explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

958: Hotels

2020-07-11T02:40:30Z

162.158.78.10: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 958
| date = September 30, 2011
| title = Hotels
| image = hotels.png
| titletext = 'Rating: 1/5. Room filled to brim with semen, and when front desk clerk opened mouth to talk, bedbugs poured out.'
}}

==Explanation==

In this comic, [[Black Hat]] is giving all the hotels he has stayed at, likes, and wants to stay in again bad reviews, in order to lower demand for said hotel. He is simultaneously putting good reviews on bad hotels to steer other people there so there are more vacancies at good hotels. He also claims he is not influential enough to put the good hotels out of business. But even if he didn't put the hotels out of business, the market would certainly still be affected, and all so he could enjoy a lower price, once again proving he's a classhole.

The {{w|Tragedy of the commons|tragedy of the commons}} "is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals, acting independently and rationally consulting their own self-interest, will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone's long-term interest for this to happen." This situation is not a complete example of this concept as Black Hat is the only one doing it. He understands, however, that if others do it, it would apply. (Another example is what would happen using a certain strategy in the game [[Oregon|Oregon Trail]]). The logic is also similar to a conversation about fighting in the war in {{w|Catch-22}}. Yossarion believed that he shouldn’t fight because America will win anyways, so there is no point in him dying.

In the last frame, Black Hat references the {{w|invisible hand}} which is the term coined by {{w|Adam Smith}} and used by economists use to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. Black Hat appears to be taking advantage of this invisible hand by cutting it with a knife and eating it.

The title text is an example of Black Hat's negative reviews, which in itself is a surrealist joke about the hotel. A somewhat believable (if exaggerated) set of complaints about an awful hotel is that the "Room filled to brim with bedbugs, and when front desk clerk opened mouth to talk, semen poured out". However instead, the objects of focus are reversed, creating a ridiculous scenario for the reader to enjoy, if they are not too disgusted by the imagery of the text.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk with a laptop, looking at a review website]
:Cueball: What's with this negative review? You ''liked'' that hotel.
:Black Hat: I have a script that posts a bad review for every hotel I stay at. It reduces demand, which means more vacancies and lower prices next time.

:Cueball: What if the place sucks?
:Black Hat: I change the review to positive to steer other people over there.

:Cueball: You punish companies you like!
:Black Hat: The odds of ''my'' review putting a hotel out of business are negligible.
:Cueball: If we all did that the system would collapse!
:Black Hat: Doesn't affect my logic. Tragedy of the commons.

:Cueball: That's not even the tragedy of the commons anymore. That's the tragedy of you're a dick.
:Black Hat: If you're quick with a knife, you'll find that the invisible hand is made of delicious invisible meat.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Online reviews]]

Talk:2329: Universal Rating Scale

2020-07-08T13:12:19Z

162.158.78.10: corrected my numbers

There are several things that UNC might stand for, but to me none of them suggests a rating scale. Open to suggestions, of course. [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 00:10, 7 July 2020 (UTC)
: I think the most likely candidate from {{w|UNC|w:UNC}} is the numismatic code for an {{w|uncirculated coin}}. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 00:49, 7 July 2020 (UTC)
: Unified National Coarse is the name of a scale (not a rating on it) for thread sizes (for screws, nuts, bolts, etc.)[[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.187|172.69.68.187]] 02:12, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

I don’t think A/AA/AAA are battery sizes, but rather [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_rating credit rating]. That is also consistent with their positions in the upper half of the scale.--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.235.142|172.69.235.142]] 00:37, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

A+ reminded me of {{w|European Union energy label}} ratings - but it is also in the credit rating list -- [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 01:31, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

Does anyone know what "S" is a rating for? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.206|172.69.34.206]] 01:35, 7 July 2020 (UTC)
: Satisfactory, top marks on USA elementary school report cards (or at least it was in the 1980s) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.124|162.158.63.124]] 02:40, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

I think the faces are supposed to correspond to a face-based pain scale, which is supported by the fact that they occur at similar places to the pain scale and that the frowny face looks more like the frowny face from one of these charts than any traditional sad face emoji. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.250.44|172.69.250.44]] 02:45, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

This listed F as standing for Fine under the coin grading scale. However, the coin grading scale runs from 0-70, and ordered Poor (P, or About Good, AG, depending on personal preference), Good (G), Very Good (VG), Fine (F), Very Fine (VF), Etremely Fine (XF), About Uncirculated (AU), and Uncirculated (UNC or MS, for Mint State, depending on personal preference). Because Fine is better than Good and Very Good on the coin grading scale, but F is worse than G and VG on Randall's Universal Rating Scale, F probably refers to the letter grade for schoolwork, rather than the coin grade of Fine, so I removed F from the coin grade section. The G might also stand for a movie rating, but whether it is a movie rating or a coin grade, it's position would remain the same, so it's a moot point which it is. [[User:NErDysprosium|NErDysprosium]] ([[User talk:NErDysprosium|talk]]) 05:48, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

I know some video games and fantasy stories contain things that have a letter rating, typically starting a few letters into the alphabet and increasing as it gets closer to A, often with an S above that, but sometimes another rating above S labeled "EX" for "extra". These scales sometimes have additional ratings with a + or - attached, or increasing by repeating the letter 2 or 3 times in a row before going up to the next letter. Thus the same system might have both "AAA" and "S", but normally unlike this chart the S would be higher. In some cases it might end up topping out with something like "SSS+". This sort of thing is particularly common in stories originating in Japan which involve some sort of other world that contain some sort of features similar to a video game with some sort of "Adventurer's Guild" which would often have such a system. In particular there are quite a lot of Japanese novels that are like this, many of which containing strange or unique twists on otherwise common formulaic settings. Some of these both have official English translations or were later adapted into manga or anime, or oddly enough in quite a few cases were a self published thing posted online as a hobbyist before later being picked up by a publisher and being somewhat changed and re-written as a proper book. Many also have people making and posting online fan translations of them.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.35|162.158.74.35]] 06:40, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

9 was possibly omitted, because 7 8 9 (seven ate nine) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.11|162.158.111.11]] 08:11, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

: I'd say you are making up your own jokes - however - :-) Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.71|162.158.154.71]] 14:06, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

: neglected again https://xkcd.com/1103/ [[User:Norgaladir|Norgaladir]] ([[User talk:Norgaladir|talk]]) 16:15, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

: I would point to ''[[Thing Explainer]]'' instead. The number after eight is not one of the ten hundred words people use the most. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.80|172.68.174.80]] 22:32, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

Some comics seems like Randall makes them purely for this website, or in general to make people guess what each of the things mean. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:27, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

When I saw "Category 5" I thought he meant {{w|Category_5_cable}}... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.105|162.158.158.105]] 15:46, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

The explanation had A+ listed as a credit rating, but it's in the wrong spot to be the A+ credit rating, and likely refers to the A+ grade instead. Should I remove it from the credit rating section? Credit scores aren't exactly my area of expertise, unlike coins. [[User:NErDysprosium|NErDysprosium]] ([[User talk:NErDysprosium|talk]]) 16:23, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

Can someone please explain what the "curve" in the title text is? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.211|141.101.69.211]] 17:17, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

: That's how in some school courses they "grade on a curve" where if no one can get a perfect score on a test, they change the score so the highest existing score is changed to 100, and all the other people who took the test also have the same amount added to their score (or at least that's the way I'm most familiar with, it might be possible to do so with a somewhat different method). Thus they can have an unreasonably difficult test without causing abnormally low scores that will cause tons of students to get failing grades.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.134|162.158.75.134]] 17:25, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

:The "curve" technically refers to a bell curve; that is adjusting the letter grades by organizing the students into bins based on that distribution (the ~68% of students nearest the average grade get a C, then the 14% just above that get a B and the top 2% get an A, and the same pattern going down for D and F). However most instructors who say they "grade on a curve" don't do that since grades rarely fit that curve, and this often unfairly punishes students who performed well but weren't the top score. EG if the scores are all between 90% and 100% correct then the student(s) who got 90% correct will receive an F. Most of my experience with "grading on a curve" has been that the instructor sets the highest score achieved to represent 100%, but I have also had professors who adjust the grading bands so most students get a B or better. The latter method avoids forcing a failing mark on students who just happened to get the lowest score, but unlike adjusting the 100% level down it provides no benefit to someone who did significantly worse than their peers.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.10|162.158.78.10]] 13:12, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

I rate this comic perfect 5/7. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.159|141.101.69.159]] 19:08, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

I thought that the F was a reference to "pay respects", indicating embarrassing failure

Talk:2327: Oily House Index

2020-07-01T22:43:15Z

162.158.78.10: Remove comment

Talk:2327: Oily House Index

2020-07-01T22:42:04Z

162.158.78.10: Added question about the math

I feel like I'm missing something here- isn't Area / Volume == Inverse Length? Is there an undocumented ^-1 step here? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.10|162.158.78.10]] 22:42, 1 July 2020 (UTC)Lucretiel

Talk:2320: Millennium Problems

2020-06-21T01:39:57Z

162.158.78.10: Of solid heads.

Ironically, Randall misspells Perelman as "Perlman" in the comic but spells it correctly in the alt-text.

[[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.147|172.69.63.147]] 02:56, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

:Perhaps he meant Perlman the Perl-programming superhero? ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.123.145|162.158.123.145]] 03:33, 16 June 2020 (UTC)
::Or perhaps [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Perlman Ron Perlman] wrote his own proof on his spare time from acting but never published it? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.234|108.162.229.234]] 13:00, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

:Ironic perhaps, but at whose expense? ;-) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.215.141|172.68.215.141]] 20:44, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

There has been some controversy over the millennium prizes, given that in mathematics important results are often a product of the work of different mathematicians who are not necessarily close associates. Perelman reportedly believed that his work was a corollary to prior work by Richard S. Hamilton.

I think the idea of this comic is an extension to a question, which I've seen before in this discussion, "what if person A shows that 2 millennium problems are equivalent, and then person B proves one of them?" Should person B get both prizes, or should person A get one of them? It is easy to think of situations where it is hard to know who deserves the credit, and I think this comic takes that
to a logical exteme. [[User:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|Probably not Douglas Hofstadter]] ([[User talk:Probably not Douglas Hofstadter|talk]]) 03:59, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman Wikipedia article] for Grigori Perelman states the following: "The Clay Institute subsequently used Perelman's prize money to fund the 'Poincaré Chair', a temporary position for young promising mathematicians at the Paris Institut Henri Poincaré.", so no funding would be available for Randall's eighth prize. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.61|162.158.74.61]] 04:21, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

By process of elimination, the matrix and the equation should represent Yang-Mills and P=NP, but which is which? The 4x4 matrix could represent the 4D unitary transformation from Yang-Mills? The equation seems to say 'Ar + (squiggles)' but I can't think of any complexity problems that might take this form. --[[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 06:35, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

Is "millennium problems" also a pun on "millennial problems", i.e. those issues which seem straightforward to adults but baffle the younger generation (the "millennials")? See for example comic [[2165]]. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.48|188.114.102.48]] 00:48, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

The image is projected by a projector on the ground that Cueball is apparently standing in the way of, but there's no Cueball-shaped shadow on the projected image. {{unsigned ip |108.162.219.192}}

: '''"there's no Cueball-shaped shadow on the projected image."''' - of course not! Cueball is clearly constructed from lines - which (of course) have no width and therefore zero area and as a consequence, cannot obstruct any photons to cause a shadow to form. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.213|172.69.70.213]] 02:13, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

::Ha ha. No I think it is easy to see that Randall/Cueball is actually standing to the side of the projectors beam and he is thus not in front of the projector; it is thus not strange that his shadow is not there! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:32, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

::'''"Cueball is clearly constructed from lines - which (of course) have no width and therefore zero area and as a consequence, cannot obstruct any photons to cause a shadow to form."''' Except, his head has to be solid because it completely obscures the lower right corner of the projection frame. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.10|162.158.78.10]] 01:39, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

It is clearly Randall that makes this presentation based on the caption. Have added this to the explanation and transcript --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:32, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

Regarding [https://mobile.twitter.com/johncarlosbaez/status/1271577502947741696], could a professional number theorist please opine on the proof? And for that matter, is Peano arithmetic inconsistency that bad? If so, is it bad on the scale of 2020? I mean, if there are so many things equivalent to Peano arithmetic, then maybe one of them with a very slight change is consistent? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.17|162.158.107.17]] 09:55, 17 June 2020 (UTC)
:Imagine the meeting! It would be like if aliens were discovered. "Gentlemen, sooner or later it's going to leak that arithmetic is inconsistent. We need plans. Contingency plans! Get to work!" This could make the CDC zombies site look like a test run. We could have the Count muppet with a thirty minute speech capitulating to veganism. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.179|172.68.189.179]] 21:37, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
:In any other year, the inconsistency of arithmetic would cause the collapse of civilization. In 2020, it's keeping it up. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.178|162.158.106.178]] 21:00, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

159: Boombox

2019-02-05T14:29:57Z

162.158.78.10: what gives the impression that she's disgusted? she just seems perplexed

{{comic
| number = 159
| date = September 20, 2006
| title = Boombox
| image = boombox.png
| titletext = And she's gonna feel like a jerk when she realizes it was actually Under Pressure.
}}

==Explanation==
We see [[Cueball]] declare his love for [[Megan]] in an oft-used setting, paying homage to similar events in classic literature, notably the "balcony scene" from {{w|William Shakespeare|William Shakespeare's}} play {{w|Romeo and Juliet}}, and a similar situation in {{w|Cyrano_de_Bergerac_(play)|Cyrano de Bergerac}}. In the former, Romeo, attempting to woo Juliet, stands beneath her balcony to profess his love for her. In the latter, an inarticulate cadet, Christian, professes his love for Roxane by arranging to use the words of a fellow soldier, Cyrano, who secretly also loves Roxane.

The 1989 movie "{{w|Say Anything...}}" contains a modern interpretation of this declaration of love, where {{w|John Cusack}} plays {{w|Peter Gabriel|Peter Gabriel's}} "{{w|In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel song)#Say Anything...|In Your Eyes}}" on a boombox outside the house of the girl he likes.

Cueball is holding up a {{w|boombox}} (a self-contained semiportable stereo system, typically with cassette tape or CD player, and complete with integrated large speakers; extreme specimens could weigh up to 12  kilograms (25lb)) that is playing music while Cueball declares his love for Megan. She first is startled, embarrassed, then eventually confused by the 1990 hit single {{w|Ice Ice Baby}} ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ou-ZepE&ob=av2e Video]) by {{w|Vanilla Ice}} playing on the boombox. Cueball then admits he is "not good at this," attempting to recreate the classic romantic scene, but utterly failing to play music suitable for such an event.

The "Under Pressure" reference in the title text refers to the fact that the music used in "Ice Ice Baby" is a sample of the bassline of "{{w|Under Pressure}}" by {{w|Queen (band)|Queen}} and {{w|David Bowie}}. It also may be that Cueball is having trouble holding the boombox, hence Cueball being 'under pressure.'

These two songs are again referenced together in [[1561: Water Phase Diagram]].

This was the first time that the [[Megan#Name|name Megan]] was used in xkcd. Next comic to use it was the much more depressing [[215: Letting Go]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan is looking out a second story window at Cueball holding a boombox over his head. Musical Notes are coming out of it.]
:Cueball: Megan!
:Megan: Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening.
:Cueball: I love you!
:Megan: Okay, that's great. Wait a second. Is... is that... Ice Ice Baby? What the hell?
:Cueball: I'm not very good at this.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Romance]]

1026: Compare and Contrast

2019-01-11T02:20:50Z

162.158.78.10: Adds meaning for "sticky" when used to describe a person.

{{comic
| number = 1026
| date = March 7, 2012
| title = Compare and Contrast
| image = compare_and_contrast.png
| titletext = Frankly, I see no difference between thee and a summer's day. Only Ron Paul offers a TRUE alternative!
}}

==Explanation==

A reference to the most well-known {{w|sonnet}} in the English-speaking world: {{w|William Shakespeare|William Shakespeare's}} "{{w|Sonnet 18}}", the first line of which is: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?". In this comic [[Randall]] sets about this in a typically goal-oriented chart, as opposed to the rather more romantic poetry of the Bard.

"Thee" is a form of the archaic second-person singular pronoun "thou". In Shakespeare's day, English had more second-person pronouns in common use, thou/thee (informal/singular), and you (formal/plural). This is similar to second-person pronouns in many modern European languages, such as French. {{w|English personal pronouns#Full list of personal pronouns|Wikipedia}} has a nice chart for all of English's personal pronouns, current and archaic.

For both the chart and the original sonnet, whether or not the work is autobiographical is unknown. Also unknown is the identity of the person whom each work refers to. It is believed that Sonnet 18 is addressed to a {{w|Shakespeare's Sonnets#Fair Youth|young man}}.

The lines are:

1. The first line is a reference to the sonnet itself, which reads: "Thou art more lovely and more temperate". He considers both thee and a summer's day to be "fair" (this is a pun; depending on context, "fair" can refer to complexion or weather) and "temperate" (meaning "warm", which again can describe a person or the weather).

2. "Hot, sticky" also refers to both, in different ways. "Hot" can mean sexually attractive or simply that the temperature is high. "Sticky" refers to either a humid day (for summer day) or to have ejaculated after sex (for "thee").

3. "Short" is another pun. "Thee" (the subject of the comparison with the summer's day) is not tall. A summer day is chronologically long (time from dawn to dusk.)

4. "Harbinger of hurricane season" is technically accurate; hurricane season does follow the summer.

5. "Required for a good beach party" is not a pun, although it is another example of a word with slightly different meanings. The party is required to be held on a summer's day and with "thee" present at the party. The party would not be held on "thee", although some of the other lines suggest that the writer might personally be on top of "thee" during the party.

6. Heat stroke is a condition mainly affecting children and the elderly. Heat waves and excessively hot days are highly linked with heat stroke incidence; see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_stroke#cite_ref-23 Epidemiology]

7. "Linked to higher rates of juvenile delinquency" refers to juveniles committing crimes. Apparently, "thee" is either a juvenile delinquent or inspires juvenile delinquency (or both). Summer is also linked to juvenile delinquency. This results, to some degree, from school not being in session, rather than simply as a direct result of the summer weather.

8. "Sometimes too stifling" is another pun. It is also unusual in that it expresses a negative feeling about "thee", unlike the other entries which express what the author likes or admires about thee.

9. "Arrested for releasing snakes in the library" is a fairly self-explanatory criterion. Apparently "thee" has been caught doing this. A summer's day, on the other hand, cannot be arrested at all, much less for this. This is possibly inspired by the movie ''{{w|Snakes on a Plane}}''.

10. The last line "difficult to focus on work while I'm in" is a sexual reference, on the "thee" side, not on the "summer's day" side. To be "in" someone refers to the penetrative part of sex, which would occupy a typical person's attention.{{Citation needed}} Summer can be distracting from work due to heat, excitement, or just the general feeling of the season.

The title text is a reference to {{w|Ron Paul}}, a 2012 {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican}} candidate for {{w|President of the United States|President}} who was on top in the {{w|Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012|Republican Primary}} against a few other challengers for the nomination. Ron Paul was frequently represented on the internet using similar language to the title text (with Paul offering an alternative to typical Republican and Democratic candidates. Paul was seen by many as an alternative because of his {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian}} views.

==Transcript==
:[A checklist comparing thee to a summer's day:
:Fair, Temperate: Thee & A Summer's Day
:Hot, Sticky: Thee & A Summer's Day
:Short: Thee
:Harbinger of Hurricane Season: A Summer's Day
:Required for a Good Beach Party: Thee & A Summer's Day
:Major Cause of Heat Stroke in the Elderly: A Summer's Day
:Linked to Higher Rates of Juvenile Delinquency: Thee & A Summer's Day
:Sometimes Too Stifling: Thee & A Summer's Day
:Arrested for Releasing Snakes in Library: Thee
:Difficult to Focus on Work While I'm In: Thee & A Summer's Day]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Romance]]

Talk:2071: Indirect Detection

2018-11-13T12:20:00Z

162.158.78.10:

Genius reference in the title text to 'throwing shade', linking modern slang with something 2,400 years earlier! --[[User:OliReading|OliReading]] ([[User talk:OliReading|talk]]) 13:33, 12 November 2018 (UTC)
:Should I be concerned that I got the Plato reference from >2K years ago, but had to look up what "throwing shade" is? I feel so old now.[[User:Daemonik|Daemonik]] ([[User talk:Daemonik|talk]]) 15:26, 12 November 2018 (UTC)
::You're not the only one, if that makes you feel better![[Special:Contributions/162.158.94.32|162.158.94.32]] 16:51, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

Sorry, first time entry editor, turned out I really couldn't add that much but I just really wanted to at least put this. I mean, what an awesome joke! [[User:Lheticus|Lheticus]] ([[User talk:Lheticus|talk]]) 13:50, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

Remember that other comic strip where he was imagining a bad opinion, looked up to see if other people had it, and then preemptively writing online about how horrible an opinion it is? This could be a callback to it, except as viewed from somebody who is friends with the person writing about it. I'd mention this in the explanation part of this strip, except I can't remember which comic that comes from. Does anybody remember? Or even what the title was so I can search the title? [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 17:31, 12 November 2018 (UTC)
:"Bad Opinions" (https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2051:_Bad_Opinions). I did a site search on the word "Opinions" to find it. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 18:49, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

I dunno if it's such a terrible opinion. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable use of the animals -- make them productive (albeit for a limited time) rather than a (lengthy) drain on resources.
<----You must have some awful friends! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.53|172.68.58.53]] 10:19, 13 November 2018 (UTC)

The post in the comic reminds me of some of the "straw man" arguments I've seen over the years - make up a horrific argument for the purposes of shooting it down, in an effort to create support for the opposite argument. It's a deplorable, but regrettably common, social media tactic these days. In the comic, this would imply (falsely) that the poster's other friends support the awful argument. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.10|162.158.78.10]] 12:20, 13 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2041: Frontiers

2018-11-13T00:36:13Z

162.158.78.10:

Most likely though of course not guaranteed reference for the title text is the recent stories out (about 2 days ago) saying that William Shatner regrets directing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Quick example of one story here [https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2456761/william-shatner-regrets-directing-star-trek-v]
--[[User:Wjbodin3|WJBodin3]] ([[User talk:Wjbodin3|talk]]) 21:17, 3 September 2018 (UTC)
:I would find the timing very suspicious at the very least. I think it's highly likely the news inspired this comic, especially in light of Star Trek being outright named - and specifically that instalment. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 13:22, 4 September 2018 (UTC)

It is interesting that all the current frontiers seem somewhat equidistant from the "center" of the squarish figure, as if we have achieved the same level of knowledge/exploration in each category... [[User:Daiemos|Daiemos]] ([[User talk:Daiemos|talk]]) 15:18, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
:Each is on its own (unlabeled) axis, scaled to imply parity among the topics. See [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2023:_Y-Axis] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.89|172.68.58.89]] 16:53, 4 September 2018 (UTC)

;...finished exploring it by now (Title text)
If Randall means space and not the movie alone this would contradict the comic itself where space is still a big challenge. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:24, 4 September 2018 (UTC)

:I was thinking that myself, he could be saying that star trek has been fully explored, which the could be a slight reference to the relatively hot topic about star trek discovery. Some trekkies lamenting the fact that they didn't want another prequel... If on the other hand it is a reference to space itself, randall could have left the contradiction in on purpose, as part of the joke. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.143|172.69.70.143]] 18:02, 4 September 2018 (UTC) Sam

: Actually the title text states that the movie is only a small part of the space frontier and also probably fully explored by now. So the diagram is about Space, not the movie.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.174|162.158.167.174]] 04:39, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
I, embarrassingly, thought it referred to "Looking for Alaska." I am not worthy of XKCDhood
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.10|162.158.78.10]] 00:36, 13 November 2018 (UTC)

Talk:1309: Infinite Scrolling

2018-11-04T03:48:21Z

162.158.78.10: i liked it

neat comic!!

2001: Clickbait-Corrected p-Value

2018-10-05T02:39:54Z

162.158.78.10: study claims chocolate has a 4% correlation with athletic performance

{{comic
| number = 2001
| date = June 1, 2018
| title = Clickbait-Corrected p-Value
| image = clickbait_corrected_p_value.png
| titletext = When comparing hypotheses with Bayesian methods, the similar 'clickbayes factor' can account for some harder-to-quantify priors.
}}

==Explanation==
This is yet another comic dealing with [[:Category:Clickbait|Clickbait]], and is satire mocking researchers/journalists/publishers for fudging research data based on what brings in the most advertising revenue. The topic of fudging research data in academia has also previously appeared in [[882: Significant]] and [[1478: P-Values]].

Clickbait is the practice of using deceptive or manipulative headlines to entice readers to click on a dubious news story, often with the purpose of generating ad revenue.

{{w|Statistical hypothesis testing|Hypothesis testing}} in statistics is a standard method to determine whether a particular hypothesis is supported by the data. For the topic given in this comic, a researcher might compare data on athletic performance with data on chocolate consumption by those athletes to determine whether the two trend together. By convention, the "null hypothesis" (designated H0) is that there's no correlation (that chocolate isn't correlated with athletic performance, in this case) and the "alternate hypothesis" (H1) is that they are correlated. (If the study consists of ''feeding'' chocolate to one of two identical groups and not the other, rather than tracking what they'd be eating anyway, then the alternative hypothesis can be strengthened to be that chocolate *causes* improved performance.) These sets are subjected to statistical tests which return a "test statistic". From that test statistic a {{w|P-value|"p-value"}} is calculated. The p-value indicates the probability of observing the obtained results (or any more extreme value), when all assumptions of the test are true (including the null hypothesis). [https://sci-hub.se/10.23736/S0022-4707.16.06032-1 A study from Mexico published in 2017] found that after eating chocolate, subjects demonstrated a 4% increase in a test of physical fitness (ptraditional=0.01).

In layman's terms: The p-value is the probability that the researcher sees results as extreme or more extreme than the observed result given the null hypothesis is true; [http://www.perfendo.org/docs/BayesProbability/twelvePvaluemisconceptions.pdf the p-value is NOT the probability that the null hypothesis is correct]. It answers the question: If there is no correlation, how likely was it that I saw a correlation at least this big? Hence, if the p-value is low enough (by convention < 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected, and we conclude that the alternate hypothesis is supported by the data (NOT that it is "correct" or "true").

In this comic, the p-value is corrected by a factor that takes clickbait into account. This factor has the effect of increasing the p-value if H1 is more clickbaity than H0, and decreases the p-value if H0 is more clickbaity than H1. This suggests that whatever clickers of clickbait believe, the reverse is likely to be true.

Or, another interpretation could be that this factor corrects for a selection bias effect where the p-values for more clickbaity H1s tend to be lower than they should be and p-values for non-clickbaity H0s to be higher than they should be. For example, one explanation could be that for p-values that are on the cusp of significance, researchers may be more incentivized to fudge and adjust the data to get the p-value down if the H1 is highly sensational, since the H1 would make the research more likely to get published and attract attention. (See also [https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/science-isnt-broken/ FiveThirtyEight's article on p-hacking] and [https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/200745/how-much-do-we-know-about-p-hacking-in-the-wild/200752#200752 this Stack Exchange question about p-hacking in the wild].)

As the statistical results now depend on people's beliefs about the hypothesis, this would be as far from actual science as one can get. However, in a way, it is more in tune with a quote by Arbuthnot (one of the originators of the use of p-values) attributing variation to active thought rather than chance, "From whence it follows, that it is Art, not Chance, that governs." Randall applying that quote to the thoughts of the masses, bringing it in line with "Art".

If this correction could be somehow enforced on the scientific world, it would have the effect of keeping the popular view of scientific results more in line with reality. Often one study will be performed that shows an exciting result, and it will reach the media without any further students to verify it. If this is a sensational result, people may become excited before learning that the result was in fact false. The clickbait correction aids science by requiring results that would be sensational if published to undergo much more rigorous demonstration. Additionally, there can be a problem in some areas of science where more boring results never undergo the third-party testing necessary to verify their truth or falseness, or perhaps are even never studied in the first place. The clickbait correction factor has the opposite effect on these more boring topics, making it easier to demonstrate effects within them, perhaps in the hope that more will get studied and published.

[[1475: Technically|Technically]], the comic's depiction of null and alternative hypotheses is not entirely correct. As the alternative hypothesis (H1) predicts that chocolate will ''improve performance'' (i.e., a one-tailed, directional hypothesis), the null hypothesis (H0) should predict that chocolate will do nothing ''or'' make performance worse. In other words, the alternative hypothesis should be true if and only if the null hypothesis is false. For example, alternatively, if the H1 were to say that ''chocolate will change performance'' (for better or worse; i.e., a two-tailed hypothesis) then H0 should say that ''chocolate will do nothing''.

The title text refers to {{w|Bayesian statistics}} in which the probability is related to a degree of belief in an event and the {{w|Prior probability|prior probability}}, or simply just prior, expresses this belief before an event has happened. An election forecast is a simple example to this. And here it's suggested using the "clickbait factor" ''click(H1)/click(H0)'' as an absurd "clickbayes factor" to determine the prior for a prediction.

==Transcript==
:[Under a heading that says Clickbait-Corrected p-Value there is a mathematic formula. Below that is the description of the two used variables and what they mean:]
:Clickbait-corrected p-value:

:PCL = Ptraditional ∙ click(H1)/click(H0)

:H0: NULL hypothesis ("Chocolate has no effect on athletic performance")
:H1: Alternative hypothesis ("Chocolate boosts athletic performance")
:click(H): Fraction of test subjects who click on a headline announcing that H is true

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Clickbait]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

Talk:941: Depth Perception

2018-10-01T01:02:51Z

162.158.78.10: Adding my two cents on binocular vision as a biology student.

Somebody needs to try this. Couldn't be that hard.
[[Special:Contributions/71.178.11.180|71.178.11.180]] 21:27, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

Those must have been some tall goalposts if his point of view is above the clouds! -- mwburden [[Special:Contributions/70.91.188.49|70.91.188.49]] 13:16, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Also, the cameras should be mounted on servos so that when the phone is moved or tilted the cameras can follow, so your viewpoint isn't fixed in one direction. -- mwburden [[Special:Contributions/70.91.188.49|70.91.188.49]] 13:18, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

:That wouldn't work. The entire football field would have to swivel, or else he'd get some wicked image shearing... [[Special:Contributions/108.28.72.186|108.28.72.186]] 01:42, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

::actually, it might be possible to correct for that, using bipolar geometry. Essentially, you can derive a 3d model from 2 images from different view points. [http://danielwedge.com/fmatrix/ Here] is a (very geeky) demontration of what can be done. Watch the end, where they construct a fly-around video from two images of the opera house in sidney. -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.22|141.101.104.22]] 21:10, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

::: Interesting link, thanks, but I don't think the video was generated from only 2 images, there isn't enough information. If you select "Download the Opera House sequence" you can download the original 43 photographs used. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.9|141.101.99.9]] 14:05, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

:::: You're right. But of course you wouldn't need a 90-degree flyby for this. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.43|141.101.104.43]] 16:56, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

An updated solution would be to put the two stabilised cameras on quadracopters which are coded to remain a set distance apart. When you want to look left/right it would take a while for the pair of drones to rotate around their centre point but not too long..... Then you could also get a perspective from the height of a giant (drones can go to any height) and with their degree of parallax (from whatever value of height and eye spacing you choose). {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.225}}
:This is a very cool project indeed! Some hardcore image stabilizing software would be required too, since you would get nauseous if the two images weren't perfectly aligned at all times. But this setup is the only one I could think of that would enable you to perceive the view from the last frame. [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 08:44, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Look at this in stereo mode: http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Solar and cross your eyes so you see three images, then hold your hands up so you only see the one, then...
I forget...

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 12:44, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

I used to do that all the time at one time ... until I got a l...ot of things different to do..

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 12:44, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Stereo aerial pairs of clouds do exist see the Google search: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=stereoscopic+aerial+photos+clouds [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.206|141.101.98.206]] 07:33, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Or you could ride in an airplane. Or stand on a mountain. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.174|173.245.50.174]] 19:58, 5 September 2015 (UTC)

:That would defeat the point entirely. The distance between the two viewpoints is what provides the increased perspective, not the height of the observer. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.84|141.101.80.84]] 21:55, 16 November 2015 (UTC)
: using a plane isn't a substitute for this, but there's no reason adding the element of flight has to defeat it ''entirely'': you could put one cam on each wing tip & get maybe the coolest effect of all..

Likely the reason the right image is shown on the left and vise versa is that there are two ways to fuse stereo images. Either Walleyed, right-to-rght, or Crosseyed, right-to-left. Doing it the wrong way may result in concave faces and other aberrations. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.125|162.158.255.125]] 15:20, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Clouds are fractal, small ones up close look the same as big ones far away. So I don't think this would look as spectacular as imagined. {{unsigned ip|162.158.39.209}}

The thing is that our brains only associate the binocular/3D effect with items that are relatively close, and tend to judge sizes accordingly. If something appears 3D to us, we judge it to be a certain distance away (a key function of binocular vision) and from that we also get a rough estimate of its size. That's why if you see something like a star destroyer in 3D in the movie theater, it looks like something the size of a bus hanging up in the general vicinity of the screen. It doesn't look like something miles long, because big things look flat when they look that size. I believe this way of looking at clouds would give a similar effect. The clouds might look 3D, but they'd also just seem closer and smaller, rather than giving you a real sense of their size.

Talk:2051: Bad Opinions

2018-09-26T15:02:28Z

162.158.78.10: comment

just did my first transcript, hope its good :) --Nintendo_Mc_ [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.226|172.69.62.226]] 15:01, 26 September 2018 (UTC)

Talk:2051: Bad Opinions

2018-09-26T15:01:20Z

162.158.78.10: comment

just did my first transcript, hope its good :) ----

2051: Bad Opinions

2018-09-26T15:00:26Z

162.158.78.10: Fixed Transcript

{{comic
| number = 2051
| date = September 26, 2018
| title = Bad Opinions
| image = bad_opinions.png
| titletext = I thought of another bad opinion! I couldn't find anyone who expressed it specifically, but still, the fact that I can so easily imagine it is infuriating! I'm gonna tell everyone about it!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]], as a form of catharsis, narcissism, and addiction, is imagining bad opinions, searching them up on the Internet, and excoriating the opinion givers. In an immediate new low, he imagines another hitherto unexpressed opinion, and promptly makes it a problem and false self-esteem booster for the Internet to bask in.

The use of the [[181: Interblag|Interblag]] by smart and idiotic alike to [[1974: Conversational Dynamics|violently express their opinions]] has been a regular theme in xkcd.

In title text he goes to a new level, where he can't find an opinion he imagined on the internet, but still wants to discredit it, just because he is so infuriated by just being able to imagine it.

This is a rather obvious callback to one of the most popular XKCD comics, [[Duty Calls]], wherein Cueball is actively seeking to discredit and correct people who are "wrong" on the internet.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball sits at a computer,

offscreen: "What are you doing?"

Cueball:"I just thought of a bad opinion someone could have, and now i'm searching to see if anyone does so I can be mad at them."

offscreen: "Sounds like you have a healthy relationship with the internet."

Cueball: "Hey, at least im not ''this'' guy i found"
{{comic discussion}}

2051: Bad Opinions

2018-09-26T14:59:35Z

162.158.78.10: Finished Transcript

{{comic
| number = 2051
| date = September 26, 2018
| title = Bad Opinions
| image = bad_opinions.png
| titletext = I thought of another bad opinion! I couldn't find anyone who expressed it specifically, but still, the fact that I can so easily imagine it is infuriating! I'm gonna tell everyone about it!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]], as a form of catharsis, narcissism, and addiction, is imagining bad opinions, searching them up on the Internet, and excoriating the opinion givers. In an immediate new low, he imagines another hitherto unexpressed opinion, and promptly makes it a problem and false self-esteem booster for the Internet to bask in.

The use of the [[181: Interblag|Interblag]] by smart and idiotic alike to [[1974: Conversational Dynamics|violently express their opinions]] has been a regular theme in xkcd.

In title text he goes to a new level, where he can't find an opinion he imagined on the internet, but still wants to discredit it, just because he is so infuriated by just being able to imagine it.

This is a rather obvious callback to one of the most popular XKCD comics, [[Duty Calls]], wherein Cueball is actively seeking to discredit and correct people who are "wrong" on the internet.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball sits at a computer,

offscreen: "What are you doing?"
Cueball:"I just thought of a bad opinion someone could have, and now i'm searching to see if anyone does so I can be mad at them."
offscreen: "Sounds like you have a healthy relationship with the internet.
Cueball: "Hey, at least im not''this'' guy i found"
{{comic discussion}}

2049: Unfulfilling Toys

2018-09-23T04:21:29Z

162.158.78.10: /* No-strings-attached Yo-yo */

{{comic
| number = 2049
| date = September 21, 2018
| title = Unfulfilling Toys
| image = unfulfilling_toys.png
| titletext = We were going to do a falling-apart Rubik's cube that was just 27 independent blocks stuck together with magnets, but then we realized it was actually really cool and even kind of worked, so we cut that one.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic lists and illustrates a number of classic toys that are missing a key piece or attribute that makes them work and/or that makes them unique.

====Rigid Slap Bracelet====
{{w|Slap bracelet}}s are flexible curved strips of spring steel that roll up and become a bracelet when you slap them against your wrist. This function operates on the same principle and basic design as the rolled band of metal inside a tape-measure. A rigid one would not twist and would be deeply frustrating and potentially painful.

====Sealed Stomp Rocket====
A {{w|stomp rocket}} has a rubber pouch full of air, connected via a hose to a vertical cylinder contained snugly within the base of an air propelled rocket. By stomping on the pouch, the air is forced out the top end of the cylinder, launching the rocket into the air. By sealing the air channel, the rocket would stay on the cylinder and the person would just be bounced into the air by the pouch -- acting like the world's smallest bouncy house -- or the pouch will burst rendering the toy even more useless.

====Pump-only Supersoaker====
A {{w|Super Soaker}}™ is a brand of water gun that works by first pumping air into the gun, thereby introducing pressurized air above the water, then releasing the water using the gun's trigger -- the extra pressure from the pumped air makes the water go much further than a traditional water gun which relies upon the pressure generated from a single pump of the trigger itself. In [[Randall]]'s version, the water cannot be released, so the fun part of the water gun -- getting to spray your friends -- isn't available.

====Glass Glow Stick====

In a classic {{w|glow stick}}, made of flexible plastic, one must first bend it enough to break the glass cylinder inside. This allows the chemicals inside to mix and begin glowing within the plastic tube. If the entire tube were made of actual glass, however, it would not only shatter into many sharp glass pieces, but would also cover the hands of the unfortunate user with a mixture of mild but not harmless chemicals.

====Wingless Sky Dancer====

In the {{w|Sky Dancers|original toy}}, a doll or figure with folded-up wings sits on top of a hand-held device with a wrapped string or other mechanism that lets it spin the doll very fast. As the doll spins, centrifugal force causes the wings to unfold and provide lift, and the doll rises up in the air and flies, spinning, sometimes going quite high. Without the wings, the doll will spin but otherwise remain flightless.

====No-strings-attached Yo-yo====
In a traditional {{w|yo-yo}}, one attaches a string to their finger and the other end of the string is looped around the shaft of the yo-yo, in such a way that it will hold the yo-yo but the yo-yo can still spin. In this case, the string is included but not attached to the yo-yo, so when the yo-yo reaches the end of its string it will fall off, instead of coming back to the person or spinning at the end of the string.

Nonetheless {{w|Yo-yo#Off-string|off-string}} yo-yoing technique exists that has been a division of the {{w|World Yo-Yo Contest}} since 2003. The division specifies that the string is tied to one finger but not the yo-yo. It was popularized by yo-yo player Jon Gates. It differs from the manipulation of a {{w|Diabolo}} because the string is tied to one finger instead of being tied to two sticks. The return is accomplished with a twist of the string called a bind. Diabolos don't return. A good example is here at this video: [https://youtube.com/watch?v=tVpuh5aMhTQ Youtube: Crazy Stringless Yoyo Tricks!].

====Title-text: Falling-Apart Rubik's cube====
In order to build the magnetic {{w|Rubik's Cube}}, which ironically was called ''Magic Cube'' at the first place, you would need to embed magnets in the inward-facing sides of each cube. This actually can be achieved by using a checkered pattern for the polarity of each piece, a single piece uses the same polarity at all its connecting sides while the immediate neighbor is configured in the opposite. This [https://youtube.com/watch?v=Xb8ENlS-5Go video] shows the principle and even a working 5x5x5 magnetic cube.

Because such a cube doesn't fall apart Randall had to remove it from his "deeply unfulfilling versions of classic toys."

It might also refer to various square shaped neodymium magnet based toys, like [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j0KRK2MZic this one], which although can be taken easily apart, it is a successful and very fulfilling product on its own.

==Transcript==
:[The comic presents toys in six different frames.]

:[Cueball slaps his wrist with a strap-like item in his hand.]
:''Smack''
:Rigid slap bracelet

:[Cueball jumps on top of a pouch full of air connected via a hose to an air propelled rocket. The pouch does not budge and the rocket remains connected to its base.]
:Seal stomp rocket

:[Ponytail holds a water gun and makes use of its hand-operated pump system.]
:''Pump pump pump''
:''Pump''
:''Click''
:Pump-only SuperSoaker

:[Megan pulls an item apart between her hands. The middle section breaks into many pieces on the ground and liquid is falling from the end parts.]
:''Pop''
:Glass glow stick

:[Cueball holds a figurine sitting on top of a hand-held device and pulls a string connected to it.]
:''Spin''
:Wingless sky dancer

:[Megan holds a yo-yo until the yo-yo falls from the string and starts rolling on the ground.]
:''Roll''
:No-strings-attached yo-yo

:[Caption below the frames:]
:My least successful product line was probably "deeply unfulfilling versions of classic toys."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

259: Clichéd Exchanges

2018-09-18T14:27:45Z

162.158.78.10: The 10th

{{comic
| number = 259
| date = May 9, 2007
| title = Clichéd Exchanges
| image = cliched exchanges.png
| titletext = It's like they say, you gotta fight fire with clichés.
}}

==Explanation==
The 10th entry into the [[My Hobby]] series.

"{{w|O RLY?}}" is an Internet meme typically used to express sarcastic agreement with or feigned surprise at a statement. The typical response to "O RLY" is usually "YA RLY," "NO WAI," or "SRSLY?" These exchanges are SMS abbreviations for "Oh really?", "Yeah really," "No way!", and "Seriously?" respectively.

However, [[Cueball]]'s response avoids this typical exchange, instead replying with another cliché, derived from a classic double entendre.

In this cliché, the speaker responds to a statement containing a word ending with '-er' and turns it into a sexual reference. The setup is as follows:

: '''Alan:''' ''"Do you want to come over to my house? My wife and I are playing poker."''
: '''Bob:''' ''"Poker? I hardly KNOW her!"''

Such a double entendre makes no sense in the context of an O RLY exchange. In the case of the comic, the non-sequitur will likely baffle the person on the left (Whiteface) and derail the conversation, to the amusement of the person on the right, Cueball/Randall. The reason [[Randall]] makes this a hobby is, presumably, that it bores him when people fall back on clichés for comedy, and he seeks inventive ways to humor himself in these situations. ''See, for example'', https://xkcd.com/16/.

The title text takes the real cliché "fight fire with fire" and combines it with the more literal "fight clichés with clichés." The resulting statement follows a very similar principle to the situation in the comic proper. Also, for some reason or another, the title of the page contains no 'é' character (Clichd Exchanges), and the title text contains <code>&amp;eacute;</code> instead of <code>&eacute;</code>, which does not evaluate to é.

==Transcript==
:My Hobby:
:Derailing clichéd exchanges by using the wrong replies

:Friend: O RLY?
:Cueball: O RLY? I 'ardly know 'er!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

236: Collecting Double-Takes

2018-09-18T14:26:49Z

162.158.78.10: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number =236
| date =March 16, 2007
| title =Collecting Double Takes
| image =collecting_double_takes.png
| titletext =Fun Game: find a combination of two items that most freaks out the cashier. Winner: pregnancy test and single coat hanger.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the 9th of Randall's [[My Hobby|Hobbies]]

There's a fairly well-founded meme that singles looking for other singles (''mostly'' that being men for women, and vice-versa, but not exclusively) can make connections with others in the fresh produce sections of a supermarket. From a single lady's point of view, men who are buying such goods are more likely to be unattached, due to the traditionally skewed gender politics of who shops for what in a couple, and at the same time, the man is exhibiting good habits in not merely stocking up on ready-meals or subsisting on takeaways while living the bachelor life.

By standing in a produce aisle with a tube of {{w|K-Y Jelly}} (which is most commonly used as a sexual lubricant) in his hand and considering what produce to buy (between bananas, apples, oranges, zucchinis, and doubtless many more off-screen), [[Cueball]] is allowing other people to believe that he either has plans to have sex with any connection he might manage to take home with him, or also he plans to use the chosen produce item to pleasure himself via anal sex.

Cueball is probably not actually planning on doing either, but he loves to see the look on people's faces; hence, he's collecting double-takes.

In the title text, he says he likes to play a game of "freak out the cashier using two items." Wire coat hangers have been used to perform {{w|Unsafe abortion | do-it-yourself abortions}}, many times with disastrous effects, such as internal hemorrhaging and the death of the woman.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in the middle of the produce aisle in a supermarket, holding a tube of K-Y Jelly in one hand, the other on his chin. The signs read "Bananas" "Apples" "Oranges" and "Zucchini" from left to right.]
:MY HOBBY: Standing in the supermarket's produce section holding a tube of K-Y Jelly, looking contemplative.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Sex]]

2015: New Phone Thread

2018-07-04T04:26:30Z

162.158.78.10: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2015
| date = July 4, 2018
| title = New Phone Thread
| image = new_phone_thread.png
| titletext = I'm going to tell the manufacturer that their business practices are ADMIRABLE and ETHICAL and their developers are ATTRACTIVE and I'm going to report them to the FCC for their IMPECCABLE VIRTUE.
}}

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

This comic shows the posts on an online forum by a person whose new phone is editing everything they post to seem positive and advertise their new phone.

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

{{comic discussion}}

(with italics to show which parts of the post were most likely edited by the phone)

Whoa, weird

I'm looking at my timeline on my friends phone, and some of my posts look ''normal''

What the hell?

I mean the words are ''correct''

That's ''exactly'' what I typed!

?????????

I think this new phone is ''working really well''

No, it's doing it again

Those ''are'' my words!

Help!

How do I explain?

It's taking the words I type and ''leaving them exactly the same''

Forget it, I give up

I'll ''never'' get a new phone. This one is ''perfect''.

What?!?

Listen, if you're thinking about buying the new Mobile Pro 3, you ''should. It's the best phone on the market at an incredible price. ORDER NOW''

AAAAA HELPPP

I ''love'' my new phone!!!!

Talk:1067: Pressures

2018-01-25T11:36:44Z

162.158.78.10: Doc Brown was a patent clerk, I think.

I think the alt-text is a play on words, where you have someone wearing "patent" shoes working on the movie "clerks II". So "patent" "clerk" if you will. Which is why everyone is surprised because they were looking for "patent clerks" with brilliant ideas, not someone wearing "patent" shoes working on a movie called "clerks..." It also seems to be sort of a jab at the absurdity of assuming there is something special about a "patent clerk". Like is it the job that is important? Just the name?

[[Special:Contributions/128.95.214.3|128.95.214.3]] 23:51, 20 September 2012 (UTC)Someone who should be working. (TJ)

"Much of" Einstein's patent work revolved around those arcane topics? Sounds like revisionist bullsh*t to me. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]]

I had just started work on the idea that small adjacent (geographically and chronologically) earthquakes not only signal the demise of tropical storms (as I had posited a long time ago) but that (as more recently noted) medium sized earthquakes signal their advent when I was attracted to the ancient ideas leading to the discovery of steel which was concurrent to my watching videos on Thorium Reactors which indirectly led me to the idea that fusion can take place (I had assumed fusion most unlikely) only under the auspices of the three phases in a Deep Hot Biosphere (only of course there is no need for the bio) when I was diverted by the idea of reworking The Tempest. Maybe I should get a job? [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 19:48, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Doc Brown was a patent clerk in Back To The Future: The Game (Telltale Games) when he was young. Not sure though. -Cye from #team cyeborg on yt

1715: Household Tips

2017-03-23T20:16:57Z

162.158.78.10: /* Title text */

{{comic
| number = 1715
| date = August 3, 2016
| title = Household Tips
| image = household_tips.png
| titletext = To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a continuation of [[1567: Kitchen Tips]], which had four kitchen tips and then a household tip in the title text.

The comic shows [[Cueball]] explaining many things one should already know (and are likely already doing without needing to be told), but telling them like most people usually never do it to comedic effect. Below is a list of the five household tips given:

===In the bathroom===
'''To conserve water, try turning off your shower before leaving home''': Implies that the shower would "normally" be on at all times, which would be very wasteful. The [[what if?]] article "{{what if|91|Faucet Power}}" illustrates similar wasteful and destructive water use. This may be a reference to the common recommendation that people should unplug appliances when they are not in use, as opposed to simply turning them off, as some devices have a "standby" mode that still uses up a small amount of electricity.

===Extinguishing fires===
'''Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your house and the batteries may last for months or years!''': A smoke detector on standby consumes much less power than one constantly ringing, since standing by only requires that a detection circuit (which draws little current) be on and an LED flashes a few times a minute (which also consumes very little power), while a buzzer used to sound the alarm uses much energy by comparison. The sentence implies that some people have their fire alarms beeping at all times due to their ongoing fires, and then stop up to change the batteries when they stop working. It is surreal that Cueball would have fires just around his house and not be remotely worried.

Of course, keeping one's house fire-free at (mostly) all times is usually done because of other benefits than just saving on batteries, such as preventing fire and smoke damage to valuable property, infrastructure, and human bodies, as well as keeping the noise level down.

===Toilet bowls===
'''Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!''': The "upper chamber", the toilet's cistern, delivers plain water to the lower bowl at speed to flush the latter. As such, the pipes that direct the water down are not wide enough for waste to pass. There is typically a lid on the upper cistern because it isn't intended to be used, and many modern toilets have a lid that can't be removed without unscrewing the button first, but access is occasionally needed to fix or replace the flushing mechanisms. The lower bowl, as one should be familiar with, is the one intended to receive solid waste or defecation and is connected to the plumbing by pipes wide enough for this purpose. Going in the upper chamber, commonly called an "upper decker", is a well known prank popularized in the season 5 finale of Louie.

===Near the window===
'''Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!''': This suggests that the people he appeals to typically smash a window (or a wall), or simply always turn their air-conditioner on to get fresh air, hence the clean up and expensive replacement of the window or AC parts, once enough fresh air has been obtained or in order to obtain.

===Title text===
'''To make your shoes feel more comfortable, smell better, and last longer, try taking them off before you shower.''': People typically remove all their clothing, including and/or especially shoes ([[citation needed)]] (except perhaps for some lightweight sandals to protect the feet in public showers), when showering , so while it is certainly true that removing one's shoes before showering will allow them to last longer and stink less (since shoes that have little opportunity to dry produce malodorous molds), this is not in any way a novel idea.

This comic is clearly related to the [[:category:Protip|Protip category]], but the exact word is not mentioned in this comic so it cannot itself be given this category.

It is also possible that this comic is a reference to this very wiki. This wiki is here to explain the technical or pop-culture references that might confuse some readers. Not every comic relies on such details for appreciation, though, and Randall will often deliver a more straightforward punchline; this wiki, in the interest of thoroughness, will often explain the obvious.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing outside a bathtub with the shower curtains partly drawn aside hanging outside the tub. The shower head is dripping water as Cueball reaches in turning the closest of the two taps. Below these there is a faucet. There is water on the floor at the bottom of the tub and a pool of water behind Cueball.]
:Cueball: Hi everyone! I'm back with more household tips. To conserve water, try turning off your shower before you leave home.

:[Cueball is holding a bucket and pours water out of it to the right. The water still hangs in the air over a small fire with four flames on the floor. A similar fire is behind him to the left, except it seems thre is a burning item in this fire, and a single flame is on the floor between that and Cueball. A smoke detector (off-panel) goes off in the background as indicated with lines and sounds.]
:Cueball: Sick of changing those smoke detector batteries? Eliminate any fires in your house and the batteries can last for months or years!
:Smoke detector (off panel): Beep beep beep

:[A frame-less panel shows a a toilet with the toilet seat up and also the lid has been removed from the cistern at the top. It is hanging in the air above and behind the cistern. There is an X with an arrow pointing towards the cistern and a checkmark with an arrow pointing towards the toilet bowl.]
:Cueball (off-panel): Tired of clogged toilets? Try leaving the lid on the upper chamber and use only the lower bowl!
:X
:✔

:[Cueball holding a hand up is standing next to an open window where the bottom part has been slid almost up to the top.]
:Fresh air doesn't have to be expensive. Many windows can be slid up to create a temporary hole without the usual cost and cleanup!

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