explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1721: Business Idea

2016-08-17T09:06:39Z

162.158.86.161: /* Randall done goofed */

I'm pretty sure there's been a naming overlap or something because https://xkcd.com/827/ and http://xkcd.com/1721/ are showing the same image
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.157|108.162.250.157]] 04:13, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

== Randall done goofed ==

He accidentally named TWO comics "Business Idea". This one and comic 827 (https://xkcd.com/827/). Because his comics are stored by name, not id, he has two "business_idea.png"s. The newer replaced the older one, but explain-xkcd has the original, probably due to the way either one is stored.

What should we do? Contact Randall? {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.10}}
:Check the fora. Let him know he broke 827(http://i.imgur.com/0LTTpmJ.png) if he doesn't know already. I'm too lazy. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.110|108.162.245.110]] 04:35, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
:Store it on the wiki as a jpeg and differentiate that way. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.89|173.245.48.89]] 04:59, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

In Germany and many other countries, the gas pumps actually have a separate hose per fuel type, so many fans of xkcd might not be able to understand this comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.162|162.158.83.162]] 05:18, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
: Yes, because many of us use Diesel, and you should not mix diesel and petrol. But it's no problem to mix small quantities of regular into premium or vice versa. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.161|162.158.86.161]] 09:06, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Is this Cueball, or Beret Guy with his hat off? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:22, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1684: Rainbow

2016-05-23T17:09:27Z

162.158.86.161:

How do I find the official transcript?[[User:Transuranium|Transuranium]] ([[User talk:Transuranium|talk]]) 11:00, 23 May 2016 (UTC)Transuranium
:Most recent comics do not have official transcripts. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|11:13, 23 May 2016}}
::But now there is one here ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:38, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Religion... geez. It's some weird stuff, huh. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.10|108.162.219.10]] 17:05, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Now that XKCD adopts the voice of God, it's time to write him off and move elsewhere. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.109|141.101.70.109]] 11:56, 23 May 2016 (UTC)
: Nice of you to decide for everyone. Just like god would do, right? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.27|141.101.80.27]] 13:38, 23 May 2016 (UTC)
:Word of God has appered before, as in Comic 224 or 258. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.161|162.158.86.161]] 17:09, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

For the sake of doctrinal accuracy, God (assuming the comic is in fact referring to the Jewish God who set his war bow in the cloud after the Flood) never promised not to destroy the earth by fire. Christian theology (2 Peter 3:10) implies God fully intends to destroy the earth by fire - or at least by unprecedented universal nuclear fission. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.87|108.162.221.87]] 11:59, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

: Good point, but for universal respect you should capitalise His pronouns. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.109|141.101.70.109]] 12:16, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

When the conditions are right, various types of [[wikipedia:Rainbow#Variations|multiple rainbow]] may be visible. [[User:Rhubbarb|Rhubbarb]] ([[User talk:Rhubbarb|talk]]) 12:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Drabkikker Atmospheric optics enthusiast] signing in. That's right. Although the "third faint bow near the sun" Cueball mentions might indeed refer to the 22° halo, another possibility is that he means the (very rare) ''tertiary'' or ''third-order'' rainbow. See [[wikipedia:Rainbow#Higher-order_rainbows]]. [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111005111001.htm Here]'s a picture of one. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.78|141.101.104.78]] 13:03, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

1684: Rainbow

2016-05-23T16:48:22Z

162.158.86.161: /* Explanation */ It's just the plot of some story, no real event.

{{comic
| number = 1684
| date = May 23, 2016
| title = Rainbow
| image = rainbow.png
| titletext = Listen, in a few thousand years you'll invent a game called 'SimCity' which has a 'disaster' button, and then you'll understand.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| More details needed, for instance is there a specific reference to the burning of the Earth in the bible before Noah, or is this just the meteor(s) in the past? And what about the planned Armageddon, is that then off? More about issues with raccoons and what immortality would do to an ecosystem. More about the sims for the title text explanation. Are there other hidden meanings/interpretations?}}

In this comic the patriarch {{w|Noah}} of Jewish and Christian faith, here represented by [[Cueball]], talks to {{w|God}} after {{w|Genesis flood narrative|the flood}}. He asks what the coloured band across the sky is, and God tells him it is a {{w|rainbow}}. Accodring to the book Genesis, God placed the {{w|Rainbows in mythology|worlds first rainbow}} in the sky as a promise to humanity that he would never again make a flood to cleanse the world of sin ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%209:2-9:17&version=KJV Genesis 9:2–17]). Scientifically, a rainbow is an {{w|optical phenomena|optical phenomenon}} caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a {{w|spectrum}} of light appearing in the sky, one of many light phenomena caused by sunlight and precipitation.

Then Noah notices a {{w|Rainbow#Variations|double rainbow}} outside the original ''promise rainbow''. Secondary rainbows are caused by double reflection of sunlight inside the raindrops. When asked about this God seems to falter, but recovers and claims he made it to show that he will never again set the Earth on fire. As an afterthought he says sorry about that, although it was a while back. This may refer to the young earth being a liquid ball of molten stone.

Noah begins to notice some other types of {{w|Halo (optical phenomenon)|halos}} that can appear around the sun (or the moon). The one he spots is most likely the {{w|22° halo|circular 22° halo}}, which is a halo forming a circle with a radius of approximately 22° around the Sun, or occasionally the Moon. God promptly claims it is a promise to never again make {{w|raccoons}} {{w|Immortality|immortal}} as it destroyed the Earth's {{w|ecosystem}}. Although today these animals can be a pest, see [[1565: Back Seat]], they are luckily not immortal.

Noah continues by noticing two {{w|sun dogs}} (or parahelia) which often co-occur with the 22° halo. These consist of a pair of bright spots either side on the Sun, intersected by the halo. God gets tired of this and tries to stop Noah by saying that he has said sorry, and asks him to drop the subject. That is probably sensible because there are 23 different {{w|Optical_phenomena#Atmospheric_optical_phenomena|atmospheric optical phenomena}} listed on Wikipedia alone. Following the logic of the comic and the evasive answer of God, it could mean there are some more skeletons in the closet.

The title text is a continuation where God tells Noah that in the future humanity will invent a game called {{w|SimCity}}. This is a strategy computer game in which the player creates and manages an environment wherein ''sims'' autonomously build a city (or in later versions a country, or a planet). The player has God-like control of the world, including a [http://www.ign.com/wikis/simcity/Disasters disaster button], for when the player can't wait for a disaster to happen by chance. God is suggesting that it is too tempting, once a civilization has been built up, to push the disaster button just to see what happens.

Overall the comic pokes fun at the idea of explaining natural phenomena as messages from a deity.

==Transcript==
:[Noah, here represented as Cueball, is looking up on a rainbow band going through the top right corner of the panel. The band displays the following colors from outward and in: Red, yellow, green, blue and purple. A black blob in the bottom of the panel right of Noah, has white text with the reply from God to Noah's questions. This continues through the rest of the comic.]
:Noah: Wow, God- What's that band of color?
:God: A ''rainbow''.
:God: It is a sign of my promise that I will never again flood the Earth.

:[In this frameless panel Noah is not looking so much up. God's reply is split in two black blobs with a small connection between them.]
:Noah: Oh, good! Hey, what about that second bow above the first one?
:God: Oh, uh, sign of my promise not to set the earth on fire.
:God: Sorry for doing that a while back.

:[Noah points left, God's black reply blob hangs higher, only above Noah's shoulders]
:Noah: What about that third faint bow near the sun?
:God: My promise to never again destroy Earth's ecosystem by making raccoons immortal.

:[Noah points even higher up towards left, with God's reply situated as before]
:Noah: And the little rainbow clouds on either side of-
:God: Look, I ''said'' I'm sorry. Can we just drop it?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Animals]]

1677: Contrails

2016-05-06T06:33:31Z

162.158.86.161:

{{comic
| number = 1677
| date = May 6, 2016
| title = Contrails
| image = contrails.png
| titletext = Astronomy (or "astrology" in British English) is the study of ...
}}

==Explanation==
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrail Contrails] (short for "condensation trails") are trails of vapor produced by aircraft exhaust, and are composed primarily of water. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory Chemtrail conspiracy theory] claims that contrails lasting unusually long are actually chemical or biological agents sprayed into the air for sinister purposes. Here, [[White Hat]] notices that there are a lot of contrails in the air. [[Cueball]] corrects him, saying that in American English, contrails are called chemtrails. This, however, is incorrect.

This is another comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series. Many of these comics involve [[Cueball]] giving misleading information about pedantic terms, such as [[1405|1405: Meteor]].

The title text implies that [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy astronomy] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology astrology] are synonymous, though astrology is used in British English. However, this is incorrect. Though both involve studying celestial objects, astrology is used as a means of predicting the future, while astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects.

Contrail stands for “condensation trail”, which is the trailing cloud often found after jet planes that fly by. Itʼs formed from water sublimating on jet fuel exhaustions, some impurities of which provide bases for ice crystals to cumulate on. Some would dissipate in minutes, but others can last for hours or even longer.

Chemtrail, specifically referring to contrails that last for very long, is a conspiracist term that states such clouds can last so long because there are other chemicals added in jet fuel, thus achieving malicious results. Itʼs not approved by scientific community.

The joke is that British English and American English often call the same object with different terms, and one can often learn new words for a simple thing. This, however is not the case in this comic; contrail and chemtrail do not refer to the same thing, the latter being only a part of the former. And it being xkcd, we can assume that chemtrail is a term that is frowned upon. Thus the comic states it as misinformation.

The title text includes a similar situation: astronomy is serious study about things in outer space, like stars, planets, and galaxies. Astrology, however, is a system that infers one’s personalities and characteristics from zodiacs of her date of birth, which is a constellation assigned to a period of time in a year. The same system can also derive predictions about future, especially that of a relationship. Some would argue that astrology shows statistical values, but itʼs hardly science as by the standard of scientific community.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and a man with a white hat are walking. White hat is looking up to the sky.]
:White hat: Lots of contrails today.
:Cueball: Oh, you must be from the UK. In American English it's "Chemtrail".

:[Caption under the panel]
:My hobby: Spreading linguistic misinformation

{{comic discussion}}