explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3074: Push Notifications

2025-04-10T17:52:40Z

162.158.62.108:

So...this is the April Fool's comic, if I'm not mistaken... Oh ye of little faith! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.106|172.71.26.106]] 20:00, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

I turned this on thinking it would just be a few every so often but I quickly realized how this is xkcd and it doesn't "joke". I had to turn this off because it disrupted my schoolwork by popping up every fricking 5 minutes{{unsigned|Moss|20:22, 9 April 2025 (UTC)}}
: Personally, I'm disappointed by how long I have to wait between notifications. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.32|172.71.178.32]] 15:39, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Apparently my employer (or ublock) is keeping me from experiencing the full effect of any notifications. All I get is "An *actual* error has occurred. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.173|162.158.91.173]] 20:52, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:Yeah, I'm confused too. I've tried Chrome and got nothing. I've tried Edge and got effectively nothing. I progressed one message further, but nothing showed up. No notifications, popups, or whatever. And I have never installed an add-on for Edge. Edge did give me access to the game over screen by disabling notifications, but when I tried to re-enable them, nothing happened.
:Is this a mobile-only thing? [[User:EebstertheGreat|EebstertheGreat]] ([[User talk:EebstertheGreat|talk]]) 02:51, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:I'm having the same issue. Firefox doesn't work, which I understand, but neither does Safari. I haven't gotten a single notification. [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 06:57, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
::Problem solved! Turns out I *was* getting notifications, I just wasn't seeing them. --[[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:07, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

What the heck are the "Zoom Notification" ones, with just a pair of numbers? Now that I've been sitting with this for a little bit, they're by far the most common notifications, and the most mysterious. What is "zoom"ing or should be zoomed-in-on or whatever, and what do the two numbers signify? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.75|172.68.22.75]] 20:35, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:I think they're coordinates. So far (x,y) has had x from 4 fo 73 (that I've seen) and y from 2 to 28. That gives a tad over 2000 possible combinations, but omething tells me there won't be more than 500 or so in total. Quite a few y=24 (not yet adjacent by x), and any given x has 0 to 3 different y partners (so far). They ''do'' repeat (I'm not recording how many times, but I'm scatterplotting what I get). The ones prefixed with "oh look!" are tightly clustered in x=6..13 and y=4..11, so far, with no non-"oh look!" ones there, so I'm plotting them in a different marker. I ''suspect'', after many many more Zoom Notifications, I'll be left with (enough of) a pixelated image's pixels (of two types, background colour excluded), or else I'm doing it wrong and I should be drawing lines between the dots, but I never managed to grab them all, so I'm relying on it being a random "spraygun droplets" sort of image-reveal. (Still some way to go...) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.241.66|172.71.241.66]] 23:08, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
: Also, Zoom is a video chat app, if you didn't know that. That's the joke. [[User:EebstertheGreat|EebstertheGreat]] ([[User talk:EebstertheGreat|talk]]) 02:53, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:"They're by far the most common" - not for me - I got a couple early on, and nothing since. All I'm getting now (apart from cat ones when I click a cat) is constant 'comment and subscribe' ones.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.28|172.71.178.28]] 16:07, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Made a new page called [[3074: Push Notifications/Table of Notifications]], much like [[1506: xkcloud/List of Permalinks]]. I’m hoping that we can put all of the possible notifications into the table, along with any possible images that go along with it and an explanation (if necessary). '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:26, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:I think it might be a good idea to make the table something more like source/name/notification, because there are chains of notifications where the name changes, like the How Many Times Can You Click This? notification. --[[User:Magicalus|Magicalus]] ([[User talk:Magicalus|talk]]) 23:19, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
::Might even want to track the URL that the notification leads to in the cases where it opens a new tab. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.57|172.71.142.57]]
:Did you mean a page much like [[1506:_xkcloud/List_of_Permalinks]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.175.171|162.158.175.171]] 01:25, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:: Weird, someone changed that. I just reverted it. --[[User:Jacky720|Jack]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|t]]|[[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|c]]) 02:07, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

It's like herding LOLcats... anyone else remembering the Secretary arc about now? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.2|172.71.142.2]] 16:12, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:Yes, the user {{diff|371988|behind this change}} appears to have a keyboard->leopard sort of autochanger active (for cloud->butt) (unless they're deliberately doing it alongside deliberate changes to try to get it under the radar?)... I reverted something else they did, with the intention to check everything else (in Right Click's explanation) and unreverting the actually good changes. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.160|172.70.162.160]] 08:39, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I clicked on the silence notifications at a cost button a lot and it set Cueball's PC on fire?

I found what is presumably the source code (?) of the comic through the transcript. It’s all JS pages. No idea what they mean (I’m not good with code), but I’m sure that there are some on here that can help dissect it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:50, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/manifest.json
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/42.4f5b21b3.js
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v=1

: I found this list of states in there, saved to the "iU" variable: intro, wordgame, gameover, biglaptop, boat, default, floating, longdesk, missing, nekotree, nekotree2, nekowater, nodesk, onfire, peek, shark, spinning, squirrel, squirreldesk, squirrelplant, standing, sword, tallchair, tentacle, water, wizard, bigplant, catchair, catonhead, compiling, floor, plant, reverse. Presumably, this is all the images we're looking for. I'll get back to you if I identify what chooses them or all their actual filepaths. --[[User:Jacky720|Jack]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|t]]|[[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|c]]) 00:43, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

: I found more urls:
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/async/marconi-sw.e9d36d05.js
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/async/491.7b4e7556.js
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/async/491.7b4e7556.js --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.45|172.69.23.45]] 03:11, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I have a sneaking suspicion the Zoom Notifications are sketching out an image of some sort
(Update: after plotting like 60 of them no apparent pattern is to be found) [[User:SkiesShaper|SkiesShaper]] ([[User talk:SkiesShaper|talk]]) 22:24, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
: I've plotted 397 and it seems to be forming some kind of animal. Maybe a cat, given the comic theme? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.119|172.68.35.119]] 23:24, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:That could make sense yeah - there is definitely an organic sort of pattern emerging from the points I've been plotting out [[User:SkiesShaper|SkiesShaper]] ([[User talk:SkiesShaper|talk]]) 00:35, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
: I'm pretty sure it's a turtle. I have 311 points so far and while it isn't clear, it looks like a turtle. [[User:IMW|IMW]] ([[User talk:IMW|talk]]) 01:51, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:: After plotting more I think the "Oh look" coordinates help with drawing out a butterfly sitting on the left side of the turtle. [[User:IMW|IMW]] ([[User talk:IMW|talk]]) 03:36, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:: I also am seeing a turtle after graphing the non-“Oh look” ones (and flipping the image vertically). Could the “Zoom notifications” be a reference to [[1416: Pixels]], which is about “zooming” in on turtles? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.12.119|172.68.12.119]] 12:54, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
::: Is it fractal? If you zoom in, is it turtles all the way down? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.186.43|172.68.186.43]] 14:15, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
: when the image is saved, it appears to have a hex code as a file name. could be some other thing though [[User:Pncak|Pncak]] ([[User talk:Pncak|talk]]) 04:07, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Apparently one of the notifications is: "The Earth is spinning at a rate of 1 rpd" This is true if you round it, but not exact. The time it takes to rotate is called a sidereal day, and there's one extra sidereal day a year. Basically, there's one solar day removed in a year, because the Earth's motion around the sun cancels it out. Think of it with a tidally locked planet. It spins around once a year, but the sun never moves. Really there's 1.0027379 rotations per day. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 23:02, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
: then it is rotating at 1 revolution per ''sidereal'' day, which could still be written as 1 rpd [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 05:23, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

This is the most chaotic comic I've seen in a while. Part of me wants to keep notifications on to see what happens, and part of me wants to turn it all off and throw my phone in a lake [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 00:40, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I am making a sheet with the cordinates: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/133jGfOM6EVuEco4j2NumOAOv6pEealyZpbDoMkESXvs/edit?usp=sharing [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.81|108.162.216.81]] 01:31, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Should we start uploading different images? [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 03:48, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
: And should we create a new page for the images or put them all on the same page, like with umwelt. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 03:49, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Underneath the "Silence Notifications at a Cost" button, it says "Temporarily pause your notifications at the cost of notifying two random people". Does anyone know how for how long notifications stay silenced, or if there is a way to "unsilence" notifications? Also, when I click on the cats they just disappear. [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 04:09, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
: When I click on the cats I get a push notification with a cat fact.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.58|172.70.127.58]] 05:35, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
Just like any other button, you can click it really fast by clicking the button and then holding "enter" or spacebar. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 04:35, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Someone should probably comment on "April 1st (observed)". I assume it's a reference to the fact that the comic is late? --[[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:53, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:Aye, as in: {{wiktionary|observed}} #2 [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.43|172.71.26.43]] 08:02, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Is it morally wrong to spam the temporary silence button, just because I want to give other people notifications? [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 08:01, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Notifications are so 2024. Ever since Trump imposed the penguin tariffs, <tt>dmesg</tt> is where it's at. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.126|162.158.91.126]] 09:07, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Finally yay!! [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!|Aprilfoolsupdate!]] ([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 10:28, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:Where have ''you'' been? ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.160|172.71.178.160]] 10:39, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I got the file for "Cueball sitting at his desk, with a cat in the foreground near the point of view.", what do I do to add it :⁾ [[User:Toby|Toby]] ([[User talk:Toby|talk]]) 13:24, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:upload it if you can (with the exact file name from imgs.xkcd.com), or copy paste the link here and someone else with uploading rights can upload it. the upload button should be under tools in the left side, under related changes and above special changes. or, you can click this [[Special:Upload|link]] '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 16:29, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

If you refresh the screen when a clickable cat is on it, it moves. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.173|162.158.62.173]] 14:49, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I revieved two typos in two different notifications:
"Or" is "r" in a message saying that it's confused whether is is fhe server or the client.
"Ratio" is "ration" in the message "At the tone, the Golden Ratio will be equal to one half of 1 plus SQRT(5)".
Does everyone get those typos? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.16|172.70.34.16]]
:I don't know if they're typos or part of the humor. Enjoy your golden ration. :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.41|162.158.63.41]] 16:33, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I am not getting any notifications. I have three questions: 1) Does anyone know how long the "temporary silence" button lasts? 2) Does its effect last after you press the emergency stop button and re-subscribe to the nonsense? And 3) Is there just a problem with using Chrome? Thanks, [[User:Xnerkcd|Xnerkcd]] ([[User talk:Xnerkcd|talk]]) 17:49, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:Update, the clickable cats are showing up but not doing anything
::They just sit there unless you refresh the screen. Then they can change where they are.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.108|162.158.62.108]] 17:52, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

3069: Terror Bird

2025-03-29T20:25:22Z

162.158.62.108: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3069
| date = March 28, 2025
| title = Terror Bird
| image = terror_bird_2x.png
| imagesize = 342x274px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = There has long been debate about Big Bird's species, with some experts claiming he was a canary, but recent genetic analysis places him firmly in Cariamiformes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 45 MILLION YEARS OF SERIEMA FEATHER EVOLUTION - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a scene of two people, [[Jill]] and [[Hairy]], at a museum looking at a fossil of a prehistoric {{w|Phorusrhacidae|terror bird}}. [[Hairy]] thinks out loud that {{w|Big Bird}}, a Muppet character from {{w|Sesame Street}}, must be a terror bird, and wonders whether he will be updated to be more scientifically accurate. Big Bird, however, being from a show for little kids, would almost certainly never be made to look scary, and also, he was never intended to be a terror bird.

The title text claims that there is ongoing scientific debate about Big Bird's species; initially, he was thought to be a canary, likely due to his color, but scientists have placed him in the order {{w|Cariamiformes}}, which the terror birds belong to. This text is likely intended to mirror what somebody might say about the {{w|Seriema|seriemas}}, which are modern-day birds believed to have evolved from the terror bird, as if Big Bird were the descendant of these dinosaurs, in addition to or instead of seriemas. [https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/what-if-anything-is-big-bird Actual scientific analysis] seems to suggest that Big Bird is in fact related to the whooping crane.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Jill and Hairy are standing together, looking up at the skeleton of a terror bird. The skeleton is standing on a small pedestal, and a plaque is in front of the pedestal.]
:Hairy: Wow.
:Hairy: Now that we know how scary they were, do you think Sesame Street will update him?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]

3069: Terror Bird

2025-03-29T20:24:20Z

162.158.62.108: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3069
| date = March 28, 2025
| title = Terror Bird
| image = terror_bird_2x.png
| imagesize = 342x274px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = There has long been debate about Big Bird's species, with some experts claiming he was a canary, but recent genetic analysis places him firmly in Cariamiformes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BIG YELLOW TERROR BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a scene of two people, [[Jill]] and [[Hairy]], at a museum looking at a fossil of a prehistoric {{w|Phorusrhacidae|terror bird}}. [[Hairy]] thinks out loud that {{w|Big Bird}}, a Muppet character from {{w|Sesame Street}}, must be a terror bird, and wonders whether he will be updated to be more scientifically accurate. Big Bird, however, being from a show for little kids, would almost certainly never be made to look scary, and also, he was never intended to be a terror bird.

The title text claims that there is ongoing scientific debate about Big Bird's species; initially, he was thought to be a canary, likely due to his color, but scientists have placed him in the order {{w|Cariamiformes}}, which the terror birds belong to. This text is likely intended to mirror what somebody might say about the {{w|Seriema|seriemas}}, which are modern-day birds believed to have evolved from the terror bird, as if Big Bird were the descendant of these dinosaurs, in addition to or instead of seriemas. [https://www.pechakucha.com/presentations/what-if-anything-is-big-bird Actual scientific analysis] seems to suggest that Big Bird is in fact related to the whooping crane.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Jill and Hairy are standing together, looking up at the skeleton of a terror bird. The skeleton is standing on a small pedestal, and a plaque is in front of the pedestal.]
:Hairy: Wow.
:Hairy: Now that we know how scary they were, do you think Sesame Street will update him?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]

272: Linux User at Best Buy

2022-05-04T20:52:36Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 242361 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 272
| date = June 4, 2007
| title = Linux User at Best Buy
| image = linux_user_at_best_buy.png
| titletext = We actually stand around the antivirus displays with the Mac users just waiting for someone to ask.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Best Buy}} is an American chain of electronics and media stores. As with many such big box shops, they only sell pre-bundled software and boxed pre-built hardware, where the computers on offer are either {{w|iMac|Macs}} or {{w|Personal computer|other PCs}}, usually pre-installed with some variant of the {{w|Mac OS X}} or {{w|Windows NT}} operating system families. Most personal computer {{w|Hacker (hobbyist)|hackers/enthusiasts}} (as opposed merely to workaday computer users) wouldn't be caught dead buying a pre-made computer, preferring instead to build their own using self-selected hardware components and install and configure their own preferred operating systems and software. As such, the subtext is that somebody buying a complete pre-packaged home computer system at Best Buy wouldn't know or care much about computers.

The salesperson is trying to sell {{w|antivirus software}} to [[Cueball]] because selling such software (e.g. {{w|Norton AntiVirus|Norton}} or {{w|Kaspersky Internet Security|Kaspersky}}) to prospective Windows PC owners is generally a good sales tactic. The vast majority of all computer {{w|malware}} is engineered specifically to exploit Windows, and Windows' inherent anti-malware protection might most charitably be described with the phrase "lacklustre, but not as bad as before." Windows users therefore ''will'' want antivirus protection, ''especially'' for use on a brand new machine that will soon be connected up to the Internet. Moreover, because the ecosystem of viruses and malware that thrive by infecting Windows PCs is constantly evolving (see [[350: Network]]) and being redesigned to take advantage of new exploits and fool last-month's antivirus software, it is quite prudent for a Windows PC owner to always keep their malware protection absolutely up-to-date, and many such security suites need to be regularly renewed with new versions.

While some viruses and malware ''can'' afflict {{w|Linux}}, in general {{w|Unix-like}} operating systems (including {{w|Linux_distribution|Linux distributions}} and {{w|Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD}}) are far more robust and secure than Windows, with fewer exploitable vulnerabilities. Perhaps even more importantly, Linux (not counting Android, which was not yet released) has a far smaller consumer market share, therefore offers less incentive to malware makers to target it. Therefore, Cueball is confident (rightfully so) that he will be fine without additional security. Moreover, Linux is {{w|free software}}, which means that anyone is able to audit the code and fix security bugs. Although malware protection ''usually'' isn't necessary, if extra protection is desired by the user, such as for tasks requiring very high security standards (such as on servers and supercomputers), there are anti-malware solutions available such as {{w|Clam_AntiVirus|ClamAV}}.

Back in 2007, when the less popular {{w|Windows Vista}} was released and with a stagnant Mac market, many in the Linux community believed that Linux would soon wipe out Windows as the operating system of choice for desktop PCs, after years of slow-but-steady growth. This explains the cheeky triumphalism of the final panels of the comic, in which Cueball hops on his quick, slick vehicle and speeds away. It's worth noting that this desktop reversal has not happened, though Linux did achieve a [http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp peak in popularity in 2011], just as Windows users were laboriously switching from {{w|Windows XP}} to {{w|Windows 7}}, with Linux peaking again in 2014 and Windows arguably in decline, and in any case, desktop PCs themselves have slowed in sales, losing ground first to {{w|laptop}}s and most recently to {{w|Embedded software|embedded device}}s, where Linux use does indeed heavily exceed the competition, e.g. {{w|Android (operating system)|Android}} (which is loosely based on the Linux kernel) handily out-competing both the previously dominant {{w|iPhone}} (which was first released mere days after this comic) and the never-popular {{w|Windows Phone}}.

The title text makes sense in light of the fact that, like Linux, the software design of OS X (both are based on Unix, OS X through Darwin - see [[676: Abstraction]]) limits the amount of harm that can be done by malicious software, and Macs thus also have fewer viruses and malware than Windows. Apparently, Mac and Linux users flock together just waiting for some salesperson to come along and mistake them for someone gullible enough to use Windows. [https://www.avast.com/c-can-macs-get-viruses There is a notion that Macs can't get infected], but Mac malware is on the rise. This is taking the piss out of the smugness sometimes to be found among Mac and Linux users, who may view their preferred systems as hip and different from the "mainstream" Microsoft systems that they feel are manifestly inferior.

==Transcript==
:Salesman: Interested in updating your antivirus software?
:Cueball: Oh, I wouldn't need any of that.

:[In a spiky speech bubble.]
:Cueball: I run Linux.

:[Cueball does a backflip onto a motorcycle.]
:''Flip''

:[Cueball performs a wheelie on the motorcycle.]

:[Cueball does a hard, donut turn on the motorcycle, kicking up dirt into the salesman's face.]

:[Cueball speeds off on the motorcycle, leaving the salesman in a cloud of black exhaust.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1448: Question

2022-05-04T20:52:21Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 241775 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1448
| date = November 17, 2014
| title = Question
| image = question.png
| titletext = The universe long dead, IsaAC surveyed the formless chaos. At last, he had arrived at an answer. 'I like you,' he declared to the void, 'but I don't LIKE like you.'
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is a reference to a short story by Isaac Asimov "{{w|The Last Question}}", where humans kept asking successively more complex computers whether {{w|entropy}} can be reversed, thereby preventing the {{w|heat death of the universe}}. The computers always answered "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER". In the end, the final computer figured out the answer, but there were no humans left to give the answer to.

The comic depicts a note to “Isaac” (Isaac Asimov). The note asks Isaac to identify whether he likes the note-writer by choosing either “yes” or “no”. Isaac is supposed to check an answer and hand the note back, but Isaac (whose pen is red) has written and selected a third answer, "there is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer", mirroring the way his computers in the short story responded. Notes of this form are stereotypically written by young schoolchildren to gauge or incite romantic interest. This allows impatient children to get an answer during a class, and timid children to get an answer without having to ask the person face to face.

Title text is a reference to the ending in “The Last Question”. The unique capitalization of "IsaAC" in this text implies that IsaAC is an acronym for a type of supercomputer named with a similar convention to the computers in "The Last Question". Instead of the computer climactically coming up with the solution on how to save the universe from entropy when all humanity is gone, like in the “The Last Question", IsaAC comes up with the anticlimactic excuse of an answer 'I like you, but I don't LIKE like you'. “LIKE like” is a childish euphemism for romantic interest. In "The Last Question", a character considers a thought that perhaps AC stands for "analog computer", but in reality this was never the case; for example, ENIAC stands for "Electronic Numerical Integrator ''And Computer''" and UNIVAC stands for "UNIVersal ''Automatic Computer''". This title text may also be meant to imply that Isaac Asimov was a supercomputer.

The original story can be read [http://www.physics.princeton.edu/ph115/LQ.pdf here].

Comic [[1737: Datacenter Scale]] also references the short-story in the title text.

==Transcript==
:[A post-it note which reads:]
:Dear Isaac
:Do you like me?
:□ Yes
:□ No
:[Below handwritten in red ink with a checked box:]
:☒ there is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Romance]]

2378: Fall Back

2022-05-04T20:52:07Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 243779 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2378
| date = October 28, 2020
| title = Fall Back
| image = fall_back.png
| titletext = Doing great here in the sixth and hopefully final year of the 2016 election.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Daylight saving time}} ends in the United States at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November, when 2 a.m. becomes 1 a.m. {{w|Election Day (United States)|Election Day in the United States}} is on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

In 2020, Nov. 1 is Sunday, so the shift from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time will happen two days before {{w|2020 United States elections|the 2020 election}}. This has the effect of making Sunday, Nov. 1 a 25-hour day. The switchover is sometimes referred to mnemonically as "fall back," with its springtime counterpart (a day of 23 hours) being "spring forward" as mentioned in [[1655: Doomsday Clock]].

At the beginning of the comic, Cueball incorrectly calculates the time until the election day polls close (this varies from state to state); in the second panel, Megan reminds him about falling back. She goes on to possibly sarcastically treasure this extended moment, one more hour to experience the bitter election cycle and the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}. Megan describes herself as {{w|Dissociation_(psychology)|dissociating}} here, and it is possible she is actually treating these emergencies as good now, instead of bad. The behavior could be seen as an indirect demand for the situation to change, a demonstration that she may lose her sanity further if it does not. Cueball hears how intense she is saying her experience is, and says he thinks they've both spent too much time engaging with the news (a sentiment echoed from other recent xkcd comics, like [[2371: Election Screen Time]] and possibly [[2374: 10,000 Hours]]). When he mentions the {{w|24-hour news cycle}}, Megan corrects him again, as Sunday will be a ''25''-hour news cycle.

The title text refers to a popular sentiment that the issues and emotions raised in the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} were not settled when the election was over and have continued unabated since then. Even though the election itself was held in November 2016, the primary candidates officially announced their campaigns in early 2015; thus, 2020 is the sixth year since that campaign season opened. The implication could be that the whole nation, or at least Randall's community of political followers, has had to be in an altered state of consciousness to handle the past six years. It could also be a reference to ongoing strong campaigning, in excess of what people have seen in the past.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is looking at his phone.]
:Cueball: It's 8 PM. Exactly six days until the polls close here.

:[Megan walks in from Cueball's left, holding up a finger. Cueball has lowered his phone.]
:Megan: Six days and one hour.
:Cueball: Oh right, fall back.
:Cueball: Ugh.

:[Megan holds out her arms.]
:Megan: Personally, I think it's great.
:Megan: Don't you want this moment to last as long as possible?

:[Close up on Megan.]
:Megan: My pandemic anxiety and election anxiety have finally fused.
:Megan: I have ascended.
:Megan: I get breaking news alerts in my dreams.

:[Back to Cueball and Megan.]
:Cueball: I don't think the endless 24 hour news cycle has been good for either of us.
:Megan: Well, then I have good news about Sunday!
:Cueball: Ughhh.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]

1648: Famous Duos

2022-05-04T20:51:48Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 243091 by Ex Kay Cee Dee (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1648
| date = February 26, 2016
| title = Famous Duos
| image = famous_duos.png
| titletext = The Romeo and Butt-Head film actually got two thumbs up from Siskel and Oates.
}}

==Explanation==
In popular culture (the term is loosely used in this case) there are many '''famous duos''', such as {{w|Calvin & Hobbes}} (six-year-old boy and his toy tiger, from the cartoon strip with the same name) or {{w|David & Goliath}} (famous past King of Israel and giant, {{w|Biblical}} characters from the {{w|Book of Samuel}} in the {{w|Old Testament}}). (See the [[#Trivia|trivia section]] regarding an on-line list of duos).

In this table, [[Randall]] describes a fictional {{w|Many-worlds interpretation|parallel universe}} where the same names are used in different combinations — instead of Calvin, it is now Thelma (from the movie ''{{w|Thelma & Louise}}'') who is paired up with Hobbes, and Calvin is instead paired off with the King, from ''{{w|Anna and the King}}''. In all cases the one mentioned first on the list is also mentioned first in our universe, so it is always of the form Calvin and the King, never Calvin and Anna. There are 24 duos, and all 48 partners are mentioned (they go through four [[#Cycles|cycles]]). (In the title text of [[1644: Stargazing]] from the week before this comic, there is an indirect reference to parallel universes/{{w|multiverse}}).

The humor of this comic comes from the ridiculousness of the pairings, and the reader's imagination of the stories that are created with the pairs. See the whole [[#List of real duos|list of real duos]] as well as the [[#List of alternative duos|list of alternative duos]] below, with more detailed explanations.

In the title text, alternative movie ''Romeo and Butt-Head'' is mentioned, the fifth entry on the list. This is a combination of the famous {{w|Shakespeare}} play ''{{w|Romeo and Juliet}}'' and ''{{w|Beavis and Butt-Head}}''. ''{{w|Romeo and Juliet}}'' has been filmed many times; most recently in ''{{w|Romeo + Juliet}}'' from 1996 with {{w|Leonardo DiCaprio}} and {{w|Claire Danes}} in the leading roles. {{w|Butt-Head}} is the less stupid one (of the very stupid duo) from the animated TV series ''{{w|Beavis and Butt-Head}}'' (and a {{w|Beavis and Butt-Head Do America|film}}). As Romeo and Juliet is one of the best known love stories and Butt-Head is one of the most disgusting teens ever depicted on the big screen (only overtaken by {{w|Beavis}}), the combination could create disturbing pictures in people's heads (especially in the heads of anyone who may identify themselves with Juliet).

In the alternative universe, when this movie was released, it got the best possible review of two thumbs up from the critics ''Siskel and Oates''. {{w|Gene Siskel}} was paired with {{w|Roger Ebert}}, when they reviewed movies as the famous duo {{w|Siskel and Ebert}}. They were widely known for the "thumbs up/thumbs down" review summaries, with their best combined review being ''Two Thumbs Up'', one from each of them. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, they actually gave {{w|''Beavis & Butthead Do America''}} ''Two Thumbs Up''.

In the alternative universe Siskel and his partner gives the film a (surprising) two thumbs up, but Ebert has been replaced with Oates. This is a reference to John Oates of {{w|Hall & Oates}}, a famous American musical duo from Philadelphia.

There also exists a comedy duo named {{w|Garfunkel and Oates}}, formed by Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, who chose the "Garfunkel and Oates" name by combining the second names from both ''Hall & Oates'' and ''{{w|Simon and Garfunkel}}'' (the latter duo is mentioned in the main comic). Although this exact combo would not be possible in the xkcd version, as the "real universe" combo takes the second names from two duos rather than the first name from one and the second name from another (as in this comic), there may definitely be a deliberate reference to this group as well which has taken the parallel universe idea into our universe.

===List of real duos===
*See the list of [[#List of alternative duos|alternative duos]] below.
*In this list the ''partner index'' indicates whom the second from the duo is linked with in the comic
**So in the case with Thelma (index 1) and Louise (partner index 3), this means that Louise is paired up with Batman (index 3).
**Thelma is paired up with the Hobbes who has partner index 1.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ Famous duos in this universe
|-
! scope="col" | Name
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | pairing
! scope="col" | Partner
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Explanation
! scope="col" | Name index
! scope="col" | Partner index
|-
| Thelma
| and
| Louise
| ''{{w|Thelma & Louise}}'' is a famous road trip film from 1991.
| 1
| 3
|-
| When Harry
| Met
| Sally
| ''{{w|When Harry Met Sally...}}'' is a romantic comedy film from 1989.
| 2
| 16
|-
| Batman
| and
| Robin
| {{w|Batman}} and {{w|Robin (comic)|Robin}} are comic book characters (first appearance for Batman was in 1939, Robin the year after). There have been several {{w|Batman_in_film#Films|films}} including one called ''{{w|Batman & Robin (film)|Batman & Robin}}'' from 1997. A new Batman film ''{{w|Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice}}'' had its release date three weeks after the release of this comic (2016-02-26).
| 3
| 4
|-
| {{w|Mark Antony|Antony}}
| and
| {{w|Cleopatra}}
| {{w|Mark Antony#Antony and Cleopatra|Antony and Cleopatra}} are historical figures who had an affair and three children together after the death of {{w|Julius Caesar}} up to Anthony's death 30 BC. Their combined names are best known from the play ''{{w|Antony and Cleopatra}}'' by {{w|Shakespeare}}.
| 4
| 12
|-
| Romeo
| and
| Juliet
| {{w|Romeo and Juliet}} are characters from Shakespeare's famous romantic tragedy, from 1597, made into several {{w|Romeo and Juliet on screen#Significant feature releases|major films}}.
| 5
| 24
|-
| {{w|Bonnie and Clyde#Bonnie Parker|Bonnie}}
| and
| {{w|Bonnie and Clyde#Clyde Barrow|Clyde}}
| {{w|Bonnie and Clyde}} were American criminals who traveled the central United States with their gang during the Great Depression until their death on May 23, 1934. They are well known from the film ''{{w|Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde}}''.
| 6
| 7
|-
| {{w|Pinky and the Brain#Pinky|Pinky}}
| and
| {{w|Pinky and the Brain#Characters|the Brain}}
| Two mice from ''{{w|Pinky and the Brain}}'', an American animated TV series from the 1990s.
| 7
| 20
|-
| {{w|Paul Simon|Simon}}
| and
| {{w|Art Garfunkel|Garfunkel}}
| {{w|Simon & Garfunkel}} is a very famous musical duo from the 1960s. (See also explanation for the title text).
| 8
| 22
|-
| Beauty
| and
| the Beast
| {{w|Beauty and the Beast}} are fairy tale characters from a French book from 1740, today best known from the {{w|Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)|Disney film}} from 1991.
| 9
| 10
|-
| {{w|Beavis}}
| and
| {{w|Butt-head}}
| ''{{w|Beavis and Butt-Head}}'' is an animated TV series from the 1990s shown on {{w|MTV}}.
| 10
| 5
|-
| {{w|Rocky the Flying Squirrel|Rocky}}
| and
| {{w|Bullwinkle J. Moose|Bullwinkle}}
| A flying squirrel and a moose known from the ''{{w|The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show}}'', an American animated TV series from the 1960s.
| 11
| 2
|-
| {{w|Bud Abbott|Abbott}}
| and
| {{w|Lou Costello|Costello}}
| {{w|Abbott and Costello}} is a famous American comedy duo whose work in vaudeville and on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s. They are known for their famous {{w|Who's on First}} sketch.
| 12
| 17
|-
| Dr. Jekyll
| and
| Mr. Hyde
| Not really a duo, {{w|Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (character)|Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde}} are the two sides of a well known character from the book ''{{w|Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde}}'' written by the Scottish author {{w|Robert Louis Stevenson}} in 1886. It has been adapted into several {{w|Adaptations_of_Strange_Case_of_Dr._Jekyll_and_Mr._Hyde#Film|films}}.
| 13
| 15
|-
| {{w|Samson}}
| and
| {{w|Delilah}}
| Not really a duo, Samson and Delilah are Biblical characters from the {{w|Book of Judges}} (chapters 13-16). Samson was given supernatural strength by God in order to combat his enemies. However, Samson had two vulnerabilities: his attraction to untrustworthy women, and his hair, without which he was just a normal man. These vulnerabilities ultimately proved fatal for him when Delilah had him reveal the secret of his hair, which she subsequently cut off. Then she handed him over to be captured by the Philistines, who gouged his eyes out and brought him to imprisonment in Gaza. He died while in capture but on his own terms. Delilah had not explained why he was no longer strong, so his hair had been allowed to grow out again. When he got it all back, he used his power to destroy a temple he was led into, taking many enemies with him in death.
| 14
| 11
|-
| {{w|Butch Cassidy}}
| and
| the {{w|Sundance Kid}}
| They are historical criminals who died in 1908. They were notorious American train and bank robbers with the {{w|Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch}} gang in 1899-1901. They were made famous by the film ''{{w|Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid}}'' from 1969.
| 15
| 23
|-
| Bill
| and
| Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey
| {{w|Bill & Ted (franchise)|Bill & Ted}} are characters from the two films ''{{w|Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure}}'' (1989) and ''{{w|Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey}}'' (1991). The two titles are spread out on the two new pairings for Bill and Ted, in recognition that this duo is mainly known for these two films, although there also is a {{w|Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1990 TV series)|spin-off animated series}} from 1990-1991.
| 16
| 6
|-
| {{w|David}}
| and
| {{w|Goliath}}
| Not really a duo, David and Goliath were biblical adversaries best known from "small" David's defeat of giant Goliath in the story {{w|David#David_and_Goliath|David and Goliath}}. David later became the second king of Israel, according to the {{w|Books of Samuel}}, and according to the {{w|New Testament}}, an ancestor of {{w|Jesus}}.
| 17
| 8
|-
| {{w|Sherlock Holmes}}
| and
| {{w|Dr. Watson}}
| Characters from {{w|Arthur Conan Doyle}}'s famous books (from 1887-1927) which have been made into numerous {{w|Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes#Film|films}}. In 2009 and 2011, a new {{w|Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)|series of movies}} has been released with {{w|Robert Downey Jr.}} and {{w|Jude Law}} as the two characters. There have also been several TV series.
| 18
| 19
|-
| Jay
| and
| Silent Bob
| {{w|Jay and Silent Bob}} is a strange duo from {{w|View Askew Productions|View Askew's}} film universe, first seen in the film {{w|Clerks}} from 1994. A film called {{w|Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back}} was later released in 2001. The director of these movies, {{w|Kevin Smith}} plays Silent Bob, who of course rarely speaks, but when he finally does it often becomes a long defining monologue. Jay (played by {{w|Jason Mewes}}) talks all the time!
| 19
| 18
|-
| {{w|Anna Leonowens|Anna}}
| and
| the {{w|Mongkut|King}}
| Recently made famous by the 1999 film ''{{w|Anna and the King}}'', based on the 1944 novel ''{{w|Anna and the King of Siam (novel)|Anna and the King of Siam}}'' by {{w|Margaret Landon}}. The Langdon novel was based on two memoirs written by Anna Leonowens in 1870 and 1872, from her experience as royal governess for King Mongkut's children and language secretary for the King from 1862-1867.
| 20
| 21
|-
| {{w|Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)|Calvin}}
| and
| {{w|Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes)|Hobbes}}
| ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'' is a comic series by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from 1985-1995. Calvin is a six-year-old boy and Hobbes is Calvin's stuffed tiger and best friend, who becomes a living anthropomorphic tiger in Calvin's private fantasy world. They have been [[:Category:Calvin and Hobbes|featured regularly]] in xkcd, most prominently in the "duo" comic: [[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]].
| 21
| 1
|-
| Timon
| and
| Pumbaa
| {{w|Timon and Pumbaa}} are characters from ''{{w|The Lion King}}'' film (1994) and they also have their own {{w|The Lion King 1½|film from 2004}} and a {{w|Timon & Pumbaa (TV series)|TV series}} that ran from 1995-1999. There have been [[:Category:The Lion King|many references]] to ''The Lion King'' in xkcd, for instance the comment in the final panel of [[1504: Opportunity]], is from the original movie.
| 22
| 14
|-
| {{w|Mary Kate Olsen|Mary Kate}}
| and
| {{w|Ashley Olsen}}
| Known as the {{w|Mary-Kate_and_Ashley_Olsen|Olsen twins}}, these {{w|Twin#Dizygotic_.28fraternal.29_twins|fraternal twin}} actresses born in 1986 have been on TV since they were infants (on ''{{w|Full House}}'' from 1987) and began starring together in TV, film, and video projects, which enabled them to join the ranks of the wealthiest women in the entertainment industry at a young age. They have previously been the pun of the joke in [[362: Blade Runner]].
| 23
| 13
|-
| {{w|Mario}}
| and
| {{w|Luigi}}
| In the {{w|Mario (franchise)|''Mario'' series of video games}}, which started with the 1983 game ''{{w|Mario Bros.}}'', Mario and his brother Luigi are the main characters. ''Mario'' games have been referenced in several xkcd comics, such as [[151: Mario]] and the comics in the {{w|''Mario Kart''}} [[:Category:Mario Kart|category]].
| 24
| 9
|}

===List of alternative duos===
*See the list of [[#List of real duos|real duos]] above.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Famous Duos in a nearby parallel universe
|-
! scope="col" | Duo name
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| Thelma and Hobbes
| In this essay [http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/207623.html Political Philosophies in Thelma and Louise] the sentence ''Thelma and Hobbes's Total Sovereign Authority'' can be found. In this case it is a reference to {{w|Thomas Hobbes}} as the essay is an analysis of Thelma and Louise's actions and the decision they make in comparison to the political philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and {{w|Jean Jacques Rousseau}}. Hobbes was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy. He also developed some of the fundamentals of European liberal thought, which could be said to be relevant for the movie.
|-
| When Harry met Bullwinkle
| {{w|Billy Crystal}} who played Harry in When Harry Met Sally... also has an uncredited cameo part as a mattress salesman in the movie {{w|The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle}} (see the list of uncredited actors on [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131704/combined IMDb]). In this real action movie, Rocky and Bullwinkle ends up in the real world, where it thus becomes likely that Billy who played Harry ends up meeting Bullwinkle "in real life".
|-
| Batman and Louise
| This duos name comes rather close to the real duo {{w|Clark Kent}} and {{w|Lois Lane}} especially since the film {{w|Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice}} was set for release three weeks after the release of this comic in February 2016.
|-
| Antony and Robin
| There is a book called ''[http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeares-Antony-Cleopatra-English-Literature/dp/0713155884 Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra"] written by a Robin Lee.
|-
| Romeo and Butthead
| It would be quite a different story if either Butt-head should replace Juliet or if Romeo should replace Beavis... (Note Butt-Head is spelled with a hyphen, but has been misspelled in the comic.)
|-
| Bonnie and Ted's excellent adventure
| There was not much excellent about the adventure for Bonnie as {{w|Ted Hinton}} was a Dallas County, Texas, deputy sheriff, the youngest of the posse that ambushed and killed Bonnie and Clyde in 1934. That they could have had an excellent adventure in an alternative universe becomes clear from this segment from his history on Wikipedia: "Ted Hinton was also once acquainted with young Bonnie Parker while she was working in Marco's Cafe in Dallas. Because of her good looks, many of the male customers would flirt with her. Hinton was always gentlemanly and treated Bonnie with respect. Hinton admitted in a later biography that he had a crush on Bonnie, which made it difficult for him as one of the men on the team sent to kill her and her lover, Clyde."
|-
| Pinky and Clyde
| As can be seen in the table above this refers to Pinky the mouse from Pinky and the Brain and Clyde from Bonnie and Clyde. But {{w|Ghosts (Pac-Man)#Pinky|Pinky}} and {{w|Ghosts (Pac-Man)#Clyde|Clyde}} are also the names of the pink and orange {{w|Pacman}} ghosts in this universe. They are, however, not a duo as there are {{w|Ghosts (Pac-Man)|four ghosts}} ({{w|Ghosts (Pac-Man)#Blinky|Blinky}} and {{w|Ghosts (Pac-Man)#Inky|Inky}} being the two others).
|-
| Simon and Goliath
| Goliath begins with G as Garfunkel. Simon was the shorter of the duo thus fitting as David vs. Goliath.
|-
| Beauty and Luigi
| No direct relation to either Mario or the Beast. However, each story has had a less-popular adaptation that takes place in the sewers of New York City: the 1993 {{w|Super Mario Bros. (film)|''Super Mario Bros.'' film}} and the 1987-1990 {{w|Beauty and the Beast (1987 TV series)|"Beauty and the Beast" TV series}}. Of course, Mario and Luigi are beast hunters rather than beasts.
|-
| Beavis and the Beast
| Beavis starts with the same three letters as Beauty, just like Beast does.
|-
| Rocky and Delilah
| There is a book called ''[http://www.bensonink.com/delilahsdaughters.html Delilah's Daughters]'', by Angela Benson, where Delilah Monroe's (note the closeness to Munroe) late husband is called Rocky. (See also [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsIvBLuiiRs Rocky and Delilah] on YouTube...)
|-
| Abbot and Cleopatra
| Abbot starts with an A as does Anthony. Cleopatra starts with a C as does Costello.
|-
| Dr. Jekyll and Ashley Olsen
| In the Robert Louis Stevenson story, Dr. Jekyll has a sinister alter-ego in Mr. Hyde just like twins are (almost) the same persons. Though the Olsen twins are not {{w|Twin#IdenticalTwins|identical twins}}, as children the two shared the role of Michelle Tanner on the U.S. sitcom ''Full House''. Jekyll and Hyde are two people in one body, while Mary Kate and Ashley were, in a way, one person in two bodies. There are only three switches in this cycle. Butch Cassidy takes Mr. Hyde and the other Olson twin takes The Sundance Kid. This means that both twins are paired with a man instead of as in real life with a woman.
|-
| Samson and Pumbaa
| Samson has several letters in common with Timon but Samson is a huge man where Timon is a very small animal compared to the other main characters in The Lion King film.
|-
| Butch Cassidy and Mr. Hyde
| See above explanation for Dr. Jekyll and Ashley Olsen.
|-
| Bill and Sally's Bogus Journey
| In this [http://www.rogerwhitney.com/casestudy/ case study] regarding retirement we ''meet Bill and Sally'' (as Sally met Harry). It could be said to be a ''bogus journey'' as it is just a case study.
|-
| David and Costello
| As Costello was the smaller of Abbot and Costello this does not match up with David vs. a Goliath as it did with Goliath vs small Simon.
|-
| Sherlock Holmes and Silent Bob
| This is the only case of a direct switch between two duos. Dr. Watson usually listen to the musings of Sherlock Holmes and Silent Bob is, as his name indicates, mainly silent. Jay talks all the time.
|-
| Jay and Dr. Watson
| See explanation above for their respective real universe partners (the only case of a direct switch between two duos).
|-
| Anna and the Brain
| The Brain desires to take over the world; the King is ruler of his domain.
|-
| Calvin and the King
| Although it is Calvin's fantasy that decides what happens, it is Hobbes that behaves like the King in their relationship at least when it comes to displaying physical strength to determine who decides.
|-
| Timon and Garfunkel
| Timon is put together with Garfunkel, which makes it a close match to Simon and Garfunkel.
|-
| Mary-Kate and the Sundance Kid
| See above explanation for Dr. Jekyll and Ashley Olsen.
|-
| Mario and Juliet
| Mario would have no issue with balconies. His name has some similarities with Romeo. Also, like Romeo, he is an Italian stereotype.
|}

===Cycles===
*There are four cycles.
*The cycles listed below are sorted like explained this example from the longest cycle:
**It starts with "Thelma" (from Thelma and Louse), who is paired with "Hobbes". Hobbes is then shown diagonally down in the next entry below, Calvin and Hobbes, thus leading from "Hobbes" to "Calvin", who is similarly paired with "the King" leading to Anna and so on, until "Batman" is paired with "Louise", completing the cycle.
* First cycle: length 15
Thelma & Louise
Calvin & Hobbes
Anna & the King
Pinky & the Brain
Bonnie & Clyde
Bill & Ted
Harry & Sally
Rocky & Bullwinkle
Samson & Delilah
Timon & Pumbaa
Simon & Garfunkel
David & Goliath
Abbot & Costello
Antony & Cleopatra
Batman & Robin

* Second cycle: length 4
Romeo & Juliet
Beavis & Butthead
Beauty & the Beast
Mario & Luigi

* Third cycle: length 3
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

* Fourth cycle: length 2
Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson
Jay & Silent Bob

* Assigning an index starting with 1 (= Thelma & Louise) to 24 (= Mario & Luigi), they can be written as:

(1, 21, 20, 7, 6, 16, 2, 11, 14, 22, 8, 17, 12, 4, 3)
(5, 10, 9, 24)
(13, 23, 15)
(18, 19)

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:Famous Duos in a nearby parallel universe

:[A list with 24 duos with a gray “and" between the two names (in one case it is a “met") and three times there is a gray word before (once) or after (twice) the names. The list is centered with the “and" in the middle disregarding the length of the names on each side:]
:{|
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Thelma
| and
| Hobbes
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | When Harry
| met
| Bullwinkle
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Batman
| and
| Louise
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Antony
| and
| Robin
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Romeo
| and
| Butthead
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Bonnie
| and
| Ted's excellent adventure
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Pinky
| and
| Clyde
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Simon
| and
| Goliath
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Beauty
| and
| Luigi
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Beavis
| and
| the Beast
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Rocky
| and
| Delilah
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Abbot
| and
| Cleopatra
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Dr. Jekyll
| and
| Ashley Olsen
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Samson
| and
| Pumbaa
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Butch Cassidy
| and
| Mr. Hyde
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Bill
| and
| Sally's Bogus Journey
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | David
| and
| Costello
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Sherlock Holmes
| and
| Silent Bob
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Jay
| and
| Dr. Watson
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Anna
| and
| the Brain
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Calvin
| and
| the King
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Timon
| and
| Garfunkel
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Mary-Kate
| and
| the Sundance Kid
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Mario
| and
| Juliet
|}

==Trivia==
*Here is a ranked list with [http://www.ranker.com/list/best-duos-of-all-time/ariel-kana The Best Duos of All Time].
**When this comic came out there was still less than 300 duos on the list.
**16 of the 24 in the comic, and one of the two mentioned in the title text was on this list.
**Below the ranking refers to where they were on the list Sunday after the release of the comic (on Friday).
**The index refers to the index from the table above with the [[#List of real duos|list of real duos]].
:{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ Ranking (on 2016-02-28) of famous Duos
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Duo
! scope="col" | Index
|-
| 2 || Batman and Robin|| 3
|-
| 8 || Holmes and Watson|| 18
|-
| 11 || Simon and Garfunkel|| 8
|-
| 22 || Thelma and Louise|| 1
|-
| 23 || Pinky and The Brain|| 7
|-
| 24 || Hall and Oates|| 26 Title text
|-
| 31 || Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid|| 15
|-
| 35 || Calvin and Hobbes|| 21
|-
| 41 || Jay and Silent Bob|| 19
|-
| 46 || Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde|| 13
|-
| 71 || Abbott and Costello|| 12
|-
| 79 || Beauty and the Beast || 9
|-
| 85 || Antony and Cleopatra|| 4
|-
| 99 || Beavis and Butt-head|| 10
|-
| 106 || Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen|| 23
|-
| 110 || Romeo and Juliet|| 5
|-
| 206 || Rocky and Bullwinkle|| 11
|-
| N/A || When Harry Met Sally...|| 2
|-
| N/A || Samson and Delilah || 14
|-
| N/A || Bill & Ted|| 16
|-
| N/A || David and Goliath || 17
|-
| N/A || Anna and the King || 20
|-
| N/A || Timon and Pumbaa || 22
|-
| N/A || Mario and Luigi || 24
|-
| N/A || Siskel and Ebert || 25 Title text
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]
[[Category:The Lion King]]

1092: Michael Phelps

2022-05-04T01:16:07Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 233108 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1092
| date = August 8, 2012
| title = Michael Phelps
| image = michael phelps.png
| titletext = [shortly] ...he ate ALL of it!?
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Michael Phelps}} is an American {{w|Olympics|Olympic}} swimmer, who could easily be considered the best swimmer worldwide: he is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, with 28 medals, 23 of them gold (won in the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 summer Olympics, so it would have been 18 Olympic gold medals at the time the comic was published). He was most dominant in the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he won gold in all of the eight events in which he competed, the record for a single games.

[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] find that the Olympic medalist is in Megan's pool. He refuses to leave, and is too fast to be caught. Cueball brings in boxes of {{w|Jello}} Mix to fill the pool with, thereby gelifying the pool and trapping Phelps or forcing him to leave.

However, according to the title text, after having waited the time necessary for the water to gelify, Cueball realizes that Phelps has eaten all of the resulting Jello. This may be a reference to Phelps being used to eating [https://web.archive.org/web/20101113024452/http://www.michaelphelps.net/michael-phelps-diet/ impressive food quantities (about 12,000 calories daily)], to keep up with his strenuous exercise regimen; or it may be a reference to pictures of Phelps smoking from a bong that arose after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, as Marijuana use is often associated with an increased appetite. Otherwise, the text may simply be a reference to Phelps being capable of achieving super-human feats, such as devouring an entire pool full of Jello.

Interestingly enough, just pouring Jello powder into a pool would not solidify the water into Jello. The water would have to be boiled, then quickly chilled, for the Jello to set correctly. As Randall is a scientist, he should have known this; therefore, it's possible that he purposefully ignored this fact in favor of the humor. Michael Phelps' top speed is also only around 2.3 m/s, which can easily be outrun by anyone on land.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball standing outside their en-Phelps-ified swimming pool.]
:Cueball: Why is Michael Phelps in your backyard pool?
:Megan: I don't know. He's been there all day. ''Go home, Michael!''
:Michael Phelps: Woo! 18 gold medals!

:[Megan and Cueball break out a pair of pool nets and unsuccessfully try to snag Phelps.]
:Cueball: Can you get him?
:Megan: He's so '''''fast'''''!
:Phelps: Ha hah! Can't catch me!
:''Splash splash''

:[Cueball heads off to fetch something.]

:[Cueball returns with a hand truck full of Jello mix.]
:Phelps: Oh crap.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

1091: Curiosity

2022-05-04T01:15:44Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 234388 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1091
| date = August 6, 2012
| title = Curiosity
| image = curiosity.png
| titletext = As of this writing the NASA/JPL websites are still overloaded. Trying CURIOSITY-REAR-CAM_[256px_x_256px].torrent.SwEsUb.DVDRip.XviD-aXXo.jpg instead.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the {{w|Curiosity rover|NASA Mars Rover "Curiosity"}} landing on Mars on August 5, 2012 at 10:31pm PDT (August 6, 2012 at 5:31am GMT). NASA live-streamed the landing, but demand for the feed caused server issues. Thus, the time spent trying to download the landing images could be used as an excuse for things such as being late for work, falling asleep during the day, or just about anything demanding one's attention.

The title text is a reference to {{w|Torrent file|torrents}}, which are a more resilient peer-to-peer file-sharing method, due to the decentralized BitTorrent protocol, where the more people there are downloading a file, the more available it is. The name is a play on the file naming convention of release groups who name their files (typically for films or television shows) containing data on the file; source (CAM = Camera capture), language (SwEsUb = Swedish subtitles), source (DVDRip = Ripped from DVD), encoding (XviD = XviD codec) and group name ({{w|Axxo|aXXo}} = aXXo, a well known DVD movie release group). Given that the filename is loaded with keywords that are irrelevant for a still image file, it is unlikely that this torrent will contain the expected pictures.

[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/msl5.html The first images received from Curiosity] via the {{w|2001 Mars Odyssey|Odyssey}} orbiter were low-resolution thumbnails taken from the rover's rear-facing camera, thus the file name CURIOSITY-REAR-CAM_[256px_x_256px].

==Transcript==
:[The Curiosity rover is lowered onto the Mars surface by a Sky Crane.]
:'''Your excuse for anything today:'''
:"Sorry-
:I was up all night trying to download photos taken by a robot lowered onto Mars by a Skycrane."

{{Comic discussion}}

[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Science]]

2415: Allow Captcha

2022-05-04T01:15:19Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 236184 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2415
| date = January 22, 2021
| title = Allow Captcha
| image = allow_captcha.png
| titletext = To prove you're human, please click all the number pairs that appear together in your Social Security number.
}}

==Explanation==
Captcha is designed to prevent spambots from being able to post on websites by posing challenges that humans can easily solve but that spambots and other automated programs cannot solve. The original version (used in [[632: Suspicion]]) asked users to identify text that was rotated, warped, or otherwise modified in order to make it more difficult for automated programs to solve. Once automated programs got good at that, new captchas were put out that exploited the fact that computers tend to be bad at image recognition, e.g. asking the user to select only images that contain cats from a grid of images of cats, dogs, and other objects (used in [[1897: Self Driving]]). This captcha appears to combine the two methods—with the additional hurdle that in order to pass the captcha, users must be able to not only read but also understand (i.e. know the definitions of words). However, if the goal is to allow humans but not computers to pass (although, as the next paragraph will describe, it is not the goal), this is not a good method of differentiating between the two. Any computer program that can accurately read text (and there are now many programs that can do so) would know which words start with 'A' and would be able to look up the definitions (including parts of speech) online, so this would not be effective as a captcha. Humans on the other hand, would often get confused between "ale" and "ail" or between "allot" and "a lot". The English language has no distinction between nouns and verbs by spelling, only grammatical usage, and many words in English are both nouns and verbs, depending on context and placement.

In reality, however, the window is merely disguised as a captcha in order to trick human visitors into allowing the website to install "a helper tool", which may be malware, on their computer. The top of the window uses a similar shade of blue to the current version of {{w|reCAPTCHA}} (currently the most common brand of captcha), the prompt includes the phrase "to prove you're human", and the grid is similar to the grid used by reCAPTCHA. However, positioned to appear to humans as two reCAPTCHA boxes is a window asking viewers whether they want to allow or deny the website's request to install the supposed "helper tool". The idea is that because "allow" is a verb beginning with the letter A, human visitors would click on what they think is the box with the word allow in it but actually allow the website to install potential malware on their computer. The window attempts to disguise this by formatting many of the words in boxes as buttons and including other text in smaller font on other boxes. In addition, the captcha may be intentionally difficult so that users will be too distracted by wondering whether ale is a verb to process the meaning of the request.

It should be noted that simply tricking humans would not necessarily be enough to install malware on their computer. First of all, while a person can select any part of a grid box in order to select that box, only clicking on the actual button that says allow will allow malware unto the computer. If a person clicks on another part of the supposed box, nothing will happen, so the person will likely take a closer look in order to see why the window is not being selected and then possibly realize that this is a trick as a result. Further, the website would likely not be able to specify where the permission window appears, so would not be able to fit it into the fake reCAPTCHA. In addition, the user's computer may have an anti-virus software that will prevent the computer from executing malicious code downloaded by the website. Or in order for the user to install software, a second window may pop up requiring the user to type in an administrator password, which will likely startle the user.

Shady websites often use similar tactics to trick you into allowing notifications, including saying "[https://www.bleepstatic.com/swr-guides/c/click-allow-to-verify-that-your-are-not-a-robot/notification-subscription-page.jpg Please allow notifications to confirm you are not a robot]". This comic combines that with a traditional reCAPTCHA to try and trick savvier users too.

The title text is a another trick reCAPTCHA which is trying to make you give out your {{w|social security number}} by clicking the pairs of numbers that appear in your Social Security number. A social security number is a form of identification used in the United States, originally used for the Social Security Administration. Over time, this number has become a type of national identification number, so stealing these numbers would allow a scammer to commit identity fraud. Of course, it would use a different grid, as the grid pictured in the comic has words, not pairs of digits. If you can find all of the pairs then they would be able to guess your real number and thus this would be a weird kind of phishing attempt. If the grid is 4×4 (and some reCAPTCHA grids are only 3×3), then it can only show 16 of the possible 100 pairs of two digits, so any people who are successfully tricked likely would not reveal their entire Social Security numbers because some digit pairs in their Social Security numbers would not appear. However, it should be noted that this trick likely will not be as successful as the captcha-based trick because the phrase "Social Security number" will likely raise alarm bells concerning identity theft, and people who are not citizens or permanent or temporary residents of the United States will not have Social Security numbers, so they will not be able to be tricked into revealing personal information this way even if they are especially gullible.

It should also be noted that the phrase "to prove you're human", while also attempting to disguise the trick, has a somewhat different implication. In the first example, the idea of the supposed captcha is that it asks the user to complete a task that human brains but not computer programs can perform accurately easily, such as image recognition. In the example in the title text, the idea of the fake captcha appears to be that humans are issued Social Security numbers (at least if they live or have lived in the United States), but computers are not. As the website does not already know the users' Social Security numbers, it would not actually be able to tell whether the user's response was correct. There is nothing to prevent programming an automated spambot program to randomly select zero to four of the boxes. Likewise, users could lie and not reveal their actual Social Security numbers, although those who realize that the supposed captcha is an attempt at identity theft will likely not complete it at all and could report it to law enforcement instead.

==Boxes on the reCAPTCHA==
{| class="wikitable"
!|Position
!|Contents
!|Analysis
!|Click?
|-
|Row 1
Column 1
|Alike
|Adjective/Adverb: Related to the verb "Like", as in "similar"
|No
|-
|Row 1
Column 2
|Elope
|Verb: To romantically abscond
But does not start with "A"
|No
|-
|Row 1
Column 3
|Aloe
|Noun: A specific type of plant, or its extracts
Vaguely similar to "Allow", but not normally a homophone
|No
|-
|Row 1
Column 4
|Ale
(and squiggles)
|Noun: A type of beer
Confusable with the verb "ail": To suffer

"(To) ply with drink" is conceivably a verb form
|No/Maybe
|-
|Row 2
Column 1
|Avow
(and squiggles)
|Verb: To declare
|Yes
|-
|Row 2
Column 2
|Danny
(and squiggles)
|A person's name: Familar version of Daniel/Danielle
(Also slang/dialect noun: The hand)

A strained off-homophone of "Deny", as used elsewhere

Does not even start with an "A", anyway!
|No
|-
|Row 2
Column 3
|Allele
|Noun: Genetic variation/subunit
|No
|-
|Row 2
Column 4
|Allot
(and squiggles)
|Verb: To assign or distribute
Can be misspelt "alot", causing confusion as to the legitimate word

Either of the above may be misused instead of "a lot", in its noun form meaning "many"
|Yes
|-
|Row 3
Column 1
|Askew
|Adjective/Adverb: Tilted, twisted, off-balance, strange
|No
|-
|Row 3
Column 2
|Deny
(x2)
|Verb: To refuse, disallow, etc
Does not start with "A"
|No
|-
|Row 3
Columns 3+4
|(squiggled "www.a????.com") wants to install a helper tool
|Might depend upon a legible version of the URL
|The true CAPTCHA answer would apply to cell Row 3, Column 3
|-
|Row 3
Column 3
|Deny
|As above
|No
|-
|Row 3
Column 4
|Allow
|Verb: To permit, licence, be contingent of
|In CAPTCHA context only
To avoid malicious behavior, you should avoid clicking this whole grid
|-
|Row 4
Column 1
|Allow (smaller size)
Alto

(squiggled "to a????? ~squiggles~")
|It might be easy to miss the "Allow", which is valid
"Alto", however, is a noun: Instrumental/choral pitch or range

The squiggles ''may'' include a 'valid' A-Verb
|Yes, for "Allow", in CAPTCHA context
But if a Click-trap, you'd be best to close/Back-button the whole page
|-
|Row 4
Column 2
|Allow (and squiggles)
|As elsewhere
|Yes
(or further trap)
|-
|Row 4
Column 3
|Deal
|Verb, noun and adjectival: Various related or obscure meanings
But does not start with "A", in any case
|No
|-
|Row 4
Column 4
|Delay
|Verb (and related noun): Of an enforced wait
Does not start with "A", although the synonym "allay" does

("Delay" also shares common meanings with, ''and'' mixes the phonemes of, both "Allay" and "Deny")
|No
|-
|Any cell
|Unremarked squiggles
|It is entirely possible that those squiggles, if decipherable, could include qualifying text
|Maybe..?
|}

==Transcript==
[Header at the top of the image with white text inside a light blue rectangle]: To prove you're human, please click every box containing a verb that starts with "A"

[Below the header, a series of panels in a 4x4 grid. Each panel has a word in capitals. Most of the words appear to be in buttons, and several have illegible text above or below. Some are tilted or off-center]

Alike

Elope

Aloe

Ale

Avow

Danny

Allele

Allot

Askew

[Two buttons, both saying]: Deny

[The next two panels are joined together, with two buttons next to each other. One says "Deny" and the other "Allow". The text above reads]: [illegible].com wants to install a helper tool

[With the word "Allow" printed clearly above and illegible text below]: Alto

Allow

Deal

Delay

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:CAPTCHA]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

1997: Business Update

2022-05-04T01:14:39Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 233907 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1997
| date = May 23, 2018
| title = Business Update
| image = business_update.png
| titletext = Our customers keep sending us their personal information, even though we've repeatedly asked them to stop. The EU told me I'm the heir to some ancient European throne that makes me exempt from the GDPR, but we should probably still try to fix that.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows a meeting at [[Beret Guy]]'s business (as seen in [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|these other comics]]). As usual, those in the business demonstrate a misuse of business terminology and take strange happenings within the business in their stride.

Though maintaining a semblance of business-savviness through the use of many corporate buzzwords, it becomes clear that what is normally metaphorical in a usual boardroom meeting is here are quite likely meant literally. The Quarterly Reports, described as "looking good," may be literally physically attractive (rather than recording successful business dealings). Beret Guy's comment that "the office is full of cash" seems to be an ordinary comment at a glace, but him saying that the office ''contains'' a lot of money instead of ''has'' a lot of money implies that the office is literally full of money, like coins, dollar bills, twenty dollar bills, etc., and not simply economically well-off. Most businesses keep their money in banks; any business that keeps all their money insecurely in the office is either criminally shady or incompetent.

"We're producing stocks [as in the stock market, a.k.a. shares] faster than ever before." Stocks are valuable, so from an outside perspective making more of them would create value. However, the humor of this situation is that in real life, creating shares from nothing would reduce the value of existing shares (as the combined value of stocks should add up to the total value of the company...so creating more stocks means each has to be worth less to make the addition balance out). This is ironic in that typically stocks represent the value of the company, rather than being the product being created.

Alternatively, the company may be producing the leg restraints known as {{w|Stocks|stocks}}. It's unlikely that there would be many people wishing to buy these stocks. Conversely, if what they are making is ''soup'' stocks, then it could be related to the 'rapid growth' (i.e., obesity) of the customers.

"Rapid growth" is something a business is supposed to attain for itself or its userbase, not its individual customers. If the customers are not children they are likely very concerned by this rapid growth, as should be Beret Guy if the rapid growth is being caused by his business and its products.

"Liquidating assets" typically means that assets are being sold off for money rather than being retained or used. Assets "liquidated" in a thermostat glitch, meanwhile, may have been literally melted ("turned into liquid"). It could also mean that their infrastructure is so hilariously messed up (and/or the assets so bizarre) that a simple glitch in a thermostat somehow resulted in the loss of a large amount of the company's assets. Note that this type of thing is not entirely unheard of, as shown by [https://thehackernews.com/2018/04/iot-hacking-thermometer.html a hack of a thermostat in a casino that led to massive data loss in 2017].

"Original content" is a catch-all term for unique creative products created by a website, e.g. articles, videos or TV shows. However, it is not typically used to describe sinks, which only provide water. Since the business team regards it as a problem, this means the sink is likely leaking or backing up, possibly with polluted water or rotting food waste, or perhaps creating things one would not expect a sink to dispense or even to exist (depending on how "original" this original content is).

Transmuting lead into gold was a {{w|Nuclear transmutation#Alchemy|goal of alchemists}} for many centuries. With modern nuclear technology, it is actually now possible to accomplish transmutation of lead into gold, and gold into lead. While the expense far exceeds the value of the gold produced by such methods, it seems plausible that, given Beret Guy's surpassing strangeness, his company may be successfully and cheaply transmuting large quantities of lead into gold and back again. Since gold is worth much more than lead in today's market, the first transmutation could indeed result in major profit, while the reverse would obviously result in major losses, and be a rather pointless undertaking for a typical, profit-oriented business.

It is also worth noting that the "largest source of revenue" may not be producing much revenue at all; it can still be the biggest if there are no others. On the other hand, past experience with Beret Guy's business would indicate that this company is [[1032: Networking|making plenty of money]], though they aren't necessarily sure [[1493: Meeting|how]].

Alternately, Beret Guy may be speaking literally about their "biggest source of revenue," referring not to the amount of revenue generated, but to the physical size of the source itself. A facility capable of transmuting heavy elements would most likely be constructed around a large particle accelerator such as a synchrotron, and accelerators of this type commonly measure several kilometers in diameter. Such a facility would likely be the largest physical structure owned by a commercial entity.

In the last panel, "the girl from ''The Ring''" refers to Sadako Yamamura, the antagonist of {{w|The Ring (film series)|the ''Ring'' series by Koji Suzuki}}, or her counterpart Samara Morgan from the {{w|The_Ring_(2002_film)|American remake}}, who has been referenced by xkcd several times in the past — [[396: The Ring]] for example. One of Sadako/Samara's supernatural abilities is to appear in television screens as well as exit from them into the real world. Beret Guy claims she has done this several times in their video conferences, which may be possible if someone has hacked their video feed to play footage from the 2002 movie. However, some of Beret Guy's employees then proceed to remark that she has made contributions to the meetings in question, implying that the image of Sadako/Samara is not only alive but sentient and communicating with the employees, rather than killing them as she typically does in her movies. It's also possible that Sadako/Samara is simply the recording from the series, and her contributions are just in keeping with the general tone of the company's video conferences. Either way, it would appear that Beret Guy's sheer eccentricity has affected his staff to the point that a digital spectre would not be an abnormal employee; they're also oddly nonchalant about a movie character appearing in the real world, and at Sadako/Samara's out-of-character behavior.

The title text refers to the May 25 deadline to implement the European Union's {{w|GDPR|General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)}}; this comic parodies a business meeting about what the company is doing to prepare for it. However, while normally the problem would be how to handle the customers' personal information that the company requires to retain in order to do business, in this case it seems the company does not require personal information at all, and instead, customers are sending them theirs on their own (and they refuse to stop doing it!). Even more bizarrely, Beret Guy was told by the EU (or at least, he thinks he was) that he is exempt because he is European royalty of some kind, which would give him {{w|sovereign immunity}}, but he wants to fix this problem anyway, just to be on the safe side.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy, Ponytail, Hairy, Hairbun and Megan sit around a table, left to right. Beret Guy and Megan are sitting on chairs at the ends. All others are behind the table with no visible chairs. All characters face Beret Guy.]
:Beret Guy: Quarterly reports are looking good.
:Beret Guy: Our office is full of cash, we're producing stocks faster than ever before, and our customers are experiencing rapid growth.
:Beret Guy: Any updates?

:[Closeup on Ponytail, facing left.]
:Ponytail: Bad news: many of our assets were liquidated this morning due to a thermostat glitch.
:Ponytail: Good news: the sink in the kitchen has stopped producing original content.

:[Same as panel one, but characters are facing Megan.]
:Beret Guy: How are our finances?
:Megan: Our biggest source of revenue is our ongoing project to transmute lead into gold.
:Megan: Our biggest expense is our project to transmute it back.

:[Closeup on Beret Guy, facing right, offset to the left of the panel. Two characters speak from off-panel right.]
:Beret Guy: Lastly, any luck getting the girl from ''The Ring'' to stop showing up in our video conferences?
:Off-panel person 1: No, but honestly, she's made some good contributions.
:Off-panel person 2: Yeah, I think we should hire her.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Stock Market]]

1996: Morning News

2022-05-04T01:14:13Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 233911 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

<noinclude>:''"1996", this comic's number, redirects here. For the comic named "1996", see [[768: 1996]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 1996
| date = May 21, 2018
| title = Morning News
| image = morning_news.png
| titletext = Support your local paper, unless it's just been bought by some sinister hedge fund or something, which it probably has.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] is complaining to [[Hairbun]] about her easy access to infuriating national news stories and bad opinions (editorial articles and commentary) and worries that it may be having a negative effect on her, perhaps by promoting misinformation, by distraction, or by prompting adverse emotional reaction to content; she muses that, in some way or another, this habit is probably doing some sort of damage to her brain's wiring, training it to think in ways that are not necessarily good. While the capacity of the brain to change and adapt to a person's daily habits is, like most neurological phenomena, as yet not very well understood, it's clear that something of the sort exists--scientists refer to this capacity as "[https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=40362 neuroplasticity]."

Hairbun sarcastically tells Megan that things were different in her time, implicitly stating that access to infuriating stories via newspapers took only a tiny bit more time and effort during a morning routine compared to accessing them via the Internet.

Megan counters this idea and says that while it is true that newspapers provided the sort of national news she is being provoked by, they also had much more ''local'' news mixed in (which may be of a lighter nature, sometimes referred to in a derogatory sense as "fluff" news pieces), to which Hairbun agrees.

Megan also raises the point that bad opinions were not granted wide distribution. Hairbun is rather less quick to agree to this, and suggests that Megan not check that, revealing that Megan’s assertion isn’t entirely true. Indeed, before the Internet, newspapers were a common medium for expressing opinions, either by local columnists or average citizens via letters to the editor, and they, as with any body of opinions throughout history, were frequently noxious or ill-informed.

This comic has a similar tone to [[1348: Before the Internet]] in that it makes fun of the idea that life and society were better "in the good old days".

The title text takes another jab at newspapers as a supposedly superior source of news. Supporting your local paper is generally considered a positive action, as it is often the best or only source for local news (national media can't focus on smaller areas, and radio/television often lacks print media's focus on investigative journalism). However, in recent years, many seemingly independent local newspapers in major cities have been bought up by financial groups rather than traditional publishing companies, and their effect on the industry as a whole has been controversial. Most notably, hedge fund groups often attempt to make newspapers profitable by [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-22/the-hard-truth-at-newspapers-across-america-hedge-funds-are-in-charge cutting costs and downsizing], at the expense of quality reporting; critics call such hedge fund groups [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/as-a-secretive-hedge-fund-guts-its-newspapers-journalists-are-fighting-back/2018/04/12/8926a45c-3c10-11e8-974f-aacd97698cef_story.html?utm_term=.d4e6ff7d3058 "vulture capitalists"] who are throttling newspapers for short-term profit, without any thought of long-term viability or public service. The owners of the fund may also be unethical or controversial for other reasons. Thus, the standard well-meaning suggestion of supporting your local paper may no longer be good advice.

==Transcript==
:[Megan, looking on a smartphone in her hand, and Hairbun are standing together and talk.]
:Megan: Every morning, before my eyes even focus all the way, I read a bunch of infuriating national news stories and bad opinions. I wonder what this is doing to my brain.
:Megan: It's probably not great.

:[Zoom in to the head of Hairbun.]
:Hairbun: Back in my day, we had to pay people to '''''print out''''' infuriating news stories and bring them to our door. And we waited until we had stumbled out to the '''''kitchen''''' to read them.
:Hairbun: '''''Totally''''' different.

:[Frameless panel, zoom out on both while Megan has lowered her hand holding the phone.]
:Megan: OK, fair. But newspapers at least had more local news mixed in, right?
:Hairbun: Yeah, true.

:[Same as last panel, except it has a border.]
:Megan: I bet they weren't full of bad opinions.
:Hairbun: Yyyyyes.
:Hairbun: All our opinions were good. It was a remarkable time.
:Hairbun: Please don't go check.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]

1995: MC Hammer Age

2022-05-04T01:13:53Z

162.158.62.108: Undo revision 236294 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1995
| date = May 18, 2018
| title = MC Hammer Age
| image = mc_hammer_age.png
| titletext = Wait, sorry, I got mixed up--he's actually almost 50. It's the kid from The Karate Kid who just turned 40.
}}

==Explanation==

This is the first comic to combine the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series with the theme of listing facts that [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make one feel old]].

In the comic [[Cueball]] (as [[Randall]], as it is his hobby) is asking [[White Hat]] if he wants to feel old. (This exact opening phrase was used by [[Megan]] in [[1898: October 2017]]). Cueball doesn't wait for an answer, though like Megan did, but tells White Hat that {{w|MC Hammer}} just turned 40. Surprisingly, at first, this doesn't really make White Hat feel old, he actually feels this is rather normal (compared to his own age). MC Hammer is a pop rapper/singer who was most popular in the early 1990's for ''{{w|U Can't Touch This}}'' with the catch phrase ''{{w|Hammer Time|Stop: Hammer Time}}'', and {{w|hammer pants|shiny}} {{w|baggy pants|baggy}} pants often incorrectly referred to as {{w|parachute pants}}.

So at first it seems that Randall's attempt to make White Hat feel old has failed miserably. However in the caption Randall explains that this is part of his hobby. By "lowballing" the facts to begin with he can make people feel really old when he tells them the truth, so they learn that the correct number (age/years ago, your age at the time etc.) is even worse than the first opening statement.

In the title text he then tells White Hat the "truth": "Wait, sorry, I got mixed up--he's actually almost 50. It's the kid from The Karate Kid who just turned 40." This suddenly adds ten more years to MC Hammer's age, and the kid from the Karate Kid movies is already 40 years old. This likely makes White Hat feel old. In the original ''{{w|The Karate Kid}}'', {{w|Ralph Macchio}} was the actor who starred as Karate Kid.

The real blow, comes when White Hat (and most likely the reader), now intrigued goes home and looks these two people up on Wikipedia. Ralph Macchio was already much older than the kid he portrays in the movie, a school kid - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087538/trivia?item=tr0565736 he was 22 years old] when shooting the first movie. On the day this comic came out, both MC Hammer and Ralph Macchio were 56 years old. And Ralph is the older one of the two being born in 1961, while Hammer was born in 1962. (In fact, Macchio is older now than {{w|Pat Morita}}, who played his mentor in ''The Karate Kid'', was when that film was released.)

So even in the title text, the corrections are both "lowballed" facts, so still preserving the maximum effect while adding more credibility to the claims, so people already start to feel old before the last 6 years is added to Hammer's age.

Of course, this is assuming they ''do'' look it up, and if they believe Randall the first time, there is no reason to assume this will happen. However, then they probably already feel old from the first correction.

Note that in the other ''make one feel old'' comics Randall did not apparently indulge in this new hobby of lowballing facts. As far as we can tell, those were all accurate for the time the comic was created. But if this is a new hobby, we may need to examine newer "feel old" comics extra carefully from now on. (If we want to feel even older that is.)

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking together.]
:Cueball: Want to feel old? MC Hammer just turned 40.
:White Hat: Wow.
:White Hat: I mean, I guess that's not too surprising, right?
:White Hat: It's been a long time.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My hobby: Deliberately lowballing "Want to feel old" factoids to set up a bigger payoff later when they learn the correct number.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]

Talk:Countdown in header text

2022-01-18T13:39:05Z

162.158.62.108:

The talk on from [[2565: Latency]] and [[2566: Decorative Constants]] has been moved here by me when I created this page --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:01, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

;From Latency:
What is happening around Feb 1st, there is a countdown that appeared a few hours ago in the upper right corner of the xkcd index. There is also the directory xkcd.com/count-wimRikmef which might be an acronym, if it isnt a countdown package? {{unsigned ip|172.70.130.57}}
:Damn you beat me to it ;-). But I have made a [[2565:_Latency#Trivia|Trivia]] here on this comics page and links to more detail on the [[xkcd Header text]] page. I belie you are a day of, but someone will likely correct me if I'm wrong. As I can see it will be January 31st, 9:59 in Randall's home town Boston.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:06, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::But damned if I can wait. Sure millions will watch the page when it goes to zero! At least it is no April 1st. :-D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:10, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

;From Decorative Constants
Any idea what's going on with the clock that's counting downwards in the banner? Currently counting down from 20 days 16 hours? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.95|172.70.214.95]] 22:08, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:(Simultaneous edit) What is the days-hours-minutes in the box above the comic referring to? The image itself is dated yesterday, as you can see by saving it. Worst-case-scenario, is this a countdown to the end of XKCD? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.223|108.162.245.223]] 22:11, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:: It's going to hit zero at around midnight on Jan 31st 2022 CST? [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 22:16, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::'''Posted this on the previous comics discussion. But lets take it here where there will be more traffic:''' --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:44, 10 January 2022 (UTC) -- Copy paste from previous comics discussion:
::::Damn you beat me to it ;-). But I have made a [[2565:_Latency#Trivia|Trivia]] here on this comics page and links to more detail on the [[xkcd Header text]] page. I believe you are a day of, but someone will likely correct me if I'm wrong. As I can see it will be January 31st, 9:59 in Randall's home town Boston.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:06, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::::But damned if I can wait. Sure millions will watch the page when it goes to zero! At least it is no April 1st. :-D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:10, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::::Yeah - you're right - I messed up. So as I type this, it's Jan 10th 2022 at 4pm - 1600 hrs Mountain time - which is 1800 hours EST. At this moment, the countdown reads 20d 16h 0m - so Jan 30th + (18+16) hours = which is Jan 30th + 34 hours - which is Jan 31st + 10am in Boston (EST). [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 23:05, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::::Hey great, can see they agree in the link to reddit below. So happy I got it right both in UTC and Boston. It will be 15:59 here in DK. Not 16:00. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:44, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Counting down to Backwards Day? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.88|162.158.91.88]] 23:28, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:There's a reddit thread discussing it: https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/s0oynl/xkcd_countdown_timer_20d_21h_49m_remaining_until/ I think the most likely guess is that Randall has a new book coming out. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:40, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::Would still seem strange if it came out that day with only promotion before being a count down. But then again, he will have the xkcd communities boiling if he gives no other hint. So every one will see if he promotes a book. Also as they wrote at the time I looked at reddit I do not think it is the end of xkcd, or Webb related. Although Webb was the first I thought about. But I mean even if it came to L2 at that day, it is not going to any specific point but just in orbit. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:47, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

::The date fits the idea of it being Backwards Day (https://nationaldaycalendar.com/backward-day-january-31) but what about the choice of time? [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 03:38, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::Backwards day... Never head of it until now. Is it big in the US. I mean when looking after dates so obscure they are not mentioned on wikipedia then there are probably lots of things happening on that day? But maybe it is a think in the US? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:48, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::: I haven't heard of it until now either, so it is probably one of the bajillions of holidays no one actually cares about, and is unrelated to the countdown. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 13:22, 11 January 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

Someone has noticed the image is changing with pixels added at the bottom left corner and is keeping track of it here: https://munvoseli.github.io/xkcd-countdown/ [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.107|198.41.238.107]] 05:49, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:Looks like an image is "moving" into the frame because at the moment you can see some white pixel in the lower left, i.e. the black part might end up as a line as part of some comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.8|162.158.89.8]] 08:31, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
::Thanks used that to pinpoint the start of the countdown. Have added this info to the header text page, and the original trivia. Also just added a line of trivia to this explanation with the link. This was when this comic came out most people noticed the count down. But it did came out while [[Latency]] was up. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:43, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::Speculating on what it could be, the only thing that makes sense at that angle is a character's arm. 04:47, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:As of 7 PM PST, the two lines appear to be disconnected from anything else, which rules out a lot of the theories put forth here. Hmmm… I can’t really think of anything it could be other than the wing of an airplane. Maybe it’ll zoom out after it moves into view?[[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 03:17, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

The header changes page says that it's forcing "Friday" to move down to the next line. Not for me. Did he fix it, or is it browser-specific? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:58, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:It must be browser specific. But i have tried bot the old Internet Explorer, Edge, Chrome and Firefox, and it does it in all cases and zooming does nothing.. Which browser do you use? I have corrected to in some browsers though, in the [[xkcd_Header_text#2022-01-10_-_Standard_text_with_countdown|explanation]] you refer to. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:31, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

This is much more likely a count down related to the James Webb Space Telescope. At approximately the day the count down indicates the telescope will be orbiting the L2 gravitational spot.Perhaps most of the mirrors will be approximate place to allow for months of fine tuning. An example of a slightly similar idea is https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-next-steps
[[User:Punchcard|Punchcard]] ([[User talk:Punchcard|talk]]) 15:35, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:I really do not think so. There is nothing special about a specific moment for reaching L2. It will go in orbit around it, but when to day it is there or in orbit is hard to pinpoint. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:13, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
::And after I looked at it, it seems it will reach L2 several days before the countdown. See [[Countdown in header text#Theories]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:31, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

I think the Countdown should get its own entry. What do we think? [[User:Sure|Sure]] ([[User talk:Sure|talk]]) 16:25, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
: I think it should! What with the count itself, the speculation about what it could mean, and now the slowly arriving image (?) this seems like something beyond either of the two comics since it started! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.49|108.162.219.49]] 18:00, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
: I'm surprised it doesn't have one already. This is one of the more unique situations in a long while, more speculation could happen. [[User:Thisfox|Thisfox]] ([[User talk:Thisfox|talk]]) 22:26, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
::I have now created this page and talk page for us to continue the discussion and make dedicated changes about this countdown here. And have moved all discussion from the two pages that had some already (except a few on the first talk page that was also mentioned here. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:13, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

If you take a look at this [[https://xkcd.com/count-wimRikmef/state|link]] it displays this: '''{"img":"72cb154b23f959f908f5dc8eb03069c6df3f0f54aae896a0e7ed27befb2ee639.png","start":"2022-01-10T17:00:00Z","target":"2022-01-31T15:00:00Z","until":"2022-01-11T20:55:38.205303701Z"}''' [[User:Hoodiesandboba|Hoodiesandboba]] ([[User talk:Hoodiesandboba|talk]]) 20:58, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:To correct your link:
:"...If you take a look at this [https://xkcd.com/count-wimRikmef/state link] it displays..."
:As to where the "72cb154b23f959f908f5dc8eb03069c6df3f0f54aae896a0e7ed27befb2ee639.png" is rooted, I haven't dug into that (or what transforms might be being applied), but it looks like a manipulation of browser states might be able to prematurely reveal it. (I'm on mobile at the moment, and it's significantly more fiddly to poke into the page-scripting and markup than I can be bothered with this moment, but I know what I'd do with a good acreage of screen, mouse control and a proper keyboard to rattle away at. And the combined minds here surely can do even better than myself.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.116|172.70.91.116]] 22:38, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
::The filename is a random number long enough to prevent brute force guessing to find future images. The state-file looks like some information for the javascript script where this URL comes from. I haven't looked into the script that much but from the values I'd say that it's telling when to start doing refreshs (2022-01-10T17:00:00Z) and when to stop doing that (2022-01-31T15:00:00Z). While these values are constant, the third value changes and is ten minutes after the time the page has been requested. I suppose this is telling the script, when to do a refresh of the image load. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.16|141.101.77.16]] 11:05, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
:::After some fiddeling, I've found the origin of the filename: It's the SHA-256 hash of the image [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.16|141.101.77.16]] 11:05, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
::::There's already a note that it would be impossible to brute-force the filenames. But as the images are very similar to each other, would it be feasible to programmatically generate images similar to the last one (extending up and to the right, different variations of the line shape), hash those files, and test to see if they match images on the server? I'd expect it to reduce the number of possibilities by orders of magnitude, but not sure if that's enough to make brute-force attempts feasible and non-destructive. (Also don't know the PNG format well enough to know if an image with the same pixels in it is guaranteed to produce the same bytes in the file across different implementations) -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 11:16, 14 January 2022 (UTC)
:::::Hmm… if it was pure black and white, the total number of possible images would be within the realms of sanity to brute force. But add antialiasing and the numbers rapidly become silly. Even if you only allow pixels to change within a certain distance of the previous image, and restrict greys to places between a black and a white, the numbers quickly become absurd. Although that makes me think about making 1-bit versions of all the images so far, predicting a set of "next frame" possibilities at each step, and training a CNN to pick the correct next one; and if it gets accurate enough by the time we get to the present… hmm. How predictable is antialiasing? Do we know the software he's using to create the images; and if so is there a relatively predictable algorithm applied along the edges? [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 11:41, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

I think it counts down to Lunar New Year (the Year of the Tiger), as measured in Korea (the earliest timezone where that is celebrated). Actually, it reaches 0 one minute before the New Year, so maybe it will switch to seconds for the last minute. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.98.75|172.70.98.75]] 05:10, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:Could be, but why. Randall has never to rarely? mentioned this new year... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:13, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

I think we are seeing a zoom out of some image. Perhaps it is the arm of Cueball? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:36, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:It looks like there's a little curve at the top left of the line entering the frame! This makes the Cueball arm hypothesis more likely. [[User:Sure|Sure]] ([[User talk:Sure|talk]]) 14:18, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
::I also noticed that (and moved your comment up here, as it is kind of a reply to that). Seems like the picture updates every four hours, and that it happened last time at noon UTC today. And thus it will also be at midnight. So 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. But it is not certain yet and not sure it happened like that the first day or two. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:46, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

I have added the first 12 images on this page: [[Countdown in header text/images]] - anyone may help uploading the new ones there. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:43, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
: Thank you! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.194|173.245.52.194]] 12:44, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone mind if I make a few spelling/grammar corrections to the article? It feels like the kind of thing that could be interpreted as rude, so I wanted to ask first. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.167|172.70.114.167]] 13:00, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:No no please help me with my poor spelling. I'm Danish and not very good at spelling in English. Also anything I write is up for debate and can be changed. Just because I started this page do not give me ownership over it. As long as relevant info is not deleted the entire layout maybe changed. But better to get the page going sooner rather than later.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:46, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
::Alright!! Thank you so much for all your great work on this page! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.151|172.70.110.151]] 18:02, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

I originally put this (without realising it wasn't the Talk page) in the Images sub-page, in response to the revelation it was (very probably) the SHA256 of the image data that was used to name the file:
*When I first looked at it and decided it was an obvious hash (yes SHA256 sounds about right, but nice to know someone's tried it) I personally had hoped it would be a hash of the datetime (plus a salt, maybe, to give it that extra little frisson of difficulty in reverse engineering... ;) ). But if it's as you say I think I'll refrain from getting any rainbow-tables set up and bashing through the possibilities in the rather huge phase-space it could represent. Of course, there must be a look-up table used by the server. It'd be too much to hope for that it's publically exposed though, and totally a rookie-error if it is. (That Randall, and maybe anyone he actually drafted in to implement it to save himself the worry, is surely not going to commit.)
...anyway, bringing it here, as being more conversational than informative. Still thought I should say it, but stupidly long as a comment so maybe I needn't have repasted it again! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.79|172.70.85.79]] 03:39, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

(Put this in here as it was before in the explanation --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:02, 13 January 2022 (UTC):)
Was going to say it's Hangman, but it looks like it's zooming in on the diagonal instead of continuing to make a gibbet. [[User:Thisfox|Thisfox]] ([[User talk:Thisfox|talk]]) 06:37, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

I read the javascript of the countdown and noticed one thing that i didn't see mentioned anywhere on this page: the countdown text is moving upwards. When the countdown started the text was exactly in the middle of the image and at the end of the countdown the text will be at the top (you can see how it will look by changing the time in your system). The code will also make the text disappear and leave only the image after the countdown goes to zero. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.41|162.158.90.41]] 23:52, 13 January 2022 (UTC)
:Uuuh thanks that was interesting. Maybe to make more room for the image? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:09, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

The Greensboro sit-ins started on Feb 1, though the time is different.. But black history month? {{unsigned ip|172.70.135.48}}

Thanks to [[User:Theusaf|Theusaf]] for helping with putting the images up on the image page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:09, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

Anyone here that can make an animation out of the images and put it in the explanation? If it is "easy" could it be updated some times on the way towards the final image on January 31st... Like the one on [[Time]]. That would be really nice. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:02, 14 January 2022 (UTC)
:I made an animation: [https://imgur.com/a/INh77nL] (Now i realize it wasn't needed because there already is automatically updating animation linked from the page...) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.105|162.158.159.105]] 18:18, 15 January 2022 (UTC)

There's something else moving into the frame... We'll have to see what it is. [[User:Sure|Sure]] ([[User talk:Sure|talk]]) 19:12, 14 January 2022 (UTC)

To even find this page, I had to page backward through the comic to get to Decorative Constants, go to the discussion, and come across the link to this page from there. I suggest that there be a direct link to this page from the explanation of every comic that existed while the countdown was in progress. A second question: has anyone determined for sure whether the ‘camera’ is zooming out from a blank spot in the final image, in which case we can expect other stuff to come into view from above and right, OR is it panning onto an image that is not changing size, in which case nothing will appear except from the direction it’s moving toward? And if it’s panning, has anyone tried estimating where the current stuff will end up?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.76|108.162.246.76]] 07:42, 15 January 2022 (UTC)
:I agree with you and have now changed the four comics that was active while the count down was active so far, so the link to this page is above their explanations. If people keep updating like this for new comics, there will be a link to the countdown page from the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page front page]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:40, 15 January 2022 (UTC)

Does Randall already have kids? If not, maybe his wife is expecting? That's something you'd announce and the last two comics are about kids. Another idea: he's going to space 🚀. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.233.115|162.158.233.115]] 20:47, 15 January 2022 (UTC)
:I’m sure he would have a birth announcement afterward, but I doubt he would try to predict it to the exact second, 21 days in advance.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.105|162.158.106.105]] 22:36, 15 January 2022 (UTC)
::Maybe it's a C section? Those are usually scheduled. lol but yeah that's unlikely.Wouldn't rule it out though.[[User:Sure|Sure]] ([[User talk:Sure|talk]]) 13:58, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

I noticed that it almost appears to be the tail fin of an airplane. I don’t know if it is, or if an airplane even makes sense? --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.57|172.70.230.57]] 22:11, 15 January 2022 (UTC)
:There's not enough time for it to make the several passes necessary, before the big 'reveal', but I'd have suspected Randall capable of parodying the {{w|Airplane!}} in-title parody of {{w|Jaws}}. Would have somewhat been a {{w|Shaggy dog story|shaggy}}-{{tvtropes|Brick_Joke|brick}} joke, but wouldn't put it past him... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.79|172.70.85.79]] 00:18, 18 January 2022 (UTC)
:: I actually think, after watching the animation so far on musoveli’s page, it looks more like a main wing of a swept wing commercial aircraft. If it is, and the pattern continues, we should be able to see the main body or an engine nacelle at least. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.108|162.158.62.108]] 13:39, 18 January 2022 (UTC)
I believe it looks like he would draw the arm and upper "body" of a person running to the left. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.107|172.68.50.107]] 01:11, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Am I the only one thinking it'll be another extra long comic like 1190? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.91|108.162.241.91]] 02:52, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Randall is secretly in space, having launched a few days after JWST, and the countdown is to when NASA will see the fruits of his elaborate plan to create the most epic photo bomb of all time. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.220|162.158.187.220]] 20:59, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Surprised no one has linked to the xkcd comic called Countdown. It centers on the problem of having a countdown to something and people not knowing what it is (and also not being able to see all relevant information). Seems relevant in a couple ways. https://xkcd.com/1159/ {{unsigned ip|172.70.230.157}}
:Yes but there we don't know when the count ends, but we know what it is about. So kind of the reverse of this countdown. But I think I will add a line about it in the explanation. Also a search for [[Countdown]] goes there so maybe I also add a link here from that comic. (Remember to sign you comment) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:32, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Did anyone calculate the speed/acceleration of the object moving in the frame? We can predict future positions if nothing changes {{unsigned ip|172.70.162.155}}
:It just changed direction so nothing will come from that now. (Remember to sign you comment) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:32, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Randall's new comic is about [[Hypothesis Generation|hyposthesis genration]] (Sound familiar?), and the title text makes a lot of sense if you think about it from his perspective. [[User:Sure|Sure]] ([[User talk:Sure|talk]]) 13:06, 18 January 2022 (UTC)
:I really do not think this comic is a comment on the countdown. But I can see why it could be funny for us here at explain. But I'm quite sure that Randall stays away from all these fora discussing his comics. We put way to much importance to this site if we think he actually comes here... ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:14, 18 January 2022 (UTC)