explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2821: Path Minimization

2023-09-01T15:45:29Z

162.158.158.106:

Judging from the angle of the arms, I do not believe that the swimmer is in distress. In fact I think the swimmer is just a future projection of Cueball, not a separate person.

:I agree that the swimmer does not appear to be in distress, although the title text suggests that it is probably a separate person.
:
:My personal interpretation is that the situation is "meeting a friend at the beach to get ice cream". Options are either a) meet the friend first and then swim back to get ice cream or b) get ice cream first and take it out to eat together in the water. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.54|172.70.86.54]] 04:02, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
:: Or the more sensible walk to the water's edge and wait for your friend to swim in to meet you... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.29|172.70.85.29]] 08:43, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
:I agree as well, I changed it to "possibly in distress". [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:43, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
::I changed it further. Still admits the possibility, but less possibly than "possibly" hints at. (It is, nonetheless, a (mostly!) typical "you ''need'' to get here, minimising <some form of time/distance/energy/endurance resource>, what is the optimal strategy" tbing that lifesaving courses might include to train you in such considerations. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.82|172.71.242.82]] 09:01, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

Technically, the path that minimizes swimming passed a nearby boat rental stand. (by the way, I didn't write the unsigned paragraph above this one) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.40|172.69.247.40]] 03:05, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

When I first saw the comic, I thought cueball was suspended on a tether in the air above the water, and the ice cream stand was floating. I didn't realize it was a beach until I read this explanation. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:41, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

:Me too! Instead of a tether I thought cueball was free falling into the water with a desire to get to the end state (the swimmer), and the ice cream stand was free falling as well.[[User:V-squared|V-squared]] ([[User talk:V-squared|talk]]) 01:44, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

The ice cream path reminds me of the [[2407|bread-first search]] (similar punchline). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.182.158|172.71.182.158]] 06:55, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

Noting, in passing, that an almost "flosbury flop"-like path could have been shown, too. A gentle curve, bending to hit the shore somewhere between shortest-time and shortest-swim, that would allow maximum run-up to dive ''into'' the water at the right angle to then power straight towards the target with the original running impetus turned straight into initial swimming speed, with no sharp turns involved. (Also, an 'Aquaman' line, perhaps exactly complimentary to the land-favouring 'bent-leg' routes, minimising/reducing land in favour of water.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.82|172.71.242.82]]
:Note that for Aquaman, the line minimizing land would be the fastest. He swims very fast. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 21:45, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

This was one of my first edits in this wiki, so I hope I didn't do anything wrong. I think this comic clearly references Feynman's Lifeguard problem (there is an almost identical diagram in his QED book) and the Ice-cream vendor problem. I wrote a couple of paragraphs explaining this, but they were promptly deleted by the next editor. Did I do something wrong? I think the explanation is incomplete without those references. [[User:Prallax|Prallax]] ([[User talk:Prallax|talk]]) 10:08, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
: Seeing the history, this is probably just an edit conflict, you should insert your contribution again. [[User:Cochonou|Cochonou]] ([[User talk:Cochonou|talk]]) 11:54, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
:: It looks like it was my edit that 'overwrit' Prallax's. Though I got no "edit conflict" notification (or I'd have at least tried to reintegrate my failed changes into the revised 'current prior' version, or at least revisit the diffs to reinstate the best of what I'd caused to vanish/undo). Thinking back, it ''might'' have been due to a server time-out which meant I resubmitted, fooling the back end about what version I was (thinking I was) actually adding to/revising... I'm pretty sure it occasionally does that, and probably more than I ever know about, if I don't have reason to check the page histories in detail...
:: Anyway, recovered the paragraphs and re-added them to the end (maybe should have been inserted before the traditionally final title-text-paragraph?) on the original editor's behalf, as they looked fairly good and I didn't see anything in them that I might want to change (not even markup).
:: So both apologies and congratulations to their author! They might later get tweaked/redone, b6 others, but as far as ('one-of-my-')first-time edits go I'd have personally been proud to have done as well, whatever my first (probably disasterous) edits might actually have been, oh so many years ago and lost in the mists of anonymous-IPdom... Keep it up, and welcome to the rabble! ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.8|172.70.91.8]] 12:45, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
::: Thank you for reverting and fixing this! I'm moving it before the paragraph about the title text as suggested. [[User:Prallax|Prallax]] ([[User talk:Prallax|talk]]) 21:14, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

Reminds me of https://xkcd.com/85/ [[User:Betamaj|Betamaj]] ([[User talk:Betamaj|talk]]) 12:06, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
:One of the first comments there mentions trying to reach a drowning swimmer. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:14, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
:I was going to complain about reruns, but the addition of ice-cream has sweetened the deal. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:51, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

I don't know if I agree with the Beach Vendor paragraph. There's only one vendor, and there's no reason for an ice cream stand on a beach to be a reference to the problem. (Ice cream stands on beaches are pretty common, at least near I live.) [[User:DownGoer|DownGoer]] ([[User talk:DownGoer|talk]]) 12:50, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

I question the first-paragraph comment about how the paths are "indicative of the path light takes between materials with different refractive indices". That applies to only 2 of the 5 paths. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 15:48, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
:Arguably just the one (extremely exotic materials aside) if you don't count the straight-there path (zero difference). But it is relevent to quote how the "optimal speed route" is equivalent to a refractive-path (for similar underlying mathematics) as an analogue, which is further down. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.232|172.70.90.232]] 18:20, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

Noone is going to comment how hard would be to swim with one, not speaking about two, ice creams? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 21:45, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
:Instead of the ice-cream cone, one should perhaps go for a {{w|Ice cream float|float}}! ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.214|172.70.85.214]] 21:52, 29 August 2023 (UTC)
::These talk sections are worth scrolling though just to find the perfect dad joke. You, my friend, did not disappoint. [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Miscellaneous#Help_with_Creating_a_User_Page|Trogdor147]] ([[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Miscellaneous#Help_with_Creating_a_User_Page|talk]]) 01:31, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

Actually, there is no real path that maximizes time; you can always increase time by taking another detour. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.246.119|172.70.246.119]] 06:36, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

In my case, every path I take is chosen to minimize the time until I get ice cream. I've got ice cream right now, so I feel like I could go anywhere! [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:58, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

I hope the swimmer beats Cueball to the Ice Cream vendor to get the last ice cream. If only there was a mathematical process to work out who would get there first? [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 22:11, 30 August 2023 (UTC)

I suppose the angles here could be used to find the ratio of Cueball's walk speed vs swim speed? Though perhaps it ends up being a function of how long the lengths are. I've been away from math too long, I guess. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.83|172.68.150.83]] 22:34, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
: Incidence angle is 61.4° while refraction angle is 21.2°, which gives a speed ratio of 2.4 --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.114.70|172.71.114.70]] 14:48, 31 August 2023 (UTC)

You can pessimize time a tiny bit more by angling the path exactly 180° away from the bearing from Cueball to the guy in the ocean, assuming Cueball may only move in a straight line. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.119.149|172.68.119.149]] 02:35, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Is there a reference to the discredited but still believed by some "No eating before swimming" rule? By this measure "Here's an ice cream, go swimming" '''is''' monstrous in the same sense as "go play in traffic."[[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.106|162.158.158.106]] 15:45, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-06T14:39:10Z

162.158.158.106:

Have just added a transcript. Hope I did good! :) -Lance ([[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.211|172.70.126.211]] 02:40, 5 August 2021 (UTC))
:You did good, Lance. *pats head* [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.197|162.158.74.197]] 18:06, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Wonder what Beret Guy would do if Cooper said, "I don't have it any more," since some of the money was discovered, badly deteriorated and partially buried, along the banks of the Columbia River back in 1980, as verified by serial numbers on the found currency. Given the absence of any other evidence, it was assumed that the hijacker had gotten separated from the money either during or right after the jump, the found currency had been deposited as flotsam at its discovery point through the actions of the river itself, and the rest of the money was still somewhere in the Pacific Northwest awaiting similar discovery, [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 04:23, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

If it can be considered that the comic is a reference to random walk (in a forest), can it also be considered a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_forest random forests] ? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.73|141.101.68.73]] 07:14, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:I don't get why the comic is supposed to be a reference to random walks or to random forests. Nothing points to that. Real forests exists, and people walk in them. The only peculiarity of this particular forest is that D.B. Cooper hangs in one of its trees. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.103.244|188.114.103.244]] 08:20, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

I feel like there should be a D.B. Cooper category at this point. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.52|141.101.104.52]] 07:51, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Hey there, I think the alt text is also a reference to https://xkcd.com/2390/ ? Kind regards :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.61|162.158.89.61]] 08:13, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Typo: "he might have simply inherited it form his mom". --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.39|162.158.255.39]] 12:40, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
: Done, now. I'd seen it, but apparently missed it, in preparing for my first big corrective edit of the day (little tyops, a lot less awful than ones ''I'' have previously left for others to correct). Or maybe I thought I should leave it suspended from the tree until some other issue had been resolved. :P [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.105|162.158.158.105]] 12:53, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Not to question the artistic representation, but rather than Forest (tree canopy and dense undergrowth), I'd say that was more Woodland Savanna (individual tree growth smattered around grass/shrubland at most). Or maybe we just can't properly see the woods for the trees... (Or the action is set at the edge of a clearing, of course!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.184|141.101.98.184]] 13:32, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:It's Southwest Washington, where Pyroculture practiced over centuries changed the nature of the forests. Your average forest, until recently when fire suppression came in, had very little undergrowth, and sometimes whole fields of Camas Lilly or Tarweed or other food plants valued by the Yakima.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 19:43, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Doesn't it seem likely, that Beret Guy's trees have soup outlets on them? Like his Business does? (Or, maybe Ghosts (like the business))

'You help me down this instant!' is not an "unlikely combination of words" or an unusual phrase. I'm not sure if it is regional, but as a native US English speaker, this is a completely normal wording to use if you are frustrated and insisting that someone do something, especially someone much younger, so perhaps it is meant to further indicate the man's age. As an example, a parent might say to their unruly child who is refusing to do their chores, "young man, you clean your room this instant!" (or "right this instant") It can also be used playfully: you are taking a walk along a river with some friends, when one of them suddenly playfully splashes water on you and takes off running (to avoid retaliation) and you run after them shouting "I'm going to get you for that! You get back here right this instant!" [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.28|172.70.131.28]] 15:36, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:I had the same reaction to both the title text and the explanation (although I believe it refers to the "help me down" part and not the "this instant" part). Either way, neither part of the phrase nor the entire phrase seems unlikely or unusual. I actually first came to this page to see if I was missing a reference in the title text, but it appears Randall just finds our dialectic somewhat strange. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.73|172.70.114.73]] 16:28, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
::IANALinguist, but I took it that "Help me down" is a (potentially, enough to be linguistically nerdsniped upon) ambiguous. 'Down' as a verb is strange, maybe ("to down, I wish you to help me") which might even be more feather-based in regards to the action conveyed. Or "lower the amount of help you shall grant me". Or even "(I) require assistance (for) I (am) feeling a certain amount of ennui". And "I wish to fall" is obviously not meant... Or is it? Some people would wish to consider this... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.211|162.158.158.211]] 19:06, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:::It was I who added that part about the "unlikely combination of words". Today I have checked it on https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ (where you have to annoyingly register with your real email address as throwaway mails are effectively blocked). Expression 'right know' has 151 795 results. 'this instant' has only 558 including phrases such as:
:::"Get the fuck out of my office this instant." from Silicon Valley (2017 TV Series, episode The Keenan Vortex);
:::"Shh. Stop that this instant! 'Stop that this instant.' You sound like my teacher." Justice League Action (2016, Galaxy Jest);
:::"Put those drapes down this instant. ... I will grab a spatula and put you Over my knee this instant! - You sound like mommy." The Haunted Hathaways (2014, Haunted Viking);
:::"Applebloom! You come back here right this instant! (blustering)" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010, Bridle Gossip).
:::There were also some result from spoken word, newspapers and blogs but they were not relevant. In conclusion, 'this instant' is much less frequent than more common 'right know', however, it is used. On the other hand, it is infrequent enough that characters in TV series comment on how out of place that phrase sounds. I have deleted my explanation, feel free to undo the deletion, rewrite the explanation or leave it as it is now.
::: To clarify, I have deleted this part of explanation: As mentioned in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], Cooper was also known for ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style and use of unusual phrases such as 'negotiable American currency', he seems to hold to this habit and instead of much more common 'Help me right now!' or 'Put me down immediately!' he used rather unlikely combination of words 'You help me down this instant!'. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:06, 6 August 2021 (UTC)
::: My input: the "this instant" bit is not even mentioned as the focus of the linguist's attention, so I'd not consider that important. D.B. may also have only started to say that ''since'' the prior visitor, or only when directly addressing BG (with the long history of ignoring/refusing him). "Help me down" is an interesting construct in and of itself, as mentioned. But I could not tell you in what ways. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.106|162.158.158.106]] 14:39, 6 August 2021 (UTC)

Anyone else think that D.B. Cooper in this comic looks a bit like Don Quixote from alternate energy revolution? --[[User:4D4850|4D4850]] ([[User talk:4D4850|talk]]) 02:13, 6 August 2021 (UTC)
: Kind of, but when you looked closer at [[556: Alternative Energy Revolution]] Don Quixote's beard is definitely better groomed and his hair is trimmed. I would rather compare this Cooper with the guy form [[725: Literally]]. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:06, 6 August 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2487: Danger Mnemonic

2021-07-11T10:29:48Z

162.158.158.106:

1) Strangely, I find even the established motherWiki page for the Red Sky motto to be a little short of full explanation. It could do with a diagram to demonstrate how line-of-sight extends one's view beyond the horizon and above surface effects to reveal the nature of the oncoming atmosphere, either imminent (upwind) or historic (downwind, with the implication of an oscillation in the other direction). But, not only that, a sky clear enough to give a good direct red-sky in the Sun's rising/setting direction also will allow Earth-skimming sunlight to red-illuminate the presence of clouds in the opposite direction (with the greater guarantee of 'weather system opposites' east-to-west), enhancing the 'forecast' even further and before/after rising/setting of the Sun as well. Not something to add to the Explanation, but fun to realise. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 08:50, 10 July 2021 (UTC)

2) Perhaps don't use a [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_sky_at_morning web link] to wikipedia when you can use a much more elegant {{w|Red sky at morning|wikilink}}..? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 08:50, 10 July 2021 (UTC)

3) The (''probably'' as apocryphal?) rhyme here is "Beer before wine and you'll feel fine; wine before beer and you'll feel queer", so I leave it up to you to work out what this means for how to ultimately mix your Chateau-Whatever and your no-'e' whisky. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 08:50, 10 July 2021 (UTC)
:So if you combine the two aphorisms, the best order is liquor->beer->wine? I don't drink, so I can't attest to the truth of any of these. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 12:03, 10 July 2021 (UTC)
::That's if it's not like Rock-Paper-Scissors.. :p [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.106|162.158.158.106]] 10:29, 11 July 2021 (UTC)

I don't think the title text is warning against getting drunk, just the particular order of drinks that the old saying warns against. She's already told the kids to "get out of there", you don't want to get sick and stop to vomit. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 12:08, 10 July 2021 (UTC)

Do you reckon this is a reference to the current wildfires ... three x dangerous but the colours of red and yellow and a mention of a nature setting ... [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 02:00, 11 July 2021 (UTC)