118: 50 Ways

2020-06-09T14:49:18Z

172.68.182.46: Fixed broken link to video

{{comic
| number = 118
| date = June 21, 2006
| title = 50 Ways
| image = 50_ways.png
| titletext = I woke up to find that I had scrawled the last line of this sleepily on a sheet of paper on my desk. I shouldn't have listened to the 70's hit marathon on the way home from work the night before.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic provides alternate lyrics to the chorus of the 1975 song "{{w|50 Ways to Leave Your Lover}}" ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABXtWqmArUU Video]) by American artist {{w|Paul Simon}}. Both the original and alternate lyrics provide a textual hook because the name at the end of the line is rhymed with the word before it (back/Jack, plan/Stan, go/Joe).

[[Randall]], we learn from the image text, heard Simon's song during a '70s hit marathon, went to sleep, and while being sleepy replaced "lover" by "hover" while writing the last line of the song's chorus. Thus changing this line from ''to leave your lover'' into ''to learn to hover''. Clearly, this amused him so much that he decided to create a comic where people learn how to hover, rather than leave their lover.

==Transcript==
:[Two figures stand around a levitating person.]
:You gotta let go, Joe
:Just rise off your feet, Pete
:Just stay in the air, Claire
:Gotta levitate, Kate
:There must be 50 ways
:To learn to hover.

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

Talk:2167: Motivated Reasoning Olympics

2019-06-26T16:34:22Z

172.68.182.46:

Reminds me of the Monty Python Argument Clinic :) [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 16:50, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

It certainly DOESN'T remind you of the Monty Python Argument Clinic, you gormless git! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.28|162.158.214.28]] 17:46, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
:Yes it DOES![[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.192|141.101.105.192]] 17:57, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
::No it doesn’t.
:::You're just being contrary. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 20:14, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
::::No I'm not. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.54.141|172.69.54.141]] 08:25, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
:::::''Dinggggg''...Your 5 minutes is up! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 13:26, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
:::::: That was never 5 minutes! [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:59, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

== Explain "Motivated Reasoning"? ==

Shouldn't the explanation include some contextual explanation of "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning Motivated Reasoning]" as pertaining to Cueball's behavior shown in the comic?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:37, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

: I added a Wikipedia link to Motivated Reasoning in the title text explanation earlier, but I'm wondering if some of that detail should be moved earlier in the explanation. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 23:10, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

:: Yeah, I'd never heard of "Motivated Reasoning" before, so came here expecting the explanation to begin "Motivated reasoning is ...", before going into the details of the comic. A lot of the text at the moment feels more like an extended transcript than an explanation (e.g. "Ponytail rightly points out that the trophy says he only got second place."). It would be great if someone who's familiar with the term could add a better summary. - (too lazy to create an account right now) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.192|141.101.105.192]] 10:32, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

== Better quality images? ==

This probably isn't the right place but I figured this would get the most visibility. I noticed that the image here made it really hard for me to see the "2" engraved on the trophy, but the image on xkcd.com was much clearer. Yada yada yada, turns out there's much higher quality images on xkcd.com for all comics starting with [[1084]], for example for this comic:

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/motivated_reasoning_olympics.png is the normal image,

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/motivated_reasoning_olympics_2x.png is the higher resolution image.

Shouldn't the wiki start using the higher quality images?

--[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 17:53, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

: While there is a higher quality image available on the XKCD site, it's not the one displayed on the comic on xkcd.com. The same lower-quality image is displayed on both sites by default. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 18:44, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

:: I am seeing the higher-quality image on xkcd.com. I guess it has to do with screen DPI. The HTML on xkcd.com is:
:: <pre><img src="//imgs.xkcd.com/comics/motivated_reasoning_olympics.png" title="..." srcset="//imgs.xkcd.com/comics/motivated_reasoning_olympics_2x.png 2x"/></pre>
:: So it probably selects it automatically only when it'd be useful. This wiki doesn't, obviously, since it doesn't have the higher-quality image and, best I can tell, there doesn't seem to be a way to make a template do this.

:: I'm trying to figure this out right now on [[User:NeatNit/Template/comic]] but I can't find a way to make it display an image at half of its resolution, without me knowing its resolution in advance. I also can't find any parser function that returns an image's dimensions. So annoying. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 18:52, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

:::I would expect this can't work correctly without support for srcset in mediawiki itself. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:13, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

:::: Turns out MediaWiki supports srcset natively but only when an image is embedded at a smaller size, i.e. you have to upload the 2x image and embed it at half size, and let the wiki take care of everything else.

:::: If we want to do this we'll have to teach the bot some new tricks. I'll talk about this in [[User talk:DgbrtBOT]]. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 13:54, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

:I have also noticed that this wiki displays lower resolution images than the official xkcd site, when viewing at high DPI. I had previously assumed it was just a moderate resolution copy chosen to conserve explainxkcd server resources. I would love to see a higher resolution when available. [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:18, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

== Olympics vs Splinter League ==

I removed the newly added paragraph suggesting the competition was being held by the splinter league. The Olympics should include representation from all leagues and likely includes the best from the state-sponsored league in addition to Cueball's splinter league. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 13:18, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

: "I mean ''technically'' it's not actually the Olympics, but when you consider..." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.227|162.158.58.227]] 21:02, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
:: Is this more motivated reasoning? I mean ''Olympics'' is right there in the name! How much more technical can you get than the name? However, I think what you're saying is it's not the actual ''Olympics'', as in the one held every 4 years in the summer. Oh, and the other one held every 4 years in the winter. There's another one for physically-challenged people (like my wife) too, the Paralympics. So, I don't see any problem with treating this Olympics like all of the others. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 06:13, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

: I definitely read this as being his splinter league's "Olympics" because he says he's surprised by the corruption. If it were held by the statewide league (or a larger one) then I'd expect the motivated reasoner to conclude that this is a case of the general corruption his splinter league was protesting. {{unsigned ip|162.158.118.80|06:37, 26 June 2019 (UTC)}}
:: (Moved unsigned comment to end of thread per suggested practice and added unsigned wikitext markup) I think he's surprised by the corruption because he expected his splinter league's protest action to improve the corruption, but he thinks the corruption has instead gotten worse rather than better. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:05, 26 June 2019 (UTC)
::: I also read it as being the splinter "Olympics", with the implication that similar splits had happened several times previously and are the reason why the previous league was only statewide in the first place.<br />(For what it's worth, I'm used to that kind of competition being known as the such-and-such Olympiad rather than the such-and-such Olympics, as in the assorted branches of the International Science Olympiad, but I think that's just a dialectal difference.) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.182.46|172.68.182.46]] 16:34, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

1828: ISS Solar Transit

2017-04-24T15:20:44Z

172.68.182.46:

{{comic
| number = 1828
| date = April 24, 2017
| title = ISS Solar Transit
| image = iss_solar_transit.png
| titletext = I guess it's also the right setting for pictures of the Moon at night.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cameras have a mode (Direct Sunlight), which is used for sunny days, but it this case it is literally direct sunlight. (somebody make a proper explanation thx)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
What's going on?

- ISS solar space transit.

{{comic discussion}}

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

118: 50 Ways

Talk:2167: Motivated Reasoning Olympics

1828: ISS Solar Transit