explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2673: Cursed mRNA Cocktail

2022-09-17T01:25:05Z

141.101.99.154: /* Explanation */ Oxford comma works badly with other commas in sentence.

{{comic
| number = 2673
| date = September 16, 2022
| title = Cursed mRNA Cocktail
| image = cursed_mrna_cocktail_2x.png
| imagesize = 331x513px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Serve one each to guests whose last cursed cocktail was more than 2 months ago.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a VACCINE DRINKER. Do NOT drink the mRNA Cocktail. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Approximately two dozenth in [[:Category:Comics featuring cursed items|the "cursed" series]], this comic describes a process to approximate the molecular composition of certain {{w|mRNA}}-based vaccines in drinkable form. It contains the variety and relative concentrations of the simple molecular constituents found within the injectable mixture. i.e. mostly water, some sugar, lipids (and an amino acid "or" biological and genetic material.)

Like much of what we eat or drink, the stomach and intestines will neutralise much of the complexity of either the vaccines or this ersatz replica of them, reducing them to simpler proteins of some slight nutritional value. For the vaccine to work, it has been designed to be injected into the body e.g. {{w|intramuscular}}ly to bypass the hostile environment of the human digestive system. While there are similar vaccines administered as a nasal spray, the fragility of mRNA in the human digestive system has curtailed the search for ingestible analogs. [[Randall]]'s replacement mixture '''might provoke generally unwise physiological reactions.''' While very few people would find such a mixture palatable, it is likely nontoxic,{{cn}} and contains moisture, proteins and calories, all important if elementary nutritional components. Because it doesn't contain a complete spectrum of essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, you can't live on it alone.

The title text suggests the mixture can be served as a "booster" to a prior dose or serving after an initial treatment. There is much study of vaccine efficacy relative to the timing of subsequent doses. Too little time between makes the new dose not necessarily cause the immune system to react in the way that it should; however most pairs of distinct vaccines work well if delivered on the same day.{{Actual citation needed}} The comic recommends not redosing within two months of the last attempt.

The instruction to serve in {{w|shot glasses}} is a play on the actual vaccines being given as a {{w|Injection (medicine)|shot}} (U.K.: {{wiktionary|jab#Noun|jab}}; Scotland: {{wiktionary|jag#Noun|jag}}).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Ever wondered what it would be like to drink the new COVID booster?
:This recipe approximately recreates the taste and nutritional profile!
:''(Note: does not protect against COVID.)''

:[The following two testimonies are displayed in spiky bubbles.]
:"...What? Eww." -CDC spokesperson
:"Please stop." -Dr. Anthony Fauci

:Ingredients
:2 cups water
:3 tbsp mayonnaise
:¼ tsp MSG or nutritional yeast
:1 tbsp sugar

:Directions
:Pour 1 cup of water into a blender. Add the mayonnaise and MSG. Blend until smooth.
:Pour the other cup of water into a glass. Add the sugar and 1 tsp of the mixture from the blender. Stir well.
:Serve in shot glasses.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring cursed items]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:681: Gravity Wells

2022-09-07T12:27:01Z

141.101.99.154:

Why is Earth's well's depth listed as 5478km but as 6379km in the inset?
Compare with Mars which has 1286 in both places.
[[Special:Contributions/87.174.225.131|87.174.225.131]] 07:21, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:Best guess is either a goof, or that the lower number is just for Earth itself, while the greater number is for the Earth/Moon system as a whole. Proportionally speaking, we have the largest moon in the solar system, so maybe it wouldn't nicely fit in the Earth well as easily as Mars's and Jupiter's moons do.--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 08:28, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

: It ''may'' be the height needed to go from one gravity well to another. You don't have to get all the way up to escape speed for that.

: Randall wasn't kidding about the Sun being "very very far down"; its well is 100 times deeper than Jupiter's!
:[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 19:47, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

:: OTOH, from the table above i'm thinking that the 5.4 might be the Venus figure, and it was wrongly placed besides Earth...
:: Secondly, what i found interesting was that the Earth's 6.4 looks so much like its radius! I wonder if it's merely a coincidence, or there's a connection between the two... -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 21:25, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::The table is great, it must be included in the article; layout and time is just my problem right now. PRO TIP: Do not care about the x-axis.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:18, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
: The fact that the density of the Earth is 5478 kilograms per cubic kilometer makes me pretty sure it is a typo. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 03:04, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
:: Hehe, you might be right. That's the best explanation. It would be a strange coincidence otherwise. But your units are wrong: a cubic kilometer of water, ice-cream or Natalie Portmans would be already something like a billion kilograms. Or a trillion, if you are American. Oh, you might be American. In this case: happy 4th of July! -[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.35|188.114.102.35]] 12:39, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
:::Thanks for catching that (and for the July 4 wishes). It should be kilograms per cubic meter. Looking into that, though, leaves me less sure that is the origin of the problem. I thought I had multiple sources for Earth having a density of 5478 kg/m3, but can find only [//atharvatutorials.com/doc/physics_paper.docx one] (and not a very compelling one at that). I have sounder sources for [//www.universetoday.com/26771/density-of-the-earth/ 5513 kg/m3]. [//nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html 5514 kg/m3], [//www.wolframalpha.com 5515 kg/m3], [//www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Venus_Express/Venus_compared_to_Earth 5520 kg/m3] and [//principles.ou.edu/earth_planet/ 5540 kg/m3]. It may be trivial in that all round to 5500 kg/m3.
::It was corrected on the poster version. Earth's well in the main graphic is marked as 6379km, just like the inset.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.86|108.162.216.86]] 00:19, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

:::I solved for the wells on Earth, Moon and Mars using the equation Randall gave and masses and equatorial radii from NASA, getting 6371 km, 287 km and 1286 km, respectively. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 23:07, 5 July 2014 (UTC)
The Oberth Effect mentioned in the title text is [//www.askamathematician.com/2013/01/q-how-does-the-oberth-effect-work-and-where-does-the-extra-energy-come-from-why-is-it-better-for-a-rocket-to-fire-at-the-lowest-point-in-its-orbit/ well-explained here] (assuming you are not intimidated by the algebra in squaring a binomial). The gist of it is that using a bit of fuel in a rocket thrust will increase the rocket’s kinetic energy . The higher the kinetic energy at the time of the thrust, the greater the increase in kinetic energy. It works because the energy of the fuel goes into increasing the kinetic energy of the ship and the kinetic energy of the spent fuel. The faster you go, the greater the portion of the energy the ship gets.
:The image at the top is out of date and should be fixed as well as the earth's comment about how it's different--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.107|172.70.178.107]] 10:52, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
::I, for one, don t understand at all what you think is out-of-date/different. There's a new planet, or some rescaling of gravity? If serious, do elaborate. (If not serious, elaborate to add to the humour.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.154|141.101.99.154]] 12:27, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

The “gravity assist” is also known as the slingshot effect. The [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist#Explanation Wikipedia explanation] is good, especially with its diagram. In it a spaceship (or other body) accelerates toward a planet (or moon, star, etc.) in the same direction that body was going. The ship picks up a little of the body’s momentum and so goes faster, although only according to an external reference frame. An observer at rest with respect to that other body would actually see the ship approach and depart with the same speed.

The title text reference to orbital speed is unclear to me. I suppose it just means that the given gravity wells assume you are at rest on the surface of the planet. Then being in orbit (and necessarily having an orbital speed) would mean you are part way out of the well already. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 02:57, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

If the first stage of a rocket is still supplying lift for a while after its fuel is used up and the stage is cut adrift, would there be any saving in waiting for the next phase to cut in when forward motion is almost ended rather than continuing the burn immediately from the second stage?

The higher the vehicle gets the more productive the fuel becomes.Or is it preferable to continue the journey as fast as possible? {{unsigned|Weatherlawyer}}

My first instinct would be to say burn as continuously as possible. If you wait until your speed is almost zero, you have to use a whole load of energy (fuel) to get back to the speed you were going in the first place. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:12, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

:Hence the need to use ultra light containers in the first stage?{{unsigned|Weatherlawyer}}

Maybe the typo is based on Randall's days at NASA? It might already incorporate gravity assists and the Oberth effect. That number might even be what NASA was using as the minimum potential with known cost-effective techniques. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 21:22, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

== Earth's Geosynchronous Orbital Altitude ==

In the XKCD strip, the artist states above Earth in the lower right popout that the geosynchronous altitude is well below top of Earth's gravity well. While the rest of his strip is a wonderful representation of the science behind gravity wells, this one bit is not accurate. A geosynchronous altitude for Earth is nearly 36,000 km, not under 6000 km. Kudos for the rest of the strip, though.
: The strip scales the heights of the corresponding wells based on the assumption of constant Earth surface gravity; in other words, it takes the same amount of energy to climb such a well as it does to escape the real gravity well. By contrast, as one ascends from the Earth's surface, gravity decreases, so it requires less energy to climb to an orbital altitude than it does to reach the same height in the hypothetical well. The amount of energy required to put a geostationary satellite in orbit, for example, is equivalent to that used in raising it 5413 km in Earth surface gravity, and thus it is located 5413 km from the bottom of the well. [[User:Arcorann|Arcorann]] ([[User talk:Arcorann|talk]]) 03:42, 8 February 2019 (UTC)
I have a question relating to this topic. I've learnt how to calculate well depth, but how did Randall Munroe calculate the position of things inside the gravity well (moons of planets, for example, or Saturn's rings)?
: I'm also confused by this. Anyone have the answer? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.78|162.158.78.78]] 17:50, 5 May 2020 (UTC)

== How much of the gravity well can be overcome by launching from a high mountain? ==

If we constructed a spaceport on a mountaintop that was, say, 14,505 ft (Mt. Whitney, CA), or even 20,310 ft (Denali, Alaska), or slightly less after clearing a flat surface, would it significantly reduce the amount of the gravity well a rocket had to climb, and hence the amount of fuel needed to reach LEO? Would thinner air reduce drag and increase efficiency significantly as well?
This would be tough to build and maintain, but would it be worth delivering spaceships to mountaintops by truck to reduce the need for fuel to escape Earth's Gravity well?
:I am not an expert, but to my knowledge, the effect of latitude on gravity is much stronger than those of a mountain. Especially one as far north as Denali. That is why Nasa uses Florida and Texas, Russia uses {{w|Baikonur_Cosmodrome}} in Southern Kazakhstan , Europe uses {{w|Guiana_Space_Centre}} in south america (French Guiana, so technically Europe...). --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:52, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

:FWIW in the early stages of planning the Space Shuttle, the Air Force was looking at launching from the top of the Rockies, maybe in Colorado or such. The reason being exactly the savings in propellant and consequent gain in payload. I was made to believe the savings was quite significant.

:What killed it was the issue of what happens when one malfunctions or crashes on launch. You've got Space Shuttle & parts raining down on the Denver metro area; not good.

:Source: My dad worked on the project for the Air Force back in the 70s or thereabouts. [[User:Flug|Flug]] ([[User talk:Flug|talk]]) 21:52, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

1168: tar

2022-09-04T15:42:41Z

141.101.99.154: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1168
| date = February 1, 2013
| title = tar
| image = tar.png
| titletext = I don't know what's worse--the fact that after 15 years of using tar I still can't keep the flags straight, or that after 15 years of technological advancement I'm still mucking with tar flags that were 15 years old when I started.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Tar (computing)|tar}} ("tape archive") is a {{w|Unix|Unix}} application that creates (and extracts) archives in the ".tar" format. It is typically used through the text-based terminal, using cryptic single-letter arguments such as "<code>tar -cvf archive.tar *</code>". The comic alludes to the fact that despite years of use of the command, it's still hard to remember the arguments without searching for them, such as with Google.

The joke here is that a "tar" command with perfect syntax on the first try without outside help is such a daunting task that even [[Rob]] can't overcome it with confidence, and apologizes for not being able to prevent their imminent death.

The fact that [[Megan]] and [[White Hat]] assume that Rob can disarm the {{w|nuclear bomb}} because he uses Unix can be referring to an over-generalization fallacy that a partaker in a practice is an expert of a practice. Not all people who use Unix necessarily know how to use tar commands. Then again, since he's the only person nearby who knows ''any'' Unix and thus their only hope, their fallacy may be justified.

The title text points out that while much of computing changes very quickly, the tar program, which is very old (originating ca. 1975), is still around and heavily used. And yet, [[Randall]] complains he still cannot type out a line of tar command with correct flags without having to look the flags up. Tar is a very common command that Unix users will come across regularly, much like Windows users will come across .zip files. Depending on the flavor of Unix, the order of the flags, or the exclusion of the hyphen could render the command incorrect. Most true Unixes (AIX, HPUX, Solaris) not using the GNU utilities would give an error on the above tar example. For such a simple command, it is one that most people need to look up references to use.

There is probably also a pun on "{{w|tarbomb}}," a poorly created tar archive that, when extracted, dumps a load of files into the current directory that the user has to clean up. And although the bomb looks more like {{w|Fat Man}}, the type of bomb that was used over {{w|Nagasaki}}, at least size-wise, it may also be a pun on the name of the largest ever {{w|hydrogen bomb}} which was called the {{w|Tsar Bomba}} (translation: "emperor bomb").

In [[208: Regular Expressions]] [[Cueball]] saves the day by knowing {{w|regular expression}}s, although in the title text it is alluded to how easy these may also miss a character.

Rob may refer to {{w|Rob Pike}}, who was a member of the team at AT&T who created Unix.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and White Hat stand next to a nuclear bomb. The bomb has a hatch open on top, and a small blinking screen. The two people are shouting off-screen.]
:Megan: Rob! You use Unix!
:White Hat: Come quick!

:[Megan, White Hat, and Rob look at the screen on the bomb. Rob peers closely. The screen is on the bomb, but is shown at the top of the panel in black with white letters, except "tar" and the last underscore which is in gray and "ten" which is black but written in a white box. The text reads:]

<div style="background-color:black; padding:5px; width:fit-content; margin-left: 2em">
To disarm the bomb, simply enter a valid ''tar'' command on your first try. No Googling. You have <code>ten</code> seconds. ~# _
</div>

:[They all stand in the same position, but without the text displayed. Beat panel.]

:[Still in the same position but White Hat becomes impatient.]
:White Hat: ...Rob?
:Rob: I'm so sorry.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]

1168: tar

2022-09-04T15:41:45Z

141.101.99.154:

{{comic
| number = 1168
| date = February 1, 2013
| title = tar
| image = tar.png
| titletext = I don't know what's worse--the fact that after 15 years of using tar I still can't keep the flags straight, or that after 15 years of technological advancement I'm still mucking with tar flags that were 15 years old when I started.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Tar (computing)|tar}} ("tape archive") is a {{w|Unix|Unix}} application that creates (and extracts) archives in the ".tar" format. It is typically used through the text-based terminal, using cryptic single-letter arguments such as "<code>tar -cvf archive.tar *</code>". The comic alludes to the fact that despite years of use of the command, it's still hard to remember the arguments without searching for them, such as with Google.

The joke here is that a "tar" command with perfect syntax on the first try without outside help is such a daunting task that even [[Rob]] can't overcome it with confidence, and apologizes for not being able to prevent their imminent death.

The fact that [[Megan]] and [[White Hat]] assume that Rob can disarm the {{w|nuclear bomb}} because he uses Unix can be referring to an over-generalization fallacy that a partaker in a practice is an expert of a practice. Not all people who use Unix necessarily know how to use tar commands. Then again, since he's the only person nearby who knows ''any'' Unix and thus their only hope, their fallacy may be justified.

The title text points out that while much of computing changes very quickly, the tar program, which is very old (originating ca. 1975), is still around and heavily used. And yet, [[Randall]] complains he still cannot type out a line of tar command with correct flags without having to look the flags up. Tar is a very common command that Unix users will come across regularly, much like Windows users will come across .zip files. Depending on the flavor of Unix, the order of the flags, or the lack or inclusion of a '-' could render the command incorrect. Most true Unixes (AIX, HPUX, Solaris) not using the GNU utilities would give an error on the above tar example. For such a simple command, it is one that most people need to look up references to use.

There is probably also a pun on "{{w|tarbomb}}," a poorly created tar archive that, when extracted, dumps a load of files into the current directory that the user has to clean up. And although the bomb looks more like {{w|Fat Man}}, the type of bomb that was used over {{w|Nagasaki}}, at least size-wise, it may also be a pun on the name of the largest ever {{w|hydrogen bomb}} which was called the {{w|Tsar Bomba}} (translation: "emperor bomb").

In [[208: Regular Expressions]] [[Cueball]] saves the day by knowing {{w|regular expression}}s, although in the title text it is alluded to how easy these may also miss a character.

Rob may refer to {{w|Rob Pike}}, who was a member of the team at AT&T who created Unix.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and White Hat stand next to a nuclear bomb. The bomb has a hatch open on top, and a small blinking screen. The two people are shouting off-screen.]
:Megan: Rob! You use Unix!
:White Hat: Come quick!

:[Megan, White Hat, and Rob look at the screen on the bomb. Rob peers closely. The screen is on the bomb, but is shown at the top of the panel in black with white letters, except "tar" and the last underscore which is in gray and "ten" which is black but written in a white box. The text reads:]

<div style="background-color:black; padding:5px; width:fit-content; margin-left: 2em">
To disarm the bomb, simply enter a valid ''tar'' command on your first try. No Googling. You have <code>ten</code> seconds. ~# _
</div>

:[They all stand in the same position, but without the text displayed. Beat panel.]

:[Still in the same position but White Hat becomes impatient.]
:White Hat: ...Rob?
:Rob: I'm so sorry.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]

1350: Lorenz

2022-09-02T10:44:54Z

141.101.99.154: /* Functionality and bugs */ She is established as a girl. (She *looks* like a girl, which might not be so definitive but is certainly a reason to not be certain of the alternate hypothesis.)

__NOTOC__
{{comic
| number = 1350
| date = April 1, 2014
| title = Lorenz
| image = lorenz - alternative options.png
| titletext = Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story
}}
<div class="toclimit-3">{{TOC}}</div>
*'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.'''
**To actually experience the interactive content you need to go to this comic on xkcd (click on the date above the comic, which, as always, takes you to the xkcd comic)
**For a collection of images that appear in this comic, see [[1350: Lorenz/Images]].
***These will also be described below under [[#Themes|themes]].
**Also note that the order of the options are random.
***By adding that there is a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/3d/lorenz.png fifth option]
****''Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays.''
***Where only four can be shown - this means there are 5*4*3*2 = '''120 different permutations''' of the way the options can be arranged only in this first image.
**So the above image will only appear with these four options in this order in less than 1% of the cases!
***Of course when you choose an option it is immaterial what the order of the other options was.

==Explanation==
This was the fifth [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] released by [[Randall]]. The previous April fools' comic was
[[1193: Externalities]] from Monday April 1st 2013. The next was [[1506: xkcloud]] released on Wednesday April 1st 2015. This comic was posted a day earlier than normal (on Tuesday instead of Wednesday) to honor {{w|April Fools' Day}} of 2014.

This is an interactive and dynamic comic similar to the {{w|Choose Your Own Adventure series}}, where players flip to different pages based on the option they chose. The first picture shown on top of this page is the start of this comic, with a possible combination of text options to choose from (see above). The picture is always the same but the order of the four sentences (and the sentences themselves) is chosen randomly (and there can be more than four). The result of all the interactions by the readers led to the generation of {{w|Crowdsourcing|crowd-sourced content}}.

The title 'Lorenz' is referring to {{w|Edward Norton Lorenz}} who, among other subjects, was famous for {{w|Chaos theory}} and the {{w|Butterfly effect}} (mentioned later in the title text of [[1519: Venus]]). This comic is an example of a {{w|Choose Your Own Adventure}} story, as mentioned in the title text.

The title text is also a reference to how the storyline of this comic will be chaotic by nature, since it includes all of the user submitted dialogue and updates over time based on statistics of user clicks. In this manner, it is a reference to the butterfly effect: a phrase coined by Edward Lorenz to describe how a small initial change can lead to wide variations in outcome in a chaotic system.

Every time a story comes to a point where the user can either choose something or contribute when asked to ''Suggest a line'', a link will appear by hovering the mouse over the bottom right corner of the last image. This is named a ''{{w|permalink}}'', as it is a link that will recreate this particular story up to the point, making it permanent. It will not save the options listed below that image (i.e. the order of these will change, new options may appear, either because more than four are already present or new options will be added and some options may even disappear). An option is thus only saved by choosing it and then saving the next permalink — see [[#Permalink|more below]].

The best way to enjoy this comic is to {{xkcd|1350|try it yourself!}} If you didn't do that already, '''reading any below''' will spoil you from truly enjoying the comic, and maybe make some interesting discoveries yourself! So here is a '''spoiler alert''' if you read on. If you do, then see also the section below about [[#Functionality and bugs|Functionality and bugs]].

Any particular storyline will typically only have one or two of the many [[#Themes|themes]] possible in the comic, but some very long stories may have several: see the [[#Record length|Record section]] below. Several of the themes refer to previous comics or generally recurring themes in xkcd. (Most obviously is the [[#Blowtorch|blowtorch theme]] which is a reference to the previous comic [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]], where the last comment is ''I'll find a blowtorch'' as a response to Cueball's frustration over his problems.)

Because it is not always ending as "well" as with a burnt PC, they might instead end up in a shark infested ocean — see the [[#Ocean|Ocean theme]], which is a reference to [[349: Success]]: a comic that came exactly 1000 comics before the other one referenced in the same computer problem theme. In that comic, the sharks had not appeared yet; but here there may be several (and sharks are also a [[:Category:Sharks|recurring topic]] in xkcd).

These issues with computers is generally a reference to the [[#Computer problems|computer problem themes]] that precedes both the burning of the laptop and the ocean storylines, as [[Knit Cap]] tries to install [[:Category:BSD|BSD]]; and when it fails, she takes her friend [[Hairy]] with her in the fall, the water, space or into a Pokémon fight (as they are the two main character of this comic). Also [[Cueball]] (as a politician vs. another politician with hair) and [[White Hat]] have small appearances, but only in a small sections of particular storyline. Only few others interact directly with the main characters in the rest of the possible stories.

Other themes that are recurring in xkcd are [[:Category:Politics|Politics]], [[:Category:Pokémon|Pokémon]], [[:Category:Boomerangs|Boomerangs]] and [[:Category:Dinosaurs|Dinosaurs]]. Dinosaurs enter the comic in the form of the green talking T-rex from {{w|Dinosaur Comics}}: a clip-art-based webcomic that uses the same artwork with different captions for every strip. This particular [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2420 ''Dinosaur Comics''] has a title text that actually refer to [[Randall]] and xkcd, and the comic has previously appeared on xkcd in [[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]].

A way to combine more than one storyline is to let characters wake up from a dream or a nightmare, as can be see in the [[#Dreams|Dreams theme]] (and dreams are also a [[:Category:Dreams|recurring topic]]). Here, it can even get recursive, so there can be dreams within dreams. One of the way to wake from a dream is, of course, by encountering a dinosaur that tries to step on your house (with you inside). Another is in reference to the possible rocket trip that may take the characters into space: see the [[#Space|Space theme]] (another [[:Category:Space|recurring topic]]).

There are a few other topics that are covered by Randall himself, but many others will be referenced in the text in the comic. However, since most of the options the users have is in itself created by user input (including naming the characters different names), any reference made by the text is not considered part of Randall's work and thus only sporadically be mentioned below under the [[#Themes|themes section]] and not be included as a category. Here is an example with a [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:d8856ae6-bafb-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd permalink] where the last comment, in the ocean with a shark, references {{w|Malaysia Airlines Flight 370}} that disappeared less than a month before this comic was released [and has yet to be found years later]. But this is a user input, not Randall's.

Some of the idea of this comic was used again in the next year's April Fools' comic [[1506: xkcloud]], where user input also generated a very complex comic and the concept of permalink was used again.

This comic was the first time that [[Knit Cap|Knit Cap]] has a main part to play. Since this comic, she has been given a category as a supporting character in xkcd, but in most other comics knit cap is seen as a man.{{Actual citation needed}} The name {{w|knit cap}} for their hat has also [[Knit_Cap#Other_names_for_knit_caps|been debated]].

==Transcript==
:[This transcript only transcribes what can be seen in the picture shown at the top of the explanation here.]

:[The comic starts with two panels. In the top panel we see Knit Cap sitting at a desk in front of her laptop typing. There is a speech line up to a gray but empty speech bubble.]
:[The second panel below has the same gray background as the empty speech bubble above. Here is presented four options to what Knit Cap could be saying. They are marked a, b, c and d written in small white rectangles next to the text. There is a small arrow at the top pointing to the first panel:]

:a Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook.
:b These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game.
:c Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...
:d Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on.

:[Once the reader chooses one of the options, the text will appear in the speech bubble where the gray area is replaced with the usual white background. The lower gray panel disappears. Now the comic really begins.]
:[A new panel is shown after the selection, again with one to four options to choose from in the new gray panel below. This will continue until it comes to an end where the reader finally only has the choice to suggest the next line.]

:[The order of the up to four options are random, and changes every time you begin again (or even go back to a previous frame). This means that the a–d in the transcript is not the same next time. In some few panels there are even more than four options. To see the fifth you have to reload, then you may find this fifth option next time. The first panel is one of those with five options.]
:[The fifth not shown above is: '''Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays.''' (see image with this option in the [[#Trivia|trivia section]]).]

:[In the first days of the comic, when it developed quickly, new options appeared only to later disappear. '''Gravity. Lots of it.''' is one of those lost options from the first panel. At one time there was also, by mistake, two versions of one of the other five mentioned above. This was later deleted. Below in the [[#Trivia|trivia section]] there are permalinks to all the different starting options, including the now lost gravity story.]

:[Although it may be impossible to finish (?), there has been an attempt to make a complete '''[[1350: Lorenz/Transcript|interactive transcript]]'''.]

==Functionality and bugs==
The reader is initially presented with only one panel, where [[Knit Cap|Knit Cap Girl]] is sitting in front of her computer. The reader is given multiple choices concerning what exactly Knit Cap is thinking. Upon choosing any option, the chosen text will appear where her gray speech bubble was (which will disappear), and then a second panel appears to the right to give continuity to the story. Each new panel may have a new set of options, or just the button "Continue", to see the next panel without making any choice in particular. Eventually, one reaches a dead end in which the story is interrupted, and the reader is presented with a text box to suggest how it should continue. Some of the suggestions given should eventually become available as new options.

===Number of options===
Normally, there are a total of 4 options to make: a/b/c/d. Their order changes constantly. Sometimes, there are 3 or fewer options, with the text box to suggest an alternative option. Sometimes, a given panel actually has 5 or more available options, although even in this case only 4 options appear at a time. Refreshing the comic changes randomly which of the available options are visible and which are hidden. As of late April 2014, the existence of 5 options seems to occur only in a few rare cases, including the first panel itself. There seem to be no longer any panels that have six options.

===Easy navigation===
Instead of clicking with the mouse, you can move more quickly through the panels using the keyboard:
*Up/Down — navigate options
*Enter/Right/Spacebar — choose option after navigating with Up/Down
*Left — go back one panel
*a/b/c/d — choose any option directly

===New panels===
It appeared that new panels were generated by Randall in near real time, as user suggestions to dialog were submitted around the release of the comic.

This text can (now) be found under the [http://xkcd.com/1350/info.0.json official transcript] at xkcd:
This April Fools' Day comic has a dynamic panel structure along the lines of a choose-your-own-adventure format - the viewer is presented with up to 4 options for each bit of dialogue, with each choice opening up a new subtree of potential options for the next bit of dialog, and new panel images are chosen semi-randomly based on a graph of potential panel transitions. Readers were also invited to submit dialog options for trees where there were not yet 4 fixed options, thus growing the potential story space. As such there is no fixed transcript for this comic.

The dialog options could be based on click-through rates, and hence will change over time based on which choices are clicked most using {{w|A/B testing|A/B measurement techniques}}. This will mean that the most popular choices for dialog lines will prevail as the statistics build up. In some cases, dialog line options do not depend on the continuity of the storyline followed, suggesting that some parts of the story are planned. For example, several of the story lines involve one of the two main characters waking up and, for instance, telling the other character, "I had the strangest dream..." or even reliving the dream. This may be due to common submissions across story lines. Of course, there is the other option that Randall has used the first week of April to look though some input and choose himself. These possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Some of the options that were there very early were in quite poor English. Later, the same idea was still there, but in a more refined sentence. However, after the first week or two, no new panels seemed to appear, which suggests that some were drawn to match the story's progression.

===Permalink===
A "{{w|permalink}}" is a portmanteau of "permanent-link". Each panel has a "permalink" button which generates a unique URL for all the choices made by the reader — so a reader can save the chosen choices to compare them to other ways going through the selections. The permalinks do only save the chosen options, not the order or the visible options in the image where the permalink is recorded, so it is not possible to save a copy where the options are only in the same order as they are in the 1/120 version shown at the top. Also, if you go back in the story from a permalink, you can risk that when passing back through a panel with five options, the option you just got back from is no longer available; as it is the option randomly not shown this time.

===Suggest a line===
Sometimes it is possible to add your own suggestions in a panel where there are still other choices, but, if not before, the story will always reach a "final" panel (dead-end) where the reader only has the option left to "suggest a line..." By doing so, and pressing enter, this text is then shown in the speech bubble — but these suggestions can't be saved, as there are no permalink buttons after this. The reader has to do a screenshot in order to save their own remark. After a few weeks had progressed, there were probably so few new suggestions that Randall stopped changing the comic. A few images have been found months (or even more than a year) after the release, but there has been little to no reason to believe that Randall continued to make new panels after the first few weeks of April. Maybe he returned occasionally to do one once in a while; but, for certain, the options and text continue to evolve.

===Bugs===
Since this interactive comic relies on many servers in the background to provide the response to the reader's actions, there are some problems reported here:
*{{w|HTTP cookie|Cookies}} and {{w|Javascript}} are required to see this page properly. Without cookies, the next panel will not render; attempting to load the page in the UNIXKCD terminal or loading the page without Javascript will just get you the [[1349|previous comic]].
*In the first week after the comic was released, if a response led to a panel where two characters speak at the same time, it was impossible to proceed past the first speech bubble. This was subsequently fixed.
As a consequence of these bugs, many readers had trouble understanding how this interactive comic worked.

==Themes==
{{Notice|Preferably there should be [[#Permalink|permalinks]] that shows all the possible images below, but sadly this can not the case, as many images are no longer accessible by "playing" the comic game. Only if someone saved a permalink in the beginning of the comics "life" will it be possible to see examples of all images in a story line. If you do have some of these old permalinks saved, please fill in for any missing images here below. There are also notices in the relevant sections which have not all been streamlined, so they are built up in the same way and with as many permalinks as are available at the moment.}}
*The 17 themes below have been split up after what type of images appear in the comic.
**As of April 2016 there are 149 different images, which are all described here below.
**To see all images, go to [[1350: Lorenz/Images]].
*Below, several images have been used in more than one theme, and there will thus be more than 149 images displayed in the tables below.
**To avoid this section becoming extremely long, all the tables under each section has been collapsed, and can be opened by clicking the link [show].
*Permalinks have been provided (where possible) to storylines that includes all the images shown in a given section.
**As the story may continue to evolve, there may eventually be added more images, although there is reason to believe that this will no longer happen.
**If any are discovered, please include them in the table below with a permalink.
*In general, only little mention will be of the user contributed text.
**But if a story seems to revolve around the choices, this may be mentioned.
**Try only to make reference to anything that can be backed up with a permalink.

===The beginning===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! The beginning [[Image:lorenz - computer.png]]
|
*This is the opening image shown at the top of the explanation.
*Knit Cap sits at her laptop saying something either to himself or (maybe) to Hairy.
*You choose what he says from four options written below the panel: and thus starts this interactive and dynamic comic.
**Originally, on April 1st, there where only four choices; this quickly increased to six, but eventually ended up on five options.
**You always only have four options to choose from when you begin.
**By reloading the page you will eventually get the fifth also.
*There are only three different images that can follow this first image (see below):
|-
! Possible follow up images [[Image:lorenz_-_laptop_1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - visit.png]] [[Image:lorenz - debate laptop.png]]
|
*These images are the only three that can follow after the first image:
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b96fda0-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Knit Caps with question marks].
**[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd Hairy walks in].
**[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd Live debate].
|}

===Computer problems===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Computer problems [[Image:lorenz - laptop 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]
|
*Knit Cap's laptop has an unspecified problem.
*Hairy walks in and they attempt to fix it by connecting his laptop with his.
*It doesn't work, so now Knit Cap tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a paper (a manual?) he holds in her hand.
**See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example] with all the images shown in this section, including the blow torch option mentioned below).
*There are two outcomes possible:
**When Knit Cap's manual fails, the story continues with the blowtorch scene: see [[#Blowtorch|below]].
**Knit Cap's manual fails so badly that they both end up randomly floating in the ocean (with or without circling sharks — reference to [[349: Success]]): see [[#Ocean|below]].
|}

===Blowtorch===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Manual failing [[image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]
|
*Knit Cap tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a note (manual?) he has in his hand while Hairy watches.
*In this storyline, it doesn't work and Knit Cap takes revenge on her laptop:
**This image is the last in the [[#Computer problems|computer problem theme]] above and can also lead to the [[#Ocean|Ocean scene]] below.
|-
! Blowtorch [[Image:lorenz - laptop 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 11.png]]
|
*Knit Cap becomes so upset with her laptop that she decides to melt it using a blowtorch
**A reference to the comic from the day before this one: [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]].
*After this, they walk out of the building.
**See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example] with all images shown here, the one also used above for the [[#Computer problems|Computer problems]].
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:bd44a816-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], where the burning first takes place after a dream after a rocket launch.
|}

===Ocean===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Wrong move [[image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]
|
*Knit Cap tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a note (manual?) she has in his hand while Hairy watches.
*In this storyline, it goes really wrong and the Ocean scene appears right after this:
**This image is the last in the [[#Computer problems|computer problem theme]] above and can also lead to the [[#Blowtorch|Blowtorch scene]] above.
*Usually they get to this point directly from the starting point, but the story can also return here after a dream.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:3df213b4-ba4f-11e3-8037-002590d77bdd example].
|-
! Sharks [[image:lorenz - shark zero.png]] [[image:lorenz - shark one.png]] [[image:lorenz - sharks.png]] [[image:lorenz - squids.png]] [[image:lorenz - blood.png]]
|
*Knit Cap and Hairy are floating in the ocean, with or without sharks.
**A reference to [[349: Success]].
*{{w|Sharks}} have also been the subject of [[:Category:Sharks|several other comics]].
**Three giant squids appear and a lone shark seems disturbed.
**The squids must have killed the sharks, leaving the blood in the last of these images. [https://theoakdalepost.com/feature/animal-kingdom-smackdown-giant-squid-v-great-white-shark]
*Here are three examples than together uses all the images shown in this section
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b96fda0-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Zero and one shark]
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b6e3082-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Three sharks]
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:310127b6-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd Squids and blood].
|-
! Beach [[image:lorenz - hairy swims away.png]] [[image:lorenz - beach.png]]
|
*Knit Cap and Hairy start to swim out of the shark free ocean.
*Finally reaches a beach — see [[349: Success]] again.
**Here is an [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:30f53d98-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example] where they reach the beach and walk on.
|}

===Political debate===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Let's go live [[image:lorenz - debate laptop.png]]
|
*Knit Cap uses her laptop to watch a debate online.
**The images that follows are what he sees on his screen.
*Usually they get to this point directly from the starting point, but the story can also return here after a dream.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:31c6e414-bab0-11e3-8029-002590d77bdd example], where they even leave the laptop afterwards.
|-
! The debate [[image:lorenz - debate 1.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 2.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 5.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 4.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 3.png]]
|
*An online debate between two politicians; one has hair and is on the left, and the other ([[Cueball]]) is on the right. This debate is shown on Knit Cap's laptop screen.
**The subject and the actual conversation of which varies according to the storyline, but it always begins with the hairy politician speaking and then Cueball replying.
**This may be the end of the conversation, but sometimes there is a picture where both politician speaks in the same image
**There may even be two (or more?) images in a row where both politician speak in the same image
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:f6b4b374-bd25-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd example].
*Eventually one of two things can happen:
**They fight each other: Cueball using a {{w|lightsaber}} (or something that looks like a {{w|Magic sword|holy sword}}) and the hairy politician using his bare fists
***A reference to {{w|Star Wars}} which has been [[:Category:Star Wars|referenced often]] in xkcd.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba7794b6-bafb-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
**The hairy politician is goes down on one knee — either to pray or as in a suggestion to ask the other to marry him...
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
**All images used in this section are shown in the above examples.
*Subjects debated are the most likely user suggestions, and so any references made are not from Randall (even though they would have been used in xkcd before).
**Here below are some of the subject already up on April the 1st:
**The hairy politician accuses Cueball of having never liked {{w|Firefly}} see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:bf86fba8-baed-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example]).
**The hairy politician vows to end the "war on Christmas" if elected (see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example]).
**The hairy politician praises his adversary and supports his economic plan (see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba7794b6-bafb-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example]).
**The hairy politician questions Cueball's project of tying multiple birds to a car as fuel replacement, which would require some method to make the birds take off in unison.
***This is possibly a reference to {{w|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}, where two swallows tied together to a coconut with a string try to lift it, but unlikely.
***The solutions mentioned for this topic are given here as an example:
***Opening and closing an umbrella near them (a reference to {{w|Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade}}). (see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:df6d1952-bc0f-11e3-8037-002590d77bdd this example]).
***Using a predatory bird to the car to scare them (see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ef2c870e-baea-11e3-8002-002590d77bdd this example]).
***Putting resources in the hands of bird educators for the purpose of training them (see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:bfaccbe4-ba98-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd this example]).
***Employing {{w|Alan_Seabaugh#Fiscal_Hawk|fiscal hawks}}. (see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:4996daf6-baf4-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].)
**If the hairy politician points out some problem with the reasoning, often the solution proposed by Cueball would be doing the same in a larger scale or saying he completely agrees with everything the other says. (see some of the above examples).
|-
! After the debate [[image:lorenz - visit.png]] [[image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]
|
*In the end, either:
**Hairy walks in to Knit Cap and points out something happening near which may or may not involve birds (or whatever was the subject).
***This could be a direct result of Cueball's project. But all this is most likely based on user input!
***See [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:4996daf6-baf4-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].
**Knit Cap wakes up, as it turns out it was just a bad dream (see [[#Dreams|Dreams]] below).
***See [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].
*Both of these last two images have also been used in other storylines.
|}

===Dinosaur===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Dinosaur Comics [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 3.png]]
|
*The green T-rex from {{w|Dinosaur Comics}}, (a clip-art-based webcomic that uses the same artwork with different captions for every strip), interrupts the story and proceeds to talk about his tiny arms or other subjects.
**The first three pictures are taken directly from the webcomic, except that the third picture is larger in the real comic
***See this particular [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2420 ''Dinosaur Comics''] where the title text actually refer to Randall and xkcd.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:4e66ab6e-bae1-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example] with only these three T-rex images.
**The entire ''Dinosaur Comics'' was parodied in [[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]], where Randall copied the drawings himself, and T-Rex has appeared in [[1452: Jurassic World]], where it was the last image from the actual comic that was used, as opposed to the three first here.
|-
! Stepping on the house [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*In the end, the dinosaur stamps on the house where the main characters are inside; Knit Cap covering and Hairy escaping.
**This is thus Randall's own picture but with the foot, seemingly taken from the T-rex, scaled up to fit the size.
**Usually the dinosaur story gets to this point before the characters [[#Leaving the building|leaves the building]].
***But when they do so, in other storylines, it is a completely different building they walk out of
***The explanation for this (apart from that it looks like this in ''Dinosaur Comics'') is that whenever the story gets this far one of the characters will wake up from a dream. See more under the [[#Dreams|dream theme]].
**When the building gets stepped on either Hairy or Knit Cap wakes up:
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:f2b12f1e-bbae-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example] where Hairy wakes up.
***Here are two examples where when Knit Cap wakes up, the dinosaur dream is the second dream from which she awakens:
****After the [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd hole dream]
****After the [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 rocket dream].
****The characters has thus left the other building first, but then again both buildings turned out to be part of a dream.
|}

===Leaving the building===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Leaving [[Image:lorenz - going.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 11.png]]
|
*In some storylines the two characters leaves the building.
**Either with the laptop intact:
***Either directly after the first image
***Or after the [[#Political debate|politic debate]].
**Or with a melted laptop (see the [[# Blowtorch|Blowtorch theme]]).
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:bd44a816-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example] where they leave the house twice, once first with the laptop intact and secondly after burning it.
*In either case they encounter one of the following scenarios when they come out the door:
|-
! Empty lawn [[Image:lorenz - away.png]]
|
*Sometimes nothing is outside the building except the pavement they walk upon; there is just an empty lawn.
**See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b69f6096-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd this example] where the laptop is burned.
*From this point they will continue walking past different landscapes: see the [[#Walking|Walking theme]].
|-
! Rocket on the lawn [[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]]
|
*Sometimes there is a rocket on the lawn outside the building: see the [[#Rocket launch|rocket launch]] theme.
**See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example] with the computer intact and no political debate.
|-
! Huge hole on the lawn [[image:lorenz - hole.png]]
|
*Sometimes there is a huge hole in the ground just outside of the building.
**The two characters always end up falling into it and one of them awakes from a nightmare: see more below about [[#Dreams|dreams]].
**See [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example] with the computer intact and no political debate.
**See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd this example] with the computer intact after political debate.
|}

===Walking===
{{Notice |Does anyone have [[#Permalink|permalinks]] for the image where Hairy is walking alone in silhouette, and maybe a situation where he walks alone without the ''meanwhile'' image first (maybe because of arguing, see below)? Please help by posting them in the table below:}}
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Starting the walk [[Image:lorenz - away.png]] [[Image:lorenz_-_pikachu_dead_5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - beach.png]] [[Image:lorenz - run.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 2.png]] l[[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]]
|
*A walk can begin in more than one way.
**The most direct way to start the walk is when the two characters are [[#Leaving the building|leaving the building]], and finding nothing out on the lawn.
**A walk can also start when they leave the Pikachu from the [[#Pokémon|Pokémon theme]].
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd example], where the first ''walking together'' image appears after the house and a new walk begins after Pikachu with both the ''passing'' images.
**A walk can also start when they leave the beach after the [[#Ocean|ocean theme]].
***See [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:30f53d98-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this] and this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:310127b6-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example], where a ''walking together'' and a ''passing'' image appear respectively after they come out of the ocean.
**In the examples above Knit Cap and Hairy are in principle always walking together.
***But such a walk can start directly with a zoom-in on one of the characters thinking.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd example], where leaving the house is replaced with Knit Cap thinking and then finding Pikachu.
***As it turns out, he was still with Hairy and they continue the walk together after, but if the story stops before the last Pikachu picture, it would not be clear that Hairy was still there.
**But one of them sometimes ends up walking alone even though they started walking together.
***This happens after they have an [[#Arguing|argument]]. '''Example of this is missing!'''
**Walks can also start from different starting point where only one of them are walking.
***After Knit Cap runs away from hitting something with the [[#Boomerang|boomerang]] or is hit herself by the boomerang.
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b94d8be4-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd example] where he runs away.
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example] where he hits himself.
***After the ''meanwhile'' image (where Hairy's walk alone can begin).
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example].
*So the walking images from below can also appear or reappear in other ways — taking longer however — into a complicated story, as with the Pokémon example above with two walks: one earlier, one later.
*There are also two images which zoom in on one of the characters thinking.
**This mainly happens for Knit Cap when they are together (?).
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:55a9e1ae-baa3-11e3-8017-002590d77bdd example].
***But this can also happen when he is alone, as seen in this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b9575048-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd example].
**This only seems to happen for Hairy when he walks alone (?).
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example].
|-
!Passing something [[Image:lorenz - tree.png]] [[Image:lorenz - gap.png]]
|
*Knit Cap and Hairy walks together past the following items:
*A tree where the two are walking past, and only Hairy speaks.
**See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:a012d55a-bf3c-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example] where they get past.
*A gap/pit in the ground which Knit Cap jumps over — much like in a pit from Mario brothers — while Hairy looks down speaking.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:97c42da2-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example].
**Also see this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd example], that has both images at the end.
|-
!Walking together [[Image:lorenz - walking.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walking 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dark.png]] [[Image:lorenz - thinking.png]]
|
*The two characters are seen walking together from different perspectives.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:52e63998-bb3b-11e3-8002-002590d77bdd example], with all three walking together.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd example], with the image that has Hairy in front.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd example], with Hairy behind.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:30f53d98-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example], with the silhouette image.
*At one point, while they are walking together, a zoom-in of Knit Cap's head shows he is thinking
**See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd example].
**As it turns out, he was still with Hairy and they continue the walk together after, but if the story stops before the last Pikachu picture it would not be clear that Hairy was still there.
***See also this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:55a9e1ae-baa3-11e3-8017-002590d77bdd example], where he thinks twice on the same walk.
***See also this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:bf610654-bb43-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd example], where he thinks two images in a row.
***This image can also appear while Knit Cap walks alone: see below.
|-
!Alone - Knit Cap [[Image:lorenz - walk 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - bird gift.png]] [[Image:lorenz - bird money.png]] [[Image:lorenz - thinking.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 8.png]]
|
*Knit Cap walks alone.
**He is seen walking alone in many different poses and perspectives.
***There also an image with a zoom-in of his head showing he is thinking.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b9575048-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd example], where he is walking alone with the "thinking" image coming at the very end.
***This image has mainly been used while he is walking with Hairy, see above.
***In this example, seven of the images from this section are used; only the last normal walking image above the ones that contain birds and the two with birds are missing.
**At some point a bird passes over him carrying a parcel. It then returns, now with a money note in its beak.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:d09d6e40-bbd3-11e3-802e-002590d77bdd example].
****The remaining three images are shown here.
****The birds could be a reference to Amazon's plans for using drones to deliver packages. (Something referred to later, for instance in [[1523: Microdrones]].)
****In that example, the text is most likely a reference to {{w|Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}, where it is discussed if two swallows could carry a coconut to explain their presence in England.
***In most other cases, only one of the bird pictures are shown like in these examples:
****The picture of the bird with a parcel can be seen in this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b94af780-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd example] and this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:79bfc3d8-baa3-11e3-8017-002590d77bdd example] at the end.
****The picture of the bird with money can be seen in this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b94d8be4-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd example] and this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:7b3383ae-baa2-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd example] at the end.
****In this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:50d05aa2-baa1-11e3-800d-002590d77bdd example], the story continues after the bird with the parcel.
****In this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:7448daea-ba97-11e3-8007-002590d77bdd example], the bird with the parcel comes twice.
****In this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:4e6dc4d8-bb01-11e3-8003-002590d77bdd example], the bird with the parcel is shown twice in a row.
****In this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:7fc6e57a-baeb-11e3-8002-002590d77bdd example], the bird with money is shown twice in a row.
**The image where he is standing without saying anything may only be seen in the [[#Boomerang|boomerang theme]] (?). That image will thus (so far at least) not be shown here.
|-
!Alone - Hairy [[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - thinking 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 6.png]]
|
*Hairy is seen walking alone.
**He is seen walking alone in two poses.
**At one point a zoom in of his head shows he is thinking — this does not have to be while alone!
**In one story line the ''meanwhile'' image appears before this walk.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example], with the first four images from this section.
***It seems that this image only appears before Hairy's alone walk (?).
**There are '''still-missing examples''' of him walking alone without this image first.
***An [https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:0cec96b0-bb15-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example] with the silhouette images of Hairy alone.
|}

===Arguing===
{{Notice |Does anyone have [[#Permalink|permalinks]] with a story line where either of the two are walking alone after the argument where one of them leaves, as this supposedly occurred to begin with. Please help by posting them in the table below:}}
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
!Arguing [[Image:lorenz - discuss.png]] [[Image:lorenz - knit cap leaves.png]] [[Image:lorenz - hairy leaves.png]]
|
*Knit Cap and Hairy begins an argument.
**The fight can either commence during a walk:
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:2a2d5f80-badd-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example] with only the start of the fight.
**Or after they come out of the rocket when it failed to launch:
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:b8c820a2-bb61-11e3-800e-002590d77bdd example] with only the start of the fight.
*Then one of them leaves the other by walking back the way they came.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:b65f48a8-bbc1-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd example], where Knit Cap is walking away.
**See this [https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:588c9fd6-bbdb-11e3-8033-002590d77bdd example], where Hairy is walking away.
*After this either of them can continue the walk alone.
**Examples are missing for both walking along — i.e. a storyline that actually shows that at least one of them continue to walk alone afterwards.
|-
!Leading to the argument [[Image:lorenz - tree.png]] [[Image:lorenz - gap.png]] [[Image:lorenz - thinking.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 6.png]]
|
*The following examples show where these images lead to the first argument image.
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:bf610654-bb43-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Tree].
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:4b2b6f7e-ba92-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd Jumping over pit].
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:75c1569a-bae7-11e3-8002-002590d77bdd Thinking].
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:b8c820a2-bb61-11e3-800e-002590d77bdd Failed rocket launch].
***'''There are likely more''' from the walking range of images.
|}

===Pokémon===
{{Notice|Why are one of the Pokéballs square, and why do three of the moves done by the Pikachu knock the '''Pikachu''' out?}}
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |

! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! A wild Pikachu appeared [[Image:lorenz - pikachu appeared.png]]
|
*Some of the storylines involve Pokémon battles featuring {{w|Pikachu}}; a very popular {{w|Pokémon}}.
**Pokémon have often been [[:Category:Pokémon|featured in xkcd]].
*The battles are drawn in the style of the video games.
**A trainer in the bottom-left corner faces the foe in the top-right corner, with a narration box below the scene and the trainer's {{w|Pokéballs}} visible.
***Some elements are missing here, such as the level, gender and HP bar.
*In this first image, Pikachu the wild pokémon appears. The fight then begins.
|-
! As part of the walk [[Image:lorenz - walking.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dark.png]] [[Image:lorenz - tree.png]] [[Image:lorenz - thinking.png]]
|
*The Pokémon storyline always begins during a walk where the two characters are together.
**It can definitely happen after those images, so typically shortly after they [[#Leaving the building|leave the building]].
***It can occur after a [[#Dreams|dream]]:
****See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:97c42da2-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example] that begins with a hole dream and then reaching the Pikachu after the thinking image.
***The thinking image can occur without them being together, but mainly it has been used as part of their walks together, and this will always be the case in the Pokémon story as they both are there if the moves are effective.
****See more detail in the [[#Walking|Walking section]].
***They can meet more than one Pikachu, but the story then returns to one of these images before it happens again:
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example] that begins after walking past a "three" first and then later where Knit Cap thinks before the next attack.
***Other images are listed here:
****See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd example], which has the silhouette image.
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:0f6483ac-baee-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], which has the walking together image with Hairy in front.
|-
! Pikachu's moves [[Image:lorenz - pikachu abandonment.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu anguish.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu ant.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu ethylene.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu extrude.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu faceless.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu friendship.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu granite.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu graph.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu ink cloud.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu radicality.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu theft.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu uplift.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu blank.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu not very effective.png]]
|
*Pikachu uses a number of different moves, although these are mostly made up.
**It is written as "Enemy Pikachu used "''move''", with the possible ''moves'' listed here below.
**Pikachu's moves are almost invariably remarked by the narrator as "It's not very effective...",
***This is included as the last image in this section, as it comes in between all these non-effective moves.
***It can lead on, as seen below.
**But "It's super effective!" appears occasionally.
***This will always lead on from "It's not very effective...", as can be seen at the bottom.
**In Pokémon, a move is:
***"Not very effective" when the opponent's type resists the attacking move's type
***"Super effective" when the opponent's type is weak to the attacking move's type.

*'''Pikachu's moves'''
**See below for examples.
***The examples below are marked with "¤", "$", "£" etc., and the moves are similarly marked to indicate in which examples they appear.
****Those that can be ''not very effective'' in a way that takes the characters past Pikachu are written in ''italics'' below.
****Those that can be '''super effective''' are written in '''bold''' below.
*****A move that sometimes can result in a move past Pikachu will, in another storyline, not give the same result.
*****None of the moves have yet been shown to be able to get past Pikachu in both possible ways though!
*****For instance the examples marked with "¤" and "&" below both use ''graph theory'', and only in the first example is it super effective. But in the other it is not the last move.
*Here are the moves in alphabetical order:
**{{w|Abandonment (emotional)|Abandonment}} ^~@ — Pikachu disappears completely.
**{{w|Anguish}} ¤%~ — Pikachu is sad.
**''{{w|Ant Colony}}'' ~ — Pikachu is covered in ants.
**''{{w|1,2-Dichloroethane|Ethylene Dichloride}}'' ¤= — Pikachu holds a glass with Ethylene Dichloride
***Nothing seems to happen, although Ethylene Dichloride is a toxic chemical, so there may be future consequences for the characters. The next panel does say "was it diluted?" however.
**''{{w|Extrude}}'' + — Pikachu's head moves away from his body as his neck becomes long and malleable.
**'''[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/faceless Faceless]''' $@ — Pikachu's face disappears.
**{{w|Friendship}} £= — Pikachu is on Knit Cap's head, signifying they are now friends.
***Friendship, though not a move, is a game mechanic in the video games.
**{{w|Granite}} % — Pikachu is atop a block of granite.
**'''{{w|Graph Theory}}''' ¤& — The theory can be seen behind Pikachu
**{{w|Ink|Ink Cloud}} %+@ — Pikachu is covered in ink.
***In the storyline Pikachu uses it, there is the option to "gather" the ink.
**'''[http://da.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=radicality Radicality]''' £ — Pikachu is on a skateboard.
**''{{w|Theft}}'' &@ — Pikachu wears Knit Cap's hat.
***Pikachu seems to be using "Thief", a similarly-named actual move from the games, that is used to steal the foe's item and use it as their own.
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/uplift Uplift] §@ — Pikachu's head goes upward, separated from its body, with a long, thick cable still connecting the head and the body.
*Finally there is a blank text box for '''user input''' ¤£%@&~+
**The below items are using the blank text box picture with that text coming from users input to appear in the blank picture at the bottom of this section:
***Google Maps did not warn me of this @
***In Google Maps it was easy to capture Pokemons @
****The two above are referencing the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMD6xELI_k Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge].
***Where's Twitch when I need help? @
****A reference to {{w|Twitch Plays Pokémon}} which was also covered by comic [[1333: First Date]].
***Cute face @ (Written out correctly as ''Enemy Pikachu used "cute face"'').
***Cuteness % (Written out correctly as ''Enemy Pikachu used cuteness'').
***Yet %
***Go charizard! £
***Pikachu, find a Hamiltonian cycle in this graph! &
***Player wonders why Pikachu is working day labour at the home depot these days? ~
***Player used twitch crowdsource ~
***Enemy Pikachu used "the discrete metric" +
***I'm carrying so many Pokémon!! ¤
***Was is diluted? ¤
****(i.e. was the Ethylene Dichloride diluted?)

*Here are some '''examples of battle''' that together includes all the moves images.
**The examples below are marked with "¤", "$", "£", etc.
***Above the moves are similarly marked to indicate in which examples they appear.
**These moves are '''not very effective''':
:::@ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:d5bba698-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 9 different moves] — including four user inputs and ending on '''theft''' (28 panels, '''record length''' although not passing all the way by Pikachu).
:::= [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 2 different moves] — ending both on '''Ethylene Dichloride''' and later on '''Friendship''' (26 panels, '''moving past''' Pikachu and then '''returning for another fight'''; ending with the empty image for the user to fill in).
:::+ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:47fe85d0-bbbd-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 3 different moves] — including a user input and ending on '''extrude''' (20 panels, '''moving past''' Pikachu).
:::§ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:97c42da2-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 1 move only] — ending on '''uplift''', and then followed by an empty image for the user to fill in (21 panels, not getting to the end, but only one here coming to Pikachu '''through a dream''').
:::~ [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:0f6483ac-baee-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 5 different moves] — including two user inputs and ending on '''ant colony''' (19 panels, not passing all the way by Pikachu).
:::% [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:f203d1c6-ba22-11e3-801a-002590d77bdd 5 different moves] — including two user inputs and ending on '''granite''', and then followed by an empty image for the user to fill in (17 panels, not getting to the end).
:::^ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:2f0612e0-bbd7-11e3-8030-002590d77bdd 1 move only] — ending on '''abandonment''', and then followed by an empty image for the user to fill in (9 panels, not getting to the end).
:::& [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:b8fe0a3c-bb52-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 3 different moves] — including a user input and ending on '''theft''' (15 panels, not passing all the way by Pikachu, and ineffective despite graph theory being included before the end, which is effective in another example see below).
:*These moves are '''super effective''':
:::¤ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 5 different moves] — including two user inputs and ending on '''graph theory''' (24 panels, but no new text after poking the Pokémon).
:::£ [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd 3 different moves] — including a user input and ending on '''radicality''' (22 panels, with '''one line of text after poking''' the Pokémon).
:::$ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd 1 move only] — ending on '''faceless''' (17 panels, but no new text after poking the Pokémon).
|-
! Not very effective [[Image:lorenz - pikachu not very effective.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu um.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu end 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu end 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 5.png]]
|
*Normally after a few failed attempts — where the result is given as ''It's not very effective'' — there is an uncomfortable silence as the Pikachu says "Um..."
**Then it talks to Knit Cap and Hairy from the tall grass.
**They ignore the remark and walk away past the Pókemon. The Pikachu is left in the tall grass looking after them and has time to make a final remark which they also seem to ignore.
**After that they come out of the tall grass (without an image where they walk in the tall grass without Pikachu as seen below in the very effective version).
*See these examples that are not very effective:
**In these they do not even get all the way out of the grass:
***[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd Theft], on the ninth move!
***[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:0f6483ac-baee-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd Ant colony], on the fifth move.
***[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:b8fe0a3c-bb52-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd Theft], on the third move.
**In these they do get all the way out of the grass:
***[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:47fe85d0-bbbd-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd Extrude], on the third move.
***[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd Ethylene Dichloride], on the first move! But first after burning the laptop. After this move they walk away only to meet another (or the same) wild Pikachu for another unfinished fight.
****In this particular example on the way past it says:
****"I used to be better at chemistry".
****"Wait. I can install you BSD".
*****This last line could have been different:
*****"Come back! I don't like it here in the tall grass!", see this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:33d9e268-baa3-11e3-8017-002590d77bdd example].
*****"Wait, you can't flee from a trainer battle!", see this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:372bbc40-ba97-11e3-8006-002590d77bdd example].
*****"No really guys, I can still remember most of it", see this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6a2b3ca0-baa7-11e3-801e-002590d77bdd example].
****In another line out it says: "This is still better than all the lightning crap."
*****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:62d0439e-baaf-11e3-801f-002590d77bdd example], where there are no follow-up lines.
****There are several endings to this particular storyline, and in another storyline they do not meet the second Pikachu but lines are still spoken.
*****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:93aeb59c-bce2-11e3-801e-002590d77bdd example].
*Below are some other transcript of lines from user input and their references:
**Other remarks from Pikachu or about Pikachu can be seen in these examples from the same storyline:
***Pikachu: "Aren't you going to catch me? It's not difficult, I promise... Please?" Knit Cap and Hairy ignore him and go away and may get the following responses.
****"Please! Jigglypuff keeps on drawing on my face!"
*****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:e8dc6866-bbd4-11e3-8030-002590d77bdd example].
****"You were walking in tall grass! You asked for it!"
*****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:e90d70be-bbd4-11e3-8030-002590d77bdd example].
****"Please... Tame me! I want to party on days other than Thursday".
*****Hairy remarks while waking away: "Y'know, if we catch a Pikachu, we would never to pay our electric bills again". (Note the missing "have".)
*****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:93b5fbea-bce2-11e3-801e-002590d77bdd example].
*Pokémon mentioned other than Pikachu in user input:
**Charizard (In one storyline, "Go Charizard" is one usable move in battle).
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd example].
**Jigglypuff.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:e8dc6866-bbd4-11e3-8030-002590d77bdd example].
**Magikarp.
***See this [https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:99703da4-bae7-11e3-8002-002590d77bdd example].
|-
! Super effective [[Image:lorenz - pikachu not very effective.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu super effective.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu fainted.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 5.png]]
|
*Rarely, a suggested move knocks Pikachu out.
**This is stated as ''It's super effective''
***This always comes immediately the one with ''It's not very effective'' (which doesn't make sense).
**The result is that Pikachu faints.
***Knit Cap and Hairy looks at the fainted (not dead) Pikachu who is lying face-down in the grass.
***Knit Cap then ''pokes'' the pókemon and they walk past it.
***Then they continue through and out from the tall grass
*See these examples that are super effective:
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd Graph theory], on the fifth move.
**[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd Radicality], on the third move; with one line of text after poking the Pokémon.
***Hairy looking down the pit: "Now what?"
**[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd Faceless], on the first move!
|}

===Rocket launch===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
!Rocket on the lawn [[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]]
|
*When they [[#Leaving the building|leave the building]], they may find a rocket on the lawn.
|-
!Into the rocket [[Image:lorenz - rocket 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 4.png]]
|
*The characters climb into the rocket.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:f0ff797c-badd-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
**Note that Hairy can be seen climbing up the ladder in the second image, and the door is slammed shut in the third (indicated with small lines).
|-
!Out of the rocket [[Image:lorenz - rocket 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 6.png]]
|
*In some storylines, the rocket does not launch.
**Either it fails or they don't wish to go into space that day.
**So the two characters climb out again.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:4b2b6f7e-ba92-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example], where they walk on and then have an argument.
***Note that after the door has been slammed shut, there is an image without the lines indicating the door is now shut (before they climb out again).
|-
!Rocket launch [[Image:lorenz - rocket 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*If they do not climb out again, the rocket will launch towards space right after the door has slammed (without waiting for the image with the closed door).
**Sometimes an image from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} (KSP) will appear (see [[#Kerbal Space Program|KSP theme]]) instead of the black image.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example], where the launch wakes up Knit Cap from a (second) dream. (See the [[#Dreams|dream theme]]).
***See alto this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:c9cfde56-bae6-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], where the launch wakes up Hairy.
**If the characters don't wake up here, the rocket will go into space (see [[#Space|space theme]]).
***Before reaching space, a dark image will turn up.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 example], where the space trip turns out to be a dream.
****Here another KSP image is also used to end the dream.
***The black picture is also used in the dream sequence with the hole just before they wake up.
****This never seems to happen from the launch sequence.
|}

===Space===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
!Successful launch [[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]
|
*When the [[#Rocket launch|rocket launch]] is successful, the rocket will go into space and a black image will turn up as evidence of this .
**See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 example].
**The black picture is also used in the dream sequence with the hole.
|-
!Flying over Earth [[Image:lorenz - rocket 10.png]]
|
*After entering space, the rocket is always shown in an orbit over Earth.
|-
!In space [[Image:lorenz - rocket 13.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 14.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 19.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 20.png]]
|
*From Earth, the rocket flies into deep space.
**These images will appear and reappear (sometimes several times) intermixed with those below.
***Exceptions are with those of The Little Prince and those after the attacking spaceship which will always end the space journey.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:cccdb9ea-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], which contains all the images from this section, the two from above, and most of those from below (several of them at the same time). The first image is only used once right after Earth's orbit.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:6322a5a2-ba97-11e3-8007-002590d77bdd example], where the first image is not included.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd example], where the first image is used twice, but not to begin with.
|-
!Asteroids [[Image:lorenz - rocket 24.png]]
|
*Passing the {{W|Asteroid belt}}.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:cccdb9ea-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], where the image is used twice in a row.
|-
!Saturn [[Image:lorenz - rocket 12.png]]
|
*Passing {{W|Saturn}}, which has majestic rings.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:cccdb9ea-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], where the image is used eight times.
|-
!Spaceship [[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 18.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*The rocket encounters another spaceship, which asks a question about relativity.
**It is the same question that appeared in [[265: Choices: Part 2]].
*If the question is answered satisfactory, the two rockets will just fly past each other.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ccd0b334-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], where the ship passes the spaceship twice.
*If the answer to the spaceship is not acceptable, it will turn around after passing and shoot down the rocket.
**The next image will be from the {{w|Kerbal Space Program}} (KSP) simulator, see the [[#Kerbal Space Program|KSP theme]].
***But in this case, it is an image where the rockets are turned off. (In the first KSP image, the rockets are turned on).
**The KSP image is followed by Hairy waking up from a dream (it seems that it can only be him): see the [[#Dreams|dream theme]].
***Most of the images above, as well as this attack, are included in this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 example]
***In this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:6322a5a2-ba97-11e3-8007-002590d77bdd example], Hairy wakes up and starts to sing.
|-
!Little Prince [[Image:lorenz - rocket 21.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 25.png]]
|
*Eventually, the rocket meets a guy on a very round asteroid.
**This is a reference to {{w|The Little Prince}}, which has been referenced before in xkcd in both [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)]] and [[618: Asteroid]].
**The story originally never seemed to move past this first image with the prince and the rocket, but finally there appeared one more without the rocket.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:25743f70-baee-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
|}

===Kerbal Space Program===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
!Kerbal space program [[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]]
|
*These pictures are from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} (KSP).
**The first shows a rocket with the engines on from [[#Rocket launch|rocket launch]].
**The second shows a rocket with the engines off after the attack in the [[#Space|space theme]].
*They both appear in a sequence leading to a [[#Dreams|dream]], see below:
|-
!Engines on [[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*The rocket launch turns out to be just a dream.
**One of the two characters wake up in their bed.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example], where Knit Cap awakens.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:c9cfde56-bae6-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], where Hairy awakens.
***It seems that this image cannot precede a journey into space.
|-
!Engines off [[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*After the other rocket shoots the original rocket, we see a KSP image with the engines off.
**See this [http://i.imgur.com/UofvQ.png image] from KSP, where the engines are off.
**After that image, it turns out it was just a dream. Only Hairy is seen to awake from this dream.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 example].
|}

===Dreams===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
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! Description of images
|-
! Walking up [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*Sometimes, Knit Cap or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just dreams.
**Some situations will always result in a character waking up.
**Other situations will, in some storylines, only lead to a character waking up.
***In those storylines, there will always be another way to continue the story.
**Below are several situations where a dream will or may occur, described (and shown with the full sequence leading up to the dream displayed).
*Often a dream loops upon itself, as a character wakes up multiple times in the same storyline.
**Either from the [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd same dream] or from [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd different dreams].
**Sometimes, [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 each character] has different dreams in the same storyline.
***This means that the last to wake up has dreamt that they were the other character waking up before.
*The dream scenarios (together with the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/80/lorenz_-_meanwhile.png ''meanwhile'' image]) would theoretically make it possible to connect all images into one long sequence.
**This has not been seen yet.
|-
! Falling [[Image:lorenz - hole.png]] [[Image:lorenz - falling.png]] [[Image:lorenz - aaa.png]] [[Image:lorenz - aaa 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*One of the most obvious dreams is the one about falling, as in this case, where both characters falls into a big hole outside the [[#Leaving the building|building they are leaving]].
**Here is an [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example] of that, where one, then the other, character wakes up from the same falling dream.
*The hole situation will always turn out to be a dream from which one (or both, as shown above) of the characters wake up from the nightmare after falling into the hole.
**They can wake up after any of the three black pictures shown here.
**The other two pictures (which were not included in the first example) can be seen in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example], where only Knit Cap wakes up.
**A situation with only Hairy waking can be seen in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:2c6df10a-bb15-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example].
*The totally black picture is also sometimes used at the end of the [[#Rocket launch|rocket launch]].
|-
! Dinosaur [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*A Dinosaur enters the comic (see more about these same images under the [[#Dinosaur|Dinosaur theme]]).
**If the comic goes on for long enough, all four images with the green dinosaur will appear.
**When reaching the fourth image, where the dinosaur steps on the building, the story will always turn out to be a nightmare from which either of the characters may wake up from.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:f2b12f1e-bbae-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example], where Hairy wakes up.
***Here are two examples in which Knit Cap wakes up, where the dinosaur dream is the second dream from which he woke up from:
****After the [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd hole dream]
****After the [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 rocket dream].
|-
! Rocket launch [[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*The [[#Rocket launch|rocket launch]] will not always turn into a dream.
**This dream is not really a nightmare, as opposed to the three above, where the characters always wake up.
**During the take-off, after the rocket ignites, there are two possible images.
***If the last image is black, the take-off succeeds.
***If the last image during take off is from KSP (with the rockets on), the story always result in one of the two characters waking up waking up during the launch.
****See [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example], where Knit Cap wakes after she has already awoken from the hole dream.
****See [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:c9cfde56-bae6-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this] and [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:4e6cbc5a-bb01-11e3-8003-002590d77bdd this] example, where Hairy wakes up from the launch.
|-
! Evil spaceship [[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 18.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*During space travel, the rocket passes another spaceship.
**If a failed communication occurs, the evil space ship turns around and shoots down the rocket.
**At this point, it turns out it was just a nightmare and one of the characters wake up. (Maybe only Hairy?)
***See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example], where that continues to a dinosaur dream from where Knit Cap wakes up.
**In the last picture before waking up, we see an image from the KSP with the rockets off.
***This situation will always turn out to be a dream.
|-
! Politic debate [[Image:lorenz - debate 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - debate 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - debate 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]
|
*In this dream (which isn't a nightmare), Knit Cap wakes up after a "political debate".
**See [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].
*It is probably impossible that Hairy wakes up from this because he is not present when the debate starts.
|}

===Waking up===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Walking up [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
|
*Sometimes, Knit Cap or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just them dreaming. (See the [[#Dreams|dream theme]].)
**After they wake, they stay in bed for a while and then go out in to the world.
*When they wake up:
**Knit Cap wakes up with her head to the left and the knit cap lying on the end of her bed.
**Hairy wakes up with his head to the right.
|-
! In bed - Girl [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 3.png]]
|
*Knit Cap wakes up with a ''Gasp''.
**He sits for a while.
***Maybe he even starts to sing; see below.
***After this, he may either lie down or leave bed.
****See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:f894ceb2-bae7-11e3-8002-002590d77bdd example], where he lies back down again and goes to sleep (and then finds a boomerang, see below).
****See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example] (where the bed is shown as empty before moving on), the first time yawning and the second singing.
**When he does get out of bed, he may either:
***Walk yawning into her office, if the bed was empty (see below).
***Go out and find a [[#Boomerang|boomerang]], if he lies down again.
|-
! In bed - Guy [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 6.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 12.png]]
|
*Hairy wakes up with a ''Gasp''.
**He sits for a while.
***Maybe he even starts to sing (see below).
***After this, he may either lie down or leave the bed empty.
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 example], where he leaves the bed empty and yawns (and then Knit Cap has another dream later).
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:f2b12f1e-bbae-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example], where he lies back down again (and goes to meet the salesman: see below).
****Notice that Randall forgot to draw Hairy's hair as he lay down again.
****Randall also forgot Hairy's hair in [[1028: Communication]] — see this [[1028: Communication#Trivia|trivia]].
**When he does get out of bed, he may either:
***Walk into Knit Cap at her laptop while yawning (if the bed was empty): see below.
***Go outside to meet [[White Hat]] the [[#Salesman|salesman]] if he lay back down again.
|-
! Singing in bed [[Image:lorenz - wake up 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 13.png]]
|
*After having sat up in bed with a gasp, either character may then begin to sing ''I woke up like this''.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example] with Knit Cap (walking twice, singing the second time), where the bed is empty before moving on (both times).
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:6322a5a2-ba97-11e3-8007-002590d77bdd example] with Hairy where the bed is empty before moving on .
*This is likely a reference to {{W|Beyoncé|Beyoncé's}} song ''{{W|Flawless (Beyoncé song)|Flawless}}''.
**See the [http://lyricsmusic.name/beyonce-knowles-lyrics/beyonca/flaweless.html lyrics here].
**The line ''I woke up like this'' is repeated eight times in the song, four time in each of the last to verses.
|-
!Yawning - Girl [[Image:lorenz - wake up 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - computer.png]]
|
*Yawning Knit Cap gets back to her laptop and we are back to the first image.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example], where both characters' yawning pictures appear after the same dream.
|-
!Yawning - Guy [[Image:lorenz - wake up 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 9.png]]
|
*Yawning Hairy walks in where Knit Cap is sitting at her laptop and tells her about his dream (?).
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:0bfb9832-baa7-11e3-801e-002590d77bdd example], where both pictures from this section appears and they continue to walk out after.
**See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example], where both characters' yawning pictures appear after the same dream.
|}

===Salesman===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Salesman [[Image:lorenz - wake up 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - sale 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - sale 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - sale 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - sale 4.png]]
|
*After walking up with a gasp from a nightmare and then lying down again, he has chosen not to go to Knit Cap.
**Which is why the "lying-down" image is included here.
*Hairy takes an alternative route where he meets [[White Hat]], a salesman with a small stand.
**White Hat tries to sell something to Hairy.
*The last picture with the graph did not appear until much later than the rest (or was at least not found).
**Here is an [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:f2b12f1e-bbae-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd example] where Hairy meets White Hat, but not reaching the graph picture.
**Here is an [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:2c6df10a-bb15-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example] that reaches the graph picture.
**Here is another [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:39dfd484-bb01-11e3-8003-002590d77bdd example] that reaches the graph picture.
***These two may be the only two pathways.
|}

===Boomerang===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
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! Description of images
|-
! Finding Boomerang [[Image:lorenz - wake up 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 2.png]]
|
*After Knit Cap wakes up from a [[#Dreams|dream]] and then lies down in bed, she may (always?) go outside to find a {{w|Boomerang}} on the ground.
**He picks it up and then expresses his feelings about it in a thought bubble.
***He may also pick it up following another image where he is just walking.
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
**The other throwing images, listed below, may come (more or less) in any order and any number of times.
***The aforementioned first two boomerang images may also reappear, therefore more than one accident can happen.
**He may comment on it again after catching it.
***He may also put it down and leave, but may then also find it or another boomerang again later.
****This is the cause for the longest storylines almost always including the boomerang.
****Since this storyline only occurs after a dream, gives some of the longest storylines, and never usually gets on to any other stories (except a short story where Hairy walks alone), this has been placed last in this list.
*Boomerangs have been [[:Category:Boomerangs|featured in xkcd before]]. See in particular these that clearly reference them:
**[[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]].
**[[475: Further Boomerang Difficulties]].
|-
! Throwing Boomerang [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 6.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 11.png]]
|
*Knit Cap throws the boomerang and it flies back to her, so she catches it.
**This can go on for a while, and he may even lay it down and walk away:
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:08896f1c-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 example].
**It may also fly back and forth above him.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:84eb4738-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 example].
*However, more often than not, he will end up with an accident:
|-
! Accidents [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 6.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang rocket 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang rocket 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang boom.png]] [[Image:lorenz - surprise.png]] [[Image:lorenz - run.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]]
|
*These accidents are:
**Either character gets hit in the face.
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example], where both are hit.
***Knit Cap get hit in the face first, when the boomerang rebounds, then puts it down (only to pick up a new one later).
****See [https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].
***Knit Cap then fails to catch the boomerang, the rebound hits Hairy in the face (off-screen), and he then enters the frame next image.
**Hitting a rocket taking off.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
**The boomerang crashes into something off-panel, someone may shout back, and Knit Cap runs away.
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:fc34f46a-ba98-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd example].
***In some cases, this last accident is followed by the ''meanwhile'' image to make the story move on with Hairy walking along (which is mentioned in more detail at the bottom of the [[#Walking|Walking section]]).
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example].
|-
! Leaving the boomerang [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - run.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 6.png]]
|
*The following images are the one where the boomerang story may stop (although some of them may lead back to the boomerang again):
**Leaving the boomerang on the ground without accident.
***But there seem to be no way he actually leaves the boomerang this way:
****Either the story stops before he completely leaves the image (with the boomerang on the ground).
****Or he finds another and picks that up instead proceeding from there.
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:08896f1c-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 example], which has both situations.
**Leaving the boomerang after hitting himself in the face.
***Maybe this is similar to the one above, as can at least be seen in the example given:
***See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
**Running away after having destroyed the rocket
***See this [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
**Running away after having hit someone off panel.
***This image seems to belong with the ''meanwhile'' image, and the storyline goes on using that route, so, for sure, he is getting away from the boomerang.
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd example].
**Hitting Hairy off panel, who then walks into the panel.
***There seems to be no story continuing from there.
***I.e., this story-line never leaves the boomerang behind, but just stops.
****See this [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd example].
|}

==Trivia==
*Here is a picture with the fifth option that could not be included in the top image
**''Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays.'':
::[[Image:lorenz.png]]
::*There used to be a sixth option: "Gravity. Lots of it." However, it no longer appears.
*In one [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:lorenz_-_wake_up_7.png panel], Hairy is drawn in bed ''without'' his hair — see the [[#Waking up|Waking up]] pictures.
*Some pictures are used often and some very rarely:
**The most common pictures are [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/vS9UO5cGsw1hoDrrNLMSRg.png "Not very effective"], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VegCGBEOFJCsFxJpbmvziQ.png Throwing], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/zHPHozjDXmCUy66bYVSRoQ.png Waiting] and [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/ZNBJOG1e-vCfzdqKFHQ21A.png Leaving the House].
**The rarest pictures that can be found via permalink are [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VgSdMz8OAHQ8w5Ee432f5Q.png The Little Prince], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/0RW46RaD8RJDfTyBOTqlpw.png The beach] and [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/OZZtCeXrnU0UskVTCUQf1Q.png An exponential chart].
***As of late July 2021, there are several pictures from the complete list that no longer seem to be available — so not only are they rare, they are extinct in the comic if no one has a permalink to a comic where they appear.
****2 pictures are listed as missing two years later, on April 1, 2016, and they can be seen under themes where notices have made it clear where they are.
****They are the one with Hairy walking alone seen in silhouette, and the one "after arguing" where Hairy is leaving.
*****The other 147 images are all accounted for.
*[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:0cd52ed0-bb15-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd This one] has (simplified) Chinese characters in it. It would roughly translate to: "These sentences have no meaning. With no meanings, there is nothing to say. How do I arrange it into a haiku format then?" It is arranged in haiku: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. In traditional Chinese characters, it would be "句子没有意。意也没有話不話。怎麼來俳句？"
*[https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:585ff20c-baf4-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd This one] also has Chinese characters in it. It would translate to "No" or "Not good"
*And [https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:fb62f406-baa2-11e3-8015-002590d77bdd this one has French].
*[https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:461b8e7a-baeb-11e3-8002-002590d77bdd This example]] has two commas in a row, which is obviously wrong.

===Record length===
====The all time longest comics by panel====
*'''Top three'''.
**Please only include '''clearly different''' storylines:
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] — Tiles, space/dinosaur double dream, boomerang, exploding rocket.
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b9575048-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd 50 panels] — Tiles, double hole dream, boomerang, and exploding rocket
*# [https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b94d8be4-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd 46 panels] — Tiles, hole dream, hole dream, boomerang, exploding rocket, bird passing.
**There may be no upper boundary!
***But then this is the list of the longest comics with most panels as found so far.
**If you beat a record, please post the '''permalink''' here: https://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:84eb4738-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29
**Please note the themes included in the comic.
**Please move beaten records down and delete the fourth.

====Longest by themes====
*Click to expand:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
Include only more than one if the story is clearly different from from the record.
#Dreams (most often multiple):
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] — Tiles; two dreams, one by each character; space; dinosaur attack.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b9575048-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd 50 panels] — Tiles; hole dream; boomerang; exploding rocket.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 41 panels] — Political debate; hole dream; boomerang.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] — Political debate; politics dream; boomerang; exploding rocket.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 36 panels] — Tiles; hole dream; blowtorch laptop; rocket take-off dream.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:67605e86-bb1c-11e3-8004-002590d77bddd 36 panels] --- Political debate; hole dream; Hairy gets hit in the face by boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:452c03fc-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 35 panels] — Tiles; the hole dream; the shovel/blowtorch and then hole agan dream; boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 28 panels] — BSD; hole dream that goes back to starting point.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 26 panels] — Tiles; two different dreams by the same character after hole and rocket.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd 22 panels] — Tiles; two different dreams by the same character after hole and dinosaur attack.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 21 panels] — Tiles; the hole dream twice, once by each character.
###More than two dreams in one storyline have yet to be seen.
#Boomerang:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] — Tiles; two dreams, one by each character; space; dinosaur attack.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b9575048-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd 50 panels] — Tiles; double hole dream; boomerang; exploding rocket
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 41 panels] — Political debate; hole dream; boomerang.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] — Political debate (in a dream); boomerang; exploding rocket.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:defe5742-bb15-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 35 panels] — Political debate (in a dream); Hairy gets smacked in the face by the boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 34 panels] — Political debate (in a dream); Knit Cap and then Hairy get smacked in the face by the boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:a1776988-ba41-11e3-8035-002590d77bdd 30 panels] — Tiles; rocket dream; boomerang hits Knit Cap in the face so he puts it down. He then picks up another one.
#Space:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] — Tiles; two dreams, one by each character; space; dinosaur attack.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ccd0b334-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 42 panels] --- Tiles; spaaaace.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:bbb2f148-bb66-11e3-800e-002590d77bdd 33 panels] --- Political debate, rocket, pass by spaceship twice.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd 30 panels] — Tiles; rocket, which leads on to The Little Prince.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:25743f70-baee-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 24 panels] — Tiles; zoom-in on The Little Prince.
#Dinosaur:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] — Tiles, two dreams one by each character, after space and dinosaur attack.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd 22 panels] — Tiles; hole dream; dinosaur dream.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:a3298c92-baa1-11e3-800e-002590d77bdd 15 panels] — Tiles; dinosaur dream; boomerang hits him in the face.
#Political debate:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 41 panels] — Political debate; hole dream; boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:defe5742-bb15-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 35 panels] — Political debate within a dream; Hairy gets smacked in the face by the boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 31 panels] — Political debate; explosive bananas. This includes the ''meanwhile'' image.
#Blowtorch:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 36 panels] — Tiles; hole dream; blowtorch; rocket take-off dream.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 26 panels] — BSD; blowtorch; moving past Pokémon twice
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:97cbd552-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 25 panels] — Tiles; hole dream; blowtorch.
#Pokémon:
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:d5bba698-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 28 panels] — Tiles; Pikachu; a very long fight with 9 moves (none of which are effective).
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 26 panels] — BSD; blowtorch; moving past the Pokémon after an ineffective move; Pikachu talks; they move on only to meet a second Pikachu/
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels] — Refreshing after no new email; long fight and an eventual 'Super Effective'; Megan pokes it.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd 22 panels] — Tiles; moving past Pokémon; a 'Super Effective'; Megan pokes it.
##[https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:7546a2c8-bcdc-11e3-801e-002590d77bdd 22 panels] — BSD; short fight; an eventual 'not very effective'; Pikachu talks; they move on
#Sharks
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:3df213b4-ba4f-11e3-8037-002590d77bdd 22 panels] — Tiles; dream, indirectly after launch; only one picture in the ocean at the end.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:30f53d98-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 13 panels] — BSD; longest going straight to the ocean sequence (four images); reaching beach and walking on (i.e. directly without dream).
#Salesman
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:129f19d8-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 15 panels] --- Political debate; dinosaur dream; Hairy meets White Hat.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:39dfd484-bb01-11e3-8003-002590d77bdd 13 panels] — Tiles; hole dream; Hairy meets White Hat; they reach the chart scene (last picture that way).
</div>
 

====Longest by starting point====
*Click to expand:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
Only the longest:
#'These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game.': [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels].
#'Oh, hey, There's some kind of political thing going on': [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 41 panels].
#'Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays': [https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aad0a152-bae6-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 29 panels].
#'Refresh ... No new email ... Refresh ... No new tweets ... Refresh ...': [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels].
#'Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook.': [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:441ba2fe-bc03-11e3-8034-002590d77bdd 13 panels] and also [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea9342a0-bc02-11e3-8034-002590d77bdd 13 panels] but two different dreams.
#'Gravity. Lots of it.': [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:a069f950-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 12 panels]. (This is no longer among the starting options, so it cannot grow [meaning that this is the longest possible now].)
</div>
 

====Most unique images====
*Click to expand:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
In the longest sequences, many images repeat several times.
*This record could be more interesting than those that use most images.
*Although it could have turned out much the same, there is a repeated panel in one of the first two sequences.
**Sadly, this is rather tedious to check out.
Here are the longest for only clearly different images:
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 48 unique images] - 77 panels.
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 35 unique images] - 36 panels (only the very first image repeated twice).
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b9575048-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd 33 unique images] - 50 panels.
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:452c03fc-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 29 unique images] - 35 panels.
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 26 unique images] - 41 panels.
</div>
 

====Most actual choices====
*Click to expand:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
In the longest sequences, many images have no choice but just a ''Continue''.
*Other images have two choices in one.
Here are only the longest for only clearly different routes:
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 13 choices] — 77 panels.
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b9575048-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd 11 choices] — 50 panels.
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 9 choices] — 36 panels and [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:88870608-bae7-11e3-8002-002590d77bdd 9 choices] - 28 panels.
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:452c03fc-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 8 choices] — 35 panels.
# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 7 choices] — 41 panels.
</div>
 

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Boomerangs]]
[[Category:BSD]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Dreams]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Sharks]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Kerbal Space Program]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Comics with blood]]

Talk:2666: Universe Price Tiers

2022-09-01T17:54:24Z

141.101.99.154:

We seem to be in Universe Standard, based on the cosmic speed limit
[[User:Victor|Victor]] ([[User talk:Victor|talk]]) 22:03, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

Is the price per user (human)? Or payed by the "god" who runs the universe?
The interpretation would change quite a bit. If per user, some could travel fast while others would not see ads and could even be immortal.
If per universe, would the concept of ads disappear?
[[User:Victor|Victor]] ([[User talk:Victor|talk]]) 22:25, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

General comment, I think each line of the table should have a separate one-line or one-paragraph explanation, rather than squishing it into one column of a table which mostly reproduces the comic text. i.e. we don't need the table in the explanation, although it works fine in the transcript imo. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.71|172.69.62.71]] 23:40, 31 August 2022 (UTC)edit: a word

"Yes, and he cheats" may be a reference to a quote from ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri''.
::I fully expected something like ''"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out 'til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along."'' (from ''Interesting Times'' by Terry Pratchett) [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 01:47, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::The SMAC quote is "Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded. - Chairman Sheng-ji Yang", from the Probability Mechanics tech. Also, the "God does not play dice" quote is stated during the Supercollider secret project movie. I doubt the comic is referencing any particular media here, though. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.5|172.69.22.5]] 02:40, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::Meanwhile, Stephen Hawking said "Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:01, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

Under ''Number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin'', '64' is 2⁵ and may be making reference to the Nintendo 64 game system. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 01:54, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::And just for the record, 4096 is 2¹². [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]])

:: Note that the philosophical question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin turns to have much more useful meaning if we realize that the question wasn't if 64 or 4096, but if it's a finite or infinite number, that is, if angels are subject to {{w|Pauli's exclusion principle}}. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 15:59, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

::: I think the answer is [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8071704/characters/nm0000531 to be found elsewhere]. And it is a different power of 2! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 17:26, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

Who is paying our subscription? How do we ensure we don't get demoted to lite?

Here, the sound of one hand clapping is pretty much "toop." Put your hand out flat fingers together, and no thumb involved, quickly make a fist. Toop. Edit I'm not making a fist. Im keeping the last joints straight and smacking my hand[[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.95|172.70.134.95]] 15:59, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
:But two hands each doing that (or slapping another bit of body) aren't "two hands clapping", but more like two hands ''clasping''/something-or-other-like-that.
:If you could bring your one hand to a sudden stop in mid-air ''as if'' hitting another hand, it might be closer, but there's no sudden stop possible like a contact-stop. Plus a full-fledged clap for maximum ovational volume involves cupped hands trapping a resonant volume of air between them, almost sealed (wet hands so positioned can be used to force a squeaky-fart sound out from between them), and neither an "air clap" or the toop-clasp can do anything so dramatic with a solo hand. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.154|141.101.99.154]] 17:54, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

1789: Phone Numbers

2022-08-16T01:08:53Z

141.101.99.154: /* Explanation */ fixed error

{{comic
| number = 1789
| date = January 23, 2017
| title = Phone Numbers
| image = phone_numbers.png
| titletext = Texting should work. Unless the message is too long, in which case it gets converted to voicemails, and I think I'm locked out of my voicemail.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Cueball]], who again represents [[Randall]] as given from the caption below the comic, has several phone numbers stored for [[White Hat]] under his contact entry on his phone and asks him which number he should generally use.

Often, people who have known each other for a long time may have old information recorded for each other, which may no longer be accurate. For instance, if they know each other from when {{w|Mobile phone|cell phones}} were still rather new, they would have had a {{w|landline telephone|home phone}} number also. More and more people have discontinued their land lines and now only keep the cell phone number.

Cueball has five numbers for White Hat, listed here as #1 to #5 as they are numbered in the comic (and not the order he mentions them):
#'''Cell phone''': The first number White Hat mentions is actually White Hat's cell phone; so usually this would be the number you should use as first priority, but not so with White Hat.
#'''Google Voice''': White hat then goes on to say he should use his {{w|Google Voice}}. It is not stated that this is #2, but since the other four are numbered, it is assumed that Cueball's second number is White Hat's Google Voice number. The reason Cueball should use this is that it will forward to White Hat's laptop, although only if his laptop is connected to WiFi.
#'''Always works''': The third number, the fourth he mentions, always works, but for some reason it cannot do SMS text messages. This could be because this is a landline (see #4).
#'''This can be deleted?''': This is the last number White Hat mentions. This number could also have been White Hat's landline which would now be discontinued (but see #3), or a previous cell number. White Hat states that it can be deleted. But then on second thought he adds an "I think" So even this number cannot be deleted from Cueball's phone. The title text most likely refers to this number, as it is the last he has mentioned in the main comic.
#'''Work number''': The fifth number, mentioned third, is White Hat's work number (maybe he has an office, or it's just an official number for his business). But this is indifferent as it just forwards all calls directly to #1, the cell phone.

White Hat does say that Cueball should use #2, the Google Voice number. This is a telephone service that provides call forwarding and voicemail services, voice and text messaging for Google customers. [https://blog.google/products/google-voice/ringing-2017-updates-our-google-voice-apps/ Google is updating Google Voice] so that is probably the reason for the comic as the update came out rather late on the day when Google made the announcement of the update.

However, he then makes it clear that this will only work when he is online with his laptop on a WiFi connection. This could be his way of saying that he only wishes to talk to Cueball when he is in such a position.

However, he also explains the other numbers more or less making it clear how he could be reached. And all in all it seems like his cell phone is still the best way to reach him.

Today on smartphones it could be possible in your contact list to save such tedious details about each number (such as "should always work but doesn't accept texts.") But who wishes to do so? Also not all cell phones do have this option, and maybe at best you can only label the numbers as "work", "home" or "cell" but not to the detail that White Hat provides.

In the caption below Randall explains that this kind of trouble with getting the correct number for people he wish to contact is one (another) of more (several?) reasons he never calls people. Today there are so many other methods of getting into contact, also even if texting is out of the questions as well. Skype, messenger, other social networking platforms like Facebook and of course the old way of sending a letter or talking in person...

White Hat's answer reveals a complicated history of communication practices. This cobbled-together personal technology is a common theme for Randall, see [[1254: Preferred Chat System]] for another example, where Voicemail, text and Google Voice is also mentioned (and mixed in with written letter if not real mail).

The title text must refer to one of the five numbers saying that texting works for one of the numbers. This should then not be #3. It could be the number he says Cueball should use #2, but it seems more likely that it is an amendment to the last I think for #4. Maybe he realizes that this is the number he used to receive text on, when his #3 number was all he had and since that could not receive text he got the number which is now #4.

In either case the number he talks about can in fact receive text - but if #4 it can probably not receive phone calls. And then it gets weird because if the text gets too long then the message goes to {{w|voicemail}}. This is of course nonsense as a text message cannot just turn in to a spoken message. (Though of course there are text-to-speech programs, but as this takes up more space than text on a server, it would make no sense).

To cap it up, just in case it did turn into a voicemail, it would not make any difference because White Hat has been locked out of his voicemail.

It is not uncommon that young people never use voicemail and expect people to text them rather than leave a message. This could be a problem for them if "old" people call to let them know of a job they have been offered etc. So it is likely that Randall also jokes about this by letting White Hat be indifferent to having been locked out of his voicemail.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat is looking at a smartphone held out by Cueball.]
:Cueball: I have five phone numbers for you. Which one should I use?
:White Hat: That first one is my cell - you should use the Google Voice one, since it will forward to my laptop if I'm on WiFi. #5 is my work number, which just forwards to #1. #3 should always work but can't do texts.
:White Hat: You can delete #4. I think.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Another reason I never call people.

{{comic discussion}}

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

2178: Expiration Date High Score

2022-04-26T15:32:33Z

141.101.99.154: Was going to show you how to do it, but it works best 'showing what it is'. But the rule for internal links is to use double-square brackets around the title (can be spaces or underlines between words) and use a pipe/bar and alternate text if needed.

{{comic
| number = 2178
| date = July 19, 2019
| title = Expiration Date High Score
| image = expiration_date_high_score.png
| titletext = "Wait, we've MOVED since 2010. How on Earth did--" "Look, some of us were just born to be champions."
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] is introducing the rules of the game ''Expiration Date High Score'' hence the title.

If you find an item which you purchased, but is now past its {{w|expiration date}}, you get a score which is what percent of your lifetime elapsed between when the item expired and when you found it.

[[Megan]], looking in a cupboard, find a can of beans that expired in 2010 (9 years ago), and that gives her a score of 24.3. Megan's age is thus revealed to be 37, found by substituting 2019 and 2010 into the formula 100*(2019-2010)/<age> = 24.3 and solving for the age. This is consistent with [[630: Time Travel]], in which Megan's date of birth is given as 1983.

[[Cueball]] then remarks that she will never beat her mom's jar of pickles that was from 1978. Megan then wonders if there are more cans (from 2010 or before) in the cupboard, and asks Cueball to remind her to not look any further until 2030. At that time the can would have been 20 years old and she would be 48, giving such a can a score of 100*(2030-2010)/48 = 41.6. That would thus beat her mom's high score.

If her mom's jar had expired in 1978 (not clear from the text), and for instance was found last year in 2018, then the formula for the mother's score would be 100*(2018-1978)/<Mom's age>. And this should then not be more than 41, thus revealing the mother age to be around 100 years old today (98 last year). Of course the jar could have had an expiration day some years later, or have been found earlier. Otherwise Megan's mom would have been above 60 when giving birth to Megan. Of course Megan could also just take this extra long wait in case the next can is not from 2010 but only 2013 etc.

Cueball's final remark is that this is a terrible competition, the worst ever. Because keeping food that can spoil could potentially be dangerous, if not so, at least disgusting when finally trying to get rid of it later.

Many perishable items, such as food, cosmetics, medications, batteries, or condoms, have expiration dates, or sometimes best by dates. The only other rule is, that it has to be something you have purchased yourself, so that heritages or stuff that was left in the basement when one moved in, does not count. A score of 100 or higher would indicate the item expired when you were born or before you were born, meaning it was already expired when you purchased it.

The joke is, that owning expired items without noticing for a long time, is here getting you a high score, while in reality it is not considered favorable to have food that has expired long time ago.{{Citation needed}}

The other joke is both the items in the comic (a can of beans and a jar of pickles) do not go bad with time but in fact remain edible indefinitely (as long as the jar/can is not opened and is undamaged.)

Food going bad, in the sense that it will make you sick if you eat it, is most often caused by harmful bacteria growing in the food. Less often caused by fungi or yeast growing in the food and creating a poisonous substance, like methanol (wood alcohol.) The process of canning food involves boiling it to kill all possible pathogens, then sealing it in a can/jar while the food is still hot, with no air bubble. As long as this process is done correctly, the jar lid will have an airtight seal, so as long as the can is not punctured, or does not have a hole become rusted through, no bacteria/virus/yeast/fungi can get in and the food cannot spoil. Some food may discolor over time in the jar/can, or the texture may change, but it cannot go bad in a way that makes it unsafe to eat.

Megan's mom could not have a jar of pickles with a 1978 expiration date because in 1978 jars and cans of food did not have expiration dates. Since then many countries introduced laws and regulations requiring companies to put expiration dates on perishable goods. In some instances this can have the negative effect of people throwing out good food by blindly following the suggested expiration date. This behavior can incentivize companies to adjust the expiration date, or put expiration dates on non-perishable goods, so that people will re-buy the products sooner.

The title text continues the conversation from the comic. Cueball remarks that they moved since 2010... Thus the beans were apparently bought while living in a different home, meaning they were moved along with their other belongings. This is somewhat unusual as many people take moving as an opportunity to go through their old stuff and get rid of things they no longer need. Since the rules clearly states that you have to have bought it yourself, it could not have been in the house when they moved in, they had to have brought it along (unless they later bought something that was already expired). But given Megan's final answer that "some of us were just born to be champions" indicates that she did bring it along, anticipating this game, and thus given her self a great score. And as is clear she is willing to wait 11 years to try to beat her mom's score.

It is not clear why they are keeping items for long periods of time in order to win. An easier way to win this game would be to buy food that is already expired. One could obtain a score of 100 simply by buying something that expired when one was born, and finding it the next day.

==Transcript==
:[Title up in the panel:]

:What's the most expired item you've found in your house?

:Calculate your
:Expiration Date High Score
:(must be something ''you'' purchased)

:[Equation in a circle:]

:Score = (year you found item) minus (year item expired) divided by (your age when you found it), multiplied by 100

:[Megan and Cueball talking in a kitchen, with Megan holding a can.]

:Megan: These beans expired in 2010! That's... let's see... 24.3! New personal best!
:Cueball: You're never going to beat your mom's jar of pickles from 1978.
:Megan: Maybe there are more cans in there. Remind me not to look until 2030.
:Cueball: This is the worst competition.

==Trivia==
The formula suggests Megans age to be 37, if this comic plays in 2019, when it was released. That puts her birth year to either 1982 or 1981 (depending on whether this plays before or after her birthday in 2019). This is in slight contrast to [[630: Time Travel]], which implies her birth year to be 1983.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Food]]

2611: Cutest-Sounding Scientific Effects

2022-04-26T10:24:05Z

141.101.99.154: /* Explanation */ Another tyop.

{{comic
| number = 2611
| date = April 25, 2022
| title = Cutest-Sounding Scientific Effects
| image = cutest_sounding_scientific_effects.png
| titletext = The Stroop-YORP number of a scientific paper is how many of the 16 finalist names (sans 'effect') it manages to casually sneak into the text.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A GUY WITH A Stroop-YORP Effect NUMBER OF 16! - Fill in the [[#Result of the twitter polls|Result of the twitter polls]] as it comes in! Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Randall]] has compiled [[:Category:Tournament bracket|yet another]] {{w|Tournament bracket|single-elimination tournament bracket}} for a knock-out competition between 16 different scientific effect names that Randall considers cute-sounding.

As of the release day, he is determining the result in a [https://twitter.com/xkcd/status/1518701311763570689 series of Twitter polls]. These results can be entered on Explain xkcd here: [[#Result of the twitter polls|Result of the twitter polls]].

See [[#Effects|below]] for explanations for what each of the 16 effects are.

Several unrelated scientific effects were previously combined in [[1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect]], which also included the Stroop effect (the last S).

In the title text, Randall coins the term "Stroop-YORP Effect" as a count of how many 'casual' references a future publication can sneak into it from the 16 finalist names for cutest effect. It specifies that it should be without the word effect after the words (sans 'effect').

Tongue-in-cheek 'counting scores' are familiar in the likes of the {{w|Erdős_number|Erdős}} and {{w|Bacon_number|Bacon}} numbers, both of which are being referenced by [[599: Apocalypse]] (the latter only in the title text). Albeit in these cases the ideal is to get the ''lowest'' number as opposed to here where higher is better. The cross-field hybrid {{w|Erdős–Bacon number}} is one in which the desired score is the lowest sum of both values (neither being undefinable) by dint of having participated in both arenas of respective achievement, but not necessarily (or practically) in a single combined presentation.

For instance the Stroop-YORP Effect could be high for a wildlife paper. That could possibly use "butterfly" and "rabbit" (possibly needing the latter to be specifically 'cutaneous', to count), which may both be found in "little parks" with some "popcorn" seen littered around without too much "oddity"; and of course a (Dr.?) "fox" could be in the area, getting a score of 6. But other words may be a stretch, with an imaginative reference to a "woozle" possibly easier to employ than to evoke anything of the "nocebo".

On the other hand, for a space-science paper there may be more obvious (mis)uses for physics-related terms, and mentioning YORP might well be expected. But it may need creative thinking to introduce the rabbit or the more psychological idea of Stroopicity, etc, without reason to discuss the responses of animal or human payloads being sent there.

It is not actually obvious whether Randall intends the score to only be valid if the insertions are off-field and/or undetected, such as when someone is wagered that they can slip unrelated song lyrics into a public speech without the rest of the audience twigging.

==Effects==
;{{w|YORP effect}}: The YORP effect is the effect of sunlight on an asteroid with variations of shape and/or albedo, which can increase its rotation rate and/or modify its axis of rotation. It can cause objects to eventually spin apart or drastically change their orbit.
:It is an acronym of the names Yarkovsky, O’Keefe, Radzievskii and Paddack, who were instrumental in its discovery. More than a century ago, Yarkovsky determined that heat applied to a symmetrical rotating body would be asymmetrically re-emitted and apply a small but continuous thrust, and this was added to by considering the forces to non-symmetrical bodies.
;{{w|Nocebo effect}}: An effect in which a recipient of medication who believes that it will have negative side-effects is more likely to experience those negative side-effects, whether they can be really caused by the medication or not. Opposite of the {{w|placebo effect}}, which focuses on positive side-effects that arise beyond the true efficacy of a given treatment.
;{{w|Woozle effect}}: If a study gets repeatedly cited and otherwise disseminated, then people will start to believe it regardless of whether it has any evidence behind it. And if there is not any evidence, it becomes an urban myth.
:Named after a Winnie-the-Pooh story in which Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet try to catch an imaginary animal called a woozle, and accidentally follow their own tracks in circles.
;{{w|Stroop effect}}: The Stroop effect (referenced in [[1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect]]) is a psychological phenomenon in which it is easier to name the visual color of a word when the word refers to its own color, than when the word refers to a different color.
:i.e that saying that '''Red''' is red is easier than to say that '''Blue''' is green.
;{{w|Pockels effect}}: A phenomenon where an electric field passed through a medium can cause the medium's refractive index to depend upon the polarization and propagation direction of the refracted light, a property known as {{w|birefringence}}.
;{{w|Cheerios effect}}: A phenomenon where objects floating in a liquid appear to attract or repel each other.
:Named after the cereal Cheerios, which are an everyday demonstration of this phenomenon because many eat Cheerios in a bowl of milk.
;{{w|Hot chocolate effect}}: A phenomenon where the sound created by tapping a cup of hot liquid rises in pitch as a soluble powder is added.
;{{w|Perky effect}}: An experiment in which participants were asked to visualize an object while staring at a screen on which the outline of that object was subtly projected. Participants believed the projected shape to be only a product of their imaginations.
;{{w|Bouba/kiki effect}}: An observation that people, despite different native languages, will relatively consistently assign names with certain sounds to blobby or spiky shapes, suggesting the association of sound and shape is non-arbitrary.
;{{w|Cutaneous rabbit effect}}: A phenomenon where, when tapped on one part of the body in rapid succession and then switching to another, the subject feels the tapping at locations in between the two.
:For example, if rapidly tapping the wrist then switching to the elbow, the subject will subjectively feel as if they are being tapped at progressive intervals between the wrist and elbow, when they are not.
;[https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/smallfirmeffect.asp Small firm effect]: An economic theory that small firms usually perform better than larger ones
;{{w|Little–Parks effect}}: A phenomenon where a fluctuating magnetic field passed through a superconductor can slightly suppress its superconductivity, inducing small fluctuations in its electrical resistance.
:When juxtaposed against the "small firm effect", as in the bracket, one might get the impression that it is somehow related to urban architecture or civil engineering.
;{{w|Dr. Fox effect}}: A disputed theory that student evaluations of their teachers are likely unreliable because they are largely based on the teacher's charisma instead of the quality of their content.
;{{w|Oddity effect}}: A theory that when fish assemble in shoals (large social groups), any that stand out appearance-wise will be attacked by a predator, explaining why shoals tend to have similar-looking members.
;{{w|Butterfly effect}}: The butterfly effect is the sensitivity of chaotic systems to small changes in initial conditions. The weather system of Earth is chaotic, and so an arbitrarily small change in air patterns (such as could be caused by the flapping of a butterfly's wing) could ultimately change the weather for the whole world.
;{{w|Popcorn effect}}: A phenomenon exhibited by crushed ore placed on a vibrating screen for separation in mineral processing, in which larger particles tend to bounce higher than smaller particles.

==Transcript==
:[A tournament bracket tree is shown with 16 scientific effect names, with 8 on the left and 8 on the right side. From both sides toward the middle the brackets reduce from eight to four, to two, then to one line where the latter join to a rectangle in the middle for the winners name of the final match. Above the bracket there is a title:]
:<big>Cutest-Sounding Scientific Effects</big>

:[Left side:]
:Yorp effect
:Nocebo effect

:Woozle effect
:Stroop effect

:Pockels effect
:Cheerios effect

:Hot chocolate effect
:Perky effect

:[Right side:]
:Bouba/kiki effect
:Cutaneous rabbit effect

:Small firm effect
:Little Parks effect

:Dr. Fox effect
:Oddity effect

:Butterfly effect
:Popcorn effect

==Trivia==
*Randall has made polls on twitter to determine the outcome of this version of his [[1819: Sweet 16|sweet 16]]:
===Result of the twitter polls===
Here the results for the polls can be mentioned, without cluttering the explanation above.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Tournament bracket]]

2608: Family Reunion

2022-04-18T21:29:31Z

141.101.99.154: /* Explanation */ Cousin stuff.

{{comic
| number = 2608
| date = April 18, 2022
| title = Family Reunion
| image = family_reunion.png
| titletext = Grandma says that because of differences in primate and feline lifespans, the cat is actually my 17,000,000th cousin 14,000,000 times removed.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE GIRL YOU DIDN'T KNOW WAS YOUR RELATIVE (WHOOPS) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Because all humans are descended from a {{w|Mitochondrial Eve|common ancestor}}, every human is, at some point, related to every other human, albeit distantly. Similarly, all life forms on Earth are presumed (with good reasons) to be descended via a single {{w|Most recent common ancestor|common ancestor}}, and thus ''all'' life forms are distantly related. This makes every interaction with another life-form, technically, a family reunion, if not in the traditional sense.

The general english definition of a {{w|cousin}}, which is a person sharing an ancestor who is not a direct parent of either, can be qualified by two numbers. There is the ''n''th-ness of the relationship (the fewest generations you need to go beyond one's parentage, "a first cousin" implies that a grandparent is the key link) and the "removed" number is any difference in this number between the two individuals. You would normally only qualify "first cousin" if you need to do so, and "zero times removed" would also be considered implicit.

As pointed out in the Title Text, cat lifespans (or, more importantly, inter-generational breeding cycles) are somewhat different from those of humans. Although they would have still been very similar immediately after the divergence from the appropriate MRCA, the differences will have built up to a generational-count displacement of a similarly extreme nature. i.e. that while the shared ancestor is Cueball's 17-million-or-so-Great Grandparent, the cat is in turn the 31-million-or-so-Great Grandchild. (Exactly how accurate, or precise, Randall considers these numbers is unknown, but it is the kind of fact that we know he likes to research and use expert opinion for.)

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

14th cousin

2nd cousin

Me

12th cousin

35th cousin

17,000,000th cousin

9th cousin

50,000,000,000th cousin

Really, ''every'' gathering is a family reunion.

{{comic discussion}}

2608: Family Reunion

2022-04-18T21:05:06Z

141.101.99.154: /* Explanation */ A little bit of relativity.

2455: Virus Consulting

2022-04-18T20:55:29Z

141.101.99.154: Undo revision 230676 by Jkshapiro (talk) Modified undo. Because putting in the context of the time, and since, works better than omitting it.

{{comic
| number = 2455
| date = April 26, 2021
| title = Virus Consulting
| image = virus_consulting.png
| titletext = All our teams make an effort to stay optimistic, but I will say that once our virus division saw the vaccine efficacy data, they started asking for payment up front.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is another in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}, specifically regarding the [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|COVID-19 vaccine]].

This comic imagines a scenario where [[Ponytail]] works for a {{w|consulting firm}}, which offers advice about viruses, specifically COVID-19. Ponytail tells a panel of people (the government?), consisting of [[Hairbun]], [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]], that though they are worried about {{w|Variants of SARS-CoV-2|COVID-19 variants}}, the fact that the number of people vaccinated is increasing considerably is a good sign. Hairbun then accuses Ponytail's firm of simply "telling them what they want to hear", accusing her firm of giving them false hope to make them keep retaining her firm.

The punchline comes in the final panel where it turns out that Ponytail's colleague, [[Black Hat]], is consulting a different set of clients, which are the viruses themselves. He presents the exact same graph to the viruses and gives them the opposite message: though COVID-19 variants seem to be exciting to them, vaccination numbers are terrible news to their propagation and survival. This repeats the idea of [[2287: Pathogen Resistance]] where the pandemic is seen from the virus' perspective. As in that previous comic, it is the virus that is in a lot of trouble, which is another way of saying that humanity stands a good chance of surviving this situation. (That humanity will survive is also good for the virus, which needs living humans so that it can spread.) This is not the first time that Black Hat has given advice to natural disasters that can kill humans, see [[1754: Tornado Safety Tips]].

The fact that another member of Ponytail's firm is telling clients that they should be worried is what Ponytail refers to when claiming that her firm does not simply tell clients what they want to hear.

Secondarily, the comic is making fun of the perception that consulting firms will offer their services to whoever can pay, even if they are harmful to society, a perception with {{w|McKinsey & Company#Controversies|some basis in fact}}.

Around the time of the comic, several {{w|Variants of SARS-CoV-2|SARS-CoV-2 variants}}, commonly called "COVID variants", had been in the news. The SARS-CoV-2 virus had already been seen to have mutated into many different strains, some of which spread more easily among humans. It was still unknown whether the different variants have a greater individual fatality rate. The contemporary SARS-CoV-2 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna as well as the Regeneron therapeutic monoclonal antibodies all effectively protect against at least the New York ({{w|Lineage B.1.526}}), South African ({{w|Lineage B.1.351}}), and U.K. ({{w|Lineage B.1.1.7}}) variants according to [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/22/health/covid-ny-variant-vaccine.html two recent study preprints] released April 22, 2021. Further research and peer review was ongoing.

Since the original date of this comic, the common practice changed from describing variants by geographic origins. Variants Of Concern and Variants Of Interest might indeed have arisen spontaneously in the place where their changes had first been detected in (or most directly traced back to), but there was no good reason to perpetuate a stigma upon any particular region. Instead, greek letter-names were applied to the major variations. (For the above noted versions "New York" became Iota, that South African version was identified as Beta, and U.K. (or "Kent") had been assigned as Alpha.) Not all lettered VOCs/VOIs became major players on the global stage, but by by November 2021, the '{{w|Greek_alphabet|alphabet}}' had reached Omicron (the fifteenth letter but the thirteenth actually used, having just skipped the letters "nu" and "xi" to avoid undesirable sound-alike associations) and, while there is still much to study, this seems to have the capability of greater transmissability and retransmissability (even in the vaccinated) but, initially at least, also lower illness/hospitality/mortality rate. All these factors have reinforced the potential for the Omicron variety to spread more easily in the human population, as more of an endemic than a pandemic, and thus also to dominate the field against its fellow viral variations.

(The "BA.2" sub-varient of Omicron has been seen to be again more dangerous and resistant to preventative/theraputic treatment than the prior Omicron but, as of April 2022, calls by some to give it a Virus Of Concern letter (probably "Pi") have not yet been acted upon.) 

Possibly, with hindsight, this actually suggests that Black Hat's caution (and perhaps subsequent advice) has been taken on board by the respective clients. On the other hand, it could be equally true that humanity is just becoming more blasé, or just overly weary of repeating lockdowns/masks/etc, and is no longer fulfilling the original good practice. But all this is in the future, for the comic, and even this explanation doesn't yet know how how it will turn out.

Back in the original comic's time, the title text notes that the firm's "virus division" (the group advising the viruses themselves) has started to get worried that their jobs are becoming obsolete, due to vaccine efficacy. Thus, they are demanding to be paid "up front", before consulting/advising services have been rendered to their clients. Dependent upon the expectations of each party, payment can be asked for "up front", deferred for invoicing once services have been rendered, or a combination of the two. The weaker party to a contract may need to submit their transaction, or a guarantor, before the other spends too much effort in fulfilling their side of the contract.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail stands in front a chart, with a labeled graph with an upward-curving line at the top, and several box-and-whisker plots below, with unreadable text and labels. She is holding a pointer towards the plot while addressing a panel in front of her to the left. The panel is seated behind a desk and is composed of Hairbun, Cueball and Megan. Cueball has one arm on the desk.]
:Ponytail: Now, I know you're worried about the variants, but this graph should be encouraging.
:Ponytail: Your rollout is going well. The vaccines are good. They work.
:Label on graph: Vaccinations

:[Same setting in a narrower panel without the chart. Ponytail has the pointer to her side. Cueball has his arms under the desk as the other two.]
:Hairbun: You're just telling us what we want to hear.
:Ponytail: If you think that, you should see the reports from my colleagues who work for COVID.

:[Close-up of Ponytail in a very narrow panel.]
:Off-screen voice: They work for '''''who??'''''
:Ponytail: Our firm has lots of clients.

:[Black Hat stands in front of an identical chart as in panel one, and points to it with a pointer in the same way as Ponytail did. Only he is looking to the right at his clients. He is speaking to a panel of three large coronaviruses, two of which floats above the desk, the middle one is partly below the desk. Across the top frame of the panel there is a box with a caption:]
:Meanwhile...
:Black Hat: Now, I know you're excited about the variants, but this graph should be terrifying.
:Black Hat: We're in real trouble here.
:Label on graph: Vaccinations

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

2607: Geiger Counter

2022-04-16T01:23:39Z

141.101.99.154:

{{comic
| number = 2607
| date = April 15, 2022
| title = Geiger Counter
| image = geiger_counter.png
| titletext = At first I didn't get why they were warning me about all those birds sitting on the wire, but then I understood.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A CLICKING GEIGER COUNTER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a simple {{w|eggroll}}. [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] are standing in what looks to be a desert, and Cueball is holding a {{w|Geiger counter}} in his hand. Cueball remarks that he did not understand why he was asked to carry a Geiger counter, but that it then "clicked" with him.

Geiger counters are devices used to measure the amount of {{w|radiation}} in an area. When a particle of ionizing radiation hits the sensor of a Geiger counter, it will give off a distinct "eggroll" noise. The pun in this comic insinuates that Cueball realized why he was asked to bring the Geiger counter when it clicked, indicating radiation nearby. In radioactive areas, it is usually a good idea to carry around some sort of radiation detector for safety reasons.

This is likely a {{w|parody}} of a fairly well-known pun that takes advantage of a similar double meaning: "I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me." Just as that pun uses "hit me" to mean both the action of the ball and to understand, this comic uses the "clicking" to mean both the action of the Geiger counter and to understand.

The title text is also a pun, since "I" stand under the birds on the wire (under-stood, stood under), with the implication being that some birds on the power line pooped on him.

==Transcript==

{{incomplete transcript}}
:[Cueball and Ponytail are wearing hard hats and standing in what looks to be some sort of desert or rocky area. Cueball is holding a Geiger counter in his hands. Ponytail is holding a clipboard.]
:Cueball: At first I was confused about why they wanted me to carry a Geiger counter here, but then it clicked.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Characters with Hats]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Puns]]

Talk:743: Infrastructures

2022-04-15T10:59:12Z

141.101.99.154: Talk: I'm fine with open source but this comic represents what I dislike about some of its proponents.

The link inside "arrogance that crowds out perspective" is merely an example of a situation in which someone with the same ideology that Cueball has can declare that proponents of free software have arrogance instead of perspective. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 14:23, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

How do we know that professor is going to do anything with the document other than read it? I remember electronic submission back in the Word 6 era (and probably earlier) as a direct replacement to handing over pieces of paper. Doesn't affect the joke, but is rather an unsubstantiated and unnecessary part of the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.192.132|178.98.192.132]] 00:02, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

This could use some serious style editing. I have a bad habit of using parentheses, and find that forcing myself not to use them can actually improve my writing (kowabunga! - oh shit). Whoever put in the large parenthetical expressions here may need to learn that as well. Or learn LISP, where they'll realize that parentheses are not always your friends. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 02:13, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

This seems a bit painted to me, sure its a comic in favor of open source but the explanation doesn't have to sound like it was written by a snob. --[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 23:22, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

;Diaspora seed: a personal web server that stores all of your information and shares it with your friends

"Seed" is not used in the torrent sense (of a running client, seeding a file to other clients), but as a "personal web server that stores all of your information and shares it with your friends" via the http protocol. See [https://wiki.diasporafoundation.org/Federation_protocol_overview] and [http://p2pfoundation.net/Diaspora].
Here is the text I replaced:

:The "seed" to which the fellow mentioned is a reference to the {{w|BitTorrent}} protocol, an infrastructure that allows users to share files for others to download directly from them (rather than from a server). Essentially, the user packs a description of the files in a torrent file, then "seeds" the torrent file using a program made for torrenting (for example, {{w|μTorrent}}). People who want to download the files would first download the corresponding torrent file, and open it in a torrenting program to "leech" (download) the original files. After the files referred by the torrent file are downloaded, the "leechers" can "seed" them too, so that more people can download the files from them in turn. Since the user is in control of the upload and download, torrenting is an option of choice for those in support of free software.

[[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 16:46, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Since when does most of the open source word processors not save in .DOC as well, just because it is saved in that format does not mean it had to be made with MS Word. Most of the time unless I am sending a .PDF I save a copy of what I am working on in .DOC just to be sure the receiver can open it as most programs can. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.166|108.162.216.166]] 13:44, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

Still relevant lol --[[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 18:20, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

No autist in over 5 years has pointed out that the bearded guy is Richard Stallman, for shame. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.94.88|172.68.94.88]] 20:39, 4 December 2018 (UTC)

Why is playing "the world's tiniest open-source violin" described as "dubious"? Cueball has, in spite of warnings, engaged in and encouraged the spread of the use of an infrastructure which will have the inevitable effect of handing control of all his data to psychopathic corporations. The Bearded One surely has a right to have no pity, and in effect say "Told you so". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.94|162.158.38.94]] 09:18, 25 January 2019 (UTC)

'Let me press F on the world's smallest keyboard.' [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 14:29, 22 April 2021 (UTC)

I feel like this comic is quite one-sided. I can understand most of Cueball's reaction (of course apart from the "probably autistic" part) since "Beardie" is being quite pedantic about Cueball's file format choice.

I respect people's choice to go open-source, and I see benefit in providing open source software for education and those people's peace of mind but I personally do not care myself and I resent when people try to "convert" others to use open-source technology especially when those people don't have the will to.

What does Facebook have to do with .doc formats? I don't believe Microsoft Office products collect personal data in the same way that Facebook does, at least not enough relevant data to build an "advertising profile". I really don't like Facebook myself, you can use one but not the other.

Sorry for the long paragraph, it's just what I think 😅.
--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.154|141.101.99.154]] 10:59, 15 April 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2597: Salary Negotiation

2022-03-24T14:45:01Z

141.101.99.154:

The second panel is me every time I haggle for something, and I have to make sure I don't end up haggling the wrong way. Or starting above my desired price when I mean to start below so that I can meet in the middle at my desired price.

[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.36|172.70.91.36]] 23:06, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
:It's not a one-time negotiation, anyway. During an annual review I'd have to suggest any pay adjustments. Was useless at it, too self-effacing. I left one job after ten years and later on found my exact same old position (which I had felt now wasn't adding much to the team, part of the reason I left) readvertised with a suggested salary range starting at ''twice'' that of what I had actually departed with. Seems they needed me (or someone quite like me) more than any of us knew. That experience didn't improve my assertiveness, though. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.211|172.70.90.211]] 10:25, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

They should offer him $61,333.33 plus a penny extra once every three years.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.198|162.158.107.198]] 23:31, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
:The way a friend solved it was to cut a penny into six pieces (like a pizza), and then give me two of them. [[User:Ruffy314|Ruffy314]] ([[User talk:Ruffy314|talk]]) 09:42, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:: This raises more questions than it answers. Why was your friend giving you 1/3 of a penny? Why two sixths rather than one third? How did they cut it? --[[User:192·168·0·1|192·168·0·1]] ([[User talk:192·168·0·1|talk]]) 13:34, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
::: I would imagine that it is significantly easier to slice a coin all the way through than it is to cut it halfway through. But I'm still wondering how: after making the first cut (presumably relatively easy given the right tools), the subsequent cuts would be against *parts* of a penny, not the entire thing (thereby decreasing the utility of making full slices). Once a penny is cut in half, the two parts won't stay together anymore, unlike a pizza where the entire thing retains its same shape the entire time. I also wonder about the utility: a fraction of a penny under 50% of the total volume is completely worthless. When someone has more than 50%, then it is worth the entire value of the penny. [[User:Cwallenpoole|Cwallenpoole]] ([[User talk:Cwallenpoole|talk]]) 14:16, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:::You can clamp down the two parts of a now discected coin, for a further cut across-tye-cut almost as easily as you can clamp down the original. Harder to do the two ⅙ths and two ⅓rds (or just the latter two) to get the final four ⅙ths. Or overlay the cut halves (or thirds), perhaps, then cut through both with a powerful enough slicer.
:::But the way I'd do it (assuming 6 ⅙s is the target) is to make the cut across all but a ''sliver'' of one edge, realign, make a similar cut (liberating ⅙, having ⅓+⅙+⅓ still joined) then clean through at the third angle (two more ⅙s loosed), after which you just need to snip through the two cut-ends that you left to make the slotted ½ into 3 separate ⅙s.
:::Just snipping from edge to centre, three times, can mess up at the meeting point. Though it involves the same angles, getting them to meet (non-messily) in the exact centre is awkward, and it's easier to visually map six equilateral triangles with an edge-length equal to the radius (to execute three cross-cuts, fairly) than the three obtuse triangles (or one equilateral triangle with edges ≠2r) in planning where on the edge to start. Well, from my regular experience in actual pizza-cutting into three equal portions, before we get to the difficulty in cleanly cutting a much smaller coin made of metal. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.154|141.101.99.154]] 14:44, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Any idea how Cueball arrived at the figure of $61 1/3 thousand?--[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 03:33, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Interesting. In the UK, I was taught to call them recurring decimals. Never heard of repeating decimals. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.20|141.101.99.20]] 08:46, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:I just assumed the usual trans-Atlantic difference in terminology. In general I'd also say "point three three three recurring" to establish the (unvarying) pattern, or something like "point one nine one nine recurring" for a bistable pattern, etc, so that it doesn't look like all-nines to infinity. But, to be honest, I'd be glad if people didn't use "point thirty-three" or the like. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.211|172.70.90.211]] 10:25, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

I don't think the 15% is meaning a 15% cut in the (offered) salary, as the current explanation has it. I think this is referencing agent-type negotiations, where the agent might take 15% of the salary negotiated for the person they're representing.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.209|172.69.79.209]] 09:15, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:Fixed. [[User:Justhalf|Justhalf]] ([[User talk:Justhalf|talk]]) 10:51, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:Also inappropriately used/ill-formed, in this negotiation, but "15% of the gross" might be a given film-star's deal for appearing/cameoing in a movie, i.e. variable according to the success, tying directly into the money it earns the studio - potentially quite lucrative, without scaring off the studio by risking it (excessive) debts in the event of a flop or other failure to cash in. So long as the {{w|The Producers (1967 film)|total percentages are not excessive}}!
:A salary that is a set percentage (other than 100%) of one's own salary is, of course, nonsensicle and paradoxical (though one could suggest an introductive percentage 'discount' for the first year, as a wary employer's inducement/guarantee, perhaps in direct exchange for a corresponding bonus against the measure of productivity that is expected/hoped to be massively increased by being hired), but muddled Cueball seems to be grasping at apt-sounding fragments of such 'business language' yet mashing them together in various wrong ways. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 12:47, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2597: Salary Negotiation

2022-03-24T14:44:06Z

141.101.99.154:

The second panel is me every time I haggle for something, and I have to make sure I don't end up haggling the wrong way. Or starting above my desired price when I mean to start below so that I can meet in the middle at my desired price.

[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.36|172.70.91.36]] 23:06, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
:It's not a one-time negotiation, anyway. During an annual review I'd have to suggest any pay adjustments. Was useless at it, too self-effacing. I left one job after ten years and later on found my exact same old position (which I had felt now wasn't adding much to the team, part of the reason I left) readvertised with a suggested salary range starting at ''twice'' that of what I had actually departed with. Seems they needed me (or someone quite like me) more than any of us knew. That experience didn't improve my assertiveness, though. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.211|172.70.90.211]] 10:25, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

They should offer him $61,333.33 plus a penny extra once every three years.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.198|162.158.107.198]] 23:31, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
:The way a friend solved it was to cut a penny into six pieces (like a pizza), and then give me two of them. [[User:Ruffy314|Ruffy314]] ([[User talk:Ruffy314|talk]]) 09:42, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:: This raises more questions than it answers. Why was your friend giving you 1/3 of a penny? Why two sixths rather than one third? How did they cut it? --[[User:192·168·0·1|192·168·0·1]] ([[User talk:192·168·0·1|talk]]) 13:34, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
::: I would imagine that it is significantly easier to slice a coin all the way through than it is to cut it halfway through. But I'm still wondering how: after making the first cut (presumably relatively easy given the right tools), the subsequent cuts would be against *parts* of a penny, not the entire thing (thereby decreasing the utility of making full slices). Once a penny is cut in half, the two parts won't stay together anymore, unlike a pizza where the entire thing retains its same shape the entire time. I also wonder about the utility: a fraction of a penny under 50% of the total volume is completely worthless. When someone has more than 50%, then it is worth the entire value of the penny. [[User:Cwallenpoole|Cwallenpoole]] ([[User talk:Cwallenpoole|talk]]) 14:16, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:::You can clamp down the two parts of a now discected coin, for a further cut across-tye-cut almost as easily as you can clamp down the original. Harder to do the two ⅙ths and two
⅓rds (or just the latter two) to get the final four ⅙ths. Or overlay the cut halves (or thirds), perhaps, then cut through both with a powerful enough slicer.
:::But the way I'd do it (assuming 6 ⅙s is the target) is to make the cut across all but a ''sliver'' of one edge, realign, make a similar cut (liberating ⅙, having ⅓+⅙+⅓ still joined) then clean through at the third angle (two more ⅙s loosed), after which you just need to snip through the two cut-ends that you left to make the slotted ½ into 3 separate ⅙s.
:::Just snipping from edge to centre, three times, can mess up at the meeting point. Though it involves the same angles, getting them to meet (non-messily) in the exact centre is awkward, and it's easier to visually map six equilateral triangles with an edge-length equal to the radius (to execute three cross-cuts, fairly) than the three obtuse triangles (or one equilateral triangle with edges ≠2r) in planning where on the edge to start. Well, from my regular experience in actual pizza-cutting into three equal portions, before we get to the difficulty in cleanly cutting a much smaller coin made of metal. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.154|141.101.99.154]] 14:44, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Any idea how Cueball arrived at the figure of $61 1/3 thousand?--[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 03:33, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Interesting. In the UK, I was taught to call them recurring decimals. Never heard of repeating decimals. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.20|141.101.99.20]] 08:46, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:I just assumed the usual trans-Atlantic difference in terminology. In general I'd also say "point three three three recurring" to establish the (unvarying) pattern, or something like "point one nine one nine recurring" for a bistable pattern, etc, so that it doesn't look like all-nines to infinity. But, to be honest, I'd be glad if people didn't use "point thirty-three" or the like. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.211|172.70.90.211]] 10:25, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

I don't think the 15% is meaning a 15% cut in the (offered) salary, as the current explanation has it. I think this is referencing agent-type negotiations, where the agent might take 15% of the salary negotiated for the person they're representing.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.209|172.69.79.209]] 09:15, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:Fixed. [[User:Justhalf|Justhalf]] ([[User talk:Justhalf|talk]]) 10:51, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
:Also inappropriately used/ill-formed, in this negotiation, but "15% of the gross" might be a given film-star's deal for appearing/cameoing in a movie, i.e. variable according to the success, tying directly into the money it earns the studio - potentially quite lucrative, without scaring off the studio by risking it (excessive) debts in the event of a flop or other failure to cash in. So long as the {{w|The Producers (1967 film)|total percentages are not excessive}}!
:A salary that is a set percentage (other than 100%) of one's own salary is, of course, nonsensicle and paradoxical (though one could suggest an introductive percentage 'discount' for the first year, as a wary employer's inducement/guarantee, perhaps in direct exchange for a corresponding bonus against the measure of productivity that is expected/hoped to be massively increased by being hired), but muddled Cueball seems to be grasping at apt-sounding fragments of such 'business language' yet mashing them together in various wrong ways. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 12:47, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

2444: Ingenuity

2022-03-12T12:24:36Z

141.101.99.154: /* Transcript */ You missed the point on this bit. Perseverence is not itself flying, but being flown. Restoring (with a minor change) the fuller description in this line.

{{comic
| number = 2444
| date = March 31, 2021
| title = Ingenuity
| image = ingenuity.png
| titletext = Plot twist: Thanks to [mumble mumble] second-order [mumble] Rayleigh-Taylor [mumble] turbulent [mumble] shear, it turns out powered flight is way EASIER on Mars!
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Ingenuity_(helicopter)|Ingenuity}} is a drone-like helicopter deployed to the surface of Mars. It rode on the underside of the Perseverance rover and at the time of publication its protective housing had been released from the rover and it was being prepared for a flight in early April. The helicopter is supposed to take off after the rover fully releases it and clears its takeoff trajectory.

The comic projects what might happen if the mission controllers activated the helicopter early. In this case, the process is approaching the point of detaching the part-deployed Ingenuity. Ponytail and Cueball are present in mission control when Cueball trips and hits a button that clearly triggers the Ingenuity drone to take off. Perserverance, still firmly above/attached is seen to easily ride atop it. The rover exclaims "Wheee!", presumably from excitement or happiness.

In the title text, some character discovers powered flight is easier on Mars, which contradicts our current understanding [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhsZUZmJvaM that powered flight is very difficult on Mars]. Mars may have less gravity, but Mars's atmosphere is 1% the density of Earth's. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYe3sIaNHVs It's so thin that you couldn't move a feather with a fan.] This is why the character mumbles his explanation of the science, because they know any explanation doesn't actually make sense.

The total mass of the two vehicles is about 556 times that of the helicopter alone, meaning the unexpected lift effect 'described' would have to be several hundred times more effective than that anticipated, depending upon the factor of overdesign already built in to avoid an expensive marginal failure. It also seems to be trivially easy to balance the extremely top-heavy loading upon the small solar-panel that tops out the counter-rotating coaxial blades, which adds yet more questions of both the dynamic and structural performance, never mind questions about the available power to accomplish this and the later possibilities to recharge.

It is not the first time that we have seen a Mars vehicle [[1504|vastly exceed expectations]] in these pages.

It is also not the first time a character has caused an incident by [[1620|tripping and hitting a control panel]].

==Transcript==
:[Ingenuity/Perseverance is on the surface of Mars.]
:Perseverance: ''Ingenuity'' helicopter has been lowered.
:Perseverance: Preparing to release it onto the surface.

:[A cut to mission control on Earth. Cueball trips and clicks on a key on his workstation, while Ponytail stands nearby.]
:Cueball: Oops
:Control panel: Click
:Trip

:[Back on Mars, Ingenuity's rotor blades start spinning.]
:Ingenuity: Bzzzzzz

:[Perseverance is being lifted into the air atop Ingenuity.]
:Perseverance: Wheeee!
:Ingenuity: Bzzzzzz

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

2579: Tractor Beam

2022-02-09T21:15:25Z

141.101.99.154: /* Explanation */ Some things.

{{comic
| number = 2579
| date = February 9, 2022
| title = Tractor Beam
| image = tractor_beam.png
| titletext = Did you base the saucer shape on pop culture depictions of aliens, or was that stuff based on your ships? Does the rotational symmetry help with ... hey, where are you going?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN ANNOYING CUEBALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Randall is being pulled into a spaceship by a beam of light, called a {{w|tractor beam}} in the title. This is a {{tvtropes|AlienAbduction|common trope}} in science fiction, and usually pretty scary for the person involved. However, while Randall is being pulled up, he asks a series of questions about the beam, about the force on the ship, and about the ship itself. The punch line is the caption - the aliens, frustrated by Randall's questioning, release him and move on, to presumably find a different human to abduct and study. Many people have reported {{w|Alien abduction|being abducted by aliens}} in real life, though none of these have been confirmed.

The first three questions deal with the properties of the beam – how it can be controlled to pull only him (and his clothes), not anything else. He also wonders whether the beam would still continue to lift his shoes if he took them off midway. Perhaps his apparel is only rising with him because it normally stays attached to him, perhaps it is similarly levitated with equal force or impulse. Maybe even it is only his clothing that is being lifted, although done without sufficient finesse this could call damage to the clothing or the person, such that it would be tempting to call this a {{tvtropes|NegativeSpaceWedgie|Space Wedgie}}.

Next, Randall asks if his weight is pulling the ship downward. This would be the case, for example, if he were hoisted upwards by a rope instead of the beam, as equal but opposite forces act against each other, but not if the beam alters the nature of his surroundings such as with {{w|The First Men in the Moon
Article Talk|Cavorite}} or another means of {{w|gravitational shielding}} or alteration.

Then he asks what will happen if a bat flies through the beam. Things that could happen include the beam breaking (and him falling downward) due to the projected effect being interrupted, the bat being pulled up ahead of him as it enters the effective volume of the levitating beam or else nothing at all as it is outside the target area. It may presumably have a relationship with the same focal effect as that which avoids the ground upon which he previously stood being drawn upwards. If the bat casts a 'shadow' down the beam in some form (at least the accompanying illumination) this could also reference the appearance of the {{w|Bat-Signal}}.

As the ship leaves, Randall continues asking questions, as shown in the title text.

The implication is that immediately after Randall arrived onboard the ship, he started badgering the aliens with questions. They got fed up and decided to abandon him instead of revealing their knowledge.

The excessive amount of questions, from a person that is presumably a trained scientist, implies that the principles of flying saucers and tractor beams are likely to be silly or illogical based on our current understanding of physics.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A flying saucer is hovering over some generally flat terrain, with a few rocks and hills in the background. A beam of light is pulling Cueball up towards the ship.]
:Cueball: Does this beam only lift me? How do you avoid pulling up dirt and leaves and stuff? If I kick off my shoes, will they fall?
:Cueball: Is my weight pulling your ship downward? What will happen if a bat flies through the beam?
:Cueball: Hey, why does your ship have those blinky lights? Are they...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Moments later, the aliens set me back down and left.

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

461: Google Maps

2021-11-29T00:49:06Z

141.101.99.154:

{{comic
| number = 461
| date = August 11, 2008
| title = Google Maps
| image = google_maps.png
| titletext = Apparently Google assumes you're traveling during the ferry's normal operating hours. We lost two hours circling that damn lake (to say nothing of the Straw Man).
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Google Maps}} is a web mapping service application. Before smartphones with GPS mapping software were widespread and most people's printers hadn't yet run out of ink, it was common to print out directions to take with you on a trip. The web version of Google Maps has many features including a route planner. As sophisticated as early versions were, it occasionally gave suboptimal directions. For example, the directions may tell you to take an exit that, in reality, is unmarked. Directions also did not take time of day into account, which would help in planning routes to avoid traffic or to make use of services such as a ferry.

Though no specific game or movie is referenced, steps 75 to 81 of the directions read like the plot of a horror film, a guide of a video game, or a role playing game. A straw man is another term for scarecrow, a common antagonist in both. Step 80 reads exactly like an old {{w|Interactive fiction|text adventure}} game's description of an area.

There are additional small jokes in the distance column of the directions:
*Step 75 tells you to travel 1172 feet up, a direction that Google Maps doesn't normally take into account.
*No distance is traveled in step 77, so Google instead tells you to be careful when talking to Charlie.
*{{w|Pi}} is a ratio usually used in calculations involving circles, rather than in measuring distances.
*Google doesn't know how far it is from the Spectral Wolf to your destination, so it gives you question marks as the distance.

This might be a reference to Google Maps' {{w|List_of_Google_hoaxes_and_easter_eggs#Google_Maps_and_Google_Earth|many easter eggs}}.

The title text tells us that Cueball and his brother attempted to drive around the lake, since they could not take the ferry. It seems they also had an unfortunate run-in with the Straw Man, apparently waking him as the directions warned against.

===Directions===
{| class="wikitable"
!Direction Number
!Direction
!Explanation
|-
| 70
| Slight '''left''' at '''RT-22''' - go 6.8 mi
| A normal direction, RT-22 might mean Route 22.
|-
| 71
| Turn '''right''' to stay on '''RT-22''' - go 2.6 mi
|
|-
| 72
| Turn '''left''' at '''Lake Shore Rd''' - go 312 ft
|
|-
| 73
| Turn '''right''' at '''Dock St''' - go 427 ft
|
|-
| 74
| Take the '''ferry''' across the '''lake.''' - go 2.8 mi
|
|-
| 75
| Climb the '''HILL''' toward '''Hangman's Ridge,''' avoiding any '''mountain lions.''' - up 1,172 ft
| Google Maps does not usually ask you to avoid mountain lions, nor does it ask you to walk if you want to drive.
|-
| 76
| When you reach an old barn, go around back, knock on the second door, and ask for Charlie. - go 52 ft
| This resembles less directions from Google Maps, and more a back-alley dealing trying to introduce a contact to another contact.
|-
| 77
| Tell Charlie the Dancing Stones are restless. He will give you his van. - Careful
| This seems more like a text adventure game with the code words.
|-
| 78
| Take Charlie's van down Old Mine Road. Do not wake the Straw Man. - go π mi
|
|-
| 79
| Turn left on Comstock. When you feel the blood chill in your veins, stop the van and get out. - go 3.2 mi
| Google Maps does not ask you to wait until your blood chills. {{citation needed}}
|-
| 80
| Stand very still. Exits are north, south, and east, but are blocked by a Spectral Wolf. - go 0 ft
| The directions resemble a text adventure game.
|-
| 81
| The Spectral Wolf fears only fire. The Google Maps Team can no longer help you, but if you master the wolf, he will guide you. Godspeed. - go ?? mi
|
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:My road trip with my brother ran into trouble around page three of the Google Maps printout

:[Google Maps printout.]
::← 70. Slight '''left''' at '''RT-22''' - go 6.8 mi
::→ 71. Turn '''right''' to stay on '''RT-22''' - go 2.6 mi
::← 72. Turn '''left''' at '''Lake Shore Rd''' - go 312 ft
::→ 73. Turn '''right''' at '''Dock St''' - go 427 ft
::[An icon of water] 74. Take the '''ferry''' across the '''lake.''' - go 2.8 mi

:[A car is driving in the dark.]
:Brother: Okay, now take Dock St toward the ferry.
:Cueball: We're supposed to take a ferry? It's past midnight, and these woods are creepy.
:Brother: Google Maps wouldn't steer us wrong.

:[Cueball and his brother stand outside the car. The ferry has a sign on it reading CLOSED.]

:[Cueball is standing next to his brother, who is holding a Google Maps printout.]

:[Cueball motions towards his brother.]
:Cueball: Let me see those directions.

:[Google Maps printout.]
::[An icon of water] 74. Take the '''ferry''' across the '''lake.''' - go 2.8 mi
::↗ 75. Climb the '''HILL''' toward '''Hangman's Ridge,''' avoiding any '''mountain lions.''' - up 1,172 ft
::↷ 76. When you reach an '''old barn,''' go around back, knock on the '''second door,''' and ask for '''Charlie.''' - go 52 ft
::[An icon of a van] 77. Tell '''Charlie''' the '''Dancing Stones''' are '''restless'''. He will give you his '''van'''. - Careful
::[An icon of a straw man] 78. Take '''Charlie's van''' down '''Old Mine Road'''. Do not wake the '''Straw Man'''. - go π mi
::← 79. Turn left on '''Comstock'''. When you feel the '''blood''' chill in your '''veins''', stop the van and '''get out.''' - go 3.2 mi
::↓ 80. Stand very still. Exits are '''north''', '''south''', and '''east''', but are blocked by a '''Spectral Wolf'''. - go 0 ft
::[An icon of a menacing face] 81. The '''Spectral Wolf''' fears only '''fire'''. The '''Google Maps Team''' can no longer help you, but if you master the '''wolf''', he will guide you. '''Godspeed.''' - go ?? mi

==See also==
*[https://www.maps.google.com Google Maps]
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Google Maps]]

2547: Siren

2021-11-27T09:12:55Z

141.101.99.154: /* Explanation */ I note that (without edit conflictnbeing highlighted) extra blurb was added by others. There's redundancy and repitition to be got rid of, but not right now. (Was going to link examples to my edit, but will hold off until stabilised.)

{{comic
| number = 2547
| date = November 26, 2021
| title = Siren
| image = siren.png
| titletext = Directions from CITY OF TROY to ITHACA / Total time: 10y 54d 14h 25m / Warning: Route crosses an international border / route includes capture by the goddess Calypso / route includes a ferry
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by ODYSSEUS’S BROKEN GPS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Odysseus}} is the hero of the Greek epic ''{{w|Odyssey}}'' by {{w|Homer}}. This is a poem that relates the journey of Odysseus back home to his homeland from the newly defeated Troy, and how he inadvertently angered Poseidon thus causing the journey to take 10 years.

In the story, now widely translated and adapted for modern aidiences, {{w|Circe}} warns Odysseus of the {{w|siren (mythology)|Sirens}}, who sing beautiful songs that lure sailors towards their shores, just to doom the boats to sink upon the jagged rocks surrounding their islands.

This comic reframes the advice as if Odysseus was being told to ignore the incorrect instructions of a {{w|Satellite navigation device|GPS-linked routefinder}}, rather than the Sirens. Errors, omissions or out-of-date information in the databases used by such devices famously have sent drivers down roads they might never have even tried to use (guided by printed maps, road-signs or even past experience) without the alluring voice of the 'infallible' dashboard device leading them through too-narrow lanes, into rivers or even hundreds of miles completely out of their way - perhaps to a destination similarly-named to their intended one. GPSs did not exist during the time the poem was written {{citation needed}}, so this could not be the case here.

A navigation system giving wrong directions can happen, for example, due to outdated or incomplete map data. Sometimes users can file an error report with the provider of the navigation system and hope that they fix the problem in a software update. This is what Circe already did multiple times. However, the error was not fixed, so she has to resort to telling Odysseus to ignore the route.

The title text shows what the route description could have looked like, had Odysseus indeed used a modern navigation system. It includes the start and destination of the route, the estimated duration and warnings about special circumstances of the journey.

Normally, the sea voyage from the City of Troy to Ithaca should take much less than ten years. For Odysseus it took so long because of the many obstacles he had to face, so the navigation system would have some sort of clairvoyance function built in.

"Route crosses an international border" and "Route includes a ferry" are standard warnings included in a route description. The latter alludes to the fact that Odysseus made the voyage by sea. "Route includes capture by the goddess {{w|Calypso (mythology)|Calypso}}" is not normally something that a navigation system would warn about or could know about, but this indeed happened to Odysseus in Homer's tale; he was kept on her island Ogygia for seven years.

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

:[Circe is speaking to Odysseus.]
:Circe: Remember, Odysseus:
:Circe: As you pass the rocks you will hear a woman calling out to you, urging you to stray from your path, but plug your ears and hold your course, for her beguiling lies will draw you to a watery grave.
:Circe: I don't know ''why'' they can't just fix it. I keep filing error reports.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Circe was actually just telling Odysseus to ignore his GPS.

{{comic discussion}}

328: Eggs

2021-11-26T03:09:38Z

141.101.99.154: Undo revision 221383 by 108.162.242.20 (talk) Whereas mature and unchildish individuals like yourself..?

{{comic
| number = 328
| date = October 12, 2007
| title = Eggs
| image = eggs.png
| titletext = Oh, yeah, we get tons of them at these casual sex bars.
}}

==Explanation==
At a bar, [[Cueball]] uses what appears to be a common cheesy pick-up line: "So, how do you like your eggs in the morning?" — implying that he will be the one cooking them, because they will still be together in the morning, after they spent the night having sex.

For women who do not appreciate such paltry attempts at soliciting sexual intercourse, a sardonic counter-response to the pick-up line is "unfertilized," which switches the meaning of "eggs" from {{w|egg (food)|chicken eggs}} to {{w|egg cell|female gametes}}, expressing the sentiment that they do not wish to have sex. However, in this scenario, it turns out Cueball is not actually trying to solicit sex from [[Megan]] at all, but is just interested in setting up jokes. Megan's desire for actual casual sex therefore subverts his plan for comedy. He politely declines her offer and tries instead with a different joke using the classic {{w|snowclone}} priest and rabbi setup.

The title text continues the conversation, where Megan reveals that the bar is actually a "casual sex bar" and further suggests that priests and rabbis do in fact come to the bar frequently. This is in contrast to real life, where women in bars are generally not interested in casual sex,{{Citation needed}} and such bars would probably not be frequented by religious leaders.

==Transcript==
:[Megan sits at a bar; Beret Guy cleans a glass from behind the counter. Cueball approaches.]
:Cueball: So, how do you like your eggs in the morning?
:Megan: Ooh, sunny side up.
:Cueball: Oh. Huh.
:Megan: Is that a problem?
:Cueball: Well, it's just that I was trying to set you up for the "unfertilized" line.
:Megan: Ah. Bad timing; I'm actually looking for casual sex. ...interested?
:Cueball: I'd love to, but I've got like 20 more jokes to set up tonight. Hey, have you seen a priest and a rabbi?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Food]]