explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1767: US State Names

2025-04-21T18:50:07Z

172.69.195.54:

{{comic
| number = 1767
| date = December 2, 2016
| title = US State Names
| image = us_state_names.png
| titletext = Technically DC isn't a state, but no one is too pedantic about it because they don't want to disturb the snakes.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] has taken a {{w|map}} of {{w|the United States of America}} labeled "Geography Challenge: Name all 50 States" and filled in the states with words that sound similar to the states' names. The joke is that Randall is apparently terrible at remembering states by heart, or else that he interpreted "name" as "give a name to" and is giving each state a name similar to but different from its previous name. A similar joke is also seen in [[1554: Spice Girls]]. Songs such as the [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fifty+nifty+united+states+song 50 Nifty United States] make these issues seem rarer, thus making it funnier. Below is the list.

This also may be a play on the ambiguity of the phrase "Name all 50 states". When you are asked to "name" something, it can be a request to supply its given name or to come up with a new name for it. Randall has apparently taken the latter interpretation. He also may be playing with the distinction between an object's identity and its label, e.g., "The state of Texas (identity) is named Hexxus (label)", though you can argue that "Texas" is also a label.

This comic is similar to [[1759: British Map]]. Also note that the text at the top of the comic is not in all caps.

===List of States===
Below are the Randall's fictional state names, next to the actual ones in parenthesis, and a short explanation for each one.

; Alberta ({{w|Alaska}})
: {{w|Alberta}} is a Canadian province known for being parochial, politically conservative, and having a strong independence movement, similarly to Alaska.
; Arkanoids ({{w|Arkansas}})
: {{w|Arkanoid}} is an arcade game, developed by Taito in 1986.
; Bandana ({{w|Alabama}})
: A {{w|Kerchief|bandana}} is a large handkerchief cloth, worn either around the head or neck. Often used in Westerns.
; Cafeteria ({{w|California}})
: A {{w|cafeteria}} is both a kind of restaurant and a name for a lunch room that serves food. California is large and diverse, offering a wide variety of choices. California also grows a large proportion of common vegetables available in the US ([http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/explainer/2013/07/california_grows_all_of_our_fruits_and_vegetables_what_would_we_eat_without.html Source]), making it a 'Cafeteria' for the country.
; Candice ({{w|Kansas}})
: {{w|Candice}} is an alternate spelling of the girl's name "{{w|Candace_(given name)|Candace}}", which comes from the Latinized version of "{{w|kandake}}," a title used in the {{w|Kingdom of Kush}} (an ancient African monarchy) for a reigning queen, queen consort, or queen mother; possibly used for female members of the royal family in general.
; Colocated ({{w|Colorado}})
: May refer to computer servers located in a {{w|colocation centre}}, or to {{w|collocation}}, a linguistic term for words or terms that appear together with a frequency greater than chance.
; Connectfour ({{w|Connecticut}})
: {{w|Connect Four}} is a two-player game, in which the objective is to connect four of your checkers in a row while preventing your opponent from doing the same. It has already been mentioned in [[1002: Game AIs]].
; Dakota ({{w|South Dakota}})
: Setting up the joke in North Dakota.
; Delorean ({{w|Delaware}})
: The {{w|DeLorean_DMC-12|DeLorean DMC-12}} is a car, made famous as the {{w|DeLorean_time_machine|time machine}} in the {{w|Back to the Future}} movies.
; District of Colubrids ({{w|District of Columbia}})
: The {{w|Colubridae}} are the biggest family of snakes, accounting for about two thirds of the world's species. As the title text mentions, the District of Columbia, although not part of any state, is technically not a state itself, but is usually labeled on the maps like the 50 others for practical reasons. Here, Randall humorously explains the reason as people not wanting to upset the aforementioned snakes by dismissing their district for this pedantic reason.
; Fallout New Vegas ({{w|Nevada}})
: {{w|Fallout New Vegas}} is a video game set in post-apocalyptic Nevada.
; Fyoridor ({{w|Florida}})
: Possibly derived from the Russian name Fyodor, as in {{w|Fyodor Dostoyevsky}}.
; George ({{w|Georgia}})
: Georgia was named for {{w|George II of Great Britain}}.
; Hexxus ({{w|Texas}})
: The antagonist of {{w|FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest|FernGully}}. Ferngully is said to be the model for the later film {{w|Avatar_(2009_film)|Avatar}}. This is the second time Hexxus was mentioned in xkcd, the first occurrence being in [[1750: Life Goals]] and the third being in [[1918: NEXUS]]. May allude to the Texas oil industry and the state's general reputation for a lack of environmental protection.
; Idolatry ({{w|Idaho}})
: {{w|Idolatry}} is the worship of a physical object as a god, forbidden in the Abrahamic religions.
; Iota ({{w|Iowa}})
: {{w|Iota}} is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iota ninth letter of the Greek alphabet]. In English, the word [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/iota#English iota] may also mean "the ''smallest'' considerable amount".
; Kawaii ({{w|Hawaii}})
: A {{w|Kawaii|Japanese term}} for cute, commonly romanized similar to Hawaii. Not to be confused with {{w|Kauai}}, a Hawaiian island. Hawaii is known for having a high ethnic Japanese population.
; Kennedy ({{w|Kentucky}})
: {{w|Kennedy Fried Chicken}} is a New York City–based fast food brand that shares its initials with KFC, which was formerly (and still conventionally) Kentucky Fried Chicken. "Kennedy" is also the name of a former US president ({{w|John_F._Kennedy|John}}) and two former US senators ({{w|Robert_F._Kennedy|Robert}} and {{w|Ted_Kennedy|Ted}}).
; Louisa ({{w|Louisiana}})
: Louisa, feminine of Louis, is an Old German name meaning "famous warrior". Louisiana was named after King Louis XIV when it was founded as a French colony.
; Masseuses ({{w|Massachusetts}})
: Women who give {{w|massage}}s professionally. A contentious term in the therapeutic massage industry due to its appropriation by prostitutes. Randall might be making fun about how difficult he thinks it is to spell Massachusetts.
; Maybelline ({{w|Maryland}})
: {{w|Maybelline}} is a make-up brand.
; Minestrone ({{w|Minnesota}})
: {{w|Minestrone}} is a thick vegetable soup, originating in Italy.
; Mishy ({{w|Michigan}})
: According to the Urban Dictionary, "mishy" means "[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mishy mushy and horny at the same time]". Or it could just be a nickname, the way a lot of people's names, often children, get shortened with a trailing y (Bobby, Becky, Johnny, Suzy, Davey, Jimmy, etc.).
; Misstate ({{w|Mississippi}})
: The word "misstate" means to state improperly. "Mis-" is also a prefix meaning "wrong," "incorrect," or simply negating. "Misstate" could be a non-state. {{w|Mississippi State University|Miss State}} is a university in Mississippi. This may also be a joke on the fact that Mississippi is one of the most commonly misspelled state names.
; More Dakota ({{w|North Dakota}})
: Might be a reference to [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/more-dakka "More Dakka"], a catchphrase by Orks from the {{w|Warhammer_40,000|Warhammer 40000}} universe which is also a page on {{tvtropes|MoreDakka|TVTropes}} referring to the large-scale use of ammunition. May also allude to the idea that North Dakota is less visible in popular culture than its Southern neighbor, owing to the fact that the latter contains Mount Rushmore but the former does not have any major landmarks.
; mount -a ({{w|Montana}})
: A command to {{w|Mount (computing)|mount}} all disk volumes in fstab (except for ones with the noauto flag).
; Mossouri ({{w|Missouri}})
: The single different letter represents probably a typo (O is adjacent to I in a keyboard). This typo has about 22,000 results on Google. Alternatively, this could be an attempt to "correct" the spelling of the state name to match its non-intuitive {{w|List_of_U.S._state_abbreviations|postal abbreviation}}, MO, which is sometimes used as a pronounceable acronym. Or it could be a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katie_Moussouris Katie Mossouris].
; Namaste ({{w|New Mexico}})
: {{w|Namaste}} is a Hindu greeting. Probably unabbreviated from NM (postal code for New Mexico).
; Nebrunswick ({{w|Nebraska}})
: {{w|New Brunswick}}, a Canadian province. New Brunswick is abbreviated "NB" in the {{w|Canadian_postal_abbreviations_for_provinces_and_territories|Canadian postal system}}, and "NB" was also as the postal abbreviation for Nebraska until 1969. It was then changed to "NE" specifically to avoid the confusion between the two. Nevertheless, people sometimes still use "NB" to refer to Nebraska.
; New Hamper ({{w|New Hampshire}})
: A {{w|hamper}} is a large basket, often with lid, used for laundry. Also another name for a picnic basket.
; Newark ({{w|New York (state)|New York}})
: The city of {{w|Newark,_New_Jersey|Newark}} is a suburb of {{w|New York City}} (NYC), and many people who live in Newark commute the 14 miles to work in NYC, however it is actually located in the state of New Jersey rather than New York. Other references: {{w|Newark Liberty International Airport}} (a major flight hub serving the {{w|New York metropolitan area}}), the village of Newark, New York (near Lake Ontario), the town of {{w|Newark-on-Trent}}, Nottinghamshire, England and {{w|Newark_element14|Newark element14}} (or simply "Newark"), the official distributor of Raspberry Pi. Possible reference to William Gibson's works. A mispronunciation of New York.
; Nude Juggalos ({{w|New Jersey}})
: {{w|Juggalo}} is a name given to fans of the group Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group. Also shares the same initials as New Jersey.
; Oh Hi ({{w|Ohio}})
: Oh (expression of surprise), Hi (greeting). A common utterance upon meeting an acquaintance unexpectedly.
; Okay ({{w|Oklahoma}})
: OK is the {{w|List_of_U.S._state_abbreviations|state's abbreviation}}. Okay is a spelling of another abbreviation OK, which means "yes" or "good", and has {{w|OK#Proposed etymologies|quite a few possible origins}}. There's also a town in Oklahoma called Okay.
; Organs ({{w|Oregon}})
: Could refer to either {{w|Organ (anatomy)|body parts}} that perform vital functions, or large {{w|Organ (music)|musical instruments}} having rows of tuned pipes. Also a possible reference to {{w|Organ Trail}}, a retro survival video game that parodies {{w|The Oregon Trail (video game)|The Oregon Trail}}.
; Pencilmania ({{w|Pennsylvania}})
: [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151935/ Pencil Mania] is a 1932 {{w|Tom and Jerry}} cartoon in which they pull out a pencil and proceed to draw figures in the air. Probably joking about how the first part of Pennsylvania sounds like the word "pencil".
; Roald Dahl ({{w|Rhode Island}})
: A {{w|Roald Dahl|British writer}}, famous for child novels such as {{w|Charlie and the Chocolate Factory}}. This name does not actually rhyme well with Rhode Island. Dahl used the Norwegian pronunciation of his name (roo-ahl dahl, rather than ro-ahld dahl), as he had Norwegian parents. Because of how the pronunciation of the name has not been wildly known by readers, Randall may not have been aware of this.
; Sk8rbois ({{w|Illinois}})
: "Skater Boys" or just "Skater Boy" if the '-ois' is pronounced the same as it is in "Illinois". {{w|Sk8er Boi}} is a song by {{w|Avril Lavigne}}.
; South Caroline ({{w|South Carolina}})
: A further reference to {{w|Sweet_Caroline|song 'Sweet Caroline'}} by Neil Diamond, similar to 'Dakota' and 'More Dakota.' Plays on similarity between the names 'Caroline' and 'Carolina'.
; Spanish Maine ({{w|Maine}})
: The {{w|Spanish Main}} was the mainland Spanish colonial possessions around the Gulf of Mexico. Also refers to the surrounding sea, as in the opening of the (children's?) song, "Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main, ...". May also refer to the {{w|USS Maine (ACR-1)}}, which, upon sinking, started the Spanish-American war.
; Sweet Caroline ({{w|North Carolina}})
: A {{w|Sweet_Caroline|song}} by Neil Diamond.
; That Other One ({{w|Indiana}})
: 'That Other One' is something someone might say if they were trying to name all the states from memory, and knew where a state was but not what it was called. Appropriate for Indiana, due to being a state with relatively few distinguishing features.
; Thennessy ({{w|Tennessee}})
: {{w|Hennessy}} is a brand of cognac.
; Uhaul ({{w|Utah}})
: {{w|U-Haul}} is a company that rents moving vans which are frequently decorated with scenes from places that most people have never visited.
; Verizona ({{w|Arizona}})
: {{w|Verizon}}, a telecommunications company, has the shared text "Rizon" with Arizona (Ve''rizon'', A''rizon''a).
; Vermouth ({{w|Vermont}})
: {{w|Vermouth}} is an Italian alcoholic beverage.
; Virjayjay ({{w|Virginia}})
: Virginia is similar to {{w|vagina}}. Vajayjay is slang for vagina.
; Wainscot ({{w|Wisconsin}})
: {{w|Panelling#Wainscot_panelling|Wainscot}} is a type of wood {{w|panelling}} covering only the lower half of a wall.
; Wilwheaton ({{w|Washington_State|Washington}})
: {{w|Wil Wheaton}} is an actor and writer, famous for his role as {{w|Wesley Crusher}} on {{w|Star Trek}}.
; Wysiwyg ({{w|Wyoming}})
: Acronym for "{{w|WYSIWYG|what you see is what you get}}". A reference to [[Types of Editors]].
; Wyvern ({{w|West Virginia}})
: A {{w|Wyvern}} is a mythical creature.



==Transcript==
:[A political map of the United States is shown. The title reads:]
:Geography challenge:
:'''Name all 50 states'''

:[The state names in red text color are:]
:Alabama => Bandana
:Alaska => Alberta
:Arizona => Verizona
:Arkansas => Arkanoids
:California => Cafeteria
:Colorado => Colocated
:Connecticut => Connect Four
:Delaware => Delorean
:District of Columbia => District of Colubrids
:Florida => Fyoridor
:Georgia => George
:Hawaii => Kawaii
:Idaho => Idolatry
:Illinois => SK8RBOIS
:Indiana => That Other One
:Iowa => Iota
:Kansas => Candice
:Kentucky => Kennedy
:Louisiana => Loisa
:Maine => Spanish Maine
:Maryland => Maybelline
:Massachusetts => Masseuses
:Michigan => Mishy
:Minnesota => Minestrone
:Mississippi => Misstate
:Missouri => Mossouri
:Montana => mount -a
:Nebraska => Nebrunswick
:Nevada => Fallout New Vegas
:New Hampshire => New Hamper
:New Jersey => Nude Juggalos
:New Mexico => Namaste
:New York => Newark
:North Carolina => Sweet Caroline
:South Carolina => South Caroline
:Ohio => Oh Hi
:Oklahoma => Okay
:Oregon => Organs
:Pennsylvania => Pencilmania
:Rhode Island => Roald Dahl
:South Dakota => Dakota
:North Dakota => More Dakota
:Tennessee => Thennessy
:Texas => Hexxus
:Utah => Uhaul
:Vermont => Vermouth
:Virginia => Virjayjay
:Washington => Willwheaton
:West Virginia => Wyvern
:Wisconsin => Wainscot
:Wyoming => WYSIWYG

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:FernGully]] 
[[Category:US maps]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Back to the Future]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

Talk:1678: Recent Searches

2025-03-28T21:28:40Z

172.69.195.54:

You can convert jpg to Excel (http://www.think-maths.co.uk/spreadsheet), so converting gif to Excel is not really absurd... {{unsigned ip|141.101.93.51}}
:Or maybe Randall(?) has a screenshot of a spreadsheet (or more realistically, an over-the-shoulder video of someone's spreadsheet), and he wants to OCR it back into a spreadsheet. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.209|108.162.218.209]] 19:19, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Interestingly enough "CPU temperature sensor limits" might be a serious consideration for extreme overclockers, who use things like liquid nitrogen to cool their PC. [[User:SG 01|SG 01]] ([[User talk:SG 01|talk]]) 15:45, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
: Not really, the limit of the CPU temp sensors would only necessary if you are planing to get the cpu to really high temperatures. That is, if you are using liquid nitrogen to cool the cpu, you should never reach the limit of the sensors.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.69|108.162.221.69]] 18:38, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
:: Hey, [[165|our IP addresses differ only in 8 bits]]! Does this mean we are in the same part of campus? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.59|108.162.219.59]] 19:38, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
::: What... that one is not not my ip! And the guy that mentioned "OCR" up there also has a very similar ip to ours. Is some kind of proxy explainxkcd has? (btw, I wonder if I'll get the same ip on this comment. I haven't disconnected my router or anything) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.69|108.162.221.69]] 21:58, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
:::: It appears that explainxkcd.com is using Cloudflare, so all the wiki edits are probably logged as coming from Cloudflare's proxies. A WHOIS search confirms that the IPs 108.162.192.0 to 108.162.255.255 are part of Cloudflare's network --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.167|108.162.228.167]] 22:22, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
::::: I had thought explainxkcd was anonymizing IP addresses to some carefully chosen ranges. Apparently that's just a helpful side effect. Does Cloudflare always assign the same proxy to a particular source address? [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 23:34, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
:::::: There are collisions. Someone else has edited via the same proxy I use, so now there is another [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 21:11, 18 May 2016 (UTC)
: Note that it says "limits" in plural, i.e. both upper and lower. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.209|108.162.218.209]] 19:28, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
:: There are several "upper limits" -- one for turn on the fan, then speedup the fan, then start making sounds to alarm the user and the final one for doing a hard-shutdown of the computer before it burn out -- so assuming that anybody want to disable the lower is a stretch [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.219|162.158.255.219]] 04:00, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

;Safe mode
This is my first time trying to help out with an explanation, please let me know if I did something wrong ^_^; [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 15:48, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
: I like where you went with safe/dangerous. Of the "unsafe" synonyms I found my favorite is "menacing mode". [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])

: My first impression here though was that he's so often dropping to safe mode he forgot what's regular system like or how to get there – so he searches for reference how to get there. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.95.129|141.101.95.129]] 20:29, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Is it possible the first one is an attempt to misuse google translate to translate programming code (to another programming language or even between linguistic languages)? [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 15:59, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

GIF to XLS could be a reference to http://www.think-maths.co.uk/spreadsheet [[Special:Contributions/141.101.93.55|141.101.93.55]] 16:16, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
: Nice find. I was thinking like that + a macro to flip sheets. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])

Doesn't "recursive" mean that it repeats (recurs)? [[User:Cardboardmech|Cardboardmech]] ([[User talk:Cardboardmech|talk]]) 16:44, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
:Sort of. In computing, it's a little more specific, though, referring to functions that call themselves as part of their normal running. This in turn has led to the idea of recursive definitions, that of course refer to the original word. Example: "recursion: see recursion."

:I take issue with the explanation for another reason, though. True, regexes probably can't be used to check the validity of EBNFs. It's a little bit more complicated than that, though. If one has ever used a compiler-compiler like yacc (which, supposedly uses EBNF grammars or EBNF-like grammars), another tool in the Unix world comes to mind, awk. Awk is similar enough in design to a cc that it can do the job of one, and people have apparently made compilers in awk. And what does awk use for its pattern matching? Regexes. Exercise for the reader: Write an EBNF for EBNFs. :D. [[User:Tibfulv|Tibfulv]] ([[User talk:Tibfulv|talk]]) 17:49, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

:: If you allow recursive regexes, it *is* possible to match EBNF with a regex: http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=115494&p=3974658#p3974278 [[Special:Contributions/162.158.68.5|162.158.68.5]] 19:38, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Silly comment because: can't...stop...laughing. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])

Hey... what does this line refer to? "A complication in attempting to solve computer problems this way would be presented by Google's search term autocorrection, which for several years has replaced technical terms with unrelated language from recent popular culture." I can't see how it's relevant to the comic, is it implying that these arent actually the questions he searched for, they're one autocorrection away from what he was trying to find? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:14, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

: For example, Google suggests "fsck" should be "fleck" and automatically alters the results accordingly. "Fleck Chrome extension" is a reasonable search query (Fleck is a web annotation service) but "fleck" is implausible as a typo. [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 00:28, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

:: That seems like a stretch to me... if that was the intention then there would be no joke. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:03, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

;autoexec joke

isn't this related to autoexec.bat? [[User:Blydro|Blydro]] ([[User talk:Blydro|talk]]) 16:00, 9 May 2016 (UTC)blydro
: Or...autoexec.ncf (Netware), autoexec.nt (Windows), autoexec.cfg (Source/Valve/Counterstrike) and an adult reference at Urban Dictionary. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])

This isn't farfetched. In need of a server, I was recently considering using obfuscated strings in a public blog to temporarily control my own apps...and malware's been doing stuff like this for ages. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]])

:: I don't think a reference to "autoexec.bat" makes sense in the context of the comic... it's just a word that sounds similar (not being cheeky) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:03, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

;Keybinding

I originally interpreted "clean reinstall keybinding" as meaning that his keybindings were so entirely screwed that he wanted to do a clean reinstall of the keybinding system, but the other interpretation is funnier. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.74|108.162.219.74]] 16:24, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

I interpreted this to mean that he created a keybinding that automatically performs a clean reinstall of the OS [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.46|173.245.54.46]]

;FSCK

I've only ever seen "fsck" as a way of saying "fuck" that bypasses content filters, such as in global chat in games like World of Warcraft. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.62|173.245.52.62]] 16:25, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure it's file system consistency check. It's a program for checking your Linux filesystem. I think the Joke is that he needs to check his filesystem for corruption so often that he needs the convenience of a chrome extension. I have not edited the page because I neither use chrome extensions nor have I ever run fsck. Can anyone back me up on this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.197|108.162.218.197]] 16:43, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

:Yes, that's what fsck refers to here. I've run it many a time on my old Red Hat installation that somehow kept corrupting itself. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 16:54, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Can some wonderful person provide an explanation for this? "This is probably a search for an interface to the Unix filesystem checker fsck via third-party software added to Chrome. Repairing a filesystem this way would be inadvisable. [citation needed]" It jokingly says "citation needed", but ironically, some sort of citation (well, explanation) really is needed... it's not obvious at all why it would be inadvisable, or what the joke actually means. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:21, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

: I added the line "fsck is a program for checking your filesystem for corruption." based on the discussion immediately above, but an explanation for why a Chrome extension to execute this program is funny/weird would be helpful to people like me. The lines immediately after it (about Chromium etc.) seem unrelated to the joke, and only make it more confusing... if a Unix user could spell it out maybe... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:28, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

::As long as you are not trying to run the fsck on ROOT filesystem (or /home, or anything other currently mounted), it doesn't matter if it's chrome extension. But it's true that usually fsck is run as part of system boot, when no filesystem is mounted in read/write mode, and it is not possible to run Chrome in such situation. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:57, 16 May 2016 (UTC)

: [Extended explanation] Information about files often occur in multiple places on the disk. This redundancy increase the chance of repairing a corrupt file system. Fsck will read data from the disk, and if it finds inconsistencies, write new corrected data back. When a file system is mounted, a file system driver will read and write data of the disk in normal operation. If the two processes are simultaneous and unaware of each other, they may be confused and even create inconsistencies that wasn't there to begin with. E.g. original research: A file system driver may have cached data in working memory. If fsck updates that data on disk, the cache will be out of sync. The file system driver may be confused by this, or, if it writes back the cache to the disk, the fsck fix will be undone, and possibly a new different inconsistency would be created. Or, while fsck is comparing different parts of the file system, it will read one block at one point in time and another block at another point in time. At a time in between, normal operation may have created, changed or removed a file. Fsck then may think it has found an inconsistency (that does not exists) and try to fix it, possibly creating an inconsistency. Therefor, the fsck command will detect if a file system is mounted and issue a really scary warning against proceeding. /David A [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.33|141.101.80.33]] 21:22, 24 September 2016 (UTC)

;Predictable touchpad

A predictable touchpad would actually be a major blow to internet security -- mouse events are being used to seed randomness generators for cryptography. I don't think this piece of information is suited for the explanation, but just in case someone's interested: You're welcome! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.247|141.101.91.247]] 16:26, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Just came across this:
Pre-Touch Sensing for Mobile Interaction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiZkEYLXctE
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.11|141.101.98.11]] 12:38, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

;Title text
After the npm burndown, someone actually made it possible to require from twitter: (https://gist.github.com/rauchg/5b032c2c2166e4e36713) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.83.114|162.158.83.114]] 18:25, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

;Syntax highlighting a natlang
Syntax highlighting a natural language might color the subject, verb, object, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 18:27, 9 May 2016 (UTC)
:Google Translate is not limited to natlangs (e.g. it has Esperanto). And I heard of some syntax highlighters for conlangs (namely Lojban). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.209|108.162.218.209]] 19:13, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

;Permutations
"[https://www.google.com/search?q=syntax+highlighting+Google+translate syntax highlighting Google translate]" gives wildly different results from "[https://www.google.com/search?q=Google+translate+syntax+highlighting Google translate syntax highlighting]". The explainxkcd article has been climbing in the results; can it displace Wikipedia or CPAN for these queries? Might there be a hidden joke related to some query in the list? [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 00:54, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

: (Update: for both queries, we have displaced Wikipedia, StackOverflow, and CPAN in some Google servers.) [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 02:49, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

: The first result ''was'' Google's own documentation. No more! [[User:.42|.42]] ([[User talk:.42|talk]]) 04:00, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Is it really suitable to use the word leopard instead of keyboard? Even though it's linked to the relevant comic explanation it seems likely to add unnecessary confusion and doesn't really add to this explanation. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.217|162.158.34.217]] 10:30, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

: It seems cool to me as long as the explanation is clear enough that your brain expects "keyboard" even if you previously didn't know what "keybinding" meant. I added a sentence to try and make it more obvious. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:08, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

Isn't the clean reinstall keybinding pointless for saving time since he'd have to redo it every time he did a clean reinstall? [[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 11:34, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

: I think you're assuming that keybinding is about setting up new shortcuts (which the explanation used to seem to be saying); I think the jokes actually about the keyboard being functional at all... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.158|108.162.250.158]] 00:08, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

Idea for Turing-complete hardlinks: get an old UNIX that allows hardlinks to directories. With those, you can create loops in the filesystem (it's now an arbitrary directed graph, not a tree). Write an interpreter repeatedly calls link, chdir, mkdir, or rmdir based on some pattern matching on the existing names. It could terminate when it finds itself in an empty directory. Now you write programs on top of that interpreter by carefully setting up a tangle of directories and launching the interpreter at the right starting point. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.60.53|162.158.60.53]] 00:13, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

;whoooooosh
maybe it's just me, but does google actually do this any more? it certainly used to. now all i get is nothing until i start typing, when i get a list of the most popular results for other people's searches. if you have to turn javascript (or something else) off to see this, maybe it should be mentioned. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.84|141.101.98.84]] 12:36, 10 May 2016 (UTC)
:still having problems with this. i think i understand the joke, but the comic seems to rely on something which i'm pretty sure doesn't happen. i'm old enough to remember when google would allow the default browser behaviour for textboxes, which is to cache the values you entered in this box and display them to you as a dropdown when you started typing. pressing alt-down would open the list unfiltered and unsorted. this is, i'm guessing, what randall is alluding to. which means that the list is hist search history in google. which makes the text of the joke funny. unfortunately google doesn't do this any more. i've tried it in chrome, firefox, ie and edge and it just doesn't, even if i'm logged in as me. alt-down has no effect. if you start typing it does open a dropdown to autocomplete, but from very scant research this isn't in any way tailored to the user. it just gives you the most popular searches that complete the text you type, with no regard for your search history. i could be wrong about that. if i am, and google does tailor it to your particular search history, then that does make the joke funny again. since not only does randall search for these things enough that google noticed that he likes them (possibly because this is all he searches for) but people search for these ridiculous things enough that google thinks that they are popular. which, even if true is a little remote a possibility. and undermines the joke about randall being special in breaking his computer. maybe i'm overthinking it. or not. did i miss something obvious? this is supposed to explain the comics and i need a little help. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.84|141.101.98.84]] 12:57, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

I might be wrong, but I think the explanation for "Google docs from bootloader" is missing the point entirely - I believe this is not referring to the application from Google but instead means having the bootloader access Google document files (note that "docs" is lower case here) in order to somehow control or modify the bootloader behavior. These document files might be created and maintained through Google Docs (the application) and then accessed from within the bootloader later. While this may be technically infeasible and extremely unwise for a variety of reasons, if it could be done, it would fit the subject of this comic perfectly - the result would be the potential for severe bootup problems! --[[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 17:02, 4 June 2017 (UTC)

: I see now that the text within the comic is all upper case, but the thought is still valid. --[[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 17:08, 4 June 2017 (UTC)

Here is a link to font names "recursive": https://www.recursive.design/ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.154.88|172.68.154.88]] 18:10, 24 October 2019 (UTC)

The "autoexec" may be used to force others to follow the user. I'm not certain. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 06:14, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

;Paramount -> tantamount?
In the following sentence, shouldn't it be tantamount? Paramount doesn't make much sense to me: "A job that updates the crontab (therefore creating new jobs, removing old ones or editing existing ones) is paramount to a job scheduler"
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.164|172.69.79.164]] 20:55, 28 March 2025 (UTC)
:Different meanings. I take the original "paramount" as being the sense "of the highest importance" ("...to any kind of thing in the general crontab/scheduler group"), whereas the use of "tantamount" is saying it is "equivalent" ("...to a scheduler"; thus stating that a crontab thing is very like one of thise, but not the same). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.54|172.69.195.54]] 21:28, 28 March 2025 (UTC)

machine learning

2025-03-26T21:25:47Z

172.69.195.54:

[[Category: Pages to delete]]
Note to people: There are already sufficient redirects in place for your purposes. And redirects ''to'' redirects are less useful than them.

816: Applied Math

2025-03-19T11:09:22Z

172.69.195.54: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 816
| date = November 8, 2010
| title = Applied Math
| image = applied_math.png
| titletext = Dear Reader: Enclosed is a check for ninety-eight cents. Using your work, I have proven that this equals the amount you requested.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Donald Knuth]] is a {{w|computer scientist}} who has written several computer science textbooks and he offers {{w|Knuth reward check|monetary rewards}} for anyone finding errors in his publications. The first error found in each book is worth US$2.56 (256=28 is a very important number in the IT domain). Other suggestions are worth less than $2.56, but a check is still sent out if Dr. Knuth finds them to be reasonable.

[[Megan]] uses a proof to invalidate logic itself. (Of course, this means that her proof paradoxically renders itself meaningless. If logic has been disproven, her proof has no value.) According to the logic symbols "∴ ''P'' ∧ ''P''" at the bottom of the proof, she has proved that "the proposition (statement) is true and the proposition is false," i.e. "something is both true and false." (Specifically, ∴ means "therefore", presenting the outcome of the preceding proof. ''P'' represents that a proposition is true, ∧ stands for "and", and an overbar negates a proposition such that ''P'' represents that the (same) proposition is false. The negate symbol, ¬, is also used for this purpose, when placed in front of a symbol, so that "''P'' ∧ ¬''P''" is another form of this statement.) If someone were to prove this, it would indeed derail the very foundation of logic and result in the {{w|principle of explosion}}, which was referenced in [[704: Principle of Explosion|a previous comic]].

Since most of the content of computer science textbooks is fundamentally based on logic, Megan's proof obviously spells doom for Dr. Knuth's, as each instance of logic can now be considered an error. After Megan's friend confirms the validity of her proof, Megan writes a letter to Dr. Knuth to collect her money for the 1,317,408 errors in {{w|The Art of Computer Programming}} at $2.56 each. According to the amount Megan demands as a reward, she apparently considers this textbook to have an average of more than 400 instances of logic per page (if she has the latest edition of each volume).

The title text is the reply from Dr. Knuth, in which he uses Megan's logic-disproving proof against her by claiming — with no logical explanation — that the amount of money she is in fact due as a reward is only 98 cents. In logic, from a contradiction (such as "''P'' ∧ ''P''") can be inferred any statement, including that $3,372,564.48 = $0.98. He does this presumably to a) get out of paying her over three million dollars, b) demonstrate his contempt for or disbelief in her proof, and/or c) to show her, rather passive-aggressively, that she herself is not exempt from any ill effects resulting from her proof. If logic is proved to be false, then all mathematics are proved false and 3,372,564.48 = 0.98. Dr. Knuth could have also given her nothing, as 0 would equal 0.98 which would equal 3,372,564.48.

The title of the comic, "Applied Math," is potentially a multi-meaning pun. {{w|Applied mathematics}}, as a field, refers to "mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry," as opposed to {{w|pure mathematics}} which focuses on abstract concepts. Megan has applied (apparently 'pure') mathematics to a more materialistic real-world aim. That aim being to ''apply for'' a huge reward via this proof of dubious validity.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail, standing at a whiteboard containing illegible text and arrows, is considering a logical proof with a hand on her chin. The proof assumes ''P'' and deduces ''P'' ∧ ''P'', which is written on the bottom of the whiteboard.]
:Ponytail: Wow. I can't find fault with your proof.

:[Ponytail is still looking at the white board, the frame expands to show Megan walking away, rubbing her hands together.]
:Ponytail: You've shown the inconsistency — and thus the invalidity — of basic logic itself.
:Megan: Excellent. On to step two...

:[Megan sits down at a desk and begins to write.]
:Written text: Dear Dr. Knuth,

:[She continues to write.]
:Written text: I am writing to collect from you the $3,372,564.48 I am owed for discovering 1,317,408 errors in ''The Art of Computer Programming...''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Knuth]]
[[Category:Logic]]

Talk:3062: Off By One

2025-03-13T15:24:56Z

172.69.195.54:

But what about floats? [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 20:01, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

Is this dithering? [[User:Hcs|Hcs]] ([[User talk:Hcs|talk]]) 21:19, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

: Could be. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 22:19, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

But if it's adjusted both on store and on read, then there is a chance (of about 1 in 22) that the value after read will be exactly the same as the value before store. This does not eliminate pre-existing off-by-one errors, and in fact, introduces new ones if the adjustment on read is off by one from the adjustment on store, when there was no off-by-one error in the original code. And what's worse - with a single store-read cycle, the value can never be off by 40 to 50. It can be off by up to 10, or by between 80 to 100, in either direction. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 22:42, 12 March 2025 (UTC)
:I was ''just'' adjusting the explanation to imply this sort of thing (without having read your comment, just yet). Given the assumption that n=n±(40+rand(11)) at every stage (I'm assuming 'inclusive', Snaxmcgee!), two steps of 'intentional adjustment' might result in: -100 (x1), -99 (x2), -98 (x3), -97 (x4), -96 (x5), -95 (x6), -94 (x7), -93 (x8), -92 (x9), -91 (x10), -90 (x11), -89..-80 (x10..x1), -10 (x2), -9 (x4), -8 (x6), -7 (x8), -6 (x10), -5 (x12), -4 (x14), -3 (x16), -2 (x18), -1 (x20), ±0 (x22), +1..+10 (x20..x2), +80..+90..+100 (x1..x11..x1).
:This gives a chance of being entirely correct as 22/484 (4.5454...%) and ''each'' off-by-one as ''very'' slightly less (though ±1, in total is almost twice as likely!).
:Adding further steps (skipping odd step-cummulations, at least at first, until you get to nine of them and everything entirely stops being discontinuous) just spreads out an increased number of highs right next to zero deflection... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.129|172.70.86.129]] 23:38, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

::Obligatory quote:
There are two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors.
::See here for a full story of this quote: https://twitter.com/codinghorror/status/506010907021828096
::--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.64|162.158.129.64]] 08:28, 13 March 2025 (UTC)
:::And 3 hard things in distributed computing: 3. Delivering messages exactly one time, 2. Making sure things happen in the correct order, and 3. Delivering messages exactly one time [[User:Jamcdonald|Jamcdonald]] ([[User talk:Jamcdonald|talk]])
::::Presumably 1 is not losing data? --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 10:19, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

In the comic, Cueball clearly says the adjustment amounts is ‘’between’’ 40 and 50, yet this explanation says the adjustment is from 40 to 50, ironically making an off-by-1 error on both ends of the range. Neither integers 40 nor 50 are “between 40 and 50”. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.39|172.71.154.39]] 10:43, 13 March 2025 (UTC)
:English language is imprecise with its use of "between", but it's usually taken as inclusive. Most people, when asked, "Pick a number between 1 and 10," will assume that 1 and 10 are both valid choices. Even in computing, you have things like Excel's RANDBETWEEN function to generate random integers between two bounds, which is inclusive. {{unsigned ip|104.23.187.72|13:28, 13 March 2025}}
::Yes, see {{wiktionary|between#Usage notes}} as one overview. Between as in "within the bounds defined by" is different from "amongst those things of which these items are the defining outer examples". Especially, but not exclusively, when that's just two distinct items which have ''no'' valid intermediate states betwixt the two to choose from ("you have to choose between me and my sister" isn't usually satisfactoraily answerable by choosing a different sibling, or perhaps parent, of the two). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.54|172.69.195.54]] 15:24, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

It's easy to make an off-by-one error without using a computer at all. Ask a friend how many fenceposts are needed for a 100-foot fence if the rails are ten feet long. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.199|172.71.30.199]] 12:58, 13 March 2025 (UTC)

Talk:2666: Universe Price Tiers

2025-03-05T17:30:17Z

172.69.195.54: And?

We seem to be in Universe Standard, based on the cosmic speed limit
[[User:Victor|Victor]] ([[User talk:Victor|talk]]) 22:03, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

Is the price per user (human)? Or payed by the "god" who runs the universe?
The interpretation would change quite a bit. If per user, some could travel fast while others would not see ads and could even be immortal.
If per universe, would the concept of ads disappear?
[[User:Victor|Victor]] ([[User talk:Victor|talk]]) 22:25, 31 August 2022 (UTC)
::The tree sound can't be a particular human's experience, and the speed limit seems intended to be per universe.

General comment, I think each line of the table should have a separate one-line or one-paragraph explanation, rather than squishing it into one column of a table which mostly reproduces the comic text. i.e. we don't need the table in the explanation, although it works fine in the transcript imo. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.71|172.69.62.71]] 23:40, 31 August 2022 (UTC)edit: a word

"Yes, and he cheats" may be a reference to a quote from ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri''.
::I fully expected something like ''"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out 'til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along."'' (from ''Interesting Times'' by Terry Pratchett) [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 01:47, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::The SMAC quote is "Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded. - Chairman Sheng-ji Yang", from the Probability Mechanics tech. Also, the "God does not play dice" quote is stated during the Supercollider secret project movie. I doubt the comic is referencing any particular media here, though. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.5|172.69.22.5]] 02:40, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::Meanwhile, Stephen Hawking said "Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:01, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

Under ''Number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin'', '64' is 2⁵ and may be making reference to the Nintendo 64 game system. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 01:54, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::And just for the record, 4096 is 2¹². [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]])
:::64 = 26 != 25 = 32. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.17|172.68.50.17]] 19:43, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:: Note that the philosophical question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin turns to have much more useful meaning if we realize that the question wasn't if 64 or 4096, but if it's a finite or infinite number, that is, if angels are subject to {{w|Pauli's exclusion principle}}. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 15:59, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::: I think the answer is [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8071704/characters/nm0000531 to be found elsewhere]. And it is a different power of 2! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 17:26, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
:::: Damn, now I want to see that scene again to see what the hell the gavotte is, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 15:50, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
::::: Here is an [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQtUr7-wMYw extended version] (with uploader's additional soundtrack?), but it seems like the most demonstrative publically available clip at first glance. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.211|172.69.79.211]] 18:38, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:No. You can't use the 64 to try to inject a reference, 64 is too important and common a number, Nintendo and Randall simply got the number from the same place, being 2^6 (it's 6, not 5, 5 is 32. One to six is 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64). You need SOMETHING else to wonder if there's a question/reference. Like if the N64 had some game where angels dance on the head of a pin (or at least dancing angels). In which case it'd be a reference to that game. In the same way you could claim it's a reference to 64-bit versions of Windows, or about how iOS switched to requiring 64-bit apps and dropped support for 32-bit apps a couple of years ago, both of which are more recent and thus could be considered more likely. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 15:41, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:Not only are the numbers all powers of 2, they're all perfect squares as well. This might imply 2x2, 8x8, and 32x32 "resolution" on the universe, as in "how many pixels can dance on the head of a pin?" --[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 19:19, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

Who is paying our subscription? How do we ensure we don't get demoted to lite?

Here, the sound of one hand clapping is pretty much "toop." Put your hand out flat fingers together, and no thumb involved, quickly make a fist. Toop. Edit I'm not making a fist. Im keeping the last joints straight and smacking my hand[[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.95|172.70.134.95]] 15:59, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
:But two hands each doing that (or slapping another bit of body) aren't "two hands clapping", but more like two hands ''clasping''/something-or-other-like-that.
:If you could bring your one hand to a sudden stop in mid-air ''as if'' hitting another hand, it might be closer, but there's no sudden stop possible like a contact-stop. Plus a full-fledged clap for maximum ovational volume involves cupped hands trapping a resonant volume of air between them, almost sealed (wet hands so positioned can be used to force a squeaky-fart sound out from between them), and neither an "air clap" or the toop-clasp can do anything so dramatic with a solo hand. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.154|141.101.99.154]] 17:54, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
: the sound can be more clap like if you bend your hand upwards and keep it like that. Then loosen your fingers, and smash your upward lower arm to the front and back. My one armed brother taught me. It's handy (hehe) if one hand is holding a drink. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.204|172.68.51.204]] 07:36, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

I have a problem with the "Bad things..." portion. ''If'' I was a bad person, then I would never pay for the universe, as I would be better off in the free version, where nothing bad would ever happen to me. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:17, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

The "bad things" section is a bit bothersome: good things don't exist without bad things. Without bad things, good things are just...things. So maybe awareness of bad things is still extant in UniPro? That way, good things would still be at the upper end of a theoretical scale.

But the subjectivity of badness is concerning in a bad-things-don't-happen realm. I reckon plenty of people who could spring for fifty bucks a month would list rum, Katharine Hepburn movies, gay people and Jews as bad things that therefore won't happen. If I stump up my Pro subscription, do I have to share the universe with these douchebags, or do we each get our own? And if it's the latter, how much of a douche must you be to be excluded from my universe? Can we differ a little and still coexist, or do we have to gel perfectly? And how would that ever happen...and would it be tolerable to live surrounded by my opinion-clones? Is this...is this the too-perfect Matrix v.1.0? Am I buying a ticket to a simulated utopia while my body atrophies?
You monster! Guards! Guards! Let me out.....

[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.35|172.71.178.35]] 23:09, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
Note that Universe Lite is marked as trademark, Universe Standard as a registered trademark, and Universe Pro as...BOTH. This is a joke; more is better, esp. in lists of features. But there's no point in claiming a mark is both a trademark and a registered trademark.

How to clap with one hand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwoq3QBaQAY [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:38, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear it, then there is NO SOUND. The act of the tree falling will create vibrations in the air, but those vibrations only become 'sound' when they impact on a tympanic membrane (such as an eardrum) that is connected to a brain. Sound happens in your head, folks. Of course, in practice, the likelihood of a tree falling in an area that contains NO tympanic membranes at all is impossible given the abundance of miniature scaled life on Earth. That said, we have no idea whether insects actually perceive those air vibrations as 'sound' in the same way that humans do - the fairy fly, for example, is so small that it can 'swim' through air rather than flying, so probably perceives sound waves the same way that humans experience ocean waves.
[[User:MarquisOfCarrabass|MarquisOfCarrabass]] ([[User talk:MarquisOfCarrabass|talk]]) 05:50, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
: <-----Pish-Posh. Sound happens regardless of aby tympanic membranes. Sound: noun 1. vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person's or animal's ear. The definition is CAN be heard, not ARE heard. Sound vibrations cause MANY things to happen besides vibrating tympanic membranes, and it's STILL SOUND.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.60|172.70.100.60]] 11:47, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
::These two viewpoints are ''exactly'' why this is a point of philosophical discussion instead of a solved problem. [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 20:36, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:::Yes, it comes down to how one defines "sound". Is it a set of air vibrations with a certain set of characteristics, or is it someone's ''perception'' of such a set of vibrations? The question about the tree falling is indeterminate as stated because of the lack of that definition. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 21:40, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

We should do a comparison of universe standard vs our universe see if that's what we're doing [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 08:13, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:...hang on, I already downloaded a crack to repatch the executables to get around the pesky copy protection/licence-key manager. The patcher utility says it might take some time, and I've had to give it superuser access to the entire system for some reason, so it might be a good idea to save your current session and let it do its job before messing about in the menus or we might find unexpected results! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.5|172.70.85.5]] 11:01, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:I looked in the leaked payment notes, and found that biblicalGod31, the current payer, refused to pay 2 geomagnetic reversals ago, so our subscription got demoted to standard. Looking in the End God License Agreement, it seems that next geomagnetic reversal we will be demoted to lite. (Sorry if I didn't do humor well). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.11|172.70.126.11]] 13:38, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
::I definitely want to see this movie/read this book now. Our heroes discover that the universe is in fact a simulation. Not a malevolent one like The Matrix, but a for-fun one like implied by this comic. The heroes come to realize that the entity playing the simulation is about to screw it up somehow (possibly by not paying the subscription fee), and they have to figure out how to break out of the simulation and convince the apathetic entity to care about the inhabitants of the universe and save it from annihilation or demotion to the free tier. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.65|172.70.178.65]] 15:01, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:::Meanwhile, the apathetic entity realizes that his universe is a simulation, so he has to figure out how to break out ... Hey, how many levels up does this go? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.49|172.70.210.49]] 06:18, 6 September 2022 (UTC)

Except for the Cosmic Speed Limit - which I didn't know what speed this meant until the explanation - I found it quite clear THIS is UniverseLite! We ARE using it free. Bad things DO only seem to happen to good people. God DOES seem to play dice and cheat. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:54, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

I seem to remember a recent Jeopardy episode referenced a question similar to "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" (I think "What are angels?" was the correct answer but no one got it.) Could there be a connection between that and the mention of that question in this comic? [[User:Brian-K-1016|Brian-K-1016]] ([[User talk:Brian-K-1016|talk]]) 05:53, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

In the Universe Pro Edition, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freewill_(song) Freewill] comes with a signed 8x10 photo of your choice of Geddy, Alex, or Neil.

To extend an idea mentioned above by "Ragbrat",stating the number of angels that can occupy a volume implies they are fermionic. The fact that there are 6 types (choirs, ranks, species, whatever ...) of them hints at a possible symmetry similar to that found in quarks and leptons and raises the question whether angels might be elementary. That seems unlikely, though, since reports of observation of their interactions indicate a complexity difficult to imagine in an elementary particle. Odds are they are composite particles. There have been enough reports concerning angels to be confident that they are macroscopic. That, in turn, implies that their binding energy does not owe to strong, electromagnetic, weak, or gravitational interactions; they are bound tightly enough to retain an identity even in a fairly strong gravitational field - or to their being from another universe in which values of h and other fundamental constants are different from those in our own universe. Of course, they could also be composite, de-facto fermionic quasiparticles, in which what appears to be a particle is a process in equilibrium. People are quasiparticles of this kind, since it takes 1E-10 sec or so for an oxygen molecule to form a chemical bond to atoms which are clearly part of the body and a typical human body needs more than 2E10 oxygen atoms/sec in order to work. People are also effectively fermionic, although what actually holds their shape is an indirect expression of electrons' fermionic nature and electrical charge - electrons are in discrete states, which means how they repel other electrons depends on what state they're in. So maybe angels are some kind of people from another dimension or something. {{unsigned|Adeblanc|22:28, 3 February 2023}}

"The closest thing to a meaning of life in this universe that provably exists seems to be natural selection, ie the meaning of life is to spread our genetics, although this is an exceptionally unsatisfying answer." -> This is falling for the naturalistic fallacy. While it is true, that we can observe that we as humans "spread our genetics", it not correct to deduce from this, that we should be doing that. {{unsigned ip|172.68.253.142|15:31, 5 March 2025}}

explain xkcd:Community portal/Technical

2024-11-06T22:58:09Z

172.69.195.54: /* 2034: Equations error? */

<noinclude>__NEWSECTIONLINK__
{{Community links}}

{|-
|valign="top" width="100%"|[[File:Crystal Clear app package settings blue.png|left|120px]] <big><big>Technical</big></big>

Technical issues ''about'' the [[explain xkcd]] wiki, including bug reports or MediaWiki extensions requests. {{AddNewSection|Page=Explain XKCD:Community portal/Technical|Text=(+post)}}
|}
= Discussion Area =
</noinclude>

== We need more maintainers ==

:''I'm moving a thread that Davidy22 started on my talk page. The gist is, we need more people with server-side access (especially mediawiki-savvy ones) so we can properly deal with several issues that have been plaguing the wiki for a while now, most notably spam, but also the image scaling problem, a possible extension for proper comments, clean urls, etc. Below is the original thread, please comment.'' --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:56, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

Could you set the permissions so that all anon users have to pass a captcha to edit? The spam has gotten obscene, and they've stopped posting links, so our current detection mechanisms aren't working anymore. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 08:21, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

:I would love to have the ability to tweak the wiki more thoroughly, but currently Jeff's the only one with server access. To be honest, I am not terribly familiar with server-side mediawiki management, so I haven't asked Jeff for access, but it's clear we can't be dependent on a single person to do all the mediawiki config (and Jeff probably knows even less about mediawiki than I do). Are you by any chance acquainted with server-side mediawiki maintenance? I think we could present a good case for having someone else with access to a dev/prototype instance of this wiki on Jeff's server so we could at least experiment and tell him exactly what needs to be done. Thoughts? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:40, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

::I agree that we need more people that are empowered to actively fight spam. I think that we ought to promote Davidy22 to administrator also, so that he can delete pages and block spammers/vandals as he notices them rather than letting them pile up until yourself, IronyChef, or myself notice that there's work that needs done.

::What I think we should do is break out rights into more groups than simply administrator and bureaucrat. I think that's too big of a jump, and that there should be some gradiation. I think we should add a moderator (mark pages as patrolled and rollback ability (as much as it's a sledgehammer when you really only need a ball-peen hammer)) position.

::I think we also need a spam fighter position, but that might not be possible to implement. It should be a position that allows the person to delete pages with 1 or 2 edits (page creation, marked as spam, maybe as high as 3 or 4 for the bots that repeat edit certain pages) and block users with 1 or 2 edits. The real problem there is how to grant those super-powerful abilities without allowing them to lose their mind and go crazy and destroy the wiki. Of course, if we don't catch it early enough there's going to be those IPs that manage to get to six edits, and those will have to be squashed by a full admin. We will also need a way of tagging those spam accounts so when a full admin passes by they will also know to ban the IP address after a spam fighter has deleted all the pages it created.

::Finally, we also need a more active bureaucrat so that we don't have to bug Jeff to promote admin's as well as future moderators and/or spam fighters, and recognize bot accounts as bot accounts. We also should find someone knowledgeable to help Jeff (and maybe he has little helpers) to maintain the actual server. I've done some PHP work, but I've never touched anything deep inside a wiki (I like Ruby and Rails much more). This is my first time gaining admin status on a wiki, so I have no idea what the extra dials and levers do/mean. I look up on the MediaWiki manual and Wikipedia help pages things that I think should be possible, and often times pages exist in places about doing these things, but I'm nowhere near being called knowledgeable. After I finish up some IRL work I'm currently tied up in, I intend to set up a VM webserver on my computers and run a mediawiki install so I can learn how to work (and not break) things without putting explain xkcd in jeopardy.

::Another really wordy post from, [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:01, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

::: From what I know, a moderator user group is possible, but not the spam fighter one. Then again, too many hierarchical levels may be too much for such a small body of regulars. Implementing the moderator group is easy, [[mw:Manual:User rights]] has the details (the "ninja" example and the "list of permissions" section should be enough for putting together the configuration commands to be added to the wiki's LocalSettings.php).
::: As for bureaucrats, I think it makes sense but it seems to me that Jeff only takes longer to perform changes that affect the server, as they understandably may take longer or be more complex (or break the wiki!). Bureaucrats' only difference from admins is that they can promote/demote other users, and this Jeff has been doing without delay, so perhaps there isn't a need for more bureaucrats at the moment. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
::: We do need more sysadmins (people with access to the server), though, for sure. This is a little tricky as none of us is comfortable enough to confidently make server changes in a mediawiki install. Jeff, how about putting the wiki in source control and giving two or three people access to it, so that any wrongdoings can be easily reverted? You could setup a git repository in the server and we could fork it locally to our machines, make tests and push the commits to the server repo whenever they're ready. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:20, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

:::: This is good stuff. I'm down with promoting more admins for spam fighting. If they screw stuff up we can demote them if necessary. I really haven't found a spam fighting extension that I think will be the best possible solution. I'll keep looking as it may be a combination of things. Server access is much more complicated as it is not even my server and it is shared hosting. I think that would be best to be accessed just by me. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:10, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

::::: Regarding the server, I understand -- your position seems reasonable. In any case, I've been looking for extensions that may help taking some workload out of server actions and make more stuff configurable via the wiki itself. I'll report back if I find something usable.
::::: On another note, how do you feel about promoting more bureaucrats? I suggest Lcarsos who's been consistently active for the past few months. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:47, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Personally I'd kind of like to go and make some changes myself. Come up with a nice short url pattern and set it up. Upgrade the wiki. etc... [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 02:44, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
:The shorter URL is being looked into, although Mediawiki strongly advises against it. As for upgrades to the wiki, monetary donations towards Jeff so he can buy better bit for the server would be appreciated. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:06, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
::MediaWiki does not advise against it. Half the code currently running short URLs in core was written by me. Same for the new standard for rewrite rules in the new guides. And the tool to automatically generate the config needed to apply short urls to a wiki. Short URLs are '''not''' advised against.
::We do however strongly advise against installing a wiki in <code>/wiki</code>. Because you do '''not''' want to create <code>/wiki/$1</code> style paths while your script path makes scripts look like <code>/wiki/index.php</code>.
::In this case my plan would be to move <code>/wiki</code> to <code>/w</code> then come up with some other short url pattern like <code>/e/$1</code>, some other path, or maybe <code>/$1</code>.
::And setup some 301 redirects to redirect from the old urls to the new ones.
::And upgrading the version of MediaWiki so that it doesn't have security holes doesn't require server replacement. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 07:09, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
:::Ohwait, software upgrades. Uh. I knew you were talking about that. Yep. Definitely. The wiki recently had issues with running out of hard drive space, so that was all that was on my mind there.
:::Also, I thought you had been referring to [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Wiki_in_site_root_directory this]. Whoop. Well, you could leave Jeff a message at his [[user talk:Jeff|talk page]] to get server access. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:05, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
::::I strongly support this. It's been far too long since we decided we'd want the short url scheme (<code>/$1</code> seems like the best option since it would be simpler/cleaner and allow http://explainxkcd/1234 to point to the correct comic without any extra rewrite rules). While you're at it, I'm sure many would appreciate a look at the current situation with image resizing, which doesn't seem to be working for some reason. Installing [[mw:Extension:Comments|Extension:Comments]] would be awesome, too, as well as [[mw:Extension:Contribution Scores|Extension:Contribution Scores]] ([http://setiquest.org/wiki/index.php/Special:ContributionScores live example]). I'll ask Jeff to take a look at this thread. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:07, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
::::: [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) email me and I'll get you set up with whatever you need. All the suggestions sound good to me. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 00:10, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
::::: Also, the [[Special:ContributionScores|Contribution Scores]] are up. I'm not even top 10 all time, I need to step up my game. Comments will take more work as it needs its own database. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 00:10, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::Awesome! I did some styling changes to make it more interesting :) Let me know what you guys think about it! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 20:32, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Holy crud, what did you do when the wiki started to have almost double my lifetime score? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:57, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::::Hahahah :P I'm pretty sure I cheated a little, IIRC there was an image renaming operation for which I used [http://github.com/btongminh/mwclient mwclient] ;) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:22, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

== Sort by numbers in categories ==

I noticed that in [[:Category:Comics]] all comics are sorted correctly by numbers; but not in any subcategory. (I didn't really get the explanation of how it works on the comics page.) How to fix this? -- [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:40, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

:<nowiki>The comics template uses a template called num4 that turns the number in the comic number field into a four-digit number. That's then passed as a parameter to the category link, and the comics category page sorts articles by those four-digit numbers instead of their actual names. If we wanted to do the same for other categories, we would have to type them all out as [[Category:Politics|0200]], or whatever the comic number is. I would rather wait for mediawiki to come out with an in-built feature to solve this.</nowiki> [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:28, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

::Is there a reason that the template applies that directly to [[:Category:Comics]] and not as a default sortkey via DEFAULTSORT? – ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 12:10, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

::: Good thinking. Using DEFAULTSORT oughta make it work for all categories. I'll give it a try. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:37, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

== Resize ==

I haven't been here (to edit) for a while, but have we still not addressed the bug that doesn't allow image resizing? I know most of us don't have access to that kind of lower-level coding on the site, but I think it's a bit of a notable issue that we can't display comics smaller than their actual size. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:24, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

:Take it up with [[User:Jeff]], but I suspect that adding your voice to the already insistent roaring that images are broken isn't going to inspire much change. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:08, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

== Incidental Ads ==

as ive noticed i think you should check if someone has embeded some of your links with ads really annoying please fix

--[[User:TheWeatherMan|TheWeatherMan]] ([[User talk:TheWeatherMan|talk]]) 14:00, 23 January 2013 (UTC)TheWeatherMan

:Do you have any specific examples of this? By the way, using punctuation, capitalization, spell check, and complete sentences are more likely to get someone to help you. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:10, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

::There is known malware (both adware and viruses) that makes Wikipedia look like it has ads. This wiki uses the same wiki software, so perhaps that malware affects our site too? – ''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]'' [[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]] 05:42, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

==/wiki/==
Now that explainxkcd redirects straight to the wiki, could we take the /wiki/ out of the url? I'd also like the wiki's edit log to be purged to clean out the history and forget about past spam, but that's probably wishing for too much. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:06, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

:But seriously, could the /wiki/ go? It'll screw with the spammers for a day or two, at the very least. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:37, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

==Newbie questions: Comic dates, previous-and-next-comic buttons==
Just created the my first page, [[220: Philosophy]], but I could use a little guidance. How do I find the date that an ''xkcd'' comic was originally posted, and how do I rig up the previous-comic and next-comic arrows on a page? (Actually, I've noticed several pages that should have the arrows but don't.) [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 11:19, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:Those arrows will automagically insert themselves when you make the adjacent comic explanations. There *is* a little backstage magic that needs to be taken care of, but we can do that for you. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:40, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
** OK. How about the dates? [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 11:41, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
:::Click on "All Comics" in the navbar on left-hand side of the site. The dates are in the form YYYY-MM-DD. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:56, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

:The comic template checks for the existence of the numerical redirect for the comic before and the comic after. If it finds the page to exist it will display the next/previous button as appropriate. So, by creating the redirects listed on the [[List of all comics]] (third column, only worry about the number and title links) future pages will automatically get the links created. Redirect pages look like <code><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[####: Comic Title]]</nowiki></code> and that's it ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1143&redirect=no here] is a link to the redirect page with redirect disabled so you can look at the source to see what I'm talking about). That's all that needs to exist on the number and title redirects. If you feel up to creating them yourself, feel free, otherwise someone else goes through occasionally and mass adds all the missing redirects. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:55, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

== Error message ==

I've been getting this error message a lot the last cup'o days. When trying to access a page; when trying to save changes on a page. Any ideas on why? I'm getting it on both chrome and firefox.
::Database error
::A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:
::(SQL query hidden) from within function "Revision::insertOn". Database returned error "1142: INSERT command denied to user ::'dbo423085716'@'74.208.16.155' for :table 'text' (db423085716.db.1and1.com)".
–[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:54, 18 March 2013 (UTC)

:Every once in a while I get a SQL error being reported, but usually I can simply F5 and the page comes up. Every once in a while it seems like the server load is just so that somebody gets lucky enough to see the server error out. I don't think there's much we can do about this, other than move the wiki onto a more powerful server. But, there are no ads on this site, there is no revenue model, just a very kind person paying for hosting that keeps this site up. I'm more than willing to overlook a few hiccups for the continuing availability of explain xkcd. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 07:12, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

::Yeah, I get those too, but St. Nerol was talking about something that happened recently with the server running out of hard drive space and throwing SQL errors every time someone tried to make large edits. I had to find Jeff on twitter because I'd get SQL errors when I tried to edit his talk page. He's looking into history deletion plugins, to clear out our vast archives of deleted spam and obsoleted prototype comic templates. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:10, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

== Install a caching reverse proxy to handle heavy load ==

According to returned headers, this server runs from Apache directly. I would recommend setting up a reverse caching proxy in front of Apache to handle high traffic load (like, e.g. current load). The one I use is nginx (http://nginx.org/) -- admins, drop me an email if you need help setting it up [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 21:38, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

:The standard software to use is either Squid or Varnish. Nginx is a bit too much of a webserver to be configured in the way MW needs iirc. Although nginx would help with serving the static assets. Unfortunately there will be a need to switch to a proper server first. The site seems to be hosted on shared hosting. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 04:59, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

::I had gotten burned before with both Squid and Varnish but Nginx had always kept my systems alive. It's extremely lightweight and works great to fix these kinds of problems. But, of course if it's a shared server where you can't use it, it won't help... [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 16:35, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

:::Nginx is a great webserver. It'll serve out static pages much better than Apache. But the issue here isn't the webserver. It's PHP and all the work that the database needs to do on every request. Switching webservers won't get rid of that issue. Using squid/varnish a proper reverse proxying cache will allow complete pages to be cached and served directly to readers bypassing the webserver, php, and the database entirely on some requests. That'll reduce the load the site has to cope with. [[User:Dantman|Dantman]] ([[User talk:Dantman|talk]]) 23:47, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

== A couple of enwiki features implemented ==

I have "imported" {{tl|disambig}} and the related [[:Category:Disambiguation pages|category]] for the [[Exoplanets‎‎|one page]] it was needed for (to avoid having a page that was uncategorised :-) ).

I have also created {{tl|unsigned ip}} (and converted the one use of {{tl|unsigned}}) and applied it for a handful of existing uses of {{tl|unsigned}}. It hardly matters, but then it's also only three more characters to type for new uses.

Importantly, however, I implore you to consider including the second datestamp parameter when applying either template -- it's actually the more useful information. I know it's a pain to convert times ''back'' to UTC, but, hey, most of you don't have to deal with a half hour timezone :-) [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 16:19, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

:Urrggh, there's an option to make UTC the default display time. The template oughta be a little more automated, mebbe filling the time in automagically with five tildes if no date field is entered? The time will be a bit off when editors fill in the unsigned templates, but it'll be close enough to the actual value. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:59, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

::No, especially while there's existing templates to adjust, where the "default" datestamp would be way out. If someone wants to fix a lot of the existing usage, setting their timezone to UTC is the simplest option. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 09:14, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

== I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading ==

:''This thread has been moved to [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#I've removed "add a comment!" from Discussion heading|The proposals board]].''

== Need password reset ==

Sorry to bother you all, but I seem to have lost the password to this account and don't have an email set (which requires the password). I'm still logged in thanks to the "remember me" feature but after 30 days I'll lose access. This isn't fixable at the MediaWiki level; someone with access to the server mysql or whatever will need to change something. Is there such a person I can email with? [[User:Splainr|Splainr]] ([[User talk:Splainr|talk]]) 03:05, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
:I assume your browser isn't remembering it for you? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 03:08, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
::Oh wow that was fast. Nope, neither Firefox not OSX keychain access know what it is. [[User:Splainr|Splainr]] ([[User talk:Splainr|talk]]) 15:18, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
: I'm not sure how to solve that problem, but I know account usurpation has been done for the single-login transition in Wikimedia wikis, so technically it should be doable. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:04, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

See [[mw:Manual:Resetting passwords]]. --[[User:Mormegil|Mormegil]] ([[User talk:Mormegil|talk]]) 11:59, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

== Analytics ==

Recently I found out about WikiApiary, an interesting site that collects analytics from mediawiki wikis. I added explain xkcd. Check the stats that have been collected so far: http://wikiapiary.com/wiki/explain_xkcd --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 00:03, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

== "External" hotlinking enabled to confirm issue with other car.jpg ==

FYI I have [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=MediaWiki:External_image_whitelist&oldid=34582 enabled] "external" hotlinking to this wiki's own images to show [[:File:other car.jpg]] can display correctly. See further notes about that issue [[File talk:other car.jpg|here]]. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 14:32, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

:If the problem is lack of thumbnail generation, it should display correctly even without hotlinking, simply by using the original size, e.g.
:[[File:other car.jpg]]
:I'm not sure why it doesn't. In any case, this image hotlinking thing reminded me, would it be a good idea to use the images hosted at XKCD.com and only upload variants to the wiki (e.g. those at [[:Category:Helper comic images]]) and images Randall for some reason deleted from the server (e.g. images with typos)? This would reduce the load on the explainxkcd server and provide a better experience for viewers since xkcd is already optimized for high loads and actually openly provides the image urls for hotlinking. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 15:01, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Seeing as [[User:Daddy]]'s upload has fixed the wiki always attempting to display the thumbnail version (which still don't work), I have disabled the "hotlinking" again.

[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:32, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

== Redirect from explainxkcd.com/1234 ==

It would be really cool if <code>http://www.explainxkcd.com/<number></code> redirected to the explain page for that number. That would allow people to get to the correct explanation by simply adding <code>explain</code> to the comic url.

If you are willing to do this, all you would need to do (assuming you run apache with mod_rewrite enabled) is put the following in <code>.htaccess</code> in your web root:

<code><pre>
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^(\d+)/?$ /wiki/index.php?title=$1 [R,L]
</pre></code>

-[[User:Sionide21|Sionide21]] ([[User talk:Sionide21|talk]]) 22:28, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

::Yeah! I'm waiting for this. But admins seems to be rare here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:44, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
::And it seems we both could help...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:47, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
:::There are several admins here (in fact, I am, too), but what you are looking for is the sysop, the one with access to the server. Admins can delete/protect/undelete pages and block users etc. [[User:Jeff|Jeff]] is the only one that can change MediaWiki configuration or url rewriting... --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 17:08, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::Thanks for your information, so I will try to talk to [[User:Jeff|Jeff]]. BTW: Can you edit the main page? I still miss a link to the incomplete comics on the top.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:52, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::: At the top of the main page, there is a section that says ''"We have collaboratively explained 1189 xkcd comics, and only 33 (3%) remain. Add yours while there's a chance!"''. The word ''remain'' is already linked to the list. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 19:16, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::::I was talking about the 97% comics. There are still many incomplete pages and we have a category here on that.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:36, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Ah, I see. Just did it; everyone: feel free to change the sentence, I'm not a native speaker. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 21:07, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::::::THANKS! I'm also not native English, I'm German. But this wiki is a great challenge to get more practice, even much more as if talking to common English natives.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:27, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::::::::: This is something I want to do, so I'm putting this on my page, so I remember to add it to the .htaccess. I'm not super familiar with the .htaccess rules, can I have this along with the other rules I have in my htaccess file? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:17, 22 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::: Yes, that rule will work alongside other rules --[[User:Sionide21|Sionide21]] ([[User talk:Sionide21|talk]]) 19:28, 27 October 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::: I've fixed this on our new host. (I actually had the rule in there already, I just had it in the wrong order.) I'd love to promote this feature a bunch. Any ideas how? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 02:33, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::: A sitenotice oughta do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:43, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::: Woohoo, finally!!! Now if we could just have [[#We need more maintainers|clean URLs]] too, that'd be swell! ;) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 05:02, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

== Incomplete – motivation ==

Is it possible to fix (or is there already) a way to add a motivation with the "incomplete"-tag? I tried <nowiki>{{incomplete|the title text needs explaining}}</nowiki>, which made "edit it" in the banner link to the uncreated page "the title text..."... ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 12:16, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

:You can use the <nowiki>{{notice|Your text...}}</nowiki> template:
{{notice|Here is my notice.}}
:--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:30, 10 June 2013 (UTC)
::Thanks! I think that ideally most incomplete-notices shold carry a note on what's missing, but we aren't there, so this'll do for now. ––[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 10:21, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

== Unable to Edit ==

I cannot edit this latest comic's page. When I hit edit a screen appears which says "This page has been protected to prevent editing." I've never edited before, but I'm annoyed by the improper use of the word candid. "It would be candid and unrealistic" would be better off in that sentence if candid was removed. How do I make it so I can edit the page, so I can remove this affront to the English language?
:I believe you are trying to edit the main page. You can click "Latest comic" in the left sidebar or the "Go to this comic" button in the top right corner of the grey box to go to the actual page for today's comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:42, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
::That was the problem, thanks.--[[User:Holcma01|Holcma01]] ([[User talk:Holcma01|talk]]) 17:07, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

== Banner ad placement ==

On iPad and iPhone browsers, the banner ads obscure the top of the page. This covers up some of the useful buttons up there, like LOGIN for example. The workaround is to refresh the page. Because the banner ad is the last thing to load, you have a brief window of maybe three seconds to find and click the link you need. [[User:Gardnertoo|Gardnertoo]] ([[User talk:Gardnertoo|talk]]) 20:24, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
: Fixed. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 21:12, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

== Bookmarklet for jumping to explainxkcd.com from xkcd.com ==

I wrote a short {{w|bookmarklet}} for jumping from xkcd.com to explainxkcd.com. Bookmarklet form:
<pre>
javascript:var%20match%20%3D%20window.location.href.match(%2F%5Cd%2B%2F)%3B%0Avar%20suffix%20%3D%20match%20%3F%20%27%3Ftitle%3D%27%20%2B%20match%5B0%5D%20%3A%20%27%27%3B%0Awindow.location%20%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.explainxkcd.com%2Fwiki%2Findex.php%27%20%2B%20suffix%3B
</pre>

Decoded:
<pre>
javascript:var match = window.location.href.match(/\d+/);
var suffix = match ? '?title=' + match[0] : '';
window.location ='http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php' + suffix;
</pre>

If you're on a numbered xkcd page, it will go to the accompanying explainxkcd.com page automatically. If you're on the xkcd.com home page, it goes to the explainxkcd.com wiki home page. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:30, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

To add this bookmarklet to your browser:

# Copy the bookmarklet javascript (*not* the decoded version)
# Using your browsers bookmark manager, create a new bookmark
# Give the bookmark a meaningful name -- e.g. ExplainXKCD
# Paste the javascript in for the bookmark URL
# Save.
({{unsigned|Tomh}})

:Thanks Mattflaschen and Tomh! I've started collecting these helpful tools on a [[Browser helpers|new page]], to hopefully make them easier for others to find. – [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 01:33, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

== Database Error ==

I have NO IDEA where this should go, but
http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1011
has the content

Database error
A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:
(SQL query hidden)
from within function "SqlBagOStuff::set". Database returned error "1142: INSERT command denied to user 'dbo423085716'@'74.208.16.155' for table 'objectcache' (db423085716.db.1and1.com)".

Just thought I should report it.

OOPS forgot sig. [[Special:Contributions/67.175.58.94|67.175.58.94]] 00:13, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Edit: This has been fixed randomly. Never mind then. :X

== [[mw:Extension:SyntaxHighlighter]] ==

Could we maybe enable this? It would be helpful for some of the programming-heavy comics' explanations, e.g. [[1270|today's one]].[[User:PinkAmpersand|PinkAmpersand]] ([[User talk:PinkAmpersand|talk]]) 17:02, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
: Done, PinkAmpersand. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:57, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

== It's not taking me to the main page ==

If I type explainxkcd.com, it redirects me to http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki which just shows a directory listing, rather than taking me to the main page (as I assume it's supposed to). [[User:Chridd|chridd]] ([[User talk:Chridd|talk]]) 02:07, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
:Thaat's not supposed to happen. I'm on it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:49, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
:Is it fixed for you now? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:55, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
::Yes [[User:Chridd|chridd]] ([[User talk:Chridd|talk]]) 14:46, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

== Logo in upper left corner missing ==

The logo in the upper left corner is missing, probably because of a wrong redirect. The logo should be at http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/skins/common/images/explainxkcd.png, but this link takes me to the main page. The icons in the edit toolbar are missing, too, probably the same problem. You should exclude all \.png$ queries from redirects. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.177|108.162.254.177]] 10:09, 31 October 2013 (UTC)
: Fixed that. Sorry about that, it was an overzealous htaccess. Thanks! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 15:45, 31 October 2013 (UTC)

== Sidebar ad overhangs content in Firefox 25.0 ==

The sidebar ad on each page overhangs the content frame slightly when I view this site in Firefox 25.0 on a Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit pc. I have started Firefox in safe mode with all add-ons disabled and it still happens. Site looks fine in IE 11. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.79}}
:Have you tried hitting control-shift-R, or clearing your cache? That sounds like Firefox is disregarding part of our CSS for whatever reason. I'm running a very similar setup and I'm not getting these problems. Try giving it a wee bit of time and trying again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:27, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

:What's your monitor resolution and size of your Firefox window (maximized, 50/50 split, etc)? [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:24, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
::I'm really sure that scaling isn't the issue, I made the sidebar width definite. I'll check it again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:06, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:::The sidebar has a fixed width defined at the CSS style sheet. Press F5 or CTRL-R to reload this style sheet. This happened to me in the past too. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:14, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
::::I changed the defined width to pixels instead of em, in the annoying edge-case that a browser uses a weird default font width. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:24, 13 November 2013 (UTC)
:::::It looks fine now.--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.79|173.245.56.79]] 06:08, 18 November 2013 (UTC)
::::::Sidebar ad overhangs content in DuckDuckGo 7.67.1.2 for iOS 15.4.1, on iPhone 12. aka 'Your sidebar ad has been crushed into a cube. You have fifteen minutes to move your cube.'

== Connection problems ==

Whatever the new hoster does cost, you should get your money back. Sometimes the page doesn't load at all, or the menu is missing after the browser did finish after one or two minutes. The performance here is still annoying. That cloud seems to be a dead cloud. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:33, 11 January 2014 (UTC)
:It's easily more performant than our old service, and it holds up far better to traffic. I am inclined to say that it's a region specific issue, and I'll submit a ticket for that, but they've worked far better than flat shared hosting for the time that we've been using them. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:01, 12 January 2014 (UTC)
::More detail: The message is an Error 522 (Connection timed out).
::*You (Browser, Working) <-> Amsterdam (CloudFlare, Working) <-> <nowiki>www.explainxkcd.com</nowiki> (Host, '''Error''')
::In December the CloudFlare did belong to Frankfurt. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:35, 12 January 2014 (UTC)
:::I'm having still major problems to connect, only this this silly error message. ...and then it does work again. Still strange.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:58, 14 January 2014 (UTC)
:Today I've been getting a ''lot'' of these errors with Cloudflare. (London-based CloudFlare, in my case.) "Error 522 Ray ID: 2587581d8b8a350c • 2015-12-21 23:25:22 UTC" is just one of the IDs. Not sure if you'd prefer another bit of the page info, instead, but the Ray ID looked unique enough to pinpoint debug info in the background.) The suggestion is made that the web server is too busy at something or other. Anyway, just so you're aware.
:I had a look here, first, to see if anyone had mentioned anything (and found the above), so apologies if I'm not posting in the best bit of the best page. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 23:44, 21 December 2015 (UTC)
::It seems to be an occasional regional issue that cloudflare has with us. When I go to our server directly our site is still up, so something between us and cloudflare is failing. Not sure what though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:40, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
:Yesterday (and day before?) Cloudflare London insisted that the server was not responding. Not sure if that was an actual explain-server issue (not seen mention of it anywhere else, in a brief dig), only Cloudflare London being refused by the server (detecting and blanket filtering rogue traffic via my gateway) or some other issue. Meant to check for update timestamps on the latest comic article that coincided with my being unable to visit the site at the time. But FYI, assuming the cause isn't already sorted out with no further actions needed and/or possible... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.92|162.158.155.92]] 16:02, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

== Wrong IP address shown ==

All [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&hideliu=1 edits by IPs] (well, at least all I checked, including my own edits) are recorded using IP addresses of CloudFlare ([http://www.utrace.de/whois/108.162.238.220 108.162.192.0/18], [http://www.utrace.de/whois/173.245.50.88 173.245.48.0/20] and some other ranges), i.e., it's not the address of the client, but of the server. This seems similar to [https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=56681]. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.160|108.162.254.160]] 09:05, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
:That's something we're working on, but current limitations with our provider are making things sow for us. When they give us what we need, we can do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:59, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
::Hmmpf! I just noticed this twelve months later and it's still the case... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 01:59, 29 January 2015 (UTC)
:::Uurrrp a couple of holdups happened, I need to do this at some point. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:54, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

::: I just noticed it as well [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.197|162.158.252.197]] 04:20, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

: CloudFlare is already providing the Real Ip address -- there are mods for Apache https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/203656534-How-can-I-set-up-Apache-mod-CloudFlare- and Nginx https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200170706-How-do-I-restore-original-visitor-IP-with-Nginx- or you can just pull it from the X-Forwarded-For HTTP header which proxy servers (like CloudFlare) typically puts the client IP address. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.197|162.158.252.197]] 04:25, 24 October 2015 (UTC)

== 1337 leads to...? ===

Current and latest comic page, 1337, unusually has a "Next" before there's even any 1338 page. (It points to 1337.) As a lowly IP, I don't feel I ought to delve too deep to see if it's a page template issue (possibly because "1337" is both a past title ''and'' the current number, maybe, although not too sure if that'd work out) or just because of manual editing. But bringing it to general attention. (It may of course be an issue that does not even last beyond Wednesday, and comic number 1338's arrival, even without intervention.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.7|141.101.99.7]] 13:40, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
:D'aww, and I wanted to be lazy too. I'll get to fixing it, an IP took it to himself to add stuff to the comic template and he removed the auto-hiding buttons. Imma fixy. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:42, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
::I did revert some edits on that issue here, so for the first point it should work again. In general: The main page should not be affected like this and the test environment is called: Sandbox. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:43, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
:::The issue was fixed three hours before your autorevert. This is getting excessive. The next time you autorevert a large edit without testing or making an attempt to fix things yourself, expect a three-day ban. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:41, 3 March 2014 (UTC)

== No confirmation email? ==

I requested an email for confirmation when I registered. I got nothing, not in spam filter, not in trash, and definitely in not my inbox.

Today, I requested another confirmation email. Again, nothing has appeared.

Is it me? Is it my shampoo??? Enquiring minds want to know....
Thanks. [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 22:45, 20 March 2014 (UTC)
:Confirmation emails? What, are we a five-star hotel now?
:Jokes aside, is this a thing you really need? You should be autoconfirmed after editing for a while without getting blocked, but if you can put forward a good reason why we should add this in, I'll do it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:54, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
:::Not blocked! Trying to authenticate my email, which I thought was an automatic process. Does that feature not work? That would certainly explain the lack of autoresponse.... Cheers. KB [[User:Karenb|Karenb]] ([[User talk:Karenb|talk]]) 01:35, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I'm having the same issue. I've requested several confirmation emails over the past few days. I have also tried changing and then resetting my email address. Nothing has worked so far, and it's not in any of my filtered inboxes. I can edit most pages. Will this fix itself even if I don't get an email? [[User:DownGoer|DownGoer]] ([[User talk:DownGoer|talk]]) 18:16, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

==Because the people visiting here are probably the people that should see this==
After the server upgrades mentioned in the sitenotice, de.explainxkcd.com should exist. I'm not publicizing it yet, just want to get it up and work out implementation details before it goes fully live. Pls dun test during the downtime, there'll be plenty of time for that after it's live. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:14, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
:Ok, so our server doesn't actually have the required dependencies to complete the upgrade, so that was slightly fruitless. Sorry about any downtime or inconvenience caused, I didn't add the German wiki again because I'm looking set up the parallel wikis on an up-to-date base. Sorry again for any inconvenience that may have caused, I'll make sure to be better prepared next time, and maybe actually succeed in performing the upgrade next time. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:02, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

==Does anyone have image of Black Hat saying to Cueball "It's 'cause you're dumb" ?==
Guys, does anyone has this image?
I'm hosting Russian xkcd fanpage here - vk.com/xkcdoff and if someone would post it it would be very helpful. --[[User:KOTYAR|KOTYAR]] ([[User talk:KOTYAR|talk]]) 22:40, 24 March 2014 (UTC)
:I actually can't find it either. Shame, I liked that old thumbnail. I could probably photoshop up a new version if you really want one though. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:53, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
:
::[[File:explain xkcd blog header image.png|right]] Just going to the [[explain xkcd]] page and following [http://wayback.archive.org/web/20091026122109/http://www.explainxkcd.com/2009/07/03/extrapolating/ the first historic (internet-archived) link] allowed me to extract [http://wayback.archive.org/web/20110202213753im_/http://www.explainxkcd.com/wp-content/themes/lightword/images/header-image.png the requested "header-image.png"] (the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wp-content/themes/lightword/images/header-image.png corresponding image URL on the current site] gives nothing anymore... thank you, Internet Archive!). Which I uploaded to the wiki here, for convenience and because it's part of this wiki's history, in a way, and also, cool. [[File:Face-smile.svg|20px|Smile|link=]] - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:39, 16 April 2014 (UTC) (PS: also, [http://www.facebook.com/explainxkcd/photos/10150144122985214 facebook.com/explainxkcd/photos/10150144122985214]; but JPEG.)

== expxkcd.com redirect not up-to-date ==

By adding "exp" at the beginning of the URL one can easily switch from [http://xkcd.com/1234 xkcd.com/1234] to [http://expxkcd.com/1234 expxkcd.com/1234], which redirects to the corresponding explanation here, and that's nice. But right now, [http://expxkcd.com expxkcd.com] redirects to [[1355]] (at least for me), instead of [[1356]], the latest comic. Wouldn't it be better if expxkcd.com redirected to the [[Main Page]] instead (as does correctly [http://explainxkcd.com explainxkcd.com])? - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 10:55, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
:expxkcd is actually a thing that user [[user:grep]] was so kind to purchase and handle for us. I can forward this on to him for him to resolve, and give him the rewrite rules we use if he needs them. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:12, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
:
::Nice, thank you for the quick forward to the right place. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 11:31, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
:Yeah, the reason for that is that right now, I update it manually, which is obviously a really bad idea. I plan to change this pretty soon. I don't want it to go to the main page because the main page doesn't show the discussion, and comes along with all the other, regular main page stuff. Any rewrite rules wouldn't hurt, Davidy22. {{User:Grep/signature|12:04, 16 April 2014}}
::Hrm. Ours rules point towards the main page. We have no automatically updating page that always redirects to the latest comic, but you can use Mediawiki hooks to append the contents of the page [[Template:LATESTCOMIC]] to the end of our URL. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:44, 17 April 2014 (UTC)
:::Sorry, I don't understand. My BOT will upload the next comic on time, unless it's some new chaos by Randall a BOT just can't handle. The LATESTCOMIC template is updated and so it seems only be an issue on that damn Cloud Service Cache. Even Randall's pages are affected. At "What-if" I still have to use <CTRL+R> to get the latest content. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:26, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
::::We're talking about a different thing related to shortened URLs. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:24, 18 April 2014 (UTC)
:::That is an interesting idea, however I just made a script that automatically adds 1 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I could have it grab the number from your page and do this once a day at something like 00:10 EST (because Randall sometimes does things on other days), that's a possibility as well (other times / intervals may also be done if you wish/want). {{User:Grep/signature|04:34, 02 May 2014}}
::::Our LATESTCOMIC page and Randall's xkcd json page should both have up-to-date comic numbers for you to pull. Ours is probably the better one to pull since your site is linking to us. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:30, 2 May 2014 (UTC)
:::::The script now checks Template:LATESTCOMIC every 30 minutes to see if the comic has changed or not. If you wish, I might be able narrow this down to 11PM->6AM (for 30 minute checking) and then have it check every two hours at other times or something similar to that (if [http://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/systemd.time.html systemd.time] has a way to do it) {{User:Grep/signature|12:13, 09 May 2014}}
::::::I still do not see that problems. Please touch this wiki as less as needed, this is still the best choice. But there is still a big problem on the cache, an update on a picture lasts many hours. Some statements in "LocalSettings.php" should work, if not this wiki version is buggy. Problems should be solved at the cause and not be overridden by some additional scripts. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 9 May 2014 (UTC)
:::::::We have ample bandwidth for a bot that only checks once every half-hour. The image caching issue is irrelevant to the current topic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:45, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

== Explain xkcd upgraded to version 1.19.17 ==

Woo! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:59, 26 July 2014 (UTC)

The header seems to have broken, there is no longer a link to the explanation in it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 22:00, 26 July 2014 (UTC)
:Which header are you talking about? All the links I can think of still seem to work. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:13, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
:: It fixed itself shortly after I mentioned it. It was the incomplete explanation, the link to 428 was bold, but not a link. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 04:48, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

One of the ads is broken.

[[File:brokenexplainxkcdad.png]]

[[User:MrGameZone|0100011101100001011011010110010101011010011011110110111001100101]] ([[User talk:MrGameZone|talk page]]) 04:33, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

:Ooh, thanks for catching that. Should be fixed now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:08, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Nice :) But is this update a preparation for an upcoming update to {{w|MediaWiki version history|one of the latest versions}}, or are we limited to 1.19 for some reason? I'm asking because 1.19 is only supported for {{w|mw:Version lifecycle#Version timeline|a few more months}}, and also because with newer versions we'd have access to some niceties -- for example, after version 1.20 the {{w|mw:Help:Magic words#Statistics|PAGESINCAT}} magic word accepts parameters, which would allow the count of explained comics in the main page to work using less hardcoded hacks. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:08, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

:Prior attempts to update the wiki have been prevented by the realization that Lunarpages doesn't give us quite as much control over our server share as we thought we had. Checking again, they seem to have upgraded the version of PHP on our server since we last attempted and failed to run one dumb update script, which should mean that it'll work next time we try it. The wiki also has quite a bit of user effort invested into it now, and I'm a little less ready to jump into .0~.3 releases than I would normally be on my own machine, so I upgraded down the LTS path that I knew would be safe. After the first ill-planned attempt, I've been eyeing the 1.23 LTS line for the next major jump, but I'm certainly not stepping into it while it's still relatively fresh. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:08, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

:: Sounds reasonable. Thanks for the details. I'll be looking forward to the next update :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 18:52, 28 July 2014 (UTC)
::Just wanting to offer, I use ARP Networks for hosting, you should check them out if you want more control. {{unsigned ip|173.245.56.154}}
:::Hum, there's an option. I'll keep that in mind. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
::::It wasn't me that posted that comment. But surprisingly enough anon and I have the same first two bytes in our IP addresses. Congrats on the version upgrade. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 05:31, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

Why does the site say I'm blocking ads when I'm not? I do use AdBlock Plus, but it's turned off for this site. Screenshot [http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj637/backagain2012/contra_zps3c6aa295.png here]. And while I'm here, that "unblock us" text has an error- the first "and" in the second sentence shouldn't be there. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 01:51, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
:The text only appears when the ads fail to load. The error message actually says noscript, which means that the Javascript that the ad box uses to fetch images isn't running. How long has this been happening for you? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
::It just started. I came over here as soon as I noticed it. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 19:07, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
:::Have you recently made any changes to your browser? Does the problem persist when you hit CTRL+SHIFT+R? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 12:43, 30 July 2014 (UTC)
::::Nope, no recent changes. And yes, the problem persists when I hit Ctrl+Shift+R. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 14:04, 30 July 2014 (UTC)
:::::I am genuinely puzzled. The message tells me that something is causing your browser to fail to load/run the Javascript that makes the ad render and report stats, so the problem could be anything that can cause that: noscript, outdated browser, experimentation. I don't know anything about your setup, and it works on my test machines, so I can't tell currently what's wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:10, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
:Do you have privoxy installed on your machine? (this is a long shot) [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 00:24, 3 August 2014 (UTC)

== If anything broke, complain here. ==

There's a banner that says:
The wiki has been updated to stable mediawiki version 1.19.17. If anything broke, complain here.

So...

The following have broken:
Cars
My previous computer
A railroad train
Condoms
Etc.

None of which has anything to do with this website.

The banner should be made more specific before Randall sees it and does a comic mocking it.

Or not. {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.80}}
:Well, there's always that one guy. Fixed. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:05, 28 July 2014 (UTC)
::I don't see how you could have fixed that one guy. Throttled, eliminated, insulted, blocked, etc. But not fixed. [[User:Walenc|Walenc]] ([[User talk:Walenc|talk]]) 16:29, 28 July 2014 (UTC)
:::See sense 6 here: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fix#Verb :P [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.154|173.245.56.154]] 02:13, 29 July 2014 (UTC)
::::i bet you think yer so clever. just watch me take the site down. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:35, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

== Misc Request... (|< < Prev Comic Next > >| format) ==

I usually browse in a very small window and the menu buttons split kind of strangely (http://i.imgur.com/wPE7szZ.png). Would it be possible to replace the spaces with nonbreaking spaces? --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.202|173.245.56.202]] 15:13, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
:Annoyingly, the spaces that are giving you trouble can't be changed because they're text string inputs, and Mediawiki has no regular expression markup yet. Every other instance of formatting-critical spaces has been changed to non-breaking spaces though, thanks for the heads up! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:13, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
:: I think I fixed this by adding a space between the buttons. Unfortunately, this only works as long as the comic is not as wide as the button bar. I guess this is because of the surrounding table. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:15, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

== Not receiving password reset emails ==

I've forgotten my password, and password reset is not working for me. I went to [[Special:PasswordReset]], and had it send me a reset email. However, I have not received the email. I am sure that I have an email associated with my account, and it's confirmed. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.174|173.245.54.174]] 08:38, 18 August 2014 (UTC)
:Tested, password reset emails seem to work for me. Have you checked your spam folder? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:04, 24 August 2014 (UTC)
::I checked in Gmail in "Mail & Spam & Trash", and it still doesn't find it. I tried a fresh reset, so we'll see if that comes through. No luck after a minute or two. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]] 04:59, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

==TOR Captcha==

Hi, I use TOR. To access your website, cloudfare has made it such that I have to enter a captcha. This is very inconvenient, as your site is not the only one doing this. Can you please fix this issue? You should be able to see a guide here: https://tor.stackexchange.com/questions/599/cloudflares-captcha-screen-insurmountable . Thank you for taking the time to consider this. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.60|141.101.104.60]] 11:34, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
:Is it better now? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:06, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
::Sorry, no. I still get the captcha. What did you try doing? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.87|108.162.216.87]] 22:09, 13 September 2014 (UTC)
:::Set the threat level threshold way up. Any further steps into cheap botnet territory. For your security, you may want to reconsider the nodes through which you're operating through. Also, why do you need to use Tor to visit us? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:17, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
::::Ah, okay, thanks, now I'm not getting the captcha. As for why I'm using Tor, I don't ''need'' to, but I'd rather do so just to be anonymous. I wouldn't have written if it were just your site, but since Cloudfare has made captchas the default setting for Tor, the internet is starting to become near unusable. So that everyday people aren't scared away from using Tor due to the perceived complexity of daily browsing, whenever I have to enter a captcha, I try to contact someone at the site to ask them to change the setting. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.82|108.162.216.82]] 06:52, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

== Upgrade to the latest MediaWiki version? ==

I think we should start trying to maintain a regular upgrade schedule of some sort. 6 months ago was the last time we've upgraded, and I think we should upgrade again. The impetus for this change would be for [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Translate translation] [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:TranslationNotifications features], [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Babel plus other multilinguality efforts that require the new versions of MediaWiki.] Localization efforts should be put into place, and the translate feature would work well for that. [[User:Chess|Chess]] ([[User talk:Chess|talk]]) 01:53, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
:Plans to upgrade only include LTS releases. That said though, the recent and unintentional server downtime was actually the result of a setup for a coming mediawiki upgrade, among other things. The plan is to upgrade to 1.23 sometime in the coming months, during the weekend after a satisfactory number of bugfix releases. We're very interested in setting up translations, although mediawiki in it's current form already supports translation; the extensions you linked are mostly quality-of-life additions. It's been delayed because the plan is to eliminate all incomplete comics first so that translators have a solid base to work from. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:42, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
::Can I just be nitpicky and say that we last upgraded about 3.5 months ago, not 6? Thanks. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 03:17, 12 November 2014 (UTC)

== Fix HTTPS access ==

explain xkcd is using Cloudflare which recently enabled HTTPS for all users, but when [https://explainxkcd.com accessing it via HTTPS] it returns [https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200171916-Error-521 error 521].
In order to fix this in addiction to the solution steps proposed by CloudFlare check if SSL settings are correct. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.138}}
:On it '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:51, 13 November 2014 (UTC)

HTTPS is working now, there just some mixed-content warnings, mostly on style tags which being active mixed content are blocked, but it's still a good improvement as it's possible to have more privacy when browsing explain xkcd.{{unsigned ip|188.114.99.35}}

: Whoever has server access, can they try changing $wgServer ([[mediawikiwiki:Manual:$wgServer|Manual:$wgServer]]) to use a protocol relative url? As the manual page says, you may also want to set $wgCanonicalServer to a fully-qualified url (hopefully defaulting to https). [[User:Behrat|Behrat]] ([[User talk:Behrat|talk]]) 04:17, 29 October 2015 (UTC)
::Done. How's it now? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:42, 31 October 2015 (UTC)
::: Much better! The styles and scripts are loaded now, and the page looks good. It's still not completely green https because it's loading some images over plain http, but my browser at least appears to be allowing them for now. If you want any more suggestions on technical issues, let me know. I currently maintain my own mediawiki installation with full https, cloudflare, and short urls. [[User:Behrat|Behrat]] ([[User talk:Behrat|talk]]) 20:27, 4 November 2015 (UTC)
::::Huh. Is it the ad images? The comic pictures *should* be also done over https, no? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:10, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
::::: Yeah, one of them is the ad images (http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/lunarpages_160x600.jpg). Most of them are from [[MediaWiki:Common.css]], so you could just change all the urls on that css page to protocol-relative. The only other one I see is http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/3.0/88x31.png, which I think is set at [[mediawikiwiki:Manual:$wgFooterIcons|$wgFooterIcons]], but I'm not sure. All of them appear to be accessible over https, so just changing the links should work. [[User:Behrat|Behrat]] ([[User talk:Behrat|talk]]) 01:13, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

If I replace xkcd with explainxkcd I get a very ugly CSS-less page in Chrome on Win7. If I change the https to http, the page works [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.12|141.101.105.12]] 06:07, 3 September 2015 (UTC)
:Can you provide more information about your setup? Test a different browser? Unable to reproduce. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:56, 3 September 2015 (UTC)
:: I can reproduce in Firefox. This is due to the mixed content blocker. Usually, it should only block active content (scripts) and maybe warn about passive content (stylesheets), but at least in Firefox, it is configurable to block both. But I cannot see why the stylesheets shouldn't be served via HTTPS.
:: Currently, the styles are referenced absolutely ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/load.php?debug=false&lang=de&modules=site&only=styles&skin=vector&* http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/...]), but they should rather by referenced domain-relative (<code>/wiki/...</code>) or at least protocol-relative (<code>[//www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/load.php?debug=false&lang=de&modules=site&only=styles&skin=vector&* //www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/...]</code>). --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:29, 3 September 2015 (UTC)

== RSS feed issue ==

When attempting to access the feed for this wiki I'm told "Sorry. No feed found." Is there some way that the feed can be restored to the satisfaction of Feedly? Could it be due to some [http://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fexplainxkcd.com%2Frss.xml validation issues], or should I consider changing my news reader? [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 23:08, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
:Huh. The feed updates automatically with a script that I wrote a while ago, I'm very sure it passed more than this the last time I checked. Fixed a few things, left the one about the date because that's a pain to fix, and one that I can't figure out for the life of me. I think I fixed the line that was causing the actual problems though. Should update on feedly now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:52, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
::Hallelujah - the feed was mixed in with other geeky material and it only took me nearly 8 months to notice that nothing was coming through from here anymore. I'm premature with my thanks though. The [http://explainxkcd.com/rss.xml RSS link] in the navigation pane to the left still doesn't want to be understood by Feedly. By contrast, other feeds such as for latest changes can be picked up. [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 02:04, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:::Hrm. Sent an email to feedly about it, Just tested and I'm having similar issues with feedly. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:17, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
::::It seems it's not just Feedly. When I use Chrome's [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-feed-reader/pnjaodmkngahhkoihejjehlcdlnohgmp/related?hl=en RSS Feed Reader], that too also tells me "No posts here yet" followed by the an ever helpful "Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp" [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 02:33, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
::::Could it be that it's just not valid XML? I see that it ends at line 236 with </item> with no other closing tags, for example. [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 03:18, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:::::Ohwait a minute, the auto updater rips old entries off the bottom and that's where there's supposed to be a closing channel and RSS tag. well. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:19, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
It's good to know that the cause is now known - I'll let you (or someone else with the authority) get on with fixing things up :-) [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 07:46, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:[http://feedly.com/i/subscription/feed/http://www.explainxkcd.com/rss.xml Hullo.] It's not perfect that only one specific formation of the URL works, but it's a start. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:01, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
:: You sir do God's work - and that coming from a Dillahunty-following Atheist is saying something. [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 08:11, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
My reader has been refusing to process the feed for the last few days. I finally un-busied enough to poke into why. When I looked at the source at [http://www.explainxkcd.com/rss.xml /rss.xml] I saw:
<pre>
</item>

<item>
<title>1561: Water Phase Diagram</title>
<link>http://www.explainxkcd.com/1561</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2015 21:51:11 -0700</pubDate>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.explainxkcd.com/1561</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<h2>1561: Water Phase Diagram</h2><a href="http://www.explainxkcd.com/1561">http://www.explainxkcd.com/1561</a>]]></description>
</item>
</pre>
I'm thinking that the script is broken. I could pro'ly come up with something workable, given the access. --[[User:Ericm301|Ericm301]] ([[User talk:Ericm301|talk]]) 16:50, 9 August 2015 (UTC)
:What on earth is happening here I don't even know. The script seems fine, I repaired the RSS file again manually. See if it malfunctions again today. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:22, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
::Script is behaving very strangely. Today's update warped the feed file in a weird way, this doesn't usually happen. I'll test it on my machine to see what's happening. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:56, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
It was fine for a minute (that must have been your edit), but now it's broke again. --[[User:Ericm301|Ericm301]] ([[User talk:Ericm301|talk]]) 19:53, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
:Alright, I figured out what was going on with the feed. There was a bit of code I had in the update script that trimmed off the last entry of the RSS file and when I recreated an empty file for the feed after the inexplicable wipe, I forgot to turn it off so it was still shaving off the end of the file. This time it should be working. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:34, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

== "Known appearances" character infobox fix? ==

Currently, "Known appearances" in the characters infobox is broken as for some pages, when the character's category serves as it's own info page. (e.g. [[:Category:Red Spiders]], [[:Category:Sharks]], [[:Category:Squirrels]], [[:Category:Barrel]] etc.) Can this be fixed?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:21, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

:Fixed it myself. Just use template "Infobox character 2" instead of "Infobox character" when the character's category serves as it's own info page.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 14:55, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

== Comic 1505 (30 March 2015) isn't properly showing up, I think? ==

Excuse me if I'm being a n00b, but [[1505]] is posted, and the page is extant, but it's not showing on the [[Main Page]] yet. Is this supposed to happen, i.e. waiting for someone to put some content on the page, or did something break somewhere...? Again, sorry if I've just committed a massive derp. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 04:38, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
:Should be showing up now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:38, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

== rendering problem ? ==

To me, right now, with Windows Firefox 37.0.1, [[625: Collections]] looks like this:

[[File:communityportal_technical_1504_collections.png]]

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the source text.

Here's the [[Main Page]] in Internet Explorer 8:

[[File:communityportal_technical_1504_mainpage.png]]

This is affecting everything? Or just me? [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 03:31, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Okay, [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.140|somebody]] was messing with [[Template:w]]. I reverted it to the previous editor's version, seemed to fix things. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 03:46, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
:On that note, they made a similar template that links to rationalwiki, but didn't use it at all in any pages. Huh. It's not even a very significant site. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:52, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

::The IP [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=301:_Limerick&oldid=84906&diff=88577 preferred the Rationalwiki article] on Poe's Law to the Wikipedia version, I guess.
::[[User:452]] did not approve. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 07:57, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Given the fact that he broke Template:W, and [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.140|didn't seem to know what he was doing]], I undid his other edits, sorry if this was inappropriate. -[[User:452|452]] ([[User talk:452|talk]]) 17:51, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

== Main Page ==

When categories are added to the latest comic, the Main Page is also categorized in those categories.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 13:42, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
:The most obvious solution would be to put the categories inside <nowiki><noinclude></nowiki> tags, on every page. {{unsigned|143}}
::That's ugly and labor-intensive though. I think there's something we can do with string matching to fix it in a better way. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:35, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

== #cscore doesn't work with #expr ==

I can't use cscore with expr on my userpage.--{{User:17jiangz1/signature|10:30, 01 May 2015}}

== 1545 page severely broken? ==

The very tail end of the raw page source (using Internet Explorer) is
"wgRedirectedFrom":"1545"});
}</script><script>
...and then stops, obviously unfulfilled. (I also snipped everything up until that unique-looking Redirection data, for brevity.)

Compare that with the equivalent snippet from an adjacent page:
"wgRedirectedFrom":"1544"});
}</script><script>if(window.mw){
...and then continues with a working rest of the page. (Also snipped, but this time both before ''and'' after. I've kept it short while imagining I've given enough to ID the precise breakpoint though.)

Same problem encountered when using "Next" link from 1544 or "Previous" link from 1546. Page http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_all_comics ''itself'' suffers the exact same error. (Last wgVariable listed in LoaC page is ''"wgSearchNamespaces":[0]'', instead, but still similarly ends after apparently the same close-script and open-script flagging point.)

Does ''not'' go wrong in Mozilla-based browsers also on this machine (Firefox, Seamonkey). Page sources for 1545 look exactly like the above 1544 snippet, as expected, with no obvious funny characters or 'Little Bobby Tables' anomalies, SFAICT. In case it's a spurious downloading error that has ended up being cached, I've also "shift-refreshed" in my browser to force download.

Utterly Baffling me, but FYI in case it's something someone needs to know about, although I'm hoping it's just local strangeness and not anything actually of significance.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.252|141.101.98.252]] 04:33, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
:Opened in Internet Explorer 11, it seems to appear for me. Are any site features being impacted by this bug? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:44, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
::Nothing I was previously familiar enough with to spot an adverse effect. Note that http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1545:_Strengths_and_Weaknesses - the link I tried to get from the LoaC page (but only just now tried in non-IE!) works perfectly. Even while the "/1545" (i.e. 'RedirectedFrom') version of the page ''continues'' to be truncated. I can only assume that (despite attempts to force things anew), it's buggily-cached iteration.
::Hang on, that gives me an idea. Which works. I changed the 1545 page (change labelled as "Troubleshooting" in history) and... it opens perfectly. Removed change (should probably have self-reverted, in hindesight, but suspect it'd be fixed anyway) and no further issue. "List of all Comics" page still as broken (because I haven't forced it to update, and am not inclined to 'interfere' with it), but I shall check again after 1547 forces its own changes upon it. Otherwise, consider this closed. Sorry to bother you.
::TL;DR; problem solved. Pretty much proven to be not even a site issue, I now think. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.252|141.101.98.252]] 21:38, 5 July 2015 (UTC)
::Ok, FYI, once 1547 'Solar System Questions' ''finally'' appeared, I check "List of all comics" page. First of all a lot of "Waiting for page..." (uh oh), but then force-refreshed page (in the way that didn't work previously) and it loaded correctly. C'est finis. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.252|141.101.98.252]] 15:02, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

== [[881]] loads as "database error" ==

With this content:
Database error
A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:
(SQL query hidden)
from within function "SqlBagOStuff::set". Database returned error "1114: The table 'objectcache' is full (db423085716.db.1and1.com)".

No other page gives me this error, just [[881]].--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.6|162.158.92.6]] 19:42, 2 August 2015 (UTC)

I just got this on 564 [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.200|141.101.98.200]] 22:44, 2 August 2015 (UTC)

== Database error ==

I can't see [[:Category:Interactive_comics]] (<tt>1114: The table 'objectcache' is full (db423085716.db.1and1.com)</tt>). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.105|199.27.128.105]] 00:18, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

== RSS missing ==

Hey it looks like there's an issue with the rss feed, when you browse to the url on the right it just displays an empty page, not sure what's going on. [[User:Eluvatar|Eluvatar]] ([[User talk:Eluvatar|talk]]) 14:19, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
:Huh, in the last few hours the rss file was inexplicably wiped. I've restored the base of it, the bot should start populating the feed with new comics, but old ones are gone. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:49, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

== Extra Comics ==

In extra comics, the header of the comic has "Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{"." such as in [[The Rise of Open Access]]. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|13:32, 13 September 2015}}
:{{done}} - It was because [[0]] was created, so the logic that #ifexist:0 should be false failed. I changed it to default to -2 when number is not present, which will work as long as no one creates [[-1]]! [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 11:15, 14 September 2015 (UTC)

== Explanations for all -4 comics! ==

The main page header now contains this text:

[http://i.imgur.com/p7VACbW.png We have an explanation for all -4 xkcd comics, and only 23 (1%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!]

I'm assuming this is a bug. {{unsigned|Okofish|01:00, 15 September 2015}}

: {{done}} It was a temporary artifact due to recent categorization changes. It's now fixed. Thanks for the quick report :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 01:14, 15 September 2015 (UTC)

== Discussion pane missing on comic 1592? ==

After checking the Discussion tab to make sure there ''was'' a Discussion, I thought that someone had removed the <nowiki>{{comic discussion}}</nowiki> tag, and went into full-page edit to put it back. But it's there. Maybe it's just me, maybe it's just temporary, but FYI in case it isn't. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 15:06, 19 October 2015 (UTC)
:Fixed. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:21, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

== Captcha ==

Captcha not appearing at all. Can't edit pages without turning off security settings (which were set to default). Chrome and "Edge" on Windows 10. Both yell at me about some components of the page being insecure. 15:48, 18 February 2016 (UTC)

:Same issue with other browsers. reCAPTCHA won't load from an "insecure" resource when the wiki is accessed over HTTPS. [[User:TisTheAlmondTavern|TisTheAlmondTavern]] 15:07, 6 December 2016 (UTC)
::Oooh, I see. Alright, I'll get to fixing it now I know what the problem is. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:00, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
Slight bug in the editing panel, when asked what webcomic we're talking about, it cannot be in all caps, it must be strict lowercase, despite appearances on xkcd.com. Could someone take a look at it? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 00:54, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
:It took me several months to figure out that "this wiki" is named "explain xkcd" and not "explainxkcd". I spent those months answering two questions every time the "what's this wiki's name" question appeared (when I missed the answer, a different question appeared).--[[User:Jojonete|Jojonete]] ([[User talk:Jojonete|talk]]) 09:06, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
::I was sure both answers were correct, but never attempted to type explainxkcd, just in case. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 12:44, 5 November 2015 (UTC)

== wiki server clock has drifted - about 13 minutes fast ==

As I type this, it is exactly 07:42:45 UTC. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 07:55, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

And thus timestamps here are 12 or 13 minutes off. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 07:59, 14 April 2015 (UTC)
:I see the same thing: 15:41:00 UTC now.... [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 15:54, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
::Huh. I'll look into it, when I get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:19, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Currently it's 20 minutes fast. It's 21:00 UTC and it shows 21:20 (UTC). [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 21:20, 14 July 2015 (UTC)
:Sorry bout the delay, was busy for a long bit, should be fixed now. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 21:44, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

Currently it's 8 minutes fast. It's 20:56:00 UTC and it shows 21:03 UTC. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 21:03, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
:do we not have ntp on the server or something, gonna reset the clock again when i get back home. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:33, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

Happening again: it's 11:33 UTC and the server has 11:48 UTC. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.161|141.101.75.161]] 11:49, 11 March 2016 (UTC)
:Fixed again, and I'm gonna have to check our NTP installation. 06:37, 18 March 2016 (UTC)
:Alright, changed some things, this shouldn't happen anymore. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:38, 18 March 2016 (UTC)

The clock is about 13-14 minutes off again. It's currently 13:49 UTC. –''TisTheAlmondTavern'', 13:36, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

== Discussion template resources apparently missing ==

As co-header (right-margin hugging text) to the Discussion section on all pages (or at least as many as I've just visited - and on multiple browsers, ''just in case''...) I'm getting the following, with the <>-tags being my own descriptive additions:
<redlink>File:comment.png</redlink> <validlink>add a comment!</validlink> ⋅ <redlink>File:Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif</redlink> <validlink>refresh comments!Discussion</validlink>
Looks like the PNG and GIF files concerned have been removed, or the links in the Discussion template broken/incorrectly redirected.

(Sidenote: The character between the "add a comment!" and the "File: Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif" that I've copied here verbatim (so doubtless appears correctly for everyone else who reads this) is an 'I don't have this character on my machine' character, for me, which is obviously entirely my fault for not downloading additional fonts that I'd need. From cursory investigation, it appears to be essentially the same as "·", Alt-0183, or HTML code '&middot;', which ''would'' render on my machine and yet (if changed) shouldn't break on those where it currently works. For your consideration, but not as vital.)
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 06:30, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
:ETA - Delving around further, [[:Category:Pages with broken file links]] seems to indicate it ''is'' a widespread problem at server-side, and not somehow solely my own (except for the Sidenote issue!). And suggests a simple way to check that the issue is fixed (when suddenly the category is nowhere near as 'full'), and then discover any related ones that might need fixing (like the special Star Trek Into Darkness alternate version of the Discussion template). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 06:57, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
::Huh. I have a feeling I know what caused this, I'll get right on it. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:23, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
:::I've seen some more of these cases, e.g. on [[explain xkcd:Community portal]]. I think these images are from Wikimedia Commons, maybe that integration broke somehow? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:33, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
::::i don't know what is even happening, the images seem to be fine now but they still show up as broken file links '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:04, 8 November 2015 (UTC)

== Update captcha text? ==

The text above the posting captcha says “type the two words” but reCaptcha often doesn't use two, and they're often not words. Example: http://i.imgur.com/TdM5n5O.png

Maybe we could change it to something like “type the text”?

[[User:P1h3r1e3d13|P1h3r1e3d13]] ([[User talk:P1h3r1e3d13|talk]]) 23:44, 2 March 2016 (UTC)
:So, the reCAPTCHA captchas are entirely provided by Google. If there's an error in it, it's likely Google's fault and a bug report should be sent in that direction instead. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:23, 3 March 2016 (UTC)
::I noticed that before. It's not a bug in recaptcha, but rather in ConfirmEdit, file ReCaptcha/i18n/en.json to be exact. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.217|162.158.90.217]]
:::Oh huh, hadn't thought of that. I'll fix that up then. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:45, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

== Stylesheets not working? ==

It doesn't look like any of the site's CSS is loading for me. I have tried purging, adding useskins to the URL, and clearing my browser's cache, and webpage content remains in Times New Roman with no special styling. Headers and bold spans of text are bold, list items are bulleted, buttons are button-y, templates and my signature display with HTML-<tt>style</tt>-attribute-level CSS, and so on, but that's the extent of it. Is this a belated April Fools' joke, or has something gone horribly wrong between the servers and my eyes? [[User talk:AgentMuffin|~AgentMuffin]]

:I made a similar post earlier -- it seems to have vanished down a black hole. I linked these screenshots: [http://i.imgur.com/smN1a45.png] [http://i.imgur.com/qdpxhdY.png]
:Note that there are no ads either! This could get to problem-level very fast. [[User:KangaroOS|Kangaro]][[User talk:KangaroOS|OS]] 01:28, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
::There are actually still ads, they're just shoved right at the bottom of the page. mysqld is clocking in at 40% cpu load, and mediawiki seems to be going into fallback mode and skipping stylesheets which is about what I'd expect from an april fools comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:31, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
:::Ah, figured it was some sort of server overslow. For a while there I was getting a 503 error. [[User:KangaroOS|Kangaro]][[User talk:KangaroOS|OS]] 01:36, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
:::Well, perhaps you don't need another note about this, but I noted the 'stylesheetless' appearance myself, just now. Except that it ''is'' styled, partially. (When I choose to view by Style "No style", it's even more not-Styled!) Could be because a subset of styles aren't being loaded (so that the ones that ''are'' still loaded can only be identified from their enforced absence), but looks like you have this as much in hand as can be expected, so just FYI... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.137|141.101.98.137]] 04:13, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
::Have you tried switching the server off and back on ? ;-) Jokes apart, are there really so many users continuously polling ? It could be just a case of stale open connections. Really, a reboot might not hurt (although it may kill-off few sessions and you may get some angry posts, but at this point, it might be worth the try) Edit: Sorry, I was messing up the formatting while replying. I'm trying to fix it. But at this point, does it really matter? :P [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.56|162.158.255.56]] 04:21, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
:::Alright guys, still having trouble with the load, but I've put a quick temporary hack in place to get the css working again for now. Fonts are a little off, I'll deal with that soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:09, 5 April 2016 (UTC)
::::Did a little more work on things, styles should be working again but it's not great on the back end. I'm going to do some rooting around to see what went wrong. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:07, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
:::::Cool.. This is pretty good. We're almost there.. The only things I can notice that are off are - (1) Category list at the end of the page (2) Contents block at the beginning of the page and (3) Edit buttons for individual sections. By the way, I'm curious, what exactly was broken ? I didn't expect you'd have to fix things here. I expected that since the issue was caused by excess server load, it would return back to normalcy automatically once things settle down a bit in couple of days after the offending comic was more or less explained. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.56|162.158.255.56]] 03:32, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
::::::A script responsible for picking user preferences and integrating css from pages like [[Mediawiki:common.css]] was failing to complete because of server load, so I gave it a helping hand and just had it insert a static stylesheet instead. I almost certainly missed a few spots though, because the wiki does not look right. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

(resetting indent) Yes, things are still off. The text "Jump to: navigation, search" is at the top of every page, but it's useless because it links to stuff already at the top of the page. Edit summaries aren't italicized, the edit boxes don't use the whole window width, links are underlined, section edit links are too big, etc. I put the Wayback Machine to good use, and found the below set of archived pages, all using the proper style. Compare them with the current appearances of the pages, and you should see most, if not all, of the issues I've seen. [http://web.archive.org/web/20160402151417/http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Main Page] | [http://web.archive.org/web/20150326134736/http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/NealCruco My contributions] | [http://web.archive.org/web/20150326170626/http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1486:_Vacuum&action=edit The "edit" page for comic 1486] --[[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 21:50, 7 April 2016 (UTC)
::Is here nothing to be done about the missing styles? The tables still look horrible and there is not help when editing, for instance for signature etc. Colapsing of tables etc. also won't work which is a mess for some of the long explanations and tables [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:56, 18 April 2016 (UTC)
HotCat also seems to be not working for adding categories. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|13:18, 25 April 2016}}
:Yeah, load.php is failing so all gadgets and user scripts are unavailable. :-( [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 14:42, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
::Alright, figured it out. It was a deal with file permissions, not sure how those got changed on April 1st. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:59, 17 May 2016 (UTC)

== Comic navigation buttons ==

You know, the buttons that look like the ones on the xkcd site. Shouldn't they also highlight like the xkcd site? I thought maybe it was due to the above CSS issue, but the links to archive.org make it seem like it's just never worked.

It just seems to me that, if we're going to go that far in mimicking the actual buttons, we should probably also mimic their a:hover settings. Shut off the box shadow, change the background to white, and the link color to #6E7B91.

I've tested the following CSS, and it appears to work:

<nowiki>
li.plainlinks:hover, .no-link-underline > li:hover {
background-color: #FFF !important;
box-shadow: none !important;
-moz-box-shadow: none !important;
-webkit-box-shadow: none !important;
}
li.plainlinks:hover > a > span, .no-link-underline > li:hover > a > span {
color: #6E7B91 !important;
}
</nowiki>

[[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 09:14, 2 May 2016 (UTC)
:Seems like a decent addition. Thanks! '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:52, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

== Captcha trouble ==

For about an hour, I wasn't able to edit a page or create an account when I was trying to, because the captcha was missing. I'm not sure if it was problem on this site or captcha but I thought I'd mention it.
--[[User:Anqied|Anqied]] ([[User talk:Anqied|talk]]) 08:34, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
:Recaptcha appears to work for me currently. Does it work now? It seems like they may have just gone down temporarily. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:52, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
::I'm not certain this is the same issue, but I was just having a problem with the captcha for unregistered users trying to edit a page. I figured out that it's because you were trying to serve the captcha through HTTP even though the page was on HTTPS, so my browser was blocking the captcha. Changing to HTTP "fixed" the issue, but that shouldn't be the solution. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.187|108.162.215.187]] 16:45, 18 July 2016 (UTC)

== wrong IP ==

[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=632:_Suspicion&curid=3946&diff=122229&oldid=100180 My edition] was attributed to 141.101.104.60, whereas my real address is 88.156.226.213 according to [https://ipinfo.io]. Wikimedia sites (Wikipedias, Wiktionaries...) recognize my IP address properly. Someting strange is going on here. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.71|141.101.104.71]] 22:40, 21 June 2016 (UTC)

Just a heads up that your website is incorrectly identifying the IP address of visitors as being from the CloudFlare server that is serving the page content to them. It would be best practice if you could explicitly look for the field "REMOTE_ADDR" rather than "X-FORWARDED-FOR" as the former is unaffected by the use of intermediate proxies.
PS My IP address should begin with 131.111. IP addresses beginning with 141.101 belong to Cloudflare London. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.5|141.101.98.5]] 21:08, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

* This appears to still be an issue. I just [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1787:_Voice_Commands&curid=19860&diff=133917&oldid=133916 posted] from [[Special:Contributions/172.72.47.40|172.72.47.40]], my work place and it's showing as [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.11|108.162.238.11]]. Thanks.

* FYI I just created this account and the "email address confirmation" email I received said the account was created by a Cloudflare IP (162.158.107.199), not my own. [[User:ExcarnateSojourner|ExcarnateSojourner]] ([[User talk:ExcarnateSojourner|talk]]) 15:09, 4 July 2020 (UTC)

== Captcha does not appear ==

I am not a registered user (I just haven't bothered to make an account), so I have to complete a Captcha before saving any of my edits. However, I've found numerous times that the captcha does not show up when I hit [Save page]. The line of text introducing it ("To help protect against automated edit spam, please type the word you see in the box below:") shows up, but the no actual captcha and thus no saved edits. '''Is this a known issue with Chrome?''' I managed to circumvent it by using IE (I assure you, it was the only other browser available), but I would much prefer to be able to edit ''explain xkcd'' pages in Chrome, my usual browser. {{unsigned ip|108.162.220.17}}
:What plugins do you have installed on chrome? Do you have Javascript enabled? I'll see what can be done if you have them off. '''[[User:D?avidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 20:45, 20 July 2016 (UTC)
::I just figured out the problem and successfully edited a page. I too tried IE after Chrome but still encountered the issue... to my consternation I noticed a new icon in the address-bar, 'Blocked content'. (Apparently recaptcha is treated similarly to a pop-up.) Interacting with this new button made the captcha appear. I am in Chrome adding this comment, and after finding the similarly-functioning/corresponding button here, all is well [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.247|108.162.237.247]] 18:39, 2 August 2016 (UTC)
::Hmph, I am likely a completely different user from the foregoing, but our IP addresses are similar and both reported as from Cloudflare in TX. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.247|108.162.237.247]] 18:42, 2 August 2016 (UTC)
::I would like to address this and also point out this is the only site where I've run into this problem; other wiki-based sites can load captcha fine. According to Chrome it's blocked because it's an "unsafe script". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.84|141.101.107.84]] 08:54, 4 March 2018 (UTC)

== Wanted files ==

[[Special:WantedFiles]]: 41 file is linked but nonexistent.

Some on talk pages, user pages and project pages, but here is a list of those in main namespace:
# File:Apatosaurus scale mmartyniuk wiki.png
# File:Apidae - Eucera sp. (male).JPG
# File:Louisae.jpg
# File:Wet kookaburra 6674 Crop Edit.jpg
# File:MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft.jpg
# File:Bee orchids, Aller Brook Local Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 833516.jpg
# File:Synhalonia nest 1.jpg
# File:Butterfly Voters View.jpg
# File:Fusca estacionado.jpg
# File:Ophrys apifera flower1.jpg
# File:Galilean moon Laplace resonance animation.gif
# File:PalmCellTower.jpg
# File:746 telephone in red.JPG
# File:Candidate Higgs Events in ATLAS and CMS.png
# File:Tommy Wiseau.jpg
# File:Google maps auto.jpg
# File:Velociraptor dinoguy2.jpg
# File:Acrocanthosaurus skeleton (1).jpg
# File:Vraptor-scale.png
# File:Alces alces elan trophee chateau Tanlay.jpg
# File:DBCooper.jpg
# File:Rick Astley - Pepsifest 2009.jpg
# File:Anonymous emblem.svg
# File:Eas new.svg
# File:John Cage and Michael Bach in Assissi 1992.jpg
I could not find why they were deleted and it's hard for me to argue for their presence in the articles. Being a newbie here, I would like to ask those who knows better to either undelete files, or upload them again, or delete file mentions from the explanations. Thanks --[[User:Ата|Ата]] [[User talk:Ата|(talk)]] 15:47, 8 August 2016 (UTC)
:I tend to clean up after myself, don't recognise these file names. I believe these happen when files get moved, feel free to cut dead file links wherever you find them if you find them unnecessary.'''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:38, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

== [[827]]/[[1721]]: Business Idea ==

See [[1721#Trivia]]. Randall has accidentally named both 1721 and 827 "Business Idea". He fixed it by renaming 827 to "My Business Idea". I tried to reproduce by renaming the file and wiki page for 827, but it now shows the old comic on both pages. Maybe CloudFlare caching? And idea (that's not a business idea) to fix this? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]])
:Cloudflare takes a little time to update changes to an image. For immediate results, you can create an image under a different name and use that while you wait for the old one to update. Otherwise, it should update within a few hours. Is it good for you now? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:48, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
::Yes, it was resolved after a few hours. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:25, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

== Mobile CSS ==

I've accessed this Wiki on my mobile device more often than previously and I couldn't find any discussion about this. Honestly, 50% of the reasons I'm adding this topic is about the discussion, the rest is about making it easier for people with narrower screens.
I understand that I am a new member on this Wiki and that altering [[Mediawiki:Common.css]] has site-wide effects (and I'm sure that there are some templates that won't agree with some of the options we have, even some tables, such as the one on [[893: 65 Years#Trivia]], will break a very narrow design).

OK. Let me just ramble on about this, then. =)
There are some obvious (but not necessarily easier) options for mobile devices. [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Mobiles,_tablets_and_responsive_design MediaWiki] lists a few Skins and Extensions. Not having ever had access to a Wiki's server, I have no idea how nerve-racking that is (or if it even makes sense for this Wiki). Even more obvious to some - and even harder to implement - is a mobile app (that I wouldn't use anyway).

So, to bridge the time until maybe something more effective comes along, we ''could'' try to add some CSS ourselves. I'm no expert. But here are my thoughts.
*This is about all devices with narrow screens, not just phones. Let's say anything under 600px width is considered narrow.
*Most obviously, the font size should be affected. This has negative consequences for anything with fixed font size. And anything we forget. Basically, the sidebar, the search and anything else on top of each page can be massively smaller depending on the screen and fixing that won't be as easy.
*Of course we could disregard the sidebar, or rather, push it to the bottom (which is easy, it's artificially placed on the left instead of the bottom). There are a number of reasons why a lot of people wouldn't want that. One of those reasons is that the ads would basically disappear for anyone who doesn't scroll down. We would have to figure out where else we can put it, on the top maybe. On the plus side, we could have the entire width of the screen just for the article.
*Another thing that breaks the design regularly: comic images. We could make them fit. The navigation might be more challenging.
*There's a whole lot of paddings and margins to get rid of.
*Maybe make the search box a lot bigger?

A short snippet for the comic images and for the font:

@media handheld,screen and (max-width: 600px),screen and (max-device-width: 600px){ /* because some mobile browsers like to work with a higher resolution than the resolution of the screen */

#bodyContent{
font-size:initial; /* resetting font to full size */
}

td > img{ /* maybe add a class for the table in [[Template:comic]] */
display:block;
margin:auto;
max-width:100%; /* make image fit into box */
height:auto;
}

}

I don't know... What do you think?
Oh, also, Mediawiki says this can be added to [[Mediawiki:Mobile.css]] but I guess that is for extensions? We'd probably have to add that to [[Mediawiki:Common.css]] if we ever want to add it.
[[User:Ret Samys|Ret Samys]] ([[User talk:Ret Samys|talk]]) 16:21, 15 September 2016 (UTC)
:Getting on a plane soon, but I'll take a look at this when I get off and get moved in again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:07, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

== HTTPS Links Back to XKCD Interfere with Random Button ==

''(I've moved this from "Proposals" to here, now realising this is the proper location.)''

The Links back to the comics that are present just above the comic itself on the wiki pages (and adjacent to the next and previous links) provides an HTTPS link back to XKCD. However, this interferes with users who want to click that link, and then click <code>random</code> - because <code>c.xkcd.com</code> does NOT support HTTPS, and thus clicking <code>random</code> after returning to xkcd from explainxkcd via the button on a comic's article does not work. These links should be switched back to HTTP.

--[[User:9000 volts|9000 volts]] ([[User talk:9000 volts|talk]]) 22:53, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

:What makes you suspect <code>c.xkcd.com</code> does not support SSL? It features a perfectly valid wildcard certificate from GeoTrust (currently valid from Dec 14 00:00:00 2016 GMT, so it should already have affected you), although it's different from the multi-site certificate from Fastly used on the comic and what-if.xkcd.com and, yet again, different from the Let's Encrypt ones used on the blag and store.

:On the other hand, there is a compelling argument for HTTP links: Most interactive comics break with HTTPS. –''TisTheAlmondTavern'', 14:19, 17 January 2017 (UTC)
::I can't reproduce the issue with random comics, but the benefits of using SSL for links to a site that stores no user data probably don't outweigh the issues that some people seem to be having. Changed. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:34, 10 February 2017 (UTC)

== "Retry for a live version" and stuff not responding ==

Every now and then, I'd just be browsing around the site, then all of a sudden I'd run into an issue with it saying that there was an error with the explainxkcd.com host and that I would need to wait for the servers to restart. This is happening rather often for me, but goes away quickly. Sometimes, it happens on my own wiki pages too... weird. Other times, things would just freeze. Is it something on my end, or is it with the site? --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 14:05, 5 January 2017 (UTC)

== Support for timezones? ==

I live in the timezone PST, and because of that, the clock seems to be ahead of my time by about 7 hours and 40 minutes. Can someone add support for different timezones?
For example, at my time of posting, it is 7:56 PM on March 8, 2017. The time the wiki thinks it is is shown on my signature: [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 03:40, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
:You can actually set your own time zone. Go to Preferences->Date and Time, and there should be a time offset option for you to pick your time zone. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:36, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
::The thing is, I do have my time zone set to PST, but on the wiki it is still showing up as the wrong time. [[User:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8]] ([[User talk:625571b7-aa66-4f98-ac5c-92464cfb4ed8|talk]]) 15:24, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
:::Oh, the timestamps recorded in signatures are in UTC for everyone. That doesn't change, because it makes it easier to follow the timeline of a conversation in a talk page. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:24, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
::::Uhhh, the timestamp isn't UTC at all. My latest BOT upload was 06:02, 8 March 2017 CET or 05:02, 8 March 2017 UTC and it is recorded here as 04:45, 8 March 2017. So we still have an offset 17 minutes to the past. That's an old problem.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:33, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
:::::It is UTC, server inaccuracy doesn't change the time zone, it just makes it inaccurate. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:13, 9 March 2017 (UTC)
::::::And even if you don't like me for this: The server time is currently UTC-00:17 and not UTC. This odd offset confuses users. But I know nobody can change this.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:36, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

== Mailserver-problem ==

Hello, 
I tried to reset my password today, but there is a problem with your mail-server: The sender-adress of your password-reset-mail is expla0@vps.explainxkcd.com, but the (sub-)domain vps.explainxkcd.com does not exists, and so the eMail is rejected by my mail-server (and most others too). Could that please be fixed? Thank you very much. --DaB.

== When did InstantCommons get disabled? ==

I was just about to add some photos of the ISS transiting the sun to [[1828|today's explanation]], but saw that it's no longer possible to just enter the names of {{w|c:|Wikimedia Commons}} photos and for them to render. I know of at least one explanation—[[1400]]—that previously had such images, but now just has redlinks. I presume that at some point someone must have disabled {{w|mw:InstantCommons|$wgUseInstantCommons}} in the config settings. May I ask what the reason for that was? And is there any chance that that could be reverted? Obviously there aren't a lot of articles where it makes sense to have Commons images up, but IMHO it's a useful feature to have for the rare occasion where it makes sense, like with today's comic. [[User:PinkAmpersand|PinkAmpersand]] ([[User talk:PinkAmpersand|talk]]) 21:20, 24 April 2017 (UTC)
:'''Solved.''' You now can embed pictures from Commons like local files. The link <nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|Cooper]]</nowiki> shows the picture from Commons because it doesn't exist here. There is no need to use a template. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:57, 25 May 2018 (UTC)

== Wikipedia template stopped working ==

Some time ago the template used for links to Wikipedia stopped working correctly. If you see here link to Halloween on Wikipedia, it works again:
{{w|Halloween}}. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 22:21, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

: Known issue, there's currently an anon doing boring vandalism. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.172|108.162.241.172]] 22:37, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

== CAPTCHA does not work for HTTPS visitors ==

I am a fervent believer in encrypting everything (I am the crypto nut in [[1269: Privacy Opinions]]), and have configured the NoScript plugin to force the use of HTTPS instead of HTTP for all sites that aren't on a special list in my configs. Hence, I tend to visit sites on HTTPS that most people visit on unencrypted HTTP, discovering all the bugs in people's HTTPS implementations in the process...and this site is not exempt from the bugfinding.

In order to edit pages, you need to enter a CAPTCHA. However, the script that makes this captcha work is fetched from Google over unencrypted http (the src tag in the script specifies http: not https:). When I visit this site over HTTPS, the use of active content served over unencrypted HTTP onto an encrypted page causes Firefox to have a spasm and block the script. Since Google fully supports HTTPS, the script's src tag should just be changed to say https: instead of http:, and that SHOULD fix it. Better yet, omit the protocol at all, and do something like:

src="//www.google.com/recaptcha/(rest of url)"

Most modern browsers will interpret that as "fetch www.google.com/recaptcha/(rest of url) over the same protocol used to serve this page."

(Sadly, NoScript is not smart enough to fix this by itself and just change the script's src to https: client-side...)

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.89|162.158.79.89]] 11:12, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

The CAPTCHA also doesn't work for https while using Chrome. 01 September 2017

== Deprecation of reCAPTCHA v1 ==

The wiki currently uses reCAPTCHA v1 to validate users as human, which [https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/faq#what-happens-to-recaptcha-v1 beginning in November will show public deprecation notices] and stop working altogether on March 31, 2018.

Are there already plans to migrate to reCAPTCHA v2 or a different CAPTCHA algorithm? –[[User:TisTheAlmondTavern|TisTheAlmondTavern]] ([[User talk:TisTheAlmondTavern|talk]]) 20:05, 31 October 2017 (UTC) (wiki clock is several minutes late again, BTW)

:I do intend to update the CAPTCHA, I got the email notice from Google. I've been away from the site for longer than I'd like, been busy but it looks like a bunch of stuff has piled up while I was gone. I'll try to fix what I can with the time I have. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:38, 12 November 2017 (UTC)

::Any update on this? It has <6 weeks of life left, and the user messaging has just got angrier. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.26|162.158.155.26]] 09:22, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

:::10 days left. I wonder what happens then. Right now, it just says "V1 SHUTDOWN ON 2018-03-31" and expects me to type it as an answer. {{unsigned ip|172.68.110.46}}

::::You can hit the refresh button and it will display an actual catch. 4 days before they shut it down. [[User:TheMageKing|TheMageKing]] ([[User talk:TheMageKing|talk]]) 12:22, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Either the kludge of simply typing the message about shutdown still works, or the Captcha system is just not working: I'm not autoconfirmed here but I was able to edit today, 9 days after v1 presumably went "poof". [[User:Yngvadottir|Yngvadottir]] ([[User talk:Yngvadottir|talk]]) 18:12, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

The new reCAPTCHA v2 is now online. I apologize for the delay but many updates were required and I tried to keep the server downtime as short as possible. [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:53, 19 May 2018 (UTC)
== RSS bot stopped? ==

The master RSS feed only goes up to 1912, although the wiki is already up to 1914. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.18|141.101.105.18]] 11:20, 11 November 2017 (UTC)
:Sorry, been busy, the feed should be up and running again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 03:38, 12 November 2017 (UTC)

== Captcha doesn't work on my browser ==

I can't make any edits to the comic pages because the captcha simply doesn't appear when I'm trying to edit the comic pages. {{unsigned|WilliamBrennan}}
:Please check your add blockers and activate JavaScript. [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:53, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

Hi & Thanks heaps! I finally created an account after years of pleasurable & enlightening explanations. It took me over 5 minutes to get past the Captcha, and I've seen a few in the last week registering for sites such as XDA-developers and the like. Not sure how it all works but it feels like it's set to "ultra-difficult" or some-such...and this is the place where things are *easy* for *stupid people* like me ;) Cheers & thanks again {{unsigned|Munchywok}}
:The Captcha is from Google (Big Brother...) and based on an sophisticated software in which you sometimes even don't have to solve it at all when it is convinced that you are a human. But it depends on your browser installation, especially your add ons. My best experience is using Google Chrome without any extensions. Firefox with extensions is the hell. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 09:25, 15 August 2018 (UTC)

== New High Resolution comics ==

I've noticed Randall has been making the comics higher resolution to look good on HiDPI/Retina displays. But the copies on ExplainXKCD are the old low resolution copies.

Perhaps we'll have to go through at some point and update these? {{unsigned ip|162.158.75.58}}
:I am aware of this. Randall started to provide two different resolutions at standard comics more than a year ago, and he also provides the larger resolutions to older comics since than. Technically the image tag provides links to two pictures and the browser decides based on the screen resolution what is shown. Since this wiki is now at the latest version the use of [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgResponsiveImages $wgResponsiveImages] may be possible. But this has to be tested first. Stay tuned... [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:53, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

== Should the HTTP urls redirect to HTTPS? ==

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but shouldn't the HTTP urls be redirecting to HTTPS? Right now, the HTTP and HTTPS endpoints seem to have different login states, which is possibly confusing. I was stumped for a long time on why I couldn't login to my account, because I kept getting the error message "There seems to be a problem with your login session; this action has been canceled as a precaution against session hijacking. Go back to the previous page, reload that page and then try again." And then I noticed the "Use secure connection" button, and when I clicked it, it took me to the HTTPS site where I was already logged in! But even now, if I go to an HTTP url, I'm still logged out there. [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 00:43, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
:Of course HTTP and HTTPS are different endpoints. Login via HTTPS and your credentials are encrypted and this will be never converted into plain text for HTTP. And I just successfully tested both connections with Google Chrome. Maybe we should redirect always to HTTPS like xkcd does, right now it's just your choice. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:46, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

::Ah, I see. If I log in from the HTTP site, I'm logged in on both the HTTP and HTTPS sites. But if I login from the HTTPS site, then I'm only logged in on the HTTPS site, and not on the HTTP site. Furthermore, if I'm logged into the HTTPS site and I try to login from the HTTP site, I get the error message that I quote from above. Fair enough.

::I guess one contribution to my confusion was the fact that the HTTPS site doesn't have the green padlock in Chrome. That would have made the difference between the HTTPS and HTTP site a bit more obvious. (I rarely type in the entire URL directly; I usually just let the Chrome address bar autocomplete do its job... and unfortunately that autocomplete takes me to the HTTP site, and I keep forgetting about that.) Right now, on any HTTPS page here, Chrome still says that it's insecure: "Attackers might be able to see the images you're looking at on this site and trick you by modifying them." Firefox says something similar: "Parts of this page are not secure (such as images)." Perhaps someone should look into that? (I think it might be the ad image.) [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 03:09, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
:::Thanks for your remarks. I'm aware of this but the site isn't insecure, only a few local images and some from wikimedia are hard coded to a http link. It's not much so I'll fix it soon.
:::In general every http request should be redirected to https, but that's not trivial at our current environment. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:35, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
::::It took some time to find all the places of hard coded images via http (insecure) but now you should see the green secure remark in your browser when logging in via https. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:50, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
:::::in my holy opinion at least the login page should only be served securely. people are notoriously bad at not-reusing-passwords. [[User:Gir|//gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 12:23, 10 September 2018 (UTC)

Just noting that basically every major site out there redirects from HTTP to HTTPS (including http://en.wikipedia.com, http://xkcd.com, http://stackoverflow.com, and even other wiki communities like http://wiki.puella-magi.net, http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Touhou_Wiki, and http://wiki.documentfoundation.org). So it would really cool if we could get that redirect action happening on this site, too :) I was browsing the site today and I was just struck once again by how odd it was that I wasn't logged in, until I remembered that I was on the HTTP site, not the HTTPS site. A real user experience annoyance, if you ask me. [[User:Ahiijny|Ahiijny]] ([[User talk:Ahiijny|talk]]) 21:34, 19 October 2018 (UTC)
:Of course you're right. I still have other issues but this will be done soon. Stay tuned... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:08, 20 October 2018 (UTC)

== Captcha too picky ==

I just had to solve the "select all street signs" Captcha at least 10 times in a row. I never know when/whether to include slivers, backs of signs, sign posts, walk/wait lights. Captcha already doesn't follow my definition of street sign (I only call the sign that has the street name a "street sign", but I realize what I call "road signs," Captcha also calls "street signs" and I can adjust for that. But I haven't figured out the other issue yet, and I suspect Captcha is dinging me on choosing slivers. But that's only a guess, since it never tells you what you got wrong, it just gives you another Captcha. {{unsigned|Thisisnotatest}}
:My advice is installing Google Chrome and it works fine. Since that Captcha software is also from Google (Big Brother...) I believe that's on purpose. Firefox is the hell as you described; I'm not sure how it works at MS IE/Edge. In general you have to select not less than three and not more than four squares. But on Firefox, even when it seems definitely to be correct, the chance of getting an error message is more than 80%. You probably use FF. Nonetheless right now there are no other adequate Captcha tools supported by Mediawiki, the software this Wiki runs on. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:57, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
:I second this. Big Brother's Captchas on Firefox are nearly unsolvable (granted, I'm browsing with JS off and blocking 3rd party cookies). And recaptcha requires 1) JavaScript and 2) a connection to google. [[User:Gir|//gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 12:23, 10 September 2018 (UTC)

== Cannot create a user page ==

i have tried to make a user page for myself and cannot seem to do it, i'm sorry if this has been addressed already, but i couldn't find it. [[User: Nintendo Mc]] ([[User talk:Nintendo Mc|talk]]) 13:07, 28 September 2018 (UTC)
:New user don't have the rights. Do some more edits and wait a few days until you can create new pages. Your user page is created by me for now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:00, 28 September 2018 (UTC)

::'''Good Question!''' is there some place '''that everyone''' [who is cool] '''can find,''' that explains '''how many''' edits one has to do (and/or, '''how long''' one has to wait) in order to cause the<blockquote>[...] but you do not have permission to create this page.</blockquote>
::'''[error] message''' to ... '''"no longer" appear,''' when some limitation or rule is no longer blocking or "preventing" allowing creation -- by that user -- of his own '''"User:"''' page? (OR ... of ''her'' own '''"User talk:"''' page?)

::I have done [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Contributions/Mike_Schwartz very few edits] here, but ... a couple of them were almost '''3 years ago.'''

::For what it's worth (FWIW), '''I did not plan to say much''' on my "User:" page here. Probably something like:
::::This user is not a frequent flyer here on this Wiki (at "explainxkcd"); ...but he has done [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Mike_Schwartz a 4-digit number of edits] on ''other'' Wikis ...mainly [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page English Wikipedia] ("See also" his [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mike_Schwartz "User:" page] there.)

::<big><big>Any comments?</big></big> Thanks for listening. --[[User:Mike Schwartz|Mike Schwartz]] ([[User talk:Mike Schwartz|talk]]) 07:43, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

:::According to [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests#Permission request|here]] and [[:explain xkcd:Autoconfirmed users]], you need to accumulate 10 edits (as well as your account being active for at least 3? or 7? days), then you become an "autoconfirmed user" and gain the [[Special:ListGroupRights|right]] to create pages. – [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 02:09, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

::::Do you know if only edits count, or if talk contributions count too? [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 14:26, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
::::Wait. On [[:explain xkcd:Autoconfirmed users]] it says 50 edits, not 10. [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 14:51, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

== Accessibility issues ==

[First post - hello, everyone!]

I have 15 years of experience of using MediaWiki, and have been heavily involved in some of the accessibility work on Wikipedia.

When we use colons (<code>:</code>), semicolons (<code>;</code>), and asterisks (<code>*</code>) to indent dialogue, discussions, etc we actually cause MediaWiki to generate HTML lists.

If we leave a bank line between indented lines/ paragraphs, we cause the start of a new HTML list.

Since the start of each list is read out by the kind of software used by (for example) people with severe visual impairments, this generates barrier to their use of the site.

The solution is to not leave blank lines; to always indent replies by just one step; and to maintain consistency in the type of character used.

You can see examples and more explanation at {{w|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Lists}}

Please consider adopting Wikipedia's recommended best practice for such lists, on this site. [[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]] (Pigsonthewing); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Talk to Andy]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]] 19:20, 5 November 2018 (UTC)
:Thanks for your input and welcome here. At first you should know that this Wiki doesn't follow every Wikipedia standard, but there is a --relatively new-- [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ|FAQ]] and we should talk at that discussion page about any enhancements. And please consider to keep it short, a typical editor here isn't a Wikipedean and doesn't read tons of manuals.
:There are many ugly layouts here, most written before the FAQ did exist, but when I and others see them the explanation or transcript gets an incomplete tag for that reason. And the biggest problem in the past was the use of overwhelming tables.
:BTW: Using a new-newline for each sentence isn't also a nice layout. Never mind... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:54, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

== suggest adding info to pages ==

I see "Title text" here on explainxkcd, but not on the comic itself.

Eg. https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1313:_Regex_Golf shows "Title text: /bu|[rn]t|[coy]e|[mtg]a|j|iso|n[hl]|[ae]d|lev|sh|[lnd]i|[po]o|ls/ matches the last names of elected US presidents but not their opponents."

I don't see that anywhere on https://xkcd.com/1313/ Why not? {{unsigned ip|172.68.174.106}}

:First of all: Please sign your comments
:<s>Second: I am not sure this is the right place for such a question, so please do not wonder if someone removes it.</s>
:And finally: the "title text" can be seen by hovering the mouse over the image on the "regular" xkcd page. Here it is made more visible by mentioning beneath the picture additionally. More details can be found at the page about the title text :) https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/title_text [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 15:09, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

@[[User:Lupo|Lupo]], no honest comment will be removed here, even if it should be posted at the [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous|Miscellaneous]] section. @IP, the proper internal link is here: [[title text]], and I see that this wiki needs a simple page to explain all the terms and characters used in a general short way. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:43, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

== Mediawiki exception on some pages ==

I get the following MedaiWiki exception on some of the pages:

<pre>MediaWiki internal error.

Original exception: [0beebcc3efaec7ded86aea14] 2018-12-05 23:25:16: Fatal exception of type "MWException"

Exception caught inside exception handler.

Set $wgShowExceptionDetails = true; at the bottom of LocalSettings.php to show detailed debugging information.</pre>

See for example sites https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2034:_Equations or https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/User:Dgbrt

[[User:Sztupy|Sztupy]] ([[User talk:Sztupy|talk]]) 23:29, 5 December 2018 (UTC)

:Also having this. Seems to happen when “math” in Preferences-Appearance is set to “MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools)” [[User:DrMeepster|DrMeepster]] ([[User talk:DrMeepster|talk]]) 08:01, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

:New error: If that math option is set to “Latex source” than an error relating to the page-ruining setting replaces any latex code: Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension can not find Restbase URL. Please specify $wgMathFullRestbaseURL.") from server "invalid":): <LATEX CODE HERE> [[User:DrMeepster|DrMeepster]] ([[User talk:DrMeepster|talk]]) 07:50, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

::Sorry for my late reply. I will check and solve this issue soon, right now only the plain PNG image setting does work. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:15, 15 February 2019 (UTC)

: The problem appears to not be solved. In addition to the above pages (which are still broken), I've noticed it on the following: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2292 and https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2311. The workaround of configuring my account to render math as PNG works, but someone with the knowledge and access to fix this needs to do so. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:43, 3 June 2020 (UTC)

== “All 2126 Comics have an Explanation” ==

There are 2127 comics, and the main page seems to update automagically, so I’m not sure what the issue is. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 15:58, 25 March 2019 (UTC)
:I think you posted this before the "new robot" comic came up? keep in mind that the number 404 is not linked to any comic. (There is an explain page for 404, but no comic 404. Therefore it is actually 1 comic less than you might think based on the number. On the other hand there are I think 2 or 3 additional special comics (not numbered), such as the latest entry to the 5 minute comic series, or the one about open source, etc. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]])
::I posted after it came up. I know about the unnumbered comics, so assumed they didn’t count, but I always forget about 404. Accounting for the non-comic, all seems right in the world. Thanks Lupo. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 14:01, 26 March 2019 (UTC)
:::Just checked and they just subtract 1 in the source code??????? [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 16:58, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

== API ==

Hi, I'm working on a project focused on docs, and wondered if there's some API or database I can access to pinch some of the tagging info from this site?
Even something like Randall's /json.html data from each page would work. ''[[User:Toonarmycaptain]] ([[User talk:Toonarmycaptain]] forgot to sign this edit at 03:50, 14 May 2019 (UTC)''

== Unwanted Link ==

In [[1467: Email]], there are two links in the title text that should be normal text. It has happened several times in other pages, and it's annoying. How do I change links like that into regular text? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 07:41, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
:Not sure what you mean. Maybe it is a browser issue on your end? on my computer neither chrome nor internet explorer or edge interpret anything inside of "My New Year's resolution for 2014-54-12/30/14 Dec:12:1420001642 is to learn these stupid time formatting strings." as a link... [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:00, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
::Just checked. iPad misinterpreting part of them as phone numbers, appeared as link. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 09:29, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

== Captcha not working? ==

I've been experiencing some problems when trying to solve captcha when posting comments and topics. It's gotten much harder than before, I fail a lot more often, and occasionally, when I finish it, it reloads the page with an "Incorrect or Missing Captcha" error, and forces me to retry. Has anybody else experienced this problem? Am I the only one with Captcha issues? '''Has it been working properly in recent times?'''[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.244|108.162.241.244]] 18:40, 8 November 2019 (UTC)

== DgbrtBOT ==

The bot seems to have been down since December 13, 2019, and Dgbrt hasn't made a single edit since March, 2019. He hasn't responded to the comments in DgbrtBOT's talk page, either. Is there any way for an someone to contact him? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:12, 1 January 2020 (UTC)
:The bot has resumed its extremely helpful work again this week, but no word yet on why it was MIA for a solid month. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:06, 10 January 2020 (UTC)

== Google Ads appearing all over the page ==

Google seems to have changed something in AdSense again, and the ads have been appearing in random positions again since December, 2019. [https://wpadvancedads.com/adsense-in-random-positions-auto-ads/ This page] might have a solution? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:20, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

== Links to xkcd pages sould be withoult "www." part ==

There is an issue with loading resources on pages, that are opened with "www." part in URL.
For example commic [https://www.xkcd.com/1975/ 1975].
If viewed from https://www.xkcd.com/1975/, comic is not interactive. On the other hand, https://xkcd.com/1975/ works like a charm.

Page failes to load resorces from https://xkcd.com/1975/alto/root with error caused by CORS policy:

* Access to fetch at 'https://xkcd.com/1975/alto/root' from origin 'https://www.xkcd.com' has been blocked by CORS policy: No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header is present on the requested resource. If an opaque response serves your needs, set the request's mode to 'no-cors' to fetch the resource with CORS disabled.

All links to commics in headers (button ''Comic #1975 (April 1, 2018)'') include "www." part, for example this explanation:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1975:_Right_Click

IMO links in headers (buttons ''Comic #xxx (date)'') should be updated to exclude "www." part.

== Can't create my userpage ==

I just registered, and can't seem to edit/create my own userpage. I've been editing MediaWiki wikis for a very long time and it's currently part of my career, so I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything right. Is there a prerequisite number of edits or something before I can create my userpage? [[User:Equazcion|Equazcion]] ([[User talk:Equazcion|talk]]) 22:18, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

:I do not know the answer to that, but ... if one of us finds out "sooner" than the other, then, let's "share" the answer. Yours might appear here, and mine ... might appear about eleven "sections" up, in this same "Technical" portal ... <s>at the URL</s> in the section "[[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#Cannot_create_a_user_page|Cannot create a user page]]." (see [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd%3ACommunity_portal%2FTechnical&type=revision&diff=190166&oldid=190127 the DIFF listing]...)

:Maybe I should have "seconded the motion" '''here''', instead of adding my own question, -- which is very similar! -- to a different section, up '''there?''' Pardon me ... --[[User:Mike Schwartz|Mike Schwartz]] ([[User talk:Mike Schwartz|talk]]) 08:15, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

::[[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests#Permission_request]] might help. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 11:06, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

:::Yes, according to that page, your account must be at least one week old, AND you must have made at least 10 edits. There's a new page, [[:explain xkcd:Autoconfirmed users]], which says it's three days (rather than one week) and 10 edits – after that, you become an "autoconfirmed user", and gain the right to create pages ([[Special:ListGroupRights|among other things]]). – [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 02:01, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

== List of all comics incomplete/overflowing ==

The [[List_of_all_comics | List of all comics]] and the full list are incomplete, stopping with 2289. Taking a look at [[List_of_all_comics_(full) | List of all comics (full)]] nets that it belongs to the category 'Pages where template include size is exceeded', so I'm assuming it just hit the limit. I'm sadly not well versed in MediaWiki, so I have no idea what a workaround would look like

== 2138 page issues ==

This first came up when following a link from on of the other Code Quality pages.

when you go to https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2138:_Wanna_See_the_Code%3F you get a blank pag that says "No input file specified."

however when you go to https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2138 you get the actual page via redirect but when you reload the page it goes back to "No input file specified."

not sure what causes this but i tested in chrome (incognito mode to avoid extensions), old edge (not chromium) and chrome iOS via mobile data. all test had the same result.

sorry if this is the wrong place for this but not sure where else to put it. [[User:TomW1605|TomW1605]] ([[User talk:TomW1605|talk]]) 14:44, 21 June 2020 (UTC)

:This problem seems to be common to all comics ending with a question mark: [[2236]], [[2138]], [[2065]], [[1841]], [[1205]]. My best guess is that the url is being interpreted as a query, but since there is nothing after the question mark this results in an error. Whether this is a new error or just hasn't been noticed before I don't know. Renaming the pages without the question mark could work, but would require every reference to these comics on the wiki to be updated. [[User:A(l)Chemist|AlChemist]] ([[User talk:A(l)Chemist|talk]]) 10:07, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

::i think it is new, i recently (not sure when but after 2138 was released) went through the Code Quality series using the links and it worked fine then. i don't think it is being interpreted as a query because the question mark is encoded. i would amazed if it would still interpret this as a query because that would completely defeat the point of encoding the url in the first place. [[User:TomW1605|TomW1605]] ([[User talk:TomW1605|talk]]) 09:35, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

:::here is a full list of broken pages: [[58]], [[111]], [[259]], [[1205]], [[1705]], [[1841]], [[1913]], [[2065]], [[2138]], [[2236]]. i wrote a quick javascript to extract a full list of urls from [[List of all comics (full)]] (then added the recent ones manually, [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#List_of_all_comics_incomplete.2Foverflowing|see above]]). then ran a python script to get the content of each page and check if it is broken (with a 2 sec delay to minimise server load) and saved the list if broken ones. [[User:TomW1605|TomW1605]] ([[User talk:TomW1605|talk]]) 13:34, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

:::: Note that you can view the comic by changing the URL from <code>index.php/...</code> to <code>index.php?title=...</code> ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=58:_Why_Do_You_Love_Me%3F example]). —[[User:Galaktos|Galaktos]] ([[User talk:Galaktos|talk]]) 13:03, 14 May 2021 (UTC)

== "All comics" from left sidebar is not updating ==

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_all_comics

[https://imgur.com/a/J287JBz image]

== Attention needed to some List pages ==

I just (mis)clicked on "All Comics", and thought it looked odd.
DGBRTBot needs a prod, or something, given the current months-old state and commented prediction in https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=List_of_all_comics&action=history

(Oh, and the [[List of all comics (full)]], which I then checked has a redlinked Category of "Pages where template include size is exceeded" and seems to have been previously given a badly-included "...and everything before #501". Not sure if the first problem is easily solvable, but as I'm here I thought I'd mention it, and you could properly add 1-500 ''and'' 501-1000 to sort the Include Size issue, maybe?)

I could be way off-piste, but as it looks like nobody has noticed anything yet I thought I'd at least raise the issue, and then leave the fixing to someone with a bit more Wiki-Fu..? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.120|162.158.155.120]] 20:48, 3 August 2020 (UTC)

:For [[List of all comics]], looks like [[User:DgbrtBOT|DgbrtBOT]] is working again, and [[User:Btx40]] already went back and added the missing entries, so that should be all good now.
:For [[List of all comics (full)]], not sure if I correctly understand what you mean by "''you could properly add 1-500 ''and'' 501-1000 to sort the Include Size issue''"? But I think the "''badly-included '...and everything before #501' ''" you mentioned wasn't so much ''badly-inluded'' – its code looked correct to me – rather, the inclusion makes the page so big that it ''causes'' the page to exceed the "template include-size" limit. See the following Wikipedia articles for more about how this "template include-size" limit works in MediaWiki:
:* {{w|Wikipedia:Template limits#Post-expand include size}}
:* {{w|Wikipedia:Post-expand include size}}
:So ''as a result of'' exceeding the limit, the parser ''excludes'' the template that caused the limit to be exceeded (i.e. it excludes the 1-500 list at the bottom of the page), so as to keep the page under the size limit; and instead of the ''actual'' content, the parser just inserts a ''link'' to the content. And it so happens that in this case, the ''content'' includes the control-characters for constructing the table rows – so because those control characters are excluded along with the content, then the link shows up in the last existing cell of the table, and ''appears'' to be badly-included.
:I'm not sure how to fix it, but some options could be:
:* Somehow reduce the content of the page so that the full list of #1-to-#current doesn't exceed the limit.
:** Each "row" of the table produces about 700 characters in the resulting HTML; around 200 of that is the hidden "create" link (from [[Template:comicsrow]]) that I think ''would'' appear if the comic's page didn't exist yet. I would say that at this point, since all the comics already have pages, then that "create" link is only useful for the most recent comic, and could probably be omitted to significantly reduce the size of the page.
:*** (Actually, it looks like DgbrtBOT might automatically create the page for each new comic, so the "create" link might not be needed ''at all'' anymore.)
:** There are some other elements that could be removed from each table row to save space, such as the <code>title</code> attributes of the links, etc.
:** Not sure if all of that would create enough headroom for the 1-500 list though?
:* Increase <code>$wgMaxArticleSize</code> on the server? ([https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgMaxArticleSize See here].)
:** Not sure of the risks of that; and in any case, it's only that one page that currently exceeds the limit, so may not be worth it.
:For now, I've added a note to the page explaining that 1-500 are missing and why, and I've tweaked the bottom of the table to make the link to 1-500 a bit more presentable in the meantime.
:– [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 06:41, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

== Strange error—maybe edit conflict? ==

I happened to be looking at my edit history, and I noticed that something insane happened back in June: I made an edit to [[2319: Large Number Formats]], and it somehow combined my edit with someone else's. The entirety of my edit (as I crafted it) was confined to the article's categories; I added one and put the set in alphabetical order. But the edit, {{diff|193595|as it was logged}}, is a massive alteration, with all sorts of questionable changes. It was (rightly, I think) undone by [[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] a couple days later. Did I somehow overlook an edit-conflict error and accept some (now anonymous) users edit? I can see myself making some kind of oversight at that time of night, but it seems antithetical to the wiki process to have an edit misattributed in this way. (I certainly don't like having that change connected with my name, but I also wonder how this intersects with important issues of public ownership integral to wiki communities.) I'd appreciate any insight fellow editors could provide. [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 22:24, 3 August 2020 (UTC)
:As I'm passing through, I shall note that I'm the IP that added the "(The 1971 transition[...]" paragraph you see 'added' there. It was actually part of a larger edite that was later (than my edit, earlier than yours) understandably removed for being irrelevent. During this {{diff|193424|5-day-earlier revision}}. But I had absolutely nothing to do with pretty much every other change in your above-logged diff, SFAICS from a quick skim, so honestly don't know why it features there. But hope this info is useful. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.66|162.158.159.66]] 23:05, 3 August 2020 (UTC)
::That's actually quite helpful because it caused me to go look at older versions of the article. It looks like my edit {{diff|193595&oldid=193386|used a very early version as a starting point}} (thereby reverting all changes made later). My best guess is that I had gone back to an old version because Randall changed this comic after it was published and was trying to convince myself that I wasn't crazy. No, not crazy, but spacey. Wikipedia puts a big red warning across the page when you're ending an old version, and this wiki uses only a bit of bold text—that apparently wasn't enough to draw my attention. Thanks! [[User:Jameslucas|jameslucas]] ([[User talk:Jameslucas|" "]] / [[Special:Contributions/Jameslucas|+]]) 01:33, 4 August 2020 (UTC)

== Unable to view "what if?" page ==

The link to the page for the [[what if?]] blog displays an error: "No input file specified." [[User:JBYoshi|JBYoshi]] ([[User talk:JBYoshi|talk]]) 03:38, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

:This also happens to me on [[1205: Is It Worth the Time?]] Must be something with the ?s in the titles. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.66|172.69.22.66]] 15:46, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

::I've noticed that as well. I made a page in my userspace that redirects to the what if page, and for some reason that seems to work. ([[User:Blue screen of life/whatiflink|here is the link to the page]]) [[User:Blue screen of life|Blue screen of life]] ([[User talk:Blue screen of life|talk]]) 20:09, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

:::I have also noticed this but it is not just on pages with questions marks. Both [[259]] and [[1705]] show the same thing. A full list (as of 22 June 2020) of the ones i found is in the last reply to my report found here [[#2138_page_issues]] [[User:TomW1605|TomW1605]] ([[User talk:TomW1605|talk]]) 12:20, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

::::Both [[259]] and [[1705]] have an ({{w|E acute|e-with-accute-accent}}, Unicode U+00E9) in the URL, so for those pages, I wonder if that has anything to do with it?
::::For the "what if?" page, I had recently added a redirect from [[what if (blog)]] to get to it, and the [[What If]] disambiguation page has been updated with it, so at least we can get to it that way; and for the comic explanations, at least we can get to them by linking to their number-redirects (as [[58]] instead of [[58: Why Do You Love Me?]]); but not sure how to fix it overall. At the following page, it suggests tweaking an {{w|Apache HTTP Server|Apache}} {{w|Rewrite engine|rewrite}} directive in {{w|.htaccess}} (or a {{w|Common Gateway Interface|CGI}} setting in {{w|PHP}} if it's running on {{w|Internet Information Services|IIS}}):
::::* https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Topic:Vmaw1tu5kkhyon0n
::::So maybe something about that has changed recently? Documentation:
::::* [https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule Apache mod_rewrite <code>RewriteRule</code> directive]
::::* [https://www.php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php#ini.cgi.force-redirect php.ini <code>cgi.force_redirect</code> directive]
::::Summarizing a few points from [[User talk:SlashMe#Homeopathic Wiki|this related discussion]]:
::::* Only one of the site's [https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:ListUsers?group=sysop 10 administrators] has made recent edits ([[Special:Contributions/SlashMe|SlashMe]]).
::::* Neither of the site's [https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:ListUsers?group=bureaucrat 2 bureaucrats] ([[Special:Contributions/Jeff|Jeff]] and [[Special:Contributions/Lcarsos|Lcarsos]]) have made any edits recently.
::::* For admin access to the ''server'' itself, my limited understanding is that [[Special:Contributions/Jeff|Jeff]] might actually own the server, but may have also given admin access to [[Special:Contributions/Dgbrt|Dgbrt]]; however, neither of them have made edits recently.
::::But "most recent edit" might not be a good indicator, so I wonder of some of these folks are still involved in the project?
::::– [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 05:10, 29 September 2020 (UTC)
: Looks like it happens for any page that has a percent-encoding in the title. [[User:PoolloverNathan|PoolloverNathan]]<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Special:Contributions/PoolloverNathan|s]][[User talk:PoolloverNathan|talk]] [[Wikipedia:WP:SEAOFBLUE|the blue seas]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> 16:32, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

=== Known broken pages ===
(Redirects work, whereas links to the actual page are broken.)

Title containing e-accute-accent:
* [[259]] ↳ [[259: Clichéd Exchanges]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=259:_Clich%C3%A9d_Exchanges What links here])
* [[1705]] ↳ [[1705: Pokémon Go]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=1705:_Pok%C3%A9mon_Go What links here])

Title ending with question mark:
* <del>[[what if (blog)]] ↳ [[what if?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=What_If%3F What links here])</del> <ins>fixed – content now exists at [[what if]], and [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/what_if&limit=500 broken links] are in the process of being updated (see below)</ins>
* [[58]] ↳ [[58: Why Do You Love Me?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=58:_Why_Do_You_Love_Me%3F What links here])
* [[111]] ↳ [[111: Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=111:_Firefox_and_Witchcraft_-_The_Connection%3F What links here])
* [[1205]] ↳ [[1205: Is It Worth the Time?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=1205:_Is_It_Worth_the_Time%3F What links here])
* [[1841]] ↳ [[1841: Who?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=1841:_Who%3F What links here])
* [[1913]] ↳ [[1913: A ?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=1913:_A_%3F What links here])
* [[2065]] ↳ [[2065: Who Sends the First Text?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=2065:_Who_Sends_the_First_Text%3F What links here])
* [[2138]] ↳ [[2138: Wanna See the Code?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=2138:_Wanna_See_the_Code%3F What links here])
* [[2236]] ↳ [[2236: Is it Christmas?]] ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=2236:_Is_it_Christmas%3F What links here])

=== Moved ===
I moved the [[what if?]] page to the [[what if (blog)]] page which I then changed to simply [[what if]] to fix this issue and because anyone new to this site would type that any way to see it. — [[User:Sqrt-1|The 𝗦𝗾𝗿𝘁-𝟭]] [[User talk:Sqrt-1|talk]] [[Special:Contributions/Sqrt-1|stalk]] 06:47, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

:Still trying to wrap my head around it – so just to summarize, we currently have:
:
:* '''[[whatif]]''' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=whatif&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:** ↳ ''redirects to'' '''[[what if?]]''' (see below)
:* '''[[What If?]]''' – page broken ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_If%3F&redirect=no no-redirect link]) ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=What_If%3F What links here])
:** ↳ ''also redirects to'' '''[[what if?]]''' – page broken ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if%3F&redirect=no no-redirect link]) ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=what_if%3F What links here])
:*** ↳ ''redirects to'' '''[[what if]] – actual content'''
:*** ''content manually moved from'' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if%3F&diff=198070&oldid=197859 diff]) '''[[what if?]]''' ''to'' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if&diff=198071&oldid=197486 diff]) '''[[what if (blog)]]''' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if_(blog)&redirect=no no-redirect link]) (''[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if%3F&action=history previous revision history] remains at'' '''[[what if?]]''')
:**** ⇒ ''moved to'' '''[[what if]] – actual content'''
:
:For completeness, we also have...
:
:* '''[[what if book]]''' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if_book&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:** ↳ ''redirects to'' '''[[what if#The book]] – actual content'''
:** Suggestion: for consistency, also add a '''[[what if (book)]]''' page that redirects here?
:
:...and the disambiguation page...
:
:* '''[[What If]]''' ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_If&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:** ⇒ ''moved to'' '''[[What If (disambiguation)]]''' – disambiguation page
:*** ''links to'' '''[[17: What If]]''' (↲ '''[[17]]''' redirects here ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=17&redirect=no no-redirect link]))
:*** ''links to'' '''[[what if]] – actual content'''
:*** Suggestion: mention the ''book'' here as well, and link to its section in the [[what if]] page?
:
:...and these troubleshooting pages from [[User:Blue screen of life]]:
:
:* '''[[User:Blue screen of life/redirecttest]]''' – test page ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Blue_screen_of_life/redirecttest&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:** ⇒ ''moved to'' '''[[User:Blue screen of life/whatiflink]]''' – test page ([https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Blue_screen_of_life/whatiflink&redirect=no no-redirect link])
:*** ↳ ''redirects to'' '''[[What If?]]''' (see above)
:
:Given that the actual content of the "what if?" article now lives at '''[[what if]]''', I've started updating pages <ins>(except for Talk pages)</ins> to link directly there instead of the other redirect pages. All that's left to do are pages that link to the '''[[what if?]]''' redirect-page (which is broken). <del>Its [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/what_if%3F "What links here"] special page is broken too, so it's difficult to find what pages link there – but now that it redirects to the [[what if]] page, you can see them indirectly from ''that'' page's [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/what_if&limit=500 "What links here"] special page.</del> <ins>[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere?target=what_if%3F These] are the pages that still link there.</ins> There are still a lot of them to go.
:
:Also, should the following redirect-pages be simplified to have them redirect straight to the new [[what if]] page, instead of redirecting through the intermediate '''[[what if?]]''' page (which itself redirects there anyway)?
:* '''[[whatif]]'''
:* '''[[What If?]]'''
:– [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 17:20, 29 September 2020 (UTC)
:: Fixed the double redirects, don't ask me why we have so many pages for the same thing. [[User:PoolloverNathan|PoolloverNathan]]<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Special:Contributions/PoolloverNathan|s]][[User talk:PoolloverNathan|talk]] [[Wikipedia:WP:SEAOFBLUE|the blue seas]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> 16:29, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

== Discussion not displaying with comic ==

I am using FireFox on a Win10 machine. When I come to the site I can see the comic, explanation and transcript. But the discussion section is hidden. Even when logged in.

Any ideas?

: You say "when I come to the site". If the address bar says you are on Main_Page and you see the heading "Latest comic", then it's simply working as designed. Above the comic, click on "Go to this comic explanation" and you will see the comic plus discussion.

: Also, Steve, please sign your comments every time, with four tildes. That expands into your user name and a timestamp. Like this -- [[User:JohnB|JohnB]] ([[User talk:JohnB|talk]]) 10:10, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

== Random page sometimes takes me to an invalid address ==

Sometimes, when clicking on "Random page" in the left sidebar, the site will be blank apart from the text "No input file specified. ".

An example of such an URL is: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/111:_Firefox_and_Witchcraft_-_The_Connection%3F

:I've noticed this happens for ''all'' URLs to comics that end in a question mark (or possibly any special character). Interestingly, this doesn't happen if you go to the comic from the search bar. [[User:Danish|Danish]] ([[User talk:Danish|talk]]) 23:04, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

== Bug on the main page ==

Bug Enviroment(Might work on other enviroments):
Ubuntu 20.04LTS
Firefox85.0
2021.2.7

Bug:
The front page reads: `Welcome, Main Page, to explain xkcd!` with `Main Page` formatted as a username,can someone fix this?

[[User:Xkcdjerry|Xkcdjerry]] ([[User talk:Xkcdjerry|talk]]) 09:48, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

== Occasional error via Cloudflare ==
Just a note that I'm getting Cloudflare errors of "origin not reachable" (sounds wrong to me, in my head it should be 'destination', but never mind) three times now in the last ten to fifteen minutes - of maybe a dozen general site-requests.

I've also been getting seemingly .CSSless formatted pages over the past few days, which I've been putting down to slightly dodgy wifi at my end (not unknown) but if I'm getting Cloudflare's error cleanly then perhaps it's been entirely upstream/downstream/however-you'd-describe-the-Explain-server. (Obviously CSS resource requests, as with images, are additional HTTP calls, but I still lump it into the single site-request ''per page'' in my 'dozen' estimate above. No obviously lost images, though, in incomplete pages - not that can't be explained by .CSS non-following, anyway.)

I had copy-buffered some of the exact info, but due to incompetence I recopied over it before coming here. If it happens again, I'll try to bring it over here. But (the way these things go) maybe it won't. FYI, though. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.52|141.101.98.52]] 12:04, 5 March 2021 (UTC)
: Not a Cloudfare error (looks like an error of the actual explainxkcd server) but every now and then (like just a few minutes ago) I get an error page that generally goes away if I immediately refresh. To whit:
Service Unavailable
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

Additionally, a 503 Service Unavailable error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
: Not really a problem (occasionally happened while submitting an exit, and I have to confirm to the browser that I wish to repost the data, but this particular copied instance was through a more 'read-only' link-click, like most of the instances) but... in case someone finds this to be new and useful information... here you are! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 03:45, 12 March 2021 (UTC)
:OP, here, of the above 503 error report/casual mention. Obviously this is the same message that happened for an ''extended'' period of time over a number of days, but I've only just happened to find the site responding again and have not yet looked to see if it is explained as the same or different cause to the old intermittent issues (at root). I hope things are resolved from the major outage (server quota? bill payments? renewal/reconfiguration blips?) but wonder if I should report any future minor outages? I'm still smarting from the total loss of the fora.xkcd.com platform, a few years back, and while I'm not active enough here to consider a proper login (lurking as a freeloading anon-IP is good enough, usually, for my intellectual enjoyment, with all due apologies) I did have a slight pang of emptiness while it was out-of-order. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.79|141.101.99.79]] 15:48, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

== Add TemplateData ==

Add the {{mw|Extension:TemplateData|TemplateData}} extension to allow setting data for templates. This will help editors because they will be able to see the data of templates.

== MediaWiki 1.30.0?! ==

This wiki is [[Special:Version|currently]] on [[mw:MediaWiki 1.30|MediaWiki 1.30.0]] ([[mw:Release notes/1.30|release notes]]), the first of three releases of a version of MW that reached end-of-life in June of 2019 ([[mw:Version lifecycle]]). It's thus missing multiple important security updates from 1.30.1 and 1.30.2, not to mention the two years' worth of security updates since 1.30.x reached end-of-life. Even 1.31.x will be reaching end-of-life in just over a month.

If the sysadmins here update to [[mw:MediaWiki 1.35|MediaWiki 1.35.2]] ([[mw:Release_notes/1.35|release notes]]), that version will be maintained till September of 2023, with only a few security updates in the meantime. I would '''strongly''' encourage y'all to update to 1.35.2; to promptly update if there's a .3, .4, etc.; and to make sure you switch to the next LTS release (which will presumably be 1.39) well in advance of September of '23. (Note that this will also require updating to PHP 7.3.19 or later.) [[User:PinkAmpersand|PinkAmpersand]] ([[User talk:PinkAmpersand|talk]]) 07:17, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

== Uptime ==
Did the website just go down? [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] [[User talk:Beanie|talk]] 13:06, 28 May 2021 (UTC)

It was definitely down this weekend!
https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/nxrm65
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:21, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

== Comic template lappend breaks for standalone comic links ==

For example, https://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html is changed to https://xkcd.com/blue_eyes.html/ which isn't valid [[Special:Contributions/172.69.90.15|172.69.90.15]] 15:51, 13 October 2021 (UTC)

Template here, I think it needs to be changed to solve this https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Template:comic

exkcd page here https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Blue_Eyes

== May not be your problem, but FYI. ==

My typcal setup: Android tablet, with Chrome for Android (latest update), but also Firefox for Android (ditto), using default Gboard (likewise) for input.

Occasionally (notably within the last few weeks/maybe a month or so), when going in to edit an explainxkcd page through Chrome (it's how I divide up my browsing), I'm getting the cursor in the textarea box which ''can'' be used to Cut/Copy/Paste (as applicable and useful), but the on-screen keyboard isn't popping up. Page is fully loaded (can be refreshed, doesn't have the "stop loading" alternative), can go back (page viewing) and try to go back to the page editor (often to same result). Sitting and waiting doesn't pop the keyboard up, either (sat there for minutes). Happens both on home wifi and mobile connection.

If I transfer my attentions to the page to Firefox (copy URL, to use there... but I don't use that by default for expxkcd stuff) there's no problem, but then if I come back to Chrome again it seems to start working again ''anyway'' so not sure if it's just avoiding/flushing a transient problem that would also initially crop up with Firefox if I used that more.

Because editing is a different (mobile-optimised) process on Wikipedia and I can't be sure about any the equivalence of any other wiki out there (and it doesn't happen with anything else I regularly key into on Chrome) it's not something I've reproduced outwith this site, and of course desktop page-editing doesn't require touch-screen keyboard because there's a physical one.

Not getting much feedback with Chrome (really can't get on with their bugrep processes, it's too huge a project to make headway, IME), not even tried to pester the Gboard team and I've not ''seen'' anything said on here about this being a site-issue (not sure how it could be, as it's outside the remit of the core web-page rendering process and more an Android or App level of incompetence), but I thought I'd make a note of it here for future reference. Make of it what you will. Annoying but not game-breaking. And I just wanted to vent a little. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 16:54, 25 December 2021 (UTC)

== [[special:interwiki]] ==

where'd it go? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.200|172.69.68.200]] 05:07, 7 January 2022 (UTC)

== Please update MediaWiki + AbuseFilter ==

Seriously. Many scripts and such built for modern, supported versions of MW do not work here because it is so unbelievably undated. PinkAmpersand above basically covers the reason why. I also highly recommend adding the extension AbuseFilter (https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:AbuseFilter) as it immensely makes removing vandalism easier (by straight up disallowing or blocking those that do, esp if it's like the current formulaic massive-replacement vandalism.) [[User:CRLF|CRLF]] ([[User talk:CRLF|talk]]) 00:48, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

:Ditto. I feel like the main problem is that the sole person who has access to the backend either doesn't have time to update, doesn't have interest, or doesn't have the technical knowledge necessary. But yes, I agree - updating and installing an extension to help control vandalism would help this wiki tremendously. [[User:Obwankenobi|Obwankenobi]] ([[User talk:Obwankenobi|talk]]) 20:09, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

== ↑ ? ==

Why do some pages have ↑ at the very start? They can all be spotted by searching ↑
Is it a technical thing, vandalism, some sort of glitch? Maybe I'm just uninformed or being an idiot.
:Edit logs tell me that an IP user manually reverting vandalism somehow inserted one or more extra characters while manually reverting vandalism. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:59, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
::Should it be removed? It's not necessary and might be confusing for screenreaders... [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:00, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
:::Maybe not en-mass, I'd say. But I've dove in to delete a rogue leading <nowiki> </nowiki> tag left from a part of a prior vandalism (likewise, just before the {{template|comic}}-element) and I've promised myself that I'll remove any more that I spot (and now that arrow) in any future whole-page edit I make. Plus a small shopping-list of inessential but useful edits like making {{template|Citation needed}}s flow better when they're mispunctuated/etc.
:::But that's my solitary opinion. I'm sure hunting out and squishing this isn't a problem at all. I'm just balancing my own peculiar brand of OCD with what is somehow my also my own version of casual apathy towards other details. (Also, it probably looks better for a named account of recognised good standing to start editing potentially hundreds of pages in a session, rather than myself... potentially indistinguishable from the IP who seems to relish worn out memes in a general page-trashing.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.121|162.158.159.121]] 12:20, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

== Is there anything else we can do to prevent vandalism? ==

There's been quite a significant uptick in vandalism recently, and I don't feel we have any effective tools to combat it. I believe one of the biggest issues here is due to the way logged-out editing works on this wiki. Blocks are completely ineffective at slowing vandals, and IP editors can vandalize with basically nothing we can do to thwart them other than revert-warring. '''Is there a better way?'''

There's been some discussion of installing AbuseFilter, but I'm not sure anything became of it. We could disable logged-out editing, but that would likely be counterproductive as we get lots of legitimate contributions from logged-out users. If there's a way to switch to location-based IPs, we could rangeblock problematic users as well as proxies. Does anyone have any ideas? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.145|162.158.78.145]] 16:11, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
:I'm sort of making server side changes via telegraph so an extension is probably going to take a while to get installed. Takes a bunch of emails and followups to get single variables changed in the mediawiki settings file. There is an email verification option, and some edit frequency variables that could be set to make spam more time consuming. Don't love range blocks but wouldn't mind getting the CDN IPs dealt with so we can actually use the IP bans again. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:16, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
::I'm very grateful that you're working on changes under the hood. What do you think is the best way to deal with disruption in the meantime? [[User:Vandalbane|Vandalbane]] ([[User talk:Vandalbane|talk]]) 17:19, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
:::Could borrow a patrol bot like the ones people on main wikipedia have, could ask around. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:53, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
::::There's not really a drop-in solution that you can use, especially since the server's MediaWiki version is not in sync with Wikipedia's (so a lot of the APIs etc have completely changed; when initially reverting vandalism I tried importing some scripts from enwiki but they failed as a result), but also because the bots have gotten pretty complex (using machine learning provided by the Wikimedia Foundation, for example). [[User:CRLF|CRLF]] ([[User talk:CRLF|talk]]) 03:56, 2 June 2022 (UTC)
:::::Oh I do notice mediawiki hasn't been upgraded in a while. Looks like new version of mediawiki should be dropping extremely imminently, would be nice timing for an upgrade '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:45, 2 June 2022 (UTC)

== Rollback ==

Does the rollback permission exist on this wiki? [[User:Vandalbane|Vandalbane]] ([[User talk:Vandalbane|talk]]) 17:00, 1 June 2022 (UTC)
:The rollback permission of course exists but there's no group called "rollbacker" like you'd find on Wikipedia (limited to admins). You'd need the sysadmin to change the configuration to add one, which as established is not really an option right now. [[User:CRLF|CRLF]] ([[User talk:CRLF|talk]]) 03:58, 2 June 2022 (UTC)

== What happened to custom JavaScript? ==

I put some code in <code>[[User:Some user/common.js]]</code>, but it is not alerting 'hi' every time I load a page. Why can't we execute JavaScript anymore? Is it in response to the [[Project:Crap|crapping]] incident? [[User:Some user|Some user]] ([[User talk:Some user|talk]]) 21:16, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
:Entirely because of that, yeah. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:51, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

== My IP ==

Why is my IP address a Cloudflare address in Norway? Is this a joke of some kind that I'm missing?

Other wikis like Wikipedia are showing me my actual IP when I go to [[Special:MyContributions]], so I suspect this is a wiki misconfiguration. It changed again while I was typing this. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.194|162.158.222.194]] 16:55, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:All IPs (as this one will be) are from Cloudflare gateway IPs, because that's the default IP that the Wiki understands as the source. Cloudflare mediates all the traffic, and perhaps to some advantage (not being privvy to the logs, I can only guess how much it insulates the true server from extreme problems, but I bet it does in some way).
:There have been suggestions before to change some setting (in the MediaWiki implementation? ...can't recall exactly) to have it pick up and use the IP that the gateway reports (in its meta-request) was the origin, but that's not been enacted for Idunnowhat reason.
:Because the black-box that is the Cloudflare traffic shapes in various ways, you will find that a single user will jump around 'apparent' IPs, and I've also been in the relatively embarassing situation of replying to another IP's info and finding that I've registered on the exact same IP so that it looks like I'm stooging myself, or something.
:On the whole, though, it's a harmless quirk. And given the trivial nature of deliberately spoofing origins (even on top of assuming you get an effectively static NAT from your ISP in the first place) I don't personally see it as a problem to 'solve' this. But neither would I complain if the 'fix' were implemented if this query reminds someone that they ''were'' going to try and do the necessary tweak.
:As a lay-answer, I hope that fills you in a little. ''If'' those who have more knowledge/control of the process want to add anything or correct me, I'm sure they'll do so as soon as they can, but here's a reply to keep you going for now... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.24|172.70.85.24]] 01:19, 20 November 2022 (UTC)

==Main page in categories==
{{notice|'''This discussion is marked as duplicate.''' See [[#Main Page|this discussion]].}}
[[Main_Page]] was found wrongly appearing in some newly-created categories, such as [[:Category:Cosmology]]. Could you fix it? --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 17:49, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
:Never noticed this myself, but I'll take it as read. Before checking myself, I'm wondering if this could be when the main page 'inherits' tags from the Current Comic that it features. And thus solve itself (whilst gaining others) upon a newer Current Comic. (Must surely inherit "Monday Comics"/etc, on schedule every week.)
:If it is that, perhaps the solution lies in the details contained within https://m.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Categories#Categories_and_templates_(transcluded_pages)
:Or maybe I'm wrong about it. But I have no rights to edit (thus at least examine the 'code' of) the Main page, to check my snap theory, as with most people. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.46|172.70.162.46]] 19:21, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

This happened again in [[:Category:Airplane banner]]. [[User:I27.O.O.I|I27.O.O.I]] ([[User talk:I27.O.O.I|talk]]) 09:00, 28 February 2023 (UTC)
:Yes, and it lasted as long as the latest comic was still one with particular categories. I don't intend to worry about it. If someone goes to a category that interests them and looks at the main page, as temporarily advertised, they're likely to find (as part of it) a comic which is indeed in that category. Doesn't sound like a big problem to me, except for determinin why some cats (e.g. Friday Comics) ''don't'' link to the Main page when they might be expected to...
:(PS, I know for sure that I27.O.O.I isn't the same person as ColofulGalaxy (and various others, beyond even those with the bloomin' obvious "CG" initials or other recent spoofs on the RFC1918 addresses), and I don't think I mind too much, but faking disagreements between your various IDs isn't helping, anyone... smells too much of trying to establish alibis in advance of your next attempt to vandalise the site with stupid stuff. And doesn't impress me, so I doubt it impresses anyone else either. As long as you're just doing sane things, however, I'll accept your little idiosyncracies.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.32|162.158.74.32]] 19:37, 5 March 2023 (UTC)
:(PPS: You left your fingerprint on this latter attempt to 'rescue' [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2659:_Unreliable_Connection&curid=25530&diff=307289&oldid=307282 this page]. - Spammer a few minutes before midnight, my IP reversion happened shortly after. A little later "Elisabeth" then re-spammed (modified), then another IP immediately jumps on it to restore it but with the modified undo-summary line clearly indicating that some sort of a game is being played. Please don't, it's not clever.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.34|172.70.90.34]] 02:22, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

This doesn't happen to date categories, but it happens in manually added categories such as [[:Category:Statistics]]. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 21:49, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

==Cannot create user page==
It says: There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, or search the related logs, but you do not have permission to create this page. [[2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[Talk:2659: Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 22:56, 26 March 2023 (UTC)
:(Removed alternative text in the link involved, to not hide behind trickery.) I think you know that there's no problem with [[2659: Unreliable Connection]] itself, except that it had become one of several pages targeted for spamming, the only one then locked down, then finding that the spammers just retargeted to its Talk page, etc.
:I'm torn between "not assuming bad faith" and "don't feed the trolls", as competing principles, so I'm spelling out the situation. However much a tribute you might think it could be, I don't think there's a future in having a new username that's directly referencing a comic which has become so frequently seen in the recent history of this wiki's edits.
:Obviously any genuine contributions are more than welcome. So prove me wrong, why don't you? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 03:20, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

::Could you help now? [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:13, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

: I've created your talk page. I guess that what you intended is to have a backup or mirror page for comic [[2659]]. Am I right? [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 20:16, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

== Fanmade comics ==
A fanmade comic appeared on xkcd. Could you edit the template? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.100|172.69.23.100]] 07:21, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
:You're going to have to say more about it, at least for me. Apart from the Sandbox attempt to make a page, I haven't seen the comic you're describing anywhere. Certainly not anywhere official. Link, for our benefit? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.66|172.70.85.66]] 10:04, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

==Why doesn't this code block work?==
Does anybody know why the code block at the end of [[Transcript on xkcd|this page]] doesn't work? I've tried everything and it still looks like plain text

== Can't add RSS feed because of pubDate value on 27 Nov 2015 ==

When I try to add the RSS feed in Nextcloud News feed reader I get an error <code>Impossible to convert date : Fri, 27 Nov 2015 17:24:34 Pacific Standard Time</code>.

[https://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexplainxkcd.com%2Frss.xml W3C Feed validation] says that <code>pubDate must be an RFC-822 date-time</code> and points "Pacific Standard Time" portion as the cause of the error: <code><pubDate>Fri, 27 Nov 2015 17:24:34 Pacific Standard Time</pubDate></code>. Can you please fix the timestap for this?

== Admin request posted here because of vandalism ==

I can not currently access the admin requests page because it has been vandalized... can someone please protect the latest comic page (2805). There is some pretty childish vandalism going on there right now. Thanks!
:It's not the latest, seems like ALL. I went back to 2804, 2803, jumped back like 15 comics, all the same thing. To me the most offensive part is doing it with a nonsensical image. And why pipe it through Archive somehow? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 02:33, 24 July 2023 (UTC)
::UGH. the vandals are back at it again... we need to lock xkcd pages @NiceGuy [[Special:Contributions/172.70.39.2|172.70.39.2]] 00:59, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

== Way to contact the site hosters? ==

As many have pointed out the software this wiki runs on is horribly outdated. WikiEditor also isn't here for some reason. Quite a bit of messages here have seen no action. Is there some kind of contact form to reach the hosters? {{unsigned|Aaron Liu|00:36, 10 October 2023}}
: There are various levels of admin who do intervene, as and when jecessary, but I understand that the (active) ones closest to the actual hosting level of intervention are not really ready to do the (increasingly greater) degree of uprooting necessary to get a "working" system to be "marginally better working", by way of that very dangerous middle-ground of potentially being ruined entirely.
: I appreciate and anticipate the counter-arguments regarding letting it go totally unupdated, of course, just I've personally seen enough failures (participated in some, or been the actual invokee, myself) to be very sympathetic to the "if it aint (too) broke, don't fix it" tendency. But that inertia is not the only factor, of course, and the full motivations (or lack of them) of those involved is not for a lowly IP like me to explain, even if I think I know... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.42|172.69.195.42]] 01:24, 10 October 2023 (UTC)
:: Have they posted some sort of statement? It also is most definitely not “marginally” better working, compare the source editor to that of Wikipedia and look at topic subscription etc features. Not to mention a lot of security fixes haven’t been added and this version has reached EOL long ago. Updating also would not ruin this entirely…[[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 17:22, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
:: Some have also said that quite a bit of assistive scripts for modern versions don’t work. Visual Editor, while horrible, is still easier for new people to get started with. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 17:23, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
I've found a new reason: This wiki doesn't even allow loading userscripts! [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 01:34, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
:That might actually have been a conscious decition, after a 'certain user' caused chaos here, not so long ago. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.25|162.158.74.25]] 19:01, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
::It was about a year and a half ago. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.143|172.68.174.143]] 06:41, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
::Huh? What happened? Is there a place to request gadgets then? [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 02:04, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
:::"What happened" involved automated vandalism (from someone who been doing it manually, then found the "better way") though I couldn't tell you the exact details, there were automated 'unvandalism's made in response, and theusafBOT/etc does some of that still, in response to non-automated(/off-site scripted) vandalism/errors that it can actually catch before ordinary users (or IPs like me) can. But certainly a certain brand of scripting was turned off to curtail the 'high intensity' vandalism phase.
:::You're more or less in the best place to request things, right here. Whether updates, (re)adding functionalitu or tweaking site settings. Can't tell if those who ''can'' do these things can't or won't do them... Or are actually absent, instead of just not replying. The cavalry has been known to come running in when necessary (e.g. when "what happened" happened) so it could be any manner of non-response (until you get one). Not necessarily the best state of affairs, but better than being confirmed absentees.
::::I ran a bot to mass-edit pages by replacing their content with the word "crap" repeatedly. I was 15 then, and I thought it was funny. It wasn't. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.143|172.68.174.143]] 06:41, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
:::As an occasional but infrequent actual-Wikipedia editor, too, I must say that if the Visual Editor is what I currently have to use for that (at least as an anonIP when using a mobile device, which tends to be when I get the urge most) then I like the unaugmented editor here more. Straight up, honest, un'wizarded' interface, where you only have to get used to markup details and not a WYSIWYG editing environment (as well?). Not sure I'd be happy with an even ''more'' 'assistive' script imposed upon me, like I dislike modern generations of Windows (and 'user friendly' linux dists). So can I just ask that functional/visible changes of the kind you seem to be asking for, if made available, aren't overimposed/left as options rather than the default (or only) choice...? Ok, so I can (or would have to) adapt, but I'd rather not. Of course, I have no weight to pull in this matter, it's just an afterthought (even as I wish you good luck with raising an admin's eyebrow, in some useful manner). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.135|141.101.98.135]] 05:14, 10 December 2023 (UTC)
::::I am not asking for VisualEditor, which no one likes on Wikipedia either. For some blasted reason they made it edit HTML instead of Wikitext and it’s clunky and loads for a very long time.
::::I’m asking about the WikiEditor, aka Wikipedia’s source editor. In VE, click on the pen next to the publish button and click on “source editing”. That editor makes this one look like freaking Stone Age, syntax highlighting is especially a game-changer. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 16:03, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
: There’s also the annoying ReCaptcha v2 every single edit… it seems like it would be relatively easy to switch to v3 which only makes you do the challenge when you’ve visited a bit too much. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 16:32, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
:: Unfortunately, that would make things easier for someone who wanted to do mass vandalism like I did. If it didn't do it every time, someone could still edit quite quickly. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.192|172.68.174.192]] 18:32, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
::Well, I can tell you that it doesn't always demand that I fulfil more than a tickbox (most trouble I have is when it fails to connect to give me the tickbox (or respond with anything useful when I do), for which I'm forced into one or more Previews until it will. When it ''does'' ask me to do something about it, I do often get forced through two or more request to identify traffic lights, motorbikes, stairways, bridges, hills, tractors, buses, etc, etc, etc... But I think that's more the Tesla-training Algorithm being nust greedy for my attention than the Robot-sentry having a less casual attitude to my attempt to edit. (I believe I'm on a usually untroublesome source IP/Cloudflare gateway, but it could also depend on how many others try to do things via (part of) the same route. Very, very rarely I get Google Search requesting something similar of me ((It: "You have made a lot of searches", me: "Of course I'll have play your little game, but this is my first lookup today...")), which I'm sure isn't Cloudflared, so it might reach back to my ISP's gateway and what fellow users are currently getting up to.)
::As for the guy above (and you, Liu), can't speak for how well or badly others on your own 'choice' of gateways behave. Or yourselves. Luck of the draw? For the first part, at least. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.174|172.69.195.174]] 20:31, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
:::MediaWiki 1.40 automatically tags all edits that remove over 90% of page text with "mw-replaced". You could block all edits in mainspace with that tag, either if MediaWiki has it or through the AbuseFilter extension. While I can complete the CAPTCHAs, it's very annoying to need to Captcha every edit on a place where the main focus is edits. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 03:06, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
:::Plus, v3 doesn't just do nothing. It tracks how your cursor moves to see if it's robotic, while v2 annoyingly gives you the challenge every time. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 20:01, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
::::Presumably for touchscreen control (like mine, right this moment), it does something else than track a nonexistent mouse-pointer's passage across the monitored elements of the display... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.190|172.70.90.190]] 12:26, 9 January 2024 (UTC)
::There are a few MediaWiki plugins that help keep vandalism/spam under control without requiring users to solve a Captcha every time they make an edit. I use https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Moderation on the wiki I maintain, and it works very well. However, it does require that there be enough active moderators to approve edits, as it basically requires every single edit to be approved before it's posted. Thus, it also introduces some "lag" between when stuff is written and when it can be seen by others. I think it could work if the extension could be installed (I'm not even sure if it's supported on this version of MediaWiki) and if a good list of moderators could be put together. [[User:Obwankenobi|Obwankenobi]] ([[User talk:Obwankenobi|talk]]) 20:02, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
:::I disagree with requiring edits to be approved. Unless we have extremely high vandalism, just filtering out the above tags I mentioned and using ReCAPTCHA v3 would be enough. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 23:16, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
::::Ok, fair point. However, that wouldn't stop human vandalism, just vandalism from bots. I'm not sure how much human vandalism there is, though, so it might not even be a problem. [[User:Obwankenobi|Obwankenobi]] ([[User talk:Obwankenobi|talk]]) 12:35, 22 February 2024 (UTC)
:::::It's hard (for us 'civvies') to know how much bot-vandalism is stopped but [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Log/newusers&offset=&limit=500&type=newusers&user= probably a lot], most of which we never see, with [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2503:_Memo_Spike_Connector&diff=335487&oldid=335486 occasional ones] we might see having be dealt with. (I'm guessing these things are rare (temporarily-)successful 'bots, because flesh-and-blood vandals wouldn't be occasionally doing essentially the same insta-reverted thing on a thematically-small set of pages, over several ''years'' without moving on. It has to be a lucky unattended script-based effort that just keeps trying the same things over and over with an easily revertible but tangible result happening only infrequently.)
:::::More obvious human vandalism tends to rumble on, with occasionally a spate of it as someone gets short-term kicks for it. Though some of them seem may repeat themself after a break. Friendly humans and friendly 'bots both tend to provide the main anti-vandalism responses fairly quickly, though, depending upon what kind of a mess they caused. I've seen worse places, definitely, and it's by no means a losing battle against chaos, just regular skermishes.
:::::Not wanting to tempt fate, of course. I guarantee that there'll be some fool that takes all this as a challenge, so I just have to trust to the Good Guys keeping on keeping on. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.71|172.70.90.71]] 14:21, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

heyo, is there a way to add actual citations to explainxkcd instead of the template citation needed? couldn't find anything, but i'm pretty new here - thanks in advance. [[User:Nigga|Nigga]] ([[User talk:Nigga|talk]]) 21:47, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
:Not that I have much faith in your usernae lasting long (you're 'that guy', aren't you? ...in which case you know anyway), but for the sake of anyone else who needs to know:
:*If you mean "add an actual 'citation needed' tag", then it's {{template|Actual citation needed}} that you'll use.
:*If you mean "add an actual citation link to somewhere", then:
:** Link to URLs with [].
:*** A link such as [<url>] will give you a superscript-number link, which isn't pretty, IMO.
:*** A link such as [<url> <text>] (that's a space between the two) will link <text> to the URL, just work it into the sentence you're writing, fairly easy
:** Link to internal (or cross-wiki) pages with [[]].
:*** [[<page title>]] will make a literal link to <page title>.
:*** [[<page title>|<text>]] (with a pipe) is how you make the <text> your link.
:** You can use the last to link specifically to wikipedia's cross-site format, but for that it's best to use {{template|w}}
:*** <nowiki>{{w|<page title>}}</nowiki> (w-pipe...) uses the page title
:**** It will use the link as if the first character is uppercase, so you don't need to capitalise that. Other case-sensitivity is preserved.
:**** <nowiki>{{w|<singular page title>}}s</nowiki> will link the obvious pluralisation of the page title, just to save you effort
:*** <nowiki>{{w|<page title>|<text>}}</nowiki> (w-pipe and pipe) lets you use entirely alternate text.
:** There's also templates that shortcut (or make easier on the eye, or add appropriate warnings) for some other commonly referenced external sites, from xkcd's own what-if to TVTropes.
:...hope that helps everyone that doesn't already know these few simple bits as relate to wikis in general or this wiki in particular. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.218|172.71.242.218]] 22:24, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

== Confirmation Email Bug ==

Hi. I've been trying to get my email confirmed so that I can get pinged when pages are edited, but I just can't find it, even after trying multiple times. I use Gmail, and yes, I have checked my spam folder. Has anyone else had this issue? EDIT: I see that others have had this issue, but the admins haven't done any action to solve it, except for one sarcastic comment by Davidy22 back in 2014. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:43, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

== Lack of Userpage ==

Hey, I joined a few years ago, but I still do not have a Userpage. Can you make one for me? I do not have the permission to do so. [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 22:47, 15 May 2024 (UTC)
:This is actually your very first post, after joining a bit more than a year ago ("18:35, 14 November 2023 User account GreyFox (talk | contribs) was created"). I'm sure someone can oblige (not me, for obvious reasons), but you've not done much to contribute (at least under this account), which would have then eventually brought you to the point where you ''can'' just self-create your Userpages/etc. So your request is a bit out of the blue.
:Just so long as we all know where we stand, though. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.227|172.69.194.227]] 09:42, 16 May 2024 (UTC)
::Oh, thanks! Do you know the exact number of edits I need to create it?
:::50 to be autoconfirmed. Also, please sign your comments. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 15:23, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

== server errors ==
is anyone else constantly getting 503 errors? [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 17:14, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
:yup, been seeing those all the time. Also seeing that the server is down a lot of time-it suggests me to Google for what I’m “looking for” [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 17:18, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
::503s are fairly common (often when I'm in a rush), and have been for... well, certainly years, maybe more than a decade (though more common during major vandalism/anti-vandalism surges). I had, however, noticed a recent blip (during the last day or so) of the Server Down/Try Google page that you refer to, which I haven't seen for a ''long'' time (not really sure when, but maybe five years or so ago). In fact, I probably got Cloudflare 'rejections' more, during aformentioned vandal-overloading.
::Without any access to the admin logs, I can only speculate as to what might be sparking it. But service (notwithstanding the brief page-refusals themselves) seems to be happily unaffected. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.249|172.70.160.249]] 20:29, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

== Allow new users to edit their own page ==

I found someone asking if we could change this in the proposals page (Community portal/Proposals: Allow Users to Edit their own talk page if not auto confimed (not a typo)). [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 14:39, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

== Technical difficulties? ==

I keep getting a message that says: "Sorry! This site is experiencing technical difficulties.Try waiting a few minutes and reloading. (Cannot access the database)"
It's happened a lot so I was wondering if there was a specific cause behind it and perhaps a way to fix it.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.65|172.68.54.65]] 00:17, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
:yeah, I’ve been getting those errors too. I can’t even log into my account before it says that there’s an error again. I’ve been steadily receiving them for a couple months, but never like today. From Recent Changes, it doesn’t look like anyone is spamming the wiki, so maybe it’s an attack of some kind. You’ll need to contact the admins who have access to the server and can poke around, but good luck getting [[User:Davidy22]] or [[User:Jeff]] online. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.130|172.69.135.130]] 17:16, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
::update: I’ve been poking around a lot of websites, trying to see if the website is being attacked. The websites all say that the server is down. I’ll try to ask Jeff on this and pray that he checks his email. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.129|172.69.135.129]] 17:21, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

== the site is collapsing ==
503's are to be expected, but i've got them and the "Sorry! This site is experiencing technical difficulties. Try waiting a few minutes and reloading." error way, way too much. it's actually getting really hard to edit stuff because of them. [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 01:58, 19 September 2024 (UTC)
:heck, i just got a 503 when posting this topic. also, load times are noticeably longer. and i'm getting "loss of session" errors when i try to edit... [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 02:02, 19 September 2024 (UTC)
::I’ve messaged Davidy22 and Jeff about it, hopefully they see it and reply. It looks fine right now, appears that it works horribly at times and fine later. Due to the on-off nature of it, I would suspect DDoS attacks, as a 503 error means that the server can’t process the request, which occurs with DDoS attacks. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 21:37, 19 September 2024 (UTC)
:::update: I’ve made a Reddit post, as I’ve seen Davidy22 active on Reddit and respond to older threads on r/xkcd. Hopefully they respond! [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:50, 24 September 2024 (UTC)
::::October update: Davidy22 responded to my emails and said that he has emailed Jeff multiple times. Apparently Jeff is ignoring his emails and not responding. I’ve been checking Jeff’s Twitter/X/Whatever once a week and it shows that he uses it semi-regularly. Apparently Jeff is a podcaster too? Anyways, nobody has really responded to me on r/xkcd, so I’m thinking of sending a DM to Jeff via Twitter. I have a to-do list for Jeff listed on my User Page, feel free to give any thoughts, proposals, comments on anything else you want him to do in this thread. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:46, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

== List of All Comics ==

I think that FaviFake and I have accidentally broken the All comics page. When clicked, it brings you to the page List of all comics, which displays the comics 3000-3002 (as of right now) instead of the list of all comics (oops-my bad). How do we fix this? There’s also the page List of all comics (3000-3500), but the TheusafBOT ignores it. Can someone more technical help troubleshoot this problem? Again, sorry for making a muck of things. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:43, 24 October 2024 (UTC)
:Oh I'm sorry, I created a new topic for this and I didn't see this one. I noticed the [[List of all comics (3000-3500)]] today and scheduled it for deletion because we never make such a page until we have exactly 500 comics to put there. Also, the name is wrong, it should say 3001-3500.
:The page [[List of all comics]] is supposed to display comics 3001-3005, not all comics. You might be confusing it with [[List of all comics (full)]], which would work perfectly if [[List of all comics]] displayed the last 3 comics. I have no idea why the bot stopped updating it. Maybe it will work now that the wrong page is scheduled for deletion? [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 05:15, 31 October 2024
::Wait a second, why did you move the List of all comics to [[List of all comics (3000-3500)]]? It seemed to me like everything was working fine before you moved it [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 05:24, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
:::I was trying to copy the content to [[List of all comics (3000-3500)]], and accidentally broke it. Sorry! [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 16:48, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
::::Yeah I can confirm the content and the entire edit history was moved to the incorrectly-titled page that's now scheduled for deletion. I guess maybe we didn't really need the edit history on that page, but who knows.
::::Weirdly, the bot seems to have restored the page as it was and then stopped doing its thing. Since we're the only ones here, I suggest you manually create the missing rows for the new comics and we'll see if that works when the next comic drops. If it doesn't, I'll contact the maintainer and creator of the bot myself. Sounds good? :) [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 18:29, 31 October 2024 (UTC)
:::::Sir yes Sir! 🫡 [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 04:51, 1 November 2024 (UTC)
:::::: Great, thanks! I can also do it this afternoon if you don't have time. I realise my previous messages read like orders lol, they were supposed to be suggestions to try and fix the issue. [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 07:18, 1 November 2024

== The [[List of all comics]] is no longer being updated automatically ==

Hey everyone, I noticed the bot isn't updating this page anymore: [[List of all comics]]. There are supposed to be five comics in it but there are only two at the moment. Is this supposed to happen? [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 05:06, 31 October 2024

== 2034: Equations error? ==

One of the TeX math-thingies (sorry for the informal writing), is showing this error: "Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable. Please see math/README to configure.): \oint". Idk why it's showing this, can someone fix this? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.48|108.162.237.48]] 19:25, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
:It's a long-standing error, to do with the background processes that turns the TeX-style markup into embedded images. All equations (or whatever it might be that the particular MathML was being used to render) that were originally given cached-imagery ''still work fine'', but it seems a later update made it so that if you adjust it at all (even slightly), it no longer has the route to produce the embedding cleanly.
:It can probably be solved by rolling back some module(s) that got refreshed quite some time ago, though the advised fix is to actually fully update them (and/or reconfigure the backend scripting) to work with all the newest versions of the original tools. Unfortunately, the people (or maybe person) who would do this is not too active at the moment (may also not be up to speed on everything, either, if it involves a bit of more tricky administration), so we're left with the occasional problem establishing the texvc handler.
:Not sure which page you're encountering this on, but sometimes if you look back in the edit history you can find a working version of the thing you're seeing go wrong. If it's an aesthetic difference (e.g. the presence or absence of a spacing character), you might be able to just restore the render-cached version and make do with it not looking ''quite'' right.
:If it's a necessary change that was made (e.g. "''dt''" instead of "''dx''", which is definitely wrong the old way), or it seems never to have a valid render, then there's two obvious solutions:
:#Make your own image of it as it should be and (with a suitably auto-validated account, or via a handy external image hosting service and/or a more mature account here) get that embedded in place of the markup-source, or
:#Replicate its appearance in more basic (by standard) but complex (by source needed) markup. Combinations of basic wikimarkup and HTML can do most 'fiddly positional' things, see [[2614: 2]] for a numerator/denominator layout, for example.
:Not as 'simple' as TeX-markedup. But, on the other hand, the "\oint" symbol is "∮", so perhaps all you need to do is copy'n'paste that actual unicode symbol to wherever you found the problem, and use that instead, and forgo the TeX version altogether? (Might not show on some displays, but probably enough to make it a minority issue.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.105|172.70.90.105]] 22:50, 6 November 2024 (UTC)
:Had the brainwave that I could probable ''search'' for the offending \oint, actually. Did so, found [[2034: Equations]], noted that it was the only (current) rendering issue and therefore just did the pasting over myself. Looks good for me, but obviously might not help (but not make worse) others' viewing of it. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.54|172.69.195.54]] 22:58, 6 November 2024 (UTC)

2997: Solar Protons

2024-10-14T14:04:34Z

172.69.195.54: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2997
| date = October 11, 2024
| title = Solar Protons
| image = solar_protons_2x.png
| imagesize = 647x783px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If any of you want to meet some cool local oxygen atoms, I can introduce you!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT RUNNING ON PROTONS INSTEAD OF ELECTRONS. Educational comment about aurora added 10/11 (MM/DD) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is referencing the solar storm that hit the Earth on Thursday night before the comic. A result of the storm was that {{w|northern lights}} were visible across much of the northern United States, including Massachusetts where [[Randall]] lives. The northern lights normally occur much farther north, making this a rare and spectacular occurrence. The rare color background of this panel is an idealized depiction of the northern lights.

The solar protons referenced are hydrogen nuclei ejected from the sun after their electrons were stripped. Since most hydrogen atoms are just a single proton and electron pair, once the electron is removed, the resulting ion is just a proton. These protons, being positively charged, interact with Earth's magnetosphere, and the resulting excitation of atoms in the atmosphere causes them to emit light in the form of aurora. In the northern hemisphere the aurora is called aurora borealis (Latin for "northern dawn") and in the southern hemisphere it is called aurora australis (Latin for "southern dawn").

Here, [[Beret Guy]] takes on the task of giving the protons a cordial welcome to Earth, where they will spend the foreseeable future. He has set up a sign to welcome them, presumably because he normally does not see the northern lights. His sign notes that they will love being part of the atmosphere, since if the light of the aurora is being emitted it means that the protons are interacting with other atoms in the atmosphere. The sign also invites them to try creating water. Water consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms sharing an electron each with the oxygen. Since the solar protons are just hydrogen nuclei, they can form water by interacting with oxygen atoms or hydroxide ions (OH-). Scientists believe that solar wind [https://physicsworld.com/a/did-the-solar-wind-create-earths-water/ frequently creates water] by interaction of the hydrogen nuclei with oxygen. However, the mechanism proposed involves solar wind first creating hydroxide from compounds in asteroids and space dust, and then another proton joining to make water. As most of the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere consists of O2 molecules (two bound oxygen atoms), it is not clear if solar protons could create water in the atmosphere at the same time as the northern lights, as opposed to via various other intermediate atmospheric/geological/biological interactions which might take up hydrogen (ionised or otherwise).

Beret Guy is repeating two common misconceptions about aurora: that they are created directly by solar energetic particles, and that they are dominated by protons. [https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-tutorial Most auroras are caused by electrons, and these electrons are mostly already trapped over the long term in Earth's magnetosphere] (although many of them originated in the solar wind at some point). The interaction of the solar wind's magnetic field with Earth's magnetosphere can create strong electric fields parallel to the magnetic field lines near the poles, and these electric fields energize the electrons and accelerate them into the atmosphere, where their interactions with oxygen and nitrogen molecules create the emission lines of the aurora. It's not apparent if the misconceptions are Beret Guy's or Randall's.

The title text references water formation by saying that Beret Guy can introduce the solar protons/hydrogen nuclei to cool oxygen atoms. In reality hydrogen nuclei from the solar wind do not need an introduction,{{Citation needed}} but instead, due to their great speed, form bonds with oxygen when they impact oxygen or hydroxide.

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

:[Colorful aurora in the starry night sky, with colors ranging from red at the top to green at the bottom]
:[Black silhouette of Beret Guy standing on a grassy field, next to a sign to the right that reads (in light-greenish text on black):]
:Welcome Solar Protons!
:You'll love being part of our atmosphere!
:There's so much to do here. Try forming water!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

2931: Chasing

2024-05-13T09:39:37Z

172.69.195.54: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2931
| date = May 10, 2024
| title = Chasing
| image = chasing_2x.png
| imagesize = 462x474px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Certain hybrid events can only happen in certain locations where all the conditions are present; chasers flock to the area in and around Kansas known as tumbleweed-colliding-with-possum alley.
}}

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

This comic is a scatter plot comparing how exciting it is to see various things with how possible it is to chase them using a convoy of coordinated vehicles.

The least chasable are stationary places like the {{w|Grand Canyon}} or {{w|International Date Line}}. It makes no sense to chase them because they don't move around, you simply go to their known locations. At the other end of the chasability spectrum are animals that move around rapidly, and fleeting astronomical and atmospherical phenomena like {{w|clouds}}, {{w|meteors}}, and {{w|aurora}}. However, some of these are difficult to chase because they're small and hard to detect from a moving vehicle, e.g. {{w|gnats}}.

In the top-right position of most chasable and most exciting, tornadoes have a community of 'chasers' who attempt to predict their appearance and get as close to them as possible, which was the subject of a {{w|Twister_(1996_film)|1996 film}}, for which a sequel was due to be released shortly after this comic.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan="2" | Entity !! colspan="2" | Estimate of... !! rowspan="2" | Explanation
|-
! Chasing || Excitement
|-
| {{w|Grand Canyon|The Grand Canyon}}|| 10% || 90% || Stationary place in Arizona. It's the largest canyon in the US (but not the world), in addition to being very beautiful due to its depth and the color changes from different geological strata. Seeing a famous tourist attraction in person is exciting.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| {{w|Niagara Falls}} || 15% || 75% || Stationary place on the border of US and Canada, between the state of New York and the province of Ontario. The waterfall is the largest in North America by width and water volume, making it very beautiful to watch.
|-
| {{w|Tourist attractions}} || 15% || 55% || Other stationary places that attract many tourists (e.g. national parks, monuments, and historic places) are exciting to see {{Citation needed}}.
|-
| {{w|Tourist traps}} || 10% || 40% || Stationary places that market themselves as tourist attractions, but don't really have much to offer and exist mainly to sell food and souvenirs.
|-
| {{w|Hazard (golf)#Bunker|Sand trap}} || 15% || 25% || Pits of sand in golf courses. If your golf ball lands in one, it's more difficult to hit it out to the grassy portions (fairways or greens), which is why it's a "trap".
|-
| The International Date Line || 15% || 10% || A jagged conceptual line running from the North to South poles around 180 degrees of longitude, used to separate the time zones that start and end each day. There's nothing to see at these locations, as the line is a concept and does not actually coincide with anything in real life, as well as mostly being in the Pacific Ocean, by-passing actual landfall, as well as across the Arctic Southern Oceans. The zones for {{w|time in Antarctica}} are already more pragmatically simplified or just fall back to {{w|Coordinated Universal Time}}.
|-
| Meteors || 35% || 95% || Also called "shooting stars". These are fleeting streaks of light that are visible when bits of rock or dust enter the atmosphere and burn up. These are generally rare, making them exciting to see, but there are {{w|meteor showers}} when many are visible due to the Earth passing through a large cloud of dust (usually the remnants of a comet). To astronomy buffs, these can be like natural fireworks shows. Because each meteor streak lasts for a fraction of a second, it's not generally possible to chase them, although if the rock is large enough it may survive to the ground and become a {{w|meteorite}}, which chasers [[1723: Meteorite Identification|may be able to find]] by tracking its path through the sky.
|-
| {{w|Rainbows}} || 35% || 90% || A visual effect that occurs when sunlight is refracted by water droplets in the air, spreading the light into a spectrum of different colors. Their 'location' is relative to each observer, so long as the necessary components combine correctly in the first place, so any coordinated movement is restricted to finding the right sort of standpoint from which a rainbow is visible. Moving "towards" a rainbow typically results in the rainbow "moving away" from the observer at the same speed.
|-
| {{w|Comets}} || 40% || 85% || Comets are chunks of rock and ice that orbit the sun, usually in highly eccentric orbits that take them from the inner Solar System to the {{w|Kuiper Belt}} or {{w|Oort Cloud}} at the extreme outskirts of the Solar System. Few of them are visible to the naked eye. They're exciting to see because they're rare, and one of the few astronomical objects that looks like more than just a tiny dot because there's a glowing "tail". While they're moving very rapidly through the Solar System, from the Earth they don't appear to move much faster than planets. So there's no need to chase them; when near the Earth, they will be visible from much of the planet for days or weeks.
|-
| {{w|Sunsets}} || 35% || 75% || Disappearance of the Sun below the horizon, should happen usually once every 24 hours (except close to the poles). Depending on weather conditions, they can sometimes be very pretty. Traveling around the Earth from east to west is needed for a continuous view of a sunset.
|-
| {{w|The Moon}} || 40% || 70% || Earth's only natural satellite with a predictable orbit. Only 12 people (the {{w|Apollo astronauts}}) have actually visited it in person; the rest of us see it from about 250,000 miles away. Weather permitting, it's visible for about half of every day/night cycle (though may be more obvious when this occurs significantly in the night sky, for several reasons). It doesn't move quickly in the sky, by apparent movement, so little chasing is necessary. A 'supermoon' is when the Moon looks the largest and shiniest, occurring when a full moon appears closest to the Earth in its orbit, though Randall doesn't consider this phenomenon impressive (How To, chapter 21).
|-
| Unusual clouds || 40% || 55% || Clouds with unique forms or shapes, like {{w|Lenticular clouds}}.
|-
| Regular clouds || 35% || 40% || Aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets
|-
| {{w|Fog}} || 30% || 25% || Atmospheric condition where water droplets are very dense near the Earth's surface, resulting in a visible haze. Very few people will chase fog. Possibly a reference to a different {{w|Phileas_Fogg|Fogg}}, who was pursued around the world.
|-
| {{w|Rain}} || 35% || 20% || Water droplets falling from clouds. In most of the world, this is a pretty common occurrence. Unless the volume is extremely high, there's rarely much excitement due to them, but extreme cases may cause flooding that can be dangerous. The only people who typically chase them are weather reporters.
|-
| {{w|Gnats}} || 35% || 5% || Hardly anybody wants to track down gnats, as they are annoying to chase and difficult to see, but people could theoretically use advanced instruments to do so.
|-
| Aurora || 60% || 95% || Impressive light displays that result from excitement of the Earth's {{w|magnetosphere}} by charged particles in the {{w|solar wind}}. These are generally only visible in high latitudes, so most people do not live where they're visible. Their visibility can be tracked and forecasted via monitoring of solar wind output from the sun, and particularly intense episodes can be predicted (as well as locations for viewing) on the basis of the solar cycle and solar flare activity. The release of this comic coincided with the strongest geomagnetic storm warning forecasted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 20 years [https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/g4-watch-effect-may-11] ({{w|May 2024 solar storms}}).
|-
| Your favorite band's shows || 60% || 80% || Musical acts often plan tours, where they go around the country (or world) putting on shows every few days. Extreme fans with time (and money) on their hands may "chase" them by going to a series of their shows. Since the tour dates are planned and publicized well in advance, the shows are easy to find. However, depending on the popularity of your favorite band, this might be an expensive hobby, especially for optimal viewing. Also, tickets may be sold out.
|-
| Rare birds || 60% || 60% || Many birders will "twitch" to see rare birds, and this requires a fair amount of checking location, behavior, etc. Also, rare birds tend to be exciting to see.
|-
| Regular birds || 55% || 40% || These are easier to see than rare birds.{{citation needed}}
|-
| Regular balloons || 55% || 25% || Both children and adults accidentally let go of balloons, and may attempt to chase after them to retrieve them.
|-
| {{w|Tumbleweeds}} || 60% || 15% || A roughly spherical portion of certain plants that breaks off from its roots and rolls along the ground, propelled by winds. Most people don't find them very interesting to look at, and they're often used as a shorthand for nothing of interest happening. They don't usually travel very quickly, so it would be possible to chase them if you were so inclined (they may be of interest to plant biologists and ecologists).
|-
| {{w|Speed_limit_enforcement|Speed traps}} || 65% || 5% || A section of a road where police often wait for passing drivers who are exceeding the speed limit, so they can catch them and issue speeding tickets. Frequent drivers, especially truck drivers, have developed systems to warn each other of these locations ({{w|citizens band radios}} were once the most popular method, now this can be done using mobile phone using services like {{w|Waze}}).
|-
| {{w|Tornadoes}} || 85% || 95% || Wanting to witness a tornado is a typical objective of {{w|storm chaser}}s.
|-
| {{w|Whales}} || 85% || 90% || Widely distributed and diverse group of marine mammals. They are some of the largest animals to ever live, and often travel in groups, making them exciting and easy to see (when active at the surface). They have often been chased by humans, both for the purposes of hunting and exploiting them as a resource, and by tourist-oriented whale-watching trips.
|-
| {{w|Icebergs}} || 85% || 75% || Piece of freshwater ice broken off a glacier or ice shelf. These come in many sizes and shapes, making it interesting to see a new one. At the time of this comic, there had recently been substantial interest in tracking the progress of the giant {{w|Iceberg A23a}}.
|-
| {{w|Hot air balloons}} || 80% || 60% || An aircraft whose bag is filled with heated air. Hot air balloons are ridden for a variety of reasons (entertainment, sport, advertisement, etc.) and they usually involve a "chase crew" of people on the ground. To an uninvolved observer, catching an unexpected glimpse of an airborne balloon is a moderately exciting event; giving chase is not advised, however, as it may interfere with the chase crew's operation and may be perceived as a hostile act, thereby creating ''uncomfortable'' levels of excitement.
|-
| {{w|Radiosondes}} || 85% || 50% || Small instruments carried in weather balloons to gather and transmit atmospheric parameters. There's not much to see in them, but they're easy to track with a proper receiver.
|-
| Neighborhood possums || 85% || 35% || "Possum" is a common term for {{w|Virginia opossum}}s, the only species of opossum found in North America. In urban areas they will get into human garbage, and may carry diseases, so many may consider them pests and hunt them. A coordinated group of hunters can track them.
|-
| {{w|Ice cream trucks}} || 85% || 25% || Vans that sell ice cream. They're easy to chase because they often play music and/or ring a loud bell so customers will know they're coming, and make frequent stops to allow customers to make purchases. Young "chasers" also often scream when they hear the trucks coming, so others nearby (particularly parents or caregivers who are needed to provide the money) will be aware.
|-
| Other chasers || 90% || 10% || May result in an awkward encounter if met in person.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[An X Y axis graph]
:[Y axis label:]
:Exciting to see in person
:[X axis label:]
:Possible to chase in a convoy of vehicles coordinating over radio and using instruments and data to find optimal viewing locations?
:[X and Y axis values (from bottom left):]
:No
:Yes

:[Top left quarter:]
:The Grand Canyon
:Meteors
:Rainbow
:Comets
:Niagara Falls
:Sunsets
:The Moon
:Tourist attractions
:Unusual clouds

:[Top right quarter:]
:Aurora
:Tornadoes
:Whales
:Your favorite band's shows
:Icebergs
:Rare birds
:Hot air balloons

:[Bottom left quarter:]
:Tourist traps
:Regular clouds
:Sand traps
:Fog
:Rain
:The International Date Line
:Gnats

:[Bottom right quarter:]
:Regular birds
:Radiosondes
:Neighborhood possums
:Regular balloons
:Ice cream trucks
:Tumbleweeds
:Speed traps
:Other chasers

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Tornadoes]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Weather]]

2931: Chasing

2024-05-13T09:27:06Z

172.69.195.54: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2931
| date = May 10, 2024
| title = Chasing
| image = chasing_2x.png
| imagesize = 462x474px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Certain hybrid events can only happen in certain locations where all the conditions are present; chasers flock to the area in and around Kansas known as tumbleweed-colliding-with-possum alley.
}}

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

This comic is a scatter plot comparing how exciting it is to see various things with how possible it is to chase them using a convoy of coordinated vehicles.

The least chasable are stationary places like the {{w|Grand Canyon}} or {{w|International Date Line}}. It makes no sense to chase them because they don't move around, you simply go to their known locations. At the other end of the chasability spectrum are animals that move around rapidly, and fleeting astronomical and atmospherical phenomena like {{w|clouds}}, {{w|meteors}}, and {{w|aurora}}. However, some of these are difficult to chase because they're small and hard to detect from a moving vehicle, e.g. {{w|gnats}}.

In the top-right position of most chasable and most exciting, tornadoes have a community of 'chasers' who attempt to predict their appearance and get as close to them as possible, which was the subject of a {{w|Twister_(1996_film)|1996 film}}, for which a sequel was due to be released shortly after this comic.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan="2" | Entity !! colspan="2" | Estimate of... !! rowspan="2" | Explanation
|-
! Chasing || Excitement
|-
| {{w|Grand Canyon|The Grand Canyon}}|| 10% || 90% || Stationary place in Arizona. It's the largest canyon in the US (but not the world), in addition to being very beautiful due to its depth and the color changes from different geological strata. Seeing a famous tourist attraction in person is exciting.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| {{w|Niagara Falls}} || 15% || 75% || Stationary place on the border of US and Canada, between the state of New York and the province of Ontario. The waterfall is the largest in North America by width and water volume, making it very beautiful to watch.
|-
| {{w|Tourist attractions}} || 15% || 55% || Other stationary places that attract many tourists (e.g. national parks, monuments, and historic places) are exciting to see {{Citation needed}}.
|-
| {{w|Tourist traps}} || 10% || 40% || Stationary places that market themselves as tourist attractions, but don't really have much to offer and exist mainly to sell food and souvenirs.
|-
| {{w|Hazard (golf)#Bunker|Sand trap}} || 15% || 25% || Pits of sand in golf courses. If your golf ball lands in one, it's more difficult to hit it out to the grassy portions (fairways or greens), which is why it's a "trap".
|-
| The International Date Line || 15% || 10% || A jagged conceptual line running from the North to South poles around 180 degrees of longitude, used to separate the time zones that start and end each day. There's nothing to see at these locations, as the line is a concept and does not actually coincide with anything in real life, as well as mostly being in the Pacific Ocean, by-passing actual landfall, as well as across the Arctic Southern Oceans. The zones for {{w|time in Antarctica}} are already more pragmatically simplified or just fall-back to {{w|Coordinated Universal Time}}.
|-
| Meteors || 35% || 95% || Also called "shooting stars". These are fleeting streaks of light that are visible when bits of rock or dust enter the atmosphere and burn up. These are generally rare, making them exciting to see, but there are {{w|meteor showers}} when many are visible due to the Earth passing through a large cloud of dust (usually the remnants of a comet). To astronomy buffs, these can be like natural fireworks shows. Because each meteor streak lasts for a fraction of a second, it's not generally possible to chase them, although if the rock is large enough it may survive to the ground and become a {{w|meteorite}}, which chasers [[1723: Meteorite Identification|may be able to find]] by tracking its path through the sky.
|-
| {{w|Rainbows}} || 35% || 90% || A visual effect that occurs when sunlight is refracted by water droplets in the air, spreading the light into a spectrum of different colors. Their 'location' is relative to each observer, so long as the necessary components combine correctly in the first place, so any coordinated movement is restricted to finding the right sort of standpoint from which a rainbow is visible. Moving "towards" a rainbow typically results in the rainbow "moving away" from the observer at the same speed.
|-
| {{w|Comets}} || 40% || 85% || Comets are chunks of rock and ice that orbit the sun, usually in highly eccentric orbits that take them from the inner Solar System to the {{w|Kuiper Belt}} or {{w|Oort Cloud}} at the extreme outskirts of the Solar System. Few of them are visible to the naked eye. They're exciting to see because they're rare, and one of the few astronomical objects that looks like more than just a tiny dot because there's a glowing "tail". While they're moving very rapidly through the Solar System, from the Earth they don't appear to move much faster than planets. So there's no need to chase them; when near the Earth, they will be visible from much of the planet for days or weeks.
|-
| {{w|Sunsets}} || 35% || 75% || Disappearance of the Sun below the horizon, should happen usually once every 24 hours (except close to the poles). Depending on weather conditions, they can sometimes be very pretty. Traveling around the Earth from east to west is needed for a continuous view of a sunset.
|-
| {{w|The Moon}} || 40% || 70% || Earth's only natural satellite with a predictable orbit. Only 12 people (the {{w|Apollo astronauts}}) have actually visited it in person; the rest of us see it from about 250,000 miles away. Weather permitting, it's visible for about half of every day/night cycle (though may be more obvious when this occurs significantly in the night sky, for several reasons). It doesn't move quickly in the sky, by apparent movement, so little chasing is necessary. A 'supermoon' is when the Moon looks the largest and shiniest, occurring when a full moon appears closest to the Earth in its orbit, though Randall doesn't consider this phenomenon impressive (How To, chapter 21).
|-
| Unusual clouds || 40% || 55% || Clouds with unique forms or shapes, like {{w|Lenticular clouds}}.
|-
| Regular clouds || 35% || 40% || Aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets
|-
| {{w|Fog}} || 30% || 25% || Atmospheric condition where water droplets are very dense near the Earth's surface, resulting in a visible haze. Very few people will chase fog. Possibly a reference to a different {{w|Phileas_Fogg|Fogg}}, who was pursued around the world.
|-
| {{w|Rain}} || 35% || 20% || Water droplets falling from clouds. In most of the world, this is a pretty common occurrence. Unless the volume is extremely high, there's rarely much excitement due to them, but extreme cases may cause flooding that can be dangerous. The only people who typically chase them are weather reporters.
|-
| {{w|Gnats}} || 35% || 5% || Hardly anybody wants to track down gnats, as they are annoying to chase and difficult to see, but people could theoretically use advanced instruments to do so.
|-
| Aurora || 60% || 95% || Impressive light displays that result from excitement of the Earth's {{w|magnetosphere}} by charged particles in the {{w|solar wind}}. These are generally only visible in high latitudes, so most people do not live where they're visible. Their visibility can be tracked and forecasted via monitoring of solar wind output from the sun, and particularly intense episodes can be predicted (as well as locations for viewing) on the basis of the solar cycle and solar flare activity. The release of this comic coincided with the strongest geomagnetic storm warning forecasted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 20 years [https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/g4-watch-effect-may-11] ({{w|May 2024 solar storms}}).
|-
| Your favorite band's shows || 60% || 80% || Musical acts often plan tours, where they go around the country (or world) putting on shows every few days. Extreme fans with time (and money) on their hands may "chase" them by going to a series of their shows. Since the tour dates are planned and publicized well in advance, the shows are easy to find. However, depending on the popularity of your favorite band, this might be an expensive hobby, especially for optimal viewing. Also, tickets may be sold out.
|-
| Rare birds || 60% || 60% || Many birders will "twitch" to see rare birds, and this requires a fair amount of checking location, behavior, etc. Also, rare birds tend to be exciting to see.
|-
| Regular birds || 55% || 40% || These are easier to see than rare birds.{{citation needed}}
|-
| Regular balloons || 55% || 25% || Both children and adults accidentally let go of balloons, and may attempt to chase after them to retrieve them.
|-
| {{w|Tumbleweeds}} || 60% || 15% || A roughly spherical portion of certain plants that breaks off from its roots and rolls along the ground, propelled by winds. Most people don't find them very interesting to look at, and they're often used as a shorthand for nothing of interest happening. They don't usually travel very quickly, so it would be possible to chase them if you were so inclined (they may be of interest to plant biologists and ecologists).
|-
| {{w|Speed_limit_enforcement|Speed traps}} || 65% || 5% || A section of a road where police often wait for passing drivers who are exceeding the speed limit, so they can catch them and issue speeding tickets. Frequent drivers, especially truck drivers, have developed systems to warn each other of these locations ({{w|citizens band radios}} were once the most popular method, now this can be done using mobile phone using services like {{w|Waze}}).
|-
| {{w|Tornadoes}} || 85% || 95% || Wanting to witness a tornado is a typical objective of {{w|storm chaser}}s.
|-
| {{w|Whales}} || 85% || 90% || Widely distributed and diverse group of marine mammals. They are some of the largest animals to ever live, and often travel in groups, making them exciting and easy to see (when active at the surface).
|-
| {{w|Icebergs}} || 85% || 75% || Piece of freshwater ice broken off a glacier or ice shelf. These come in many sizes and shapes, making it interesting to see a new one.
|-
| {{w|Hot air balloons}} || 80% || 60% || An aircraft whose bag is filled with heated air. Hot air balloons are ridden for a variety of reasons (entertainment, sport, advertisement, etc.) and they usually involve a "chase crew" of people on the ground. To an uninvolved observer, catching an unexpected glimpse of an airborne balloon is a moderately exciting event; giving chase is not advised, however, as it may interfere with the chase crew's operation and may be perceived as a hostile act, thereby creating ''uncomfortable'' levels of excitement.
|-
| {{w|Radiosondes}} || 85% || 50% || Small instruments carried in weather balloons to gather and transmit atmospheric parameters. There's not much to see in them, but they're easy to track with a proper receiver.
|-
| Neighborhood possums || 85% || 35% || "Possum" is a common term for {{w|Virginia opossum}}s, the only species of opossum found in North America. In urban areas they will get into human garbage, and may carry diseases, so many may consider them pests and hunt them. A coordinated group of hunters can track them.
|-
| {{w|Ice cream trucks}} || 85% || 25% || Vans that sell ice cream. They're easy to chase because they often play music and/or ring a loud bell so customers will know they're coming, and make frequent stops to allow customers to make purchases. Young "chasers" also often scream when they hear the trucks coming, so others nearby (particularly parents or caregivers who are needed to provide the money) will be aware.
|-
| Other chasers || 90% || 10% || May result in an awkward encounter if met in person.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[An X Y axis graph]
:[Y axis label:]
:Exciting to see in person
:[X axis label:]
:Possible to chase in a convoy of vehicles coordinating over radio and using instruments and data to find optimal viewing locations?
:[X and Y axis values (from bottom left):]
:No
:Yes

:[Top left quarter:]
:The Grand Canyon
:Meteors
:Rainbow
:Comets
:Niagara Falls
:Sunsets
:The Moon
:Tourist attractions
:Unusual clouds

:[Top right quarter:]
:Aurora
:Tornadoes
:Whales
:Your favorite band's shows
:Icebergs
:Rare birds
:Hot air balloons

:[Bottom left quarter:]
:Tourist traps
:Regular clouds
:Sand traps
:Fog
:Rain
:The International Date Line
:Gnats

:[Bottom right quarter:]
:Regular birds
:Radiosondes
:Neighborhood possums
:Regular balloons
:Ice cream trucks
:Tumbleweeds
:Speed traps
:Other chasers

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Tornadoes]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Weather]]

2929: Good and Bad Ideas

2024-05-09T08:04:47Z

172.69.195.54: /* Table of the entries */

{{comic
| number = 2929
| date = May 6, 2024
| title = Good and Bad Ideas
| image = good_and_bad_ideas_2x.png
| imagesize = 595x522px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = While it seemed like a fun prank at the time, I realize my prank fire extinguishers full of leaded gasoline were a mistake.
}}

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

This is a scatter plot comparing how good an idea sounds to how good the idea is. For example, leaded gasoline sounded like a good idea due to its anti-knocking effects, but is a bad idea due to lead toxicity. Fake prank fire extinguishers both sound bad and ''are'' bad, as they can make a dangerous situation worse. Putting mold on infections sounds like a bad idea, but some molds, like ones containing penicillin, have helpful antibiotic effects.

The title text combines leaded gasoline and a fake prank fire extinguisher into something worse than either. The fire extinguisher is fake and releases flammable material onto the fire, and there is additional lead toxicity.

===Table of the entries===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Idea !! What it means !! How good it sounds !! How good it actually is !! Explanation
|-
|{{w|Leaded gasoline}}||Adding {{w|Tetraethyllead|tetraethyl lead}} as an antiknocking agent to allow for increased performance||++||---||Leaded gasoline was introduced in the early 1920s to allow higher pressures and temperatures in an engine without causing {{w|Engine_knocking|detonation (knocking)}}, allowing for increased fuel efficiency and engine performance; it also works to prevent engine valve wear. In essence, it artificially raises the {{w|octane rating}} of the fuel, reducing the need for fuel refinement, thus reducing waste and/or expense. Lead, however, is both toxic and bioaccumulative, meaning that lead released into the air over decades built up to harmful levels in people (as well as other animals) and almost certainly contributed to a host of health issues. Some scientists even hypothesise that {{w|Lead–crime hypothesis|crime levels are influenced by lead exposure}}. (It should be noted that this only "[sounded] like a good idea" due to deliberate campaigns to obscure the known dangers).
|-
|{{w|Bloodletting}}||Releasing "bad blood" from the veins||---||---||You need (most of) your blood. Losing [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542273/ more than 15%] of a person's total blood volume results in adverse effects. Bloodletting was performed as a medical procedure for at least 2000 years until the 19th century. The idea was to withdraw blood to balance the body's "humors". Despite this long history, the notion that bleeding someone is bad now seems like basic common sense, and it's now well-understood that blood-letting (outside of {{what if|98|certain rare and specific cases}}) does no good, causes significant harm and quite certainly causes many deaths.
|-
|{{w|Asbestos}}||Mineral which does not burn, tolerates extremely high temperatures and forms small fibers. These qualities make it excellent for insulation and fire protection||+++||---||Asbestos was used extensively in ships and buildings throughout most of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the microscopic fibers that make up asbestos greatly increase the risk of {{w|Asbestosis|lung disease}} and cancer when inhaled, causing its use to be banned in most countries.
|-
|Extension cords with prongs on both ends||allows easy connection between 2 female connectors||0 (neutral)||---||Prongs on both ends would make it easier to plug the extension cord in on either side. But once plugged into an outlet, the other end becomes a serious shock hazard, as seen in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L08LjkN1k70 this Backyard Scientist video]. Short circuits (both ends connected to outlets supplying power) would be much more likely, resulting in more sparks, fires and damage to wiring.
|-
|Stair kayaking||Riding down a flight of stairs in a {{w|kayak}}||--||---|| Stair kayaking is a stunt where a person positions a kayak at the top of a flight of stairs and then, using their paddle to push off, [https://youtu.be/46BjHAxgddU?t=154 rides the kayak down the stairs]. This poses significant easily foreseeable risks of injury or death, as well as being very bad for the kayak, which is designed to ride on {{w|Kayak|water}}, not stairs.{{Citation needed}}
|-
|Fake prank fire extinguishers||Intentionally placing empty or otherwise non-functional {{w|fire extinguisher|fire extinguishers}} as a {{w|practical joke}}.||---||---|| The idea of placing fake fire extinguishers as a prank, presumably so that a person who thinks they are grabbing a real fire extinguisher will instead find a decoy, sounds very dangerous and potentially life-threatening for many people, and it would be highly dangerous. In the United States, (and presumably most countries), this would also be a felony in most, if not all, jurisdictions. An example of a similar situation, although not intended as a prank, can be found [https://twitter.com/ThatSamWinkler/status/1657154071051239424 here].
The title text expands this idea by having the prank fire extinguishers filled with (leaded) gasoline. This is literally adding fuel to the fire.
|-
|Always saying what you think||...regardless of the feelings of others or other considerations||++||--||Openness and honesty are seen as positive character traits in people. However, taking it to the extreme of ''always'' telling people what you think, can lead to awkward, unpleasant or dangerous situations. It may harm your relationship with the other person if they don't like what you think, or they may reply without concern for ''your'' feelings or other considerations. Keeping negative thoughts to yourself or telling "white lies" can be considered a better alternative in some situations.
Unrestrictively saying what you think to somebody in power (a boss, soldier, dictator, drunk) can negatively impact your earning potential, health or freedom, even if you have a point. Or else, on the offchance that your (first) thoughts are less correct, [https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/17/remain-silent/ "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."]
|-
|Replying to spammers||Clicking on the "Reply" button from {{w|spam email}}s and writing (and sending) a reply (or worse, clicking on the links in these emails)||--||--||At best, you confirm your email address and identify yourself as someone likely to respond to such messages and so encourage the spammers to deluge you with more messages. At worst, the spammer may extract sensitive information about you, make you a victim of a scam or gain control of your computer.
|-
|{{w|Solar car}}s||Having {{w|Solar panel|solar panels}} on the car's surface (mostly hood and roof) for power generation||+++||-||Powering electric vehicles with solar panels seems like an excellent idea: it would provide power with no increased land use, and theoretically could allow a vehicle to operate indefinitely without being fueled or charged. However, such vehicles would require power storage (due to power requirements, weather conditions, shade from roadside features and nighttime driving), adding significant weight. Adding solar panels to a plug-in or hybrid vehicle would add cost, weight, manufacturing complexity and maintenance requirements. Solar panels on moving cars are less efficient than in stationary installations, where they can be aimed at the Sun, and subject to damage from both collisions and road debris; even without these problems, the size of automobiles relative to their power requirements would sharply limit the car's range (unless it was a normal electric vehicle with supplemental solar panels). Solar cars do exist (the {{w|World Solar Challenge}} is a competition for such cars), but as a practical form of transportation, the negatives likely outweigh the positives.
|-
|{{w|Heelys|Heelies}}||Heelys are shoes with an inline skate wheel built in to the sole, at the heel. ||+||-||Heelys allow the wearer (usually children) to shift between normal walking and rolling like being on skates. This sounds like fun but [https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Exercise/story?id=3242181&page=1 has been suggested] to be a potentially significant injury risk.
|-
|{{w|Prequel|Prequels}}||A work of fiction (often a movie) telling the "story before the story" of another work.||+++||-||More of a good story sounds great on the surface, and audiences who are invested in a set of characters and/or a setting often love the idea of finding out what led up to certain events. But there are several pitfalls. Spin-offs of a popular property are often low-quality cash grabs. Prequels, specifically, are constrained by the fact that they have to lead to the story that's already been released, which can lead to contrived storytelling. There's less room for suspense, since the future of the storyline has already been established. There's a tendency to invent or fill in detailed backstories, which can undermine character arcs and/or destroy the mystery and nuance of certain characters. And, since they tend only to be made where the original is already well-received, regression to the mean tends to mean they are more likely than not to fail to live up to expectations. Prequels can be good, but there are a lot of ways they can go wrong.
|-
|Transitions® lenses||A brand name for {{w|Photochromic_lens|photochromic lenses}} in glasses or contacts, which get darker (like sunglasses) in bright light.||+||-||Photochromic lenses are clear lenses that darken when exposed to UV light, then turn clear again when the UV is removed. The advantage is that wearers of glasses don't need to have separate (prescription) sunglasses or contacts. However, the process is relatively slow (about a minute) so not so useful when there is a quick succession of shade and bright light, as in a forest or when driving. If used in a car, the windscreen filters out UV light to some degree, which prevents the glasses from darkening as required. Finally, the process is temperature dependent, so in hot weather the glasses don't become as dark, and in cold weather they might stay dark for too long.
|-
|Cutting pizza in squares||Cutting (a presumably round) pizza in squares||-||-||Most people cut pizza into wedges and hold it by the crust. Cutting it into squares could allow for more pieces to be shared, if the resulting wedges would be too thin to be practical. However, pieces near the center will have no crust to hold it by, getting cheese and sauce all over your fingers. Cuts around the edge will probably leave smaller leftover scraps which are mostly crust. While hardly a disaster like the other items in its quadrant, square pizza pieces are just not very useful and rather inefficient. Cutting a rectangular pizza into squares might not suffer from the problems above, but, unless the pizza itself is square and cut only into four squares, some people will end up with a higher crust-to-topping ratio than others. Cutting a round pizza into squares is popular in Chicago and is sometimes called tavern-style or party-cut and some<nowiki>[</nowiki>''{{w|Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions|who?}}''<nowiki>]</nowiki> [https://www.bonappetit.com/story/real-chicago-pizza-tavern-style consider it the real Chicago style pizza] [https://destinationeatdrink.com/the-real-chicago-style-pizza-isnt-deep-dish/ rather than deep dish pizza].{{Dubious}}
|-
|{{w|Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)|Project Orion}}||Study by the U.S. government looking into nuclear pulse propulsion for spacecraft.||---||-||Using repeated nuclear explosions to generate motion sounds bad for both the spacecraft and everything else, especially with a ground launch, but there are ways to address a lot of the concerns, so it isn't as bad as it sounds. Project Orion's theorized specific impulse and thrust would also be far higher than anything chemical rockets can accomplish. The efficiency of Project Orion is extremely low, however, and the {{w|ablation}} issues are extremely difficult to overcome.

See also [[2423: Project Orion]].
|-
|{{w|Soup}}||Soup||0 (neutral)||0 (neutral)||Soup is probably one of the oldest foods created by prehistoric cooks. Many people enjoy it, though some consider many soups somewhat lacking as a meal on their own, or boring.
|-
|{{w|Washer-dryer|Combo washer dryers}}||A device that combines a washing machine and laundry dryer||+++||+||Better at space efficiency, but worse at each task than separate devices and unable to do both tasks in parallel (useful when you have more than one batch of laundry).
|-
|Cutting sandwiches diagonally||Cutting sandwiches made with rectangular sliced bread diagonally||+||+||[https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/math/a32690399/triangles-rectangles-best-way-cut-sandwich-math/ Generally] [https://www.npr.org/2009/11/28/120914097/rectangles-vs-triangles-the-great-sandwich-debate regarded] as the superior way to slice a sandwich, providing more aesthetically pleasing display of the contents, better support in the hand and fewer all-crust bites. Required in the assembly of a club sandwich,{{Actual citation needed}} where the diagonal components are stacked again.
|-
|{{w|Diverging diamond interchange}}s||Road junction where the two (sets of) lanes cross over to switch sides (so if you normally drive on the right, now you drive on the left), then switch back to normal after the junction||-||+||Highway engineers believe the shape improves safety and traffic flow through the interchange because switching to the other side facilitates merging to and from the other road in the junction. However, the shape appears to be insanity to an unfamiliar driver, so where they are rare, driver confusion may lead to increased accidents.
|-
|Toasting sandwiches||Making a sandwich first and then cooking it, as in a dedicated {{w|Pie_iron|sandwich toaster}}, a {{w|toaster oven|toaster oven}}, frying pan or under a grill.||++||++||The grilled cheese sandwich is a familiar form to most people, and many other sandwiches are improved by toasting as a final step. Others, such as the {{w|western sandwich|Western}} or {{w|club sandwich|club}} are prepared using toast. The {{w|peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich|Elvis}} is a specific case of a sandwich that normally wouldn't be toasted, but is improved by it - peanut butter, bacon, banana and jelly, with the assembly lightly fried.
|-
|{{w|Crumple zone}}s||Areas of a car that are designed to deform in a controlled way in case of a crash. ||--||++||Most people's intuition would be that stronger cars are safer, and intending parts of a vehicle to collapse ''by design'' might seem crazy. But engineered crumple zones are designed to gradually absorb the kinetic energy in a vehicle collision and protect the passenger cabin. The result is that the occupants experience less intense deceleration and ideally without the damage significantly compressing the shell around them. This significantly reduces the danger of injury or death from higher speed crashes.
|-
|{{w|Sliced bread}}||Bread, sliced by the baker before packaging for sale||+++||++||It's far more convenient for making sandwiches or toast, but unfortunately pre-sliced bread will go stale faster and some applications may be better off thicker or thinner than the slices provided. Sliced bread is often used as a comparator for how good something is, using the phrase 'the best thing since sliced bread'.
|-
|{{w|Pizza}}||Pizza - a toasted sandwich made on thin bread, so doesn't need slicing, usually cut diagonally||++||++||Pizza is a widely popular dish throughout much of the world, uncontroversial {{w|Anchovies_as_food|except}} {{w|Pineapple|certain}} [https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/nutty-choc-pizza-fresh-berries/2c0220a4-8463-45ff-b2ba-ac7e5012a006 toppings].
|-
|Eating citrus fruit while at sea||Having a supply of {{w|citrus fruit}} on long sea journeys, especially during the {{w|Age of Sail}} ||0 (neutral)||+++||For a long time, {{w|Scurvy|scurvy}} was a danger to sailors, who generally subsisted on a monotonous diet of shelf-stable foods with low vitamin content while on long voyages. Most citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C, which prevents scurvy. Eating orange or lemons doesn't seem like a significant activity one way or the other, but it's an easy way to prevent a disease that causes serious ill-health and possibly a painful death.
|-
|Putting mold on infections||Seemingly a reference to the ancient practice of pressing moldy bread against infected wounds||---||++||While this sounds like a good way to get a fungal infection, with the correct mold this is a primitive way to obtain an antibiotic. Certain fungi naturally produce antibiotic substances, and this is where humans discovered {{w|penicillin}}.
|-
|Wheels on luggage||Some luggage bags have small wheels inset on their frame and a carrying handle.||+++||+++||A relatively simple fitting for rigid or semi-rigid luggage that substantially eases its transport over long distances on flat surfaces such as travel terminals.
|-
|{{w|Heat pump}}s||A technology that moves heat energy from a cold area to a warm area, most familiar as the technology that keeps a refrigerator cold. It can be used to heat a home interior in winter or cool it in summer.||++||+++||Unlike traditional furnaces, heat pumps do not generate heat (beyond a small overhead). Instead, they move existing thermal energy from a coolable environment across to a warmable one. This allows a space to be heated with significantly less energy use than a furnace or resistance heater that generates heat directly from chemical or electrical energy. Because these units are usually operated by electricity, they can provide heating with renewable energy (potentially using {{w|thermal energy storage}} for load-shifting), reduce or eliminate the need for natural gas connections and prevent several risks that come with traditional furnaces (such a carbon monoxide leaks and fires). In addition, heat pumps can operate in the reverse direction as air conditioners, so a single unit can be designed to both heat and cool a building. It sounds like a good idea and works out better than expected in real life.
According to [https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/14/1068582/everything-you-need-to-know-about-heat-pumps/ MIT Technology review]:
<blockquote>Heat pumps today can reach 300% to 400% efficiency or even higher, meaning they’re putting out three to four times as much energy in the form of heat as they’re using in electricity. For a space heater, the theoretical maximum would be 100% efficiency, and the best models today reach around 95% efficiency.</blockquote>

See also [[2790: Heat Pump]].
|-
|{{w|Laser eye surgery}}||Surgical techniques using lasers for precision cutting in the eyeball.||-||+++||In the popular imagination, lasers are often thought of as something used for destroying their target. Firing them into people's eyes, then, does not sound like a great idea. However. this technology has substantially improved the eyesight of millions of people worldwide by allowing the treatment of eye problems otherwise only corrected by lenses or entirely untreatable. Randall has previously commented on laser eye surgery, amongst other ideas both good and bad, in [[1681: Laser Products]].
|-
|{{w|Fecal transplant}}s||Transfer of portions of the {{w|Gut microbiota|gut microbiome}} of a healthy person to the sterilized gut of an ill person.||---||+++||The gut microbiome is a collection of organisms that lives in our guts. It can influence our health. It is responsible for the last stages of digesting our food. It can also produce neurotransmitters that are carried by blood to our brain influencing our behavior. A healthy microbiome can be destroyed by bad eating habits, unhealthy lifestyles, infections or the use of antibiotics. Sometimes it may be beneficial to completely sterilize the gut and then take a sample of a healthy biome from another person. A sample is enough, as the organisms will multiply. As long as the patient eats correctly, the microbiome after transplant should develop correctly.

It sounds bad because we tend to think of our feces as something gross, to be discarded, and other people's bacteria as infectious. It is called fecal transplant as our feces contain about 50% of gut bacteria, but nowadays the sample usually takes the form of a coated pill that is applied rectally.
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:[Two axes with double arrows cross each other in the middle. At the end of each arrow, there are labels. Scattered over the chart are 28 entries. Below these entries are given for each of the four quadrants, plus three that are on the Y-axis. For each quadrant the entries are listed in reading order, top to bottom left to right.]

:[X axis from left to right:]
:Sounds like a good idea
:Sounds like a bad idea

:[Y axis from top to bottom:]
:Actually a bad idea
:Actually a good idea

:[Top left quadrant (sounds like a good idea, actually a bad idea):]
:Leaded gasoline
:Asbestos
:Always saying what you think
:Solar cars
:Heelies
:Prequels
:Transitions® lenses

:[Top middle (actually a bad idea):]
:Extension cords with prongs on both ends

:[Top right quadrant (sounds like a bad idea, actually a bad idea):]
:Bloodletting
:Fake prank fire extinguishers
:Stair kayaking
:Replying to spammers
:Cutting pizza in squares
:Project Orion

:[Center (neutral):]
:Soup

:[Bottom left quadrant (sounds like a good idea, actually a good idea):]
:Combo washer dryers
:Cutting sandwiches diagonally
:Toasting sandwiches
:Sliced bread
:Pizza
:Wheels on luggage
:Heat pumps

:[Bottom middle (actually a good idea):]
:Eating citrus fruit while at sea

:[Bottom right quadrant (sounds like a bad idea, actually a good idea):]
:Diverging diamond interchanges
:Crumple zones
:Putting mold on infections
:Laser eye surgery
:Fecal transplants

==Trivia==
*A much leaner version of this comic appeared in the first [[What If? (book) | "What If?" book]], chapter "Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #9".

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Food]]

Talk:2006: Customer Rewards

2024-05-01T18:42:50Z

172.69.195.54: Z1m, you keep forgetting this bit!

For the transcript's description, I wouldn't consider that hat to be a baseball cap. Baseball caps are generally rounded (like the head) and that one's flat on the top... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.52|108.162.216.52]] 15:47, 13 June 2018 (UTC)
:You're right, no guesses at the transcript. It's just simply a peaked cap. And the salesman isn't a ''Cueball with hat'', Black Hat isn't a ''Cueball with a black hat'' as well. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:08, 13 June 2018 (UTC)
: Also, [[1221]] clearly shows a baseball cap, and this hat does not match. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.215|108.162.246.215]] 02:26, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

In the comic image, the subtotal is $20.45, which probably refers to the future comic 2045.
--[[User:Fakefred|Fakefred]] ([[User talk:Fakefred|talk]]) 01:00, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

If the title text were ever implemented I'd use social media a lot more lol [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.154|108.162.216.154]] 01:12, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
: I'm not playing that many phone games and I still found several incentives giving in-game cash for posting to social media from the game. Sure, you can't convert that cash back to money ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 06:21, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
::I use Google Play Rewards, which is pretty similar to this premise; except they never tell you how much Google Play Store credit you'll earn for a given question until you've answered it! So far I've bought every app I like & have been spending the rest on games. By now, it mostly asks me the same questions in different order. I just got 23¢ for answering (yet again) that I've never been to a "Kelp's Water Slides" (is that even a real thing?); My Play Store credit is around $10 right now. Haven't paid for an app in years. Ironically, I use AdGuard to block ads & tracking tokens in apps & on the web, yet I have no qualms about telling Google almost anything they want to know about me, since virtually everything in my life runs through Google anyway. {{unsigned|ProphetZarquon}}

This is EXACTLY how I look at online contests, like more recent years' version of the McDonald's Monopoly contest. "Enter this code online to win!", not mentioning that in order to do so, you have to register some of this valuable personal information. Or make it easy by logging in with Facebook, and provide THAT info, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:21, 15 June 2018 (UTC)

If you're curious, it'd take 154 passengers to begin making money. Anyone got a plane? {{unsigned ip|162.158.62.125|03:18, 14 November 2022}}

2925: Earth Formation Site

2024-04-29T20:15:39Z

172.69.195.54: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2925
| date = April 26, 2024
| title = Earth Formation Site
| image = earth_formation_site_2x.png
| imagesize = 478x521px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's not far from the sign marking the exact latitude and longitude of the Earth's core.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TWO 4,450,002,024-YEAR-OLD PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES - Please this edit this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this historical tag too soon.}}

The historical marker that [[Cueball]] is reading amusingly claims to be where the {{w|Earth}} formed in a specific year 4.45 billion (4,450 million) years ago.

The aburdity of sign is threefold:
# The Earth did not form on its surface
# The precise year of the Earth's formation is not knowable
# Historical markers typically refer to events within the past several centuries

'''#1: The Earth did not form on its surface'''

First, the Earth formed at its center, not anywhere on its surface, so an “Earth formed here” sign on the surface is factually incorrect.

One may argue that technically the sign is ''above'' the right spot, just as every location on Earth is above the right spot. However, the sign refers to “this location,” not to a spot underground.

Alternately, perhaps it describes the point at which {{w|Theia (planet)|Theia}} made its first impact point (to form, from the pre-impact Earth, the composite body that we more recognise as the body that was the post-impact one), although this spot would have been ''vastly'' disturbed by the collision, and even somehow keeping tabs on its theoretical position by reference to its (relatively unaffected) antipode would be confounded by all the subsequent tectonic movement and volcanic refreshing/rearranging of almost the entire planetary crust over the next four thousand million years or so.

If an omniscient observer wanted to mark the spot in space where the Earth started forming, they would need an historical marker floating in space, not on the surface of the (moving) Earth. That’s due to the {{w|Sun#Motion|Sun's 225-million year long orbit around the center of the}} {{w|Milky Way galaxy}} and the movement of the galaxy itself through space relative to other objects.

'''#2: The precise year of the Earth's formation is not knowable'''

Secondly, specifying a single year of formation BCE (Before the Common Era) is an amusingly precise choice. It takes [https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/how-do-planets-form/ tens or hundreds of millions of years] for a planet to form. Picking a year would require some specific definition of when a gradually-coalescing mass of proto-planet dust and gas could be considered a planet, as well as the impossible ability to determine when that mass met the definition.

The topic of what precisely makes a planet — related to the 2006 redefinition of a planet and the subsequent demotion of Pluto from the ninth planet from to the sun to a dwarf planet — has been covered before in [[473: Still Raw]] and referenced in other XKCD comics.

There is some poetry in the idea that there was a precise year, some 4.45 billion years ago, that was the first true year, the first Earth orbit around the sun. By definition, the Earth is the same age as the number of Earth orbits that have ever taken place.

Note: The date shown for the formation of the Earth, 4.45 billion years ago, also differs from the commonly accepted date, [https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html 4.54 (±0.05) billion years]. The difference lies in the transposition of two digits, 5 and 4, potentially a mistake. Although it could also theoretically take into account of Earth's years not necessarily being the same as currently seen, e.g. the mean orbit being slightly larger, originally, so early years (i.e. complete solar orbits) in the ~4.5 billion 'year' cycle actually passed slower than the current standard measure of celestial year we currently reference to indicate the effective time that has passed since then.

'''#3: Historical markers typically refer to events within the past several centuries'''

This comic satirizes US historical markers by channeling their standard tone, structure, and inaccuracies. They are placed at precise locations where historical, religious, and even mythological events are believed to have happened — such as where battles have been fought, or where famous people resided or accomplished something. Typically these signs refer to more recent events.

'''The title text'''

The title text refers to the 'exact latitude and longitude of the Earth's core,’ Of course, since the lat-long geographic coordinate system is used for locating places on the ''surface'' on the Earth, the center of the Earth does not have latitude and longitude.

Also, a historical marker referring to the earth’s core could be placed anywhere, and its specific location in the real world wouldn’t mean anything; just as before, every spot on Earth is above the right spot.

Examples of similar historical marker signs:
* {{w|File:Equator sign kenya.jpg|Kenya Equator latitude}}
* {{w|File:Arctic Circle sign.jpg|Arctic Circle latitude}}
* {{w|File:Prime meridian.jpg|Prime Meridian longitude}}
* {{w|File:2022-06-06 18 39 21 Sign reading "Highest Point on Interstate 80 East of the Mississippi River" along eastbound Interstate 80 (Keystone Shortway) just east of Exit 111 in Pine Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.jpg|Highest Point}}
* {{w|File:World's lowest point (1971).jpg|Lowest Point}}

'''Analysis'''

The comic and its title text are actually inverse jokes of each other: The historical marker in the comic assigns an attribute of the Earth’s '''center''' (the site of formation) to a spot on its '''surface''', while the title text assigns an attribute of '''surface''' locations (latitude and longitude) to the Earth’s '''center'''.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Generated by EARTH — Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball is standing in front of a sign in a field of grass. Rocks and plants are scattered across the ground. The sign reads:]
:HISTORICAL MARKER
:<big>EARTH</big>
:FORMATION SITE
:--- 4,450,000,000 BCE ---
:At this location in the year 4,450,000,000 BCE, a cloud of dust and gas gravitationally collapsed to form the Earth.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]

Talk:36: Scientists

2024-04-25T03:01:57Z

172.69.195.54:

If Cueball's a scientist, the statement is perfectly valid. Even more so if his scientist friends are helping him, and they can't find his shoes either. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:07, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

I found the fact that the last sentence was present in the explanation funnier than the comic itself. -- [[Special:Contributions/131.175.28.142|131.175.28.142]] 22:13, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Its worth pointing out the comic was drawn in 2006 -- 'pretty gay' was not nearly as politically incorrect then as it is now. Wow, this is an old comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.125|162.158.255.125]] 14:33, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

Political incorrectness is a good thing. I'd hope he'd do this one again today. — [[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 01:07, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
:Political incorrectness is a good thing? wow. While I also find overly political correctness in many cases over the top, unneccesary and annoying, this is a clear example where political correctness helps to battle discrimination. By using the term "gay" to describe one stereotype associated with homosexuality, this stereotype is further enforced, and people are treated according to it. I do not know a lot about you, but your username sounds like an adjective, so imagine, I started a trend describing people who are e.g. pedophile as "kazvorpal", and this trend catches on. Soon you would find yourself excluded from events, jobs, etc. because people would assume you are a pedophile. Wouldn't you prefer that to not happen? that is one example why political correctness is a good thing. Sorry for the trollfeeding. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 06:04, 24 April 2019 (UTC)
::No, you are suffering from the ravages of inductive reasoning. Political correctness includes a pretense that the speaker is battling discrimination, but it's just virtue signalling. They are, in fact, ''encouraging'' discrimination, and heaping advocacy of censorship and repression on top of it. Using "gay" as a mock pejorative does nothing to harm actual homosexuals, and in fact robs the term of its emotional power, as humor often does. Daniel Tosh incessantly making faux-bigoted comments uses humor to weaken racism, sexism, et cetera. And the end does not justify the means: Repressing the expression of others is evil, even when you're trying to use doing so to impress others about how virtuous you are. — [[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 15:43, 29 October 2019 (UTC)
::: That opinion is what scientists call "pretty straight white man". --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.163|141.101.99.163]] 22:18, 2 March 2021 (UTC)
:::: Ad hominem {{unsigned|108.162.237.191}}
::::: Ad heteronym. Seriously though, stop being so ''straight'' --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.63|162.158.134.63]] 21:12, 4 May 2022 (UTC)

as someone who scientists are calling "pretty gay" (bisexual) and "retarded" (autistic), I find this comic humorous. -- [[User:Arthur101|Arthur101]] ([[User talk:Arthur101|talk]]) 00:33, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
:- also gay and autistic here. I agree this comic is funny, but that doesn't make it at all okay to use gay as an insult, or to use the r-slur at all, and I hope that basic level of "political correctness" becomes more common and respected (user: human physics padawan) {{unsigned ip|172.70.46.136|09:17, 6 February 2024}}
::- I agree. [[User:Arthur101|Arthur101]] ([[User talk:Arthur101|talk]]) 03:51, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Interesting edit I just felt I had to make, in response to another. The sentence:
However, since their being scientists is irrelevant to the legitimacy of their opinions about Randall's shoe problems, presenting their teasing as an expert opinion is humorously misleading; a similar joke is at play in [[1206: Einstein]].
...a change of "their being" was changed to "there being", assuming a homophonic error.
 However, technically (at least idiomatically) all three "their/there/they're" ''could'' be correct.
*"their being scientists" - 'the state of being scientists that they possess' works well as a concept,
*"there being scientists" - 'that scientists exist in that situation' also does, somewhat
*"they're being scientists" - 'it is scientists that they be' works well ('that they are' in alternate grammatical dialect, but off the 'being' form in both cases, rather than the secondary contracted 'are')
Anyway, I changed it onwards to "them being", i.e. 'those people (...that we can describe as scientists)'. In leiu of ''totally'' rewording to remove this (rather interesting) issue of grammar. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.147|172.70.85.147]] 11:33, 26 November 2023 (UTC)
In what scientists are calling ‘pretty gay’ (asexual), me. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.140|172.68.58.140]] 14:01, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

hey you guys are a bunch of fucking retards, but mostly just the people who don't have their username present... it's okay, i recognize the IP being from sissy la la land specifically in the faggotland provence... why care about real world issues when you could cry over mean internet words. also retarded people are funny, what you gonna do about it, pussies? lolololol (i'm retarded btw) [[User:Lizzy|Lizzy]] ([[User talk:Lizzy|talk]]) 01:24, 25 April 2024 (UTC)
:I don't think your opinion is valid (or even serious), but... mostly... I think you shouldn't have top-posted. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.54|172.69.195.54]] 03:01, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

2922: Pub Trivia

2024-04-22T08:27:13Z

172.69.195.54: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2922
| date = April 19, 2024
| title = Pub Trivia
| image = pub_trivia_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x666px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Bonus question: Where is London located? (a) The British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) The UK (d) Europe (or 'the EU') (e) Greater London
}}

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

Many pubs have {{w|pub trivia|trivia nights}}, where patrons form teams and compete to answer questions about a range of topics. The typical goal for trivia games is that they be challenging, yet possible, and so questions with answers that are too difficult or too easy generally make for a poor game. In addition, it's usually preferable that questions are clearly worded with a single, objective answer, so as to avoid disputes about which answers are correct.

Cueball has apparently been hired by one bar to infiltrate ''other'' bars' quiz nights and ask particularly bad questions. The implication is that this will make the games unpleasant, in the hopes that people will leave, and possibly go to the bar that hired Cueball.

Cueball uses a variety of strategies to write bad questions, including questions that are trivial (where the answer is painfully obvious), unanswerable (either because there is no answer or because the answer is unknown), ambiguously worded or arguable.

Many of his questions could be altered slightly to make them more reasonable for such a game, but that would defeat Cueball's purpose.

It is possible the intention of this pub quiz is to identify the issues with each question as is done here, accepting these as the answers. As Cueball was hired by a rival pub, they could then take these corrections back to that rival place.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Question !! Problem with the Question !! Explanation !! More Reasonable Alternative(s)
|-
|1. Which member of {{w|BTS}} has a birthday this year?||Multiple correct answers||All people have birthdays every year{{Citation needed}} (other than pedantic exceptions due to calendar issues or timezone alterations, or someone dying before their birthday, or being born on a leap day, none of which apply in this case). Therefore, all seven members of BTS have birthdays this year.||Which member of BTS has a birthday today/this week/this month? Which member of BTS turns [a specific age] this year?
|-
|2. How many sides does a {{w|platonic solid}} have?||Multiple answers, ambiguous language||There are five {{w|Platonic solids}}, with 4, 6, 8, 12 or 20 faces (colloquially called sides) in {{w|Euclid|Euclidean}} {{w|Euclidean geometry|3-space}}. Using the {{w|Euler Characteristic}} Polyhedron Formula the solids have, respectively, 6, 12, 12, 30 and 30 edges (also occasionally called sides colloquially). A more devious quizmaster might actually include this as a trick question with the correct answer being 'zero', since strictly speaking solids do not have 'sides'.||How many Platonic solids are there? What is the highest number of faces on a Platonic solid? How many faces does a [specific platonic solid] have? How many faces (or edges, or vertices) do ''all'' the platonic solids have (i.e., added together)? What is the number of vertices, subtract the number of edges, plus the number of faces equal to for a platonic solid (i.e. The Euler Characteristic)?
|-
|3. What is the smallest lake in the world?||Arguable, Potentially Unknowable||While the largest lakes are relatively straightforward to categorize, smaller bodies of water range in size down to individual puddles. There is no clear, definitional line at which a body goes from being a lake to a pond, for example. In addition, the size of small lakes will fluctuate due to variability in precipitation, and other weather effects, and some lakes only exist for brief periods (intermittent lakes). Hence, which small bodies of water are "lakes" and which is the smallest can't be clearly answered, without specifying a whole list of parameters and standards.

This question may be a reference to the Tom Scott video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEGzvZ85dgs What counts as the world's shortest river?]
||What lake has the largest surface area in the world? What is the world's deepest lake? What lake is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's smallest? (Benxi Lake in China).
|-
|4. Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks, {{w|Jaws (movie)|Jaws (1975)}} or {{w|Lincoln (movie)|Lincoln (2012)}}?||Trivial||''Jaws'' is a famous movie about a killer shark, and features at least five fatal shark attacks. Lincoln is a movie about the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, containing zero shark attacks.{{Citation needed}} Anyone with even a passing familiarity with American popular culture should be able to get this one right, and someone with no knowledge could likely guess the answer from the titles alone. This might be mistaken for a silly trick question, as ''Lincoln'' is a much less famous movie.||How many times is a shark seen on screen in "Jaws"? Which film won more {{w|Academy Awards}}? How many fatal shark attacks occur in "Jaws"? Which movie in the "Jaws" franchise has the most shark attacks?
|-
|5. How many planets were there originally?||Ambiguous||The question doesn't specify a time frame or culture, which is necessary to understand both the word 'Planet' and the word 'originally'. It could be referring to the {{w|classical planets|original meaning of the word planet}}, which in antiquity referred to the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (total of 7 planets). It could be referring to the planets originally known to the quiz master, which (assuming Cueball is between 18 and 96 years old) would be after the reclassification of Ceres, Pallas, Vesta and Juno to asteroids, and after the discovery of Pluto, but prior to the reclassification of Pluto to dwarf planet (total of 9 planets). It could conceivably be referring to the first official definition of planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, which would be Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (total of 8 planets). It could be referring to the process of planetary formation, in which case another layer of ambiguity is added, as it could be referring to the number of protoplanetary bodies in the {{w|protoplanetary disk}} (which is unknown since some of them were destroyed like {{w|Theia (planet)|Theia}}), or the number of planets that accreted from the disk before some were likely ejected (which is also unknown), or how many planets existed when the sun or the universe was formed (which is 0). It also doesn't specify that it's referring to planets in our solar system alone (in the galaxy there are almost certainly trillions of planets). Additionally, it asks how many "were there", as opposed to how many planets "were known" (the number which we know of being far smaller than the true number of planets in the universe). ||How many planets were known to Ancient Greece? How many planets were known to science prior to the invention of the telescope? How many planets were recognized in our Solar System at the end of the 20th century?
|-
|6. What {{w|NFL}} player has scored the most points outside of a game?||Ambiguous, Unknowable||The term "scored the most points" generally only applies within the context of a game, making it very unclear what kind of "points" the question is referring to. Does it mean points in non-NFL games? Points in games other than football? Points outside the context of any game at all (such as 'making a point' in conversation)? Even if this were clarified, points scored in official games in professional sports leagues are meticulously recorded and published, points scored in any other context are not, so the question is likely impossible to answer. Arguably, Brian Jordan would be an answer, with 121 Minor League and 755 MLB runs scored (points).||Which NFL player scored the most points in a game/season/career?
|-
|7. The {{w|Wright brothers}} built the first airplane. Who built the last one?||Unknowable||Orville and Wilbur Wright are widely credited with designing and building the first airplane (in the sense that they invented wingflaps, and discounting everybody flying before them without wingflaps). In modern times, design and construction of airplanes has become a huge, international industry, with many airplanes of widely varying sizings being built each year. Since airplanes are built continuously, which one was made most recently depends on when the question is asked (and would be very difficult for the average person to know -- and not trivial for even a member of the aerospace industry to know). If it's asking about the last airplane ''ever'', that's impossible to know, since that plane hasn't been built yet (and hopefully won't for a very long time).||Who built the first airplane '''after''' the Wright brothers? When was the final Wright Model B aircraft built?
|-
|8. Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?||Unknown, Possibly unknowable||This is a famous, centuries-old {{w|open question}} in math known as {{w|Goldbach's conjecture}}. Mathematicians widely believe that it is true, and it has held true for every number checked up to 4 ⋅ 1018, but since it's impossible to check every number, we can't assume it's universally true. No mathematical proof of its veracity exists at this point. Since it is {{w|Gödel's incompleteness theorems|known}} that something can be true but impossible to prove (and, being true, impossible to disprove), this may be the situation forever.||According to which mathematical conjecture is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?
|-
|9. Not counting {{w|Canberra}}, what city is the capital of {{w|Australia}}?||No answer exists||Australia has only one capital (unlike some countries, which divide the legislative and administrative capitals, for example), and that capital is Canberra. Hence, by definition, there is no national capital "not counting Canberra". Though each constituent state also has its state capital (inclusive of Canberra, which is, by population, almost the entirety of its {{w|Australian Capital Territory|own state territory}}), this would still leave us with an ambiguous choice. Before 1927, the answer could be Melbourne, as that was where the Parliament sat at that time. This may be a joke about how other cities, such as Melbourne and Sydney, are often mistaken for the capital of Australia due to Canberra's comparatively small population (roughly 500,000 in the greater metropolitan area, compared to Melbourne and Sydney's roughly 5,000,000 each). It also alludes to the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne as each claims to be the true capital. ||What city is the capital of Australia? What is currently the largest city in Australia? What is the smallest state capital in Australia? Not counting Canberra, what city was the most recently founded state capital of Australia? What city was the capital city before Canberra?
|-
|10. Who played the drums?||Trivial, yet unknowable without context||As worded, the question could be answered with anyone who's ever played the drums, in any context, whether professional or not, in all of history. This would include a huge number of people, most of whom would not be well-known. Most people would be able to offer a technically correct answer, and almost none of them would be interesting. Or maybe the host is wondering who it was that played drums that night, as part of the bar's live music.||Who played the drums for some specific band/album/track/concert/tour/time/place?
|-
|(Title text) Where is {{w|London}} located? (a) the {{w|British Isles}} (b) {{w|Great Britain and Northern Ireland}} (c) the {{w|United Kingdom|UK}} (d) {{w|Europe}} (or 'the {{w|European Union|EU}}') (e) {{w|Greater London}}||Multiple answers||All choices are technically correct as they are various geographical areas that include the city of London, England. Also note that the City of London is different from the city ''named'' London, as the latter includes a large region around the former, hence (e) as an answer. Answer (d) is both correct and incorrect, as it conflates a geographic region, Europe, and a political body, the European Union. The United Kingdom (and therefore London) {{w|Brexit|left the EU}} in 2020, but is still geographically included in Europe. In addition, 'the UK' is short for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so answers (b) and (c) may be considered to refer to the same thing. Technically though, Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles, and the UK includes many other (though not all) surrounding islands not mentioned in its full official name. Nonetheless, 'Great Britain' is often used as synechdoche for all of the UK except Northern Ireland, or for the UK as a whole. This often confusing overlapping map of definitions and nomenclatures provides fertile ground for tricky quiz questions. This also does not get into cities named London outside of the UK, so for example "Ontario" or "Canada" could also be possible answers if the test designer were truly evil, thus making none of the answers correct. ||What is the capital of the United Kingdom? (answer: London) Where is London, England '''not''' located? (a) the British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) the UK (d) Europe (e) the EU (answer: (e))
|}

==Transcript==
:[The top half of Cueball is shown beneath the list of questions he is reading aloud. He is holding a wireless microphone in his right hand and a pencil and notebook in his left, reading from the notebook and speaking into the microphone. The list is shown on the notebook as well, but just as unreadable lines.]:
:Cueball: Welcome to pub trivia! Round one is 10 questions:
:# Which member of BTS has a birthday this year?
:# How many sides does a platonic solid have?
:# What is the smallest lake in the world?
:# Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks - ''Jaws'' (1975) or ''Lincoln'' (2012)?
:# How many planets were there originally?
:# What NFL player has scored the most points outside of a game?
:# The Wright brothers built the first airplane. Who built the last one?
:# Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?
:# Not counting Canberra, what city is the capital of Australia?
:# Who played the drums?

:[Caption below the panel]:
:A local pub trivia place hired me to run bad quizzes at competing bars.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Sharks]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:American football]]

Talk:2922: Pub Trivia

2024-04-21T15:01:16Z

172.69.195.54: The phrase "continental Europe" is also used, and might be implied by a British person saying "I travelled around Europe last year".

I expect that the BTS question is a reference to the traditional Korean system of counting a person's age in units of Sal which started at 1 and incremented on the first day of the year. Since this system was abandoned on official documents in 2023, but is still in use in some contexts, the question of whether every member of BTS had a "birthday" on the first day of the year is ambiguous. [[User:Philhower|Philhower]] ([[User talk:Philhower|talk]]) 14:13, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

question 5, planets exist outside the solar system, adding to the ambiguity. [[User:Philhower|Philhower]] ([[User talk:Philhower|talk]]) 14:15, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
:One of the requirements in the definition of a planet is that it orbits the Sun, so no there are no planets outside the Solar system. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 17:50, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

::{{w|NASA}} disagrees. [https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/ Exoplanet Archive] shows 5612 confirmed planets. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 20:55, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
::: The IAU is the body that defines such things - and they do say that planets have to orbit the Sun...things that orbit other stars are properly called "exo-planets". But still - do we include dwarf planets? Rogue planets? It's definitely a crazy-vague question. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.219|172.70.211.219]] 21:05, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
:::: the IAU is one body that claims the authority to define such things, but their authority is not recognized by any of the things they are claiming the right to name. (Except for a very small part of earth, mostly made of humans) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.58.203|172.69.58.203]] 00:10, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
::::That seems ridiculous, "If it isn't one of ours it don't count"? That'd be like saying "They're only 'cars' if they use North American roads, in other countries using THEIR roads you have to call them exo-cars!". LOL! And every future/space-based fiction calls them planets, just makes more sense not to be so arbitrarily exclusionary. Ours isn't the only sun, we shouldn't pretend it has some aspect that makes it count more than others - outside of that it's the one with us. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:09, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
::::: Correction, the IAU definition explicitly states that it is only about planets within the solar system and has no comment about exoplanets one way or the other. Presumably, to leave some flexibility on all the weird edge cases that are bound to come up with exoplanets. https://www.iau.org/static/resolutions/Resolution_GA26-5-6.pdf [[Special:Contributions/172.68.195.213|172.68.195.213]] 07:55, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

: I think the correct answer is 0: before the solar system formed there were no planets. So, originally, there would have been none. If exo-planets count, going back to the beginning of time gives the same answer: when the universe came into existence during the big bang there were no stars, let alone planets orbiting them. Even religion agrees: in the beginning God created the earth and the heavens, but the sun came later, so technically earth was not a planet since it didn't orbit anything.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.49|162.158.62.49]] 22:23, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

As for question 9, please see the note about the history of Austrailia's capitals at: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_national_capitals#Oceania]]. and the page regarding countries with multiple capitals [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_multiple_capitals]] [[User:Philhower|Philhower]] ([[User talk:Philhower|talk]]) 14:24, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
: See Also [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_capital_cities List of Australian capital cities] - As an Australian, I believe many would also consider the major city in their state/territory to be a capital city, although not the capital of Australia.

About the alt text, London is certainly in Europe. The question itself is malformed because "Europe (or 'the EU')" is not self-consistent: there is a lot of European countries that are not part of the EU. [[User:RedGolpe|RedGolpe]] ([[User talk:RedGolpe|talk]]) 14:32, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
:The "Greater London" answer is also tricksy, as the "ceremonial county" of GL {{w|London boroughs|may not include}} the additional area of the City Of London (though it does include the City Of Westminster, which is sometimes the trick answer to certain trick questions that a quizmaster might attempt to pull). The ''administrative'' Greater London is the ceremonial one ''plus'' CoL, however... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.19|172.70.162.19]] 15:04, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
::I would argue London is not in Europe because there is no clear definition for Europe as a geographic area, it really doesn't have an eastern border that is not arbitrary, so the only clearly defined thing Europe can refer to is the EU. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 17:50, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
:::London, France is both in Europe and the EU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London,_France [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.49|172.70.163.49]] 18:00, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
:::While the eastern border of Europe is not clearly defined I am not aware that there is any definition of (geographic) Europe that excludes the islands (and subsequently London) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.135|162.158.202.135]] 21:24, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
::::There's "mainland Europe", excluding islands. Or at least any of several possibly island archipeligos and/or island nationstates. e.g. Mont-Saint-Michel might not be (exluded, that is, due to being French and having a (tide-dependant) ground access), Jersey would be (British Crown Territory island), Malta probably (island state), Sicily would depend on your thinking (it being Italian, and much larger than the strait that makes it an island offshoot). Most of Scandinavia might be interestingly included (with Denmark) or excluded (with Iceland), according to context. Even Gibraltar might or might not be, depending upon upon the thinking (or lack of it) behind the use of the term. (But, fiddling around the edges aside, (the English) London is not in "mainland Europe" and hasn't been for maybe a full 10kY before it became "London" in any useful sense.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.49|172.70.163.49]] 23:44, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

::::: The phrase "continental Europe" is also used, and might be implied by a British person saying "I travelled around Europe last year". [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.54|172.69.195.54]] 15:01, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benxi Benxi Lake] is actually considered to be the smallest lake in the world. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.135.205|172.70.135.205]]
:{{cn}}[[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.176|172.70.86.176]] 14:40, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

I never realized how challenging it is to edit pages when they've just been posted. Makes me long for something like Google docs.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.3.43|172.68.3.43]] 14:39, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

People, who are born on 29th February don't have a birthday in years which are not leap years. However, 2024, when this comic was published is a leap year. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.95.9|162.158.95.9]] 14:40, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

"5. How many planets were there originally?" This could also refer even back to the start of the universe, when there were (likely) just 0 planets. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.101|162.158.86.101]] 14:43, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

I anticiated a lot of Edit Conflicts, but not actually quite so many as to not to be able to resolve my edits with everyone else's. This is the bare-bones that I was putting in (until finding multiple attempts tried to be added consecutively...
{{cot}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Question !! Problem !! Possible answer(s)
|-
| Which member of BTS has a birthday this year?
| Every living person has a birthday this year (being a leap-year, this includes those born on 29/Feb).
|
|-
| How many sides does a platonic solid have?
| There are five (or [[2781: The Six Platonic Solids|six]]) platonic solids, each with a different number of sides.
| 4, 6, 8, 12 or 20
|-
| What is the smallest lake in the world?
| The distinction between a small lake and a pond, pool or puddle (for example) is difficult to define.
|
|-
| Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks? Jaws (1875) or Lincoln (2012)
| Not a problem, as Lincoln has very few shark attacks.{{Citation needed}} The problem is that barely anyone will ''not'' be able to correctly answer this.
|
|-
| How many planets were there originally?
| Contextually vague. At what time and within what volume of space, and what is the scope of 'planet' defined here?
|
|-
| What NFL player has scored the most points outside of a game?
| Outside of (NFL) games, individuals may accumulate points in any number of ways (e.g. Scrabble)
|
|-
| The Wright brothers built the first airplane. Who built the last one?
| Until no further planes are built, individuals/teams/companies continue to build (to completion) ever more examples, changing the answer possibly moment to moment.
|
|-
| Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?
| This is a {{w|Goldbach's conjecture|currently unanswered question}}.
|
|-
| Not counting Canberra, what city is the capital of Australia?
| Canberra is ''the'' capital of Australia, a fairly well known 'obscure' fact. Each Australian territory also has their own state capital, so there is not one other ''single'' example.
|
|-
| Who played the drums?
| Lack of context. With which group? For which song? For which (re-)recording? At which event?
|
|-
| Where is London located? (a) The British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) The UK (d) Europe (or 'the EU') (e) Greater London
| Almost all of these are correct (though London is geographically in Europe but no longer in the EU).
|}

This is apparently deliberate (at least on behalf of the organisers), perhaps to upset or otherwise impede groups of overconfident quizzers who would otherwise dominate any genuinely good quiz.
{{cob}}
...make use of it however you wish, anybody who has the time not to keep chasing all the simultaneous edits. (The above is a bit behind 'perfection', and lacks many of the integrations, wikilinks and adjustments I had made. I backspaced out of the edit I had finally reached, before remembering to take a full copy into my paste-buffer!) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.115|172.70.90.115]] 14:53, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

I thought the answer to #2 could be 1, because as 3D solids they only have one surface. I would guess the player with the most points outside of a game is the one who's played idlers (like Cookie Clicker) the longest — though I suppose those could be considered "inside of a game" as well. Also, I played the drums. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.143|172.70.254.143]] 15:33, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
:The answer to #2 is '2 - the in-side and the out-side'.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.242|172.69.43.242]] 15:46, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

Considering the platonic solids explanation lists all the correct answers, could someone include a list of all the members of BTS and their respective birthdays? Bing copilot suggests the following:

1. **Jin (Kim Seok-jin)**:
- Birthday: **December 4, 1992**

2. **Suga (Min Yoon-gi)**:
- Birthday: **March 9, 1993**

3. **J-Hope (Jung Hoseok)**:
- Birthday: **February 18, 1994**

4. **RM (Kim Nam-joon)**:
- Birthday: **September 12, 1994**

5. **Jimin (Park Ji-min)**:
- Birthday: **October 13, 1995**

6. **V (Kim Tae-Hyung)**:
- V's birthday is **December 30**, but the year is not mentioned in the provided information.

7. **Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook)**:
- Jungkook's birthday is **September 1**, but the year is not mentioned in the provided information.
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.19|172.70.162.19]] 15:48, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

: I'm not opposed to adding BTS birthdays, but I think it should be done by someone more knowledgeable about the band than me. Birthdays can be a surprisingly nuanced subject.[[User:Comatoran|Comatoran]] ([[User talk:Comatoran|talk]]) 15:59, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
:Wikipedia says {{w|V_(singer)|'95}} and {{w|Jungkook|'97}} respectively[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.37|172.70.162.37]] 16:04, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

London is both a City (London) and a City within a City (The City of London) and an Area (Greater London)
There are also many more places named London than the one that is the Capital of the UK .. Serbia, France, Canada (Which is larger and the one in the UK), 10 in the USA, and one on Kiribati 17:56, 19 April 2024 (UTC)
:Are you saying London, Ontario, Canada is BIGGER than the more famous London, England??? That's a country capital! Is that seriously true? I'm Canadian, I don't know London, ON as being THAT big... [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[7User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:52, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
::It's very unlikely to be larger in population terms than the (common!) wider definition of the main UK London, as that would make it larger than any other city in Canada by a large margin. In terms of area, London ON is very likely to be larger than the City of London (which is surprisingly small). More widely, the definition of what actually is a "city" is more complex than it appears to be at first glance; administrative areas (what official statistics are collected for) are often quite different from where the bulk of people are. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.25|162.158.74.25]] 07:20, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
:::Some wikipedia figures, for reference:
:::*{{w|London, Ontario}} = 168.76 sq mi, Population 422,324
:::*{{w|City of London}}, subset of Capital of UK = 1.12 sq mi, Population 8,618
:::*{{w|London}}, administrative/etc capital of UK = 606.96 sq mi, Population 8,799,800
:::*{{w|London, Belgrade}} = a 'neighbourhood' (<1 sq mi?), Population unknown
:::*{{w|London, France}} = 'a small agricultural village'
:::*...
:::*{{w|List of minor planets: 8001–9000#837|8837 London}} = 1.5 mi diameter (~28s q mi, ~14 cu mi?), Population... some of the {{w|Clangers}}?
:::I skipped a few of the others (e.g. the various US ones: cities, townships, communities)... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.230.46|162.158.230.46]] 18:10, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

I'm surprised there were no phishing-type questions (i.e. "what are the last four digits of your social security number", "what are the three numbers on the back of your debit card", etc).22:33, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

The only correct answer(s) to "who played the drums" would be "the drummer", or "twelve drummers", but I would accept Phil Collins, Alex Van Halen, or Ringo Starr for half a point each [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.100|108.162.241.100]] 02:40, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

I asked my Mom these questions & she said the answer to #7 so flatly: ''Boeing ''
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 02:44, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

On the Capital of Australia: Melbourne hosted parliament before Canberra was built, and Jervis Bay was part of the ACT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jervis_Bay_Territory

Are there people outside of the USA that are surprised to learn that Washington D.C. is the capital of the USA, rather than New York, Los Angeles, Chicago etc. due to its relatively small population? ("only" ~670000 in 2024) [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 06:50, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

I came here all prepared to say that the Title Text should have Ontario, Canada as a (likewise correct) answer, but I see somebody already put that into the table, LOL! I feel like the "More Reasonable" version of the planet question should NOT mention Pluto, it should be the question IMPLIED in the comic whose answer is 9 (such as "How many planets were originally in our Solar System", but without the ambiguity of "originally". Basically a question whose answer is 9, pushing people to include Pluto, while allowing people the mistake of saying the current answer of 8, but mentioning Pluto would ruin that/the question). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:52, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

There could also be a person Named "London" who is located somewhere, perhaps in the same bar (or not) -- [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.71|172.70.46.71]] 12:13, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_%28name%29 [[Special:Contributions/172.70.42.31|172.70.42.31]] 16:27, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

I thought I knew the minimum size of a lake by definition, at least in the US, but I just found different authorities asserting 1, 10, and 20 acres as the distinction between a lake and a pond. Two non-metric distinctions are that a lake has an aphotic (dark) zone, or a lake is fed and drained by a river, but they don't help here. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.43.53|172.70.43.53]] 16:22, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

For the love of god can we stop saying that Pluto was "demoted" to a dwarf planet? It didn't have its category changed, it had its category defined (for the first time!). It was a founding member of a newly named category. And it's not like planets are better than dwarf planets, they're just different. (I'm going to die on this hill, ain't I?)
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.16|172.68.34.16]] 01:35, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

For the planet question there's also Theia, which is theorized to have been a planet prior to smashing into proto Earth and forming the moon and modern larger Earth. So there used to be at least nine planets by the current definition in our solar system.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.20|162.158.155.20]] 03:50, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

For question #8, it's not that mathematicians were idling around. A lot of partial results were made, see Wiki. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.33|172.71.160.33]] 08:22, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1274: Open Letter

2024-04-16T13:22:43Z

172.69.195.54:

If you believe in a shadow government, it seems likely that you would actually see a goverment shutdown as part of the conspiracy. {{unsigned ip|108.13.108.44}}

:Is this another shadow fact? http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1272 --[[User:MauroVan|MauroVan]] ([[User talk:MauroVan|talk]]) 09:33, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

:Actually, theoretically speaking, a government shutdown ''would'' be part of the conspiracy. Think about it. If there was a shadow government, then the only thing that can stop them is the people uniting against them. So, in order to keep the people from finding out, you would have to destroy their unity. And, unity in the US is at an all time low with people vehemently fighting amongst themselves. So, I don't think that the argument in this strip is valid. An orchestrated chaos would certainly be a tool of a shadow government. Theoretically speaking, of course. [[User:Kwyjibo|Kwyjibo]] ([[User talk:Kwyjibo|talk]]) 20:13, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

I guess Randal is only right as long there is only ONE group involved ;-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 11:01, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Randall knows ''exactly'' which group is in control, but has been forced by them to leave their name completely off of the aforementioned list. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.212.190|178.98.212.190]] 13:25, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

I removed the words 'Self-proclaimed' from the description of Scientology. It's so vague to be meaningless. Aren't most religions and churches self-proclaimed? Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc all started with somebody claiming secret knowledge. It should either be applied to all religions, or none.[[Special:Contributions/154.20.80.41|154.20.80.41]] 13:50, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Is "Sincerely, A Concerned Citizen" really a Half-Life 2 reference? The phrase is generic enough that it actually appears before Half-Life 2 was released ([http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x372352 example]). --[[Special:Contributions/75.119.250.35|75.119.250.35]] 15:21, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:Agreed, people have been using the "Concerned Citizen" phrasing for years. [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:41, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:It's not just the wording, but the context, so it does seem to be a reference. [[Special:Contributions/108.13.108.44|108.13.108.44]] 18:22, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
::The context being that of somebody concerned about their government? That seems a wee bit broad to be a contextual reference.[[Special:Contributions/154.20.80.41|154.20.80.41]] 03:01, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

Wow! The actual group secretly running the government is so powerful they had themselves removed from the explanation table, apparently! (There's no Trilateral Commission entry right now.) [[User:Imperpay|Imperpay]] ([[User talk:Imperpay|talk]]) 16:29, 7 October 2013 (UTC)
:Fixed. :) [[User:Mattflaschen|Mattflaschen]] ([[User talk:Mattflaschen|talk]]) 17:41, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

No mention of what an open letter is? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 04:08, 8 October 2013 (UTC)
:I just added something. It got wordy. Probably could be improved (and/or wiki-link to at least their page on Open Letters). But it's there, FWIW. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.212.190|178.98.212.190]] 13:36, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Seems he left off Monsanto (according to the hippie types I hang around for some reason, they're running the entire world). Who else was left off the list? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.53|108.162.221.53]] 19:49, 7 November 2013 (UTC)MR
: ...the Mafia. [[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 02:28, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

Really? The Knights of Malta read xkcd? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:20, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

The Lizards may be a reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "I come in peace. Take me to your lizard" Ford Prefect explains here:
:https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/162557-it-comes-from-a-very-ancient-democracy-you-see-you [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.148|162.158.34.148]] 18:17, 6 November 2015 (UTC)

inter dimensional guardian of life here. the illuminati does not control the U. S. government. right now. {{unsigned|Overlord of oddities|21:05, 27 January 2020}}

Okay, I just gotta say that this hits differently after the last two years. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.230|162.158.107.230]] 18:19, 7 June 2022 (UTC)
:Differently good or differently bad? It could be either way, depending on personal perspective/suspicions/conspiratorialisations.
:(And moved your thing down to the bottom, so it's properly chronologically.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.173|172.69.79.173]] 21:10, 7 June 2022 (UTC)

THIS COMIC MAKES NO SENSE [[User:Z1mp0st0rz|Z1mp0st0rz]] ([[User talk:Z1mp0st0rz|talk]]) 19:47, 15 April 2024 (UTC)
:Does the Explanation not explain it? What part does not make sense for you? (And why are you adding ALLCAPS comments to so many comic Talk pages..? You're new here, we know, but it's distracting.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.54|172.69.195.54]] 13:22, 16 April 2024 (UTC)