explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2491: Immune Factory

2021-07-21T01:03:24Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2491
| date = July 20, 2021
| title = Immune Factory
| image = immune_factory.png
| titletext = In the final vote, the doubters were won over by the strength of the name IMMUNION.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an IMMUNION. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is another entry in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic|2020-21 pandemic}} of the {{w|SARS-CoV-2}} virus, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}, specifically regarding the [[:Category:COVID-19 vaccine|COVID-19 vaccine]].

When [[Hairy]] received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, his body began building a defense in the form of antibodies. He has now received his second shot, and is feeling even more unwell than the first time, since his body has ramped up the production of antibodies, as [[Cueball]] states. Hairy and Cueball then begins to make comments that metaphorically compare Hairy's immune system to a factory, hence the title Immune Factory.

Vaccines in general work by giving the body's immune system a chance to respond to a pathogen without actually being infected. The immune system responds by producing antibodies, proteins customised to attach to the pathogen, either disabling it directly or marking it for attack by immune cells. After the vaccine (or after an actual illness), the {{w|Immunological memory|immune system remembers}} how to make the antibodies and can more quickly respond to future infections. This is why Hairy describes his body as an "antibody factory".

However, many common symptoms of illness (such as fever, soreness, diarrhea and nausea) are actually caused by the body's immune response rather than the infection itself. As a result, vaccines can result in similar symptoms to an illness, albeit milder and of shorter duration.

Hairy extends the "body as factory" metaphor by complaining that, since he feels unwell, the factory must be violating {{w|Occupational Safety and Health Administration|OSHA}} regulations—that is, rules that protect workers from unsafe work conditions. Hairy says his {{w|lymphatic system}} (a major component of the immune system) is protesting the "brutal" work of responding to the vaccine, as human workers might protest a dangerous workplace.

In real workplaces, one possible response to worker dissatisfaction is for them to {{w|Trade union|unionize}}, forming an organization that can use their solidarity to bargain for improvements to working conditions. Hairy says that this is what his immune cells have done. It is not clear whether this corresponds to any actual part of the immune response, or whether it is simply a humorous expansion on the "factory" metaphor.

Cueball uses the "union" statement to set up a pun on two meanings of the word "scab". If unions make demands that an employer refuses, their workers may {{w|Strike action|strike}}, or refuse to work. Employers may keep the workplace running by hiring {{w|strikebreaker}}s, non-union workers (or union workers who break ranks with their colleagues). Union members may refer to strikebreakers by the pejorative term "scabs".

That perjorative meaning of "scab" is derived from the hard coating the body produces to cover a bleeding or seeping wound while it heals, which is unattractive (though biologically useful). {{w|Smallpox}} is a dangerous illness that causes ulcers upon the skin, leading to many small scabs forming as those ulcers heal. Prior to modern vaccination techniques, people were sometimes deliberately infected with smallpox—typically from a person with a mild case—while they were healthy. This process, now called {{w|variolation}} (after ''Variola'', the virus that causes smallpox), could be done in various ways.

One old method was to {{w|Insufflation (medicine)|insufflate}} (blow up their nose) the powdered scabs of a person who had been sick, introducing the material via one or other mucus membrane, but another was to create a deliberately 'messy' surface wound with a skin cutting device 'infected' with the vaccination substance. These days, the modern vaccination process usually involves a deeper injection, intramuscular, with a sharp needle that does not create significant surface scabbing and leave a life-long vaccination scar.

The pun therefore is that members of the immune system union would not like ''either'' kind of scab. Hairy {{tvtropes|LamePunReaction|finds the pun appalling, and tells Cueball to leave}}.

The title-text parodies the trend for recent incarnations of unions to rebranded or form anew with a descriptively apt name (possibly with a forced acronym, or styled as one for branding purposes), rather than the (Extended/[https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/VETLA Very Extended]/etc) Three Letter Acronyms of times past. In this case making a portmanteau of "immune union" - Immunion. The cleverness of this name apparently convinced some of Hairy's immune cells that were previously opposed to the union to change their minds.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball walks in from the left, hand held up in front of him, to where Hairy is sitting in an armchair facing away, presumably feeling sick from a second {{w|COVID-19}} vaccination. Hairy is wrapped in a blanket and holding a steaming mug, and his hair is messy.]
:Cueball: I guess the first shot made your body build defenses, and now it's ramping up production.
:Hairy: So I've become an antibody factory.

:[Cueball has walked around the chair and is now facing Hairy, whose mug continues to steam.]
:Hairy: I don't feel great. I think my factory has some OSHA violations.
:Hairy: My lymphatic system is protesting brutal working conditions.

:[In a frame-less panel, Cueball continues to stand in front of Hairy, whose mug is steaming less.]
:Hairy: Update: my immune cells have unionized.
:Cueball: Common side effect. Helps maintain a healthy balance.

:[In a panel with a frame, Cueball has raised a finger into the air, while Hairy is pointing in Cueball's direction. Hairy's mug is no longer steaming.]
:Cueball: Immune system unions are actually why we stopped doing variolation.
:Hairy: Oh? Why?
:Cueball: They don't like scabs.
:Hairy: ''Ugh. Leave.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Portmanteau]]
[[Category:Puns]]

Talk:2488: Board Game Argument: Legacy

2021-07-15T06:17:56Z

162.158.146.220:

So there is a game wherein one can write "sudu bring me a samich" as part of the rules? Excellent! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.7|172.69.63.7]] 06:47, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

The game Cueball is handlig seems to be Boggle, the one Meghan is leaning on might be Wingspan. Can someone identify the others? If we can get a full table, we should add it to the article. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.37|162.158.89.37]] 07:48, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

Here's a closeup of the games with added math:
(''edit: This super-wide embedded image completely messes with both the Talk page and the Talk-embedding normal page, at least for me, so I'm editing it out for sanity's sake - the IP editor below'') [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 16:08, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
: The full ''original image link'' that will show what I edited out as a File: insertion is https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b4/2488-board-games.png - there may be better ways to address it as a non-inline image (or one that does not override usual page-width limits to make everything else squash into super-small font stuck into a partial page-width column of text until I pinch-zoom it back to 'normal'), in which case I invite you to entirely edit out ''my'' comment and do it better below/above as you see fit... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.206|141.101.98.206]] 21:32, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

The one on top in front of Ponytail is Wits & Wagers. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.131|162.158.187.131]] 19:20, 13 July 2021 (UTC)

fun fact: this is a different table than the one used in another board-game themed comic, [[1566: Board Game]] .[[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.69|172.70.35.69]] 21:41, 13 July 2021 (UTC)Bumpf

The one with a big cursive O is the game Obsession. The one in front of White Hat is none other than Mall Madness.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.126|108.162.237.126]] 00:22, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Mall Madness FTW.
[https://cf.geekdo-images.com/I4Db4Rx-0ilbycOQIVtRsw__imagepagezoom/img/D7UKycHzGStyyTBukyL5UIIqWOM=/fit-in/1200x900/filters:no_upscale():strip_icc()/pic6278557.png Only a couple left unsolved] - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 04:13, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the main text is riffing on RISK: Legacy, which develops a world over 15 games in which stickers are placed and cards are ripped up and unlocked for play. Thoughts?
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.220|162.158.146.220]] 06:17, 15 July 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2486: Board Game Party Schedule

2021-07-09T16:38:50Z

162.158.146.220: I think the explanation is wrong. The title says "Board Game" so I don't think explanation examples should be table-top games.

I've done the best I can starting this out. Since it's been years since I did gatherings like this, if someone can suggest more modern examples of complicated tabletop simulation games than the ones I suggested (Squad Leader and SFB started in the late 1970s, for heaven's sake), please do so. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.236|108.162.245.236]] 00:27, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

How about Seven Wonders? [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 04:59, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

This is why we always decide the game before inviting people. Then people can already head home before 11pm. To be more serious, the most complicated game that we played with novices was Eclipse with several expansions in a 9 player setup. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.160|162.158.88.160]] 07:15, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

The classics for my home group with this are Kingmaker and Twilight Imperium. In fact to even suggest those we now have to plan a week or month ahead of time. [[User:Thaledison|Erin Anne]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 13:51, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

A "simpler" game, like Catan or Dominion...?
Um. More like Scattergories, Scrabble, Sorry, Yahtzee, Apples to Apples, Uno, even Go Fish. Catan and Dominion might be relatively well known, but they are NOT simple. My experience is that the strategically-minded people who love immersive resource-allocation based games like Catan and Dominion are frequently open to learning new games, while the crowd that opts for "simpler" games typically just want to have fun without having to think too hard about stuff. (I say this as someone who loves immersive resource-allocation games, with a girlfriend who typically prefers the simpler stuff.)
Also, feels like Scythe deserves a mention, as a game that might be pulled out of a cupboard for game night but ends up taking hours to set up and explain. Whereas Warhammer players typically seek out their own, rather than casually springing their hobby on the general public. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.84|108.162.221.84]] 17:05, 8 July 2021 (UTC) mezimm
: Fair, although with my group what usually ends up happening is side games of Magic: the Gathering, and that's not simple, but it's quick to setup and doesn't take super long to complete. [[User:Thaledison|Erin Anne]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 13:22, 9 July 2021 (UTC)

Yeah, a not-a-COVID-19 comic. That said, just curious, why don't we include the title text as part of the transcript? Was a decision made some time ago to not include these, or have we just not been doing it for so long and no one questioned this until just now. [[Special:Contributions/127.0.0.1|127.0.0.1]] 19:00, 8 July 2021 (UTC)
:(Nice IP. *cough*) The transcript describes in text that which cannot already be read as text (without OCR, etc). The title-text is already in text form, reiteration would be redundantly repetitive. - Or so I've seen it explained several times before, and it makes perfect sense to me. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.105|162.158.158.105]] 03:10, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
::Thanks for the explanation. Also, why are you talking to yourself? [[Special:Contributions/127.0.0.1|127.0.0.1]] 17:12, 9 July 2021 (UTC)

I think the explanation is wrong. If you've played table-top games, a semi-complicated game like Catan or Ticket to Ride may seem simple. But the title says "Board Game" so I don't think explanation examples should be table-top games. In terms of "complicatedness", this comic is referring to the middle of the road: e.g. Checkers<Catan<Car Wars.

== that was fast ==

this was my first time looking up the most recent comic on here (though it wasn't 'cause [I'm] dumb'... for once), and can I just say you all work really fast at getting a basic explanation written out. Your work is much appreciated by this student software dev :-)--[[User:Twisted Code|Twisted Code]] ([[User talk:Twisted Code|talk]]) 18:56, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

1787: Voice Commands

2021-07-04T17:01:24Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1787
| date = January 18, 2017
| title = Voice Commands
| image = voice_commands.png
| titletext = Dvorak words may sound hard to pronounce, but studies show they actually put less stress on the vocal cords.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[Cueball]] has shown [[Ponytail]] something relevant to her on his smartphone and she asks if he can send it to her. He agrees but then says something completely incomprehensible to Ponytail, but obviously his phone understands and sends the message with a beep.

The caption explains that he was speaking as though he was using a {{w|QWERTY}} keyboard layout and writing as it was a {{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard}}. In other words, Cueball is saying keys on a Dvorak keyboard and the phone is receiving the spaces on a QWERTY keyboard that each of Cueball's Dvorak letters uses. Cueball can be sure that nobody else will be able to use voice commands on his phone.

The sentence Cueball tells his phone translates to "Okay Google send a text" -- he says it as if he were typing the sentence on a Dvorak layout with the keyboard set to a QWERTY layout. How such words would be pronounced is a mystery, as the letters in the words are merely substituted with others with no regard to phonetics; without standardized pronunciations, a speech-to-text program would be useless. To add to the confusion, one of the words in Cueball's sentence includes a semi-colon as one of its letters despite the fact that semi-colons are punctuation rather than phonemes, which only complicates the pronunciation further.

The title text is a reference to the fact that many users of Dvorak keyboards claim they may be hard to learn, but they are more movement efficient and put less stress on your fingers due to less movement. This makes little sense in the scenario set up by the comic, as speaking gibberish using oddly placed vowels would be equally difficult, if not in fact harder, on the vocal cords.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is looking at Cueball facing her direction, and he looks down at the smartphone he is holding in his hand.]
:Ponytail: Can you text it to me?
:Cueball: Sure!
:Cueball: ''Svat ussupd ;dlh a kdbk''
:Ponytail: ...What?
:Phone: ''*Beep*''

:[Caption under the panel:]
:Setting my phone's speech recognition to Dvorak was a pain at first, but it's more efficient in the long run.

==Trivia==
*Using a Dvorak keyboard layout on a smartphone (for actual typing, not voice commands) is possible, but the very features that make it desirable in a physical touch-typing environment are drawbacks on a swipe-enabled keyboard. A placement designed to alternate a typist's left and right hands requires the finger of a swipist to travel back and forth across the keyboard more often. Fitting commonly-used letters onto the typist's home row reduces finger movement but makes many words the swipist enters indistinguishable. On a QWERTY swipe keyboard, four English words can be entered by swiping right to left from P to T: "pot", "pit", "put", and "pout"; however, setting the layout to Dvorak causes this to happen with many more common sets of words.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]

1787: Voice Commands

2021-07-04T17:00:43Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1787
| date = January 18, 2017
| title = Voice Commands
| image = voice_commands.png
| titletext = Dvorak words may sound hard to pronounce, but studies show they actually put less stress on the vocal cords.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[Cueball]] has shown [[Ponytail]] something relevant to her on his smartphone and she asks if he can send it to her. He agrees but then says something completely incomprehensible to Ponytail, but obviously his phone understands and sends the message with a beep.

The caption explains that he was speaking as though he was using a {{w|QWERTY}} keyboard layout and writing as it was a {{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard}}. In other words, Cueball is saying keys on a Dvorak keyboard and the phone is receiving the spaces on a QWERTY keyboard that each of Cueball's Dvorak letters uses.Cueball can be sure that nobody else will be able to use voice commands on his phone.

The sentence Cueball tells his phone translates to "Okay Google send a text" -- he says it as if he were typing the sentence on a Dvorak layout with the keyboard set to a QWERTY layout. How such words would be pronounced is a mystery, as the letters in the words are merely substituted with others with no regard to phonetics; without standardized pronunciations, a speech-to-text program would be useless. To add to the confusion, one of the words in Cueball's sentence includes a semi-colon as one of its letters despite the fact that semi-colons are punctuation rather than phonemes, which only complicates the pronunciation further.

The title text is a reference to the fact that many users of Dvorak keyboards claim they may be hard to learn, but they are more movement efficient and put less stress on your fingers due to less movement. This makes little sense in the scenario set up by the comic, as speaking gibberish using oddly placed vowels would be equally difficult, if not in fact harder, on the vocal cords.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is looking at Cueball facing her direction, and he looks down at the smartphone he is holding in his hand.]
:Ponytail: Can you text it to me?
:Cueball: Sure!
:Cueball: ''Svat ussupd ;dlh a kdbk''
:Ponytail: ...What?
:Phone: ''*Beep*''

:[Caption under the panel:]
:Setting my phone's speech recognition to Dvorak was a pain at first, but it's more efficient in the long run.

==Trivia==
*Using a Dvorak keyboard layout on a smartphone (for actual typing, not voice commands) is possible, but the very features that make it desirable in a physical touch-typing environment are drawbacks on a swipe-enabled keyboard. A placement designed to alternate a typist's left and right hands requires the finger of a swipist to travel back and forth across the keyboard more often. Fitting commonly-used letters onto the typist's home row reduces finger movement but makes many words the swipist enters indistinguishable. On a QWERTY swipe keyboard, four English words can be entered by swiping right to left from P to T: "pot", "pit", "put", and "pout"; however, setting the layout to Dvorak causes this to happen with many more common sets of words.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]

2484: H-alpha

2021-07-04T08:47:23Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2484
| date = July 2, 2021
| title = H-alpha
| image = h_alpha.png
| titletext = "All the companies whose blimps I shot fireworks at are mad, but MetLife is especially miffed because I dressed up as the Red Baron."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RED BARON. Elaborate on title-text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Black Hat]] has acquired an {{w|H-alpha}} filter. As he explains to [[Cueball]], these filters are used to look at the Sun during scientific observations, as looking at the Sun bare-eyed will do damage to one's eyes; a camera using such a filter was seen in [[1828: ISS Solar Transit]], and the consequences of not using such a filter were explored in [[2227: Transit of Mercury]].

Black Hat points out that the filter can also be used to look at {{w|nebula}}e, but doesn't see much further use for it; as the filter only transmits a very narrow bandwidth of light, one generated by hot hydrogen, it is not useful for looking at much else. This gives him an idea, and he leaves.

WARNING: A deep sky nebula H-alpha filter has a wider bandwidth than a solar H-alpha filter and WILL hurt the eyes if used to try and observe the sun !!!!

Upon returning, he shares with Cueball three seemingly unrelated observations which suggest what he got up to in the meantime: that most modern {{w|blimp|blimps}} use helium to keep them aloft, that their household is out of fireworks, and that an advertising company (or several, going by the title text) is upset. Before the 1960s, most {{w|airship|airships}} such as blimps and {{w|zeppelin|zeppelins}} used hydrogen as the lifting gas, which resulted in several catastrophic accidents when the highly flammable gas caught fire such as the {{w|LZ 129 Hindenburg|Hindenburg}}. Apparently, Black Hat was not aware that modern blimps use helium instead, and tried to set light to an advertising blimp using fireworks: he could then have used his H-alpha filter to look at the burning hydrogen. (Several companies use blimps for advertising, as they are an unusual and hence enticing sight in the sky, offer a large surface area that can be used to show a slogan or logo, and can stay aloft for a long time with comparatively little cost.)

While modern blimps do use helium, which is an inert gas, Black Hat also should have failed because advertising blimps typically fly higher than firework range, which raises the question of why Black Hat would have suspected that the blimps did not ignite if the fireworks did not reach the blimps. However, it's possible that Black Hat has a way to make fireworks go higher/farther, especially considering Black Hat's sadistic tendencies and the potential for fireworks to be used as weapons.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wallace |first1=Danielle |title=Crowds launch fireworks at brewery, draw guns on drivers as riots spread from Portland to smaller Oregon city |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-riots-spread-eugene-oregon-antifa |website=Fox News |access-date=3 July 2021 |date=27 July 2020 |quote=A small Oregon city less than a two-hour drive from Portland experienced rioting Saturday night as hundreds targeted a county jail and federal courthouse with fireworks before attacking businesses downtown while employees remained trapped inside.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Artemis Moshtaghian |author2=Eliott C. McLaughlin |title=Portland demonstration declared a riot after protesters launch fireworks at federal courthouse |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/portland-riots-july-4/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=3 July 2021 |quote=During demonstrations in downtown Portland, Oregon, protesters blocked traffic on Main Street and launched fireworks from the street, injuring officers, the Portland Police Bureau said in a Sunday statement.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Artemis Moshtaghian |author2=Eliott C. McLaughlin |title=Portland demonstration declared a riot after protesters launch fireworks at federal courthouse |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/portland-riots-july-4/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=3 July 2021 |quote=The crowd also blocked traffic and launched "commercial-grade fireworks" toward the justice center and at the nearby federal courthouse, police said.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Artemis Moshtaghian |author2=Eliott C. McLaughlin |title=Portland demonstration declared a riot after protesters launch fireworks at federal courthouse |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/portland-riots-july-4/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=3 July 2021 |quote=The fireworks injured several officers when they exploded on or near them, the statement said.}}</ref>

Cueball "responds" by holding whatever he's reading closer to his face, apparently hoping to avoid further conversation (or consequences).

The title text references how, until 2016, insurance company MetLife used the character Snoopy as an advertising mascot. In the ''Peanuts'' comics, Snoopy would frequently imagine himself as a fighter pilot in World War I in an aerial battle with the Red Baron, which he would frequently lose.

This comic was published shortly before {{w|Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day}} 2021, a US holiday that is often commemorated with fireworks, which may explain why the house had so many fireworks at the beginning of this comic. As parts of America were undergoing an extreme {{w|2021 Western North America heat wave|heat wave}} at the same time, several regions recommended against or banned the firing of fireworks, to reduce the risk of wildfires.

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

:[Black Hat is holding a device in his hand]
:Black Hat: I got an H-Alpha filter for looking at the sun.

:[non-bordered panel with Black Hat standing behind Cueball, who is reading on an armchair]
:Black Hat: It also works for nebulae. But that's about it. There just aren't that many hot blobs of hydrogen to look at, I guess.

:[Black Hat is now holding his empty hand to his chin]
:Black Hat: Unless...

:[Black Hat leaves, away from Cueball]

:[Beat panel]

:[Black Hat re-enters; his black hat is somewhat out of shape; Cueball is now hunched further forward, with his face closer to his reading material]
:Black Hat: Huh, did you know blimps all use helium now? You learn something new every day! By the way, we're out of fireworks.
:Black Hat: And some advertising company is ''real'' mad.

==References==
<references/>

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

2484: H-alpha

2021-07-03T05:52:53Z

162.158.146.220:

{{comic
| number = 2484
| date = July 3, 2021
| title = H-alpha
| image = h_alpha.png
| titletext = "All the companies whose blimps I shot fireworks at are mad, but MetLife is especially miffed because I dressed up as the Red Baron."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RED BARON. Elaborate on title-text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Black Hat]] has acquired an H-Alpha filter. As he explains to [[Cueball]], these filters are used to look at the Sun during scientific observations, as looking at the Sun bare-eyed will do damage to one's eyes {{Citation needed}}; a camera using such a filter was seen in [[1828:_ISS_Solar_Transit]], and the consequences of not using such a filter were explored in [[2227:_Transit_of_Mercury]].

Black Hat points out that the filter can also be used to look at nebulae, but doesn't see much further use for it; as he puts it, "there aren't that many blobs of hydrogen to look at" in everyday life. Being the [[Classhole]] that he is, he is immediately struck with inspiration, and leaves.

Upon returning, he shares with Cueball that most modern blimps use helium to keep them aloft. He also informs Cueball that they're out of fireworks, and that an advertising company (or several, going by the title text) is upset. Cueball quickly buries his face in his reading material, clearly not wanting to get involved with whatever douchebaggery Black Hat has gotten himself into this time.

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

''(Black Hat is holding a device in his hand)''

Black Hat: I got an H-Alpha filter for looking at the sun.

''(non-bordered panel with Black Hat standing behind Cueball, who is reading on an armchair)''

Black Hat: It also works for nebulae. But that's about it. There just aren't that many hot blobs of hydrogen to look at, I guess.

''(Black Hat is now holding his empty hand to his chin)''

Black Hat: Unless...

''(Black Hat leaves, away from Cueball)''

''(beat panel)''

''(Black Hat re-enters; Cueball is now hunched further forward, with his face closer to his reading material)''

Black Hat: Huh, did you know blimps all use helium now? You learn something new every day! By the way, we're out of fireworks.

Black Hat: And some advertising company is ''real'' mad.

{{comic discussion}}

2138: Wanna See the Code?

2021-07-02T01:45:05Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2138
| date = April 17, 2019
| title = Wanna See the Code?
| image = wanna_see_the_code.png
| titletext = And because if you just leave it there, it's going to start contaminating things downstream even if no one touches it directly.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the fifth and latest comic in the [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]] series:

* [[1513: Code Quality]]
* [[1695: Code Quality 2]]
* [[1833: Code Quality 3]]
* [[1926: Bad Code]]
* [[2138: Wanna See the Code?]]

Cueball declares that he has written a script to automate some (presumably time-consuming or tedious) task, which pleases Ponytail at first... until she remembers how messy Cueball's code tends to be, and gets worried.

Cueball offers to show her his code, but Ponytail remarks that it sounds like he's creepily inviting her to see a dead body. Magnanimously, Cueball accepts the comparison, noting that his code ''does'' have at least one similarity to a deceased corpse: although unpleasant, if Ponytail allows it to go unchecked, it causes problems which will get increasingly worse over time. In the "dead body" analogy, a recently-deceased corpse is easier to deal with than one that has been left for a few weeks, which will be decayed, unpleasantly smelly, and will likely have attracted disease-spreading vermin.

Ponytail then makes a near threatening comment where she says that he is lucky that people understand both that his code causes more problems than it solves and that dead bodies create more problems than they solve. Most likely this means that they understand that killing him would cause more problems than it solves (the problem solved would no doubt be his code).

This may be a reference to the concept of {{w|technical debt}} in software development: the idea that an initially poor implementation accrues a sort of "compound interest" over time, becoming increasingly difficult to repair the longer it is left unfixed. This happens because any future development might have to take unorthodox or unrecommended measures to work around the problems that are already there, making the system increasingly complex and fragile the more that is added to it.

In the title text, "downstream" has a double meaning, as it is a term that applies to a situation where a dead body would decompose in or near some river, and as well to a software engineering concept: In the river situation, the dead body will contaminate the water or groundwater that it feeds from and have consequences for organisms that come in contact with that water. In the software engineering analogue, "downstream" refers to software derived from, or depending on, "upstream" software like the cadaver that Cueball devised. The causality with flowing water and software is reasonably comparable: both can be seen as a stream of atoms that are (almost) endlessly divisible and recombinable.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is walking, talking to a voice offscreen]
:Cueball: I wrote a script to automate that thing.
:Voice offscreen: Oh cool!
:Voice offscreen: ...Wait, '''''you''''' wrote it?
:Voice offscreen: Oh no.

:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing next to each other]
:Cueball: Wanna see the code?
:Ponytail: I would, if you hadn't said that in the tone of voice of "Wanna see a dead body?"

:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing next to each other]
:Cueball: My code ''is'' sort of similar to a dead body, in that you can either come look at it now, or wait a few weeks until it becomes a problem.
:Ponytail: And because you're lucky that the people around you understand that they create more problems than they solve.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Code Quality]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

2472: Fuzzy Blob

2021-06-06T18:48:38Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */ So do I, but this is not the place for that.

{{comic
| number = 2472
| date = June 4, 2021
| title = Fuzzy Blob
| image = fuzzy_blob.png
| titletext = If there's no dome, how do you explain the irregularities the board discovered in the zoning permits issued in that area!?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an UNIDENTIFIED FUZZY BLOB. More discussion of specifics of comic events (leap to cloaking device from nothing, involvement of historic church by historic committee to raise awareness of historic church being misunderstood as church is cloaked dome by media.) Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Cueball is taking a picture of his house, but sees a large fuzzy blob on the side of the picture. This blob likely comes from Cueball making the mistake of putting one of his fingers partially in front of the lens. This is a common enough occurrence with smartphones or compact cameras that an ordinary user should immediately be able to identify the problem; however, the comic derives humor from having neither Cueball nor anyone else come to this conclusion.

Likely, this comic stems from the resurgent talk of {{w|Unidentified Flying Objects}}, (UFO) now dubbed "{{w|Unidentified Aerial Phenomena}}", or UAP. The topic regained popularity after the {{w|Department of Defense}}, (DoD,) recently [https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/04/politics/pentagon-ufo-enquiry/index.html confirmed the authenticity of 3 videos] taken by {{w|United States Navy | US Naval}} personnel. It has been much discussed in mainstream news, not just among {{w|extraterrestrial}} enthusiasts or {{w|conspiracy theorists}}, some of whom have created {{w|QAnon}} spin-off theories.

Randall likely wished to clarify that UAP are probably not of alien origin, and appears to be suggesting that there is a simple and obvious explanation for the objects, such as birds or dirt on the navy's camera lenses, that most people in the general public are missing and that [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2359:_Evidence_of_Alien_Life any definitive conclusion of aliens is overhyped].

The tendency to make unwarranted connections to unrelated but synchronous 'evidence' is shown in the title text. Investigation of this phenomena has brought to light 'irregularities' in the local {{w|Zoning|zoning permits}}, which are almost certainly just instances of mundane corruption, incompetence or inconsistency such as might be revealed in many such places once you put extra resources into investigating every aspect of an area.

An alternate intention of the word 'irregularities' might be due to the necessarily zig-zaggy nature of defining a 'circular' zone footprint by drawing best-fit boundary lines only along streets, within any established grid-based system of city 'blocks'. The interpretation of why any zone is a complex and crinkly shape, rather than a strictly utilitarian rectangle, may not be so obvious from an overview that does not take into account geological or political restrictions such as the curve of a watercourse in a valley or a mandate against hi-rise buildings within a certain radius of a monument.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball takes picture of his house from a distance great enough to get the whole house in the picture. He holds the camera (or smartphone) in both hands. The shutter makes a sound:]
:Click

:[The picture he has taken is shown below. The picture is lying tilted compared to the panel, and shows the house but with a fuzzy skin colored blob covering the left part of the picture, just touching the left side of the house. Above and partly over the picture is a small frame with Cueball's response when he sees the picture:]
:What the...

:[White Hat gestures towards Cueball with one hand, while Cueball holds his camera in one hand towards White Hat, with the picture shown on the screen, too small to see though.]
:White Hat: What's that fuzzy blob next to your house? It's huge!
:Cueball: I don't know! I looked up and it was gone!
:White Hat: How can a giant structure vanish?
:Cueball and White Hat: ''...Cloaking device?!!''

:[Blondie is standing at the front of the panel with a microphone in her hand speaking towards the viewer. Behind her is a close up of the Blob (in black and white) on a screen. To the left of the screen is an almost bald man with hair behind his ears, holding a hand to his chin. To the right is Megan, who is holding one hand out palm up, towards the picture, which they are both looking at.]
:Blondie: The fuzzy blob, dubbed "flob" by internet sleuths, has city planners stumped.
:Man: No, that's not any type of building I'm familiar with.
:Megan: Could be an experimental military dome.

:[Hairbun is standing on a podium behind a lectern with a microphone on it. She addresses three people in front of the stage, Cueball, Megan and White Hat. Behind them Blondie is turned the other way speaking to a camera, on a tripod. She has a microphone in her hand.]
:Hairbun: The zoning board investigation has found no evidence of a cloaked dome structure.
:Hairbun: The historical commission will be joining the research into these domes and other unusual buildings, such as the historic 4th Ave Church...
:Blondie: This only raises more questions.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]

2377: xkcd Phone 12

2021-05-27T03:48:35Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2377
| date = October 26, 2020
| title = xkcd Phone 12
| image = xkcd_phone_12.png
| titletext = New phone OS features: Infinite customization (home screen icons no longer snap to grid), dark mode (disables screen), screaming mode (self-explanatory), and coherent ultracapacitor-pumped emission (please let us know what this setting does; we've been afraid to try it).
}}

==Explanation==
This is the "12th" (actually the 8th) in the ongoing [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone]] series in which Randall explains his new joke phone designs with many strange and useless features. It is also a reference to the recently released {{w|iPhone 12}}. However, there have only been 8 comics released, with the previous two being [[2000: xkcd Phone 2000]] and [[1889: xkcd Phone 6]].

The note about the xkcd Phone 12 and the xkcd Phone 12 Max (only for people named Max) is a joke about the different models of iPhone 12: iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. The xkcd Phone 12 Max would be expected to have a larger screen, but it seems that this phone is also only for people with the name Max. If the phones are respectively placed, Max's (Maxes'?) phone is the smaller of the two models.

The slogan '"The only phone you'll ever own"' could be interpreted as something of a threat, which is believable given some of the purported features. The slogan has the "registered trademark" symbol, with that symbol supposedly itself trademarked, which is highly unlikely. It is similar to the phrase ''"The last suit you'll ever wear"'', describing the black suits worn by the Men In Black in the movie of the same name.

Multiple features are labelled on the phone that are common when advertising other products, but highly unusual in mobile phones, for comedic effect:

* '''Full drivetrain warranty''' — A common warranty feature for automobiles — see {{w|drivetrain}}. As a side note, the phone here would be cheaping out on the warranty if it were a car; a "drivetrain" warranty covers almost everything ''except'' the engine; only if it was a "{{w|powertrain}}" warranty would it cover the engine. A phone typically has none of these things, although this one seemingly does.
* '''Coated for easy swallowing''' — A common feature on solid medicines meant to be taken orally. Phones do not belong in the set of edible objects, much less orally-taken medicines{{Citation needed}}. Since some parents of young children let them teethe on their phones, this would be an undesirable feature. There may be a pun here, based on the larger smartphones being practically the same as the more {{w|Tablet_computer|minimal portable computers}}.
* '''Surgical-grade apps''' — "Surgical-grade steel" is sometime used as a selling point indicating quality materials. This feature suggests that the apps themselves are made from high-quality material, although this is absurd because an app is (as the name suggests) a software application, not any physical object that could be reasonably defined as 'surgical-grade' or not. Note that both hardware and software can be certified for {{w|Safety-critical_system|safety-critical applications}}.
* '''Built-in 600 lb magnet for magnet fishing''' — {{w|Magnet fishing}} is an activity for searching for objects that can be pulled in by a strong magnet. A 600 pound magnet can lift a 600 pound (272 kg) object (at Earth's surface). This would tend to make the phone stick to any iron or steel objects (such as refrigerators) and be impossible to remove with human strength, and only the strongest humans could pick up the phone even if it were properly insulated. It would also be impossible to separate two phones without destroying one of them if the interlocking feature were used. This feature would also erase any credit cards the owner puts in the vicinity of the phone, meaning this phone could not be put in one's pocket with a wallet. There is also a possibility that this is a reference to Apple’s new {{w|MagSafe}} accessory.
* '''Oral-B partnership: hold phone against teeth to ultrasonically remove plaque''' — This is a reference to {{w|ultrasonic toothbrush}}es. {{w|Oral-B}} does not produce any ultrasonic toothbrushes, but does produce ''{{w|sonic toothbrush}}es.'' There is a logical connection between electric toothbrushes and smartphones, namely they are both electronic and both vibrate; however, most phones cannot perform dentistry autonomously{{Citation needed}}.
* '''40 mL emergency water supply''' — 40 milliliters is equal to 40 cubic centimeters. For comparison, the iPhone 11 Pro Max's volume is just shy of 100 cubic centimeters; if the Phone 12 Max is similarly sized, then the water supply would take up over 40% of its total volume. In this day and age, many phones are water-resistant to some degree; nevertheless, shipping a phone with an interior consisting of a 3:2 ratio of electronics-to-water will surely lead to many short-circuited, inoperable phones.<br/>Furthermore, {{w|survival kit}}s often come with pouches that can hold several liters of water, in case of emergency. Because people typically take their phones with them everywhere they go, storing a survival kit inside the phone would be a life-saving feature. Unfortunately, 40cc of water is not enough to stave off thirst for a meaningful amount of time, extinguish a flame much larger than a candle's, or deal with most other situations which would constitute an emergency. Unless you are suitably proficient at {{w|Katara_(Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender)#Waterbending|waterbending}}, this feature is useless for its intended function. 40 milliliters is also the amount of fluid that a shot glass holds.
* '''Security feature: unmarked side buttons''' — Some vendors (particularly car dealers) try to explain away questionable User Interface decisions as "Security Features". Technically, if everyone (including the owner) has difficulty using it, it is secure... Here, no buttons are visible which could indicate they are, in fact, simply a touch sensitive surface, which would certainly be difficult to use as users would have to guess the area they should touch to use these "buttons". This might be a reference to a feature present in iPhone 12s where one can double-tap on the back to do a set action, which some websites have called a "[https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/28/how-to-find-the-secret-button-on-the-iphone-12-13493472/ secret button]".
* '''3,000,000-volt arc allows wireless charging from a range of up to 36 inches''' — {{w|Inductive charging|Induction charging}} is a method that a number of modern phones advertise, allowing power to (inefficiently but 'conveniently') transfer into a device from a mains charging station or another device's battery without the need for plugging in cables. It transfers energy between safely tuned coils, that do not touch, though typically the case of one device must remain placed directly upon the other for the optimal transfer of charge between them. An electric arc can also be used to transfer electrical energy through the air through a lightning-like discharge. While arcs can transfer large amounts of energy quickly, the plasma generated would be very dangerous and damaging to the phone, charger, and immediate vicinity. The {{w|electrical breakdown}} voltage of air is approximately 3 kV / mm, which would allow a 3 MV potential to jump a distance of 100 cm (40 inches). 36 inches (91 cm), however, is within reach of a simple extension cord. {{w|Electrical_injury#Lethality|Shocks of 11,000 volts are usually lethal}}, so 3,000,000 volts of electricity (possibly from a complete {{w|Tesla coil}} assemblage) would require considerable protection.
* '''99.9% BPA- and hands- free''' — {{w|Bisphenol A}} (or BPA) is a compound that is used in making plastics. BPA has been found to exhibit hormone-like properties, so there is a movement to produce BPA-free plastics using alternative bisphenols. {{w|Hands-free}} describes using the device "without hands", e.g. using voice commands. This is important when using a device while driving. These are 2 unrelated ideas, which use the suffix "free" in different meanings ("BPA-free" means "containing no BPA", while "hands-free" means "your hands need not be used"). The construction "NOUN- and NOUN-ADJ" is normally only used with the meaning of "ADJ" repeated for both nouns, implying that this phone "contains no hands" (or possibly "your BPA is left free"). The "percentage free" description is also a standard form of advertising {{w|weasel word}}s, as remarked by Randall in [[641: Free]]. A food might be described as "90% fat-free" with the heavy implication that it has a tenth of the usual fat content, but likely really means "10% of the product is pure fat" (typically by weight or maybe pre-cooked volume) compared with perhaps 15% in the typical non-'fat-free' recipe. 0.1% of BPA is not an insignificant quantity given its possible effects, and is likely to be a higher leachable content if it is all concentrated in external trimmings. It is unclear what a tenth of a percent of a hand needs to do, to operate the device, but it does also mean that it is not as completely hands-free as implied. Or else it ''also'' implies that up to 0.1% of the phone contains ingredients sourced from human hands. At best, this could be skin cells from the workers (although phone assembly lines ''should'' be kept meticulously clean, to prevent damage to delicate components), or at worst, some workers could be losing hands into the assembly line due to poor safety practices.
* '''Extended release charge cable''' — Electronics manufacturers support standards to reduce time to fully recharge, e.g. Qualcomm {{w|Quick Charge}} standard. This is a reference to {{w|Modified-release dosage|"extended release" medication}}. It's unclear what purpose would be served by charging a phone slower than normal.
* '''Closed timelike curves''' — This label is applied to the curved corner of the phone. Randall may be making a visual joke by referring to the corner of the phone by a relativistic concept. {{w|Closed timelike curves}} is a world line in spacetime that is "closed", in that an object following that world line will return to its starting point in spacetime, which implies that the object would be able to go back in time. It could also be a reference to the [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-13/apple-plans-ipad-like-design-for-next-iphone-smaller-homepod|''Bloomberg'' leaks] that predicted the sharper corners of the iPhone 12, the phone model this is designed on.
* '''Fits in standard shipping container''' - An {{w|intermodal shipping container}} is large enough to fit automobiles, raising the question of just how big this xkcd phone is. Other standard "containers" used for shipping items might be things like the FedEx, UPS, and USPS boxes, which often come in various sizes (small, medium, large) as well as their shipping envelopes, all of which could easily hold just about any phone that's out there.
* '''Interlocking, stackable''' — A quality of, among other things, LEGO bricks. Probably a bad idea to use this feature, given how close the phone is to critical mass. There are electronic boards designed for interlocking and stacking, such as {{w|Arduino}} and {{w|Raspberry Pi}} computers, which can have other boards attached to them (shields, hats) to add functionality, however it's unclear what advantage there would be to stacking multiple identical phones together.
* '''Nintendo partnership: GameBoy Printer compatibility''' — The {{w|Game Boy Printer}} was a thermal paper printer originally paired with the {{w|Game Boy Camera}}. This device was released in 1998 and discontinued in 2003, so this partnership would be obsolete.
* '''Sustain pedal''' — A {{w|sustain pedal}} is commonly associated with a digital keyboard or piano; it lets the note continue sounding when the key is released. It's unclear what purpose it would serve in a phone, although it might be used for the screaming mode in the title text.
* '''CDC partnership: when in an indoor space with too many people, phone begins playing "We Like To Party! (The Vengabus)" at slowly increasing volume until everyone leaves''' — An allusion to the COVID-19 pandemic. CDC stands for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States public health institute. In [[2284: Sabotage]], Randall "promised" to bring an annoying karaoke song to a party to hopefully discourage people from attending, but this phone will apparently do so automatically. "{{w|We Like to Party! (Vengaboys song)|We Like To Party! (The Vengabus)}}" is a 1998 Eurodance/techno hit by the Vengaboys, and is perhaps most familiar to Americans from a series of {{w|Six Flags}} ads.
* '''Sacrificial anode''' — Useful if something metal will be in a wet environment for a long time. Commonly used on bridges and boats, but it may be a 'feature' of this phone because of its built-in water reservoir. The {{w|sacrificial anode}} is made of a material with higher redox potential (typically zinc), and will corrode faster than the (more valuable) metal object it's attached to. It's unclear if the phone HAS a sacrificial anode or IS a sacrificial anode.
* '''Tactical helium reserve''' — Since 1925, the United States has had a {{w|National Helium Reserve|strategic helium reserve}}. Helium is very rare on earth and has important scientific and military uses, so it’s important to have a supply in case supplies disappear. But here we have a tactical helium reserve, which suggests it's smaller and focused on shorter-term goals. Compare {{w|strategic bombing}} focused on destroying entire cities or countries and {{w|tactical bombing}} aimed at destroying individual targets or military units. Helium also has the property of being lighter than air, so if this reserve is large enough, the phone could float away if let go. However, this is unlikely, as the phone boasts other, heavy components such as large magnets, a water reserve and a critical mass of fissile material.
* '''50% below critical mass (2x safety factor)''' — Indicates the phone contains fissile material. This "2x safety factor" means that if you put 2 phones next to each other, or put one phone next to a {{w|neutron reflector}}, you would have a {{w|criticality accident}}, which may explain why you would not own another phone after this one. A phone with this much fissile material would pose a radiation hazard. The "2x safety factor" claim may be related to physicist {{w|Richard Feynman|Richard Feynman's}} famous criticism of NASA in the {{w|Rogers Commission}} report on the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Feynman found that when he confronted NASA engineers with a part worn one third of the way through, which was not supposed to be worn through at all, the engineers claimed that this demonstrated a 3x safety factor rather than a failure of the part. This could mean that using the phone is harmful for some other reason (social media addiction?) but the xkcd phone has half as many users as it would need to cause a problem in this way.
* '''Shake for factory reset''' — A {{w|factory reset}} is often possible on electronic devices, and is usually accomplished either by pressing a button that is often well-protected against accidental contact, for an extended period or closing an electrical bridge. This one works like an {{w|Etch A Sketch|Etch-a-Sketch}}, which would not be preferred, as [http://www.ahajokes.com/com045.html slight disturbances] could easily cause massive losses of data. In the other hand, given that it weighs at least 600 lbs, it will probably not be shaking due to a user intentionally trying to delete their data.
* '''Norton MacAfee protection: if you're ever attacked by John MacAfee, Peter Norton will come out of retirement to defend you''' — {{w|Norton (software)|Norton}} and {{w|McAfee}} (note spelling!) are competing software security companies, founded by {{w|Peter Norton}} and {{w|John McAfee}} respectively (though neither has any involvement with their name-sake companies any more). This "protection" combines the two of them and claims that Norton (the person) will defend you if McAfee (the person) attacks you. May have been inspired by [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/business/mcafee-arrested-tax-evasion.html John McAfee's recent arrest] which brought attention to the allegation that he had hired a hit man to kill his neighbor in Belize in 2012.

The title text mentions xkcd phone OS updates, including:
* '''Infinite customization (home screen icons no longer snap to grid)''' — iOS 14 offers new features such as widgets on the home screen and changing of app icons, allowing for customization on a level not seen before on the platform. Here though, the "customization" hinges on a technicality, specifically of permutations: On a phone with, say, one million pixels, the number of ways one can place 20 icons is P(1000000,20)=9.998x10^119, an absolutely enormous number, but most people would not call two home screens where the only difference is that one icon is one pixel over a different configuration. Plus, not being able to snap the icons to a grid would be incredibly unsatisfying, as it would make it very difficult to get icons lined up with each other.
* '''Dark mode (disables screen)''' — Dark mode is a popular feature on websites/apps with light backgrounds like Twitter and Reddit, changing the background to a dark color to help late-night users sleep better. Disabling the screen would not be a pleasant surprise when a user goes to turn on beloved dark mode. May be impossible to turn off if the screen is no longer touch sensitive when darkened unless the unmarked buttons can be used to disable it. Also a possible reason to want to use the shake-activated factory reset.
* '''Screaming mode (self-explanatory)''' — The phone screams. Reference to the screaming-while-falling [[1363: xkcd Phone|xkcd Phone 1]].
* '''Coherent ultracapacitor-pumped emission (please let us know what this setting does; we've been afraid to try it)''' - This mysterious feature has a terrifying name, with even the developers refusing to test it out. This option would probably be very easy to accidentally tap, given the style of every xkcd Phone ever. Possibly activated with one of the unlabeled buttons making it even more dangerous. Coherent Emission is associated with lasers, and a {{w|Helium-neon laser|common type of laser}} uses helium and neon to generate the beam, which could justify the helium reserve. {{w|Ultracapacitor}}s store a large amount of energy than can be discharged very quickly. The feature described is then probably some sort of very high power pulse laser. Raises the question of who designs the phone if the people marketing it don't know what it does.

==Transcript==
:[The comic shows two smartphones: one taller and wider than the other. ]

:[Labels to the left of the larger smartphone:]
* Full drivetrain warranty
* Coated for easy swallowing
* Surgical-grade apps
* Built-in 600 lb magnet for magnet fishing
* Oral-B partnership: hold phone against teeth to ultrasonically remove plaque
* 40 mL emergency water supply
* Security feature: unmarked side buttons
* 3,000,000-volt arc allows wireless charging from a range of up to 36 inches
* 99.9% BPA- and hands- free
* Extended release charge cable
* Closed timelike curves

:[Labels to the right of the larger smartphone:]
* Fits in standard shipping container
* Interlocking, stackable

:[Labels to the right of the smaller smartphone:]
* Nintendo partnership: GameBoy Printer compatibility
* Sustain Pedal
* CDC partnership: when in an indoor space with too many people, phone begins playing "We Like To Party! (The Vengabus)" at slowly increasing volume until everyone leaves
* Sacrificial anode
* Tactical helium reserve
* 50% below critical mass (2x safety factor)
* Shake for factory reset
* Norton MacAfee protection: if you're ever attacked by John MacAfee, Peter Norton will come out of retirement to defend you

:[Text below the phone:]
:<big>The xkcd Phone 12* and 12 Max**</big>

:<small><nowiki>*Standard</nowiki> **For people named Max</small>

:"The only phone you'll ever own"®™

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:xkcd Phones]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|xkcd Phones]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2468: Inheritance

2021-05-26T20:11:38Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */ Addition of legacy games as part of the analysis

{{comic
| number = 2468
| date = May 26, 2021
| title = Inheritance
| image = inheritance.png
| titletext = People ask me whether I feel any moral qualms about the source of the points, but if he hadn't introduced factory farming to Agricola, someone else would have.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic is in reference to {{w|Strategy game|strategy board games}}, which often score players on some type of point system based on a variety of possible achievements. The joke in this comic is that Cueball has a massive sum of points that were not scored in the current game but rather handed down from his grandfather. Board games do not normally include an inheritance from previous sessions, in contrast to real life where some people become wealthy by inheriting vast sums of money from ancestors. Such inheritances tend to have a compounding effect on inequality over time, leading to 'successes' in life for those who have done little, if anything, to earn their wealth. Cueball offers to distribute a trifling fraction of his points to the other players, but he will still have an insurmountable advantage. Despite his 'generosity', no one wants to play a game that they have no chance of winning. The value of his score, 10,019, seems to indicate that he "earned" 19 points during the course of the game (less than his competitors) and then added 10,000 from his 'inheritance'.

Some board games do include a "legacy" mechanic where players who have played the game previously (and thus benefit from meta knowledge) can be granted additional items or challenges to keep the game interesting for them, but not usually to the point of breaking the game's balance. As well, gifting these achievements to anyone else is seen as absurd.

See also the '[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/a-small-loan-of-a-million-dollars Small Loan of a Million Dollars]' trope of a profile in which the author or subject discusses the simple tricks they used to retire early or buy a house, often involving a hurried admission of financial assistance from a family.

The title text asks Cueball if he has any moral qualms over the source of these points, then indicates his grandfather's fortune was made through {{w|factory farming}} in the farm-themed board game {{w|Agricola_(board_game)|Agricola}}. Factory farming is frequently brought up as immoral. Large fortunes in real life are sometimes created, grown, and protected by immoral actions, creating an ethical dilemma for those who inherit them.

==Transcript==

:[Ponytail, White Hat, Megan, and Cueball are playing a board game. There are drinks on the table. Ponytail is writing something]

:Ponytail: Let's see...I got 31, you have 28, 35 for you, and-
:Cueball: -I've got 10,019.
:Ponytail: *Sigh*
:Cueball: Hey, add another 20 to everyone, on me!
:White Hat: ''I hate this''.

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:No one wants to play board games with me ever since I inherited 4,000,000 victory points from my grandfather.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

2463: Astrophotography

2021-05-14T23:50:58Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2463
| date = May 15, 2021
| title = Astrophotography
| image = astrophotography.png
| titletext = [One hill over, a competing astrophotographer does a backflip over a commercial airliner while throwing a tray of plastic space stations into the air, through which a falcon swoops to 'grab' the real one.]
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BACKFLIPPING ASTROPHOTOGRAPHER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Astrophotographers like to take photos of things transiting the Sun. Typical things include planes, the International Space Station, and the Moon.

The practice of "one-upmanship" refers to the practice of achieving something superior to what another has achieved, or "getting one up on" them. The caption claims that the photo shown in the comic is the result of a continuous string of one-upmanship among astrophotographers in a community, each striving to one-up the other.

In this comic there seems to be an abundance of things:
* There is a partial solar eclipse (the view of the sun is partially obscured by the moon on the upper right). The sun is much larger than the moon, but the moon is able to block a significant fraction of the sun's light from reaching Earth because it is much closer to the Earth. The same optical arrangement is popular in photography, where it is possible to show the silhouette of a person or a cityscape in front of a full moon, making the moon look comparatively larger or smaller by adjusting the distance to the closer subject, and then the lenses used by the photographer to make them both fill just the right amount of the frame.
* A person slightly below the peak of a mountain is juggling, with several of the balls also in front of the sun.
* An archer at the peak is firing arrows from a bow, and one arrow has pierced what at first appears to be one of the juggling balls, but is probably a Transit of Venus. §
* Two airplanes flying above them are pulling signs with the words "nice" and "shot" (which could refer to either the archer or the photograph).
* The ISS can be seen transiting on the upper left.

Taking the picture required precisely scheduling and arranging the relative positions of several of the various subjects (and photographer), to coincide with the predictable but rare conjunctions of the rest of the scene.

§ A simultaneous Eclipse and Transit of Venus is actually expected in the future, but not until April 5, 15232.

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

:[Cueball and Megan stand on a hill with the sun behind them. Cueball is at the top-left of the hill, holding a bow in his left arm, which has been recently shot, with the arrow to right. Megan is at the bottom-right of the hill, juggling some balls. There are two planes going in opposite directions with banners on them. Above the planes is the ISS. All these items are silhouetted against the sun partially eclipsed by the moon in the upper right.]

:[Banners]: Nice Shot

:[Caption beneath the panel]:
:Our astrophotography community's one-upmanship is getting out of hand.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Space]]

2418: Metacarcinization

2021-01-31T08:27:20Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2418
| date = January 29, 2021
| title = Metacarcinization
| image = metacarcinization.png
| titletext = Scientists still don't know how marine biologists manage to so consistently bring up whalefall ecosystems, when relevant conversational openings are so few and far between.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HEAVILY OPTIMIZED CRAB. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic strip opens with a conversation between [[White Hat]] and [[Cueball]] as they are walking together. White Hat asks Cueball if he has seen a video of a crow sledding on a roof — presumably [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uXiAe7Oc-I this one], or one of its later viral reposts. ([https://laughingsquid.com/dog-rides-toboggan-down-hill/ Animals sledding] seems to be a thing lately). In this case, the crow is a {{w|Hooded Crow}}. Cueball remarks that it's a cool example of {{w|tool use by animals}}, a sign of intelligence (which corvids [Corvidae; the crow family], including crows, ravens, and [https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/brain-and-cognitive-sciences/9-20-animal-behavior-fall-2013/lecture-notes/MIT9_20F13_Lec4.pdf jackdaws], are famous for). He then points out that {{w|Tool use by sea otters|sea otters use tools}} too, namely using stones to crack open crab shells.

This in turn leads him to bring up the fact that the 'crab' body plan has evolved multiple times, a phenomenon known as {{w|carcinization}}, previously discussed in [[2314: Carcinization]]. In that strip, Cueball turned into a crab shortly after hearing about carcinization, so perhaps White Hat will likewise be transformed momentarily.

The conversation serves as an example of a {{tvtropes|WikiWalk|wiki walk}}, where a conversation naturally diverts from the original topic into a seemingly unrelated topic through a series of logical associations. Although a sledding crow has little to do with carcinization in and of itself, the conversation has managed to bridge the two topics through intermediary steps (crow using a sled, animals using tools in general, otters using stones to open crabs, crab evolutionary process).

The caption is a joke that, much like natural life-forms have evolved into crab-like forms multiple independent times, so too do all of Cueball's (or Randall's) conversations wiki-walk into a discussion of that evolutionary process.

In the title text, Randall jokes that marine biologists have a similar tendency to bring up {{w|Whale fall|whalefall}} (or "whale fall") ecosystems, which arise whenever a whale's carcass falls onto the deep ocean floor. Such occurrences are relatively rare, perhaps occurring once every few miles on whale migration routes, but they happen anyway, much like conversations about them. Another example of scientists having a tendency to bring up facts from their field of study can be found at [[1610: Fire Ants]], and Randall often brings up the fact that birds evolved from dinosaurs.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Cueball are walking together. White Hat has his smartphone out in his hand.
:White Hat: Have you seen this video of a crow sledding on a roof?
:Cueball: Yeah! It's always cool to see animals using tools.
:Cueball: Like how sea otters use rocks to open crab shells.
:Cueball: Hey, did you know the "crab" body plan has evolved multiple times?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Regardless of the starting topic, any conversation with me eventually converges to carcinization.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Biology]]

2376: Curbside

2020-10-23T22:57:13Z

162.158.146.220: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2376
| date = October 24, 2020
| title = Curbside
| image = curbside.png
| titletext = The state has had so many contact tracers disappear into that shop that they've had to start a contact tracer tracing program.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an ANGRY GHOST. Could use some elaboration; explain title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] is making contact with {{tvtropes|TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday|a shop that sells cursed items, only to vanish when the customer tries to return the product}}; he has previously mentioned doing most of his shopping at such locations in [[1772: Startup Opportunity]].

After confirming that he has the right number, Beret Guy simply asks if they do curbside pickup, as he intends to place an order but does not wish to go inside during the current pandemic. Many grocery stores have started offering such services, allowing a customer to place an order over the phone or online, then receive it outside the store, thus minimizing the interaction with store staff or other customers.

The store's contact replies that no, they do not offer curbside pickup, but tries to assure Beret Guy that all employees at the location wear masks. When Beret Guy expresses disappointment at the revelation, complaining about the stuffy air of the shop, the contact advises him to consider the virus as part of the curses that come with their products. An angered Beret Guy promptly proclaims that he will ''not'' be doing business with the location if they are going to showcase such an attitude towards the pandemic.

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

Beret Guy: Hi, is this the shop that sells cursed items but when you try to return them the shop is gone?

Phone: Yes, how can I help you?

Beret Guy: Do you do curbside pickup? I wanted to buy a cursed amulet that angers ghosts and some groceries.

Phone: No, but it's ok, we wear masks.

Beret Guy: So you can't bring stuff out?

Phone: I'm afraid not

Beret Guy: But it's so stuffy in there!

Phone: Why not think of the virus as part of the amulet's curse?

Beret Guy: Excuse me!? I'm trying to buy some bread and do battle with ghosts, not endanger my family and friends in a pandemic! I will take my business elsewhere.

{{comic discussion}}