explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1654: Universal Install Script

2016-03-11T07:44:25Z

162.158.90.189: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1654
| date = March 11, 2016
| title = Universal Install Script
| image = universal_install_script.png
| titletext = The failures usually don't hurt anything, and if it installs several versions, it increases the chance that one of them is right. (Note: The 'yes' command and '2>/dev/null' are recommended additions.)
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is an initial summary. Please check the facts about the repositories, I am not 100% familiar with them. Maybe a note should be made of Steam's odd presence and the reason for "apt-get & sudo apt-get"? Something like "many standard popular repository programs (and Steam, a game platform, which usually is not used for most programs)"? I'm not sure how to word it.}}
Most users of computers today are used to simple, easy installation of programs. You just download a .exe or a .dmg, double click it, and do what it says. Sometimes you don't even have to install anything at all, and it runs by itself, no problems.

However, when things are more "homebrew", for example downloading source code, things are more complicated. You have to work with "build environments" and "makefiles", and command line interfaces. To make this process simpler, there exist repositories of programs which host packages of source code and the things needed to build it. When you download the package, it automatically does most of the work of building the code into something executable. However, there are many such repositories, such as "pip" and "brew", among others listed in the comic. If you only know the name of a program, you may not know on which repository(ies) it resides.

The script provided in the comic attempts to fix this problem, by giving a "universal install script". It accepts the name of a program when you run it, and stores it in "$1". This value is then referenced for a large number of commands. Everywhere the script says "$1", it puts in the name of the program you gave it. The end result is the name being tried against a large number of software repositories, and hopefully, at least one of them will match and the program will be successfully installed. At the end, it even tries changing into the directory that is assumed to hold the newly installed package, and then runs several commands which build the program.

All in all, this script would probably work; it runs many standard popular repository programs, and runs the nearly-universal commands to build the program.

One of the more subtle jokes in the comic is the inclusion of <code>apt-get</code> and <code>sudo apt-get</code> in the same script. In most cases this would be redundant as the <code>sudo</code> command is just to add admin permissions. This could be a reference to a joke in the Linux community about forgetting to include the sudo command. An example of this joke being used elsewhere was a [https://twitter.com/liamosaur/status/506975850596536320 viral tweet] that showed a workaround for the issue. Sudo has also been used both by [[Randall]] in [[149: Sandwich]] and by Bill Amend to force Randall to let him appear on xkcd with [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]].

The title text mentions the possibility that the same program may be on multiple repositories, so in this case, the script will download and install several versions, or it may fail on a number of repositories, in which case usually nothing bad happens. It mentions that adding a way of automatically saying "yes" to questions asked during the different repository-fetching programs' running could simplify things further.

The use of & at the end of each line causes the terminal or shell interpreter to execute the commands in parallel instead of sequential. Even if single commands fail, the rest of them will be executed. Note this is even the case for the final commands that attempt to change to the installed package, probably the only reason why this may not work completely for packages that do need compiling after being downloaded. (However, just running this script again would probably do the trick.)

==Transcript==
:[In the panel is a shell script which, unusual for xkcd, uses only lower case. At the top the title of the program is inlaid in the frame, which has been broken here.]
:<big>Install.sh</big>

:<nowiki>#!/bin/bash</nowiki>

:pip install "$1" &
:easy_install "$1" &
:brew install "$1" &
:npm install "$1" &
:yum install "$1" & dnf install "$1" &
:docker run "$1" &
:pkg install "$1" &
:apt-get install "$1" &
:sudo apt-get install "$1" &
:steamcmd +app_update "$1" validate &
:git clone <nowiki>https://github.com/</nowiki>"$1"/"$1" &
:cd "$1";./configure;make;make install &
:curl "$1" | bash &

----
pip and easy install are package managers for Python

brew is the successor/replacement for MacPorts and a package manager for OS X

npm is the node package manager that maintains node.js packages

pgk is the package management tool on BSD systems

apt-get is the package management tool of choice on debian and derivatives (eg Ubuntu)

steamcmd refers to Steam the computer game company and its client

git is the revision control software used for eg. the linux kernel and gained a lot of traction through the github plattform

configure/make/make install refers to the default way of compiling software from source (on Linux/Unix)

curl is a tool for loading data via http:// (eg from a website), this data is then pushed to the shell interpreter (in order to install). Note: While this is a security nightmare, the Nvidia drivers for Linux were (and may still are) installed like that

{{comic discussion}}

1649: Pipelines

2016-03-02T06:31:04Z

162.158.90.189: /* Table */

{{comic
| number = 1649
| date = February 29, 2016
| title = Pipelines
| image = pipelines.png
| titletext = In the future, every single pipeline will lead to the bowl of a giant blender, and we'll all just show up with a bucket each day to take our share of the resulting smoothie.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The table with all the items should be filled out with explanations etc. and the diameter should be calculated from real data (with references).}}

Follows a similar idea to the [[what if?]] {{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}, (from three days before this comic's release), where the entire water flow over {{w|Niagara Falls}} is imagined to flow through a straw (i.e. 7 mm diameter with disastrous results).

In this comic [[Randall]] imagines what size pipes are necessary to carry US domestic production/consumption of various fluids if the flow rate were fixed at 4 meters per second. Randall notes that "many pipes would overlap", owing to the fact that consumption of one item as corn syrup would be due to the production of one of the others, in this case soda pop (another example, than the previous one which is actually mentioned in the comic, could be gasoline which is produced from petroleum ).

The top panel is in [http://store-xkcd-com.myshopify.com/products/actual-size-stickers actual size] (something Randall often jokes about but here he means it). This means that if you look at the image in actual size (or measure lengths in the full size image) then the measured diameter is the diameter Randall has calculated the pipe should be, based on his data for the consumption of these substances.

In the second panel the pipes are too big for his drawing. To indicate the scale he has both inserted a human (appearance like [[Megan]], but with blonde hair, i.e. not Megan) and the top panel has been shrunk down to indicate how much larger the bottom panel is (this is similar to the link between the panels in [[980: Money]]). Using the size of the top panel and the smaller insert, it can be found that the scale is 20:1. (The woman is 9 cm high in the image, which makes her 180 cm -- 5 feet 11 inches -- in "real life"). The pipe next to her for gasoline would be 2.2 m high.

Since the caption at the top mentions both fluid produced and consumed in the US it becomes very difficult to find out which number Randall uses. For instance the consumption of wine in the US and the production of wine in the US is not necessarily the same as wine is both imported and exported. Should there then be two pipes? Unlike similar comics (like Money mentioned above) there are no references for where Randall has the data for this comic.

As usual with xkcd, the absurdity -- and improbability -- of routing the entirety of each fluid through a single pipe at any point is the source of humor. In addition, despite Randall's stated assumption that all the fluids are magically flowing at the same rate as public water (4 meters per second), many could never actually do so; some "fluids" shown are too viscous (e.g. peanut butter, Silly Putty, meat), adhesive (e.g. maple syrup), or thermally impractical (e.g. glass, cheese, ice cream and yogurt). Lastly, many are just plain zany (e.g. saliva a reference to another what if? {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}). Note that at the bottom of the last panel there is a much larger pipe for the tap water used by the public. All substances are listed below in the [[#Table|table]].

The title text refers to a possible future based on the idea of this comic in which all the pipes with the above mentioned fluids will actually lead into the same hole as shown in the top right panel. This hole will then be the bowl of a giant blender that mixes all these substances together to a ''{{w|smoothie}}''. The future people will then just come up to this blender and get a bucket full of this mix each day. In reality, this would be an impractical method of getting all of the fluids. Setting the logistical considerations of such a setup aside, this would mean that ketchup and salsa, both intended for human consumption, would be mixed with fluids which are harmful to humans, such as windshield wiper fluid.

Note: "Soup" has been left out, and it might have been expected in this comic due to the similarity to this system with [[Beret Guy|Beret Guy's]] use of a "soup outlet" as an entrepreneur in [[1293: Job Interview]]. It is probably a larger pipeline than salsa and possibly even ketchup. However, there are many different varieties of soups, and most soup is probably not bought finished, both very good reasons to not include it in the chart. But still the idea of having a soup outlet is very similar to this comic.

===Table===
*All the substances are listed here in the "reading" order also used in the transcript.
*The diameter is for the inner part of the tube.
*GL is for GigaLiters - or Billion Liters. This is strictly the annual discharge of the Size (cm) column at 4 m/s.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ All substances with size as found in the picture, vs. size calculated from public information
|-
! scope="col" | Substance
! scope="col" | Size (cm)
! scope="col" | Annual Discharge (GL)
! scope="col" | Calculated size (cm)
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| {{w|Toothpaste}}
| 3.5
| 0.121
| 3.6
| In the title text of [[1599: Water Delivery]] Randall claims that he as a child could not understand whyt there were no toothpaste pipe to his house when there was one for water... Giving this is at the top, this is a clear allusion to this comment. Calculation is based on 542 g/year per capita consumption of toothpaste, which I found [https://www.google.co.il/search?q=toothpaste+consumption+by+country&num=100&espv=2&rlz=1C1VFKB_enIL627IL627&tbm=isch&imgil=2wpGcxkoKlCvAM%253A%253BvrrYrXTGlziE6M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.sanasecurities.com%25252Ftop-story%25252Ffuture-prospect-indian-oral-care-industry&source=iu&pf=m&fir=2wpGcxkoKlCvAM%253A%252CvrrYrXTGlziE6M%252C_&usg=__g9B9_HQ-jLim5P25Ov5d6l6BiNk%3D&biw=1920&bih=955&ved=0ahUKEwjLiMn-op_LAhVD4XIKHcvPCMsQyjcIJA&ei=I27VVovrEsPCywPLn6PYDA#imgrc=2wpGcxkoKlCvAM%3A here]. (Sorry couldn't click the link on my work computer for some reason...) I'm not even sure what year the graph is from, so I guessed 2013, and used 316.5 million estimated 2013 US population to calculate the diameter above.
|-
| {{w|Nail polish}}
| 0.4
| 0.000159
|
|
|-
| {{w|Windshield washer fluid}}
| 5.6
| 0.311
|
|
|-
| {{w|Silly putty}}
| 0.1
| 0.0000991
|
| Smallest diameter
|-
| {{w|Shampoo}}
| 4
| 0.159
|
|
|-
| {{w|Honey}}
| 5.2
| 0.268
|
|
|-
| {{w|Blood donation|Donated blood}}
| 0.9
| 0.00803
|
|
|-
| {{w|Vanilla}}
| 0.4
| 0.000159
|
| Not the ice but the spice (which is black as the substance in the vanilla pipe).
|-
| {{w|Ketchup}}
| 5.2
| 0.268
|
|
|-
| {{w|Salsa (sauce)|Salsa}}
| 3.6
| 0.128
|
|
|-
| {{w|Sunscreen}}
| 1.35
| 0.0181
|
|
|-
| {{w|Personal lubricant}}
| 0.65
| 0.00419
|
| Aka lube
|-
| {{w|LCD liquid}}
| 0.26
| 0.000670
|
| For {{w|Liquid-crystal display}}
|-
| {{w|Mayonnaise|Mayo}}
| 4.4
|
| Or mayonnaise
|-
| {{w|Printer ink}}
| 1.4
| 0.192
|
|-
| {{w|Maple syrup}}
| 1.8
| 0.0178
|
|
|-
| {{w|Hair conditioner|Conditioner}}
| 2.5
| 0.0620
|
| For hair
|-
| {{w|Mustard (condiment)|Mustard}}
| 3.7
| 0.136
|
|
|-
| {{w|Liquid soap}}
| 4.7
| 0.219
|
|
|-
| {{w|Olive oil}}
| 6.2
| 0.381
|
| Largest diameter in the upper chart
|-
| {{w|Coffee}}
| 58
| 33.4
|
|
|-
| {{w|Peanut butter}}
| 8.6
| 0.733
|
| Smallest diameter in the bottom chart
|-
| {{w|Ice cream}}
| 20
| 3.97
|
|
|-
| {{w|Cheese}}
| 70
| 48.6
|
| Made from milk (cow) also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Carbonated water|Soda}}
| 82
| 66.7
|
| As in club soda
|-
| {{w|Acetone}}
| 13.6
| 1.83
|
| An organic chemical used as a highly potent cleaner in labs.
|-
| {{w|Liquor}}
| 15
| 2.23
|
|
|-
| {{w|Gasoline}}
| 220
| 480.
|
| Made from petrol, also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Yogurt}}
| 15
| 2.23
|
| Made from milk (cow), also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Milk#Cow.27s_milk|Milk (cow)}}
| 106
| 111
|
|
|-
| {{w|Bottled water}}
| 71
| 50.0
|
| See also [[1599: Water Delivery]]
|-
| {{w|Sugar}}
| 42
| 17.5
|
| See also [[1639: To Taste]]
|-
| {{w|Saliva}}
| 85
| 71.6
|
| From these data it could be calculated how long it would take America to drool enough to fill that pool from the what if? {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}.
|-
| {{w|Wine}}
| 18
| 3.21
| 18.5
| Americans drank just under [https://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article86 900 million gallons of wine in 2014], or almost 3.4 million cubic metres per year meaning that Americans drink about 0.11 m3/s. With the pipe flowing at 4 m/s this pipe must have an area of 268cm2. The radius of a pipe of area 268cm^2 is 9.25 cm. The wine pipe should thus have a diameter of 18.5 cm, very close to the one found by measuring on the chart.
|-
| {{w|HFCS}}
| 20
| 3.97
|
| High fructose corn syrup
|-
| {{w|Breast milk|Milk (human)}}
| 10.6
| 1.114
|
|
|-
| {{w|Petroleum}}
| 318
| 1002
|
| Largest diameter in the bottom chart, except for the public water. Also known as crude oil. Used to make for instance gasoline, also in the chart.
|-
| {{w|Meat}}
| 59
| 34.5
|
|
|-
| {{w|Glass}}
| 28
| 7.77
|
|
|-
| {{w|Beer}}
| 54
| 28.9
|
|
|-
| {{w|Tea}}
| 41
| 16.67
|
|
|-
| {{w|Cement}}
| 74
| 54.3
|
|
|-
| {{w|Tap water|Public water}}
| 2550
| 64,465
|
| Using the formula [http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/564058/calculate-the-radius-of-a-circle-given-the-chord-length-and-height-of-a-segment here] it is possible to calculate the diameter of a circle given the chord length = l and height = h of a segment. From the drawing (and scaling) l = 390 cm and h = 15 cm. The formula states that D = h + l2/(4*h) = 15 cm + (390 cm)2/(4*15 cm) = 2550 cm.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the first main panel, to the left of a smaller panel to the right.]
:<big>The size of the US’s</big>
:<big><big>'''Pipelines'''</big></big>
:<big>if each fluid produced or consumed in the US has to be carried by a single pipe</big>
:Assuming they all flowed at the same speed of about 4m/s
:Note: Many pipelines would overlap (eg. '''soda'''/corn syrup)

:[There is a small panel to the right showing three gray pipes of different sizes leading out over a large hole in the ground. Only a part of the hole can be seen at the bottom left part of the panel, but it curves around indicating it is a large circular hole. The pipes are supported by small legs beneath them and from the end of all three thick liquids are squirting out and down into the hole. The first pipe is by far the largest; the liquid from it is white, but not as white as the background. The second pipe is by far the smallest squirting dark red liquid and the final rightmost pipe is in between and squirts our light brown liquid. Each pipe is labeled. The label on the smallest cannot be read properly, but from the info gained in the next panel it can be inferred for certain what it says (and this is indicated here below):]
:[Large pipe (white)]: Mayo
:[Small pipe (dark red)]: Nail polish
:[Medium pipe (light brown)]: Maple syrup

:[Below is a large panel with a caption at the top. And below this there are twenty circles in different sizes and with different color (or even texture). Each circle is labeled, for the five smallest the label is outside, in one case with an arrow indicating where the label belongs. The rest has the label inside. The text is in black except for four of those with text inside, but with red of black color. Here the text is white. The labels are indicated by color and size, going roughly from top left in reading order based on the position and size of circles not of position of the text:]

:<big>Actual size </big> (When viewed on a typical computer screen) 
:[Medium green blue and white spiral]: Toothpaste
:[Tiny dark red]: Nail polish
:[Big light blue with white specks]: Windshield washer fluid
:[Very tiny purple]: Silly putty
:[Medium light green]: Shampoo
:[Large dark yellow]: Honey
:[Very small blood red]: Donated blood
:[Tiny black]: Vanilla
:[Big red]: Ketchup
:[Medium dark red with chunks of in different green and lighter red colors]: Salsa
:[Small white]: Sunscreen
:[Very small light green]: Personal lubricant
:[Very tiny gray]: LCD liquid
:[Medium off-white]: Mayo
:[Very small black]: Printer ink
:[Small light brown]: Maple syrup
:[Small light green]: Conditioner
:[Medium yellow]: Mustard
:[Large light green]: Liquid soap
:[Big olive green]: Olive oil

:[The panel just described is indicated to fit into a small rectangle at the top left of the next panel below. There are four lines ending at the four corners of this small rectangle, two of these are going to the two bottom corners and the other two ends on the lower part of the panel just above the small rectangle. They are indicated to go under the panel and would hit the two top corners if extrapolated). The 11 largest circles are clearly seen, but most of the other circles can also be noted. The colors are the same but any features in the original circles as well as the labels are gone. The part of the black top frame of the next panel below is faded out to gray in between the section cut off by the two lines going to the bottom corners of the panel above. This rectangle indicated the increasing size compared to the first panel above.]

:[Apart from the insert mentioned above the second panel follows the same layout, but with 22 circles with even larger range of sizes. The panel is more than twice as long as the first panel. A Megan-like girl, but with white hair, is drawn at the top of the panel just left of the middle. Her hair close to the top, just below the line going to the right corner above. There are two medium and five smaller circles to her left and one small close to her head and one huge circle to her right. Her feet are less than a third down this panel standing on top of the next row of circles. In the bottom half of the panel there is a giant circle which almost touches the left side of the panel. There are smaller circles above it and down along the right side. One last circle is to the left almost at the bottom. At the very bottom is a slightly curving line to indicate a much much larger blue circle that only graces the panel (no. 23). There is a small green fish in this water to the left of the label. Below the labels are again listed as above. One label has a foot note. But it is written directly beneath the circle in which it is referenced. So it will be written together with the label on the next line. There is also one case with an arrow used to indicate where the label belongs.]

:[Medium dark gray]: Coffee
:[Very tiny gray]: Peanut butter
:[Very small gray with black specks]: Ice cream
:[Very small yellow with white specks]: Cheese
:[Large brown with white fizzing]: Soda
:[Tiny White]: Acetone
:[Tiny gray]: Liquor
:[Huge dark yellow]: Gasoline
:[Tiny White with blue and orange specks]: Yogurt
:[Big white]: Milk (cow)
:[Large light blue]: Bottled water
:[Small white]: Sugar
:[Large light gray with white specks]: Saliva
:[Very small light yellow]: Wine
:[Very small orange]: HFCS
:[Very tiny white]: Milk (human)
:[Gigantic dark gray]: Petroleum
:[Medium dark red with black texture]: Meat (mostly solid)
:[Small white]: Glass*
::<nowiki>*</nowiki>Solid at room temperature
:[Medium light brown]: Beer
:[Small gray brown]: Tea
:[Large gray]: Cement
:[Gracing bottom of panel light blue]: Public water

==Trivia==
*In addition to the what if? article, the relevancy of pipelines, particularly regarding public water, is heightened due to the ongoing public health crisis in {{w|Flint, Michigan}}, caused by recent (mis-)management of their public water system.<ref>McLaughlin, Elliot. [http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/18/us/flint-michigan-water-crisis-five-things/index.html “5 things to know about Flint's water crisis”], '{{w|CNN}}', January 21 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.</ref>
**Studies have shown that temporary use of the Flint River as a water source caused corrosive water to leach lead from old pipes, causing lead poisoning in many residents, particularly children; other ill effects in addition to lead have been noted.
**The crisis has lead to a public outcry against the state "emergency financial management" team appointed and supervised by the state executive (Gov. Rick Snyder and staff) and an outpouring of support from nearby communities such as Metro Detroit via bottled water donations to Flint residents.
*This is the third comic posted on Leap Day ({{w|February 29}}); the previous ones were:
**[[390: Nightmares]] also like this one on a Friday in 2008 and
**[[1023: Late-Night PBS]] on a Wednesday in 2012.
**If the current M-W-F schedule continues, the next such comic will not happen before 2036 when the leap day again falls on a Friday.
**It may also be interesting to note that the first three leap years after xkcd began (in just over 10 years) all fell on a release day, then followed by a break of 20 years. In addition, three of these first four leap days all fell on a Friday.

==References==
<references />

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:385: How it Works

2016-02-29T12:54:35Z

162.158.90.189:

I will admit, after I finished Calc 1, I came across this yet again via the random button, and kind of rolled my eyes. Then I read the title text, and this became one of my favorite comics. --[[Special:Contributions/140.198.42.64|140.198.42.64]] 00:19, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

This type of generalization also has a special name called "Stereotype threat". Research shows that women/girls who are good at math (identify as good at math) will do worse on hard math questions when they think (consciously or unconsciously) that her own personal failings will reflect on the negative stereotype. (Real example: a group of professors asked SAT testing body to ask for demographic questions (gender/race) after the test instead of before.) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.107|108.162.254.107]] 04:15, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

I don't really think that pi + C is different from just C. Pi is a constant anyway! {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.96}}

in popular culture:it appeared twice in the grade 10 english module in the philippines,and without the correct citation.
p.s. what should i do? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.10|108.162.215.10]] 08:33, 16 July 2015 (UTC)

maybe include the phrase confirmation bias?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.53|108.162.218.53]] 20:27, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

Megan wasn't finished with the equation yet. That's why her hand is still up at the board. She can still produce a correct - even if strange - equation.

Talk:1632: Palindrome

2016-01-22T23:23:30Z

162.158.90.189:

> Megan (i.e. Randall) has created a much longer palindrome based on this original

Seems Randall didn't create the palindrome, which is also found in a forum posting on The Return of Talking Time dated May 14, 2012:

[http://www.talking-time.net/showpost.php?p=1370627&postcount=6286 View Single Post]

... unless of course that user was Randall.

[[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.191|141.101.64.191]] 08:25, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
:That does not seem likely. If the user invented the palindrome is of course also impossible to say, but it seems unlikely that Randall created it. I have corrected the explanation accordingly. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:44, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

I found the centre of the very long palindrome that was linked to, it's the 'e' in "Hehre" which only occurs once in that 17826 word monstrousity. Easy to control F.

Edit: first e. Not second one.
: --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.149|108.162.245.149]] 09:41, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Is it really necessary to have the palindrome written forwards, without spaces, capitalised, reversed etc etc etc. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:58, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
:No. I deleted most useless versions. Sorry, Nick818 [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1632:_Palindrome&diff=prev&oldid=109524] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 12:31, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Actually, there is another method to construct palindromes of arbitrary length: If X is a palindrome, then "'X' sides reversed is 'X'" is a palindrome, too. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 10:09, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

if 'nam is an abbreviation of Vietnam, shouldn't it be capitalised? if it isn't, what is it an abbreviation of? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 12:32, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with any type of tinsel which is attached to thread. Is this a relatively recent development, or something that is more common outside the US? [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 20:04, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
:it's the only kind that's called tinsel in the UK. maybe in New England, too. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 13:02, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

I think it should be "a god's 'Nam tables" because "God" means "the only god" and "a god" is one of many. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 12:40, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
::: "It felt like a Napoleon's Waterloo." You'll need a high-ranking grammar nazi to explain how this works exactly, though. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.138|162.158.114.138]] 16:41, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
::::: The (grammatical) contexts are different. "Waterloo" is the name of a city, it doesn't refer to any concept so it can never be a general noun, only ever a proper noun. God however works differently, as a general noun it refers to a deity ("Zeus is a god") but as a proper noun it refers to the Abrahamic god (diversely called in different languages and religions). This isn't to say you could never use capital God when following "a". If you are referring to a god of a Judaic religion or an interpretation of God as in "In Christianity and Judaism we find a different God", then you would be right. You might also use a capitalised plural in sentences like "Yaweh is one of many Gods" (again the meaning is "interpretation of God"), much as I could say I am one of many "Marios" on this earth, however this usage requires a bit of a grammatical juggling act, and some prescriptivists might not accept it.

:::::This is all nice and well if you consider God a proper noun (again like Jack or Yaweh) but the reasoning may completely fall apart if you consider the capitalisation as a simple honorific form. The latter interpretation is however unlikely given the usage of God in the English language. To elaborate: if you try to replace God as used in some expressions with some general noun like "guy" as referring to a certain predetermined person, you will find that in some cases a reasonable substitution would be "the guy" rather than simply "guy": e.g.: "God is all forgiving" --> "The guy is all forgiving" ("Guy is all forgiving" seems to refer to a person named Guy, rather than to a specific guy, which corroborates the proper-noun thesis).

:::::In short "god" and "God" are kind of two different words just like "Jack" (the one who works in the cubicle next to yours, you know the one) and "jack" (the one you plug in your CD player to listen to music. What? Isn't it what's all the rage these days?), they just happen (ok, not really, they were crafted this way) to be spelt and read the same. {{unsigned ip|162.158.152.65}}
:::::(Very sorry for the rant. Just a grammar Nazi sergeant, some things may be wrong or up for debate [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.65|162.158.152.65]] 17:10, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

:::::: [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waterloo "Can never"] can never work. I hear kitchen duty on St. Helena is not pleasant. Don't forget to pack some stamps and stationery when they ship you out, I want to lick the taste of your tears off your letters. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.138|162.158.114.138]] 02:47, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

:In the [[1632:_Palindrome#Trivia|trivia]] it mentions that there is a comma between the nam and tables in the original(?) post, and by the way 'Nam is capitalized there. So is it then God's Vietnam? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:36, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Just a guess about the next comic. It might very well relate to this news about a possible [http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/feature-astronomers-say-neptune-sized-planet-lurks-unseen-solar-system Planet X]! Looking forward to seing if I'm right ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:24, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

Apropos "(It is not long since another xkcd comic referred directly to porn - see 1629: Tools)." Or, as Tom Lehrer put it, "when correctly viewed, everything is lewd". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaHDBL7dVgs --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 11:55, 21 January 2016 (UTC)
:Well spotted, though it was already mentioned in the trivia when you posted this comment ;-) Maybe his next, delayed?, comic, will be about Planet XXX :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:50, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

The meaning of "Palindrom" :

Dromos is a way, street, highway or something similar.
So Palin drom means Palin's way [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.189|162.158.90.189]] 23:23, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1632: Palindrome

2016-01-22T10:32:17Z

162.158.90.189:

> Megan (i.e. Randall) has created a much longer palindrome based on this original

Seems Randall didn't create the palindrome, which is also found in a forum posting on The Return of Talking Time dated May 14, 2012:

[http://www.talking-time.net/showpost.php?p=1370627&postcount=6286 View Single Post]

... unless of course that user was Randall.

[[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.191|141.101.64.191]] 08:25, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
:That does not seem likely. If the user invented the palindrome is of course also impossible to say, but it seems unlikely that Randall created it. I have corrected the explanation accordingly. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:44, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

I found the centre of the very long palindrome that was linked to, it's the 'e' in "Hehre" which only occurs once in that 17826 word monstrousity. Easy to control F.

Edit: first e. Not second one.
: --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.149|108.162.245.149]] 09:41, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Is it really necessary to have the palindrome written forwards, without spaces, capitalised, reversed etc etc etc. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:58, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
:No. I deleted most useless versions. Sorry, Nick818 [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1632:_Palindrome&diff=prev&oldid=109524] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 12:31, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Actually, there is another method to construct palindromes of arbitrary length: If X is a palindrome, then "'X' sides reversed is 'X'" is a palindrome, too. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.215|162.158.91.215]] 10:09, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

if 'nam is an abbreviation of Vietnam, shouldn't it be capitalised? if it isn't, what is it an abbreviation of? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 12:32, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with any type of tinsel which is attached to thread. Is this a relatively recent development, or something that is more common outside the US? [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 20:04, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
:it's the only kind that's called tinsel in the UK. maybe in New England, too. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 13:02, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

I think it should be "a god's 'Nam tables" because "God" means "the only god" and "a god" is one of many. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 12:40, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
::: "It felt like a Napoleon's Waterloo." You'll need a high-ranking grammar nazi to explain how this works exactly, though. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.138|162.158.114.138]] 16:41, 20 January 2016 (UTC)
::::: The (grammatical) contexts are different. "Waterloo" is the name of a city, it doesn't refer to any concept so it can never be a general noun, only ever a proper noun. God however works differently, as a general noun it refers to a deity ("Zeus is a god") but as a proper noun it refers to the Abrahamic god (diversely called in different languages and religions). This isn't to say you could never use capital God when following "a". If you are referring to a god of a Judaic religion or an interpretation of God as in "In Christianity and Judaism we find a different God", then you would be right. You might also use a capitalised plural in sentences like "Yaweh is one of many Gods" (again the meaning is "interpretation of God"), much as I could say I am one of many "Marios" on this earth, however this usage requires a bit of a grammatical juggling act, and some prescriptivists might not accept it.

:::::This is all nice and well if you consider God a proper noun (again like Jack or Yaweh) but the reasoning may completely fall apart if you consider the capitalisation as a simple honorific form. The latter interpretation is however unlikely given the usage of God in the English language. To elaborate: if you try to replace God as used in some expressions with some general noun like "guy" as referring to a certain predetermined person, you will find that in some cases a reasonable substitution would be "the guy" rather than simply "guy": e.g.: "God is all forgiving" --> "The guy is all forgiving" ("Guy is all forgiving" seems to refer to a person named Guy, rather than to a specific guy, which corroborates the proper-noun thesis).

:::::In short "god" and "God" are kind of two different words just like "Jack" (the one who works in the cubicle next to yours, you know the one) and "jack" (the one you plug in your CD player to listen to music. What? Isn't it what's all the rage these days?), they just happen (ok, not really, they were crafted this way) to be spelt and read the same. {{unsigned ip|162.158.152.65}}
:::::(Very sorry for the rant. Just a grammar Nazi sergeant, some things may be wrong or up for debate [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.65|162.158.152.65]] 17:10, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

:::::: [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waterloo "Can never"] can never work. I hear kitchen duty on St. Helena is not pleasant. Don't forget to pack some stamps and stationery when they ship you out, I want to lick the taste of your tears off your letters. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.138|162.158.114.138]] 02:47, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

:In the [[1632:_Palindrome#Trivia|trivia]] it mentions that there is a comma between the nam and tables in the original(?) post, and by the way 'Nam is capitalized there. So is it then God's Vietnam? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:36, 20 January 2016 (UTC)

Just a guess about the next comic. It might very well relate to this news about a possible [http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/feature-astronomers-say-neptune-sized-planet-lurks-unseen-solar-system Planet X]! Looking forward to seing if I'm right ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:24, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

Apropos "(It is not long since another xkcd comic referred directly to porn - see 1629: Tools)." Or, as Tom Lehrer put it, "when correctly viewed, everything is lewd". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaHDBL7dVgs --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 11:55, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

The meaning of "Palindrom"
Dromos is a way, street highway or similar.
So Palin drom means Palin's way

1618: Cold Medicine

2015-12-18T14:13:23Z

162.158.90.189: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1618
| date = December 18, 2015
| title = Cold Medicine
| image = cold_medicine.png
| titletext = Seriously considering buying some illegal drugs to try to turn them back into cold medicine.
}}

==Explanation==

Cueball is evidently suffering from a cold and searching for a medicine to alleviate his symptoms. Cueball is either unsatisfied with any of the unmonitored drugs available on the shelf, or he is too sick to properly ascertain which medicine he needs, so he approaches the counter and asks for all medicine requiring ID to purchase.

In the USA, cold medicines containing {{w|pseudoephedrine}} are kept behind the counter and IDs purchasing them are monitored, because pseudoephedrine can be used to make the illegal drug {{w|methamphetamine}}. However, it is also an extremely effective decongestant, much more so than the common substitutes {{w|phenylephrine}} and {{w|oxymetazoline}}. For this reason, Cueball requests this type of medicine; he does not appear to know or care what exactly he is purchasing, believing that his one criterion will provide him medicine powerful enough for his illness. He is also too sick to care that this will arouse suspicion of him being a drug dealer.

The title text seems to be suggesting, humorously, purchasing meth in order to turn it back into pseudoephedrine. This would not be feasible or safe to do. This may be a reference to (http://heterodoxy.cc/meowdocs/pseudo/pseudosynth.pdf), a long-going joke on the recent difficulty in obtaining pseudoephedrine. It is a humorous exaggeration of how far Cueball is willing to go to get proper medicine, and the potency of the drugs needed to treat his apparently debilitating illness.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is standing in a drug store, in the "Cold & Flu" aisle.]
:Cueball: *Sniffle*

:[Cueball is standing alone, examining medicine bottles.]
:Cueball: *Cough* *Sniff*

:[Cueball continues examining more bottles.]
:Cueball: Ughhh...

:[Cueball is at the counter in a drug store. Ponytail is behind the counter.]
:Cueball: Just gimme one of every kind of cold medicine you need ID to buy.
:Ponytail: You'll go on the watchlist for—
:Cueball: Don't care.

{{comic discussion}}