explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2423: Project Orion

2021-02-11T05:45:47Z

162.158.183.117:

If you read xkcd long enough, the comics always tend toward being about conversations tending toward something. (Okay, that’s not true; there’s one other comic like this and it was a conversation tending toward being about species tending toward being built like crabs. Still funny to think about, though.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.244|108.162.215.244]] 01:09, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
:All xkcd comics eventually become conversations about conversations. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 01:15, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
Just wanted to point out that "dusty plasma fission fragment rockets" is a [[856:_Trochee_Fixation|series of trochees]].[[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.117|162.158.183.117]] 05:45, 11 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:385: How it Works

2021-02-03T10:51:45Z

162.158.183.117:

Person who has questionable proficiency (at math in this case) makes gender-specific judgments society taught him to make. To be part of the whole you have to confirm to the stereotypes and labels placed upon you. You'll be forever alone otherwise. Sad story. I makes me cry, however, every time I recall that people who are good at math stereotyped as crazy mad evil egomaniacs who are forever alone. This is a catch 22 that's impossible to break. The title of the comics is "How it Works". And this is how it works.

I will admit, after I finished Calc 1, I came across this yet again via the random button, and kind of rolled my eyes. Then I read the title text, and this became one of my favorite comics. --[[Special:Contributions/140.198.42.64|140.198.42.64]] 00:19, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

:The same thing happened to me. This is definitely one comic where a little bit of knowledge about the subject really makes the joke. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.125|108.162.215.125]] 06:59, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

This type of generalization also has a special name called "Stereotype threat". Research shows that women/girls who are good at math (identify as good at math) will do worse on hard math questions when they think (consciously or unconsciously) that her own personal failings will reflect on the negative stereotype. (Real example: a group of professors asked SAT testing body to ask for demographic questions (gender/race) after the test instead of before.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.107|108.162.254.107]] 04:15, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

I don't really think that pi + C is different from just C. Pi is a constant anyway! {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.96}}

In popular culture: it appeared twice in the grade 10 english module in the philippines,and without the correct citation. p.s. what should i do? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.10|108.162.215.10]] 08:33, 16 July 2015 (UTC)
:xkcd is released under a Creative Commons license that allows any redistribution but requests a citation if you are making money from it. I think it's fine unless they're ripping Randall off. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 23:53, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
::''reads license'' okay, no commercial redistribution, and give appropriate credit. Ask them nicely to add a citation? Idk. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 23:57, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

Maybe include the phrase confirmation bias?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.53|108.162.218.53]] 20:27, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

Megan wasn't finished with the equation yet. That's why her hand is still up at the board. She can still produce a correct - even if strange - equation. {{unsigned ip|162.158.90.189}}
:So is the hand of the second cueball.

One thing I noticed is if you just take the letters of "Pi" and "c", it makes "Pic". "Pic" is a way to shorten the word "Picture"![[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.115|108.162.245.115]] 18:30, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

[https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Girls_suck_at_Python The Geek Feminism wiki claims that this comic references a specific incident.] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.182.98|172.68.182.98]] 22:57, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
: This comic was published three months after the incident (2007/11 - 2008/02), so could be inspired by it.

Talk:2417: 1/1,000th Scale World

2021-01-27T22:07:50Z

162.158.183.117:

Just for reference: the maths to scale down the Niagara Falls flow an convert from cubic feet to cubic centimeters:
<pre>
> 1e5*(.3048)^3*1000^2/(1e3)^3
[1] 2.831685
> 1e5*(.3048)^3*1000^2/(1e3)^3/2
[1] 1.415842
</pre>
American editors may want to adapt the formulas to add the numbers in cubic inches.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 18:29, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

do we have a category for these small scale world comics if not we might want to discuss that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.246|162.158.75.246]] 18:51, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Based on the original Star Trek canon, I believe it more than reasonable to say that all of the Enterprises would be able to operate at least partially submerged, but I would be very worried about a scale aircraft carrier breaking in two if lifted. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.115|162.158.62.115]] 20:56, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Tensile/shear strength works on cross-section, so would be proportional to the square of the scale, not the cube. A scaled-down Golden Gate Bridge would only support a millionth of the full load, not a billionth, so the proportional load is only 0.3 of a person. (And it basically wouldn't have to support itself, which, as it turns out, takes care of most of the remaining part.) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.117|162.158.183.117]] 22:07, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

2409: Steepen the Curve

2021-01-09T17:23:03Z

162.158.183.117: /* Transcript */ No arrowhead on X-axis

{{comic
| number = 2409
| date = January 8, 2021
| title = Steepen the Curve
| image = steepen_the_curve.png
| titletext = 1. Flatten the curve. 2. Steepen the curve. 3. Hang out.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a STEEPENED FLATTENED CURVE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is another in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}.

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly became the main public concern. All kinds of political, civic and personal efforts were put towards doing things that would cause the 'curve' (the graph of cumulative deaths, or deaths per period) to flatten and not rise as rapidly as it was feared it would do, unchecked. The graphic drawn in black depicts this statistic — though it is not clear (without proper units or values on either axis) if this is a cumulative one or the initial 'rate' graph for before initial lockdowns started to reduce the initial trajectory for a time.

In 2021, the same issues exist (with second or even third 'waves' of resurgence affecting some populations) but now we have a handful of vaccines available. The red overlay intends to update the 'original' graphic to portray the curve of vaccines provided (again, it could easily be either cumulative or rate-wise). This year, the line remains the same but the year, the thing labelled as being represented and the hoped-for outcome are changed accordingly.

Note that, in both cases, there would be an upper limit on the cumulative value, but the ceiling must be well beyond the upper (and timewise) limits of this graph. If this is a rate-graph, it would show a peak and subsequent decline at the same point in time where a cumulative graph would show an inflection in its gradient, but neither are visible here.

==Transcript==
:[Line graph shown with a rising curve drawn in black. There is an underlined label above and another label below the graph. The Y-axis line is ending in an arrowhead and also has a label. All this is in black. But the last number in the upper label as well as one word in each of the other two labels, have been crossed out in red and then another number or word has been written behind or beneath in red.]
:[Caption above the graph:]
:202<s>0</s> 1

:[Y-Axis:]
:COVID <s>Deaths</s> Vaccinations

:[Caption below the graph:]
:<s>Flatten</s> Steepen The Curve

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

Talk:2408: Egg Strategies

2021-01-07T11:26:41Z

162.158.183.117:

I'm not going to get into it because it's not related to these egg cartons, but it is ''really weird'' sitting here explaining a joke while I listen to breaking news on the radio. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 22:24, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

I really thought it was just me who cared about center of gravity for eggs. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.49|162.158.79.49]] 23:43, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

We keep the hard boiled ones at one end and the fr4esh ones at the other end.

Bring True Neutral (egg carton sits lengthwise in fridge, most convenient egg is removed until carton is empty), I am ''baffled'' by the existence of other "strategies". Do people really do this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.70|108.162.241.70]] 00:57, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
: True Neutral here, and also putting the carton in the fridge eggless side out (which is consistent with "most convenient egg removed"). The current explanation says that this is "a disaster waiting to happen". Why? As a side-note, as I understand it, the alternate strategies can be convenient if you ''don't'' put the carton lengthwise in the fridge (particularly if you don't put it in the fridge ''at all''). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.183.117|162.158.183.117]] 11:26, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Being Lawful Good and married to someone who is Chaotic Good, we might sometimes argue over this. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.29|162.158.62.29]] 03:23, 7 January 2021 (UTC) MSS

In Germany, there are two sizes of egg cartons, containing 6 or 10 eggs, respectively. Most refrigerators I’ve seen (in stores or households) contain an egg-holder with six dents, though I also have occasionally seen 10-dent egg holders.
Since I usually buy 20 eggs at the weekly market, my strategy is to transfer the eggs from a package to the egg holder once there are less than 9 left in the package (for the purpose of knowing how many are still left without having to open a package). If there are more than six eggs, the one or two additional eggs are placed lying besides the egg holder.
I think that counts as chaotic neutral. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.28|141.101.68.28]] 01:42, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I've got a niggling feeling that Chaotic Neutral (at least) is wrongly depicted. Too orderly. I'd have put Chaotic Good's pattern there (not necessarily vice-versa, as the current incumbent looks more Lawful or Variation-of-neutrality as well as Good) as attempting to maintain balance but with an element of chance. We don't know what sequence of removal ''led'' to each of these states, of course. That might make much of the difference in how we reach the illustrated states. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.253|162.158.158.253]] 03:03, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I'd go a little further and swap CG and CN (the current CG being a marginally more ordered and balanced CN) but otherwise agree. CN is the strategy I use when the carton is at risk of being centrally supported while in humid conditions (don't ask), making NG risk bending of the whole carton. LG is actually worse then NG in some circumstances, due to a drastically reduced moment of inertia contributing to the chance of dropping. On the other hand, NG increases the probability of end-shattering if the carton is actually dropped. Overall, different strategies are probably a result of experience, circumstance, relative clumsiness, and hat colour. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.75|162.158.166.75]] 05:43, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I feel like the chaotic good isn't random. It seems like it could be Braille or something like that, maybe? I don't know, I might looking for patterns where there are none.

Is it bother anyone that there are different numbers of eggs in each carton? At least there should have been two boxes for each alignment, one with an even number of eggs and one with odd.

532: Piano

2021-01-05T16:40:05Z

162.158.183.117: Added Wikipedia links about Usenet, improved grammar

{{comic
| number = 532
| date = January 19, 2009
| title = Piano
| image = piano.png
| titletext = Good thing he didn't make it smaller, or it'd need someone three inches tall to play it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Comic and title text need a complete explanation.}}

The joke here is the reverse of an [http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/old90/304.html old joke] that appeared in the rec.humor.funny {{w|Usenet}} {{w|Usenet newsgroup|newsgroup}}. In the original, the story-teller reports that he made a wish with a hard-of-hearing genie and got a twelve inch pianist instead. In this version, the man made a wish for a twelve inch pianist to a hard-of-hearing genie, but didn't receive it.

The title text is saying that if the guy had made a smaller miniature piano, he might have wished for a smaller pianist to play it.

Genies (or magic lamps) are mentioned in at least four other comics:
*[[152: Hamster Ball]]
*[[879: Lamp]]
*[[1391: Darkness]]
*[[2193: Well-Ordering Principle]]

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding a box with an open lid. A miniature piano is inside. Megan is looking at it]
:Cueball: My hobby is making miniatures. Check this out — it's a fully-functional grand piano.
:Megan: Woah — beautiful.

:[Cueball looks at the miniature piano.]
:Cueball: Sadly, I've never heard what proper music sounds like on it—the keys are too small to play.

:[Cueball closes lid to the piano.]
:Cueball: I once asked a genie for someone who could play it for me, but I think he misheard.
:Megan: ...are you doing anything later?

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

532: Piano

2021-01-05T16:09:56Z

162.158.183.117: Partially reverted vandalized page to revision 14536 by Bpothier

{{comic
| number = 532
| date = January 19, 2009
| title = Piano
| image = piano.png
| titletext = Good thing he didn't make it smaller, or it'd need someone three inches tall to play it.
}}

==Explanation==
The joke here is the reverse of an old joke that appeared in [http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/old90/304.html rec.humor.funny]. In the original, the story-teller reports that he made a wish with a hard-of-hearing genie and instead got a twelve inch pianist. In this version, the man wished for the twelve inch pianist to hard-of-hearing genie, and the girl realized what he got instead.

The title text is saying that if the guy had made a smaller miniature piano, he might have wished for a smaller "pianist" to play it and would instead have to get a job starring in "male enhancement" commercials.

Genies (or magic lamps) are mentioned in at least three other comics:
*[[152: Hamster Ball]]
*[[879: Lamp]]
*[[1391: Darkness]]
*[[2193: Well-Ordering Principle]]

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding a box with an open lid. A miniature piano is inside. Megan is looking at it]
:Cueball: My hobby is making miniatures. Check this out — it's a fully-functional grand piano.
:Megan: Woah — beautiful.

:[Cueball looks at the miniature piano.]
:Cueball: Sadly, I've never heard what proper music sounds like on it—the keys are too small to play.

:[Cueball closes lid to the piano.]
:Cueball: I once asked a genie for someone who could play it for me, but I think he misheard.
:Megan: ...are you doing anything later?

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

2399: 2020 Election Map

2020-12-17T10:06:01Z

162.158.183.117: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2399
| date = December 16, 2020
| title = 2020 Election Map
| image = 2020_election_map.png
| titletext = There are more Trump voters in California than Texas, more Biden voters in Texas than New York, more Trump voters in New York than Ohio, more Biden voters in Ohio than Massachusetts, more Trump voters in Massachusetts than Mississippi, and more Biden voters in Mississippi than Vermont.
}}

*A [https://xkcd.com/2399/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BIDEN VOTER IN OHIO. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is a sequel to an earlier comic, [[1939: 2016 Election Map]]. The United States elects its president not directly by popular vote but by an Electoral College composed of a number of electors, partially proportional to population, from each state. Presently, a "winner-take-all" system is used in most states: the winner of the popular vote in each state receives all of the electoral votes for that state. Though, strictly speaking, the electors are not required to cast their ballots according to this system, many states impose penalties on them if they don't. Technically, the popular vote in each state is to elect a slate of electors who in turn elect the President.

Many electoral results map color the states a solid color, indicating which state won the electoral votes, but this may not be representative of the population size of the state, or the number of voters. Furthermore, the states of Maine and Nebraska do not have a pure winner-takes-all system, but instead two of each state's electors vote for whoever won the statewide vote, and there is also one elector each assigned to a specific district's count. For example, while Biden won Maine statewide, he only got 3 out of its 4 votes, as the elector representing its second district voted for Trump, as expected.

Other maps used to demonstrate that "corn doesn't vote, people vote" (or similar rebuttals, referring to non-voting 'open space') include maps distorting the otherwise recognisable geography to make areas strictly proportional to the populations (or registered voters, actual voters or majority gap) within them. As an example, Los Angeles County, alone, is more populous than each of the states except for the nine most populous (even if you deprived California of it, for the duration) - or all of the ten least populous (plus DC) added together. Alaska, the largest state but with one of the fewest inhabitants, could be split and yet both halves each still cover more land area than Texas (and potentially both Alaskas now ranked firmly at the bottom of the population table).

Another mapping solution used by commentators was to use coloured circles sized to represent the quantities of voters (or majorities) that do something very similar to Randall's map by showing vast areas with small and sparse splotches of hue and other areas packed tightly with the local 'flavour' of votes.

The title text compares different voter pools in terms of absolute size. Unexpected truths - e.g., "There are more Trump voters in California than Texas" - can be explained by differences in population size. California (which was won by Biden) has a larger population than Texas (which was won by Trump), which has a higher population than New York (won by Biden), and so on. For example, Trump received over 6 million votes in California (though Biden received 11 million votes in winning the state) compared to 5.9 million votes received by Trump in Texas.

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

:2020 Election Map
:[One stick figure in a black circle] = 250,000 votes
:[Stick figure in a blue circle] Biden
:[Stick figure in a red circle] Trump
:[Stick figure in a green circle] Other
:Votes are distributed by state as accurately as possible while keeping national totals correct.
:Location within each state is approximate.
:[Blue, red, and green circles are distributed across a map of the United States.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Maps]]