joke that any surface integral with them in it automatically is an electromagnetism equation.

==Transcript==
:[Nine equations are listed, three in the top row and two in each of the next three rows. Below each equation there are labels:]

:E=K0t+1/2 ρvt2
:All kinematics equations

:Kn=∑∞i=0∑∞π=0(n-π)(i-eπ-∞) [K sub n = the summation from i = 0 to infinity of the sum from pi = 0 to infinity of (n - pi) * (i-e^(pi-infinity))]
:All number theory equations

:∂/∂t ∇⋅ρ=8/23 (∯ ρ ds dt ⋅ ρ ∂/∂∇)
:All fluid dynamics equations

:|ψx,y〉=A(ψ)A(|x〉⊗|y〉)
:All quantum mechanics equations

:CH4+OH+HEAT→H2O+CH2+H2EAT
:All chemistry equations

:SU(2)U(1)×SU(U(2))
:All quantum gravity equations

:Sg=(-1)/(2ε̄) ið(̂ ξ0 ⨢ pε ρvabc⋅η0)̂ f̵a0 λ(ξ) ψ(0a)
:All gauge theory equations

:H(t)+Ω+G⋅Λ ...
:[There is a brace linking the three cases together.]
:... > 0 (Hubble model)
:... = 0 (Flat sphere model)
:... < 0 (Bright dark matter model)
:All cosmology equations

:Ĥ - u̧0 = 0
:All truly deep physics equations

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2003: Presidential Succession

2018-06-06T09:04:45Z

141.101.98.232: /* Explanation */ "Or" seems to make more sense here, given the previous mention of whether or not the line of succession is constitutional. Possibly order should be reversed as well?

{{comic
| number = 2003
| date = June 6, 2018
| title = Presidential Succession
| image = presidential_succession.png
| titletext = Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The {{w|United States presidential line of succession}} is the order of people who serve as president if the current incumbent President is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office.

The {{w|Presidential_Succession_Act#Presidential_Succession_Act_of_1947|Presidential Succession Act of 1947}} was an act by the U.S. Congress that revised the presidential order of succession to its current order. This act, though never challenged in the courts, may not be constitutional for two reasons. First, it is unclear whether members of Congress can be designated in the line of succession. Secondly, the act allows for a cabinet officer to be "replaced" as acting President by a new Speaker of the House or a new President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

The full text of the Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission can be found here: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06_continuity_of_government.pdf

The first 6 members of Randall's list are included in the current line of succession. After the top 6, his list ranges from politicians, to actors who have played Presidents, to athletes.

Randall's list omits the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as well as many other cabinet positions. Perhaps he does not find those people qualified to become President of the United States, or is concerned about the constitutionality of lawmakers becoming President.

This is another comic in the continuing line of comics about American politics, especially after the election of Donald Trump as President in 2016.

==Order of succession==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!#
!Randall's order
!Current order by the 1947 Act
!Notes
|-
|1
|President
|President
|Not generally considered part of the line of succession, as incumbents cannot "succeed" to their own post.
|-
|2
| Vice president
| Vice president
|
|-
|3
|Secretary of State
|Speaker of the House of Representatives
|
|-
|4
|Secretary of Defense
|President pro tempore of the Senate
|
|-
|5
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|Secretary of State
|
|-
|6
|Attorney General
|Secretary of the Treasury
|
|-
|7
|Five people who do not live in Washington DC, nominated at the start of the President's term and confirmed by the Senate
|Secretary of Defense
|{{w|Washington, D.C.}} is the capital of the United States, and is where the {{w|White House}}, the President's residence, is located. Presumably this provision covers the case where much of the government, including positions 1–6 here, are killed by a natural disaster or attack in Washington, D.C.

It is unclear if these 5 people have to have any qualifications whatsoever.
|-
|8
|{{w|Tom Hanks}}
|Attorney General
|Academy Award-winning American actor
|-
|9
|State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
|Secretary of the Interior
|At the time of publishing, the last {{w|United States Census}} was the 2010 Census. {{w|2010_United_States_Census#State_rankings|Link}} to state populations.
|-
|10
|Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
|Secretary of Agriculture
|Oscars, or {{w|Academy Awards}}, are annual film awards awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
|-
|11
|Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
|Secretary of Commerce
|The {{w|Governors Awards}} are an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to present lifetime achievement awards within the film industry. As this award is a lifetime achievement award, it does not seem possible that an actor could win this award for simply playing someone named Oscar.
|-
|12
|{{w|Kate McKinnon}}, if available
|Secretary of Labor
|Comedic actress famous for being a cast member on {{w|Saturday Night Live}}. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions.
|-
|13
|Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
|Secretary of Health and Human Services
|The {{w|Billboard Hot 100}} is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, published weekly by Billboard magazine.
|-
|14
|The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
|
|-
|15
|{{w|Serena Williams}} (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
|Secretary of Transportation
|As of the time of publishing, Serena Williams was the top female tennis player (though not the world #1 ranking, because she took time off for pregnancy). She is arguably the greatest female tennis player of all-time, winning 39 {{w|Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam}} titles, including 23 women's singles titles.

If her most recent defeat was to a non-US player, it is unclear whether that person would still qualify for President.
|-
|16
|The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
|Secretary of Energy
|MVP stands for {{w|Most Valuable Player}}. The 4 listed leagues are the major sports leagues in the United States, the {{w|National Basketball Association}} (NBA), the {{w|National Football League}} (NFL), {{w|Major League Baseball}} (MLB), and the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL).

As of the time of publishing, the most recent MVPs for the listed sports are {{w|Russell Westbrook}} (NBA), {{w|Tom Brady}} (NFL), {{w|José Altuve}} and {{w|Giancarlo Stanton}} (MLB has two, one for the American League and one for the National League), and {{w|Connor McDavid}} (NHL).
|-
|17
|{{w|Bill Pullman}} and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
|Secretary of Education
|American actor, known for playing President Thomas J. Whitmore in the 1996 film ''{{w|Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day}}''.

Absolute primogeniture is a form of succession where the oldest direct descendant receives the title. This is contrasted to {{w|Male-preference primogeniture}}, in which females come before males in the order of the throne, whether the females were born first or not. This may be a reference to the British law {{w|Succession to the Crown Act 2013}}, which changed the order of the throne from male-preference primogeniture to absolute primogeniture. This act allows {{w|Princess Charlotte of Cambridge|Princess Charlotte}} to retain her place in line before {{w|Prince Louis of Cambridge|Prince Louis}}.
|-
|18
|The entire line of succession to the British throne
|Secretary of Veterans Affairs
|Unsure if this is constitutional, or what the Founding Fathers would have wanted (a Brit sitting as U.S. President!). The first 57 names on the list are {{w|Succession_to_the_British_throne#Current_line_of_succession|here}}, as of the time of publishing. In theory this entry includes several thousand people.
|-
|19
|The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
|Secretary of Homeland Security
|The {{w|Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest}} is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition sponsored by {{w|Nathan's Famous}} held on July 4th. As of the time of publishing, the most recent men's winner is {{w|Joey Chestnut}} and the women's winner is {{w|Miki Sudo}}.
|-
|20
|All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament
|''None''
|Effective for a population up to 536,870,912 individuals (2^29), although additional rounds can be added should the population grow further.
|}

The title text mentions whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born. {{w|Europa}} is a moon of Jupiter, so most people would be very far from its surface when they were born. Alternatively, Randall could be playing on how Europa sounds like Europe.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
: A proposal for a new presidential line of succession
: Current politics aside, most experts agree the existing process is flawed. The presidential succession act of 1947 is probably unconstitutional on several counts, and there are many practical issues with the system as well.
: (for more, see the surprisingly gripping [https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-continuity-of-the-presidency-the-second-report-of-the-continuity-of-government-commission/ ''Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission'', June 2009]).
: Proposed line of succession:
:# President
:# Vice president
:# Secretary of State
:# Secretary of Defense
:# Secretary of Homeland Security
:# Attorney General
:# Five people who do not live in Washington DC, Nominated at the start of the president's term and confirmed by the Senate
:# Tom Hanks
:# State Governors, in descending order of state population at last census
:# Anyone who won an Oscar for playing a governor
:# Anyone who won a Governor's award for playing someone named Oscar
:# Kate McKinnon, if available
:# Billboard year-end hot 100 singles artists #1 through #10 (for groups, whoever is credited first in name, liner notes, etc)
:# The top 5 US astronauts in descending order of total spaceflight time
:# Serena Williams (or, if she lost her most recent match, whoever beat her)
:# The most recent season NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL MVPs
:# Bull Pullman and his descendants by absolute primogeniture
:# The entire line of succession to the British throne
:# The current champion of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest
:# All other US citizens, chosen by a 29-round single-elimination Jousting tournament.

: Title text: Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.

{{comic discussion}}

1999: Selection Effect

2018-05-30T12:34:54Z

141.101.98.232: /* Explanation */

<noinclude>:''"1999", this comic's number, redirects here. For the comic named "1999", see [[855: 1999]].''</noinclude>

{{comic
| number = 1999
| date = May 28, 2018
| title = Selection Effect
| image = selection_effect.png
| titletext = fMRI testing showed that subjects who don't agree to participate are much more likely to escape from the machine mid-scan.
}}

==Explanation==

The title refers to the effect in scientific fields where instead of investigating the whole population (i.e. ''all'' cancer patients or ''all'' trees) only an subset is analysed. This is common practice as the analysis of all specimens is often impractical. However, special care needs to be taken when selecting the sample to ensure that it accurately represents the general population. Otherwise the results are misleading and do not reflect reality. For example if 1000 people are asked about the numbers of cars they own but all live in a city the results cannot be generalised to the whole country. This is called the {{w|selection bias}}. If non-human subjects are studied this can be avoided by randomising the selection process, but this is no possible with humans as the cannot be forced to participate in a study against their will. For example if people are asked to participate in a study about their political views it is likely that the responders care about politics while people with no clear opinion do not bother to respond. This is called the {{w|self-selection bias}}.

[[Ponytail]] says that people who agree to be in a study at their lab are less likely to attempt to escape. The only way Ponytail could have come to this conclusion is if she compared those people to people who did not agree to be in the study. This implies that Ponytail has recently kidnapped people for a study, and that most of the people she kidnapped called the police, as one should do when being kidnapped. This makes sense, since if you agreed to the study, you know why you are there, while if you didn't, you may have been kidnapped. As Ponytail presets this as a finding it appears that she was attempting to establish a protocol for randomised selection of human subjects and comparing it to the normal selection process.

The comic shows Ponytail being allowed to present the results of this study at a conference; reputable scientific journals and conferences should not legitimize studies that clearly violate their ethical norms, such as by failing to obtain informed consent from human subjects before experimenting on them. Unfortunately, involuntary studies are published and presented, like this 2014 [http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/6/30/facebook-ethics-labratsemotionalcontagion.html Facebook's emotional contagion study]. It is not clear how many people who did agree to participate may have attempted to call the police for assistance regardless; compare the {{w|Stanford Prison Experiment}}. This is similar to previous comics where obvious things are presented in obfuscated, scientific ways (e.g. [[1990: Driving Cars]]).

The title text refers to a technique that measures brain activity, called {{w|Functional magnetic resonance imaging|Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)}}. The willingness to participate is here probably detected by a machine. And of course it's much more likely that those people will resist and escape before the scan is complete.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail stands on a podium giving a presentation in front of a chart with some box plots.]
:Ponytail: Our research shows that compared to the overall population, people who agree to participate in scientific studies are significantly less likely to call the police to rescue them from our lab.

{{comic discussion}}

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

1970: Name Dominoes

2018-03-23T10:58:38Z

141.101.98.232: /* Table of names */

{{comic
| number = 1970
| date = March 21, 2018
| title = Name Dominoes
| image = name_dominoes.png
| titletext = In competition, you can only play a name if you know who the person is. No fair saying "Frank ... Johnson. That sounds like a real person! Let me just Google him real quick."
}}

*A large version of the comic picture can be found [https://xkcd.com/1970/large/ here].
*A numbered version can be found [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1970-_Name_Dominoes_-_The_large_image_with_numbers.jpg here].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by Fats Domino: Table links should be checked and explanation and connections added. (Add a full transcript... "Done!" And good luck with that! "Thanks".) Do NOT delete this tag too soon. }}

{{w|Dominoes}} is a family of boardgames played with rectangular "domino" tiles. A domino tile is divided into two squares, each displaying a number. Under most rules, a domino tile is placed on the table adjacent to another tile, and the adjacent ends must match in some way (usually by the number displayed on the touching ends). Randall's "name dominoes" shows a set of domino tiles with people's names instead of numbers, and adjacent tiles are matched by whether the closest name is the same (such as how Chris Evans' family name matches Evan Taylor Jones' given name).

The title text spells out a rule that a player may only place a tile if they know who that person is. This is a variation of a rule in {{w|Scrabble}}, where a player loses a turn if their chosen word don't survive a dictionary challenge over the validity of the word. This rule implies that players are allowed to create new name dominoes tiles and that it is not a fixed set. In this case the player that is challenged has used the name Frank Johnson of which there are {{w|Frank Johnson|12 exact matches}} on Wikipedia along with six with a middle name and more. In a google search as of the day the comic came out the first hit was {{w|Frank Johnson (basketball)|Frank Johnson}} who is a retired American professional basketball player and coach. Randall has made several [[:Category:Basketball|references to basketball]] in his comics.

A large board is covered in rectangular "dominoes" (271 pieces), with each domino bearing the name of a "well-known" person or character (fictional). The dominoes are arranged as if a game of dominoes were being played, but instead of the game requiring the number of spots of adjacent dominoes to match up, this game requires adjacent ''names'' to match up. Because most people have two or more names, different matches are made at each end of a domino. Fun fact is that two of the people are "named after" the game: {{w|Fats Domino}} and {{w|Domino Harvey}}.

The match can be exact (e.g., "Kevin" on one domino adjacent to "Kevin" on another), homonymic (e.g., "Klein" adjacent to "Kline"), or nickname-based (e.g., "James" adjacent to "Jimmy", which in turn is adjacent to "Jim"). Sometimes last names are matched up with first names (e.g., "{{w|Elizabeth Warren}}" adjacent to "{{w|Warren Beatty}}"), and in some cases only a single name is used (e.g., "{{w|Columbo}}", "{{w|Drake_(musician)|Drake}}", "{{w|Garfield_(character)|Garfield}}", "{{w|Prince_(musician)|Prince}}"). Singular names are represented by a half-size square "domino" (or "{{w|Polyomino|monomino}}"), with a few exceptions: "{{w|Garnet_(Steven_Universe)|Garnet}}" has a full-size tile (a complex reference explained below), and "{{w|Batman}}" and "{{w|Superman}}" have full-size tiles and are placed as though they were two-part names: the first square of "Superman" is matched with "Super", and the second square is matched with the second square of "Batman" (as though both characters had the last name "Man"). Some people have three or more names (e.g., "{{w|Frank Lloyd Wright}}") and have a 3-square domino tile (or "straight {{w|Tromino|tromino}}", 50% longer than normal) which permits matching to a middle name (e.g. "Frank Lloyd Wright" is matched to "{{w|Lloyd Alexander}}" and "{{w|Harold Lloyd}}").

The names come from a wide variety of fields: scientists (e.g., {{w|Isaac Newton}}), historical figures ({{w|George Washington}}), musicians ({{w|Drake (musician)|Drake}}), politicians ({{w|John Kerry}}), actors ({{w|Kevin Costner}}), writers ({{w|Washington Irving}}), fashion designers ({{w|Oscar de la Renta}}), and so on. Most of the names are real people but a few are fictional characters, including some non-human characters like {{w|Garfield_(character)|Garfield}} and {{w|Grover#Super_Grover|Super Grover}}. In one case the nick name for a company is used: {{w|Ma Bell}} aka Bell System.

One notable reference beyond just the use of a name is in the bottom left, there is the connection [ {{w|William Safire}} ][ Garnet ][ {{w|Jack Ruby|Ruby, Jack}} ]. The connection seems to be based on the fact that {{w|Sapphire}}, {{w|Garnet}} and {{w|Ruby}} are all {{w|gemstones}}, which does not match the implied rules of the game. This tile is a reference to the character {{w|Garnet_(Steven_Universe)|Garnet}} in the cartoon {{w|Steven Universe}}, who is a "fusion" formed by two Gems: Ruby and Sapphire. Thus, the name "Garnet" is treated as though it was two names "Ruby" and "Sapphire", requiring a two-square tile despite having a one-word name. Randall has previously made references to this universe in [[1608: Hoverboard]]. (See [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/39/1608_1031x1095y_Steven_Universe_family_and_ice_cream_prediction.png this] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/fa/1608_1077x1109y_Darth_Vaders_talks_about_Steven_Universe_on_the_bridge_Megan_adjust_antenna.png this] image from that comic).

Additionally, Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan and Rand Paul have been mentioned before, in the title text of [[1277: Ayn Random]]. That idea may have been the prototype for this.

In at least one case it is not entirely clear who is being referred to: "John Kelly" most likely refers to Gen. {{w|John F. Kelly}}, Donald Trump's chief of staff, but the name is extremely common and could equally refer to {{w|John Kelly|any number of people}}.

==Table of names==
*The number # refers to the numbers on this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1970-_Name_Dominoes_-_The_large_image_with_numbers.jpg numbered picture].
**Read more on this page:
***[[1970: Name Dominoes/Numbered images]]
*Wiki links not tested as they were set in only from the name in the comic.
**Spell checking...

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!style="width:15%"|Domino
!style="width:45%"|Notability and notes
!style="width:15%"|Connections
!style="width:20%"|Mode
!style="width:5%"|#
|-
|{{w|Christian Campbell}}
|Canadian American stage and screen actor, writer, and photographer. Most likely refers to the actor, but there are also a Trinidadian-Bahamian poet called {{w|Christian Campbell (poet)|Christian Campbell}}.
|
|
|1
|-
|{{w|Neve Campbell}}
|Canadian actress, known for starring in the movie series {{w|Scream (1996 film)|Scream}}.
|
|
|2
|-
|{{w|Joe McCarthy}}
|Joseph McCarthy, (also called {{w|Joseph_McCarthy#Legacy|Joe McCarthy}}), served as U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. {{w|McCarthyism}} is named after him. It was the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence, especially caused by fear of Communist influence during the beginning of the cold war. McCarthyism has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from 1947 to 1956.
|
|
|3
|-
|{{w|Eugene McCarthy}}
|Eugene Joseph McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time Congressman from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. (He is not to be confused with the other Senator McCarthy, Joseph McCarthy, see #3)
|
|
|4
|-
|{{w|Gene Vincent}}
|American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly.
|
|
|5
|-
|{{w|Gene Kelly}}
|American actor and dancer known primarily for musicals such as 'Singing in the rain'
|
|
|6
|-
|{{w|Kate Hudson}}
|Golden globe winning American actress. Won for playing Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous in 2000.
|
|
|7
|-
|{{w|Rock Hudson}}
|American actor who was viewed as a prominent 'heartthrob' of the Hollywood Golden Age, staring as the lead man in many movies during the 1950s and 60s, among other {{w|Giant (1956 film)|Giant}}, James Deans last film, for which both where nominated for an Oscar in the best actor category. He later became known for his secret homosexual life. Hudson died from AIDS-related complications in 1985, becoming the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness.
|
|
|8
|-
|{{w|Gordon Brown}}
|British Prime Minister from 2007-2010.
|
|
|9
|-
|{{w|James Brown}}
|American singer, known as the Godfather of Soul
|
|
|10
|-
|{{w|Jon Brown}}
|Former British long-distance runner who specialized in 10,000 meters, cross country running and the marathon. His real first name was Jonathan, but he is the only one on Wikipedia known as Jon Brown, among several other {{w|Jonathan Brown|Jonathan Browns}}.
|
|
|11
|-
|{{w|John Howard}}
|Australian politician. Served as 25th Prime Minister of Australia from 1996-2007. There are several other {{w|John Howard (disambiguation)|John Howards}} but this Prime Minister is by far the best known among them.
|
|
|12
|-
|{{w|Columbo}}
|Fictional character. Homicide detective from American TV show "Columbo"; portrayed by actor Peter Falk.
|
|
|13
|-
|{{w|Chris Columbus (filmmaker)|Chris Columbus}}
|Film director and screenwriter.
|Columbo Christopher Columbus Chris Hughes
|Last-Only (approximate) First-First (approximate) and Last-Last First-First
|14
|-
|{{w|Christopher Columbus}}
|Italian explorer. Credited with "discovering" the Americas in 1492 by leading voyages and establishing continued ties between Europe and the Americas.
|
|
|15
|-
|{{w|Naomi Campbell}}
|British model and actress.
|
|
|16
|-
|{{w|Joseph Campbell}}
|American author. Most known for his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces about the hero type found throughout world mythologies.
|
|
|17
|-
|{{w|Joseph Smith}}
|American religious leader; founder of Mormonism. Publisher of The Book of Mormon.
|
|
|18
|-
|{{w|Frank Vincent}}
|American actor.
|
|
|19
|-
|{{w|John Kelly}}
|White House Chief of Staff under President Donald Trump. Retired US Marine Corps general.
|
|
|20
|-
|{{w|Katherine Johnson}}
|African-American mathematician at NASA. Calculated trajectories, launch windows, and flight paths for NASA moon missions and the Space Shuttle.
|
|
|21
|-
|{{w|The Rock}}
|Nickname for Dwayne Johnson, a pro wrestler and actor.
|
|
|22
|-
|{{w|Chris Rock}}
|American comedian.
|
|
|23
|-
|{{w|Chris Isaac}}
|
|
|
|24
|-
|{{w|James Newton Howard}}
|
|
|
|25
|-
|{{w|John Wayne}}
|American actor, known primarily for roles in Westerns
|
|
|26
|-
|{{w|Howard Stern}}
|Radio talk show host. Known for {{w|The Howard Stern Show}}.
|
|
|27
|-
|{{w|Howard Hunt}}
|Former CIA operative, convicted for Watergate burglary.
|
|
|28
|-
|{{w|Chris Hughes}}
|
|
|
|29
|-
|{{w|Naomi Watts}}
| Australian actress, born in Britain
|
|
|30
|-
|{{w|Naomi Klein}}
|
|
|
|31
|-
|{{w|Kevin Kline}}
|American actor
|
|
|32
|-
|{{w|Francis Bacon}}
|16th century English philosopher. Commonly credited with the phrase "knowledge is power".
|
|
|33
|-
|{{w|Francis Drake}}
|English privateer
|
|
|34
|-
|{{w|Lyndon Johnson}}
|Former American president (1963-1969)
|
|
|35
|-
|{{w|Oscar the Grouch}}
|A muppet from the children's TV show {{w|Sesame Street}}.
|
|
|36
|-
|{{w|Oscar Isaac}}
|
|
|
|37
|-
|{{w|Isaac Hayes}}
|American singer-songwriter
|
|
|38
|-
|{{w|Isaac Newton}}
|Well-known 1600s physicist who created the three laws of motion.
|
|
|39
|-
|{{w|Wayne Newton}}
|
|
|
|40
|-
|{{w|Wayne Knight}}
|
|
|
|41
|-
|{{w|Helen Hunt}}
|American actress
|
|
|42
|-
|{{w|Helen Hughes}}
|
|
|
|43
|-
|{{w|James Watt|James Watt (Steam)}}
|
|
|
|44
|-
|{{w|James G. Watt|James Watt (Interior)}}
|
|
|
|45
|-
|{{w|Kevin Costner}}
|Academy award winning American actor.
|
|
|46
|-
|{{w|Kevin Bacon}}
|American actor. Known for {{w|Footloose (1984 film)|Footloose}}, and for {{w|Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon}}.
|
|
|47
|-
|{{w|Kevin Love}}
|
|
|
|48
|-
|{{w|Lisa Frank}}
|
|
|
|49
|-
|{{w|Frank Drake}}
|
|
|
|50
|-
|{{w|Drake}}
|Grammy award winning Canadian rapper.
|
|
|51
|-
|{{w|Oscar de la Renta}}
|
|
|
|52
|-
|{{w|Oscar de la Hoya}}
|
|
|
|53
|-
|{{w|Sean Hayes (actor)|Sean Hayes}}
|
|
|
|54
|-
|{{w|Wallace Shawn}}
|
|
|
|55
|-
|{{w|Wayne Howard}}
|
|
|
|56
|-
|{{w|Wayne Brady}}
|American comedian, known for {{w|Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?}}
|
|
|57
|-
|{{w|James Brady}}
|
|
|
|58
|-
|{{w|Tom Brady}}
|Quarterback for the {{w|New England Patriots}}. Notable for winning 5 Superbowls.
|
|
|59
|-
|{{w|Helen Thomas}}
|
|
|
|60
|-
|{{w|Tom Hanks}}
|Academy award winning actor. Known for {{w|Forrest Gump}}, {{w|Saving Private Ryan}}, {{w|Cast Away}}, and several other famous films.
|
|
|61
|-
|{{w|Hank Aaron}}
|Former Major League Baseball player. Hit 755 career home runs.
|
|
|62
|-
|{{w|Aaron Carter}}
|American singer.
|
|
|63
|-
|{{w|Stephen James}}
|
|
|
|64
|-
|{{w|Will Smith}}
|American actor. Known for {{w|The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air}}
|
|
|65
|-
|{{w|Kevin Smith}}
|American movie director
|
|
|66
|-
|{{w|Kevin James}}
|American actor. Known for {{w|Paul Blart: Mall Cop}}
|
|
|67
|-
|{{w|Garfield (character)|Garfield}}
|A fictional cat and the star of the eponymous ''{{w|Garfield}}'' comic by {{w|Jim Davis (cartoonist)|Jim Davis}}. Previously appeared in [[78: Garfield]].
|
|
|68
|-
|{{w|James Garfield}}
|20th President of the United States. Notably, he was assassinated after only 6 months.
|
|
|69
|-
|{{w|Warren Buffett}}
|Billionaire and CEO of {{w|Berkshire Hathaway}}.
|
|
|70
|-
|{{w|Jimmy Buffett}}
|American country musician.
|
|
|71
|-
|{{w|Warren Beatty}}
|
|
|
|72
|-
|{{w|Elizabeth Warren}}
|Massachusetts state Senator since 2013. Known for her work as a consumer rights activist.
|
|
|73
|-
|{{w|Earl Warren}}
|
|
|
|74
|-
|{{w|Elizabeth Kolbert}}
|
|
|
|75
|-
|{{w|Stephen Colbert}}
|American talk show host. Known for {{w|The Colbert Report}} and {{w|The Late Show with Stephen Colbert}}
|
|
|76
|-
|{{w|George Wallace}}
|American politician, who initially supported, but later renounced racial segregation.
|
|
|77
|-
|{{w|Charles Wallace}}
|
|
|
|78
|-
|{{w|James Monroe}}
|Foundign father and Fifth president of the USA
|
|
|79
|-
|{{w|Marilyn Monroe}}
|American actress and pin up model from the 50s. She was immensely famous during her time, and unexpectedly committed suicide at age 36.
|
|
|80
|-
|{{w|Hank Williams}}
|
|
|
|81
|-
|{{w|William C. Williams}}
|
|
|
|82
|-
|{{w|Steve Harvey}}
|Host of {{w|Family Feud}}.
|
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|83
|-
|{{w|Domino Harvey}}
|
|
|
|84
|-
|{{w|Harvey Milk}}
|American politician and gay rights activist.
|
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|85
|-
|{{w|James Saint James}}
|
|
|
|86
|-
|{{w|Etta James|Etta James (1)}}
| Used again in 266
|
|
|87
|-
|{{w|Jim Jones}}
|
|
|
|88
|-
|{{w|James Earl Jones}}
|American actor. Voiced {{w|Darth Vader}} in the original Star Wars.
|
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|89
|-
|{{w|Charlie Parker}}
|
|
|
|90
|-
|{{w|Ray Parker Jr.}}
|
|
|
|91
|-
|{{w|Ray Charles}}
|American blues musician. Blind from the age of 7.
|
|
|92
|-
|{{w|Charles Manson}}
|Cult leader of the {{w|Manson Family}}. Convicted of 7 murders.
|
|
|93
|-
|{{w|Marilyn Manson}}
|American musician. Known for esoteric performances.
|
|
|94
|-
|{{w|Robin Williams}}
|American stand up comedian. Voiced the Genie in {{w|Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin}}.
|
|
|95
|-
|{{w|Billy D. Williams}}
|American actor best known for playing {{w|Lando Calrissian}} in ''{{w|The Empire Strikes Back}}'' and ''{{w|Return of the Jedi}}''.
|
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|96
|-
|{{w|Will Wright}}
|
|
|
|97
|-
|{{w|Fats Domino}}
|
|
|
|98
|-
|{{w|Bill Clinton}}
|42nd president of the United States. Known for having an affair in office. His wife, {{w|Hillary Clinton}}, ran for against {{w|Donald Trump}} in the 2016 presidential election.
|
|
|99
|-
|{{w|Jimmy John}}
|
|
|
|100
|-
|{{w|Tom Jones}}
|Can refer to the Welsh Singer or to the fictional character from the book of teh same name by Henry Fielding
|
|
|101
|-
|{{w|Tommy John}}
|
|
|
|102
|-
|{{w|Quincy Jones}}
|American Jazz musician
|
|
|103
|-
|{{w|James Earl Ray}}
|killer of Martin Luther King Jr.
|
|
|104
|-
|{{w|Man Ray}}
|
|
|
|105
|-
|{{w|Rachel Ray}}
|Celebrity chef.
|
|
|106
|-
|{{w|Ray Allen}}
|
|
|
|107
|-
|{{w|Tim Allen}}
|American actor. Voiced Buzz Lightyear in {{w|Toy Story}}.
|
|
|108
|-
|{{w|Tim Cook}}
|
|
|
|109
|-
|{{w|Tim Howard}}
|
|
|
|110
|-
|{{w|Robin Wright}}
|American actress, aka Robin Wright-Penn
|
|
|111
|-
|{{w|Wilbur Wright}}
|
|
|
|112
|-
|{{w|Fatty Arbuckle}}
|
|
|
|113
|-
|{{w|Fat Joe}}
|
|
|
|114
|-
|{{w|George Clinton}}
|
|
|
|115
|-
|{{w|John Kerry}}
|Secretary of State under {{w|Barrack Obama}}. Ran against {{w|George W. Bush}} in the 2004 presidential election.
|
|
|116
|-
|{{w|Kerry Washington}}
|
|
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|117
|-
|{{w|John Irving}}
|
|
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|118
|-
|{{w|John Quincy Adams}}
|
|
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|119
|-
|{{w|John Adams}}
|
|
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|120
|-
|{{w|Amy Adams}}
|
|
|
|121
|-
|{{w|Aimee Mann}}
|
|
|
|122
|-
|{{w|Superman}}
|Superhero owned by DC comics.
|
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|123
|-
|{{w|Batman}}
|Superhero owned by DC comics.
|
|
|124
|-
|{{w|Ayn Rand}}
|Russian political author, known for {{w|Atlas Shrugged}}. XKCD frequently makes fun of Rand's philosophy.
|
|
|125
|-
|{{w|Lily Allen}}
|
|
|
|126
|-
|{{w|Paul Allen}}
|
|
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|127
|-
|{{w|Ron Howard}}
|
|
|
|128
|-
|{{w|Howard Hughes}}
|American business tycoon
|
|
|129
|-
|{{w|Joe Kennedy}}
|Father of {{w|John F. Kennedy}}.
|
|
|130
|-
|{{w|George Bush}}
|{{w|George H. W. Bush}} and {{w|George W. Bush}} (father and son, respectively), were both presidents of the United States.
|
|
|131
|-
|{{w|George Wasington}}
|First president of the United States, and general during the Revolutionary War.
|
|
|132
|-
|{{w|Wasington Irving}}
|
|
|
|133
|-
|{{w|Martha Wasington}}
|Wife of George Washington.
|
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|134
|-
|{{w|Ma Rainey}}
|
|
|
|135
|-
|{{w|Jack Ma}}
|
|
|
|136
|-
|{{w|Super Grover}}
|
|
|
|137
|-
|{{w|Jack Black}}
|
|
|
|138
|-
|{{w|Rand Paul}}
|Republican senator from Kentucky; member of the {{w|Tea Party movement}}. Ran in the 2016 republican presidential primary.
|
|
|139
|-
|{{w|Paul Ryan}}
|Republican representative from Wisconsin. Served as Speaker of the House at the time this comic was published.
|
|
|140
|-
|{{w|Paul Simon}}
|
|
|
|141
|-
|{{w|Ron Paul}}
|Libertarian politician. Known for running for president in many elections.
|
|
|142
|-
|{{w|John Hughes}}
|
|
|
|143
|-
|{{w|Langston Hughes}}
|
|
|
|144
|-
|{{w|John F. Kennedy}}
|35th president of the United States. Known for his public assassination during a parade; subject to many conspiracy theories.
|
|
|145
|-
|{{w|Little Richard}}
|
|
|
|146
|-
|{{w|Rich Little}}
|
|
|
|147
|-
|{{w|Martha Stewart}}
|American TV personality. Convicted of insider trading in 2004.
|
|
|148
|-
|{{w|Yo Yo Ma}}
|Chinese cellist. Known for winning 18 Grammys; considered a child prodigy.
|
|
|149
|-
|{{w|Ma Bell}}
|Aka Bell System, the system of companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by AT&T, which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984.
|
|
|150
|-
|{{w|Grover Cleveland Alexander}}
|
|
|
|151
|-
|{{w|Grover Cleveland}}
|22nd and 24th president of the United States. Notably the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (which is no longer possible).
|
|
|152
|-
|{{w|Jack White}}
|American musician. Part of {{w|The White Stripes}}.
|
|
|153
|-
|{{w|Jack Ryan}}
|Fictional character in the novels by Tom Clancy. Portrayed in Movies by Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, and Ben Affleck
|
|
|154
|-
|{{w|Debby Ryan}}
|
|
|
|155
|-
|{{w|Carly Simon}}
|
|
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|156
|-
|{{w|Carly Hughes}}
|
|
|
|157
|-
|{{w|Charles Evans Hughes}}
|
|
|
|158
|-
|{{w|John Williams}}
|American composer. Known for many famous movie soundtracks, including Star Wars and Harry Potter.
|
|
|159
|-
|{{w|Little John}}
|Fictional character in the Robin Hood Legend. Known for great stature and strength.
|
|
|160
|-
|{{w|Stuart Little}}
|Fictional character.
|
|
|161
|-
|{{w|Potter Stewart}}
|
|
|
|162
|-
|{{w|Kristen Stewart}}
|American actress. Known for {{w|Twilight (2008 film)|Twilight}}.
|
|
|163
|-
|{{w|Kristen Bell}}
|American actress, known for various romantic comedies.
|
|
|164
|-
|{{w|Kristen Hooks}}
|
|
|
|165
|-
|{{w|Alexander Graham Bell}}
|Scottish inventor, credited with inventing the telephone.
|
|
|166
|-
|{{w|Franklin Graham}}
|
|
|
|167
|-
|{{w|Lloyd Alexander}}
|
|
|
|168
|-
|{{w|Meg White}}
|
|
|
|169
|-
|{{w|Meg Ryan}}
|American actress. Known for 'WHen Harry met Sally'
|
|
|170
|-
|{{w|Debbie Reynolds}}
|American singer and actress.
|
|
|171
|-
|{{w|John Reynolds}}
|
|
|
|172
|-
|{{w|Carly Fiorina}}
|
|
|
|173
|-
|{{w|Grace Lee Boggs}}
|
|
|
|174
|-
|{{w|Wade Boggs}}
|American baseball player. Played with the {{w|Boston Red Sox}}.
|
|
|175
|-
|{{w|William Safire}}
|
|
|
|176
|-
|{{w|Prince William}}
|Member of the British Royal Family. Second in line for succession to the throne.
|
|
|177
|-
|{{w|Little Prince}}
|One of the main characters of ''{{w|The Little Prince}}'', a novella by {{w|Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}}. The Little Prince has previously appeared in [[618: Asteroid]], as well as [http://what-if.xkcd.com/68 article 68] of ''[[what if?]]''.
|
|
|178
|-
|{{w|Harry Potter}}
|Fictional character in the books by J.K. Rowling
|
|
|179
|-
|{{w|James Potter}}
|Fictional character, father of harry Potter
|
|
|180
|-
|{{w|James Hook}}
|Fictional character from 'Peter Pan'
|
|
|181
|-
|{{w|James Dean}}
|American actor and teen icon.
|
|
|182
|-
|{{w|Aretha Franklin}}
|
|
|
|183
|-
|{{w|Frank Lloyd Wright}}
|American architect, known for his unconventional buildings.
|
|
|184
|-
|{{w|Barry White}}
|
|
|
|185
|-
|{{w|Walter White}}
|Main character from the TV show {{w|Breaking Bad}}.
|
|
|186
|-
|{{w|Walt Whitman}}
|American poet. {{w|Walt Whitman Bridge|A bridge in Philadelphia}} was named after him.
|
|
|187
|-
|{{w|John Kelly}}
|
|
|
|188
|-
|{{w|Grace Lee}}
|
|
|
|189
|-
|{{w|Nancy Grace}}
|
|
|
|190
|-
|{{w|Garnet_(Steven_Universe)|Garnet}}
|A {{w|garnet}} is a gem stone and the two names around here are {{w|William Safire}} (almost {{w|Sapphire}}) and {{w|Jack Ruby}} as in {{w|Ruby}}. But it is not just used because they are all {{w|gemstones}}. It is instead a reference to the character {{w|Garnet_(Steven_Universe)|Garnet}} in the cartoon {{w|Steven Universe}}. She is a "fusion" formed by two gems: Ruby and Sapphire, hence the legal connection in the Name Dominoes... Randall has previously made references to this universe in [[1608: Hoverboard]]. (See [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/39/1608_1031x1095y_Steven_Universe_family_and_ice_cream_prediction.png this] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/fa/1608_1077x1109y_Darth_Vaders_talks_about_Steven_Universe_on_the_bridge_Megan_adjust_antenna.png this] image from that comic).
|{{w|William Safire}} {{w|Jack Ruby}}
|Last-Only (as a Sapphire gem stone) Last-Only (as a Ruby gem stone) Both used to fuse together to Garnet.
|191
|-
|{{w|Prince (musician)|Prince}}
|American musician, part of the Rock and Roll hall of fame. He died two years prior to the release of this comic.
|
|
|192
|-
|{{w|Prince Felder}}
|
|
|
|193
|-
|{{w|Prince Harry}}
|Member of the British royal family. Fifth in line for succession to the throne.
|
|
|194
|-
|{{w|Harry Styles}}
|
|
|
|195
|-
|{{w|John Dean}}
|
|
|
|196
|-
|{{w|Benjamin Franklin}}
|One of the founding fathers of the United States. Credited with "discovering" electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm.
|
|
|197
|-
|{{w|Harrold Lloyd}}
|
|
|
|198
|-
|{{w|Harrold Ford}}
|
|
|
|199
|-
|{{w|Betty White}}
|American comedian. Known as the only surviving member of the {{w|The Golden Girls}}.
|
|
|200
|-
|{{w|Meg Whitman}}
|
|
|
|201
|-
|{{w|Christine Todd Whitman}}
|
|
|
|202
|-
|{{w|Megyn Kelly}}
|American TV news anchor. Worked for Fox news until 2017, then switched to NBC.
|
|
|203
|-
|{{w|Grace Kelly}}
|American actress and Princess of Monaco
|
|
|204
|-
|{{w|Grace Jones}}
|
|
|
|205
|-
|{{w|Jack Nicholson}}
|
|
|
|206
|-
|{{w|Jack Ruby}}
|Jack Ruby is known for shooting and killing {{w|Lee Harvey Oswald}} on national television. Oswald was the prime suspect in the {{w|assassination of John F. Kennedy}}. Ruby's involvement is the subject of many conspiracy theories.
|
|
|207
|-
|{{w|Jack Russel}}
|
|
|
|208
|-
|{{w|Harry Fielder}}
|
|
|
|209
|-
|{{w|Harry Truman}}
|33rd president of the United States. Known for authorizing the use of atomic weapons against Japan at the end of World War 2.
|
|
|210
|-
|{{w|Harry Jon Benjamin}}
|
|
|
|211
|-
|{{w|John Edward}}
|
|
|
|212
|-
|{{w|Benjamin Harrison}}
|
|
|
|213
|-
|{{w|Harrison Ford}}
|American actor. Known for playing Han Solo in {{w|Star Wars}}, and {{w|Indiana Jones}}.
|
|
|214
|-
|{{w|Henry Ford}}
|Founder of the {{w|Ford Motor Company}}. Credited with inventing the assembly line.
|
|
|215
|-
|{{w|Betty Ford}}
|Wife of Gerald Ford, 38th president of the United States.
|
|
|216
|-
|{{w|Betty Friedan}}
|
|
|
|217
|-
|{{w|Chris Christie}}
|
|
|
|218
|-
|{{w|Chris Pratt}}
|American actor. Known for {{w|Parks and Recreation}}
|
|
|219
|-
|{{w|Maggie Grace}}
|
|
|
|220
|-
|{{w|Grace Hopper}}
|American computer scientist. Helped develop the {{w|COBOL}} programming language.
|
|
|221
|-
|{{w|Russel Crowe}}
|Australian actor
|
|
|222
|-
|{{w|Russ Smith}}
|
|
|
|223
|-
|{{w|John Smith}}
|John Smith is the most common name in the United States. {{w|John Smith|See Wikipedia}} for a list of people this may refer to.
|
|
|224
|-
|{{w|Justin Long}}
|
|
|
|225
|-
|{{w|John Bel Edwards}}
|
|
|
|226
|-
|{{w|John Candy}}
|Canadian comedian and actor. Known for {{w|Spaceballs}}.
|
|
|227
|-
|{{w|John Henry}}
|American folk hero
|
|
|228
|-
|{{w|Henry James}}
|
|
|
|229
|-
|{{w|Bill James}}
|
|
|
|230
|-
|{{w|Chris Cooper}}
|
|
|
|231
|-
|{{w|Chris Hemsworth}}
|
|
|
|232
|-
|{{w|Chris Evans}}
|
|
|
|233
|-
|{{w|Topher Grace}}
|
|
|
|234
|-
|{{w|Van Morrison}}
|
|
|
|235
|-
|{{w|Sheryl Crow}}
|
|
|
|236
|-
|{{w|Sheryl Sandberg}}
|
|
|
|237
|-
|{{w|Cameron Crow}}
|
|
|
|238
|-
|{{w|Long John Silver}}
|Fictional antagonist from {{w|Treasure Island}}.
|
|
|239
|-
|{{w|Olivia Newton John}}
|American actress. Known for 'Grease'
|
|
|240
|-
|{{w|Huey long}}
|
|
|
|241
|-
|{{w|John Edwards}}
|American politician. Democratic candidate for presidential nomination in 200 and 2008.
|
|
|242
|-
|{{w|Candy Crowley}}
|
|
|
|243
|-
|{{w|Alestier Crowley}}
|
|
|
|244
|-
|{{w|James Fenimore Cooper}}
|
|
|
|245
|-
|{{w|James Cook}}
|18th century British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy.
|Alistair Cooke Cokie Roberts Alistair Cookie James Fenimore Cooper
|Last-Last (approximate) Last-First (approximate) Last-Last (approximate) First-First
|246
|-
|{{w|Robert Frost}}
|
|
|
|247
|-
|{{w|Bob Evans}}
|
|
|
|248
|-
|{{w|Evan Tayler Jones}}
|
|
|
|249
|-
|{{w|Van Jones}}
|
|
|250
|-
|{{w|James Cameron}}
|American director. Known for {{w|Terminator}} and {{w|Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic}}.
|
|
|251
|-
|{{w|Cam Newton}}
|
|
|
|252
|-
|{{w|Cameron Diaz}}
|American actress. Voiced Fiona in {{w|Shrek}}.
|
|
|253
|-
|{{w|Huey Newton}}
|
|
|
|254
|-
|{{w|Huey Lewis}}
|
|
|
|255
|-
|{{w|John Lewis}}
|
|
|
|256
|-
|{{w|Jenny Lewis}}
|
|
|
|257
|-
|{{w|Ryan Lewis}}
|
|
|
|258
|-
|{{w|Burt Reynolds}}
|American actor. Known for a wide variety of western and/or action films.
|
|
|259
|-
|{{w|Alistair Cooke}}
|Name misspelled Alistiar Cooke in the comic.
|
|
|260
|-
|{{w|Monsterpiece_Theater#Alistair_Cookie|Alistair Cookie}}
|A parody of Alistair Cooke "played" by Cookie Monster in the Sesame Street sketch "Monsterpiece Theatre" in the 1980s, a parody of the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre".
|James Cook Alastair Reynolds
|Last-Last (approximate) First-First (approximate)
|261
|-
|{{w|Cokie Roberts}}
|National Public Radio (NPR) political correspondent known for her recurring segment "Ask Cokie" in which she answers listener submitted questions.
|
|
|262
|-
|{{w|John Roberts}}
|
|
|
|263
|-
|{{w|Robert Johnson}}
|
|
|
|264
|-
|{{w|Robert E. Lee}}
|Confederate general during the {{w|American Civil War}}.
|
|
|265
|-
|{{w|Tommy Lee}}
|
|
|
|266
|-
|{{w|Tommy Lee Jones}}
|American actor known for 'The Fugitive'
|
|
|267
|-
|{{w|Etta James|Etta James (2)}}
|Used first time in 86
|
|
|268
|-
|{{w|John Oliver}}
|American talk show host. Known for {{w|Last Week Tonight}}.
|
|
|269
|-
|{{w|Ryan Reynolds}}
|Canadian actor. Known for several romantic comedies, and {{w|Deadpool (film)|Deadpool}}.
|
|
|270
|-
|{{w|Alastair Reynolds}}
|
|
|
|271
|}

==Transcript==
:[This comic a large grid with 271 black "domino" tiles. On each tile there is a name written with white text. The grid is arranged so that each touching side corresponds with the first or last name of another person (or at least there are some kind of relation between the names on the end of connecting tiles). Some of the domino tiles are rotated 90, 180 or 270 degrees so the text is either to be read down, up-side down or up. The names on the tiles are listed here below in approximate reading order, thus staring top left and moving over the grid from left to right and down. Each swipe left to right covers approximately tiles that are within a span of one standard tile in height. To be exact it lists the names in the order they were numbered in this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1970-_Name_Dominoes_-_The_large_image_with_numbers.jpg image]. One name is used twice, Etta James.]
:Christian Campbell
:Neve Campbell
:Joe McCarthy
:Eugene McCarthy
:Gene Vincent
:Gene Kelly
:Kate Hudson
:Rock Hudson
:Gordon Brown
:James Brown
:Jon Brown
:John Howard
:Columbo
:Chris Columbus
:Christopher Columbus
:Naomi Campbell
:Joseph Campbell
:Joseph Smith
:Frank Vincent
:John Kelly
:Katherine Johnson
:The Rock
:Chris Rock
:Chris Isaac
:James Newton Howard
:John Wayne
:Howard Stern
:Howard Hunt
:Chris Hughes
:Naomi Watts
:Naomi Klein
:Kevin Kline
:Francis Bacon
:Francis Drake
:Lyndon Johnson
:Oscar the Grouch
:Oscar Isaac
:Isaac Hayes
:Isaac Newton
:Wayne Newton
:Wayne Knight
:Helen Hunt
:Helen Hughes
:James Watt (Steam)
:James Watt (Interior)
:Kevin Costner
:Kevin Bacon
:Kevin Love
:Lisa Frank
:Frank Drake
:Drake
:Oscar de la Renta
:Oscar de la Hoya
:Sean Hayes
:Wallace Shawn
:Wayne Howard
:Wayne Brady
:James Brady
:Tom Brady
:Helen Thomas
:Tom Hanks
:Hank Aaron
:Aaron Carter
:Stephen James
:Will Smith
:Kevin Smith
:Kein James
:Garfield
:James Garfield
:Warren Buffett
:Jimmy Buffett
:Warren Beatty
:Elizabeth Warren
:Earl Warren
:Eliabeth Kolbert
:Stephen Colbert
:George Wallace
:Charles Wallace
:James Monroe
:Marilyn Monroe
:Hank Williams
:William C. Williams
:Steve Harvey
:Domino Harvey
:Harvey Milk
:James Saint James
:Etta James
:Jim Jones
:James Earl Jones
:Charlie Parker
:Ray Parker Jr.
:Ray Charles
:Charles Manson
:Marilyn Manson
:Robin Williams
:Billy D. Williams
:Will Wright
:Fats Domino
:Bill Clinton
:Jimmy John
:Tom Jones
:Tommy John
:Quincy Jones
:James Earl Ray
:Man Ray
:Rachel Ray
:Ray Allen
:Tim Allen
:Tim Cook
:Tim Howard
:Robin Wright
:Wilbur Wright
:Fatty Arbuckle
:Fat Joe
:George Clinton
:John Kerry
:Kerry Washington
:John Irving
:John Quincy Adams
:John Adams
:Amy Adams
:Aimee Mann
:Superman
:Batman
:Ayn Rand
:Lily Allen
:Paul Allen
:Ron Howard
:Howard Hughes
:Joe Kennedy
:George Bush
:George Wasington
:Wasington Irving
:Martha Wasington
:Ma Rainey
:Jack Ma
:Super Grover
:Jack Black
:Rand Paul
:Paul Ryan
:Paul Simon
:Ron Paul
:John Hughes
:Langston Hughes
:John F. Kennedy
:Little Richard
:Rich Little
:Martha Stewart
:Yo Yo Ma
:Ma Bell
:Grover Cleveland Alexander
:Grover Cleveland
:Jack White
:Jack Ryan
:Debby Ryan
:Carly Simon
:Carly Hughes
:Charles Evans Hughes
:John Williams
:Little John
:Stuart Little
:Potter Stewart
:Kristen Stewart
:Kristen Bell
:Kristen Hooks
:Alexander Graham Bell
:Franklin Graham
:Lloyd Alexander
:Meg White
:Meg ryan
:Debbie Reynolds
:John Reynolds
:Carly Fiorina
:Grace Lee Boggs
:Wade Boggs
:William Safire
:Prince William
:Little Prince
:Harry Potter
:James Potter
:James Hook
:James Dean
:Aretha Franklin
:Frank Lloyd Wright
:Barry White
:Walter White
:Walt Whitman
:John Kelly
:Grace Lee
:Nancy Grace
:Garnet
:Prince
:Prince Felder
:Prince Harry
:Harry Styles
:John Dean
:Benjamin Franklin
:Harrold Lloyd
:Harrold Ford
:Betty White
:Meg Whitman
:Christine Todd Whitman
:Megyn Kelly
:Grace Kelly
:Grace Jones
:Jack Nicholson
:Jack Ruby
:Jack Russel
:Harry Fielder
:Harry Trueman
:Harry Jon Benjamin
:John Edward
:Benjamin Harrison
:Harrison Ford
:Henry Ford
:Betty Ford
:Betty Friedan
:Chris Christie
:Chris Pratt
:Maggie Grace
:Grace Hopper
:Russel Crowe
:Russ Smith
:John Smith
:Justin Long
:John Bel Edwards
:John Candy
:John Henry
:Henry James
:Bill James
:Chirs Cooper
:Chirs Hemsworth
:Chirs Evans
:Topher Grace
:Van Morrison
:Sheryl Crow
:Sheryl Sandberg
:Cameron Crow
:Long John Silver
:Olivia Newton John
:Huey long
:John Edwards
:Candy Crowley
:Alestier Crowley
:James Fenimore Cooper
:James Cook
:Robert Frost
:Bob Evans
:Evan Tayler Jones
:Van Jones
:James Cameron
:Cam Newton
:Cameron Diaz
:Huey Newton
:Huey Lewis
:John Lewis
:Jenny Lewis
:Ryan Lewis
:Burt Reynolds
:Alistiar Cooke
:Alistair Cookie
:Cokie Roberts
:John Roberts
:Robert Johnson
:Robert E. Lee
:Tommy Lee
:Tommy Lee Jones
:Etta James
:John Oliver
:Ryan Reynolds
:Alastair Reynolds

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Large drawings]]

1872: Backup Batteries

2017-08-04T13:57:10Z

141.101.98.232: /* Explanation */ Add basic explanation

{{comic
| number = 1872
| date = August 4, 2017
| title = Backup Batteries
| image = backup_batteries.png
| titletext = If it falls below 20% full, my bag turns red and I start to panic.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A backup battery is a source of energy that may be used to recharge an electronic device. Backup batteries for phones are typically hand-sized and their capacity roughly that of a phone.

In an effort to prevent stress, Cueball decides to carry a backup battery. This way he can recharge his phone should its battery run low. Cueball realises that the backup battery is itself prone to depletion, and so carries a second. He then comes to the same realisation for the second backup battery, and indeed every subsequent battery he can carry. This leads to an unending series of backup batteries, hence his speech is cut off.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is talking to White Hat. He is wearing a large backpack and holding a phone battery.]
:Cueball: I get stressed out when my phone battery is low, so I carry this backup battery.
:Cueball: But then I worry about the backup running low, so I carry this second backup.
:Cueball: Then I worry—

:[Caption below the frame:]
:My bag is 90% backup batteries.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1755: Old Days

2016-11-05T01:14:31Z

141.101.98.232:

[https://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf Reflections on Trusting Trust] (pdf), Ken Thompson's acceptance speech for the 1984 Turing Award, in which he discusses creating a backdoor in the C compiler (yes, there was only 1 when he invented the language) that itself creates a second backdoor in the login program when it is compiled. Additionally, it reproduces itself when compiling the C compiler from un-tampered-with source code, so that anyone using the binary (compiled) compiler would be unable to avoid reproducing the backdoor in all its forms. This is the sort of thing that gives security programmers nightmares. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.168|108.162.221.168]] 04:52, 4 November 2016 (UTC) (bonsaiviking)

The "4-6 weeks" thing might be a reference to high-performance computing, in particular scientific calculations, a few decades back. From what I've heard from older people in my scientific field (I'm too young to have experienced it myself), you'd prepare your program on punch cards, mail these to an institution owning a fast computer (because your group or university didn't have one), and they'd run the program and mail the result back to you. This, I've been told, took a few weeks. Maybe someone with first-hand experience can give more information. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.98|141.101.104.98]] 10:34, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Source Code on Punched Cards: As an undergrad at Durham Uni I remember punching PL1 source code onto cards to be inserted into a batch queue to be compiled and run on an IBM360 at the nearby city of Newcastle, overnight.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.160|141.101.98.160]] 11:57, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

At the risk of emulating Dilbert's "Topper", I remember at school writing programs on coding sheets (effectively squared paper; one character in each box), which would get sent to the local university, where they would be punched onto cards and run on the mainframe. The following week, you'd get your coding sheets back, plus the cards and the printout from your batch job. Then you'd make your corrections, also on coding sheets... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.143|141.101.98.143]] 13:35, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm reminded of Frank Hayes' song, "When I Was a Boy": "And we programmed in ones and in zeroes / And sometimes we ran out of ones!" On a more serious note, C came out in the late seventies, and I was using punch cards as late as 1975. That's not "long" before, and I wouldn't be too surprised if there were C compilers that accepted punched card input. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 12:27, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

: Punch cards 79-80 in the U.S. for C programming. We did have text editors too for other languages, but we'd punch up and submit decks to a queue for batch processing. Usually only waited minutes (though the when big projects were due, it could take an hour - the bad part was there wasn't any way to stop an infinite loop until the job limit ran out. We were given so much in "computer dollars" for the class (because the machines were also used for outside work for real money) and you'd have to ask for extra if you used it up. I miss the green bar paper though. [[User:Afbach|Afbach]] ([[User talk:Afbach|talk]]) 18:25, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

I think the punched cards explanation is missing the point that C (or any language, that I know) didn't _require_ that it be on punched cards. I.e. there was nothing in the language specification that prohibited the program from being on paper tape, mag tape, disk, etc. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.70|162.158.74.70]] 14:22, 4 November 2016 (UTC)Pat

: I strongly echo 141.101's recollections. The second panel of 1755 is not far from the truth.

: I wrote my first program in FORTRAN IV in 1972 in an "enrichment" class at my school in Worthing - in the south of England (it calculated the average of 10 numbers). We wrote the programs out by hand on 80 column "coding forms" which were then snail-mailed to the regional computing center. When their keypunch operators had time, they'd punch our programs onto cards. On the following night, after the payroll software had been run, they'd stick our cards into the batch queue of their over-worked IBM 360. If they compiled, the programs would auto-run and would be allowed to produce at most 6 sheets of line-printer paper of output. If they didn't compile, then the first six pages of source code and error messages would go to the printer instead. The following morning, someone would collect our printouts and snail-mail them back to the school.

: If you had a compile error, you'd have to copy everything out onto fresh coding forms and re-submit it.

: When the "unofficial" project to teach programming to 14/15 year-olds ran low on cash, they switched to 2nd class mail in each direction. We did two programming classes a week but we'd be VERY lucky to get a turnaround time of less than a week. So the line on panel two: "To compile your code, you had to mail it to IBM, took 4-6 weeks"...isn't *that* much of an exaggeration! We mailed it to the regional computing center - and it rarely took more than 2 weeks...but what she says isn't very far from the truth!

: In practice, things never went smoothly. The keypunch operators didn't routinely type FORTRAN code - they mostly entered stuff like names and addresses, that are somewhat tolerant of typo's. If you were struck by a typo, you'd have to just resubmit the exact same coding forms and hope you didn't get a typo on the following week! Since it was only a 10 week course, you got VERY good at writing your coding forms up clearly, to NEVER forgetting to slash your zeroes and put serifs on your I's...making 100% sure your code would compile first time around was essential to getting anything to run. We quickly learned that using "I" as a loop variable was worse than (say) "COUNT" because it was more likely to get mis-typed as a '1'.

: I begged and pleaded to be allowed to do the same course for two years running but on the second year, the keypunch operators finally rebelled at the extra work we were giving them as our programs grew larger and more ambitious. So we were instructed to punch our own cards using a "hand punch" machine where you manually held down a "chord" of keys to punch raw binary into the cards. Get just one bit wrong, and you had to toss out the entire card and start again. It would take multiple hours to punch in even a very short program! Gone was the idea of using "COUNT" for a loop variable! The idea of commenting your code became simply ludicrous - so the teacher told us to write comments onto blank cards and stick them into the deck where needed!

: Because of that horrendous problem, the concept of "code-reuse" was important! If you could re-use some of the cards from a previous program, or '''''borrow''''' a subroutine from a friend (they'd want it back afterwards!), you'd save yourself a mountain of time! Decks of handy subroutines had value...you could exchange them for all sorts of playground "items-of-value" with the other geeks who did the class.

: I'm tempted to say that this taught me a lot about the art of programming and the importance of checking your code and writing for re-use...but I rather doubt it. When I finally got to my second year in college, I had access to a PDP-11/20 with DecTapes and a DecWriter terminal, that's about when I started to learn something useful...and in my final year, 1977 - I was finally granted access to the PDP-11/70, UNIX and a ADM 3a "glass teletype". I could really get to learning the craft that's still paying my mortgage 40 years later. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 14:25, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Is it just me, or is there a parallel between sending you code off to be compiled and sending your code off to an app store. In both cases a required part of the build is sending your code off to a private company for approval. [[User:Olleicua|Olleicua]] ([[User talk:Olleicua|talk]]) 15:28, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Can someone please verify that it is "actually very difficult" to punch holes in floppy disks? Probably it should be attempted on at least 1000 different disks of different kinds to make sure. {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.64}}

Interesting: there exist two versions of this comic with different size https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/old_days.png and https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/old_days_2x.png The latter is used when zooming in on the comic's page --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.70|172.68.51.70]] 19:48, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

You didn't have to ship the punch cards to a company, but you did have to put them into a queue to be processed, and if you did have a typo or other simple mistake, you'd have to wait to get the output before knowing (which could take days). Most of what she says actually makes sense, it's just not fully accurate. You use to have to manually collect your garbage (making sure you unallocated your memory). You often did have to mix code and assembly (thought not for comments, and would that be // or /* */ or # or...). She also follows computer storage history. So again, not accurate, but it makes sense. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.88|108.162.237.88]] 19:56, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Punch cards did not actually use binary, but a position based coding. Each column (character) had 12 positions where a hole could be punched. Numbers were represented by one hole in the matching numbered row; letters by two holes, one in the upper three row, and one in the lower nine, giving 27 combinations; punctuation and symbols mostly used three holes. I learnt this punching FORTRAN into cards in 1968[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 01:14, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1529: Bracket

2015-05-25T15:18:02Z

141.101.98.232:

What's the connection between Rip Torn and Natalie Imbruglia? {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.183}}
:Answer: Her song, Torn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV1XWJN3nJo-{{unsigned|Stumpy}}

Any pairings that you'd add, given the opportunity? Personally I always confuse [[wikipedia:Wilson Pickett|Wilson Pickett]] and [[wikipedia:Wilson Phillips|Wilson Phillips]]. [[User:Studley|Studley]] ([[User talk:Studley|talk]]) 08:28, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
[[wikipedia:Will Ferrell|Will Ferrell]] and [[wikipedia:Pharrell Williams|Pharrell Williams]] for me! -{{unsigned|Stumpy}}

Why do some first round pairings have more than two people? Beyoncé starts at the third round, so it can't be just because of the number of people. There has to be a joke in them but I don't see it. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.176|141.101.104.176]] 08:45, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
:Possibly an in-joke at the NCAA bracket's First Four round. Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers is a more "traditional" reference to the First Four. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.103|108.162.219.103]] 10:32, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps it's worth adding to a trivia section that (assuming every person/thing has an equal chance of winning every matchup, Beyonce has the highest odds of winning (1/32 = 3.125%) while Kurt Russell, Russell Crowe, Russell Brand, and Russell Simmons are all tied for having the worst starting odds (1/256 = .391%).[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.91|108.162.219.91]] 09:19, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

I may be worth mentioning that the bracketing trees resemble hierarchical clustering dendrograms in which some string similarity metric was used as a distance function.

Although the comic is formatted as a tournament bracket, there are hints that it is in fact a dendrogram based on string similarity, in a similar way to how trees of evolutionary relationships between proteins are formed. We see this especially in the "Russell" group where there is equal similarity between any name containing "Russell" and so that group is not resolved into two separate forks. If readers wish to recreate such an analysis for themselves they can take the text on [http://pastebin.com/DRqjaDHH here] paste it into a [http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Tools/msa/clustalw2/ multiple sequence aligner], press Submit, then after processing click Phylogenetic Tree and scroll down. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.74|141.101.99.74]] 12:46, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Is there any significance to the number of entries? 52 on the left side but only 51 on the right?

;Title text
Changed the reference of the Title Text from Doctor Who (who is already listed in the comic) to Dr. Dre, as the phrasing of the Title Text seems like a very direct reference to the 2001 song "Forgot About Dre." {{unsigned|Conquistador}}
:Probably would have been better to add it as an option since we're clearly far from certain -{{unsigned|Stumpy}}

Why not Zoidberg? --RhyvenNZ [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.41|198.41.238.41]] 09:55, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Pretty sure Doctor Who is covered by "The Doctor". He doesn't go by "Who" in the show. He's just the Doctor. I think the missing doctor is House. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.127}}

Dr. Pepper, maybe? Does "staring" or "forgotten" have to do with it? {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.156}}

Whatagainnow? {{unsigned ip|108.162.222.178}}

Dr. Oz? Dr. Phil? Dr. Watson? Dr. Kavorkian? Dr. Seuss? Wasn't there a famous literary work, The Lost Island of Dr. Moreau? I agree that Dr. House and/or house calls could be a missing candidate for the bracket. But then, there are a ton of 'Sirs' that didn't make the list.  {{unsigned|GAKDragon||please sign your posts appropriately with the appropriate user and talk page links using <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>}}
:[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Teeth_and_The_Electric_Mayhem Doctor Teeth!] [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:50, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Or is "The Doctor" http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Doctor? {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.108}}
:The Doctor is already in the bracket. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.49|141.101.99.49]] 10:40, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

It's Doctor House - definitely and finally! {{unsigned|Raydleemsc}}

Definitely "Doc" Brown: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Brown {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.171}}

Could the joke simply be "there are way too many famous doctors", so even though it's arguably the most numerous category in the bracket, some are still "forgotten"?

Probably not talking about doctor who, however he could be referencing The Silence, which is a an alien race, on that show, which you immediately forget about after losing sight of it. {{unsigned|KroniK907}}

I immediately thought of Amy's wedding in Dr Who S5Ep13 where she needed to remember the doctor to bring him back. Too obscure? [[User:Blu003|Blu003]] ([[User talk:Blu003|talk]]) 13:07, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
:Hardly. You want obscure, try The Doctor's granddaughter. Yep, he had/has one. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.144|108.162.237.144]] 13:41, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Y'know, I can't help but feel that this is a little to bland and unfinished for xkcd. I'm willing to bet that the picture updates with winners. May be sorely disappointed though. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.119|108.162.219.119]] 15:02, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Can't help but feel that there's a better way to lay this explanation out, but I haven't been able to come up with it. Maybe some sort of table listing all the different groups, with people allowed to be in more than one group? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 15:18, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

1529: Bracket

2015-05-25T15:15:41Z

141.101.98.232: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1529
| date = May 25, 2015
| title = Bracket
| image = bracket.png
| titletext = I'm staring at the "doctor" section, and I can't help but feel like I've forgotten someone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explain the specific groupings.}}
A {{w|Bracket (tournament)|tournament bracket}} shows the planned series of games in a tournament. In this comic Randall has shown a plan for a tournament between a wide range of cultural icons, both real and fictional, based mostly on similarities in their names. Various internet groups have speculated on who would win in a fight between characters from different films. It may be relevant that the film {{w|Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice}} is soon to be released where the two namesake {{w|superheros}}, {{w|Batman}} and {{w|Superman}} fight against each other.

{{w|Shallots}} (small onions), {{w|scallops}} (bivalve mollusks), and {{w|scallions}} (green onions) are similar sounding words, therefore may be confusing for some individuals. They are not people, but other life forms. This probably hints that [[Randall]] probably confuses the three.

The [[title text]] is possibly talking about {{w|Dr. Dre}}, particularly as a reference to his 2001 song "{{w|Forgot About Dre}}". Alternatively, the title text could simply be a reference to the large number of pop culture personas that include the word "Doctor", such as {{w|Doctor Who}}, {{w|Gregory House|Doctor House}}, {{w|Mehmet Oz|Dr. Oz}}, {{w|Phil McGraw|Dr. Phil}}, {{w|Dr. Watson}}, {{w|Emmett Brown|"Doc" Brown}}, {{w|Dr. Seuss}}, {{w|Dr Pepper}}, {{w|Doctor Doom}}, and {{w|List of fictional doctors|many others}}. (Or, in fact, [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/futurama-zoidberg-why-not-zoidberg why not Dr. Zoidberg]?) Another possibility is that the [[title text]] is supposed to make the readers ask themselves "{{w|Doctor who}}?" Though "The Doctor" is already listed, this could refer to either ''Doctor Who'' or ''{{w|Doctor (Star Trek: Voyager)|the Star Trek: Voyager character}}''. Notably, while the Doctor in "Doctor Who" is technically one character, the Doctor has currently been played by 13 different actors. The mythos of the Doctor Who even includes individual incarnations of the Doctor interacting with each other; knowing they are the same person, yet often expressing annoyance when grouped together. So perhaps Randall is implying that to just include the Doctor as one individual is not an accurate representation of this character.

The names and other entries in the bracket are:
{| class="wikitable" style="background:transparent;border:none;width:100%;"
| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
Men with surname "Armstrong":
:{{w|Louis Armstrong}} (musician)
:{{w|Neil Armstrong}} (first human on the moon)
:{{w|Lance Armstrong}} (bicyclist)
:{{w|Stretch Armstrong}} (action figure)

Men with given name Jeff, without surname Daniels:
:{{w|Jeff Gordan}}
:{{w|Jeff Bridges}} (Actor)

Male given names with surname Daniels:
:{{w|Jeff Daniels}}
:{{w|Jack Daniels}} (Alcoholic beverage)

Men with surname Welles:
:{{w|Orson Welles}} (Known for "The War of the Worlds")
:{{w|H.G. Wells}} (Known for "The Time Machine")

Other names with character string W-E-L-L:
:{{w|George Orwell}} (Author of "1984" and "Animal Farm")
:{{w|Wells Fargo}} (Bank and stage coach company)

Men with name "Russell" (first name or surname):
:{{w|Kurt Russell}}
:{{w|Russell Brand}}
:{{w|Russell Crowe}}
:{{w|Russell Simmons}}

Men with surname Simmons:
:{{w|Richard Simmons}}
:{{w|Gene Simmons}}

Men with surnames that end ...ckman:
:{{w|Gene Hackman}}
:{{w|Hugh Jackman}}
:{{w|Alan Rickman}}

Men with given name Alan:
:{{w|Alan Parsons}}
:{{w|Alan Partridge}}

Names containing "McCarthy", "Eugene" or both:
:{{w|Jenny McCarthy}}
:{{w|Joseph McCarthy}} (Senator known for anti-communist witchhunt)
:{{w|Eugene McCarthy}}
:{{w|Eugene V. Debs}} (labor leader)

Persons with surnames containing string "Wilde":
:{{w|Gene Wilder}}
:{{w|Olivia Wilde}}
:{{w|Oscar Wilde}}

Men with names that begin "Oscar De La...":
:{{w|Oscar De La Renta}}
:{{w|Oscar De La Hoya}}

Men with given name Jack:
:{{w|Jack Nicklaus}} (Golf player)
:{{w|Jack Nicholson}} (Actor)

Men with string "ickel" in their surnames:
:{{w|Phil Mickelson}}
:{{w|Nicholas Nickelby}}

Men with names ending "...yan Adams":
:{{w|Ryan Adams}}
:{{w|Bryan Adams}}

Men with surnames that in plural are also names of games
:{{w|Chubby Checker}} (Checkers is a board games)
:{{w|Fats Domino}} (Dominoes [or dominos]) is a game. Domino's is a pizza chain.)

Men named Colin:
:{{w|Colin Firth}}
:{{w|Colin Farrell}}

Men with names that begin with F and include the string r-r-e-l-l:
:{{w|Will Ferrell}}
:{{w|The Farrelly Brothers}}

Persons with an initial L and a name ending "itt":
:{{w|Joseph Gordon-Levitt}}
:{{w|Jennifer Love Hewitt}}

Men with surname Glover:
:{{w|Danny Glover}}
:{{w|Donald Glover}}

Men with surname Wahlberg:
:{{w|Donnie Wahlberg}}
:{{w|Mark Wahlberg}}

Men with given name Mark:
:{{w|Mark Ruffalo}}
:{{w|Mark Shuttleworth}}

| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
Men with surname Pullman or given name Bill:
:{{w|Philip Pullman}}
:{{w|Bill Pullman}}
:{{w|Bill Paxton}}

Men with no obvious connection in their names, but who both starred in Ghostbusters:
:{{w|Bill Murray}}
:{{w|Dan Aykroyd}}

Persons with surname Rogers:
:{{w|Ginger Rogers}} (Woman known for dancing with Fred Astaire)
:{{w|Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers}} (Confusing reference to "Mister Rogers" [Fred Rogers] and Fred Astaire])

Men named "Spock" or "Doctor":
{{w|Mister Spock}} (Character on Star Trek)
:{{w|Doctor Spock}} (Author of book on childcare)
:{{w|Doctor Octopus}}

More men named Doctor:
:{{w|Doctor Manhattan}}
:{{w|Doctor Strangelove}} (Character based on Henry Kissinger in movie about nuclear war)
:{{w|Doctor Strange}}

More men with "Doctor" in their names:
:{{w|Dr. No}} (Science fiction character)
:{{w|The Doctor}} (Science fiction character)
:{{w|Cory Doctorow}} (Real person)

Men with given name Jerry and surname Lewis:
:{{w|Jerry Lee Lewis}}
:{{w|Jerry Lewis}}

Others with initial J:
:{{w|Jenny Lewis}}
:{{w|Xeni Jardin}}

Persons named Chris, surnames not starting P:
:{{w|Chris Evans}}
:{{w|Chris Hemsworth}}

Persons named Chris, with last initial P:
:{{w|Chris Pine}}
:{{w|Chris Pratt}}

Food:
:{{w|Shallots}} (small onions)
:{{w|Scallops}} (bivalve mollusks)
:{{w|Scallions}} (green onions)

Persons with first initial S:
:{{w|Siouxie Sioux}}
:{{w|Suzanne Vega}}

Persons named Arnold or Palmer:
:{{w|Tom Arnold}} (ex-husband of Roseanne Barr)
:{{w|Arnold Palmer}}
:{{w|Amanda Palmer}}

Persons named Wes:
:{{w|Wes Craven}}
:{{w|Wes Anderson}}

Persons with first initial P and surname Anderson:
:{{w|Paul Thomas Anderson}}
:{{w|Poul Anderson}}

Knights (men with title "Sir") with given name Walter:
:{{w|Sir Walter Scott}}
:{{w|Sir Walter Raleigh}}

Men with first initial F and surname Drake:
:{{w|Sir Francis Drake}}
:{{w|Frank Drake}}

Names that begin Van:
:{{w|Van Halen}}
:{{w|Van Morrison}}
:{{w|Van Wilder}}

Male figures with surname Van Winkle:
:{{w|Robert Van Winkle}}
:{{w|Rip Van Winkle}} (fictional character)

Connects the "Rip"s with Natalie Imbruglia - her most famous hit was the song "Torn":
:{{w|Rip Torn}}
:{{w|Natalie Imbruglia}}

Business with the word "Body" in their name:
:{{w|The Body Shop}}
:{{w|Bath and Body Works}}

Things with the word "Beyond" in their name:
:{{w|Bed Bath and Beyond}}
:{{w|Beyond Thunderdome}}

Beyoncé
:{{w|Beyoncé}}
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

:[A tournament bracket with the following:]

{| class="wikitable" style="background:transparent;border:none;width:100%;"
| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
:{{w|Louis Armstrong}}
:{{w|Neil Armstrong}}
:{{w|Lance Armstrong}}
:{{w|Stretch Armstrong}}

:{{w|Jeff Gordan}}
:{{w|Jeff Bridges}}

:{{w|Jeff Daniels}}
:{{w|Jack Daniels}}

:{{w|Orson Welles}}
:{{w|H.G. Wells}}

:{{w|George Orwell}}
:{{w|Wells Fargo}}

:{{w|Kurt Russell}}
:{{w|Russell Brand}}
:{{w|Russell Crowe}}
:{{w|Russell Simmons}}

:{{w|Richard Simmons}}
:{{w|Gene Simmons}}

:{{w|Gene Hackman}}
:{{w|Hugh Jackman}}
:{{w|Alan Rickman}}

:{{w|Alan Parsons}}
:{{w|Alan Partridge}}

:{{w|Jenny McCarthy}}
:{{w|Joseph McCarthy}}
:{{w|Eugene McCarthy}}
:{{w|Eugene V. Debs}}

:{{w|Gene Wilder}}
:{{w|Olivia Wilde}}
:{{w|Oscar Wilde}}

:{{w|Oscar De La Renta}}
:{{w|Oscar De La Hoya}}

:{{w|Jack Nicklaus}}
:{{w|Jack Nicholson}}

:{{w|Phil Mickelson}}
:{{w|Nicholas Nickelby}}

:{{w|Ryan Adams}}
:{{w|Bryan Adams}}

:{{w|Chubby Checker}}
:{{w|Fats Domino}}

:{{w|Colin Firth}}
:{{w|Colin Farrell}}

:{{w|Will Ferrell}}
:{{w|The Farrelly Brothers}}

:{{w|Joseph Gordon-Levitt}}
:{{w|Jennifer Love Hewitt}}

:{{w|Danny Glover}}
:{{w|Donald Glover}}

:{{w|Donnie Wahlberg}}
:{{w|Mark Wahlberg}}

:{{w|Mark Ruffalo}}
:{{w|Mark Shuttleworth}}

| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
:{{w|Philip Pullman}}
:{{w|Bill Pullman}}
:{{w|Bill Paxton}}

:{{w|Bill Murray}}
:{{w|Dan Aykroyd}}

:{{w|Ginger Rogers}}
:{{w|Fred Rogers|Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers}}

:{{w|Mister Spock}}
:{{w|Doctor Spock}}
:{{w|Doctor Octopus}}

:{{w|Doctor Manhatten}}
:{{w|Doctor Strangelove}}
:{{w|Doctor Strange}}

:{{w|Dr. No}}
:{{w|The Doctor}}
:{{w|Cory Doctorow}}

:{{w|Jerry Lee Lewis}}
:{{w|Jerry Lewis}}

:{{w|Jenny Lewis}}
:{{w|Xeni Jardin}}

:{{w|Chris Evans}}
:{{w|Chris Hemsworth}}

:{{w|Chris Pine}}
:{{w|Chris Pratt}}

:{{w|Shallots}}
:{{w|Scallops}}
:{{w|Scallions}}

:{{w|Siouxie Sioux}}
:{{w|Suzanne Vega}}

:{{w|Tom Arnold}}
:{{w|Arnold Palmer}}
:{{w|Amanda Palmer}}

:{{w|Wes Craven}}
:{{w|Wes Anderson}}

:{{w|Paul Thomas Anderson}}
:{{w|Poul Anderson}}

:{{w|Sir Walter Scott}}
:{{w|Sir Walter Raleigh}}

:{{w|Sir Francis Drake}}
:{{w|Frank Drake}}

:{{w|Van Halen}}
:{{w|Van Morrison}}
:{{w|Van Wilder}}

:{{w|Robert Van Winkle}}
:{{w|Rip Van Winkle}}

:{{w|Rip Torn}}
:{{w|Natalie Imbruglia}}

:{{w|The Body Shop}}
:{{w|Bath and Body Works}}

:{{w|Bed Bath and Beyond}}
:{{w|Beyond Thunderdome}}

:{{w|Beyoncé}}
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

1392: Dominant Players

2014-07-23T14:04:24Z

141.101.98.232: /* Basketball vs chess */

{{comic
| number = 1392
| date = July 9, 2014
| title = Dominant Players
| image = dominant_players.png
| titletext = When Vera Menchik entered a 1929 tournament, a male competitor mocked her by suggesting that a special 'Vera Menchik Club' would be created for any player who lost to her. When the tournament began, he promptly became the first member of said club, and over the years it accumulated a large and illustrious roster.
}}

A [http://xkcd.com/1392/large larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
The comic shows the rise and fall of players' strengths in two games, {{w|basketball}} and {{w|chess}}. For chess, there is an overall chart, and a women's chart.

For basketball, it uses the {{w|Player_efficiency_rating|player efficiency rating}} (PER), the [http://knickerblogger.net/a-laymans-guide-to-advanced-nba-statistics/ most commonly used player statistic]. Note that that player efficiency ratings and similar "aggregate scores" are the subject of much discussion in basketball due to {{w|Player_efficiency_rating#Problems_with_PER|known deficiencies}}.

For chess, it uses the {{w|Elo rating}}. Elo was adopted by the World Chess Federation, FIDE, in 1970, so the rating is extrapolated backwards in time (amongst other using [https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Kenneth+Wingate+Regan Kenneth Regan's] computer analysis - as written in the Chess panel) and are thus shown as dashed lines prior to 1970. (Interestingly Elo ratings {{w|Elo_rating#Elo_ratings_beyond_chess|have been adapted to basketball}}, but the PER is more commonly used to rank basketball players.)

The charts show the players career paths as a function of time with the rating on the y-axis. There is no [[#Scales of the axis|scale on the y-axis]].

[[#Player inclusion criteria|Included]] are mainly players that could be said to have been among the dominating players at some time in their career. If a player has been the best player over a longer time period (a seriously dominating player) then their career path will be drawn in red, the rest are in gray. There can be more than one red path at a time, but only because the dominating player has played before or after they became dominating. It seems like it has to be at least five years, as there are at least two players that have been no. 1 for four years, without being upgraded to a red curve. (The only ones that have managed this with three years or less (on the chart) are those that begin the chart, and thus could have been no. 1 a few years before). This can all be seen in the '''[[#Data tables|data tables]]''' below.

==Basketball vs chess==
Basketball is one of the fastest sports in the world, with some of the tallest people in the world among the players. Chess, on the other hand, will by many not even be considered a sport. Although a general good condition of the body may help you think clearly, you by no means need to be an athlete to do well in chess. You do, however, expect a rather high IQ among the best performers. This is not necessary to become a great basketball player (although here it is not in the way either). Another very important difference is that basketball is a team sport, whereas chess is one of the most individual sports you can imagine.

So why compare to so different sports? And why the [[#References on the career paths|funny remarks]] for the basketball players against the more serious for the chess players? Maybe [[Randall]] wish to make fun at basketball and the fact that several of the best of these at some time during their career choses to be in a movie or documentary. Or that they return after they retired. The remarks for the chess players is more about who looses and wins matches.

It could also be to show how different the players career paths are. Basketball players peak early in their career, then have at most a decade at the top of their game (and as the best), and if they are lucky they get close to a career of two decades. Chess players can dominate for two decades, and have careers that last more than three decades. Also they often continue to improve a long time after they became no 1.

For the reason mentioned here there are 7 red basketball players from 1950-2014, whereas there are only 5 male and 3 female red players for the two chess panels. (And then one extra each for the Chess panels from before 1950). See the [[#Data tables|data tables]] below.

Except for womens chess between 1944 till 1957 and for chess until 1947 there are always at least two players career path at any given time. So at least no. 1 and no. 2 are shown. But at some point in time there can be as many as 7 basketball players, 8 chess players and 8 women chess players career paths for a given year.

===Chess vs chess (women)===
Why is chess divided in an overall (with only one woman included) and basketball not? First of all, there is very little focus on womans basketball (as for most womens sport). This may be the same for chess, but at least here the physical strength advantage for men is no direct advantage. Thus a great woman chess player may play just as interesting chess as a man. Whereas women would typically have no chance if playing on a basketball team with men. But why are women then not represented better on the overall chess ranking? This is explained and may be another reason it is included. In the ''Chess (women)'' panel it says: ''For a long time, sexism, a lack of role models, and institutional hostility largely kept women from pursuing serious chess careers. With the expansion of women’s tournaments and prizes starting in the 1970s, this has begun to change''. So now at least one woman has shown that her skills is enough to compete with the best men. With the long careers chess players usually have, then maternity leave can destroy a womans chance at reaching the ultimate top. This could be the case for the number one woman who now has two children.

==References on the career paths==
*There are several references at given times of a career path. These can either be noted with:
**A node on the path. An arrow will point to the note and state a fact.
**Dashed path (not including chess player paths from before 1970 where they were all dashed as explained above). An arrow will point to the dashed part and state a fact. (Only for basketball)
**The {{w|Starburst (symbol)|starbursts}} at the end (or beginning) of a path. A fact will be stated next to the node. These are references to a player disappearing (or reappearing) in unusual circumstances. (only for either Chess panel)
*Some of these are intended to provide context (such as "Loses to Deep Blue"), while others are tangents or jokes.
*These references are listed below in order of appearance. If it is a dashed line or a starburst it will be mentioned:

===Basketball===
* {{W|Wilt Chamberlain}} - "Becomes the first and so far only player to score {{w|Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game|100 points in a game}}". (In 1962)
* {{w|Jerry West}} - "The Guy in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NBALogo.svg The NBA logo]" from 1969. (Read 5th paragraph in this {{w|National_Basketball_Association#Celtics.27_dominance.2C_league_expansion.2C_and_competition|wiki section}})
* {{w|Kareem Abdul-Jabbar}} - "{{w|Airplane (film)|Airplane}}". (A comedy film from 1980 where he played the co-pilot Roger Murdock)
* {{w|Magic Johnson}} - "{{w|Magic_Johnson#HIV_announcement_and_Olympics_.281991.E2.80.9392.29|HIV announcement}}". This part of his path is dashed. (The line is dashed from 1991 to 1995 - where the fear of Aids forced him to retire)
** He {{w|Magic_Johnson#Return_to_the_Lakers_as_coach_and_player_.281994.2C_1996.29|returned to play once more}} in the season from 1995-1996
* {{w|Michael Jordan}} - "{{w|Michael_Jordan#First_retirement_and_baseball_career_.281993.E2.80.931994.29|Baseball career}}". This part of his path is dashed. (from 1993-1994 he played Baseball - i.e. his first retirement)
* Michael Jordan - "{{w|Space Jam}}". (An animated comedy film from 1996 starring {{w|Bugs Bunny}} and Jordan - who was the only live character during most of the movie)
* Michael Jordan - "{{w|Michael_Jordan#Second_retirement_.281999.E2.80.932001.29|Second retirement}}". This part of his path is dashed. (He retired again from 1999–2001)
** He then {{w|Michael_Jordan#Washington_Wizards_comeback_.282001.E2.80.932003.29|came back}} to play two more years from 2001-2003...
* {{w|LeBron James}} - "{{w|The Decision (TV special)|The Decision}}" (a television special from 2010 about a heavily hyped decision as to which team he would play for the next season)

===Chess===
* {{w|José Raúl Capablanca|José Capablanca}} - "Terrifying chess God". An arrow points to the left of the panel with his name and the note beneath it. (Considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. As he died in 1942 this lies just outside of the chart. Anyway he had his best years all the way back in 1921-1927 where he was world chess champion)
* {{w|Alexander Alekhine}} - This is the first starburst. There is no text except his name. (He {{w|Alexander_Alekhine#His_final_year|died in 1946}} in Portugal)
* {{w|Bobby Fischer}} - "Vanished..." The second Starburst. (He did not actually vanish, but he did {{w|Bobby_Fischer#Sudden_obscurity|stop playing competitively}} for about 20 years starting in 1972. This is probably a reference to the 1993 film {{w|Searching for Bobby Fischer}}, which is not actually about Fischer, but about a player who partly models his career on Fischer's. The name ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'' may lead people to believe Fischer literally vanished, but that is not the case)
* Bobby Fischer - "...Reappeared then vanished again. He had problems." This is written below a double starburst with a short line between. (This is another reference to Fischer - there is no name or clear correlation, except the text that relates to the first reference. He {{w|Bobby_Fischer#1992_Spassky_rematch|resumed playing competitively}} in 1992 for a match. ''{{w|Bobby_Fischer#Life_as_an_.C3.A9migr.C3.A9|He had problems}}'' is a simplistic description of issues and controversies in Fischer's later life, including an arrest warrant (because he violated a U.S. embargo against Yugoslavia), unpaid taxes, controversy about his statements (including {{w|Antisemitism|anti-semitism}}), and mental problems. The U.S. eventually revoked his passport, and he was jailed for eight months in Japan. He then received Icelandic citizenship, and lived out the rest of his life there.)
* {{w|Garry Kasparov}} - "Loses to {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}}". (In 1997 Deep Blue became the first computer to {{w|Deep_Blue_versus_Garry_Kasparov#1997_rematch|beat the current chess world champion}})
* {{w|Judit Polgar}} - "(see below)". The text in the brackets is written beneath her name. (She is the strongest woman chess player ever and can be seen rising from the gender-defined ranks of women's chess (below). She is the only women shown on this part of the chart. Below in the womans chart, there are several notes - see below.)

===Chess (women)===
* {{w|Vera Menchik}} - "Died in a missile attack on London". This is the Last starburst. (She was killed in 1944 by an early guided missile - a {{w|V-1 flying bomb}} - launched by the Germans in {{w|World War II}}. For some reason her path does not seems to be dashed, as it should have been before 1970.)
* {{w|Sonja Graf}} - "Rating particularly uncertain". This is written above her name, with an arrow pointing there. As a matter of fact, she was clearly the second best woman and her path should be parallel to Menchik's from 1930's. (The path is already dashed indicating that it is a rough estimate, but there were probably very few data for woman chess players before 1960 explaining the note)
* {{w|Kira Zvorykina}} - "Kira Zvorykina (born 1919) continued playing in tournaments into the 21st century". (Zvorykina was never very high on the list, but can be seen twice centered on 1960 and 1980. She played her [http://ratings.fide.com/individual_calculations.phtml?idnumber=13500392&rating_period=2008-01-01&t=0 last game] rated by the {{w|World Chess Federation}} in October 2007 aged 88. She was still alive when this comic was released and will turn 95 if she lives until September this year 2014)
** She is the only player in all three panels whose path falls below the panel only to enter again later. This second entry is labeled with her last name - Zvorykina - on top of the path
* Judit Polgar, {{w|Susan Polgar}} and {{w|Sofia Polgar}} - "Sisters". (These three chess playing sisters are linked by a thin dashed line, snaking between their names on the chart. Judit is the youngest, Susan the oldest. Judit has now overtaken her sisters, Sofia never reaching the other two sisters level.)
* Judit Polgar - "{{w|Judit_Polgar#Making_history|Wins a game against Kasparov}}, making her the first woman to beat the world #1". (It took some attempts and some {{w|Judit_Polgar#Kasparov_touch-move_controversy|controversy}} before she managed to beat Kasparov in 2002, in a tournament that was played under rapid rules with 25 minutes per game and a 10 second bonus per move.)
* Judit Polgar - "Becomes first woman to rank in the overall top 10". (She is so far the only woman to break into the top 10 in the {{w|FIDE World Rankings}}. She ranked as high as {{w|Judit_Polgar#Combining_family_and_chess|eighth in the world}} in 2005)

==Scales of the axis==
The '''x-axis''' is divided in decades from 1950 until 2010. In the Basketball section the curves begins to appear right after 1950. For both chess panels there are curves further back than 1950 (with even a reference to a player from before 1940). For all three panels the paths continue up till present day (2014).

In all cases there is no scale on the '''y-axis''' with the rating, thus it is difficult to find the absolute scale. It is also difficult to compare between the two chess panels. The scale on the two chess panels are, however, the same, as can be seen by comparing the curve of Judit Polgar on each chart. This curve is exactly the same, with the same elevation between the point where her curve entes the Chess panel up to the top point.
This also means that any women player whose curve rises above this entry point (around 1989) should also be visible in the Chess chart. See below for inclusion criteria.

==Player inclusion criteria==
In general not all possible players are included in these charts. For instance it is mentioned that Judit Polgar was the first woman ranked in the over all top 10. But only six players are shown on the over all chart around 2005, where she was ranked 8th. So some male players, better than her at that time, have not been included. This is a general trend for all three charts.

From the Womans panel below it is also clear that some of the other women would be ranked high enough to be visible on the upper chart as mentioned in the [[#Scales of the axis|Scales]] section above. But still only Judit is shown there. Most of the women that are on the chart after 1989 would be visible if included in the overall chart (9 out of 12). However, none of them could be called dominant when comparing to the best men in the same time period. And thus they are not included. Maybe the same could be said about Judth, but then she is included for scale, and because she is so good that she can compete with (and sometimes beat) the best.

Some NBA players (like {{w|Tim Duncan}}, {{w|Charles Barkley}}, {{w|Oscar Robertson}}, {{w|Kobe Bryant}}, and {{w|Chris Paul}}) have been left out of the chart in favor of players with lower career and yearly efficiency ratings.

Simlarly can be mentioned for instance the no. 1 ranked chess player {{w|Veselin Topalov}} from Bulgaria, who was ranked first both in 20062007 and in 2008-2010 (for a total of less than two years). And there are likely several others ([[#Where is Viswanathan Anand|see below]]).

An example of the above for Basketball would be the 2008–2009 season which was unique in that it was the only season in which more than one player posted an efficiency ratings of over 30.0 on the Player efficiency rating (see at the bottom of {{w|Player_efficiency_rating#Reference_guide|this section}} on Wikipedia). In that season three players broke this barrier: LeBron James (31.76), {{w|Dwyane Wade}} (30.46), and Chris Paul (30.04). LeBron is shown to top that season, But Dwayne is far below (thus the scale does not fit?) and Chris is not on the list at all (i.e. he was not deemed to be a dominant player).

So is this [[Randall|Randall's]] subjective list of players that he has deemed to be ''Dominant Players'' and not a full list of the best ranked players during the time period? Of course it is his choice which players he put into the list, but missing players (when worse has been included earlier) can be explained if the missing players never were among the most dominant player over a length of time. It is not a list of the best players of all time, or of a single season, but a chart of the dominant players over a longer time period.

If a player only has had a very short time where their careers peaked - they should not be included. Also if there most of the time where at least two others that were more dominant than they ever where - they should not be included. To tell if this explains all the excluded players mentioned/referenced above, that would take some investigation. An investigation we can assume Randall has taken upon himself before posting this comic. This of course will still make it his subjective list.

For basketball any given player will at least have been the 2nd best (of those included) at some (longer) period of their career. And to become selected for a red curve, they need to be the best for at least five years. (The first players curve is no. 1 less than five year, but he could have been no. 1 also before 1951).

The same is valid for the Chess players (again the first players curve is red, but stops just as it enters the panel). Only exception is Judit Polgar. She is never better than 3rd of those selected. And she was never better than 8th in the world. So her inclusion is a mentioned probably only to compare her with the men.

For the woman chess players there are the same criteria for red, except that Sonja Graf is not red although she is the only chess player on the list for more than a decade. Maybe you need to be better than someone else to become red? There are also included several women who never reaches 2nd place on the chart. Three of these reaches 3rd place and two only 4th. One of these, Anna Muzychuk, is still on the rise, so she might be on the chart, because she could possibly become first or second if she can continue to improve. The other, Sofia Polgar, is included to show that all three Polgar sisters are chess masters.

===Where is Viswanathan Anand===
None of the above can explain why former World Champion Chess Grandmaster {{w|Viswanathan Anand}} has not been included in the Chess Chart. Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list. He occupied the number one position in several rating lists between 2007 and 2011. The reason could possible be because Randall may be a huge fan of {{w|Magnus Carlsen}}, and thus biased against Anand. There is some evidence for this in [[1287: Puzzle]] (Chess in a 'Go' board - which makes no sence as there are no alternate colored squares as required by chess). In the title text of that comic it seems that Randall makes fun of Anand in a match against Magnus. The interpretation of the comic and its comment, however, appear to be a double-edged matter of debate.

Anand can for instance be found in the {{w|Chessmetrics}} devised by statistician {{w|Jeff Sonas}}. In the [http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Summary.asp graph from 1995-2005] of Sonas famous research from 2005, Anand becomes the best during 2004. It can, however, also be seen that Randall does not agree with Sonas - this is very clear in this [http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Summary.asp?Params=194020SSSSS3S000000000000111000000000000010100 graph from 1940-1960]. Here Mikhail Botvinnik clearly plays way better than Alexander Alekhine in 1946, where Alexander dies. This is not shown like this in the comic. Maybe the death of Alexander becomes the more interesting in the comic, if you believed he was the best at the time. Note that all nine (male) names listed in the comics chart between the lines at 1950 and 2000 are included in this [http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Summary.asp?Params=195050SSSSS3S000000000000111000000000000010100 graph from 1950-2000]. (But not the other way around - there are 12 in the chart). In this chart it is clear that Bobby Fischer was by far the best in the years before he disappeared. However, he was caught by {{w|Anatoly Karpov}} just before which is not shown in the comic. On the other hand, he seems to have reached a significant higher rating than Kasparov ever did, which is also not the case in the comic.

==Entwined career paths==
Chess players {{w|Vladimir Kramnik}} and {{w|Levon Aronian}}, who have faced each other on multiple occasions in the 2010s, are shown as having their career paths entwined. It is a general trend observed every time two players paths cross each other more than once (the one on top the first time, will be below the second time and so forth. It is just more clear with these two than anywhere else). In two cases these crossing path occurs with so long time between the first appearance, that the names is written twice on the path. In the Chess panel it is {{w|Mikhail Tal}} and {{w|Boris Spassky}} and for the Chess (women) panel it is {{w|Pia Cramling}} and {{w|Xie Jun}}. This can make it difficult to get an overview of how few chess players there are compared to basketball players.

==Transcript==
:'''Dominant players '''
:over time
:[Below this heading there are three panels with charts showing different players career paths - that is their rating a function of the year. Most of the paths are grey, but some are red (there will be a note for these). Some parts of several paths are dashed. Somewhere on each path the players name will be written curving along so it follows the path. Several places an event or some information is noted and points to a given time on the path. If it is not clear where it belongs an arrow will point to the correct place. Each chart has a heading and for the two last charts there is an explanation. There is no scale on the y-axis (rating) but the x-axis (time) has the years given in ten years interval. A thin line indicates these decades. The years are all written at the top, except the first for the first chart, which is written below, and this year is missing in the bottom chart.]
:[Below the transcript for each chart will follow this order: Heading/sub heading, explanation, time scale, player names with any information for this player, in the order their name appear on the time scale.]
:[Basketball chart:]
:'''Basketball (NBA/ABA)'''
:Player Efficiency Rating
:1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
:[Red] George Mikan
:[Red] Bob Pettit
:Neal Johnston [Neil misspelled]
:Elgin Baylor
:[Red] Wilt Chamberlain
::Becomes the first and so far only player to score 100 points in a game
:Jerry West
::The Guy in the NBA logo
:[Red] Kareem Abdul Jabbar [Missing hyphen between the two last names]
::Airplane
:Bob Mcadoo
:Julius Irving [Erving misspelled]
:Moses Malone
:Magic Johnson
::HIV announcement [A part of the path is dashed after this]
:[Red] Michael Jordan
::Baseball career [A part of the path is dashed after this]
::Space Jam
::Second retirement [A part of the path is dashed after this]
:Larry Bird
:Karl Malone
:David Robinson
:[Red] Shaquille O'Neal
:Kevin Gariett
:[Red] LeBron James
::The Decision
:Dwyane Wade
:Kevin Durant

:[Chess chart]
:'''Chess'''
:Elo Rating
:The modern Elo rating system dates back to about 1970.
:Computer analysis (like Kenneth Regan’s) lets us rate historical players, but this has only been done rigorously for a few tournaments.
:Dashed lines are rough estimates only.
:[All paths are dashed up until the late nineteen sixties:]
:1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
:[The first player has no path, as his time was before 1940. An arrow points toward the left to these earlier times:]
:José Capablanca
::Terrifying chess God
:[Red] Alexander Alekhine [His path ends in a starburst]
:[Red] Mikhail Botvinnik
:Tigran Petrosian
:David Bronstein
:Mikhail Tal
::Mikhail Tal [his name is written twice on the path, the second time above Boris Spassky when their paths intertwine]
:[Red] Bobby Fischer
::Vanished… [Text under a starburst]
::Reappeared then vanished again. He had problems. [Text under two starbursts connected with a path. This appears much later than the first staburst]
:Boris Spassky
::Boris Spassky [his name is written twice on the path, the second time below Mikhail Tal when their paths intertwine]
:Victor Korchnoi
:[Red] Anatoly Karpov
:[Red] Garry Kasparov
::Loses to Deep Blue
:Judit Polgar
::(See below) [The text is written beneath her name]
:Vladimir Kramnik
:Levon Aronian
:[Red] Magnus Carlsen

:[Chess (women) chart:]
:'''Chess (women)'''
:Elo Rating
:For a long time, sexism, a lack of role models, and institutional hostility largely kept women from pursuing serious chess careers.
:With the expansion of women’s tournaments and prizes starting in the 1970s, this has begun to change.
:[All paths are dashed up until the late nineteen sixties]
:1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
:[Red] Vera Menchik
::Died in a missile attack on London [next to a starburst]
:Sonja Graf
::Rating particularly uncertain
:Olga Rubtsova
:Elisaveta Bykova
:Kira Zvorykina
::Kira Zvorykina (born 1919) continued playing in tournaments into the 21st century [Text above Elisvetas path, no arrows]
::Zvorykina [Written on top of the path when her path reappears much later]
:Alexander Nicolau
:[Red] Nona Gaprindashvili
:Alla Kushnir
:[Red] Maia Chiburdanidze
:Pia Cramling
::Pia Cramling [her name is written twice on the path, the second time below the path of Xie Jun after their paths have intertwined]
:Xie Jun
::Xie Jun [her name is written twice on the path, the second time above the path of Pia Cramling after their paths have intertwined]
:Susan Polgar
:Sofia Polgar
:[Red] Judit Polgar
::Sisters [The three Polgars are linked by a thin dashed line, snaking between their names]
::Wins a game against Kasparov, making her the first woman to beat the world #1
::Becomes first woman to rank in the overall top 10
:Antoaneta Stefanova
:Anna Muzychuk
:Koneru Humpy [In western style the name should be Humpy Koneru, but the comics version is the native form]
:Hou Yifan

==Trivia==
* The [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/4/45/20140710201235!dominant_players.png original comic] said about Kira Zvorykina "Continued playing in tournaments into the 20th century". The 20th century is the 1900's in which Zvorkina was born (on September 29, 1919 according to Wikipedia). Randall has corrected the notation to say "into the 21st century."
* The names of three NBA players have been misspelled: {{w|Neil Johnston}} (misspelled as "Neal"), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (missing hyphen), and {{w|Julius Erving}} (misspelled "Irving".)
* The order of the names of an Indian chess playing woman has been given in the native version in the comic, where the western version would use the reverse as here: {{w|Humpy Koneru}}.
===Data tables===
*Below are three sortable tables, with the original order as the players name appear in the transcript i.e. chronological.
*One of the objectives of the tables is to make it clear what is the criteria for a player obtaining a red path. Thus there is an x for red path and an x for being no. 1 on the charts. Also the number if years a player has been no. 1 is given.
*All data in these tables are taken from the comic - except the names - they are taken from Wikipedia. See trivia items above.
*The total years as no. 1 is not the same in each table, as those players entering the panels from outside (before 1942), do not get a length of time as being no. 1. For basketball the chart first begins in 1951 (together with the rating system?)
**Since the years as no. 1 has been roughly estimated from the charts (with a ruler) the sum total can also not be expected to fit with the first entry and today (and they miss with at least a couple of years each), as all years have been rounded to the nearest whole year.
*In the comments column, there is references to the relevant section in the explanation if there are any notes/references in the comic for the player. Also references are made to the trivia section for errors etc. Other comments are for special observations regarding said player.
**So use the comments if you have any interesting but short note to add for a given player.
**In case of longer info: If they are regarding the table, write them in bullets below the relevant table (and make a note on the players comments), or add it to the trivia section above.
**More general things or info on [[#Player inclusion criteria|players missing from the comic]] should be added to the explanation above.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Dominant players in Basketball (NBA/ABA)
!Player name
!x if Red
!x if no. 1
!Years as no. 1
!Best placement
!Comments
|-
|{{w|George Mikan}}||x||x||3||1||His path begins in 1951 where the chart begins
|-
|{{w|Bob Pettit}}||x||x||5||1||
|-
|{{w|Neil Johnston }}||||||0||2||His path begins in 1951 where the chart begins. [[#Trivia|Name misspelled]] in comic
|-
|{{w|Elgin Baylor}}||||||0||2||
|-
|{{w| Wilt Chamberlain}}||x||x||11||1||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]
|-
|{{w|Jerry West}}||||||0||2||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]
|-
|{{w|Kareem Abdul-Jabbar}}||x||x||10||1||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]. Also the [[#Trivia|hyphen has been left out]] in the comic
|-
|{{w|Bob McAdoo}}||||||0||2||
|-
|{{w|Julius Erving}}||||x||1||1||[[#Trivia|Name misspelled]] in comic
|-
|{{w|Moses Malone}}||||x||3||1||
|-
|{{w|Magic Johnson}}||||||0||2||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]
|-
|{{w|Michael Jordan}}||x||x||8||1||[[#Basketball|There are three notes]]
|-
|{{w|Larry Bird}}||||x||2||1||
|-
|{{w|Karl Malone}}||||||0||2||
|-
|{{w|David Robinson (basketball)|David Robinson}}||||x||4||1||
|-
|{{w|Shaquille O'Neal}}||x||x||6||1||
|-
|{{w|Kevin Garnett}}||||x||2||1||
|-
|{{w|LeBron James}}||x||x||8||1||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]
|-
|{{w|Dwyane Wade}}||||x||1||1||
|-
|{{w|Kevin Durant}}||||x||1||1||He became no 1 in 2013 and still is
|-
|20 players - Total: ||7||14||65||1-2||
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Chess
!Player name
!x if Red
!x if no. 1
!Years as no. 1
!Best placement
!Comments
|-
|{{w|José Capablanca}}||||x||||1||[[#Chess|There is a note]]. He is outside the panel
|-
|{{w|Alexander Alekhine}}||x||x||||1||Path begins outside panel and ends in a starburst
|-
|{{w|Mikhail Botvinnik}}||x||x||17||1||No 1 over two separate periods
|-
|{{w|Tigran Petrosian}}||||||0||2||
|-
|{{w|David Bronstein}}||||x||2||1||
|-
|{{w|Mikhail Tal}}||||x||4||1||Name written twice on the path
|-
|{{w|Bobby Fischer}}||x||x||8||1||[[#Chess|There are two notes]] in connection with three starbursts
|-
|{{w|Boris Spassky}}||||||0||2||Name written twice on the path
|-
|{{w|Victor Korchnoi}}||||||0||2||
|-
|{{w|Anatoly Karpov}}||x||x||11||1||
|-
|{{w|Garry Kasparov}}||x||x||23||1||[[#Chess|There is a note]]
|-
|{{w|Judit Polgar}}||||||0||3||[[#Chess|There is a note]]. Only woman in this chart.
|-
|{{w|Vladimir Kramnik}}||||x||2||1||
|-
|{{w|Levon Aronian}}||||||0||2||
|-
|{{w|Magnus Carlsen}}||x||x||6||1||He became no 1 in 2008 and still is
|-
|15 players - Total: ||6||10||73||1-3||Only with a 3rd place as the best is Judit from the womens chart
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Chess (women)
!Player name
!x if Red
!x if no. 1
!Years as no. 1
!Best placement
!Comments
|-
|{{w|Vera Menchik}}||x||x||||1||[[#Chess (women)|There is a note]]. Path begins outside panel and ends in a starburst
|-
|{{w|Sonja Graf}}||||x||13||1||[[#Chess (women)|There is a note]]
|-
|{{w|Olga Rubtsova}}||||x||1||1||
|-
|{{w|Elisaveta Bykova}}||||||0||2||
|-
|{{w|Kira Zvorykina}}||||||0||3||[[#Chess (women)|There are two notes]], see also [[#Trivia|Trivia]]
|-
|{{w|Alexandra Nicolau}}||||||0||3||
|-
|{{w|Nona Gaprindashvili}}||x||x||19||1||
|-
|{{w|Alla Kushnir}}||||||0||2||
|-
|{{w|Maia Chiburdanidze}}||x||x||9||1||
|-
|{{w|Pia Cramling}}||||||0||2||Name written twice on the path
|-
|{{w|Xie Jun}}||||||0||2||Name written twice on the path
|-
|{{w|Susan Polgar}}||||||0||2||[[#Chess (women)|There is a note]]
|-
|{{w|Sofia Polgar}}||||||0||4||[[#Chess (women)|There is a note]]
|-
|{{w|Judit Polgar}}||x||x||26||1||[[#Chess (women)|There are three notes]]. She became no 1 in 1989 and still is
|-
|{{w|Antoaneta Stefanova}}||||||0||3||
|-
|{{w|Anna Muzychuk}}||||||0||4||
|-
|{{w|Humpy Koneru}}||||||0||2||[[#Trivia|Alternate version of name]] used in comic
|-
|{{w|Hou Yifan}}||||||0||2||
|-
|18 players - Total: ||4||6||68||1-4||One no. 4 is a sister the other is still active
|}

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1381: Margin

2014-06-13T11:48:58Z

141.101.98.232:

Isn't it possible that a mathematician knows about the existance or the proof of something, but doen't know how to technically do it? In this case, the margin remark would be accurate and not so funny. They have found a proof of existance for infinite information compression, but not yet discovered an actual method to do it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.56|141.101.104.56]] 05:32, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:Yes, when there's no example, it's called a {{w|pure existence theorem}}. If you actually demonstrate an example, that is a {{w|constructive proof}}. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 05:38, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
::Actually the proof of the Shannon-Hartley theorem is non-constructive. It tells you the data rate of the best possible channel coding, but does not tell you how to achieve it! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.47|108.162.215.47]] 07:58, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
Setting font-size to 0 would be the same as not ''printing'' any information at all, you'll still use the same number of bits and be able to send the text to other computers which can read the information. The Shannon-Hartley theorem is, as far as I can see from the wikipedia article, about analogue channels anyway. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 06:16, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Isn't this also a reference to {{w|Jan Sloot}}'s digital compression mechanism where a movie would fit into 8 kbyte? [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 07:36, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

This was my first time editing Explain XKCD, but I fear I may have went too far in replacing the current explanation of the title-text with my own and removing the incomplete tag. Is it OK? [[User:YatharthROCK|YatharthROCK]] ([[User talk:YatharthROCK|talk]]) 08:10, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:I think you title text explain seems fine (I have not checked on the Shannon theorem.) But I think it is too soon to make this explain marked as complete. So I have undone that. Great to have one more to edit the explain so keep up the good work. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:46, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Is the problem behind Fermat's Last Theorem "deceptively simple" or "deceptively difficult"? I've never quite worked out which way it should be. Unlike "cheap at half the price" which really should be "cheap at twice the price" and the effect of putting in the word "only" into "glass ... half full/empty". But I bet you all could care less (or, more accurately, "''couldn't'' care less", because you already do not care at all), right? ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 11:44, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1381: Margin

2014-06-13T11:47:33Z

141.101.98.232:

Isn't it possible that a mathematician knows about the existance or the proof of something, but doen't know how to technically do it? In this case, the margin remark would be accurate and not so funny. They have found a proof of existance for infinite information compression, but not yet discovered an actual method to do it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.56|141.101.104.56]] 05:32, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:Yes, when there's no example, it's called a {{w|pure existence theorem}}. If you actually demonstrate an example, that is a {{w|constructive proof}}. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 05:38, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
::Actually the proof of the Shannon-Hartley theorem is non-constructive. It tells you the data rate of the best possible channel coding, but does not tell you how to achieve it! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.47|108.162.215.47]] 07:58, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
Setting font-size to 0 would be the same as not ''printing'' any information at all, you'll still use the same number of bits and be able to send the text to other computers which can read the information. The Shannon-Hartley theorem is, as far as I can see from the wikipedia article, about analogue channels anyway. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 06:16, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Isn't this also a reference to {{w|Jan Sloot}}'s digital compression mechanism where a movie would fit into 8 kbyte? [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 07:36, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

This was my first time editing Explain XKCD, but I fear I may have went too far in replacing the current explanation of the title-text with my own and removing the incomplete tag. Is it OK? [[User:YatharthROCK|YatharthROCK]] ([[User talk:YatharthROCK|talk]]) 08:10, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:I think you title text explain seems fine (I have not checked on the Shannon theorem.) But I think it is too soon to make this explain marked as complete. So I have undone that. Great to have one more to edit the explain so keep up the good work. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:46, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Is the problem behind Fermat's Last Theorom "deceptively simple" or "deceptively difficult"? I've never quite worked out which way it should be. Unlike "cheap at half the price" which really should be "cheap at twice the price" and the effect of putting in the word "only" into "glass ... half full/empty". But I bet you all could care less (or, more accurately, "''couldn't'' care less", because you already do not care at all), right? ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 11:44, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1381: Margin

2014-06-13T11:44:35Z

141.101.98.232:

Isn't it possible that a mathematician knows about the existance or the proof of something, but doen't know how to technically do it? In this case, the margin remark would be accurate and not so funny. They have found a proof of existance for infinite information compression, but not yet discovered an actual method to do it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.56|141.101.104.56]] 05:32, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:Yes, when there's no example, it's called a {{w|pure existence theorem}}. If you actually demonstrate an example, that is a {{w|constructive proof}}. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 05:38, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
::Actually the proof of the Shannon-Hartley theorem is non-constructive. It tells you the data rate of the best possible channel coding, but does not tell you how to achieve it! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.47|108.162.215.47]] 07:58, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
Setting font-size to 0 would be the same as not ''printing'' any information at all, you'll still use the same number of bits and be able to send the text to other computers which can read the information. The Shannon-Hartley theorem is, as far as I can see from the wikipedia article, about analogue channels anyway. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 06:16, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Isn't this also a reference to {{w|Jan Sloot}}'s digital compression mechanism where a movie would fit into 8 kbyte? [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 07:36, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

This was my first time editing Explain XKCD, but I fear I may have went too far in replacing the current explanation of the title-text with my own and removing the incomplete tag. Is it OK? [[User:YatharthROCK|YatharthROCK]] ([[User talk:YatharthROCK|talk]]) 08:10, 13 June 2014 (UTC)
:I think you title text explain seems fine (I have not checked on the Shannon theorem.) But I think it is too soon to make this explain marked as complete. So I have undone that. Great to have one more to edit the explain so keep up the good work. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:46, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Is the problem behind Fermat's Last Theorom "deceptively simple" or "deceptively complex"? I've never quite worked out which way it should be. Unlike "cheap at half the price" which really should be "cheap at twice the price" and the effect of putting in the word "only" into "glass ... half full/empty". But I bet you all could care less (or, more accurately, "''couldn't'' care less", because you already do not care at all), right? ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 11:44, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1379: 4.5 Degrees

2014-06-12T11:07:20Z

141.101.98.232:

Scary thoughts there... [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 05:11, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

I imagine the Earth's axial tilt wouldn't change even if the temperature changed by +2 IAU. So, would palm trees survive the extreme day/night lengths at the poles? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 05:31, 9 June 2014 (UTC) P.S. Also, wouldn't the North Pole be underwater, so incapable of supporting palm trees?
Also, regarding the IAU, is it a reference to the {{w|International Astronomical Union|IAU}} that named an {{w|4942 Munroe|asteroid}} after Randall?

"While it says it's "probably no big deal," this is probably a joke, because even half of an Ice Age would be a lot of ice." The article has it wrong. It's a 2 degree increase, not decrease. Ice would melt. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.134|108.162.238.134]] 07:33, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
:-- Fixed {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.77}}

To prevent global warming, act yesterday! ... or, well, since we already failed to do it, maybe ... just maybe ... we should invest some resources to ADAPTING to the change. Because the USSR communist party wanted to command “wind and rain” and how it worked?
... of course, we SHOULD be trying to lower the CO2 emissions ... not like Germany, which [http://www.realclearenergy.org/charticles/2014/01/16/germanys_plans_for_new_coal_plants_107463.html replaced it's nuclear power plants with coal ones] ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:03, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
:While it is true that we have build more coal plants, the majority part that replace the nuclear power is from renewable energy, see [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strommix#mediaviewer/Datei:Energiemix_Deutschland.svg diagram] on wikipedia. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.89|141.101.75.89]] 15:51, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
:: ... note that burning biomass, while renewable, also adds CO2. Not speaking about oil. You shouldn't be closing nuclear plants, you should be closing coal ones if you have exceed energy. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:02, 10 June 2014 (UTC)

Well, ''this'' seems like a topic that could generate heated comments. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.208.9|108.162.208.9]] 10:09, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

Would anyone care to comment on the +200 meter sea rise? I googled "how much would sea level rise" a bit, and I seem to bump into 60 to 70 meters repeatedly for all glaciers melting. I found nothing direct from IPCC. I wonder if Randall really has another view on this. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.45}}
:I hope the explanation isn't that he made a meter/feet mistake. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 13:04, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
::I would assert that he rounded for a clean read for a relative scale. Also, the '+' denotes the likelihood of a larger actual amount. {{unsigned ip|108.162.217.41}}
:::60 meters is indeed the amount the sea would rise if all the glacial ice melted. However, that figure presumably does not take into account have much the sea would rise by expansion due to the increased heat. That is, after all, the main reason for rising sea levels today. So I would guess that the +200 figure is the 60 meters of added water from glacial ice ''plus'' the amount it would rise due to warming and expanding. [[User:Calebxy|Calebxy]] ([[User talk:Calebxy|talk]])
::::While that's possible, and desalination of water can also cause it to expand (sea water is more dense than fresh), we shouldn't try to justify the numbers if they are incorrect. If we can find some reliable data to suggest the rise would be 200 ft instead of 200m, we should include that. Or at least include a range of estimates from reliable sources. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.134|108.162.238.134]] 15:42, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::Having just re-read the explanation after posting my comment, I can see that the article attempts to do just that. But the link provided says 110 to 770 mm. Isn't the millimeters? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.134|108.162.238.134]] 15:44, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::But the sea level ''would'' rise more than 60m if the expansion of the sea is taken into account. If the earth became as hot as the graph indicates, then logically the seas would expand considerably. [[User:Calebxy|Calebxy]] ([[User talk:Calebxy|talk]]) 16:04, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
:Cretaceous sea levels seem to have been that high, but this tends to be attributed to the shape of the ocean basins, in particular the mid-ocean ridges, rather than to the temperature. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.35|108.162.219.35]] 17:01, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

So sad that Randall is pushing the carbon tax agenda long after the AGW myth has been debunked. [[User:IGnatius T Foobar|IGnatius T Foobar]] ([[User talk:IGnatius T Foobar|talk]]) 16:00, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
:Waitwhat? a) I saw no mention of tax. b) AGW==Anthropogenic Global Warming==debunked? This may not be the place for this whole discussion (despite the relevance), but it's ''far'' from debunked. And even if "there was going to be some Global Warming anyway", you can't dismiss the probability that we're adding ''something'' to this effect and making it more extreme. If not pushing it over the edge in some way. (I'm actually more optimistic than that, but I do find "it's a myth!" to be annoyingly naive, so excuse me if I try to balance that out. It's really not worth tying this discussion box up in this debate, however.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 18:36, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
::I'm not as sure that it isn't worth it. GCC is fact. GW, might be. AGW, that's where we get into the mythical and unproven range, because it's *really hard* to tell the difference between correlation and causation, and because of other problems I wrote below.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 19:28, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
:Randall is a scientist. He follows scientific consensus. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.134|108.162.238.134]] 20:03, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
::Randall is a comic artist. While he's a really smart guy, he popularizes science, he doesn't do the experiments himself.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 19:28, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
::There is nothing scientific about following consensus. {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.86}}
:::Of course there is... When 99% of climatologists are reasonably certain (which means "very very sure" for non-scientists) that there is Global Warning and that the primary cause is us (humanity greenhouse gas emissions), I wouldn't say that AGW has been "debunked" and that there is nothing scientific in following this consensus (after having made sure of its existence by reading diverse peer-reviewed studies of the field) ! You may have an agenda to defend but could you at least try to make some sense, please. Note that this doesn't mean that the current political propositions are the right way to go about it and that this comic doesn't say anything about that. [[User:Jedaï|Jedaï]] ([[User talk:Jedaï|talk]]) 21:47, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
::::And this is why climatologists playing with models instead of actually examining data from the real world, aren't scientists. It's possible to get so addicted to your models, that you fail to realize that you've fallen into confirmation bias. And consensus, also known as mob-based peer pressure, is only as smart as the lowest IQ in the mob. Which is why climatologists, attempting to top each other's predictions, have a tendency to fall for worst case scenarios, such as Randall's scenario above.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 02:42, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
::::There really ISN'T anything scientific about following consensus. Correlation is not causation. The 99% figure will be scientifically relevant if it will be produced by every scientist independently proving it, not by consensus. And even then ... 100% scientists though time is same everywhere ... then Einstein came with theory and models ... and THEN the models were verified. By Sir Arthur Eddington four years later. THAT made Einstein famous. We don't really have the same kind of proof for AGW. We have lot of data which has been tampered with or cherry-picked, even the scientists can't be sure what to believe. What we DO have proof for is that climate is changing (although some of those changes are LOWERING of temperature).
::::And about the political propositions ... most of them fail to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions itself, not speaking about global temperature - but their economic effect would be huge. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:02, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
:Where is he speaking about carbon tax? "Acting now" does not equal one possible instrument. There are plenty of ways for climate change mitigation.--[[User:Ojdo|Ojdo]] ([[User talk:Ojdo|talk]]) 07:55, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

I *think* (haven't confirmed) that the 200 m figure is the difference between the peak of the last ice age (sea level low—"-1 IAU" in the strip) and if everything melted. We've already come up 140 m, so we can't go up 200 m from here. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.86|108.162.215.86]] 20:16, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

There are several troubling things with this comic (including the sea level figure), but the most basic is the opening statement: "Without prompt, aggressive limits on CO2 emissions, the Earth will likely warm by an average of 4°-5°C by the century’s end." This is probably from the latest IPCC report, but it takes the worst of several proposed scenarios, and claims it to be the likely one. RCP8.5 projects 2.6C-4.8C, and I suppose that's what getting averaged *up* to "4.5C" for the temperature line in the comic. The second most troubling thing is that mouse-over text, regarding the 2C lid if we "enact aggressive emissions limits now"—this is an entirely arbitrary (unscientific) number based on largely unspecified changes to what the world is doing now. It gives me the sense that Randall didn't look too deep... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.86|108.162.215.86]] 20:43, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

According to Wikipedia, the polar forests during the Ceretaceous period were temperate, not tropical. Thus Firs in the North and Evergreens in Antartica, not Palm trees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_forests_of_the_Cretaceous [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 21:17, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

Oh wait, did he really say "Palm trees at the poles"? The north pole is already 4,261 meters under water. The nearest land is 700 km away. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.86|108.162.215.86]] 05:14, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
:It's hyperbole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.134|108.162.238.134]] 05:46, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
::Not completely. It's refering to a specific time, the ceretaceous period. When there where forests above 85 degrees in both north and south poles. The forests where temperate though, so palm trees are hyperbole. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.217|141.101.80.217]] 12:18, 10 June 2014 (UTC)

Independent of everything else, I'm having a tough time reconciling the fact that sea level was apparently 6m or more higher during the Roman era. E.g. the roman settlements and their harbors in places like Caister and Burgh Castle in Norfolk, England? I'm not aware that England has risen 6m. Seems to me that if see levels were to rise as much as 6m we'd just be back to where things were 1600-1700 years ago. {{unsigned ip|103.22.201.239}}
:I'd like to research that, so [needs citation][[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 17:22, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
:Things can be complicated by the likes of 'rebound' of the local area of the Earth's crust after the removal of the weight of glacial ice from various landmasses (although I'm not sure whether that was still producing such measureable effects to those particular locations in Roman times) and other effects. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.232|141.101.98.232]] 11:07, 12 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1379: 4.5 Degrees

2014-06-09T18:37:52Z

141.101.98.232: Typo

Talk:1379: 4.5 Degrees

2014-06-09T18:36:48Z

141.101.98.232:

1307: Buzzfeed Christmas

2013-12-24T05:20:05Z

141.101.98.232: add mouseover transcript

{{comic
| number = 1307
| date = December 22, 2013
| title = Buzzfeed Christmas
| image = buzzfeed christmas.png
| titletext = The 6 Weirdest Objects The Buzzfeed Writers Are Throwing Out Their Windows At Us
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is a new comic}}

Christmas caroling is a tradition in which groups of singers travel from house to house, singing {{w|Christmas_carol|carols}}.

These carolers are in front of the [http://www.buzzfeed.com/ BuzzFeed] offices singing the {{w|The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)|The Twelve Days of Christmas}}, which contains:

: On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me.
: 12 Drummers drumming
: 11 Pipers piping
: 10 Lords a-leaping
: 9 Ladies dancing
: 8 Maids a-milking
: 7 Swans a-swimming
: 6 Geese a-laying
: 5 Golden rings
: 4 Calling birds
: 3 French hens
: 2 Turtle doves
: And a partridge in a pear tree.

The carolers changed the lyrics to match the headlines of the topics published by BuzzFeed, which usually contain a number and a superlative (for example, ''13 Worst Plane Crashes of the Decade'').

This method of writing headlines is used by several other news sites, because it is known to generate a lot of visits (and ad revenue). [[Randall]] has touched on this subject before in [[1283: Headlines]].

Carolers are usually rewarded with a gift, but the BuzzFeed writers probably didn't appreciate the song, because they threw weird stuff at them (which the carolers used in their 7th verse).

==Transcript==
:[Carolers singing.]
:Carolers: 12 Best drummers of ''all time''
:Carolers: 11 Pipers whose jaw-dropping good piping will make you cry
:Carolers: You won't ''believe'' what these 10 lords leap over
:[Comic caption]
:Carolers outside the Buzzfeed offices perform "12 Weird things I ''actually got'' for Christmas"
:[Mouseover]
:The Six Weirdest Things The Buzzfeed Writers Are Throwing Out Their Windows At Us

{{comic discussion}}
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