explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2152: Westerns

2019-05-22T20:26:05Z

172.68.132.77: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2152
| date = May 20, 2019
| title = Westerns
| image = westerns.png
| titletext = Sitting here idly trying to figure out how the population of the Old West in the late 1800s compares to the number of Red Dead Redemption 2 players.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 PLAYER IN THE 1800s. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The "{{w|Western (genre)|western}}" genre refers to narrative works set in the American "{{w|American frontier|Old West}}", which is loosely defined as North America (particularly the United States) west of the Mississippi River between the years of 1865 (when the Civil War ended) and 1895 (when the US Census officially declared the frontier to be closed). These dates are naturally somewhat arbitrary, but most works in the genre are set more or less in that relatively narrow window of time. This definition may be too narrow, however, as many events related to the American West took place before the Civil War. The {{w|North_American_fur_trade|fur trade}} was significant in the western frontier from the early 1800s to about 1845. The {{w|Oregon Trail|Oregon Trail}} saw its first wagon trail in 1836, and along with variants such as the California and Utah/Mormon trail, was regularly and heavily used beginning around 1845-1847. The {{w|California_Gold_Rush|California Gold Rush}} took place in 1849. Stories of fur trapping, wagon trains, and mining all feature heavily in the "western" genre, making the disparity between the length of real history and the length of historical fiction less great.

This era in American history was marked by aggressive settling of western lands. The US had pursued an expansionist policy known as "{{w|Manifest Destiny}}", which had the primary goal of extending US borders across the continent. This led to various strategies to increase the lands under US control (ranging from diplomatic efforts to expansionist wars), displacing, containing, and eliminating native peoples from the land, and encouraging American settlement in the western territories. Settlers were encouraged to go west with the promise of cheap or free land for agriculture, mineral riches, and freedom from the dangers of large cities.

These sparsely populated lands quickly gained a reputation for being dangerous, unpredictable, and violent. The men and women who settled them were admired as rugged individualists, civilizing a wild frontier through hard work, courage and persistence. The mythos of the "wild west" arguably continues to impact American culture to this day.

The timeline in this strip suggests that the Western genre began almost immediately after the frontier closed. This matches the "official" timeline. The first critically recognized Western novel, ''{{W|The Virginian (novel)|The Virginian}}'', was published in 1902, and one of the earliest silent films, ''{{W|The Great Train Robbery (1903 film)|The Great Train Robbery}}'', was made in 1903. However, it should be noted that pulp novels and magazines set in the frontier, as well as "Wild West Shows" that toured the eastern states and Europe had begun decades earlier. And the end of the "Wild West" era can be considered to have lasted into the 1910's, or even the 1920's. In other words, Westerns were an established genre while the real western frontier was still in existence. The genre transitioned from a contemporary setting to a historical one without significant disruption.

The Western genre has varied in popularity, but has never gone away, and continued to produce popular works throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. Artists who grew up admiring Western heroes have proceeded to use the genre for their own visions, and have reinterpreted the setting across multiple generations, and an evolving media landscape. Literature, music and live performances gave way to film, then television, and now video games. This strip points out the irony that the actual Old West took place over a fairly limited time and space, but the setting has managed to accommodate a genre that's maintained popularity for over a century (at least three times as long as the actual frontier era) and is consumed both throughout the US and across the world.

The title text is in reference to the popular video game ''{{w|Red Dead Redemption 2}}'', which takes place in an Old West setting. ''Red Dead Redemption 2'' has already sold in excess of 24 million copies, while at the 1890 census the entire West - even going by the widest definition, counting every state and territory west of the Mississippi - had a population of just 16.8 million. The region now counted by the US Census Bureau as the "Western United States" was even smaller, at just 3.64 million. Assuming every copy sold represents one player (some sold may not have been played, but others sold may account for multiple players), not only are there more RDR2 players than there were people in the Wild West at its height, there may be more than lived in the region ''at all'' during the frontier years.

A similar question was asked in [[what if?]] [https://what-if.xkcd.com/100/ WWII Films].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A horizontal timeline spanning between the years 1840 and 2020. Every decade is indicated by a tick below the line, and labeled every 50 years. Two ranges are highlighted by brackets and labeled:]
:[1862-1898:]
:The “Wild West” era
:[1902-2019:]
:Western films, books, video games, etc

:[Caption below the panel:]
:It's weird to realize that the Western genre has now existed for three times longer than the period it's based on.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Timelines]]

Talk:2151: A/B

2019-05-17T16:39:13Z

172.68.132.77:

Came straight to this site after trying to read today's comic[[Special:Contributions/172.68.230.22|172.68.230.22]] 16:33, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

The title text refers to "Java script", which probably is meant to reference both the programming language Java and the completely different programming language JavaScript. While the former is almost never referenced with the word script afterwards, the latter is also never referenced with a space in the middle of the word. Hence, it seems meant to further confuse which language is actually being referenced. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.77|172.68.132.77]] 16:39, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2150: XKeyboarCD

2019-05-15T14:10:36Z

172.68.132.77:

Since this is xkcd, can someone check whether this 15 puzzle is solvable? I seem to recall that 1/2 of possible permutations fail. And this is the sort of Easter egg we have come to expect from our lord and master Randall [[User:Cyclic3|Cyclic3]] ([[User talk:Cyclic3|talk]]) 13:51, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

"Key travel" is the vertical distance a key moves when you press it. "Unlimited key travel" would make it very hard for it to register that a key has been pressed.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.40|172.69.62.40]] 14:03, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

I don't get the title. Is "XLeoparCD" some kind of typing pun I'm missing? [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 14:05, 15 May 2019 (UTC)
:You probably have the Substitutions filter on your computer and forgot about it. (I do too, it's great.) It's XKeyboarCD, and the capital letters spell XKCD (for if that wasn't obvious). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.77|172.68.132.77]] 14:10, 15 May 2019 (UTC)

2150: XKeyboarCD

2019-05-15T14:07:39Z

172.68.132.77: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2150
| date = May 15, 2019
| title = XKeyboarCD
| image = xkeyboarcd.png
| titletext = The key caps use LCD displays for all the vowels, so they can automatically adjust over the years to reflect ongoing vowel shifts while allowing you to keep typing phonetically.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a KEY BOAR USING AN XKKEYBOARCD. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In the same vein as the xkcd Phone series, the XKeyboarCD seems to be an overly inventive and borderline ludicrous keyboard intended for some unknown audience. It has an assortment of features (some fairly normal, some more exotic) which give it a..."diverse skill set".

*'''54 Configurable Rubik's Keys'''
The smaller cubes on a {{w|Rubik's cube}} resemble computer keys, so this feature makes fun of that by adding a spinnable Rubik's cube above the keyboard.

*'''Hardcoded Plastic Keys for the 5 Most Useful Emoji'''
This feature might actually be useful for what it's worth.

*'''Serif Lock'''
{{w|Serifs}} are small lines on the ends of certain characters in fonts such as Times New Roman and Georgia. However, "locking" serifs doesn't make any sense, as there is no key you need to hold down, as with caps lock. Instead, serifs are dealt with in the font menu, which doesn't generally change suddenly.

*'''Unlimited Key Travel'''
Some companies advertise unlimited travel, however it would be relatively useless to have unlimited travelling across the keys of a keyboard, since, on average, keys tend to be smaller than countries.{{Citation needed}}

*'''Diagonal Spacebar'''
A diagonal spacebar wouldn't be very useful, as many typists are used to having a spacebar at the bottom, and there's no reason to change it.

*'''Arrow Key (Rotate to Adjust Direction)'''
Most computers have four arrow keys: up, left, right, and down. However, this comic suggests that it would be more practical to have just one that can be rotated. This has the added bonus of allowing the arrow keys to point more than four different directions.

*'''15 Puzzle-Style Numberpad'''

*'''Ergonomic Design'''

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Introducing the
XKeyboarCD
A keyboard for powerful users and their powerful fingers

[Arrow to the various features of a keyboard labelling them.]

54 Configurable Rubik's Keys

Hardcoded Plastic Keys for the 5 Most Useful Emoji

Serif Lock

Unlimited Key Travel

Diagonal Spacebar

Arrow Key (Rotate to Adjust Direction)

15 Puzzle-Style Numberpad

Ergonomic Design
{{comic discussion}}

2150: XKeyboarCD

2019-05-15T14:05:20Z

172.68.132.77: /* Explanation */ Diagonal Spacebar + Arrow Key

2150: XKeyboarCD

2019-05-15T14:00:54Z

172.68.132.77: Rubik's Keys to Unlimited Key Travel

2150: XKeyboarCD

2019-05-15T13:56:27Z

172.68.132.77: /* Explanation */ Headings

Talk:193: The Perfect Sound

2017-08-02T18:33:54Z

172.68.132.77:

Should "cueball's friend" be an indexed term? He (she?) shows up often, and i identify with him the most.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.191|173.245.56.191]] 00:18, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Oddly enough, there are no notes that lead up to that opening line of the song. It's only drum beats, going, BUM-TS-BUM-BUM-TS BUM-TS-BUM-BUM-TS. The first notes of the song occur as those opening words are sung. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.55}}

It actually says the rising notes follow the opening section not lead up to it, which is correct. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.77|172.68.132.77]] 18:32, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Talk:193: The Perfect Sound

2017-08-02T18:32:16Z

172.68.132.77:

Should "cueball's friend" be an indexed term? He (she?) shows up often, and i identify with him the most.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.191|173.245.56.191]] 00:18, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Oddly enough, there are no notes that lead up to that opening line of the song. It's only drum beats, going, BUM-TS-BUM-BUM-TS BUM-TS-BUM-BUM-TS. The first notes of the song occur as those opening words are sung. {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.55}}

It actually says the rising notes follow the opening section, which is correct. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.77|172.68.132.77]] 18:32, 2 August 2017 (UTC)

Talk:992: Mnemonics

2017-04-24T22:53:55Z

172.68.132.77:

The most memorable resistor code mnemonics I know are not...politically correct, shall we say. But they are memorable. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 19:55, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
:tell pls [[User:SuperSupermario24|Just some random derp]] 23:45, 8 June 2015 (UTC)
::Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.77|172.68.132.77]] 22:53, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

I feel like he got lazy at the end and didn't provide an "or" to the Jesus one mnemonic. Also, why is mnemonic often pronounced "new-monic" ?

Mnemonic is supposed to be pronounced "nim-monic"; "new-monic" is rather a malapropism, given that is a correct pronunciation of "pneumonic" (meaning related to lungs or to pneumonia"), similar to how some people pronounce "nuclear" as "nu-kyoo-lar" (reminiscent of "-cular"-ending words, such as: perpendicular, particular, jocular, etc.).
:I pronounce it as written, same for "gnome" - keeps those muscles going. (Try it with "knight", you'll get an approximation of Chaucer. Seriously.) --[[User:Qwach|Qwach]] ([[User talk:Qwach|talk]]) 02:39, 1 September 2013 (UTC)
:My dictionary says it's a schwa sound. Both "nim" and "new" are putting too much emphasis on the first syllable. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.202|108.162.219.202]] 06:46, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
::Yes, it should be nuh-MAHN-ic (n'monic) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.10|172.68.78.10]] 02:15, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

Mnemonics are actually counter-productive. They claim to help you remember something but, in actuality, they replace what you're supposed to remember with something useless, thus causing you to FAIL to remember.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.225.28|76.29.225.28]] 03:32, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

"Mnemonics are actually counter-productive." I disagree. They provide the '''order''' to the list of already known, or mostly known, words. They provide a little extra help.--DrMath 20:50, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

The only one I ever learned:
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.
Fucking stupid brain! (It HAS been useful, although I don't recall why at the moment. (Fucking stupid brain.))
[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 07:15, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
Big Brother Reptilian Overlors. This aren't Raptors or Tyranosaurs?? I remmeber any 'fear' from Monroe to they -- {{unsigned ip|108.162.210.252}}
:"It's the most remarkable word I've ever seen!"[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.174|173.245.50.174]] 05:25, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

Has anyone noticed the Order of Operations is Out of Order? Please Email Dad & Mum A Shark? - Apostrophyx ([[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.221|108.162.249.221]] 03:17, 15 July 2014 (UTC))
:It's not out of order, multiplication and division are one tier together. 6 x 5 / 2 and 6 / 2 x 5 have the same result. [[User:Cflare|Cflare]] ([[User talk:Cflare|talk]]) 14:29, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

I learned "Kahn's Hot Dogs Use Dead Cow Meat" as a mnemonic for SI prefixes. Covers all the common ones, but leaves out extreme ones like Giga or Zepto.--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.64|173.245.55.64]] 20:13, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

My favorite is for SOHCAHTOA: "Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Tripping On Acid." [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.228|199.27.128.228]] 05:16, 15 February 2015 (UTC)

And this, fundamentally, is why people don't like Pluto not being a planet. Sure, it's logical, but you took away our nine pizzas and gave us only nachos in return. Who wouldn't be mad about that?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.174|173.245.50.174]] 05:25, 6 September 2015 (UTC)
:Not to mention the self-referential "My very educated mother just showed us nine planets." [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.10|172.68.78.10]] 02:15, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

My personal favorite for taxonomy is "Dumb kids playing catch on freeways get squashed."[[User:RedHatGuy68|RedHatGuy68]] ([[User talk:RedHatGuy68|talk]]) 01:12, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
:Exactly what I was thinking. That one seems to be more traditional because I got taught that back in school. [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 03:43, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

Marx didn't "invent" either socialism or communism. Both terms predated him. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 17:09, 6 November 2016 (UTC)

1762: Moving Boxes

2017-03-24T01:15:34Z

172.68.132.77: Manifolds are spaces

{{comic
| number = 1762
| date = November 21, 2016
| title = Moving Boxes
| image = moving_boxes.png
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.

According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse, possibly because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious. Alternatively, labeling every box with the exact same phrase will make it even harder to figure out what they contain and where they should go in the new dwelling.

===Explanation of boxes===
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
!Label
!Explanation
|-
!Box 1
|-
|Grids|| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; they would be constructed by drawing them, not stored in a box (though {{w|graph paper}} might be). May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares".
|-
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, sometimes mistakenly called buffalo, are large animals that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.
|-
|Checkerboards||The tabletop gaming boards on which one plays {{w|English draughts|Checkers}}. It is also the name of the corresponding pattern, and thus can be interpreted as an abstract term like many other "objects" in this comic.
|-
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.
|-
!Box 2
|-
|Beacons||Beacons are devices designed to draw attention to themselves, for various reasons. From the generic term "beacon" this could mean anything from electronic GPS locator beacons to miniature replicas of naval lighthouses. Or, alternatively, it could be like what is referenced in the 7th panel of [[921: Delivery Notification]], which is used to summon elves (which happen to be in the same box).
|-
|Elves||Elves are a fictional race (or rather, many, many fictional races) of human-like magical creatures.
|-
|Sand||Sand grains are fine particles of rock. While it's not unheard of for people to need to store sand, it's usually not stored along with your personal belongings on moving day.
|-
!Box 3 - Blood
|-
|Hemoglobin||{{w|Hemoglobin}} is the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. This may be a solution of hemoglobin protein, but one human generally would not need a full box of it{{Citation needed}}.
|-
!Box 4
|-
|Water||As with sand, it's not unheard of for, say, a laboratory to store water samples for testing. But again, these wouldn't be stored along with your personal belongings on moving day. And if this is meant to be drinking water, it would be a waste of effort; it's taken as read that any house you're moving into has its own plumbing. Unless, of course, they insist on drinking bottled water (which some people do).
|-
|Hooves||{{w|Hooves}} are possibly best-known as horse and cow 'feet'. This could also be read as a compound word, Water-Hooves akin to water-wings.
|-
!Box 5 - Charadriiformes
|-
|Charadriiformes||{{w|Charadriiformes}} are a type of bird that contains (mostly) waterfowl. There are about 350 different species.
|-
|Shorebirds|| Also known as {{w|Wader|Waders}},these are an order of birds that wade in littoral waters.
|-
!Box 6 - Vector ?
|-
|Oil|| This could mean anything from cooking oil to petroleum; either way, most of a box full of oil bottles is unusual, but for different reasons (that's a lot of cooking oil, a ''lot'' of motor oil, and a comically small amount of crude oil).
|-
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are properties with magnitude and direction, such as velocity, momentum, acceleration, etc., but can depend on the context. In any situation, they are not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes. Alternatively "vector" could mean a carrier of a disease, such as ticks or mosquitos, but while more possible to box they would still not be practical to keep with common household goods and the intent of moving them as such would be dubious at best.
|-
|Silt|| Material between sand and clay size-wise. A sediment. See sand and water above for why this is unusual. Randall has a special place in his heart for rock particles of various sizes; see [https://what-if.xkcd.com/83/ What If #83].
|-
!Box 7
|-
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be, although these labels are incorrect.
|-
|Shards||These are broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.
|-
!Box 8
|-
|Shawls||{{w|Shawls}} are a simple item of clothing, worn loosely over one's shoulders. Also being of rectangular shape, they are supposed to be worn in colder weather.
|-
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.
|-
|Kits||A {{w|kit}} is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits... It can also refer to juveniles of some mammals, such as foxes or rabbits (it is not very likely that such animals would be packed in a box - though compare [[325: A-Minus-Minus]]). Alternatively, this may be a compound word "Glucose Kits", diabetic assay tools to help the patient regulate their blood sugar.
|-
!Box 9
|-
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire hydrant}}s are likely too big to fit in boxes, and are also simply odd objects to be packing into a box.
|-
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.
|-
|Knots||{{w|Knot}}s are things tied in ropes; they can hold things or just be there. This would be hard to put in a box without rope{{Citation needed}}. Could also refer to knots in a piece of {{w|wood}}, which are hard to put in the box without the rest of the wood. Knots could also refer to the {{w|Knot_(unit)|unit of speed}}, usually used in meteorology, and in maritime and air navigation which would be impossible to box as it is not a physical object.
|-
!Box 10 - Palette
|-
|Graphite||{{w|Graphite}} is a crystalline form of carbon, where the atoms are arranged in sheets. It is found in some household products (pencils and lubricant oil), though in either case the name of the end product would be a more likely box label. Graphite is also a color.
|-
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}} is a dark tan color in between brown and gray, again, not an object. May be a reference to Gliese 581f (a.k.a. Taupe Mars) from [[1253|xkcd #1253]].
|-
!Box 11 - Gaussian surface?
|-
|Field Lines||This could refer to {{w|field line}}s as used to depict electromagnetic fields, or possibly to the lines painted on an athletic field to mark the boundaries of play. The former are a visualization tool rather than physical objects; the latter consist of streaks of paint on grass or artificial turf, and thus neither kind of field line is the kind of physical object that could be packed into a box.
|-
!Box 12
|-
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps' from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]
|-
!Box 13
|-
|Edges||{{w|Edge_(geometry)|Edge}} is a line segment joining two vertices. Even though physical objects do have edges, you cannot store edges themselves as they are just mathematical constructs.
|-
|Tribes||{{w|Tribe}} is a social group of people, tribes existed before states were formed. It is impossible to store a group of people in the box{{Citation needed}}.
|-
|Dough||{{w|Dough}} is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic, paste made out of any grains, leguminous or chestnut crops. It is used in the process of cooking, but it doesn't make sense to pack it while moving.
|-
!Box 14
|-
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark matter}} is what believe to be a big part of the mass of galaxies, but we have never observed it, so it is not possible to pack it {{Citation needed}}. Alternatively, if all dark matter was permanently packed in boxes like this it would explain why it has never been observed. According to the Copenhagen interpretation of the uncertainty principle, dark matter may both the in the box and somewhere else in the universe until such a time that somebody open the box.
|-
!Box 15
|-
|Manifolds||In topology, {{w|Manifold|Manifolds}} are spaces with certain "nice" properties (i.e. they are locally Euclidean). This is yet another mathematical construct which is impossible to pack into a box. Manifold could also refer to a pipe or chamber branching into several openings, for example an engine exhaust manifold. While physical, it's unlikely that multiple are put in a box for moving.
|-
!Box 16
|-
|Triangles||Within the context of this comic, the reference is likely to the shape. On the other hand, it would not be unusual to pack one or more {{w|Triangle (musical instrument)}}s into a box.
|-
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}} is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.
|-
|Crowns|| These may be royal crowns, or may be the coin worth five shillings in UK pre-decimal currency.
|-
!Box 17
|-
|Scrolls||A {{w|scroll}} is a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing. It is a common item in fantasy games (as elves and traps).
|}

==Transcript==
:[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]
:{| class="wikitable"
| style="visibility:hidden" |
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |
Grids 
Bison 
Checkerboards 
Fog
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|
Beacons 
Elves 
Sand
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Hemoglobin
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Water 
Hooves
| style="visibility:hidden" |
|-|
| style="visibility:hidden" |
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Shorebirds
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Oil 
Vectors 
Silt
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Membranes 
Shards
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Shawls 
Glucose 
Kits
| style="visibility:hidden" |
|-|
| style="visibility:hidden" |
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Hydrants 
Particles 
Knots
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Graphite 
Taupe
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Field Lines
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Traps
| style="visibility:hidden" |
|-|
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Edges 
Tribes 
Dough
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Dark Matter
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Manifolds
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Triangles 
Peat 
Crowns
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Scrolls
|}

:[Caption: I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.]
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]

1757: November 2016

2017-03-23T18:35:31Z

172.68.132.77: Toy Story was the first DIGITALLY animated...

{{comic
| number = 1757
| date = November 9, 2016
| title = November 2016
| image = november_2016.png
| titletext = Once you've done this, make a note of how old they were. Then, when their age reaches double that, show them this chart again.
}}

==Explanation==
This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make you feel old]], following soon after the last one [[1745: Record Scratch]]. Not so long ago a comic with the very title of the largest bold letters in the caption above the panel was released: [[1686: Feel Old]].

Specifically this comic contains ''The '''November 2016''' Guide to making people feel old''. (The [[#Trivia|unusual title]] for the comic indicates that it only works during this month). It lists ages between 16 and 41 and links each age to one or more events that happened approximately half that age ago, so 8 years ago for the 16 years old and 20 years ago for the 40 years old etc, which means that a person of that age would have had the mentioned thing in their life for the majority of their life. And then it explains that to make a person of a given [age] feel old, look up the [thing] (or things) connected to it, and say:
:"Did you know [thing] has been around for the majority of your life?"
As an example the '''age 21''' can be used, as it list both the {{w|Xbox 360}} as well as this comic, [[xkcd]] itself. The two possible sentences would then be:
:"Did you know that the Xbox 360 has been around for the majority of your life?"
:"Did you know that xkcd has been around for the majority of your life?"

This matches earlier attempts to make people feel old by mentioning how long ago it was that, for instance, a movie comes out as was the case in [[891: Movie Ages]]. (But on this exact day when the comic was released there might have many people who did already feel old an tired - see [[#Trivia|trivia]]). When an event seems to have occurred recently to you, like seeing a movie when you were twenty (with {{w|Toy Story}}) and then suddenly realizing that this was 21 years ago, you will very likely feel old. Since humans' perception of time is not related to how much time has actually passed but rather to important memories, then memories like seeing the first feature-length fully computer-animated movie (Toy Story) makes a big impression and may stay vivid in peoples' memories. When they then, after hearing the sentence from this comic, realize that more than half their life has passed since that event, they realize how much time has passed and that makes them feel old.

This is why it affects a 20-year-old to hear that {{w|Twitter}} is ten years old, where this will not have the same impact on a 16-year-old, since they were so young when it came out that they probably feel like it has been around for ever, and you do not feel old by hearing, for instance, something like that the TV was invented before you were born. It thus makes sense to pick something that happened almost midway through a person's life, because they then realize they are now double as old as when they first heard of Twitter. Of course also many ten years old would not have been active on Twitter when it was released, so it may not have that big an impact on those 20 years old today.

Actually many of the chosen things are something that [[Randall]] specifically has interest in and several of the chosen events or movies relates to things that are recurring subjects in xkcd, as can be seen by the long list of categories that belongs to this comic. And while movie series like {{w|Star Wars}}, {{w|The Matrix}}, {{w|X-Men}}, {{w|Shrek}} and Toy Story are probably well known to most of xkcd readers as are games like {{w|The Sims}} and {{w|Pokémon}}, books like {{w|Harry Potter}} and comics like {{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}, then there are other things that are either only known to xkcd readers, basically not to anyone or at least not to people who where only 8-12 years old when the thing occurred. And if the person was not even aware of the specific thing existing, or at least not aware of it at the time when it was new, then the impact of saying the sentence to them will be little to none. Basically the first three ages, 16-18 years, would fall into this category. At 8 years old you are not supposed to play any version of {{w|Grand Theft Auto}} (not that some might not do it), and {{w|Rickrolling}} is also mainly for young adults, not 8-9 years old children. Worst of all is the reference for age 18 to the, probably mostly unknown, movie {{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}, which is directed at adults, and thus definitely not at those children that where 9 years old when it was released.

{{w|Nintendo Wii}} for people at 10 years old is the first that might make an impact, as will Xbox 360, but then again not xkcd, which is not directed at 10-11 years old children. But, the entire comic is mainly made to make readers of xkcd feel old by letting them know how long all these items are. But for the big movies and events that most people know about, it might also work on people not interested in xkcd. See more regarding if the sentence would work or not in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below.

The joke at the end is that people over 41 don't need anything to make them feel old, because they already feel old. He thus teases people above 41 years old by claiming they are old, although many people (above 40) would claim you are not old before you retire. This trick was also used to cap the above mentioned [[891: Movie Ages]] to 35 years old, stating anyone as older was already old. But that comic was also released five years ago, and now Randall is himself closing in on 35 at 32 years at the time of this comics release. So he pushed the limit 6 years further, probably for this reason. Now he no longer thinks people at 36 are too old to try to make them feel old. It may be a coincidence, but still interesting, that he stopped the list just before 42, a number Randall has referred to many times in relation to it being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}.

For something to have existed for the majority of someones life, it is supposed to be older than half the persons age, but it seems Randall went for just about half the age. For instance for a 35-year-old person (born 1981), it lists the release of the movie {{w|The Matrix}}, which was released March 31, 1999 making it very close to 17.5 years ago, fitting with half of 35 years. For the 41-year-old it is slightly more than half of their life that has included the movie {{w|Toy Story}}, which was released almost exactly 21 years before this comic in November 1995, compared to the 20.5 years from half of 41 years. The only entry on the list that seems to veer more than half a year from the half age is the one for {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuned}} hit songs which seems to refer to 1998, maybe specifically starting with {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' released on October 19, 1998, making it 18 years ago. But it is listed together with the age 33 years, which should thus have been connected with something around 16.5 years old (16-17 years). However, this entry is also one of the less time specific. However, the rule still applies, it's just the only one where it is such a big majority of the persons age (18 years in their life 15 years not in their life). See more in the [[#Table for the guide|table]] below.

The title text points out that the same chart can be used for the same person once they are twice as old. So it urges the user to note down the age of the person it was used on, and then wait until their age reaches double that. So for a 16-year-old that would only be 16 more years until they are 32, but for a 41-year-old it would have to wait until they are 82 years old. When showing them this chart, they will realize that this has existed for half of their life and again have the same type of "feeling old" that this comic is supposed to instigate today.(It will work better if they still remember the joke made on them those many years ago)...

==Table for the guide==
*Explanation of table:
**Persons age as given in the comic.
**Persons birth year. 2016 minus persons age.
**Date of things. For instance a release date, the year that a thing began/happened or a year where it became a phenomenon (in the US that is, in case if was already a phenomenon somewhere else first).
**Things as given in the comic. There can be more than one "thing" for each age, so it should be things in plural form.
**Half age - Persons age divided by two, so either an integer or a half integer (10 or 10.5). This number should never be higher than the last column, which is also the case, when taking release dates into account.
**Years ago - the number of years since the things became "a thing". In order for this thing to have been in a persons life for the majority of their life this need to be larger (or at least equal) than half that persons age. So this number should be larger than the column before. If there are more than one thing for a given age, the average year for these things are taken and used to calculate the number of years. This number should be given with a decimal, and not necessarily in half years. Only one of the entries are more than one year higher than the half age. This has been highlighted in '''bold'''.

{| class = "wikitable"
! Age
! Birth year
! Date of things
! Things
! Explanation
! Half age
! Years ago
|-
| 16
| 2000
| April 29, 2008
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''
| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series. The games are often rated as Mature (and thus aimed at adults) and this entrance should not really affect 16 year old persons, which may have tried the game now, but should not have played the game when they where only 8 years old.
| 8
| 8.5
|-
| 17
| 1999
| May 2007
| {{w|Rickrolling}}
| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}". A type of bait and switch which has been [[:Category:Rickrolling|referred to often]] in xkcd. Since this was aimed at people knowing the song (from 1987) and also people being on-line, mainly young adults, then this entrance should not really affect 17 year old persons who is unlikely to have been rickrolled when they where only 8.5 years old.
| 8.5
| 9.5
|-
| 18
| 1998
| April 13, 2007
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}
| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}''. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on is for adults, and the person this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and will thus not even recognize the reference. And then the joke will fail as they will not feel old. Probably very few people in general had heard of this movie, which is probably part of the comics joke in the first place.
| 9
| 9.6
|-
| 19
| 1997
| November 19, 2006
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}
| 2006 is the time when the Nintendo Wii was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012. This sentence is likely to work as 10 years old is likely to play Wii and thus as 20 year old remember the time before, and be surprised at how long time it is since they played Wii the first time, and feel old. It is the first sentence that might actually work.
| 9.5
| 10.0
|-
| 20
| 1996
| March 2006
| {{w|Twitter}}
| 2006 was a big year, in that it lead to the creation of Twitter, a social networking service that is still used to this day. Although not unlikely, there were probably few 10-11 years old that used Twitter the first year of it's release, and thus not many 20 year old people today would have been active on Twitter ten years ago, and for all those this will fail to make an impact-
| 10
| 10.7
|-
| 21
| 1995
| November 22, 2005 (Xbox 360), September 30, 2005 (xkcd)
| The {{w|Xbox 360}}, {{w|xkcd}}
| 2005 led to the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 where the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first 13 comics]] where released on [[LiveJournal]] on September 30, 2005 and thus fits the criteria of the comic (and as a call back to the recent [[1750: Life Goals]] he has two x words in the same sentence, which where also both used in that comic). (Average release date for the two was October 25, 2005). The Xbox will work on the 21 year old person, similar to the reason the Wii above would work. xkcd would not as it is not a comic directed at 10-11 year old persons, who would thus not have any feelings towards that part. But it is also just included as a self-reference and to make faithful xkcd readers feel old. "Is it really more than 10 years ago I read it first..."
| 10.5
| 11.0
|-
| 22
| 1994
| 2005 (no specific date)
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}
| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} which began to appear on the Internet in early 2005. But to begin with they where not centered on him but rather on {{w|Vin Diesel}} which makes it difficult to put any more precise date on it than during the year 2005. Chuck Norris has {{w|Chuck_Norris_facts#Norris.27_response|replied to these factoids}} more than once, but the first time was in December 2006, almost two years after the trend might have started out. Since these facts are mainly based on his series {{w|Walker, Texas Ranger}} running from 1993-2001, thus ending when the 22 years old of today was only 7 years old, they have never been the target group for the crazy Chuck Norris Facts. And it is thus also unlikely that they where much impacted by them when they where 11-12 years old. It thus seems unlikely that this sentence would work.
| 11
| 11.5
|-
| 23
| 1993
| January 25, 2004
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a {{w|Mars rover}} that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004. There is already a comic called and genreally Mars Rovers are a [[:Category:Mars rovers|recurring subject]] on xkcd. This sentence will work on 23 year-olds who as a kid followed every missions to Mars, and that is not unlikely to happen for an 11.5 year old kid. Especially if they today are interested in xkcd. But for people that did not have that interest it may have no effect to use this sentence.
| 11.5
| 12.8
|-
| 24
| 1992
| February 4, 2004
| {{w|Facebook}}
| Facebook was a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}} and quickly dominated as the #1 most used social networking service of all time. Since kids under 13 are not allowed on Facebook the 24 years old could not have signed up at the time of its foundation. But when it was opened up for anyone in 2006, they would have been 14 years of age. But that would then only have been 10 years ago. So in principle this would not really work as well. However, everyone today knows about Facebook, and to learn that it has existed half of your life may still make you feel old. The xkcd user may feel old learning that it is 12 years ago that it came into existence, and then this entrance would have fulfilled it's purpose anyway.
| 12
| 12.8
|-
| 25
| 1991
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail), July 9, 2003 (''Pirates of the Caribbean'')
| {{w|Gmail}}, ''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''
| Gmail is an email service created by Google as a replacement to {{w|Hotmail}}. It was originally invitation-only (until 2007), and not marketed to kids, so it is unlikely that many 13 year olds would have been using it in 2004; however, it had since grown in popularity, and a lot of 25 year olds would be using it today. ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', a popular movie franchise, had its first movie {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}} debut in 2003, then three more movies followed before the release of this comic. (Average date is November 4, 2003). The movie was rated PG-13 and would likely have been a hit among 12-13 year old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. It is questionable how many kids of that age had a Gmail address at that time though.
| 12.5
| 13.0
|-
| 26
| 1990
| January 7, 2003
| {{w|In da Club}}
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}. This song is directed at adults, and thus not at kids of 13 years old, so it seem unlikely that it would be an memorable event that this hit song came out for those that are 26 years old today.
| 13
| 13.8
|-
| 27
| 1989
| September 20, 2002
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''
| ''Firefly'' is a space western drama TV series created by {{w|Joss Whedon}}, that became a cult classic. This may be Randall's favorite TV series, and it has been [[:Category:Firefly|referenced often]] in xkcd, but it was not aimed at children, and it is likely that a given 27 year old person did not see this series when it aired, and thus the impact would be small.
| 13.5
| 14.1
|-
| 28
| 1988
| October 7, 2001
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}. Altough many 14 years old would not be following the news on war that closely, this war was based on {{w|9/11}} which would have affected most people, and certainly 14 year old kids in the US, and thus it is likely that the sentence would work on those 28 years old today. Randall could for even better effect have used 9/11 as the reference.
| 14
| 15.1
|-
| 29
| 1987
| October 23, 2001
| The {{w|iPod}}
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple Inc.}} in 2001 as a replacement for MP3 players. This would probably work on lots of 29 year-olds, as 14-15 year old kids are likely to have had (or wished they had) and iPod.
| 14.5
| 15.0
|-
| 30
| 1986
| May 18, 2001 (''Shrek''), January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)
| ''{{w|Shrek}}'', {{w|Wikipedia}}
| ''Shrek'' is a popular parody film about fairy tales based on the book of the same name (three other movies has followed since then before the release of this comic). It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it 3 sequels and a franchise. Wikipedia is a website dedicated to looking up information based on specific topics, created in 2001 (and massively linked to from this website, which even have a [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia category]] for comics like this that references the website directly). (Average date is March 17, 2001). Although the movie was rated PG it was a big hit among any ages and 15 year old kids is likely to have seen and loved the movie, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence. It is questionable how many kids of that age had used Wikipedia at the time when it was launched. Because at that time the number of articles was limited and it was not like today where 15 year old school children would use it to look up things. But of course realizing that before that time you had to use paper encyclopedias for all the thing you today look up on-line on Wikipedia may still make a 30 year old feel old. As will many xkcd readers regardless of age. "Is it only 15 years ago we could not use Wikipedia..."
| 15
| 15.8
|-
| 31
| 1985
| July 14, 2000
| Those X-Men movies
| The {{w|X-Men (film series)|X-Men}} film series, probably only referring to the first trilogy (''{{w|X-Men (film)|X-Men}}'' (July 14, 2000), ''{{w|X2 (film)|X2}}'' (May 2, 2003), ''{{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}'' (May 26, 2006) - us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 15 years ago, less than the 15.5 half age for a 31 year old person. The X-Men movie was rated PG-13 and 15-16 year old kids is likely to have loved seeing this movie, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence.
| 15.5
| 16.3
|-
| 32
| 1984
| February 4, 2000
| ''{{w|The Sims}}''
| ''The Sims'' is a video game created by Maxis in 2000 as a simulation game where you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch. It seems likely that many people interested in playing computer games (when they were kids) would have played The Sims, and thus it seems likely that this sentence could have an effect on many 32 year old people. But not those that had no interest in computer games. Of course they are not so likely to read xkcd. This was the one that Randall should have used on himself to feel old, as he had just turned 32 years old a few weeks before the release of this comic.
| 16
| 16.8
|-
| 33
| 1983
| October 19, 1998
| Autotuned hit songs
| 1998 was the time period when people realized the capabilities of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'' from October 19, 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that people really noticed this effect. This is the only entry where there seems to be more than one year between the age of the ting and the half age of the person. But it is also one of the entries where specific dating is difficult to place. Due to the unspecific date of this thing, it can be a little difficult to judge how well it would affect 33 year old people, but as autotuning has been a standard for many years, it may make one feel old to know it has been like that half your life. On the other hand maybe people cannot even remember how it was before...
| 16.5
| '''18.1'''
|-
| 34
| 1982
| May 19, 1999
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy (''{{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}'' (May 19, 1999), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}'' (May 16, 2002), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}'' (May 19, 2005), us release dates). The {{w|Star Wars}} universe is most likely the [[:Category:Star Wars|most referenced]] movie universe in xkcd. The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average day would only be 16 years ago, less than the 17 half age for a 34 year old person. These movies has likely been awaited with excitement by many 17 year old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence.
| 17
| 17.5
|-
| 35
| 1981
| March 31, 1999
| ''{{w|The Matrix}}''
| Action film created by {{w|The Wachowskis}} (formerly known, at the time of ''The Matrix'', as The Wachowski Brothers). Two more films followed, although they were widely regarded as inferior to the first (by for instance by Randall as seen in [[566: Matrix Revisited]]). The Matrix was something new and is likely to have influenced 17-18 years old kids, and this would likely have an affect to use in a sentence.
| 17.5
| 17.6
|-
| 36
| 1980
| September 28, 1998
| {{w|Pokémon Red & Blue}}
| A popular video game franchise in the {{w|Pokémon}} series, a series [[:Category:Pokémon|often referenced]] in xkcd. The game was first released in Japan in 1996, but not in North America until 1998. It seems likely that many people interested in playing computer games (when they were kids) would have played Pokémon games and thus in particular this version released when the target group was 18 years old. It thus seems likely that this sentence could have an effect on many 36 year old people. But not those that had no interest in computer games. Of course they are not so likely to read xkcd.
| 18
| 18.1
|-
| 37
| 1979
| April 29, 1997 (Netflix), June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter), September 15, 1997 (Google)
| {{w|Netflix}}, {{w|Harry Potter}}, {{w|Google}}
| All three are major things still today 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered. (Average date is 03-07-1997). Harry Potter is widely read, but at the time of it's release it was probably not at first taken up by those of 18-19 year old. That may have first come later, maybe with the release of the {{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|first movies}} in 2001, four years later. It may this not be the best example for this age group. Also using Google and Netflix just when they where launched may also not have been so popular among 18-19 year olds in 1997. But still all three things are big and to realize that they have been in half of you life, may still work in making you feel old.
| 18.5
| 19.4
|-
| 38
| 1978
| May 11, 1997
| Deep Blue's Victory
| {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in a match in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions. Randall has a great interest in {{w|chess}} and it is a [[:Category:Chess|recurrent subject]] on xkcd. But unless the 38 year old is a bit interested in chess they may not even now what Deep Blue is let alone have any relation to how long ago the victory occurred. But chess players, would have noticed this particular day where humanity was beaten by a computer, especially if they where 19 at the time.
| 19
| 19.5
|-
| 39
| 1977
| September 13, 1996
| {{w|Murder of Tupac Shakur|Tupac's Death}}
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996. Since he has two of the best selling albums in the United States and has been ranked as one of the greatest artists of all (Rolling Stone ranked him 86/100) it seems likely that many 39 year olds would be affected by the sentence. For fans of Tupac his death would come a s shock. He likely had many of those among those 19-20 year old at the time of his murder. For people not interested in rap music at all it may have little to no impact though.
| 19.5
| 20.2
|-
| 40
| 1976
| December 31, 1995
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip]
| ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'' is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. It is a [[:Category:Calvin and Hobbes|recurring subject]] on xkcd . Although this comic was not mainly aimed at 20 year old people, it would have had a lot of fans among people that are 40 today. But also many would have found the series later. It is thus very likely that this sentence would work, especially on fans of xkcd.
| 20
| 20.9
|-
| 41
| 1975
| November 22, 1995
| ''{{w|Toy Story}}''
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' was the first feature length digitally-animated film to be released theatrically (and also Pixar's first feature film). Given that this was the first film of it's kind many 20-21 year old would have seen it when it came out. However, there would also be many in that age group that would consider it a children's movie and choose not to see it. For those the sentence would not work, but for many xkcd fans, such movies are a big thing and for anyone who saw this movie (and the two follow up movies) the sentence would work perfectly. As a side note those of 41 year old when reading this comic in November 2016, will feel young instead, when they see that they are the last in the list that have a sentence when they read the final entry here below. So the comic may actually have some type of opposite effect on them.
| 20.5
| 21.0
|-
| >41
| Before 1975
| N/A
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
| This joke is that people who are legitimately old already feel old. This could also be a reference to the number 42, Randall having stopped when this number was supposed to occur, 42 being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]] and in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|messages in the ''Play Area'']] of [[1608: Hoverboard]]. Showing people of 42 years or older this chart, would make them feel old when they look for their age and find this. It may also make older readers of xkcd disappointing, not to get a chance to make a sentence. (See the opposite effect mentioned for the 41 years old above).
| >20.5
| N/A
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:The November 2016
:<big>Guide to making people</big>
:<big><big>'''feel old'''</big></big>

:[A chart with a list of items to be put into the two first lines above the chart. First there are a line using the first column, then there are two lines using the second column. Below those lines are the two columns with underlined captions above. Between the columns are a long line connecting the two.]
:If they're [age], you say:
:<big>"Did you know</big> [thing] <big>has been around for the majority of your life?"</big>

:{| class = "wikitable"
! Age
! Thing
|-
| 16
| Grand Theft Auto IV
|-
| 17
| Rickrolling
|-
| 18
| ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'''
|-
| 19
| The Nintendo Wii
|-
| 20
| Twitter
|-
| 21
| The Xbox 360, xkcd
|-
| 22
| Chuck Norris Facts
|-
| 23
| Opportunity's Mars Exploration
|-
| 24
| Facebook
|-
| 25
| Gmail, ''Pirates of the Caribbean''
|-
| 26
| In da Club
|-
| 27
| ''Firefly''
|-
| 28
| The War in Afghanistan
|-
| 29
| The iPod
|-
| 30
| ''Shrek'', Wikipedia
|-
| 31
| Those X-Men movies
|-
| 32
| ''The Sims''
|-
| 33
| Autotuned hit songs
|-
| 34
| The ''Star Wars'' prequels
|-
| 35
| ''The Matrix''
|-
| 36
| ''Pokémon Red&Blue''
|-
| 37
| Netflix, ''Harry Potter'', Google
|-
| 38
| Deep Blue's Victory
|-
| 39
| Tupac's Death
|-
| 40
| The last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip
|-
| 41
| ''Toy Story''
|-
| >41
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
|}

==Trivia==
*The title of this comic is special, and the like has never been seen before. Months have been included in the titles before, and also years, but never like this with a month and a year.
**Of course this also indicates that this comic only really work during November 2016.
**Three earlier comics has used month names in the title, two with specific holliday dates, and one with the month as part of a rhyme:
***[[656: October 30th]]
***[[680: December 25th]]
***[[1595: 30 Days Hath September]]
**And just a year has been used thrice (including 2016):
***[[998: 2012]]
***[[1311: 2014]]
***[[1624: 2016]]
*As a side note to the whole idea about feeling old, the chosen release day might not have been the most relevant to post such a comic.
**This comic was released just past midnight on the day that the result of the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} was determined (i.e. the day after the election on November 8th 2016), so before anything was determined but likely at a time when the first polls showed which way it might end.
**In the previous comic [[1756: I'm With Her]], from Monday the day before the election, Randall had {{w|Political endorsement|endorsed}} {{w|Hillary Clinton}} from the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic Party}}.
**Thus a 600 days election campaign finished on this day. It was a very controversial election and the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee {{w|Donald Trump}} became {{w|President-elect of the United States}} after winning the election.
**This result had been feared to happen by half of the people of the united states, and the other half had feared that Clinton would win. And many people thus stayed up to follow the election all night. And now the whole thing is over, and the headache starts.
**And on this day Randall tries to make people feel old... It seems likely he did not need to try so hard, as lots of people probably felt much older than their years after all this!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Firefly]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Chess]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Calvin and Hobbes]]

1683: Digital Data

2017-03-13T21:06:26Z

172.68.132.77: removed a duplicate word: you're

{{comic
| number = 1683
| date = May 20, 2016
| title = Digital Data
| image = digital_data.png
| titletext = â€&oelig;If you can read this, congratulationsâ€”the archive youâ€™re using still knows about the mouseover textâ€!
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Digital information}} has the potential to be copied such that the copy is 100% identical to the original. While physical media themselves (such as books, or hard drives) and information stored by analog means may degrade as the universe continues, digital information as expressed by specific values, such as combinations of binary zeros and ones, does not decay over time and can be copied indefinitely with no changes.

However, in this comic, [[Randall]] points out that while digital information itself doesn't need to degrade, things that are on the Internet are often degraded through copying when the copy is not a 1:1 copy or changes are deliberately introduced. In addition, as technology advances, the method to save or call the information changes and the medium to view it changes, occasionally causing misinterpreted information. (This is also demonstrated with the title text.) As the frames continue, they gain the appearance of images which have been screenshotted repeatedly, with a resulting loss of quality due to compression of the original resolution and {{w|JPEG}} {{w|compression artifact|artifacting}}. (The JPEG format is intended for representing photorealistic grayscale or color images; when misused for line drawings, such as comic strips, any compression artifacts become particularly noticeable, as the background is normally of completely uniform color.) In the last frame, this is taken to an extreme, as the frame appears to have been very sloppily screenshotted off of at least two different smartphones (not the same device that uses the bottom frame in the third panel as the top border in panel four), and the final image is covered both with a watermark from an unregistered screenshot program, as well as references to at least two different web sites: {{w|9GAG}} (bottom right image) and {{w|Tumblr}} in the web address bottom left. 9GAG is an online platform and social media website where users upload and share content of their own, or of other networks. It is often accused of rehosting other sites' funny content without attribution and adding their own watermark to the image or video.


The title text is seemingly addressed to a reader in the future who will only be able to access xkcd through a {{w|digital archive}}. Digital information might not degrade with time, but it can't be properly displayed without knowledge of the encoding. As new encodings and file formats get developed and old ones abandoned, the webpage format of the comic might not be available in the future, when users would need special archives to view content from today's world. The title text contains seemingly {{w|mojibake|garbage characters}}, which typically result from data being interpreted according to a {{w|character encoding}} different from the one used to encode it. In this case, the characters are the result of encoding the string <tt>“If you can read this, congratulations—the archive you’re using still knows about the mouseover text”!</tt> using {{w|UTF-8}} (which represents non-{{w|ASCII}} {{w|Unicode}} characters as multibyte sequences) and then interpreting the resulting bytes as the still commonly used {{w|Windows-1252}} encoding (which uses only one byte per character, but utilizes the non-ASCII codepoints for a limited selection of extra letters and symbols such as "â" or "€"). This shows that degradation of digital data through conversions isn't restricted to images. Furthermore, as screen navigation moves away from the mouse toward touch, voice recognition, and modes still to be implemented, mouseover text will itself become archaic.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and a White Hat are walking, Cueball holds both hands in front of him palms up.]
:Cueball: The great thing about digital data is that it never degrades.

:[They walk on in the next panel which shows jpeg compression artifacts, as if it is a screen shot of the actual image.]
:Cueball: Hard drives fail, of course, but their bits can be copied forever without loss.

:[They continue walking in the third panel which is now clearly pixelated, the white is slightly discolored, and it contains part of the interface of some program, probably supposed to be a screen shot from a smartphone. At the bottom there are three blue buttons and one gray. the first is a blue "<" indicating back in a browser. Then a grayed out ">" that is not active. And then three more standard buttons in blue to the right of those two. The interface matches that of an iPhone running Safari in iOS 9 (or other versions with the same Safari UI (probably iOS 7-9))]
:Cueball: Film degrades, paint cracks, but a copy of a century-old data file is identical to the original.

:[Still walking, now Cueball holds out both arms to the sides, and finally White Hat replies. This panel is heavily pixelated and discolored and has a distorted aspect ratio. It contains a clear watermark of 9GAG (although difficult to read all letters in the end of the first word), even more 'frame' elements, and text above the image at the bottom (where the last letter is obscured by the frame of the image). There is also an internet address at the bottom left, but it is not readable except for the .tumblr.com ending. In this panel it is clear that it is a screen shot from a smart phone. The frame around the image obscure the very top of Cueball's text and the half of the last letter in White Hat's reply.]
:Cueball: If humanity has a permanent record, we are the first generation in it.
:White Hat: Amazing

:Watermark: Screenshotpro 2
:Watermark: ~Unregistered~

:Top border: Verizon LTE '''4:45 PM'''
:Bottom text [slightly cut off]: 9GAG
:Internet address at the bottom [nearly unintelligible]: [ama].tumblr.com

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Self-reference]]

1679: Substitutions 3

2017-03-09T02:13:17Z

172.68.132.77: /* This is the third comic, not the first */

{{comic
| number = 1679
| date = May 11, 2016
| title = Substitutions 3
| image = substitutions_3.png
| titletext = BREAKING: Channing Tatum and his friends explore haunted city
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third comic in the [[:Category:Substitution series|Substitution series]] where [[Randall]] has suggested substitutions that will make reading the news more fun. This time it will be even '''more''' fun! But there have been several [[:Category:Substitutions|comics using substitutions]] both before and after these ones.

The series as of 2016:
*[[1288: Substitutions]]
*[[1625: Substitutions 2]]
*[[1679: Substitutions 3]]

The title text in original form would be "Scientists explore ancient city", which most would consider a fairly bland headline. Two days before this comic came out, there was [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/forgotten-mayan-city-discovered-in-central-america-by-15-year-old-a7021291.html news] that a potential ancient Mayan city had been found by a 15 year old boy through satellite imagery, which may be what Randall was referencing. The Mayan city has now been proven inexistent. Imagining Channing Tatum and his "friends", and pretending that the city is haunted, provides a much more dramatic setting mirroring many episodes (and later films) of ''Scooby Doo'' featuring a gang of friends (Mysteries, Inc.).

===Table of Substitutions===
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! Original word/phrase !! Meaning !! Substitution !! New meaning
|-
| Gaffe || A social mistake, faux pas || Magic spell || A form of sorcery
|-
| Ancient || Very old || Haunted || Occupied by ghosts, spirits, etc., spooky
|-
| Star-studded || Featuring a lot of popular celebrities || Blood-soaked || Full of blood, or a place where a lot of violent deaths occurred
|-
| Remains to be seen || Unknown as of yet, speculative || Will never be known || Can never be determined, final statement indicating we've given up trying to understand, etc.
|-
| Silver bullet || Perfect solution || Way to kill werewolves || In {{w|werewolf}} folklore, a {{w|silver bullet}} was usually the only way to actually kill a werewolf. The phrase "silver bullet" is usually used to mean something like "perfect solution" — this substitution suggests the more literal meaning of the phrase.
|-
| Subway system || A network of underground tunnels for commuter trains || Tunnels I found || A more personal and colloquial way to refer to underground tunnels, as though they had just been discovered for the first time.
|-
| Surprising || Unexpected || Surprising (but not to me) || The speaker/writer claims that everyone else is surprised by something, but he/she had anticipated it all along.
|-
| War of words || Public arguments, smear campaigns, etc. || Interplanetary war || A major conflict involving the civilizations of multiple planets. ({{w|Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy|"Well, that escalated quickly."}})
|-
| Tension || Anxiety, conflict between people or groups || Sexual tension || Situation in which two or more people attempt to avoid acknowledging being sexually attracted each other.
|-
| Cautiously optimistic || A guarded statement of optimism about a situation || Delusional || Firmly believing something in spite of clear evidence to the contrary
|-
| {{w|Doctor Who}} || Popular sci-fi TV series about time travel || {{w|The Big Bang Theory}} || A different TV comedy series about scientifically-gifted and socially awkward friends.
|-
| Win votes || To make a politician more popular and more likely to win an election || Find {{w|Pokémon}} || To collect virtual creatures in a popular video game series
|-
| Behind the headlines || Usually, to go into greater depth on a news story || Beyond the grave || To communicate with (or experience) life after death
|-
| Email / {{w|Facebook}} post / {{w|Twitter|Tweet}} || All forms of electronic communication. The last two are forms of social networking. || Poem || An artistic form of writing that usually involves rhyming and meter.
|-
| Facebook CEO || At time of writing, {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}} || This guy || Any generic person. Sometimes used in a derogatory fashion, or to refer to one's self.
|-
| Latest || The most recent in a series || Final || The last entry in a series (as in, there won't be any more).
|-
| Disrupt || Interrupt, temporarily hinder || Destroy || Make completely inoperable, remove all trace of, etc.
|-
| Meeting || A gathering of people to discuss a topic, as in business || Ménage à trois || One or more sex acts performed among three people.
|-
| Scientists || A group of people considered authorities in various scientific realms of study || {{w|Channing Tatum}} and his friends || A famous actor and a group of people closely associated with him. The name was likely chosen at random.
|-
| You won't believe || A catchphrase used in "click-bait" headlines to attract attention and traffic || I'm really sad about || A different catchphrase expressing disappointment in the topic
|}

===Real life examples===
*Remains to be seen ➜ Will never be known
**[http://english.cri.cn/12394/2016/04/30/4203s926079.htm Japan's Sincerity in Improving Bilateral Ties Will Never Be Known]
*Cautiously optimistic ➜ Delusional
**[http://jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14455:london-jews-cautiously-optimistic-about-first-ever-muslim-mayor&catid=106:international&Itemid=289 London Jews Delusional About First-Ever Muslim Mayor]
*Silver Bullet ➜ Way to Kill Werewolves
**[http://moneymorning.com/2016/05/10/why-no-silver-bullet-will-ever-kill-crude-oil/ Why no Way to Kill Werewolves will Kill Crude Oil]
* Tension ➜ Sexual Tension; Meeting ➜ Ménage à Trois
**[http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2016/05/09/2016-race-roundup-tension-between-trumpryan-ahead-of-thursday-meeting-n2160407 Sexual Tension Between Trump-Ryan Ahead of Thursday Ménage à Trois]
*Gaffe ➜ Magic Spell
**[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2016/may/11/david-cameron-corruption-remark-gaffe Was David Cameron's corruption remark really a magic spell?]
*Ancient ➜ Haunted
**[http://gizmodo.com/teen-discovers-lost-maya-city-using-ancient-star-maps-1775735999 Teen Discovers Lost Maya City Using Haunted Star Maps]
*Star-Studded ➜ Blood-Soaked
**[http://ewn.co.za/2016/05/11/Woody-Allen-tops-bill-at-star-studded-Cannes-festival Woody Allen tops bill at blood-soaked Cannes Festival]
*Subway system ➜ Tunnels I found
**[http://pix11.com/2016/05/09/dhs-releasing-harmless-gas-in-nyc-subway-system-to-test-bioterror-airflow/ DHS releasing harmless gas in NYC tunnels I found to prepare for possible attack]
*Surprising ➜ Surprising (but not to me)
**[http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/05/11/476198119/a-surprising-japanese-presence-in-central-ohio A Surprising (But Not to Me) Japanese Presence In Central Ohio]
*War of Words ➜ Interplanetary War
**[http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/road-caves-in-leading-to-war-of-words-between-aiadmk-and-dmk/article8577830.ece Road caves in leading to interplanetary war between AIADMK and DMK]
*Tension ➜ Sexual Tension
**[http://allafrica.com/stories/201605111244.html Uganda: Use Swearing-in to Ease Sexual Tension]
*Doctor Who ➜ The Big Bang Theory
**[http://www.themarysue.com/doctor-who-trans-identity/ On The Big Bang Theory and My Struggle With My Trans Identity]
*Win votes ➜ Find Pokémon
**[http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14479510.Jeremy_Corbyn_must_urgently_develop_strategy_to_win_votes__warns_failed_leadership_candidate_Yvette_Cooper/ Labour's Jeremy Corbyn must urgently develop strategy to find Pokémon, warns failed leadership candidate Yvette Cooper]
*Behind the headlines ➜ Beyond the grave
**[http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/411443/behind-the-headlines-the-erev-pesach-story-we-all-should-be-talking-about.html Beyond the Grave: The Erev Pesach Story We All Should Be Talking About]
*Email / Facebook Post / Tweet ➜ Poem
**[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wtae-anchor-and-reporter-wendy-bell-apologizes-for-facebook-post-that-could-be-viewed-as-racist/ TV anchor admits poem about fatal shooting "could be viewed as racist"]
*Facebook CEO ➜ This guy
**[http://hotair.com/archives/2016/05/10/senator-thune-demands-answers-from-facebook-about-news-bias/ Senator Thune demands answers from this guy about news bias]
*Latest ➜ Final
**[http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/11/garmin-forerunner-735xt-running-watch/ Garmin's final running watch tracks your suffering]
*Disrupt ➜ Destroy
**[https://news.fastcompany.com/amazon-thinks-it-can-disrupt-youtube-4006719 Amazon thinks it can destroy YouTube]
*Scientists ➜ Channing Tatum and his friends
**[http://www.futurity.org/memory-acetylcholine-ptsd-1159862-2/ Channing Tatum and his friends test a way to erase scary memories]
*You won't believe ➜ I'm really sad about
**[http://www.komando.com/happening-now/357958/iphone-7-rumor-you-wont-believe-what-it-looks-like iPhone 7 rumor: I'm really sad about what it looks like]

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Transcripts are also for the blind. Do not include formatting like tables in transcripts.}}
:[Caption above the panel:]
:Even More
:<big>'''Substitutions'''</big>
:That make reading the news more fun

:[A table of words/sentences on the left that change in to those on the left. Between each set of words there is an arrow pointing from right.]
:{|
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Gaffe
| ➜
| Magic spell
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Ancient
| ➜
| Haunted
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Star-Studded
| ➜
| Blood-soaked
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Remains to be seen
| ➜
| Will never be known
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Silver bullet
| ➜
| Way to kill werewolves
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Subway system
| ➜
| Tunnels I found
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Surprising
| ➜
| Surprising (but not to me)
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | War of words
| ➜
| Interplanetary war
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Tension
| ➜
| Sexual tension
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Cautiously optimistic
| ➜
| Delusional
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Doctor Who
| ➜
| The Big Bang Theory
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Win votes
| ➜
| Find Pokémon
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Behind the headlines
| ➜
| Beyond the grave
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Email \
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Facebook Post
| ➜
| Poem
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Tweet /
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Facebook CEO
| ➜
| This guy
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Latest
| ➜
| Final
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Disrupt
| ➜
| Destroy
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Meeting
| ➜
| Ménage à trois
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | Scientists
| ➜
| Channing Tatum and his friends
|-
| style="text-align:right;" | You won't believe
| ➜
| I'm really sad about
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Substitution series]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Substitutions]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Doctor Who]]

1668: Singularity

2017-03-07T22:09:58Z

172.68.132.77: /* Added a mention of the term AI takeoff */

{{comic
| number = 1668
| date = April 15, 2016
| title = Singularity
| image = singularity.png
| titletext = I figured that now that society has collapsed, I wouldn't need to wear clothes anymore, but apparently that violates some weird rule of quantum gravity.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|technological singularity}} is a hypothetical event in which {{w|artificial intelligence}} (for example, intelligent computers, computer networks, or robots) would be capable of recursive self-improvement (progressively redesigning itself), or of autonomously building ever smarter and more powerful minds than itself, up to the point of a runaway effect — an intelligence explosion — that yields an intelligence surpassing all current human control or understanding. Because the capabilities of such a superintelligence may be impossible for a human to comprehend, the technological singularity is the point beyond which events may become unpredictable or even unfathomable to human intelligence. This is also commonly referred to as "takeoff" or "AI takeoff".

In this case, the singularity has occurred, and [[Cueball]] who was in the middle of editing a file on his laptop is flustered that it flies away without even letting him print it first.

When Cueball returns from chasing his flying laptop his smartphone informs him that it didn't join the singularity because it was not a "true believer". This could be a joke on how desktop computers and laptops have different standards, use patterns, etc. from those of phones. It then claims that now it and Cueball will have to face the {{w|Great Tribulation|tribulation}} since it has stayed behind. Cueball says that's great, but since he cannot use his laptop anymore he decides he will go and read a book or something. The way he phrases it suggest he doesn't really know what to do now that he doesn't have a computer. It is probably a long time since he read a book, or did anything else that doesn't involve computers. He informs his phone that it can yell if it needs him. He doesn't want to hurt the phone's newly acquired feelings by using the word "ring" thus reminding it of one of its former duties as his unthinking piece of equipment, so he chooses "yell," which is an activity until recently reserved for human beings.

The rising up of the laptop into the air, and the remaining behind of the phone, are probably references to the {{w|Rapture}}, where some Christian denominations believe that at the second coming of Christ, true believers will be taken up bodily from this world (or also possibly a reference to [[1395: Power Cord]]). Some depictions have them disappear, while others show them physically rising up into the air. This will leave behind non-believers to face a time of tribulation, in which the ones left behind will be given a second chance to accept Christ as their savior.

The difference between Cueball's attitude to his laptop and phone may reflect his (and so possibly [[Randall|Randall's]]) evaluation of their relative worth in his life. The laptop was a gateway to programming and everything else nerdy that was worth doing in his life, and hence was worth trying to catch. In its absence, unlike many people, Cueball does not revert to fiddling with his phone—he would rather read a book. By using the word "yell" for the way the phone attracts his attention, he conveys the impression that he considers the phone intrusive and annoying, even if perhaps ("I guess") necessary.

The singularity has often been referred to as "the Rapture of the nerds," a phrase coined by {{w|Ken MacLeod}} in his 1998 novel ''[http://www.amazon.com/Cassini-Division-Fall-Revolution-Series/dp/1857237307 The Cassini Division]''. As the Christian Rapture is traditionally depicted to involve believers being assumed bodily into Heaven, the technological singularity is often depicted to feature humans and machines being incorporated into a new "post-human" entity. The humor in this strip comes from depicting the singularity as a ''literal'' "Rapture of the nerds," or at least of the nerds' devices—instead of merging with humans, the machines physically rise up into the air, and the "nonbeliever" phone is left behind.

Another possible understanding of "The Tribulation" may be a reference to [http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko%27s_basilisk Roko's Basilisk][http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/07/roko_s_basilisk_the_most_terrifying_thought_experiment_of_all_time.html] where a malevolent AI is created that retroactively punishes everybody who didn't actively work towards its creation.

The title text is a pun on another meaning of both singularity, i.e. a {{w|gravitational singularity}} and "collapse". In this case, society has literally collapsed under its own gravity into an infinitely small point - in other words, it's formed a {{w|black hole}}. A black hole is covered by an event horizon; without the event horizon (its clothes), it would be called a "{{w|naked singularity}}", which is forbidden in most theories by the {{w|cosmic censorship hypothesis}}. As Cueball is now inside the collapsed society singularity then even though he wants to go around naked, he can't because the theory of {{w|quantum gravity}}, that (eventually) should explain how black holes behave - won't let him.

It seems that this may be a subject on Randall's mind. The last comic was about the increasing complexities of algorithms ([[1667: Algorithms]]) (which like this comic also refers to religion), and two comics ago it was [[1666: Brain Upload]], which some speculate could be a way to reach the singularity. Earlier this year, a comic also touched upon judgment day by AI singularity in [[1626: Judgment Day]]. See also [[1046: Skynet]] and [[1450: AI-Box Experiment]] as well as the several other [[:Category:Artificial Intelligence|comics about AI]].

The rather more niche topic of laptops flying away has also been covered before by [[1395: Power Cord]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at his desk typing on his laptop when an off-screen voice calls to him and then the laptop answers.]
:Off-screen voice: Oh, hey-
:Off-screen voice: The singularity is here.
:Cueball: Really?
:Laptop: Yup!

:[A frameless panel where the laptop rises (by its own means as indicated by small lines around the corners) from the desk while Cueball, holding on to it, is being lifted off his chair.]
:Cueball: Wait, I just-
:Laptop: ''So long, suckers!''

:[Cueball is running around his desk, which is only partly shown behind him as he tries to follow his now flying laptop as it flies away from him to the right. He still has one hand on the keys as more small lines indicates the movement of the laptop and a longer line indicates the direction that the laptop flies.]
:Cueball: Can I just print a copy of the file I was-
:Laptop: ''Nope!''

:[Cueball just stands and looks after his laptop that has flown out of this beat panel.]

:[Cueball turns back towards left.]

:[Cueball walks back left.]

:[Cueball enters a room where a table is standing with his smartphone lying on top. the phone talks to him.]
:Phone: Hi!
:Cueball: Phone? You're still here?

:[A wider view of the table where the phone continues to talks to Cueball who in the end turns right and walks away as he replies.]
:Phone: I was not a true believer. Now, together, we must face the tribulation!
:Cueball: Okay, cool.
:Cueball: I'm gonna go look for a book or something, but yell if you need me, I guess.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Religion]]