explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2742: Island Storage

2023-05-07T18:01:44Z

162.158.158.250: Title text change

{{comic
| number = 2742
| date = February 24, 2023
| title = Island Storage
| image = island_storage_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x435px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I always hate dragging around the larger archipelagos, but I appreciate how the Scandanavian peninsula flexes outward to create a snug pocket for Britain and Ireland.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another world map vandalized{{Citation Needed}} by Randall, similarly to the [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|bad map projection series]]. This time, every major island that is not considered a continent in its own right is relocated into similarly-sized swathes of sea partly enclosed by the outlines of adjacent continents. The caption implies it's Earth's intended "storage mode", where everything 'loose' is neatly packed away. A similar comic is found at [[1784: Bad Map Projection: Liquid Resize]].

The comic thus equates the world to a playroom in which the islands are the equivalent of scattered toys left out after playtime, or an office space where 'polite notices' request users to replace materials, equipment, etc. in its intended storage, to leave it presentable for the next users. It indicates that the loose islands can be properly stored away in the nooks and crannies of the larger landmasses, possibly so they can be easily located when the next person comes along to play with or use them. The comic title may also be a pun aligned with the design concept of an island kitchen, or possibly other similar room types, in which a central area of worktop may be designed with space for the seating (when not in use) or legs (when people are sat) even amongst the other utensil/equipment storage as required.

Though much of the apparent strange distortions of relocated islands are probably due to the relative changes in length/area/angle across differing parts of the planar-stretched map of the globe (depending upon the {{w|map projection}} being used), Randall is clearly also not averse to distorting the landmasses slightly to fit even the 'immobile' continental masses. He mentions in the title text that he likes to make use of the jutting outcrop of {{w|Scandinavia}} (though misspelled as it was in [[850: World According to Americans]]) by flexing it somewhat like one might do with a spring-clip, thus gripping tightly whatever islands he forces within the gap (in this instance, the British Isles and Svalbard). No-one knows what happened to the Baltic islands of Öland and Gotland though. Maybe the Irish ate them?

On March 4, 2023, the last few words of the title text were changed from ''the British Isles'' to ''Britain and Ireland''.

===Table of islands===
New locations of selected islands that are visible on the map:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Island(s)
! Original Location
! New Location
|-
| {{w|Kodiak Island}}
| South of mainland Alaska
| {{w|Cook Inlet}}
|-
| {{w|Vancouver Island}}
| West of mainland Canada
| {{w|Salish Sea}}
|-
| {{w|Canadian Arctic Archipelago}}
| North of mainland Canada
| {{w|Hudson Bay}}
|-
| {{w|Newfoundland (Island)|Newfoundland}}, {{w|Prince Edward Island}}, and {{w|Anticosti Island}}
| {{w|Labrador Sea|Off the eastern coast of Canada}}
| {{w|Gulf of St Lawrence}}
|-
| {{w|Greenland}}
| {{w|Greenland Sea|Northeast of Canada}}
| {{w|Gulf of Mexico}}
|-
| {{w|Hispaniola}} and {{w|Cuba}}
| {{w|Caribbean Sea}}
| Gulf of Mexico
|-
| Other Caribbean Islands
| Caribbean Sea
| {{w|Gulf of Venezuela}}
|-
| {{w|Iceland}}
| {{w|Sargasso Sea|Northern Atlantic Ocean}}
| {{w|Gulf of Lion|Coast of southern France}}
|-
| {{w|Great Britain}} and {{w|Ireland}}
| Northwest Europe
| {{w|Baltic Sea}}
|-
| {{w|Svalbard}}
| Far North Atlantic
| {{w|Baltic Sea}}
|-
| {{w|Sardinia}} and {{w|Sicily}}
| {{w|Tyrrhenian Sea|Off western coast of Italy}}
| Coast of Italy
|-
| {{w|Aegean Islands}}
| {{w|Aegean Sea}}
| Coast of Greece
|-
| {{w|New Guinea}}, {{w|Sumatra}}, {{w|Java}}, {{w|Sulawesi}}
| {{w|Solomon Sea}}, {{w|Natuna Sea}}, {{w|Java Sea}}, {{w|Sulawesi Sea}}
| {{w|Mediterranean Sea}}
|-
| {{w|Philippines}}
| {{w|Philippine Sea}}
| {{w|Black Sea}}
|-
| {{w|Novaya Zemlya}}
| {{w|Pechora Sea}}
| {{w|White Sea}}
|-
| {{w|Japan}}, {{w|Sakhalin}}
| {{w|Sea of Japan}}, {{w|Sea of Okhotsk}}
| Sea of Okhotsk
|-
| {{w|Taiwan}}, {{w|Hainan}}
| {{w|South China Sea}}
| {{w|Yellow Sea}}
|-
| {{w|Madagascar}}
| {{w|Mozambique Channel}}
| {{w|Red Sea}}
|-
| {{w|Sri Lanka}}
| {{w|Laccadive Sea}}
| {{w|Persian Gulf}}
|-
| {{w|Borneo}}
| South China Sea
| {{w|Gulf of Thailand}}
|-
| {{w|New Zealand}}, {{w|Tasmania}}
| {{w|Tasman Sea|Off the coast of Australian mainland}}
| {{w|Gulf of Carpentaria}}
|}

==Transcript==
:[A map of Earth with the largest continents in their usual locations, and Antarctica off the map, but all of the major islands have been moved into various bays and seas. See explanation above for further details.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Reminder: If you're the last one using the Earth, please put the islands away when you're done.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]

2657: Complex Vowels

2022-08-10T22:55:09Z

162.158.158.250: /* Explanation */ Did not properly explain the 'b' (maybe I haven't either, but I've put a few moments' thought into it anyway).

{{comic
| number = 2657
| date = August 10, 2022
| title = Complex Vowels
| image = complex_vowels.png
| titletext = Pronouncing [ṡṡċċḣḣẇẇȧȧ] is easy; you just say it like the 'x' in 'fire'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a ṡṡċċḣḣẇẇȧȧ - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In mathematics, complex numbers are numbers including both real numbers and imaginary numbers. A complex number can be expressed as "''a'' + ''b''i" where ''a'' and ''b'' are real numbers, but the latter is combined with i, the imaginary part, to convey a multiple of the square root of negative one. When expanding the one-dimensional number line with an imaginary axis, it becomes two-dimensional with any 'b' component being represented perpendicularly away from the original 'real' line.

[[File:Ipa-chart-vowels.png|thumb|200px|The IPA vowel chart]]
In phonetics, the vowelspace is represented as two-dimensional. This is non-abstract: the y axis represents vowel height (i.e. how close or far the tongue is from the top of the mouth) and the x axis represents frontness/backness (i.e. how close or far the tongue is from the teeth). In an analogy to the addition of a new dimension in mathematics, two-dimensional vowelspace becomes '''three'''-dimensional with a new axis.

In linguistics ə is the schwa symbol, the most common vowel sound in English polysyllabic words (the a in comma or the e in letter). The schwa symbol looks like a reversed e symbol (the base of natural logarithms).

This comic conflates complex numbers in mathematics with "complex vowels" in linguistics. This creates a series of sounds which cannot be properly processed by the human brain. This is similar to the cliche of "black speech" in Lovecraftian horror, a language created by alien beings with different vocal patterns than humans.

The linguist in the comic appears to be {{w|Gretchen McCulloch}}, as previously depicted in [[2421: Tower of Babel]] and [[2381: The True Name of the Bear]].

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

The comic shows the creation of a cursed vowel by adding 1/2 i to the normal vowel a, thus creating a very odd looking symbol.

A linguist appears to be saying said cursed vowel, causing two people nearby to put their hands to their heads

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2654: Chemtrails

2022-08-03T16:27:18Z

162.158.158.250:

Ants navigate by following trails of chemicals on the ground, so it is ''technically'' a correct description, but also lumps ant navigation entomologists with conspiracy nuts.--[[User:NyanSequitur|NyanSequitur]] ([[User talk:NyanSequitur|talk]]) 16:01, 3 August 2022 (UTC)
:The point is that scientists don't call these trails "chemtrails". Cueball has made that mistaken link. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:05, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

I must say that the title-text made me laugh out loud the most. (Also, though I'm sure there's no direct or even impliable link, made me fondly recall Aunt Hillary in {{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}}, where she does not control or particularly care for her ants and they don't pull ''her'' strings in any way that they 'care' about.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.250|162.158.158.250]] 16:26, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2654: Chemtrails

2022-08-03T16:26:25Z

162.158.158.250:

Ants navigate by following trails of chemicals on the ground, so it is ''technically'' a correct description, but also lumps ant navigation entomologists with conspiracy nuts.--[[User:NyanSequitur|NyanSequitur]] ([[User talk:NyanSequitur|talk]]) 16:01, 3 August 2022 (UTC)
:The point is that scientists don't call these trails "chemtrails". Cueball has made that mistaken link. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:05, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

I must say that the title-text made me laugh out loud the most. (Also, though I'm sure there's no direct or even impliable link, made me fondly recall Aunt Hillary in {{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}}, where she does not control her ants and they don't pull ''her'' strings in any way that they 'care' about.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.250|162.158.158.250]] 16:26, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

2528: Flag Map Sabotage

2021-10-14T13:22:42Z

162.158.158.250: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2528
| date = October 13, 2021
| title = Flag Map Sabotage
| image = flag_map_sabotage.png
| titletext = Delaware hopes to explore the western edge of areas marked with the Belgian flag, once the tornadoes die down.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GOD-EMPEROR OF GREATER DELAWARE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic refers to a style of map that colours a country's area with its flag to demonstrate the country's borders. This flag contains a fake map legend that causes the colors of (other) countries' flags to be reinterpreted according to the legend. For example the bottom of the Russian flag is red, so the south of Russia would be coloured red which the legend marks as Greater Delaware. A number of common flag colors are included. It should be noted that there are several ways map makers could sabotage this fake legend, including drawing it at the wrong scale or adding a real legend that covers parts of the country.

The title text refers to the flag of Belgium, which consists of three vertical stripes in the order black, yellow, and red. The western part of Belgium would, according to the legend, be unexplored, while the eastern part would be Greater Delaware. The middle would therefore be a tornado zone separating the unexplored area from Greater Delaware. Depending on how the flags are aligned it would be possible to explore from the south. The north is not viable as rebel forces would be present.

Also, because Belgium is the northern neighbor of France, whose flag is made of vertical stripes with Blue-White-Red, the French Greater Delaware may be conveniently located to help said exploration.

This is not the first time Randall has made a flag for a new country! See [[1815: Flag]]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A flag displays a white country-shaped area surrounded by a red field. Inside the shape sits a map legend.]

:Map Legend
:[Bright blue rectangle] Disputed territory
:[Green rectangle] Newly independent
:[Blue rectangle] Demilitarized zone
:[Yellow rectangle] Tornado warning
:[Dark blue rectangle] Held by rebel forces
:[Red rectangle] Greater Delaware
:[Black rectangle] Unexplored

:[Caption below panel]
:Our new country's flag sabotages those maps where geographic areas are colored in with flag patterns.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Sabotage]]

Talk:2505: News Story Reaction

2021-08-22T20:19:27Z

162.158.158.250:

It's worth mentioning that unless we're talking an industrial shredder, the Mona Lisa can't be, since unlike most stereotypical paintings, it's actually on glued together pieces of wood and not on Canvas.

Not to say that it wouldn't be damaged heavily by a band of wild rabid dogs, but not "shredded".

Why yes, I am using my art degree, why do you ask?

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.5|108.162.245.5]] 19:22, 20 August 2021 (UTC) Steve

: Nothing in the original says the dogs are rabid. Mind you, I would expect rabid dogs to go directly after people, not inanimate paintings. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 22:07, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
:: Our dog shredded our front door once when left alone during a thunderstorm or such. There was even blood left on the broken shards of wood :-(. But I don't think Randall knew that the Mona Lisa was on wood. [[User:Baffo32|Baffo32]] ([[User talk:Baffo32|talk]]) 00:04, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

:Re “glued together pieces of wood” — No art degree here, but I thought the “Louvre” Mona Lisa was done on a single poplar panel (with later bracing and butterfly inserts on the reverse); I know warping and cracking have been concerns. If it is glued (I assume edge-to-edge), I wonder why? Wide panels would have been quite common then, and the only glues available would have been hide glue, or perhaps fish glue. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 14:28, 22 August 2021 (UTC)

I don't have an art degree but knew that the painting was on wood. Also, it's "J.C. Penney". I'm guessing Randall was in a hurry on this one.

Pete 19:31, 20 August 2021 (UTC)

It make much more sense if the wild dogs didn't get in there by coincidence. Making it about himself would be acceptable if he was the indirect cause of the situation. Revenge successful? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.55|172.69.71.55]] 22:03, 20 August 2021 (UTC)

Just checking - I'm not the only one who saw this and immediately googled to see if it was an actual news story, am I? I'm so not plugged into the news that I could honestly have believed that I missed it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.239|172.70.130.239]] 22:09, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
:I also cannot find anything about this. As mentioned above, the painting also cannot really be shredded, as it is on wood, rather than canvas. Edit: Can be shredded, but not really by a pack of dogs. [[User:Theusaf|theusaf]] ([[User talk:Theusaf|talk]]) 23:55, 20 August 2021 (UTC)

Uhh, WHAT? Wood can't be shredded?? Huh/ Tha's news to me . . . . [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.198|162.158.74.198]] 00:16, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

I'm not convinced it would be THAT big loss for humanity. Sure, the original has some emotional value, but I'm sure we have plenty of backup copies. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 06:01, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

Any fule know the Jagaroth made Da Vinci paint six versions and the one in the Louvre is one of the five with Fake written on the back in felt tip by the Doctor. 08:13, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

I don't know if it's a coincidence, and if it's worth mentioning, but the Mona Lisa was stolen on 21 August 1911, almost exactly 90 years before the publication of this comic. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.186|141.101.69.186]] 07:10, 21 August 2021 (UTC)
:I'm pretty sure that 2021 - 1911 equals 110 years instead of 90. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.158|162.158.183.158]] 09:43, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

So, the most likely news story this is referring to is the Notre Dame burning down, and then, people uploading photos of them posing in front of it in the past, and then acting as though this was a personal loss for them. Dunno why it's only being made into a comic ''now'', though. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.22|162.158.203.22]] 13:19, 22 August 2021 (UTC)
:While they're similar in being about historic items in Paris being damaged, that seems like a pretty tenuous link, especially since that was almost 2.5 years ago. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:56, 22 August 2021 (UTC)

It's just a coincedence, but popular Youtube comedian Ryan George made a video with almost the same subject matter just a few days ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv69kcMcavg

Talk:2501: Average Familiarity

2021-08-13T00:14:50Z

162.158.158.250:

I've never even ''heard'' of olivine. I think most people have heard of quartz (it's the crystal in most electronic watches, and it's pretty), and I suspect feldspar is somewhere in between. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 05:21, 12 August 2021 (UTC)
:If you find a hard white rock, it's probably quartz; very common where I live. Decorative white pebbles? Quartz. Clear, pretty crystals might be the same compound, but they had to be pure to start with and they had to cool really slowly. (Unsigned by 162.158.167.245)
:Well, it helps if you play [https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Stone#DF_Geology_and_Geology_in_Real_Life Dwarf Fortress]. Olivine is one of the green stones (that only really has use as building material/decoration, but makes an impressive megaconstruction mayerial if you find enough of it to make that worthwhile), unlike quartz which features as raw 'gem clusters' more typically cut for decoration of mugs, crossbow bolts, etc. Of course, IRL, quartzes are ''so'' ever-present that they are very easy to forget ''except'' as fancy crystals (either for timekeeping in watches or timewasting in crystal healing) and as such you can actually find them almost anywhere (if you're not stuck on a desert island). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.20|162.158.111.20]] 12:37, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

I resemble this comic ... I specialize in probability. Does everyone know that probability=1 means 'certain'? ... I'm not certain ... (Unsigned by 162.158.167.245)
:: People who went through at least the first half of the math undergraduate program will most likely understand. In the general population, I guess, saying '100 % probability' would work much better than 'probability 1', but still people can get quite upset when something with 99 % probability of success fails, not understanding that 99 % (or even 85 %) does not mean guaranteed success (see for example 14:46 of this video about randomness in video-game design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwI5b-wRLic). [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:08, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

As a chemist, I heard of all of them but, fun fact, there is a mnemonic in the german language known by at least all of the elderly generation: "Feldspat, Quarz und Glimmer - die drei vergess´ ich nimmer!" thats "feldspar quartz and mica - i will never forget the three". These three are the main compunds of granite and obviously this was stuff they had to learn at school. If, in a group of silverheads, start the phrase "Feldspat Quarz und Glimmer ..." and there will always be someone to finish the sentence. --[[User:Pauliprinzip|Pauliprinzip]] ([[User talk:Pauliprinzip|talk]]) 05:45, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

:''and may not even know the definition of "feldspar" beyond "a rock".'' Ironically, I think the person writing this may have overstated the "average Joe"'s familiarity with the word "feldspar", since I couldn't have defined it if you'd asked me. --[[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 08:11, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

I got the idea that ''both'' Cueball and Ponytail were geochemists, rather than Cueball being just an average adult. [[User:OblateSpheroid|OblateSpheroid]] ([[User talk:OblateSpheroid|talk]]) 20:02, 12 August 2021 (UTC)
:Seconded. [[User:Danish|Danish]] ([[User talk:Danish|talk]]) 20:12, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

Seemed like the examples of substances the average person might reasonably know the chemical formula for should include a mineral. Halite seems likely (though that name is probably less familiar than table salt). Diamond and graphite were the only other minerals that I could think of that many would know the formulas for (C). Chalk (calcite) seems possible, but less likely. Any other suggestions (or even better, any citations to research)? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.5|108.162.245.5]] 21:30, 12 August 2021 (UTC)
:technically water in the form of ice is a mineral. But including salt is a good idea. And I'll look for citations. [[User:Curiouscat|Curiouscat]] ([[User talk:Curiouscat|talk]]) 21:44, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

Friendly local geologist here, I made some changes especially to the third paragraph because a lot of the science was confusingly written and not really correct (desert islands tend to be made up of primarily silicates? Even volcanic ones. Basaltic rocks have silica in them too, that's what olivine is) I wasn't sure what to do with the second paragraph. It seems a bit unnecessary to talk about quartz so much, since it isn't that relevant to the comic. I was thinking it might be good to have an explanation of the difference between sili'''con''' the element, sili'''ca''' the mineral structure, and what all these minerals actually are might be more relevant? Or at least we could put up what some of the chemical formulas are for quartz and olivine and maybe like albite, anorthite, microcline to represent the feldspars. [[User:Curiouscat|Curiouscat]] ([[User talk:Curiouscat|talk]]) 21:40, 12 August 2021 (UTC)
:I thought (in a prior edit, by someone, may have lost its clarity in subsequent edits by others but I don't have the patience to cross-compare it all) the point was that coral-sands are not silicates, so your classic "lump of 'sand' poking out of the sea" is sparse of the stuff you might want to thrown your rock at. And any suitable rocks, unless you go diving down in the surrounding oceon to rumage beyond the living coral to the seamount/extinct-and-eroded-volcano it has been growing upon. That said, there's a lot of variation out there, so maybe I'm thinking of a too-narrow subset of examples. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.250|162.158.158.250]] 00:14, 13 August 2021 (UTC)

== Replaced "average Joe" with "average person" ==

Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terms_related_to_an_average_person this term is specific to the US, and introduces specificity unrelated to the comic.