explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2433: Mars Rovers

2021-03-08T23:58:35Z

162.158.75.90:

==
== Headline text ==
==

I just realised something: We should totally establish the terms "Mars rover" and "Mars hover" to distinguish these two categories of "stuff we put on Mars". [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 10:58, 6 March 2021 (UTC)
:But to rove is to wander/roam (aimlessly, or at least without much advanced certainty), and doesn't require wheeled movement - or even legged, which the existing rovers strictly aren't unless the wheels ''totally'' jam. To hove is to linger/wait and generally intend to stay put or halt ("Hove to, ye landlubbers! Arrrr!" - a 'suggestion' that might be made by a piratical "Sea Rover")... I think I'd rather Ingy be classed as a Rover than merely a Hover. :-p [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.60|141.101.98.60]] 15:06, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

This implies that Randall will be modifying his Roomba to look/act like Soujouner.
On first reading, I thought maybe Randall figured that mentioning "roomba sojourner mod" in title text would make it so that the *next* time he searches for that phrase, he will no longer be sorely disappointed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.60|108.162.216.60]] 17:44, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Which comic was it that Randall said he wanted a pet sojourner rover?
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 21:21, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

I find the Fuck Grapefruit reference true but irrelevant (Especially as the explanation of why these are related is long and basically goes "There are connected/similar... blah, blah... they are acually not _that_ similar..."). Should be Trivia at most or even completely deleted. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:10, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

Themain thing, which is not mentionned in the explanation, is that for Randall cute = small (eg rabbits) --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 08:36, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

So given what Randall mentioning a subject tends to do, what's the over/under on seeing Sojourner Roombas within the month? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.252|172.69.22.252]] 16:20, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

sojourner is not very capable its just a solar powered camera of wheels but it is very small and cute.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.152|108.162.219.152]] 20:08, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

I'm disappointed there's no mention of Beagle 2. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.90|162.158.75.90]] 23:58, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

1721: Business Idea

2016-08-19T11:38:10Z

162.158.75.90:

{{comic
| number = 1721
| date = August 17, 2016
| title = Business Idea
| image = business_idea.png
| titletext = Then we move to phase two. Gas stations store fuel in underground tanks. Normally, these are inaccessible except via the pump. However, with hydraulic fracturing, we-- Wait! Come back!
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] announces he has "an exciting business opportunity to share". After hearing discouragement from his off-panel audience, he promises that "this time it's a good one", and goes on to explain his plan.

Cueball's plan involves the premise that a small amount of {{w|Octane rating|premium gas}} is left in a fuel pump hose after a car driver fills their car up with premium gas. He states that even if the next customer only pays for regular {{w|Gasoline|gas}}, that they are still getting a small amount of the expensive premium gas. Though he doesn't get a chance to finish the outline for his plan, one can assume he planned to get premium fuel at regular prices, so he could then sell it for profit. After hearing the first part of his plan, two people from the off-panel audience announce they are leaving, clearly and correctly thinking that Cueball's idea is stupid and impractical.

In reality, this would be an impossible business venture to execute. While in the United States often the same hose is used for the various octane fuels, the amount of fuel contained in the hose is relatively small (about [http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122944043385810527 a third of a gallon], or [http://www.metronews.ca/drive/2012/05/08/one-pump-three-grades-how-does-it-know.html half a liter]) compared to the amount that is generally purchased, though [http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122944043385810527 for motorcycles the ratio is more significant]. It is also illegal to resell fuel without the correct licenses, and it would be difficult, bordering on impossible, to have the fuel pump run to ''just'' the premium fuel out, and driving to each {{w|Filling station|gas station}} would use more money to buy more fuel than any money that could be made back. This is not to mention trying to keep track of when someone purchased premium so as to be the next person to use that pump to extract those precious drops.

[[1499: Arbitrage]] implies a similar plan to extract wealth out of a small market inefficiency that, in reality, would be far too onerous to exploit. See also the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|22|Cost of Pennies}}'' regarding why it would not be worth trying these kind of ventures out.

The title text is another one of Cueball's fuel-based business ventures, as he says he plans to dig up fuel stations underground fuel storage tanks, to then sell the contents of. Again, illegal/theft, impractical, don't try it (though it would be much more profitable than his previous plan). The punchline is that a gas station's underground tank is "inaccessible" from the outside, just as there are some oil deposits that are inaccessible to traditional oil production techniques because no sufficient natural flow towards a well can be obtained. In the case of oil deposits, high-pressure fluids are pumped into the rock to break it up ("{{w|Hydraulic fracturing}}" also known as "fracking") and allow the oil to reach the well. Oil tanks, on the other hand, can be made accessible by puncturing them using (presumably) hydraulically powered tools (electrical power is inadvisable in the presence of high-vapor-pressure hydrocarbons due to the significant risk of fire and explosion caused by electrical sparking).

The title text of [[1662: Jack and Jill]] also refers to fracking.

This comic originally shared name with [[827: My Business Idea]], which was then renamed. There were no other relations between the ideas for the two comics, see [[#Trivia|Trivia]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing next to a rolled down projector screen holding a hand up towards his off-panel audience, one from the audience speaks. It's is impossible to say if there are more than two persons off-panel, but it's also impossible to say if a person who speaks in one panel also speaks in one of the next, hence the numbering.]
:Cueball: Thank you all for coming.
:Cueball: I have an exciting business opportunity to share.
:Off-panel voice #1: Oh no.

:[Zoom in on Cueball's head. An off-panel person speaks twice.]
:Cueball: Now hear me out-
:Off-panel voice #2: Your ideas are always the worst.
:Cueball: No, no, this time it's a good one! I promise.
:Off-panel voice #2: Uh huh...

:[Front view of the screen with an image of a black gas pump, with the white hose snaking it's way up to the black handle. And arrow points to the middle of the hose where it is at it's highest point before the turn that goes to the handle. Cueball is pointing at the hose with a stick. Two different off-panel persons speaks to him.]
:Cueball: When someone fills their car with premium gas, some of it is left in the hose, and is dispensed to the next customer even if they've only paid for regular. If we create a network of-
:Off-panel voice #3: I'm leaving.
:Off-panel voice #4: Me too.

==Trivia==
*Because this comic had the same title (and filename) as comic [[827: My Business Idea]], Randall inadvertently broke both xkcd.com and explainxkcd.com when it went up.
**The main xkcd.com site showed this comic for both numbers, while explainxkcd.com showed 827 for both.
**As of 11:35am UTC Randall has fixed this by renaming the old comic to [[827: My Business Idea]], which has now been implemented also here on xkcd.
*This is the third time Randall releases a comic with a [[:Category:Comics sharing name|name exactly the same]] as a previous comic.
**This is the first time the xkcd site broke, because the previous two had separate file names.

Not all gas stations leave the fuel in the hose many back pump it back in to the tank for storage.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Business Idea2]]

1015: Kerning

2016-08-17T21:41:14Z

162.158.75.90: /* Transcript */ tried to get kerning more like the comic with different unicode spaces

{{comic
| number = 1015
| date = February 10, 2012
| title = Kerning
| image = kerning.png
| titletext = I have never been as self-conscious about my handwriting as when I was inking in the caption for this comic.
}}

==Explanation==
In typography, {{w|kerning}} refers to the spacing between consecutive letters in printed material or the process of adjusting said spacing. Examples of bad kerning include text that adds so much spa ce between letters of one word that it appears to be two words, or by including so little space between letters that they run together: "A" and "V" might have their slanting sides overlap, or "r" and "n" together might look like an "m". (This latter case has resulted in the slang term "{{w|Kerning#Automatic_and_manual_kerning|keming}}" for this type of kerning.) Extreme Behavior of bad kerning can lead to humorous or inappropriate text.

Kerning has been an issue in typography since the early era of printing presses and movable type but has taken on new challenges with digital printing. Typical non-designers using basic word processing software don't pay much attention to kerning. A good graphic designer, however, can compensate for bad kerning by individually adjusting the spacing between problem letters. People who specialize in graphic design or layout (and, thus, who are exposed to digital text on a regular basis) can become hyper-sensitive to bad kerning, seeing it in signs or other printed materials prepared by people without such sensitivity to bad kerning.

In the comic, the kerning in the sign is badly done: the spacing between C and I (in "City"), between C and E (in "Offices"), and even slightly between F and I (also in "Offices") is inconsistent. The space between the C and E is almost as wide as the space between the words. One character is clearly frustrated while the other character doesn't notice the problem at all.

The comic explains that once a person learns what good kerning is, he or she will get irritated by shoddy kerning in the future. And since it is very irritating to be annoyed every time this happens, [[Randall]] suggest that you teach this to someone you really hate. Unfortunately, the comic itself has also taught us to be annoyed. Thanks, Randall.

Kerning was mentioned in the title text of [[590: Papyrus]] a comic about the font Papyrus. This is a comic in the "[[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]]" series, and the suggestion of teaching someone about kerning to annoy them sounds like it could become a new hobby for Randall.

Incidentally, Google Search features an easter egg regarding this very topic: searching for the word "[https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=kerning kerning]" causes every instance of that word to be badly overspaced. On the other hand, searching for "[https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=keming keming]" will cause every instance to be even more badly underspaced.

The title text is written by Randall explaining that as he was writing this comic about kerning, he was very self-conscious of his own handwriting. The act of thinking about kerning (and likely, the act of drawing an example of such bad kerning) made him aware of it in his own writing. He probably hates the one who made him aware of this, although it gave him this idea for a comic (that if he is correct, will make a lot of people hate him now). This aspect suggests a parallel with [[972: November]], which also suggests the idea of annoying a person by calling their attention to something which usually does not merit it.

== Transcript ==
:[There is a poorly-kerned sign on the side of a building. Two Cueball-like guys are standing in front of it. The first guy has his hands in fits up in front of him and a black cloud over his head.]
:C I T Y O F F I C E S
:First guy: ''Argh!''
:Second guy: What?
:[Caption below the frame:]
:If you really hate someone, teach
:them to recognize bad kerning.

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