explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2206: Mavis Beacon

2019-09-24T18:03:36Z

162.158.126.94: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2206
| date = September 23, 2019
| title = Mavis Beacon
| image = mavis_beacon.png
| titletext = There are actually lowercase-like 'oldstyle' forms of normal numbers with more pronounced ascenders and descenders, which is why some numbers like '5' in books sometimes dangle below the line. But the true capital numbers remain the domain of number maven Mavis Beacon.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an END BOSS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

''{{w|Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing}}'' is a computer game first released in 1987, with the goal of teaching touch-typing and improving typing speed on a computer keyboard. Unlike many video games, ''Mavis Beacon'' contains no combat and therefore does not feature any "{{w|Boss_(video_gaming)#Final_boss|end boss}}" (a very powerful enemy encountered as the final challenge of the game). In many video games, defeating major opponents "unlocks" special features, such as improved weapons. Also, playing ''Mavis Beacon'', although it may improve typing skill, has no effect on how typing works on one's computer.

However, [[Cueball]] asserts that after 30 years of playing ''Mavis Beacon'', he encountered and defeated such a boss. Playing the same game for 30 years is rare, and may not be an indicator of good mental health. Regardless, Cueball claims that defeating this "end boss" unlocked an ability to type esoteric "capital numbers," which Randall depicts as more extravagant versions of the familiar numerals. (Although modern Latin letters have different capital and lower-case forms, Arabic numerals--the conventional numerals 0-9 used in the Western world--do not.)

Typing such numerals is said to require pressing the Alt, tilde (~), Scroll Lock, and numeral keys at the same time. Some keyboard layouts do not have a scroll lock key or a separate tilde key (such that pressing ~ actually requires pressing a shift key along with the ~ key), and in any event pressing four or five keys at once would be quite difficult. In addition to this, many keyboards are incapable of pressing certain combinations of keys, especially combinations of more than 3. Needless to say, pressing all those keys simultaneously does not, in fact, do anything like what the comics describes in any known computer system, though some smaller subset of those keys together (i.e. "Alt ~" or "Alt numeral-key") might activate other operating system or user-defined shortcuts.

In the title text, Randall notes that [https://www.bamagazine.com/Text-type-typeface-s/105.htm in certain typefaces], numerals feature ascenders and descenders, much as lower-case letters do, rather than all standing at the full X-height like capital letters. He then goes on to joke that, conversely, there are true "capital numerals," but they are a guarded secret of Mavis Beacon. {{w|Mavis Beacon (character)|Mavis Beacon}} was the character created as the typing instructor for the ''Mavis Beacon'' game, and is fictional, not a real person. Additionally, as a typing instructor, this person (even if she actually existed) would not be able to change typographical standards. {{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is sitting in an office chair at his desk in front of his computer.]
:Computer: Congratulations.
:Computer: Use this power wisely.
:Computer: Key Code (Secret!!): <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>Tilde</kbd> + <kbd>Scroll Lock</kbd> + Number
:[stylized versions of the Arabic numerals 0-9]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:After 30 years, I finally beat the end boss of ''Mavis Beacon'' and unlocked the ability to type capital numbers.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]

2206: Mavis Beacon

2019-09-24T18:02:10Z

162.158.126.94:

{{comic
| number = 2206
| date = September 23, 2019
| title = Mavis Beacon
| image = mavis_beacon.png
| titletext = There are actually lowercase-like 'oldstyle' forms of normal numbers with more pronounced ascenders and descenders, which is why some numbers like '5' in books sometimes dangle below the line. But the true capital numbers remain the domain of number maven Mavis Beacon.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an END BOSS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

''{{w|Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing}}'' is a computer game first released in 1987, with the goal of teaching touch-typing and improving typing speed on a computer keyboard. Unlike many video games, ''Mavis Beacon'' contains no combat and therefore does not feature any "{{w|Boss_(video_gaming)#Final_boss|end boss}}" (a very powerful enemy encountered as the final challenge of the game). In many video games, defeating major opponents "unlocks" special features, such as improved weapons. Also, playing ''Mavis Beacon'', although it may improve typing skill, has no effect on how typing works on one's computer.

However, [[Cueball]] asserts that after 30 years of playing ''Mavis Beacon'', he encountered and defeated such a boss. Playing the same game for 30 years is rare, and may not be an indicator of good mental health. Regardless, Cueball claims that defeating this "end boss" unlocked an ability to type esoteric "capital numbers," which Randall depicts as more extravagant versions of the familiar numerals. (Although modern Latin letters have different capital and lower-case forms, numerals do not.)

Typing such numerals is said to require pressing the Alt, tilde (~), Scroll Lock, and numeral keys at the same time. Some keyboard layouts do not have a scroll lock key or a separate tilde key (such that pressing ~ actually requires pressing a shift key along with the ~ key), and in any event pressing four or five keys at once would be quite difficult. In addition to this, many keyboards are incapable of pressing certain combinations of keys, especially combinations of more than 3. Needless to say, pressing all those keys simultaneously does not, in fact, do anything like what the comics describes in any known computer system, though some smaller subset of those keys together (i.e. "Alt ~" or "Alt numeral-key") might activate other operating system or user-defined shortcuts.

In the title text, Randall notes that [https://www.bamagazine.com/Text-type-typeface-s/105.htm in certain typefaces], numerals feature ascenders and descenders, much as lower-case letters do, rather than all standing at the full X-height like capital letters. He then goes on to joke that, conversely, there are true "capital numerals," but they are a guarded secret of Mavis Beacon. {{w|Mavis Beacon (character)|Mavis Beacon}} was the character created as the typing instructor for the ''Mavis Beacon'' game, and is fictional, not a real person. Additionally, as a typing instructor, this person (even if she actually existed) would not be able to change typographical standards. {{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is sitting in an office chair at his desk in front of his computer.]
:Computer: Congratulations.
:Computer: Use this power wisely.
:Computer: Key Code (Secret!!): <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>Tilde</kbd> + <kbd>Scroll Lock</kbd> + Number
:[stylized versions of the Arabic numerals 0-9]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:After 30 years, I finally beat the end boss of ''Mavis Beacon'' and unlocked the ability to type capital numbers.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]

2206: Mavis Beacon

2019-09-24T18:00:46Z

162.158.126.94:

{{comic
| number = 2206
| date = September 23, 2019
| title = Mavis Beacon
| image = mavis_beacon.png
| titletext = There are actually lowercase-like 'oldstyle' forms of normal numbers with more pronounced ascenders and descenders, which is why some numbers like '5' in books sometimes dangle below the line. But the true capital numbers remain the domain of number maven Mavis Beacon.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an END BOSS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

''{{w|Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing}}'' is a computer game first released in 1987, with the goal of teaching touch-typing and improving typing speed on a computer keyboard. Unlike many video games, ''Mavis Beacon'' contains no combat and therefore does not feature any "{{w|Boss_(video_gaming)#Final_boss|end boss}}" (a very powerful enemy encountered as the final challenge of the game). In many video games, defeating major opponents "unlocks" special features, such as improved weapons. Also, playing ''Mavis Beacon'', although it may improve typing skill, has no effect on how typing works on one's computer.

However, [[Cueball]] asserts that after 30 years of playing ''Mavis Beacon'', he encountered and defeated such a boss. Playing the same game for 30 years is rare, and may not be an indicator of good mental health. Regardless, Cueball claims that defeating this "end boss" unlocked an ability to type esoteric "capital numbers," which Randall depicts as more extravagant versions of the familiar numerals. (Although modern Latin letters have different capital and lower-case forms, numerals do not.)

Typing such numerals is said to require pressing the Alt, tilde (~), Scroll Lock, and numeral keys at the same time. Some keyboard layouts do not have a scroll lock key or a separate tilde key (such that pressing ~ actually requires pressing a shift key along with the ~ key), and in any event pressing four or five keys at once would be quite difficult. In addition to this, many keyboards are incapable of pressing certain combinations of keys, especially combinations of more than 3. Needless to say, pressing all those keys simultaneously does not, in fact, do anything like what the comics describes in any known computer system, though some smaller subset of those keys together (i.e. "Alt ~" or "Alt numeral-key") might activate other operating system or user-defined shortcuts.

In the title text, Randall notes that [https://www.bamagazine.com/Text-type-typeface-s/105.htm in certain typefaces], numerals feature ascenders and descenders, much as lower-case letters do, rather than all standing at the full X-height like capital letters. He then goes on to joke that "capital numerals" are a guarded secret of Mavis Beacon. {{w|Mavis Beacon (character)|Mavis Beacon}} was the character created as the typing instructor for the ''Mavis Beacon'' game, and does not actually exist as a real-life person. Additionally, as a typing instructor, this person (even if she actually existed) would not be able to change typographical standards. {{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball is sitting in an office chair at his desk in front of his computer.]
:Computer: Congratulations.
:Computer: Use this power wisely.
:Computer: Key Code (Secret!!): <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>Tilde</kbd> + <kbd>Scroll Lock</kbd> + Number
:[stylized versions of the Arabic numerals 0-9]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:After 30 years, I finally beat the end boss of ''Mavis Beacon'' and unlocked the ability to type capital numbers.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]

2206: Mavis Beacon

2019-09-23T18:59:04Z

162.158.126.94: /* Explanation */

2206: Mavis Beacon

2019-09-23T18:56:59Z

162.158.126.94: /* Explanation */

2206: Mavis Beacon

2019-09-23T18:54:47Z

162.158.126.94: /* Explanation */

Talk:2170: Coordinate Precision

2019-07-01T23:04:06Z

162.158.126.94:

The coordinates seem to show a NASA building, so in the end you're still soing something space related. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.196|172.69.55.196]] 19:47, 1 July 2019 (UTC)Some random European.
:The more precise coordinates are actually in the middle of the Rocket Garden at the Visitor's Center of the Kennedy Space Center complex. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 19:58, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

The atom-level coordinates are obtained by appending digits of e and pi to the Rocket Garden coordinates. [[User:Ichoran|Ichoran]] ([[User talk:Ichoran|talk]]) 20:21, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

I always find it very funny to see all those decimals. Regular GPS devices have an uncertainty of 3 meters if there is no interference from trees, buildings or whatever. That puts you at about 4 to 5 decimals I guess. [[User:Palmpje|Palmpje]] ([[User talk:Palmpje|talk]]) 20:26, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
:A Google Maps webpage URL includes coordinates to seven decimal places. [[User:EmuSam|EmuSam]] ([[User talk:EmuSam|talk]]) 20:48, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
::Sure but out there with your handheld GPS or normal consumer device that includes a GPS receiver you won't get more precision than about 3 meters. And when your at the higher latitudes you're probably not getting that. [[User:Palmpje|Palmpje]] ([[User talk:Palmpje|talk]]) 20:52, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

So combining this comic with #2169, is Randal suggesting he'll be at the Rocket Garden on July 28th (much as he did in #240)? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.208|108.162.216.208]] 20:47, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
:It says ''June'' 28th. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.22|162.158.126.22]] 20:52, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
::No, the date of that comic is June 28, but the title text says: [AT THE JULY 28TH MEETING] --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:51, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
:::Ah, that makes sense. For some reason my app only showed the first part of the tirle text --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.94|162.158.126.94]] 23:04, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Regrettably, there are two dimensions missing, Z and T. Without Z (elevation)+/- you could be in space or in a neutrino detector. T is only relevant for dynamic objects, but there again, the Americas are going West at a measurable rate! [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 21:30, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

The seventh row is likely a reference to comic number 1358 where two stick figures try to find waldo via satellite. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.226.125|172.69.226.125]] 21:44, 1 July 2019 (UTC) kisara, 21:42, 1 July 2019 (utc)

10^-40 degrees on the surface of the earth translates to about 0.7 planck lengths. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.234|162.158.106.234]] 21:50, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

2105: Modern OSI Model

2019-01-30T13:59:26Z

162.158.126.94:

{{comic
| number = 2105
| date = January 30, 2019
| title = Modern OSI Model
| image = modern_osi_model.png
| titletext = In retrospect, I shouldn't have used each layer of the OSI model as one of my horcruxes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a seven-layered BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|OSI Model}} is a computing model for network communications that abstracts a communication between two services like a Facebook client and Facebook servers all the way from physical to user interaction layers. As Facebook is one of the most used websites in the world with more than a billion users, Randall claims that the "application" layer (what the client sees and uses) is mostly Facebook.

A light gray shape labeled "Google & Amazon" surrounds all seven layers of the model in an irregular shape indicating that Google and Amazon, by dint of their size and dominance at multiple layers of model influence the entire structure. An example of Google's influence would be their introduction of new protocols like {{w|QUIC}} and {{w|SPDY}} as replacements for the existing HTTP protocol that was a foundation of the web.

The title text refers to Horcruxes used by Voldemort in the Harry Potter book series. A Horcrux is a magical artifact used to house a wizard's soul, preventing them from dying if their body is destroyed. Since they can only be created by murdering other people, they are heavily forbidden, and before Voldemort it was unheard of for a wizard to use more than one. Voldemort used seven -- the same number of layers Randall uses in the OSI model. However, while Voldemort hid his seven Horcruxes in different places to make himself that much harder to kill, Randall has stashed all seven in the same place, defeating the purpose of using more than one. Alternatively, transforming each layer of the OSI model into a horcrux may be regarded as a strategy to prevent them from being destroyed since doing so would destroy networking. This strategy would fail in the modern world, since some of the envisioned layers were rarely used and in the case of cloud infrastructure potential exists to provide even more shortcuts.

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

:'''Modern OSI Model'''

::Application (Facebook)

::Presentation

::Session

::Transport

::Network

:Google & Amazon

::Data link

::Physical

{{comic discussion}}

2105: Modern OSI Model

2019-01-30T13:59:02Z

162.158.126.94: add wikipedia links

{{comic
| number = 2105
| date = January 30, 2019
| title = Modern OSI Model
| image = modern_osi_model.png
| titletext = In retrospect, I shouldn't have used each layer of the OSI model as one of my horcruxes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a seven-layered BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|OSI Model}} is a computing model for network communications that abstracts a communication between two services like a Facebook client and Facebook servers all the way from physical to user interaction layers. As Facebook is one of the most used websites in the world with more than a billion users, Randall claims that the "application" layer (what the client sees and uses) is mostly Facebook.

A light gray shape labeled "Google & Amazon" surrounds all seven layers of the model in an irregular shape indicating that Google and Amazon, by dint of their size and dominance at multiple layers of model influence the entire structure. An example of Google's influence would be their introduction of new protocols like {{w|QUIC}} and {{w|SPDY}}as replacements for the existing HTTP protocol that was a foundation of the web.

The title text refers to Horcruxes used by Voldemort in the Harry Potter book series. A Horcrux is a magical artifact used to house a wizard's soul, preventing them from dying if their body is destroyed. Since they can only be created by murdering other people, they are heavily forbidden, and before Voldemort it was unheard of for a wizard to use more than one. Voldemort used seven -- the same number of layers Randall uses in the OSI model. However, while Voldemort hid his seven Horcruxes in different places to make himself that much harder to kill, Randall has stashed all seven in the same place, defeating the purpose of using more than one. Alternatively, transforming each layer of the OSI model into a horcrux may be regarded as a strategy to prevent them from being destroyed since doing so would destroy networking. This strategy would fail in the modern world, since some of the envisioned layers were rarely used and in the case of cloud infrastructure potential exists to provide even more shortcuts.

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

:'''Modern OSI Model'''

::Application (Facebook)

::Presentation

::Session

::Transport

::Network

:Google & Amazon

::Data link

::Physical

{{comic discussion}}

2083: Laptop Issues

2018-12-10T21:17:19Z

162.158.126.94:

{{comic
| number = 2083
| date = December 10, 2018
| title = Laptop Issues
| image = laptop_issues.png
| titletext = Hang on, we got a call from the feds. They say we can do whatever with him, but the EPA doesn't want that laptop in the ocean. They're sending a team.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Edited by a beleaguered tech support user. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] goes to tech support with his laptop. [[Hairy]] and [[Ponytail]] are waiting behind the counter; one has dealt with [[:Category:Cueball Computer Problems|Cueball's bizarre tech issues]] before, and warns the other. Sure enough, Cueball sets the computer down and offers a detailed list of the arcane problems his computer is giving him.

{|class="wikitable"
| ''My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.''
| A common problem; as batteries are frequently charged and recharged, their capacity for storing charge deteriorates. However...
|-
| ''Tried [replacing the battery]. Now the new ones won't either.''
| ...the problem persisting despite the battery's replacement fails to make any significant sense. It my be a problem with his laptop's charging port, but his comment that the "new ones" now fail to hold a charge seems to imply it is persisting despite the replacement batteries being used elsewhere after attempting to use them for his laptop and failing... Many modern batteries have firmware built in now that reports their charge level. It is possible that his laptop is installing a faulty firmware to any batteries that get connected.
|-
| ''Also, random files get corrupted on the first of every month. Factory reset didn't help either.''
| Some devices may be scheduled to do a "disk cleanup" on the first of every month. Somehow, this task is corrupting files that should be kept.
|-
| ''When it's plugged in, I get static from my plumbing.''
| Static charge from a portable device while it's charging is common. Static charge from ''elsewhere in the building'' while the portable device is charging... not so much. However, plumbing systems on older houses were often used to provide a ground instead of using grounding rods, which are now the accepted norm. This could imply that for Cueball's house is old, and for some reason his laptop is pumping a large amount of charge directly to ground.
|-
| ''And it reboots if someone uses an arc welder nearby''
| Setting aside the question of why Cueball is using his laptop around an arc welder (although he doesn't specify what qualifies as "nearby"), the high power draw of an arc welder will occasionally cause less devoted power supplies to flicker. For some reason, this is causing his laptop to reboot instead. This could also be just because the arc welder is causing a large amount of electromagnetic interference.
|-
| ''Transition(R) lenses go dark when exposed to the screen''
| Transition lenses in prescription glasses darken when exposed directly to UV rays; this is to avoid the wearer any hassle of needing prescription sunglasses. This seems to indicate that the screen of Cueball's laptop is emitting UV radiation.
|-
| ''and when I open too many tabs, it fogs any nearby photographic film.''
| The screen would have to emitting X-rays that can pass through the film's container and expose the film. This may be a reference to the science fiction book series {{w|The Three-Body Problem (novel)|''The Three Body Problem''}}, where one character finds that all of his pictures become blurred, no matter how they were taken.
|}

The sheer incongruity of everything Cueball has reported, in combination with past issues, leads Hairy to report that his manager has authorized Cueball and his laptop be thrown into the ocean so that their plague upon the earth may no longer spread. Cueball, having surrendered to his inability to use technology, accepts this without objection. This is a reference to [[1912:_Thermostat|1912: Thermostat]], where Cueball has an issue with their thermostat, and the Tech support employee asks them if they have tried walking into the sea. It seems this suggestion has evolved into forcefully throwing him into the sea, for lack of a better idea.

The alt-text contains mention of the Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) a part of the United States government responsible for preventing pollution. In real life, most of a laptop computer's components are considered toxic waste, and the EPA, as part of their mission, would not want it dumped in the ocean. More to the point, it's implied that whatever Cueball did to it renders it far more dangerous than an ordinary laptop, and the EPA ''really'' doesn't want his cursed possessions in the ocean; thus they are sending a hazmat team to collect the laptop and safely dispose of it.

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

:[Cueball is walking past a sign reading "Tech Support," with a right-pointing arrow and carrying a laptop.]
:Off panel voice #1: Oh, No.
:Off panel voice #2: What?
:Off panel voice #1: This guy. He has the worst tech problems.

:[Cueball at tech support desk with closed laptop on desk. Hairy and Ponytail are there.]
:Cueball: My laptop's battery won't hold a charge.
:Hairy: We can replace it.
:Cueball: Tried that. Now the new ones won't either.

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: Also, random files get corrupted on the first day of every month. Factory reset didn't help.
:Off panel voice #2: You weren't kidding.

:[Close-up of Cueball]
:Cueball: When it's plugged in, I get static shocks from my plumbing.
:Off panel voice: What the...
:Cueball: And it reboots if someone uses an arc welder nearby.

:[Same tableau as second panel except that the laptop is slightly open now.]
:Cueball: Transitions® lenses go dark when exposed to the screen, and when I open too many tabs, it fogs nearby photographic film.
:Hairy: We don't usually do this, but I've gotten permission from my manager to have you and the laptop hurled into the ocean.
:Cueball: That's probably for the best.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

Talk:2011: Newton's Trajectories

2018-06-25T19:40:24Z

162.158.126.94:

Actually he's talking about ICBM's that have the potential to end civilisation in fire if actually launched, not the crash of a spaceship.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.156|141.101.107.156]] 04:39, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
Agreed, the object emitted from the cannon is either a rocket or an ICBM.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.158.46|172.69.158.46]] 04:51, 25 June 2018 (UTC)

Couldn't he be talking about the rocket being mistaken for whatever big bomb we use right now and start the whole mutually assured destruction gig? I hear that there have been a lot of close calls/radar malfunctions/whatever whatevers that almost sent us into the apocalypse. Come on, Didn't Germany write a song about that? (Granted, it's apparently the show of force that starts the war, but you guys get my point) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.233|172.69.33.233]] 05:42, 25 June 2018 (UTC)

:I am German and didn't write a song on that issue. The song that comes closest for me is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0nw9PAL9WQ Fylingdale Flyer] by Jethro Tull.

:Ninety-nine red balloons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons) by Nena - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.148|108.162.219.148]] 08:02, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
::''Neun Und Neunzig Luftballons'', to say the title of the original German version in its native tongue.
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 17:54, 25 June 2018 (UTC)

I was surprised to see the quote 'slip the bonds of earth' on a circular orbit. This seems pretty bound to earth. Wouldn't it have made more sense to include a parabolic escape trajectory? --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 10:01, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
:Except (as far as we know) Newton never considered parabolic trajectories. Whether he did or didn't, the original diagram didn't show anything beyond a circular orbit. [[User:Mr. I|Mr. I]] ([[User talk:Mr. I|talk]]) 12:36, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
:Maybe because the hard part is attaining a stable orbit. Once you do that, it's relatively trivial to escape it. Indeed even the orbit itself, while being determined by Earth, can be considered an escape since you will never again come back to Earth as long as that orbit is maintained. So Randall may have considered that close enough to talk about escaping the bonds of earth (which the stable orbit accomplished) and traveling to the stars (which is the logical next step; or at least to moons and planets so far in our case). [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 15:03, 25 June 2018 (UTC)

When Jane's Defence discusses strategic (read: nuclear) weapons systems, they do not distinguish between satellite delivery vehicles and ICBM launch vehicles. The only differences are the trajectory and the payload. This comic is definitely about satellites and ICBMs. I'm new here, sorry if I'm not signing this properly --OtherBarry--

Fiery death is also mankinds's future if we remain passive and refrain from destroying ourselves, since the sun will eventually grow to engulf the earth. ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_Earth#Solar_evolution Solar Evolution]) So the comic is not necessarily as pessimistic as some may think. However, he leaves out the possibility of civilization ending in a non-fiery way before this event. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.230.10|198.41.230.10]] 16:48, 25 June 2018 (UTC)

Note that for this comic the launch angle is near vertical and for all cases the object launched is steered in flight to the final trajectory. For Newton's canonball the ball was launched horizontal to the local Earth surface from a high mountain. A canonball launched vertically appears to be acted on by "forces" when seen from the Earth frame of reference. These "forces" depend on the launch site, altitude and velocity of the object - they are due to the rotating frame of reference. Baring atmospheric resistance, the only true forces on the ball after launch is gravity. But it is certainly true a ball fired vertically from anywhere but the poles does not land back at the site of launch due to the rotation of the Earth. For canon available in Newtons day corrections to aim were not necessary but by the late 1800's big guns were firing projectiles far and high enough that corrections for Coriolis forces were required. Corrections were pre-calculated for range and firing direction for whatever theater of war the gun was being used.