explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1017: Backward in Time

2025-04-22T19:09:34Z

141.101.98.58: /* Explanation */ Not sure why the marriage-approximation was taken out of its own rowspan extension (and other rowspans retained), but needed the respective rowspanning to be neutralised too. Gave it an HR in leiu of original table-separation.

{{comic
| number = 1017
| date = February 15, 2012
| title = Backward in Time
| image = backward_in_time.png
| titletext = People tell me I have too much time on my hands, but really the problem is that there's too much time, PERIOD.
}}
Clicking the image at xkcd.com links to [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ak43bGxHGI1adDMtOHVWVXZrYzhKd2VtbFJJMmJPTEE&single=true&gid=1&output=html this spreadsheet], which [[Randall]] used to calculate the times and dates for the comic. It also has a lot of other percentages and dates, so take a look if you are interested.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The table is incomplete.}}

[[Cueball]]/[[Randall]] creates this formula which helps him wait for long stretches of time which goes increasingly faster into the past as more time goes by, which gives him the effect of looking like the time goes by quickly. Which assists in the waiting process.

As far as the actual math is concerned, the formula is an {{w|exponential function}} (i.e. the variable appears in the exponent). The effect that the function grows faster and faster as p grows, is due to T(p) being exponential. More precisely, when you repeatedly add some constant to the exponent, you will repeatedly multiply some (other) constant with the value of the function. Compare how "slow" a value grows by adding even high values (1, 1001, 2001, 3001, 4001, 5001…) and how fast it grows by multiplying even low values (1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000…)

Now, the function has to be adjusted so that, as Randall put it, "the time spent in each part of the past is loosely proportional to how well I know it." The most important adjustment is putting p to the power of three. That lowers the amount added to the exponent for low values (0.1³=0.001, 0.2³=0.008, i.e. only 7/1000 have been added for 10% workflow) and increases the amount for high values (0.8³=0.512, 0.9³=0.729, i.e. more than 1/5 has been added for 10% workflow). That means the recent past will pass even slower and the historic past even faster than it already does by choosing an exponential function.
The remaining adjustments are technical. The coefficient in front of p³ adjusts the constant by which the result will be multiplied while adding some constant to p, while it also roughly ensures that p=1 yields the lifetime of the universe. The 3 added to the product in the exponent further adjusts the actual values of the power without touching the slope (the multiplicative constant). In the parentheses, e³ is subtracted to put the time to 0 when p=0. Otherwise the function would start approx. 20 yrs and 1 month ago. For bigger p, this offset does not matter much. Imagine subtracting 20 yrs from the lifetime of the universe!

Finally, the result is subtracted from the current date for aesthetical reasons. The formula could tell you "20 years ago", or it could read "February 1992". Randall decided the latter would be better. The punchline "Swoosh!" is about how fast the last few percents of Cueball's download happen in "such a rush". For most humans waiting for a download to complete tends to become really boring and progress would instead seem to get slower and slower.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! % !! Historic time (As of publication)
! "Around This Time" text !! Expanded description of events
|-
| 0% || Now (Feburary 15 2012)
| ''Not given in comic'' || Presumably February 15, 2012, the day the comic was published, which is consistent with the next entry taking place in late 2011.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 7.308% || rowspan="2" |December 18, 2011
| Kim Jong-il Dies. || Kim Jong-il, the president of North Korea at the time, dies of a suspected heart attack. He is succeeded by Kim Jong-un.
|-
| US Leaves Iraq. || Early 2003, the majority of Americans supported the {{w|2003 invasion of Iraq|Iraq Invasion}}. However, a little more than a year later the majority of Americans thought that the invasion was a mistake. Representative {{w|John Murtha}} introduced a resolution in 2005 for U.S. soldiers in Iraq to be "redeployed at the earliest practicable date" and the {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republicans}} called for "the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately", however this was immmeditly shot down. A year later, another bill was shot down preposing a deadline for recalling soldiers. The House Majority Leader, {{w|John Boehner}}, argued that "achieving victory is our only option". A bill finally passed congress in 2007 that called for the removal of troops within the end of the year, however it was vetoed by {{w|George W. Bush|President Bush}}. In 2008 both the American and Iraqi governments signed the {{w|U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement}}. It stated that, by June 30th of the following year, American forces would withdraw from Iraqi cities and would be completely gone by 2012. On December 18, 2011, the very last 500 solders left Iraq.
|-
| 10% || September, 2011
| ''Not given in comic'' || This date is almost exactly 10 years after the {{w|September 11 attacks}} on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The attack was conducted with multiple hijackers taking control of passenger aircraft and crashing them into World Trade Center buildings One and Two.
<hr/>This is also the approximate date of Randall's marriage.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 20% || rowspan="2" | 2008
| rowspan="2" | ''Not given in comic'' || The {{w|Marvel Cinematic Universe|Marvel}} movie {{w|Iron Man}} is released, kicking off the Marvel Cinematic Universe plotline, which has since followed 35 movies and many different superheroes.
|-
| Democratic candiate {{w|Barack Obama}} wins the 2008 election and becomes the 44th President of the United States.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 30% || rowspan="2" | 1997
| rowspan="2" | ''Not given in comic'' || {{w|O.J. Simpson}} was found liable for the deaths of {{W|Nicole Brown}} and {{w|Ronald Goldman}}. O.J. owed the two families $35.5 million. It is worth noting that after he was found liable, he refused to pay the money and did everything in his power to avoid giving them it. However the Goldmans eventally did end up with one of his assets, the rather scandalous book "If I Did It" (O.J. writing about HYPOTHETICALLY if he HAD killed them, how and why he'd have HYPOTHETICALLY killed them) which the Goldmans rebranded from "a ghost story", as O.J. put it, to "a confession of a killer".
|-
| Princess Diana died.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 31.12% || rowspan="2" | February 1995
| Windows 95 Debuts || The Windows 95 was an operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the begining of the Windows 9x operating systems. It was released on July 14, 1995.
|-
| OJ Found Not Guilty || The {{w|Murder trial of O. J. Simpson|O.J. Simpson trial}} was a famous trial where O.J. was tried for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. DNA evidence almost proved his guilt, however the defense pointed out the evidence wasn't collected correctly and could have been cross contaminated. Because of this, the jury found O.J. not guilty of the double murder.
|-
| rowspan="3" | 40% || rowspan="3" | 1958
| rowspan="3" | ''Not given in comic'' || The European Common Market is created.
|-
| Khruschev gains control of the USSR.
|-
| The first American satellite, Explorer 1, is launched into orbit.
|-
| rowspan="3" | 47.91% || rowspan="3" | 1844
| Rubber Vulcanized, || {{w|Vulcanization}} is when one heats and adds sulphur to rubber, usually {{w|Polyisoprene|polyisoprene}} (natural rubber) or {{w|Styrene-butadiene|SBR rubber}}. This helps its elasticity and improves its strength. Charles Goodyear was the inventor of vulcanization. In the early, 1800s tires quickly turned soft and sticky after they got hot (something that happens when you drive on them for miles at a time in warm weather). Charles Goodyear heated up the rubber to add various chemicals to the tires and, to his amazment, the process worked!! The strength of tire was thus improved. The only problem was that the improvement wasn't because of the chemicals but because of the heating. He would eventally learn this after dropping the rubber in a frying pan, watching the rubber not melt (as one would expect), but harden. Soon after, in 1844, he patented the process.
|-
| Bicycle Invented, || Randell's {{w|timeline}} may be {{w|Error|wrong}} here. It could be {{w|Argument|argued}} that the {{w|1|first}} "{{w|Bicycle|bicycle}}" {{w|Name|called}} a {{w|Dandy horse|"dandy horse"}}, was {{w|Invention|invented}} in {{w|1817}} by {{w|Baron}} {{w|Karl Drais|Karl von Drais}}. However the dandy horse didn't have any {{w|Bicycle pedal|pedals}}, so another argument could be made that the {{w|Treadle bicycle|first bicycle}} was {{w|Creativity|created}} in {{w|1839}} by {{w|Kirkpatrick MacMillan}}. This bicycle didn't move by {{w|Angular momentum|spinning}} the pedals, but by {{w|Treadle|pumping them up and down}} ({{w|Similarity (geometry)|similar}} to a {{w|grindstone}} or {{w|antique}} {{w|sewing machine}}). The first time a {{w|Crank (mechanism)|mechanical crank}} was used was in the early {{w|1860}}s, when {{w|Pierre Michaux}} and {{w|Pierre Lallement}} {{w|Scaling (geometry)|enlarged}} the {{w|Direction (geometry)|front}} wheel and added the crank to that, like a very large two wheeled {{w|Tricycle|tricycle}}. In {{w|1869}} {{w|Thomas McCall (inventor)|Thomas McCall}} made a rear-wheel drive bicycle. On top of all that, the word bicycle wasn't used until {{w|1868}}, until then all bicycles (or not bicycles) were called {{w|velocipede}}. Around this time the {{w|French people|French}} vélocipède, made of {{w|iron}} and {{w|wood}}, turned into the "{{w|penny-farthing}}" (as it was later to be known) which was made from a {{w|steel}} from and {{w|Tire|rubber tires}}. The invention of the bicycle wasn't just one invention, but many small inventions made by people all around a {{w|continent}}.
|-
| Wrench Patented || The {{w|wrench}} was patented.
|-
| 50% || 1776
| ''Not given in comic'' || On July 4th, the American colonies {{w|Lee Resolution|declared independence}} from Great Britain. This event started a {{w|American Revolutionary War|seven year war}}, in which the colonies won their indepence. This heralds the start of The United States of America.
|-
| 60% || 405 AD
| ''Not given in comic'' || The {{w|War of Radagaisus}} started. Radagaisus lead a group of about 100,000 men across the Alps into Rome. The three remaining {{w|Sibylline Books}} were burned. The Sibylline books were a series of nine prophesy books written by an old woman (it has never been found out who, but most likely a {{w|Cumaean Sibyl}}. It is said that they were offered to the last Emperor of Rome, {{w|Lucius Tarquinius Superbus}}, who refused to buy them twice, which resulted in three books getting burned for each denial. She then offered them back to the emperor for the same price and, at last, the Emperor bought them. The Roman Senate took control of the books and was extremely protective of them. The books were initially put under the care of two guardians, increasing to ten, then to fifteen. However, after eight centuries, a Roman General called {{w|Stilicho}} ordered them to be burned as they were being used to attack the government.
|-
| 70% || 22,000 Years Ago
| ''Not given in comic'' || ''Homo Sapiens'' crosses a newly-formed land bridge between present-day Russia and Alaska, entering the Americas for the first time.
|-
| rowspan="3" | 70.33% || rowspan="3" | 24,000 Years Ago
| Caves Painted, || This is around the time some cave paintings are from.
|-
| Ceramic Art Made. || This is around the time the oldest known ceramics are from.
|-
| Neanderthals Extinct. || Neanderthals went extinct.
|-
| 80% || 671,000 Years Ago
| ''Not given in comic'' || This date is likely a result of the equation not being calibrated for this specific percentage, as nothing significant is known to have happened around 671,000 years ago. However, 700,000 years ago, there was a major shift in the Earth's climate that changed the length and rarity of ice ages.
|-
| 90% || 55 Million Years Ago
| ''Not given in comic'' || The Eocene Era begins around this time.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 90.42% || rowspan="2" | 68 Million Years Ago
| First flowering plants. || The first flowering plants evolved around this time.
|-
| Chicxulub impact kills off most dinosaurs. || A large C-type asteroid, known as the Chicxulub impactor, strikes the Earth on the Yucatan Peninsula, leading to the {{w| Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction}} of the [[1211: Birds and Dinosaurs|non-avian dinosaurs]] and the death of approximately 75% of all life on Earth. The extinction was primarily caused not by the impactor itself, but by the large worldwide tsunamis and the large amount of dust, which obscured the atmosphere and caused a large amount of vegetation to die off, leading to the deaths of herbivores, which then lead to the deaths of the carnivores.
|-
| rowspan="2" | 100% || rowspan="2" | 13.76 billion years ago
| Universe begins. || The Big Bang occurred at this time (about).
|-
| First stars ignite. || The first stars were born in this era.
|}
[[940|(Also, the workout website, Fitocracy has been mentioned previously in xkcd.)]]

Note that as of the time that this page was last cached, the comic was uploaded at {{#expr:100*(((ln(({{#time:U}}-1329195600)/31536000+e^3)-3)/20.3444)^.5)}}% progress.

==Transcript==
:When I have a boring task to get through — a three-hour lecture, a giant file download, or a long term point goal in fitocracy — I use this formula to convert the percentage completed (p) into a date:

:T=(Current Date) - (e^(20.3444*p^3+3) - e^3) years

:When the task is 0% done, it gives today's date, and as I make progress, I move further and further back in time

:(inverse given in lighter colors)
:Inverse: p = sqrt((ln(T+e^3)-3)/20.3444)

:[Line Graph explaining the correlation between completion percentages and temporal deltas.]
:0% = now (Date of comic is 2012-02-14T00:00-0500, approx. 1329195600 UNIX)
:10% = September 2011
:20% = 2008
:30% = 1997
:40% = 1958
:50% = 1776
:60% = 405 AD
:70% = 22,000 years ago
:80% = 671,000 years ago
:90% = 55 million years ago
:100% = 13.8 billion years ago

:It moves slowly through the first few years, then steadily accelerates. I tuned the formula so the time spent in each part of the past is loosely proportional to how well I know it. This means I hit familiar landmarks with each bit of progress, giving me a satisfying sense of movement.

:[The following are panels detailing completion percentages, correlated time periods, and notable events from this time period.]

:7.308% December 18, 2011
:Around this time:
:Kim Jong-Il dies. US leaves Iraq.

:31.12% February 1995
:Around this time:
:Windows 95 debuts. OJ found not guilty.

:47.91% 1844
:Around this time:
:Rubber vulcanized, bicycle invented, wrench patented.

:70.33% 24,000 years ago
:Around this time:
:Caves painted, ceramic art made. Neanderthals extinct.

:90.42% 68 million years ago
:Around this time:
:First flowering plants. Chicxulub impact kills off most dinosaurs.

:100% 13.76 billion years ago
:Around this time:
:Universe begins. First stars ignite.

:Download complete.

:[Cueball watches a download progress on a laptop in amazement and happiness. Megan stands nearby and looks at Cueball with a bemused posture.]
:Cueball: Swoosh! Watching all that time blur past is such a rush!
:Megan: So...you've tried to make an extreme sport out of...''waiting''.
:Cueball: ''Swoosh!''

==Trivia==
There is a mathematical error in this comic. The inverse function in grey writing off at the bottom right of the main formula involves a square root, while the actual inverse of Randall's main function would involve a cube root. In addition, this function does not contain the current date, meaning that T, in the inverse, refers to how long ago a point in time was, rather than the point in time itself. When the T in the inverse is 20, it means that the date referenced by T is 20 years ago.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Math]]

1397: Luke

2024-09-29T22:46:21Z

141.101.98.58: Linked to disambiguation page

{{comic
| number = 1397
| date = July 21, 2014
| title = Luke
| image = luke.png
| titletext = Don't turn it on.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic takes place in a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDnoczxzQyg scene] from the third theatrically-released ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' movie, ''[[wikia:c:starwars:Return of the Jedi|Return of the Jedi]]'', wherein [[wikia:c:starwars:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] confronts his son, [[wikia:c:starwars:Luke skywalker|Luke Skywalker]], who had recently surrendered to [[wikia:c:starwars:Galactic Empire|Imperial]] soldiers. In the movie Vader notes that Luke Skywalker has constructed [[wikia:c:starwars:Luke Skywalker's lightsaber|a new lightsaber]] following the loss of his [[wikia:c:starwars:Luke skywalker#Lightsabers|original]] during their [[wikia:c:starwars:Duel on Cloud City|duel on Cloud City]] (Luke Skywalker's original lightsaber actually having been Anakin Skywalker's second). In this comic, however, Darth Vader has accidentally discovered his son's {{w|Fleshlight}} (a male {{w|sex toy}} designed to imitate one of various orifices, most commonly a vagina --- Not to be confused with a flashlight), which he apparently brought with him on the [[wikia:c:starwars:Battle of Endor#The ground assault|attack on the Forest Moon of Endor]]. From a certain angle, a Fleshlight could be mistaken for the handle of a lightsaber, without the blade extended. Like many children, Luke Skywalker is attempting to hide evidence of his sexual activity from a parent.

The title text refers to the fact that if Darth Vader turned the Fleshlight on, instead of creating a blade of pure plasma (or energy) suspended in a force containment field the device would simply vibrate, revealing it for what it really is. Of course, if it gives the characteristic hum, Vader might confuse it for being a defective lightsaber construct, causing Vader to be disappointed in his son's abilities as a Jedi.

==Transcript==
:[Darth Vader is holding what appears to be a powered-down lightsaber and talking to Luke Skywalker.]

:Darth Vader (dramatically): I see you have constructed a new lightsaber.

:Luke Skywalker: ...Yes. That is definitely what I did.

:Closing: Vader finds Luke's Fleshlight.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2861: X Value

2023-12-01T22:11:55Z

141.101.98.58:

transcript and short explanation added [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 18:47, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Is there an easter egg here? Is 4.1083 a significant constant in some field?
[[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.91|172.71.154.91]] 19:00, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
:Dunno...but when I Googled it, it came up with a picture of a motorcycle I used to own - same vintage, same colour, same non-original aftermarket panniers - which was a little strange. Anybody else return any results centred around long-since-departed vehicles?

:Or not? [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 19:31, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

:Googling for it showed me... a picture of this very xkcd. It's recursive? [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 20:46, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

:Nothing interesting on Wolfram Alpha either https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=4.1083 [[User:Ruffy314|Ruffy314]] ([[User talk:Ruffy314|talk]]) 16:26, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

:I noted a proximity of "4.108(3)" to "42" and wondered if there was a connection ("how close can I get to 'the answer' without getting hammered for plagiarism or infringement?"). The comment below suggesting a link to the November 2023 "value" (= market capitalization) of X/Twitter is brilliant, but given that the market cap figure seems to have been posted on the day this comic was released, plus the evidence from comic 899, "coincidence" is probably the best explanation.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.118|162.158.186.118]] 18:27, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

https://www.der-postillon.com/2012/08/mathemuffel-erleichtert-wert-von-x-ein.html [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.148|172.68.110.148]] 20:42, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
: This is in german, could you maybe give a translation at least? [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 20:45, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
:: Here is the English article: https://www.the-postillon.com/2017/04/value-of-x.html [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.179|172.68.110.179]] 06:36, 1 December 2023 (UTC)
:: Basically the same joke, x being set to 5 in this case. The website is a satirical online newspaper. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 06:12, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

The "narrowing down" of n might be a reference to a combinatorics problem Ron Graham was solving, managing to narrow down the dimensions of the hypercube with a certain property to be more than 6 and less than... Well, Graham's Number.
[[Special:Contributions/172.71.122.209|172.71.122.209]] 22:12, 29 November 2023 (UTC)jamieth

:Even that is accomplishment. Really, narrowing number down from infinite set to finite one is the biggest narrowing you can do. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:29, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

"In string theory the number of flux vacua is commonly thought to be roughly '''10^500''',[4] but could be 10^272,000[5] or higher." -- [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory_landscape#Compactified_Calabi%E2%80%93Yau_manifolds String theory landscape#Compactified Calabi–Yau manifolds] [[User:Abclop99|Abclop99]] ([[User talk:Abclop99|talk]]) 22:23, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

As of today, the value of Twitter (which some may call X for unknown reasons) is of 41.09 Billion USD. This might be the joke?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.16|162.158.129.16]] 22:50, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

The variable 'n' is often used in computer programs to be a counter for some activity that is repeated 'n' times. 'n' may be user input or it might be a calculated value like the number of items in a list. So the code would be something like, for the integer 'i' starting at 1 and iterating up to 'n' number of times in whatever computer language is being used. In this case, 'n' would be limited to the maximum value of the specific integer type in that computer language on that machine. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 03:34, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

A result that the math community has been waiting for for a long long time! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.103.135|172.71.103.135]] 08:16, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

What is wrong with comic 899? I can access other pages, but 899 gives error. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 16:50, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
: ...that comic works for me. By all means I can think of, but especially through either [[899: Number Line]], [[899]] or [[Number Line]] (the latter two being redirect-pages to the first, of course).
: Now ''occasionally'' (more frequently than I'd like), the server comes back with a message that it can't (currently, in that instance) give you the page, for reasons of its own. More rarely (but not unknown), Cloudflare with tell you that the whole site just isn't responding. But (wait and) try again and it usually works. (Unless you've just filled in a CAPTCHA, in submitting a page edit, in which case it's likely to tell you that the CAPTCHA is wrong/not ticked/completed it, so you get told off and have to try again.)
: If it's not such a transient problem, for you, could you let us know in what context you're trying to get there and failing?
: PS. "New comments should be added at the bottom." Answer: Because it's confusing. Question: Why ''shouldn't'' we put new things in front of old things? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.199|172.71.178.199]] 19:22, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
: Make sure that you have your Math module settings to PNG, not MathML. This creates an error in pages with Math modules as mentioned in the FAQ [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 19:45, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

: I've been having the same problem for the last 2 days: comic 899 won't load from any link or even a navigation button from an adjacent comic. I can access the talk page, but trying to get to comic 899 gives this result:
<nowiki>MediaWiki internal error.
:: I'm betting that comic 899 is the n'th comic and that broke math so the comic could not be displayed until someone from the math department at MIT stepped in and incremented n.

Original exception: [ZWloWSNSV_QR0qrq5MDPrwAAABA] 2023-12-01 05:00:09: Fatal exception of type "MWException"

Exception caught inside exception handler.

Set $wgShowExceptionDetails = true; at the bottom of LocalSettings.php to show detailed debugging information.</nowiki>
:I'm logged in with my math preference set to MathML. Ah, I just changed to PNG and the page loads fine. Thank you. (I guess it's time to review the FAQ and see what else I'm doing wrong!) [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 05:07, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

Careful research has also definitively determined that the best random number is 7. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.27.95|172.68.27.95]] 20:37, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

== Big O Notation? ==

I suspect the title text about n is a reference to big o notation where the function is only meaningful when n is large, but you might want to choose a function with "Bad Big-O performance" if you know in advance that n is below k (usually 2 or 3 or less than 10).
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/842242/big-o-when-the-value-of-n-gets-very-small, thus ruling that n > 8 would ensure that the Big-O growth would predict the most performant function. {{unsigned|Jh6p|21:51, 1 December 2023}}

2428: Mars Landing Video

2021-02-24T15:00:29Z

141.101.98.58: /* Explanation */ Tweaks

{{comic
| number = 2428
| date = February 22, 2021
| title = Mars Landing Video
| image = mars_landing_video.png
| titletext = The best part of crashing a Mars briefing is you can get in a full 11 minutes of questions before they can start to respond.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE WORST SKYCRANE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Three days before this comic was published, NASA successfully landed a new rover, {{w|Perseverance (rover)|''Perseverance''}}, on Mars, this was also the subject of the previous comic [[2427: Perseverance Microphones]].

This comic is set at the press briefing where a video of the landing (a first ever) is presented, and was published shortly before this happened in real life.

This comic plays on the fact that if there is only one of something in a set, that one thing is the most/least in that set by lack of comparison. As there is only one full speed video of a Mars landing, that makes the video the best one as well as the worst one. [[Randall]], who has often been [[:Category:Banned from conferences|banned from conferences]], has apparently also been banned from NASA's press briefings. So he decided to crash the conference (literally, see below) solely to ask the question, "is this then not also the worst video ever", flouting his ban and embarrassing NASA (a prior case of the latter is possibly why the former is currently active).

He follows up with the question if NASA is planning to make a worse Mars landing video, which is silly because people generally don't intend to make something worse. However, because this video is the worst full-speed video of a Martian landing by virtue of being the only full-speed video of a Martian landing, it is likely that if enough full-speed videos of Martian landings are made in the future, this video will not be the worst forever. Although this is merely a consequence of the fact that it is the only full-speed video of a Martian landing so far, the fact that it is technically true and the way that Randall phrases it makes it look embarrassing for NASA. Randall (the character, not the real-life person)'s tendency to make rude, embarrassing, and otherwise bad comments is probably why he has been banned from NASA's press briefings, as well as all those conferences.

Judging by the sound effects, Randall has chosen to literally crash his way through the roof, using a "skycrane" — a general term for aerial vehicles that can lower or raise objects similarly to standard cranes. Specifically one of these was used to land the Perseverance rover three days before.

This comic was published shortly before a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYQwuYZbA6o NASA press briefing] that showed, as mentioned in the comic, the first ever full-speed video of a Mars landing. On Earth one would likely use the {{w|Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane}} helicopter, while NASA used a custom-built skycrane delivery system for the ''Perseverance'' rover. Randall deems using a skycrane to crash a conference about a skycrane very ironic, especially since NASA's security was totally unprepared to stop him from using this particular method, a method NASA developed, to crash the press-briefing.

The title text refers to the 11-minute (one-way; 23 minutes round-trip) communications delay between Mars and Earth, due to the speed of light and the distance between the planets at the time of the rover's landing. Perseverance mission control must wait this long before they can even begin to respond to anything that happens to the rover, which Randall here twists into an 11-minute delay before they can begin to answer his questions allowing him to ask questions for 11 minutes before they can intervene. This would of course only make sense if he was crashing the conference at Mars, and they were waiting for his questions here on Earth.

Randall copying the use of the skycrane that was used to drop the Mars rover, is similar to how different groups express similar behaviors in parallel research, so as to have similar footing in the world, as if they are almost in nonverbal communication about the merits of their ways.

==Transcript==
:[Hairbun is standing, arms spread out, on a podium in front of a lectern. There is a "Crash" on the top right of the panel with several lines around to indicate the position, and an off panel voice coming from there. As indicated in the caption below the voice is from Randall.]
:Hairbun: We're excited to share the first ever full-speed video of a Mars landing.
:Sound: ''Crash''
:Randall (off-panel): Doesn't that mean it's also the ''worst'' ever full-speed video of a mars landing?
:Randall (off-panel):Do you expect that record to stand forever, or is NASA working on a worse one?

:[Caption below the comic]:
:NASA tried to ban me from their press briefings, but ironically their security was totally unprepared to deal with a skycrane.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Banned from conferences]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall]]

1852: Election Map

2017-06-20T06:14:00Z

141.101.98.58: /* Explanation */ Added note about integral field spectrograph

{{comic
| number = 1852
| date = June 19, 2017
| title = Election Map
| image = election_map.png
| titletext = Luckily for my interpretation, no precincts were won by the Green Party.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|I think it's okay now...?}}
A wave (e.g. an electromagnetic wave, like light) changes its frequency and wavelength when its source is moving relative to the observer, due to the {{w|Doppler effect}}. In the case of light, increased frequency — indicating movement towards the observer — is called {{w|blueshift}}, while reduced frequency — indicating movement away from the observer — is called {{w|redshift}}. These names apply even if the effect is outside of the visible spectrum (e.g. infrared light that has reduced frequency is called redshifted, even though its frequency is further away from that of visible red light than normally). Red and blue colors are used accordingly to indicate the effect.

The recent advent of the {{w|integral field spectrograph}} allowed astronomers to produce [http://iopscience.iop.org/0067-0049/199/1/1/downloadHRFigure/figure/apjs412917f14 images] illustrating how different parts of a galaxy move along our sightline, images that look not very different from the map Cueball shows. If one side of the image is redshifted while the other side is blueshifted, the usual interpretation is that the galaxy is rotating with an axis of rotation not completely parallel to our sightline, but other interpretations are also possible.

The map [[Cueball]] shows represents election results. Red regions mark where one of the parties won, while blue regions indicate some other party (as Randall lives in the United States the parties are probably {{w|Democratic party (United States)|Democratic}} (blue) and {{w|Republican party (United States)|Republican}} (red), although it's not explicitly stated in the comic). Cueball analyzes the map as if it showed magnitude of Doppler effect by the light emitted by the region. This, however, is not what the viewers expect to hear during the election night from election analysis. That's why Cueball was fired from the job rather quickly, as the caption states.

The title text states that the {{w|Green Party of the United States|Green Party}} did not win any {{w|Precinct#Elections|precincts}}. If the Green Party won, its regions would likely be colored green, which would not fit to Cueball's Doppler effect analysis. Sometimes, however, green is used to indicate lack of movement. And since the center of rotating object isn't moving, green-coloured spaces could actually be interpreted accodding to Doppler analysis - but only if they appeared near the center of the district.

The map appears to depict {{w|Georgia's 6th congressional district}}, which is set for a special election on June 20, 2017, the day after the comic ran.

==Transcript==
:[On a TV-screen Cueball is seen pointing at a map on the left which is colored in red and blue. There is a header on the map and in the top right corner of the screen the title of the program is shown. Below this at the bottom of the screen text indicate that the program is broad live. Cueball explains the map, with his text shown above the TV.]
:Header: Results
:Title: ''Election'' Night
:Live

:Cueball: These northern precincts appear red, which probably means they're moving away from us, whereas these bluer regions are approaching us. I believe the district may be rotating in space.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My career as an election analyst was short-lived.

==Trivia==
*Cueball was fired from his job a number of times before. Many are listed in [[1428: Move Fast and Break Things]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

1716: Time Travel Thesis

2016-08-05T09:12:09Z

141.101.98.58: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1716
| date = August 5, 2016
| title = Time Travel Thesis
| image = time_travel_thesis.png
| titletext = 'Hey, what are those futuristic goggles for, anyway?' 'Oh, this is just a broken Google Glass. It was 2010's night at the club.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}
[[Cueball]] has apparently been reading about {{w|time travel}} (whether in a book or online, we are not told). He tells [[Megan]] about this, and Megan excitedly remarks that she did her college thesis on time travel, meaning she did a lot of learning and knows how to not have a bad problem that will make it so she will not go to 1812 today.

Cueball starts talking to her about time travel, trying to {{w|mansplaining|mansplain}} various facets about it to her, but Megan keeps trying to say that she already knows all of this (and likely much, much more) because she wrote her thesis all about this.

Suddenly, a Megan from the future uses time travel (likely adapted from the work in her thesis) to come back and tell Megan that this conversation doesn't go anywhere and isn't important, and so present Megan can leave and not waste her time anymore. Up till then, Megan was presumably relucatant to break off a conversation on the topic of time travel, since the conversation could potentially have improved.

==Transcript==
[Cueball is facing Megan, talking to her.]
:Cueball: I've been reading about time travel.
:Megan:Cool! I did my thesis on time travel!

[Cueball is now gesturing toward Megan. An explosion of some sort is shown behind Megan, toward the bottom of the panel.]
:Cueball: Nice! So you know about closed timelike curves?
:Megan: Yup. Thesis.
:Cueball: Apparently wormholes can use exotic matter to–
:Megan: I know. Like I said–
:Explosion: BZZZZT!

[Cueball and Megan both look right, toward the direction of the explosion. An alternate Megan, wearing a headset and a machine strapped to her back, faces them from the right.]
:Alternate Megan: You can skip this conversation. It doesn't turn out to be important.
:Megan: Oh, thank God.

[In the fourth panel, both Megans are absent. Cueball continues to stare at their former location. He does not speak.]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1710: Walking Into Things

2016-07-22T15:47:50Z

141.101.98.58:

'TFI a UFE? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.245|108.162.237.245]] 04:58, 22 July 2016 (UTC)
:I was wondering about this as well and googled it before i noticed that it's just the letters L and I that are not properly spaced. So UFE translates to "LIFE"... --- 11:33, 22 July 2016 (UTC)
::Leam to kem (learn to kern) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.58|141.101.98.58]] 15:45, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Frame 1: Cueball mentions three groups. I think he implies the study only has 3 groups. Is the control group "looking at the sky"? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.109|199.27.133.109]] 05:37, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

:There is no control group in the first panel. It's a controlled (or monitored) trial, with three different outcomes. The control group mentioned by Megan is all mankind except Cueball.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 07:33, 22 July 2016 (UTC)
::I read that as sometimes Cueball doesn't do any of the three things while walking, and yet still walks into things. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.58|141.101.98.58]] 15:47, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1710: Walking Into Things

2016-07-22T15:45:45Z

141.101.98.58:

Talk:1690: Time-Tracking Software

2016-06-06T11:48:34Z

141.101.98.58:

I don't know how to interpret the "This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it." on the List of sexually active popes wiki page.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.224|141.101.104.224]] 10:19, 6 June 2016 (UTC)
:They're asking you to become a pope, and be sexually active. Then you can get arrested, and do a helicopter prison escape to start the 'List of helicopter prison escapes involving sexually active popes.'
:It's because we can't know for sure if every single pope is secretly sexually active or if it's just limited to the ones caught red-handed. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.5|141.101.98.5]] 11:35, 6 June 2016 (UTC)

Those ''estimated'' percentages have a strangely high degree of precision, I'd think limiting them to whole number percentages would do. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.58|141.101.98.58]] 11:48, 6 June 2016 (UTC)