explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2824: Abstract Pickup

2023-09-05T19:46:02Z

162.158.187.18: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2824
| date = September 4, 2023
| title = Abstract Pickup
| image = abstract_pickup_2x.png
| imagesize = 187x364px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Escape Artist Frees Self From Conversation With Pickup Artist
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PRETTY CUTE CUBE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Abstract art|Abstract artists}} are individuals who create artworks that do not attempt to represent external reality. Instead, they emphasize shapes, colours, forms and gestural or non-representational elements to convey emotions, concepts or ideas. Abstract art can take various forms, including paintings, sculptures, and other visual media.

{{w|Pickup artist|Pickup artists}} are individuals who engage in strategies and techniques to attract and form romantic or sexual relationships with others, typically focusing on short-term or casual encounters. These strategies often involve tactics for initiating conversations, building rapport and escalating physical intimacy. Pickup artistry is often associated with misogyny, manipulative behaviour and a lack of respect for others.

Stereotypical pickup artists are misogynistic males who feel disproportionately hard done by and are (over)reacting to the perceived antipathy from "all women".

A typical technique that they might use is "negging", or making a comment which is intended to lower their target's self-esteem under the guise of being perfectly normal (and even complimentary) smalltalk. Randall has previously indicated his disdain for pickup artists in [[1027: Pickup Artist]] and [[1178: Pickup Artists]].

The word "artist" has different meanings in these two phrases. In the first one, it means someone who makes paintings as a profession or hobby, and "abstract" narrows down the types of paintings. In the second, it means a practitioner of a reprehensible activity, and "pickup" is the activity. The joke is in conflating the two senses when saying that the two groups have merged.

White Hat is a representative of this combined group. He's talking to a group of cubes he just painted, which he describes as a melange (being an artistic term for a disordered mixture), in his role as abstract artist. But by the end of his comment he has passed through a disarming compliment (that they are "cute") and has revealed his pickup artist tendencies by dismissing them as a "dizzying swarm".

While it appears that these two, very different, forms of artist have been simultaneously realised in the one individual, in the title text it appears that a third type of artist (the {{w|Escapology|escape artist}}, again very different from both of the other types of artist) has fulfilled their own "role" by ''not'' combining into this particular melange of diverse artistry. This uses a third sense of "artist": a person skilled at a particular task or occupation.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[White Hat holding a paintbrush in his left arm standing next to an easel. An abstract painting of differently sized black and white rectangular square shapes rest on top of the easel.]
:White Hat: Hey there, chaotic melange of cubes-
:White Hat: you're actually pretty cute for a '''dizzying swarm!'''
:[The words "dizzying swarm!" are written in wavy bold letters.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Bad news - the pickup artists and abstract artists have merged.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

2767: Recipe Relativity

2023-04-25T20:02:46Z

162.158.187.18:

{{comic
| number = 2767
| date = April 24, 2023
| title = Recipe Relativity
| image = recipe_relativity_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x332px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It says to cut the onions into 1/4" slices, but I'd better correct for length contraction.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EDITOR MOVING AT 94% OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] is cooking a recipe found online. It took him much longer than the recipe said it would, and he concludes that this was due to {{w|time dilation}} as described in the theory of {{w|special relativity}}; that is, the recipe author was moving at 94% of the speed of light, causing relativistic effects, so that only 35 minutes passed for the author while 105 minutes passed for Randall. To calculate the 94% figure, he takes the recipe’s official duration (t’) and his actual duration (t), and then calculates what speed of light fraction would account for the cooking time difference.

This is absurd and therefore humorous because the traveling recipe author would report the time in his or her own frame of reference, not Randall's, no matter how fast they were traveling.

Randall is poking fun at online recipes that state an optimistic cooking time. The recipe author may assume an ideally equipped kitchen, a skilled chef, and the availability of prepared ingredients, such as canned or frozen cooked black beans instead of dried beans which take over an hour to soak and cook.[https://i.ibb.co/sWJR8Vq/Screenshot-2023-04-25-6-28-35-AM.png]

The title text takes the relativistic theory even further, saying that because of {{w|Length contraction|Lorentz contraction}} caused by the recipe author moving close to the speed of light, Randall should use different sizes of ingredients. If the recipe author calling for 1/4" onion slices is indeed traveling at 94% of the speed of light relative to Randall, he wonders whether his his onions should be cut to 2/3" slices to match their size in his frame of reference. This is similarly absurd{{citation needed}} and therefore humorous.

==Transcript==
:[In a small square panel the top part is written in black. It looks like a search from the internet and most of the top part of the browser is too small to be read. There are three small squares and a long rectangular address bar. To the right of the first small square which has a triangle inside it pointing down, there are two lines with unreadable text. Then followed by the second square, which are empty, and the address bar with a long line of unreadable text. Finally there are two lines of unreadable text before the last square which has a symbol inside it. Beneath this is a large header which can easily be read:]
:<big>Black bean burrito bowl</big>

:[Beneath this header there is a line with unreadable text, and below that line a thin empty rectangle. Beneath this are the second line of readable text. The last part indicating a time is circled in red. The readable black words are written in normal letters, as opposed to the standard of xkcd with all small caps.]
:Total time: 35 minutes

:[Beneath this there are three more lines of text, but this has all been written in red. Also it uses the standard xkcd all caps text format. The first line is normal text. And the last indication of time is also circled in red as the one above it, and a small double arrow goes between those two red lines around the time.]
:My actual time: 1h 45m
:[Below this there are two lines with equations written in math version, but here given here in text. The second equation is split over two lines. The last result is also circled in red.]
:t=t'/√(1-v2/c2)
:v=c*√(1-(t'/t)2) = c*√(1-(35/105)2) = 0.94c

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I think this recipe author is moving past me at 94% of the speed of light.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

2664: Cloud Swirls

2023-04-05T02:14:47Z

162.158.187.18: /* Transcript */ done

{{comic
| number = 2664
| date = August 26, 2022
| title = Cloud Swirls
| image = cloud_swirls.png
| titletext = 'Why did you get into fluid dynamics?' 'Well, SOME planet has to have the coolest clouds, odds are it's not ours, and rockets are slow.'
}}

==Explanation==

There are planets.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoplanet] A lot of them, even.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_exoplanets] Like our planet, for instance.[https://phl.upr.edu/projects/earth-similarity-index-esi] In 3D software, depictions are often rendered at a lower quality when the viewer's perspective is far away from them, to save on computational work for aspects the user can't clearly discern. This idea is built upon here, conceivably to suggest how {{w|Simulation hypothesis|simulations of universes}} might seem different than base reality to observers within them.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] theorize that complicated cloud formations occur naturally on other planets in other solar systems. On planets with no observers to look at the clouds closely, our universe, or the simulation thereof, might not afford to render a visual depiction of the atmosphere in higher quality. Meteorologists and physicists on Earth might notice that such exoplanet atmospheres do not obey formal {{w|Navier-Stokes}} {{w|fluid dynamics}}, but instead reflect low-quality corner-cutting of such calculations, such as exhibiting only smooth {{w|laminar flow}} instead of {{w|turbulence}}, its alternative. The foregoing would make sense if the Universe is actually simulated by a computer (a 43% probability[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA5YuwvJkpQ&t=20m]) and the being(s) who are running the physics simulator, or have coded our universe, wanted to speed things up.

{{cot|Further considerations}}
However:

* Much more computing power could be saved by skimping on the chemistry of the quattuordecillions of atoms in the oceans than the clouds in the sky (especially considering that it would not be necessary to simulate every individual atom and molecule in the sky (for the purpose of making realistic clouds with fluid dynamics); the computer program could instead divide all of the gas particles (e.g., dinitrogen, dioxygen, water vapor, argon, and carbon dioxide) into small chunks, simulate how each chunk would move, and update the chunk boundaries every so often), but skimping on oceanic chemistry would make biogenesis much less feasible. However, Earth has life.{{Citation needed}}

* It would be difficult to judge when "no one is looking closely". There are many organisms that have some degree of at least rudimentary sight but would have no idea (and in fact no way to conceptualize) whether the computer simulating the Universe is skimping on the cloud-rendering calculations or not. It would be difficult to make some foolproof intelligent-sight-detecting code that would render the clouds with much greater precision once a planet had life that would notice if the clouds were following lazy fluid dynamics.
** For one thing, this would not only depend on a species's intelligence but also on its knowledge of physics; e.g., humans did not develop the Navier-Stokes equations right after evolving large enough brains to conceive and understand them. Even coding a computer program to detect sight-having life would be difficult, at least for a computer program only looking at the positions and velocities of atoms, electrons, and photons; for example, a blue photon hitting a retinal molecule in a cone cell, causing it to change shape, which triggers a signal transduction cascade that sends a nervous signal to the optical cortex somewhat resembles an ultraviolet photon hitting a DNA strand, leading to the creation of a thymine dimer whose detection by DNA-repairing enzymes triggers a signal transduction cascade that increases the production of melanin, but only one counts as sight.
** Furthermore, assuming that the computer simulates each part of the Universe in a manner that is is about synchronized according to most celestial bodies, when the computer simulating the Universe simulates a planet, it does not know whether a civilization on a planet a dozen or two light-years away that has advanced enough to have telescopes capable of detailed views of the clouds of planets light-years away will point any telescopes at that planet dozens of light-years later.
***Even if the advanced civilization on another planet does not have such powerful telescopes yet, even a low-resolution (in terms of that planet's entire solar system being one pixel) spectrometer would be enough to reveal that something is up with the fluid dynamics simulations on that planet. Observers light-years away could deduce how much condensed water vapor there is in the atmosphere by calculating the atmosphere's absorbance in a wavelength where condensed water has a low but detectable absorptivity and everything else in that planet's atmosphere either has a negligible absorptivity or can be compensated for, and then one can deduce how compact the clouds are from that and the absorbance of a wavelength where condensed water has a high absorptivity and everything else in that planet's atmosphere either has a negligible absorptivity or can be compensated for. (Actually, in order to calculate the amount and compactlygroupedness of condensed water in the atmosphere from the raw numbers/direct measurements, the scientists would have to know not only the absoprtivity of condensed water suspended in air as clouds but also characteristics of the planet such as its radius and the thickness of its atmosphere. There are also other complicated factors, such as that some of the aerosolized water in clouds is in the form of solid ice, not liquid water. However, the scientists would still notice if the raw numbers from the more rudimentary observational equipment suddenly changed the second they switched on a more powerful telescope, so the following point still stands.) If the computer simulating the Universe did not switch to the more precise simulation of the planet's atmosphere in time for the scientists to only see spectrographs of the planet's atmosphere rendered with precise calculations, then if the scientists later developed a more powerful telescope, like the one described earlier, and then pointed it at the planet, either they would see poorly-rendered clouds and know that the Universe is simulated by a computer that skimps on the fluid dynamics calculations for the atmospheres of certain planets, or the measurements from transit spectrography would suddenly change, so the scientists would know that something weird was going on—although probably not exactly what. This is important because it is more feasible for a society to develop low-resolution transit spectrography quickly enough to catch the computer simulating the Universe off-guard than it would be for a society to develop the technology required for a telescope advanced enough to look at the clouds of a planet in another solar system with high enough resolution to determine whether the atmosphere is simulated by a computer that is skimping on the fluid dynamics calculations quickly enough to catch the computer simulating the Universe off-guard. However, either could conceivably catch the computer simulating the Universe off-guard because it would be difficult for a computer to deduce whether a planet has life and how technologically advanced the life of any planet that has life is when the only raw data for the computer to work with are the positions and velocities of atoms, electrons, and photons.

* If atmospheric physics suddenly changed upon the evolution of a species capable of distinguishing whether the atmosphere is simulated by a computer program that is skimping on the fluid dynamics calculations, that would likely cause sudden changes in the climate, and the resulting heat waves, droughts, freezes, famines, floods, storms, and/or other (formerly) extreme weather would likely drive that species extinct (considering that it had just evolved, so it would have a small population and therefore be especially susceptible to natural disasters) because it would not have evolved to survive in such conditions. Such disasters and climate changes) would not have to directly kill all members of the species in order to drive it extinct; they could instead diminish the size of the gene pool by killing most of the members or divide the once-larger population into smaller, genetically isolated populations (e.g., by causing the creation of uncrossably swollen rivers dividing what used to be a single genetically-interconnected range into several smaller populations), either of which would cause an unsustainable level of inbreeding that would eventually lead to extinction. However, our species was not driven extinct shortly after it first developed.{{Citation needed}}
{{cob}}

Of course, most people do not think that the Universe is a simulation,{{Actual citation needed}} but society does not know that it isn't a simulation with absolute certainty. There is a direct relationship between the question of the {{w|simulation hypothesis}} in {{w|metaphysics}} and {{w|Pascal's wager}} in {{w|theism}}, ''i.e.,'' whether God(s) exist(s), with weighty implications regarding {{w|free will}} and {{w|determinism}}, such as which raise the question of {{w|Compatibilism#Non-naturalism|non-naturalist compatibilism}}.

Megan proposes an additional theory that the universe is intended to make cool swirly clouds, and that the presence of life to observe these clouds is a bothersome coincidence. This goes against the theory that the Universe must not care about making cool swirly clouds since it wants to skimp on their fluid dynamics calculations. Even among followers of the simulation hypothesis, ascribing sentiment, emotion, or motivations to the entire universe is usually considered to be in jest, because of the dissimilarities between sentient beings and cosmologically distant sets of galaxies.{{citation needed}} This jest forms the basis of the comic's humor. Neither ascribing motivations to the Universe nor positing the purpose of a constructed simulation of our reality are {{w|falsifiable}} hypotheses subject to scientific inquiry, although they may imply logical and mathematical inferences.

The title text includes a dialogue with one person asking another why they got into fluid dynamics. The answer implies that the motivation was to simulate the clouds of planetary atmospheres unreachable by today's rocket technology.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball and Megan standing on a field, looking out at a landscape of clouds]
:Cueball: It's weird to think there are countless planets with air and stuff but no life.
:Cueball: Billions of years of clouds making cool shapes with no one to look at them.

:[Just Cueball and Megan standing next to each other]
:Megan: Yeah, it seems like a waste. The universe getting the complex fluid dynamics right for every momentary swirl of cloud.
:Megan: Just a ''huge'' amount of work.

:[Cueball and Megan walk away to the right]
:Cueball: Maybe atmospheres have smooth laminar flow until someone looks closely.
:Megan: Or maybe the universe just ''likes'' making swirly clouds, and is annoyed that we're watching.

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

2692: Interior Decorating

2023-04-05T02:13:21Z

162.158.187.18: /* Transcript */ done

{{comic
| number = 2692
| date = October 31, 2022
| title = Interior Decorating
| image = interior_decorating_2x.png
| imagesize = 281x424px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It all came flat-packed in Pandora's Box.
}}

==Explanation==

The {{w|Damocles|sword of Damocles}}, {{w|Siege Perilous}}, {{w|Chekhov's gun}}, and {{w|Pandora's box}} are mythical or conceptual objects associated with impending threats. These names are now used metaphorically for complex concepts related to danger. Cueball seems to have either taken inspiration from these tales and named some objects after them or (possibly with [[Beret Guy]]'s help) managed to obtain the genuine items, using them as decorations in his house.

The Sword of Damocles refers to a lost history of Sicily, in which Damocles was said to be an obsequious courtier who envied the king's power and luxury. The king offered to let Damocles serve as king for a day, but during that day, arranged for a sword to be hung above the throne, suspended by a single hair. This was to teach Damocles the lesson that, along with the privileges of being king, there was also perpetual and inescapable danger and anxiety. The term has passed into general use for any situation that involves an ever-present threat of harm.

The Siege Perilous, in {{w|Matter of Britain|Arthurian legend}}, is a seat at the Round Table, reserved by Merlin for the knight destined to retrieve the Holy Grail. It was said to be fatal to any unworthy person who sat in it. The term is used as a metaphor for any situation that's exceptionally dangerous to anyone not fully prepared.

Chekhov's Gun is a writing principle highlighting the importance of conservation of detail. The term originates from playwright Anton Chekhov, who repeatedly used the example of an unfired gun to advocate removing superfluous elements from a narrative. In one such case, he said "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." (It should be noted that, like most artistic rules, experienced writers will deliberately violate this advice when appropriate, especially to creatively misdirect similarly experienced audiences.) Cueball might not want Megan touching it because doing so means it will be fired shortly afterwards, following through its core concept.

Pandora's Box is a tale from Greek Mythology. According to myth, Pandora was the first woman, created by Hephaestus, and was given a jar (later translated as "box") and told never to open it. Eventually she did, and unleashed all the miseries into the world. The term has come to represent any situation where a small but ill-considered action results in numerous, often intractable, problems.

Given that two of the objects are potential hazards (the sword and the gun) and the third explicitly fatal, it is quite apt that they would come in such a box.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball and Megan stand in a room. At one wall a sword hangs by a thread above a chair. On another wall a rifle is fastened to a board with illegible writing. Megan has one arm stretched towards the rifle.]
:Cueball: Yeah, I think the sword of Damocles looks nice hanging over the Siege Perilous.
:Cueball: Hey, don’t touch Chekhov’s gun!

:[Caption below panel:]
:My home decorating theme is "ominous metaphorical objects."

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

2745: Obituary Editor

2023-04-05T02:12:18Z

162.158.187.18: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2745
| date = March 3, 2023
| title = Obituary Editor
| image = obituary_editor_2x.png
| imagesize = 383x232px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = As the editor has reportedly defeated Death in a series of games of skill, no further obituaries are expected.
}}

==Explanation==
An {{w|obituary}} is an article in a newspaper about a person who has recently passed away, celebrating their life. (It is distinct from a '''death notice,''' which is a paragraph, often short, usually paid, describing a person who has recently passed away. They usually offer a few words of praise and a list of surviving relatives, as well as a scheduled time for memorial services.)

Apparently, the editor of this newspaper's obituary section has just died. However, instead of somebody writing their obituary after the fact, as is conventionally done, the editor has seemingly taken matters into their own hands and written their own obituary. They (somewhat vainly) describe themselves as cool, attractive, and universally beloved, a dubious claim at best. The following sentence reveals that the editor had pre-arranged the scheduled release of this obituary, after their death, probably {{w|Dead man's switch|entirely automatically}}. Obituaries are often pre-written for famous people, ahead of the actual need arising, as this (not-so-famous) person has done for themself. Though this is generally to avoid needing to rush the writing of every biography, including carefully ensuring it is accurately written and sufficiently complete, leaving only minor circumstantial updates and details to be inserted and checked as and when events lead up to its actual publication.

Rather than the names of some close family (usually parents, a spouse, and children), the editor is allegedly survived by 8 billion people, or the current population of the entire Earth, who further are all heartbroken by the loss. All public spaces will now be reserved for a memorial service of the editor every single day (or, at least, the editor hopes they will be). Given that the entire population of earth is unlikely to care about one obituaries editor at a newspaper,{{citation needed}} the late editor is most likely exaggerating the effect which their death will have.

The title text references a common trope in culture, in which a person who has just died decides to challenge Death, or the {{w|Grim Reaper}}, to a game of skill ({{tvtropes|ChessWithDeath|usually chess}}). Apparently, it is (possibly prematurely) claimed by the editor that they have challenged death to a series of games of skill (probably most or all variations of the trope, including chess), and defeated Death in all of them. Rather than gaining themselves a "second chance at life," however, as is usually the reward promised by Death for the dead person's victory, the editor's victory over Death has been so absolute that Death itself has been nullified for all of humanity. Hence no more obituaries will ever be required, as every human currently alive (and presumably future ones) will now live forever. Of course, if this did actually occur, then the entire population of earth would not be unlikely to care about the editor, because even if the editor's work at the newspaper wasn't significant to them, the editor's role in preventing their deaths would be. Randall has referenced this trope in [[393: Ultimate Game]], as a tribute to Gary Gygax, the inventor of ''Dungeons and Dragons''.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Text on the top-left corner of a gray newspaper page. It is slightly skewed to counterclockwise:]

:Obituaries
:<hr width="50" style="background-color:black" align="left">
:The cool, attractive, universally beloved
:editor of the obituary section has died,
:hopefully of natural causes after a long
:life. They take with them the password to the
:heretofore unrevealed auto-post system.

:They are survived by 8 billion heartbroken
:people. Memorial services will be held
:daily in all public spaces from now on.
:<hr width="50" style="background-color:black" align="left">

{{comic discussion}}

2718: New Year's Eve Party

2023-04-05T02:11:49Z

162.158.187.18: /* Transcript */ done

{{comic
| number = 2718
| date = December 30, 2022
| title = New Year's Eve 2023
| image = new_years_eve_2023_2x.png
| imagesize = 306x274px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Earlier, at the eye doctor] 'No, for the last time, the numerals on the paper aren't my prescription, it's the shape I want you to make with the laser.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|New Year's glasses}} are novelty eyeglasses typically worn at New Year's Eve parties, shaped like the digits of the upcoming year. They were popularized in the late 1990s and early 2000s since the middle digits (9 and 0) had holes large enough to look through or mount lenses into.

[[Ponytail]], [[White Hat]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are at a party. The first three are wearing novelty glasses in the shape of the numerals "2023", representing the upcoming New Year. Cueball has chosen to obtain cosmetic {{w|laser eye surgery}} instead. Usually, such procedures are intended to adjust a patient's corneas to correct vision problems, as an alternative to glasses and contact lenses. Cueball has apparently had the digits 2023 etched into his eyes as an alternative to wearing novelty glasses. While {{w|scleral tattooing}} is performed for cosmetic reasons, and {{w|corneal tattooing}} for both cosmetic and vision benefits, the efficacy and safety of either process is not universally accepted. The laser procedure has damaged Cueball's vision so much that he mistakes a newcomer to the party resembling [[Hairy]] as [[Rob]]. Realizing he made a mistake, his second guess is that the new arrival is named Mike.

In the title text, an earlier conversation with his {{w|ophthalmologist}} has established Cueball's problems are due to the laser burning the digits straight onto his eyeballs, without regard to endangering his vision. Most previous depictions of Cueball have not shown him wearing glasses. Laser eye surgery was referenced along with other laser equipment in [[1681: Laser Products]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail, White Hat, Megan, Cueball, and Hairy are standing around. Ponytail, White Hat, and Megan are wearing glasses in the shape of the number 2023 and holding party-related items. Hairy is on the other side of Cueball from them and is only carrying some item of clothing, probably a recently removed coat. Cueball carries nothing, and his attention is on the new arrival, possibly having to squint at him, as depicted by a set of short radial lines projecting away from where Cueball's eyes would be if they were ever drawn.]
:Cueball: Hey Rob! Or, uh...
:Cueball: Sorry, is that Mike?

:[Caption below the panel]:
:I'm regretting my New Year's Eve novelty "2023" laser eye surgery.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]

2756: Qualifications

2023-04-05T02:11:22Z

162.158.187.18: /* Transcript */ done

{{comic
| number = 2756
| date = March 29, 2023
| title = Qualifications
| image = qualifications_2x.png
| imagesize = 265x316px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'So how DID you go from working at the employment records office to becoming president of MIT and CEO of IBM?' 'I guess I just have an eye for opportunities.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 600-YEAR-OLD BOT waiting for a child to be born to accept its work history - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Black Hat]] is being interviewed for some unidentified position. From the conversation, it seems clear that he has used some prior access to the employment records at some employment record office to fraudulently manufacture a history of having worked there for 600 years. There are some institutions that are extant today with over 600 years of history, but, with the exception of some arms of the {{w|Catholic Church}}, none of their individual offices or departments have existed for that long; also, human lifespans rarely exceed 100 years, never mind 600. He also claims an additional pair of prestigious jobs in the title text, but it is unclear whether these 'facts' were entirely due to false records or, knowing Black Hat's [[498: Secretary: Part 5|other]] [[1094: Interview|interviews]], briefly true but only as a result of false representation/underhanded actions.

His interviewers, Cueball and Hairbun, are not entirely unaware of the implausibility, but Hairbun, at least, seems content to have just verified the validity of the claim. The 'validation' arises from the clearly tainted information source, given the whole chain of supporting evidence that may have been falsified. This is essentially a more elaborate version of Black Hat's ploy in another interview [[125: Marketing Interview|17 years prior]].

Employers often encounter résumés that have implausibly padded experience claims. Most applicants try not to be this implausible, and few employers are so credulous as to take self-supporting lies at face value.

==Transcript==

:[Black Hat sits in an office chair. Cueball, facing him, sits on another office chair at his desk and Hairbun stands behind him. Cueball is holding documents in his hands.]
:Cueball: Impressive résumé.
:Cueball: It says that you have over '''''six hundred''''' years of experience at the employment records office? That can't be right.
:Hairbun: I thought so too, but it checks out.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Job interviews]]

Talk:2756: Qualifications

2023-03-30T16:20:11Z

162.158.187.18:

This reminds me of Ken Thompson's Turing Award lecture, https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:23, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

if you’re playing with your llama and build a time machine, make sure to rescue not only randall but everyone else too ! (edit: llama is a powerful language model presently popular, originally shared to non-researchers on 4chan. the joke relates to consumer and general AI being on a huge up-curve without mention in the comic.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.54|162.158.63.54]] 23:34, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

'''over''' 600 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 00:11, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

Featured on r/overemployed [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.3|162.158.155.3]] 16:14, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

The first sentence of the second paragraph should be reworded. Hairbun seems to be content to have verified the claim but the reader doesn't know if Cueball is as credulous as Hairbun. [[User:Inquirer|Inquirer]] ([[User talk:Inquirer|talk]]) 04:07, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

"''This is essentially a more elaborate version of Black Hat's ploy in another interview 17 years prior.''" that sentence has made feel older than any of Randall's "feel old yet?" comics, yeez! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.82.187|172.70.82.187]] 15:49, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

So, Cueball and Hairbun are registered voters in NYʻs 3rd Congressional district? With hugs to Randall, the best line in comics remains Walt Kellyʻs: "We have met the enemy and he is us." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.18|162.158.187.18]] 16:20, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

2753: Air Handler

2023-03-23T05:03:38Z

162.158.187.18: /* Transcript */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2753
| date = March 22, 2023
| title = Air Handler
| image = air_handler_2x.png
| imagesize = 591x228px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It maintains odor levels in a normal familiar range, so if you open the windows and the air gets too fresh, it filters it through some dirty laundry samples to compensate.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF BEES - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The device being demonstrated appears to be some form of air-conditioning unit that covers a wide-variety of air qualities, as opposed to a heater that just warms air, a filter that just removes dust or a dehumidifier with the main purpose of removing moisture from the air.

If such a unit contains both heating and refrigeration elements to it, it would be neither practical nor desirable to have a single temperature reference, below which the heating is triggered and above which the cooling is activated, as the sharp transition between the two could trigger a rapid switch backwards and forward between the two modes after any gross difference has been ameliorated and the instantaneous amount of difference from the ideal is much smaller (in either direction) than the change that a burst of alternating effects can propogate into the room. Instead, a lower limit and an upper limit can prompt each respective correction, with a range of degrees between which is deemed acceptable, though the measurement may drift a bit as doors are opened, people enter the room or just that convection finally sends volumes of previously severely heated or cooled air past the sensor. The engineering choices involved in making a usable device may be pre-set or left user-configurable. The same principle can be applied to humidifier/dehumidifier functions, to create a comfortable condition not too dry nor damp for comfort, etc.

It is not particularly usual to directly monitor the number of bees in an air-stream (usually, insect-screens are the main way to filter out any pesky creatures that might find themselves likely to be caught up in that way), and one might imagine that the upper limit ''should'' be zero, for use indoors in standard living/working spaces, but it might be technically feasible to accurately count bees (with or without distinguishing from wasps and other flying insects) and be able to allow ''some''. But, unlike temperature or humidity, it would be rare (outside of a location used for apicultire) to have a non-zero ''minimum'' desirable bee-load. Even more so to be directly equipped to upwardsly correct the current value.

The title text adds to the more visibly obvious bee-quantifying into a 'normal' range, and describes how it analyses and adjusts the 'freshness' of the air. A smart system in charge of odour-control (by spraying smell-suppressing chemicals and/or more dominant scents) could be made less wasteful by only trying to 'freshen' the air when it detects enough necessity. But, of course, this machine also has an opposing limit. And, when the air is considered ''too'' fresh, it has a way of ''adding'' staleness/stinkiness, to meet expectations.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Black Hat is standing to the right of an "air handler", talking to Cueball and Megan on the left side, probably presenting the sales pitch for the air handler in between them.]
:Black Hat: Our device monitors your home's air and keeps every variable between a lower and upper limit.

:[Zoom in on Black Hat]
:Black Hat: Temperature, humidity, pressure, dust, smoke, odors, number of bees...

:[Zoom out similar to Frame #1]
:Megan: Wait.
:Megan: What's the '''''lower''''' limit for "number of bees"?
:Black Hat: A normal amount.
:Air Handler: Bzzzzzz

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

2753: Air Handler

2023-03-23T05:02:28Z

162.158.187.18: /* Transcript */ cats

{{comic
| number = 2753
| date = March 22, 2023
| title = Air Handler
| image = air_handler_2x.png
| imagesize = 591x228px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It maintains odor levels in a normal familiar range, so if you open the windows and the air gets too fresh, it filters it through some dirty laundry samples to compensate.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF BEES - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The device being demonstrated appears to be some form of air-conditioning unit that covers a wide-variety of air qualities, as opposed to a heater that just warms air, a filter that just removes dust or a dehumidifier with the main purpose of removing moisture from the air.

If such a unit contains both heating and refrigeration elements to it, it would be neither practical nor desirable to have a single temperature reference, below which the heating is triggered and above which the cooling is activated, as the sharp transition between the two could trigger a rapid switch backwards and forward between the two modes after any gross difference has been ameliorated and the instantaneous amount of difference from the ideal is much smaller (in either direction) than the change that a burst of alternating effects can propogate into the room. Instead, a lower limit and an upper limit can prompt each respective correction, with a range of degrees between which is deemed acceptable, though the measurement may drift a bit as doors are opened, people enter the room or just that convection finally sends volumes of previously severely heated or cooled air past the sensor. The engineering choices involved in making a usable device may be pre-set or left user-configurable. The same principle can be applied to humidifier/dehumidifier functions, to create a comfortable condition not too dry nor damp for comfort, etc.

It is not particularly usual to directly monitor the number of bees in an air-stream (usually, insect-screens are the main way to filter out any pesky creatures that might find themselves likely to be caught up in that way), and one might imagine that the upper limit ''should'' be zero, for use indoors in standard living/working spaces, but it might be technically feasible to accurately count bees (with or without distinguishing from wasps and other flying insects) and be able to allow ''some''. But, unlike temperature or humidity, it would be rare (outside of a location used for apicultire) to have a non-zero ''minimum'' desirable bee-load. Even more so to be directly equipped to upwardsly correct the current value.

The title text adds to the more visibly obvious bee-quantifying into a 'normal' range, and describes how it analyses and adjusts the 'freshness' of the air. A smart system in charge of odour-control (by spraying smell-suppressing chemicals and/or more dominant scents) could be made less wasteful by only trying to 'freshen' the air when it detects enough necessity. But, of course, this machine also has an opposing limit. And, when the air is considered ''too'' fresh, it has a way of ''adding'' staleness/stinkiness, to meet expectations.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Black Hat is standing on the right an air handler, talking to Cueball and Megan on the left side, probably presenting the sales pitch for the air handler in between them.]
:Black Hat: Our device monitors your home's air and keeps every variable between a lower and upper limit.

:[Zoom in on Black Hat's upper body.}
:Black Hat: Temperature, humidity, pressure, dust, smoke, odors, number of bees...

:[Zoom out similar to Frame #1]
:Megan: Wait.
:Megan: What's the '''''lower''''' limit for "Number of bees"?
:Black Hat: A normal amount.
:Air Handler: Bzzzzzz

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

850: World According to Americans

2023-03-07T07:13:06Z

162.158.187.18:

{{comic
| number = 850
| date = January 21, 2011
| title = World According to Americans
| image = world according to americans.png
| titletext = It's not our fault we caught a group on their way home from a geography bee. And they taught us that Uzbekistan is one of the world's two doubly-landlocked countries!
}}
*A [http://xkcd.com/850_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==

There's a somewhat well-circulated image on the internet entitled "[http://google.com/search?q=the+world+according+to&tbm=isch The World According to Americans]" which plays on the stereotype of the ignorant American. In it, the entirety of Eastern Europe and most of Asia are entitled "commies" and the Middle-East as "evil-doers," and so on. Later, other people created similar maps to re-do the concept. It later spread to other cultures.

This comic is an anti-joke playing on that idea. You expect to see something which plays on the {{w|stereotypes}} that exist in American culture of various parts of the world. However, instead, the map is remarkably well-informed, and shows how sampling bias can be used to conflate results. See below the [[#Table of items in the map|table of items in the map]].

The title text jokes that in fact the only reason that the map is fairly well annotated is that the group of people labeling it were actually on the way back from a {{w|National Geographic Bee|geography bee}}. This could add weight to the 'Ignorant American' stereotype as these individuals should know more than the common person, implying that if even apparent geography buffs use vague labels such as "rest of South America" and "various former Soviet states" instead of using more detailed labels, the average American must be even less geographically knowledgeable (Although, as the illustrators wrote below Cape Horn, the reason they did not draw Antarctica or many South American, Middle Eastern and British countries and the lack of detail may be because the people who asked them to draw this map were beginning to 'look impatient' since they did not get the expected ignorant result.)

A {{w|landlocked country}} is a country that does not border any major bodies of water. Furthering the concept, a {{w|Landlocked_country#Doubly_landlocked|doubly-landlocked}} country is a country that not only has no connection to water, but is only bordered by ''other'' landlocked countries. As the title text states, there are only two such countries in the world as of 2012: {{w|Uzbekistan}} and {{w|Liechtenstein}}. This is the type of fact that may be stereotypically expected of a geography bee competitor.

===Table of items in the map===
{| class="wikitable"
!style="width: 25%;"|Annotation
! Further details
|-
| Hey so what projection should we use? I’ll aim for "Robinson".
| Any flat [[977|map projection]] of a sphere must have inaccuracies. {{w|Mercator projection}} displays shapes well at the expense of size. For example, Mercator's Greenland appears larger than South America, but is actually one eighth the size. {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} does the opposite, showing accurate surface area with distorted ("awful") shapes. {{w|Robinson projection}} compromises between shape & size for aesthetics; hence Greenland is "still too big".
|-
| Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?
| The distance is about 5076 km (~3754 mi). Measurement points are {{w|Sail Rock (disambiguation)|Sail Rock (Maine)}}, the most eastern point of the USA, and a point which seems to be the most southern (and as such western) point of el-Beddouza Beach, {{w|Morocco}}. It's not the most western point of Morocco (or Africa), though.
|-
| Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?
| Which are {{w|Virgin_Islands#Larger_Islands|9 larger}} and about 100 {{w|List of Caribbean islands#British Virgin Islands|smaller}} {{w|List of Caribbean islands#United States Virgin Islands|islands}} - surely a lot of labels.
|-
| French, and I think Dutch and English
| The three separated areas are (from west to east) {{w|Guyana}} (former British colony), {{w|Suriname}} (former Dutch colony) and {{w|French Guiana}} (still officially part of France). The former two often switched between French, Dutch and British colonial rule. The latter was French most times except for a short Portuguese episode.
|-
| Brazil (Portugese-speaking)
Rest of South America (Spanish-speaking)
| In green is Portuguese-speaking (misspelled) Brazil, and in blue are the Spanish speaking Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
|-
| {{w|Greenland}} (Still too big!)
Yeah, but the Peters map is awful
| Relating back to the choice of map projection, the apparent size of Greenland is one of the most commonly known projection based inaccuracies. The {{w|Gall-Peters projection}} shows accurate surface area, but with distorted ("awful") shapes.
|-
|Scandanavia
| A typo of {{w|Scandinavia}}. The area shown includes Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, but the actual area of Scandinavia excludes Finland. The Scandinavian peninsula countries include Norway, Finland, and Sweden, and those can be collectively (and nerdily) referred to as "Fennoscandia."
|-
| Western Europe
Eastern Europe
| The line here approximately follows that of the {{w|Iron Curtain}} that separated the {{w|Warsaw Pact}} states (the Soviet Union and other Communist allies) from the {{w|NATO}} (US-allied) and neutral states. However, all of Germany is included in Western Europe (when during the Cold War it was divided into East and West Germany) while Austria (which was officially neutral in the Cold War but closely tied to the West and therefore blocked off from its Communist neighbors) is marked as Eastern Europe. Here, Eastern Europe also includes the {{w|Balkans}} (the southern peninsula east of Italy), which are usually considered separate. During the Cold War, the Balkans were divided between Soviet-allied Albania (which later left the Pact) and Bulgaria, NATO-allied Greece and Turkey, and Yugoslavia, which was a neutral Communist state. It's also worth noting that there should be a blob of Russian red in the middle of Eastern Europe, representing the Russian exclave of {{w|Kaliningrad oblast}}.
|-
| British Isles
Ireland
| Although {{w|Ireland}} belongs to the {{w|British Isles}} geographically, it does not belong to the {{w|British Islands}} politically. That may be the reason why Ireland is labeled additionally - to show it's known that Ireland does not belong to the {{w|United Kingdom}}. {{w|Northern Ireland}} does, though.
|-
| Rainforest DRC
| The area shown is actually not completely the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} (DRC), but since one of the persons who made this map says they don't know the African map very well (see statement below), it's fairly accurate. Also the area called rainforest is somewhat larger than the area depicted as {{w|tropical rainforest}} on Wikipedia.
|-
| So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
Yeah – I mean I freely admit I don’t know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.
| Here two of the persons involved in drawing this map discusses what their lack of knowledge about Africa says about them. The African portion of the map is for sure the most poorly labeled, which lends weight to the stereotype of the 'Ignorant American'. Although it has to be mentioned, that the geography of Africa is in general not well known - at least within the Western world. So that's not really an American thing, here. The few countries which are labeled here mostly are well known because of their unstable political situation or because of their remarkable location. The labeled locations (and the presumably reasons of their "publicity") are west to east, north to south: {{w|Morocco}} ({{w|Arab Spring}}, location), {{w|Algeria}} (Arab Spring, {{w|Algerian Civil War|Civil War}}), {{w|Sahara|Sahara Desert}} (largest hot desert of the world), {{w|Sudan}} ({{w|Second Sudanese Civil War|Civil war}}, Arab Spring), {{w|West Africa}} ({{w|West Africa#Postcolonial eras|Lots of Civil wars}} and thus bad humanitarian situation, {{w|Blood diamond|Blood diamonds}}), {{w|Somalia}} ({{w|Somali Civil War|Civil war}}, {{w|Piracy in Somalia|pirates}}), {{w|Lake Victoria}} (largest lake of Africa, quite remarkable even at large scale maps (as here)), {{w|Mozambique}} ({{w|Mozambican Civil War|Civil war}}), {{w|Angola}} ({{w|Angolan Civil War|Civil War}}) and {{w|Madagascar}} (one of the worlds large island at the east coast - quite remarkable).
|-
| Cape Horn
| {{w|Cape Horn}} is the southern tip of ''South America'', not ''Africa''. The southern tip of Africa is called {{w|Cape Agulhas}}.
|-
| Should we include {{w|Antarctica}}?
Let’s not – these guys are looking impatient
| Here it is made clear that those who came with this assignment are getting impatient since their project of proving how little Americans know about the world has failed miserably. It also shows that if some labels or parts are missing, then it could be because of this and not for lack of knowledge. This is also a joke on the lack of labels that would be required for the map of Antarctica. Drawing Antarctica and labeling it would probably take less time than having the discussion about whether to include it, and then writing that discussion on the map.
|-
| {{w|Aral Sea}} (Gone)
| Formerly one of the largest fresh-water lakes of the world, now actually not completely gone, but almost.
|-
| Various former Soviet states
| Which are (west to east) {{w|Kazakhstan}}, {{w|Turkmenistan}}, {{w|Uzbekistan}}, {{w|Tajikistan}} and {{w|Kyrgyzstan}}. The former {{w|Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics}} was dissolved in 1991 and thus the {{w|Cold War}} ended.
|-
| Middle East
| Drawn here to include {{w|Egypt}} and {{w|Turkey}}. Whether these should be included depends on whether you mean the phrase ''Middle East'' politically or geographically. They are both Muslim countries, but geographically Egypt is in Africa and Turkey is usually not included because of its close affiliation with Europe.
|-
| Boxing Day quake
Wait, "Boxing Day"? There’s no way you’re American.

I read BBC News, OK?
| On December 26, 2004, a {{w|2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami|huge earthquake}} struck off the coast of Indonesia, causing severe tsunamis. December 26, the day after {{w|Christmas Day}}, is celebrated as {{w|Boxing Day}} in the UK, Canada, Australia, and some other English-speaking countries, but not the US. As such, the earthquake became known as the Boxing Day Quake.
One of the people who came asked these people to draw this map picks up on the use of 'Boxing Day' as something no American would say and questions if this person is, in fact, American. But an American reader of {{w|BBC News}} (part of the British Broadcasting Corporation) may start to use the phrase "Boxing Day" about the Tsunami.
|-
| India -> Mostly Muslim
India -> Mostly Hindu
| In general {{w|India}} is separated in {{w|Religion in India|two religious groups}}. Muslims in the north-west, Hindus in the rest. As visible on the [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Religion_in_India.svg map] in Wikimedia Commons, the area with a predominant Muslim population is far smaller (and mostly concentrated to Kashmir) than depicted in the comic.
|-
| Tibet (contested)
| The area was annexed by the {{w|People's Republic of China}} in the 1950s. After that there were struggles to gain independence. The marked area is fairly inaccurate, though. Today's {{w|Tibet Autonomous Region}} (former {{w|Kingdom of Tibet}}) is roughly the southern half of the marked area extended a bit to the south-east.
|-
| Kamchatka Peninsula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk
|''{{w|Risk (game)|Risk}}'' is a board game played on a map of the world, where players own territories and battle each other for world domination. The person in the comic admits to knowing {{w|Kamchatka Peninsula}} only from the territory "Kamchatka" in the game. Kamchatka is notable among the territories in the game because it and Alaska are connected, despite being on opposite sides of the board- a fact that can easily be overlooked.
|-
| Koreas
| The two Koreas are the "{{w|Democratic People's Republic of Korea}}" (North Korea) and the "{{w|Republic of Korea}}" (South Korea).
|-
| Japan, duh.
| Well...{{w|Japan}}.
|-
| Taiwan (actually called "The Republic of China" – it's complicated). [sic]
| This is a reference to the complicated political history of {{w|Taiwan}}. After the {{w|Chinese Civil War|war in 1945-1949}}, the Nationalists fled {{w|mainland China}} for the island of Taiwan and set up a {{w|martial law in Taiwan|martial law}} there, vowing to return. In the intervening 70 years or so, Taiwan eventually began to form a system of its own, but hasn't shed the name, or the animosity with the rest of China. The government of China also claims {{w|Political status of Taiwan|sovereignty of Taiwan}} and the island is not represented separately by the United Nations. Still, some other countries considered the two parts as two separate countries...hence the "it's complicated" tag. There is also a missing end-paren here, which is either a typo or a reference to [[859#Trivia|859]]. The tag "it's complicated" may also be a reference to one of the options for relationship statuses on Facebook, and denotes two people whose relationship defies the usual labels. In this case, it is the relationship between the two parts of the country which is complicated.
|-
| Sulawesi
| As a running gag, the island of {{w|Sulawesi}} (formerly known as Celebes) is depicted in several map-like drawings and charts (see [[256: Online Communities]], [[273: Electromagnetic Spectrum]], [[802: Online Communities 2]], and [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]]). Of course, there are good reasons to show it on an actual world map like the one here.
|-
| Paupa New Guinea
| A spelling mistake of {{w|Papua New Guinea}}.
|-
| Phillipines
| A spelling mistake of the {{w|Philippines}}.
|-
| Southeast Asia
| {{w|Southeast Asia}} is a region in Asia, which includes Buddhist-majority countries of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, Muslim-majority countries of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, and Christian-majority countries of the Philippines and Timor-Leste. However, in this map, Indonesia is depicted separately from the rest of SE Asia.
|-
| Malaysia
| Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia (it is not known why it was excluded on the map)
|-
| Indonesia
| Indonesia is another country in Southeast Asia (it is not known why it was excluded on the map).
|-
| Sri Lanka
| Sri Lanka is a small island country near India.
|-
| Tasmania
| Tasmania is an Australian state.
|}

==Transcript==
:THE WORLD
:According to a Group of
:'''AMERICANS'''
:who turned out to be unexpectedly good at geography, derailing our attempt to illustrate their country's attitude toward the rest of the world.

:[Left to right, up to down.]

:[North of Canada.] Hey so what projection should we use?
:I'll aim for "Robinson."

:[North America.] Alaska; Canada; Hudson Bay; Québec; United States
:Did you know Maine is actually the US state closest to Africa?; Bermuda (British!)

:[Central America.] Baja California (Mexico); Mexico; Central America; Panama Canal; Gulf of Mexico; Cuba; Hispañola; POR.; Jamaica
:Do we have to label all the Virgin Islands?

:[South America.] Rest of South America (spanish-speaking); Brazil (portugese-speaking); French, and I think Dutch and English; Tierra del Fuego

:[Greenland.] Greenland (still too big!); Yeah but the Peters map is awful; Iceland

:[Europe.] British Isles; [https://iecasimile.com/ Ireland]; Gibralter; Scandanavia; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; Black sea; Middle East

:[Africa.] Morocco; Algera; Sahara Desert; West Africa; Sudan; Rainforest DRC; Lake Victoria; Somalia; Angola; Mozambique; South Africa; Cape Horn; Madagascar

:[West of DRC.] So this is one of those things where you point out our ignorance and stereotypes?
:Yeah – I mean, I freely admit I don't know the African map very well, which speaks volumes in itself.

:[West Asia.] Russia; Aral sea (Gone); Various former Soviet states; Afghanistan & Pakistan; India; Mostly Muslim; Mostly Hindu

:[Indian Ocea.] Sri Lanka; Boxing Day Quake
:Wait, "Boxing day"? There's no way you're American.
:I read BBC News, OK?

:[East Asia.] Mongolia; Tibet (contested); China; Southeast Asia

:[Pacific Ocean.] Kamchatka Pennisula, but I admit I only know this one from Risk.
:Koreas; Japan, duh.; Taiwan (actually called "The Republic of China." – it's complicated.); Phillipines; Malaysia; Indonesia; Sulawesi; Paupa New Guinea; Australia; Tasmania; New Zealand

:[South of Africa.] Should we include Antarctica?
:Let's not – these guys are looking impatient.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Board games]]