explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2930: Google Solar Cycle

2024-05-09T16:04:13Z

172.69.22.185:

When I opened the page I found a bunch of vague misspelled content (maybe spammers or bots? I don't know) so I updated the explanation. Not very knowledgeable about most things, though, so it probably still is not good enough. [[User:DNA Diva|DNA diva]] ([[User talk:DNA Diva|talk]]) 01:10, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
:Looking at the first couple of user-edits ("first" Explanation and subsequent Transcript edit), I think they were 'rushed' in order to establish the whole "first"ness and/or escape possible Edit Conflicts (probably needlessly, looking at timings). Not precise enough to be 'AI bot' text (accuracy being different, of course), and no obvious spam-intent.
:Could have done with more care to be taken, so as not needing to be ''entirely'' revamped by the likes of yourself, somewhat diluting the 'kudos' and making the little effort taken almost entirely pointless. But I like eagerness. Next time, perhaps, a bit of care will go into the mix and we'll be on the way to another useful contributor. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.4|172.71.242.4]] 04:58, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

This comic got me to search about [[User:Danger Kitty|Danger Kitty]] ([[User talk:Danger Kitty|talk]]) solar flares too.

Contrary to the current explanation, it appears you can search for [https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=now%207-d&geo=US&q=Cocktail%20recipe,Hangover%20cure&hl=en cocktail recipe searches vs hangover cure searches] at a sub-daily resolution. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.103|108.162.210.103]] 07:51, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
:As of my check, just now, I find it very funny that the (current) state-map attached to that result seems to indicate that every state trend predominantly is for searching for cocktails, between the two options. Except for Wyoming, which is solidly the one and only "hangover" state. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.115|172.70.90.115]] 10:35, 9 May 2024 (UTC)~
::It's likely because there's only like 7 people living there. Looking worldwide, Nigeria is the only "hangover country". [[User:Tcf|Tcf]] ([[User talk:Tcf|talk]]) 13:51, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
:::And Russians drink but don't have hangovers. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.185|172.69.22.185]] 16:04, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

Google solar cycle? Ok. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.143|172.68.58.143]] 13:46, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

If cocktail and hangover cure searches are both purely diurnal, it would be difficult to tell which comes first. But there's actually a larger cycle of the daily peak volumes. When you compare these two graphs, you can see that the hangover line follows the cocktail line. This strongly suggests a cause and effect. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:13, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

==Spike of March 8, 2012==
As far as [https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2012-03-01%202012-03-31&geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F0f81b&hl=en-US the spike about 12 years ago], there was [https://www.space.com/14842-biggest-solar-storm-earth-effects.html this]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.175.149|162.158.175.149]] 00:54, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
:Speaking of spikes, [[what if? (blog)|what if]] the internet and Google Trends had existed in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event 1859]? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.135|172.71.166.135]] 00:59, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
::...we'd still be repairing the infrastructure damage in 1860? ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.4|172.71.242.4]] 04:58, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
:::...our entire society as we know it would've collapsed long ago. [[User:Psychoticpotato|Psychoticpotato]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 12:36, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

==Correct URL?==
Is this the correct URL for the query? It's a lot more jagged than I was expecting. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0f81b&hl=en Thanks~
:I second this comment, and wish to ask what exactly Randall's settings were on, because "worldwide" and "2004-present" don't match the comic.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.63|162.158.114.63]] 13:45, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
::Neither do "United States" and "2004-present". For future record, the worldwide graph has a peak of 100 in 2011 and other peaks in the low dozens in 2014, 2017, 2021, and a mere 25 in 2024. [[User:Tcf|Tcf]] ([[User talk:Tcf|talk]]) 13:51, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

User talk:ColorfulGalaxy

2023-04-14T06:03:39Z

172.69.22.185:

💣==12==
Hi, what happens in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:ColorfulGalaxy&curid=25508&diff=301086&oldid=292141 12 edits]? Have a life-changing day in a good way! —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 21:56, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

: I meant that I need 12 more edits to get [[explain_xkcd:Autoconfirmed_users|autoconfirmed]] so I can create more pages in my user page. The computer that I'm using runs awfully slow. My other computer blocks CAPTCHA automatically. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 07:51, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

::Cool —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 07:58, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

::: I just made it! Thanks for confirming my account! Now I can stop using that slow computer. --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 09:08, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

== Google search link ==

A couple of times, recently, you provided a Google search link to something. I don't like following those (with their "q=..." stuff and hangover metadata in other POST data) when you could perhaps give the direct link you intend instead?

i.e. right-clicking on the Google page's item and copying that link is wasteful (and not ''always'' correct), you should instead follow the link you intend and then copy the true address (if proven to be what you wish) from the address-bar. And, even then, best to cut away any "&referer=..." type stuff (and retest the cut down link!) so that everyone who follows you has a bare-bones link that works without having to mess with reconstructing the metadata that means "<nowiki>http://whatever.com/foo/bar/baz.html#indexpoint</nowiki>", or howsoever it should resolve.

Just a tip. To streamline and not unneccessarily obfuscate the use of your contributions... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.77|172.70.91.77]] 15:15, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

== This is probably the first numbered comic whose title... ==

''Probably'' you could just confirm these claims, ''before'' making them? It seems easy enough to do, and you seem to have the time to do it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.141|172.71.242.141]] 23:25, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

==Help==
I need your help creating these pages and uploading the pictures I needed. Please, please, you know that we are close friends IRL. --[[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 20:34, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
:Look, [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:ColorfulGalaxy&curid=25878&diff=305104&oldid=305057 this is clearly a stupid move] to try to look legitimate. If you're truly IRL friends then it could have waited for an IRL meeting (or whatever other social media blinks you have), at which point your 'friend' could have provided a lot more practical help without waiting for such silly messages. Laughable, really. But do as you're going to do, I'm sure I can't stop you from going through with this clear pretence to whatever end you're leading up to. And no apologies if I'm wrong, just pity. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.230|162.158.34.230]] 19:19, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

== So many broken links on your User page. ==

I presume you are fully aware that pretty much everything you're linking to on your User page is a dead link. Both internal and external ones (even inter-wiki). I presume you are also aware that your quite obvious use of multiple alts and logins is very visible. Either that, or you are remarkably unaware of third parties (with bad MOs) making so many terrible edits in some quite definitely targetted way.

Either way, you might want to just get things working how you want to get things working, and bring it all to fruition, and not leave us all hanging... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.57|172.70.85.57]] 13:39, 4 March 2023 (UTC)

== Who are the other CGs? ==

Do you know [[User:ConscriptGuide]], [[User:CarcassonneGuide]], [[User:ConceptisGallery]], [[User:ConscriptGallery]] and [[User:ChristmasGospel]]? [[User:AndroidTheLucario|AndroidTheLucario]] ([[User talk:AndroidTheLucario|talk]]) 05:54, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
:So it would seem that [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2293:_RIP_John_Conway&diff=308507&oldid=308506 this is you], as well, CG. The question we must all be wondering is why? Quite an army of alt-logins you seem to be building up, and the actions of the less nicely behaving ones (you know which I mean) don't exactly make me feel unconcerned about it.
:It wouldn't be so bad if you were doing useful edits or actually made your Conlang links into a working (and ideally relevant) reference system that we could all enjoy. But you seem to have no intent to do that. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.224|172.70.85.224]] 06:38, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
::The neography reproducing project involves uploading a lot of images, mostly vector images. If you would mind my uploading (Sorry I can't upload currently), then please consider opening a neography wiki on the fandom.com website. My account is used for introducing the [[:Category:Rhythm_Games|rhythm games]]. [[User:ChronoGames|ChronoGames]] ([[User talk:ChronoGames|talk]]) 06:58, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Your explanation makes no sense... Your neography clearly has no real connection to xkcd. The images required here should be xkcd ones (or derived material). You haven't shown absign of contributing any of those. One account (sufficiently validated) is enough to upload, as you'll already know. There's no connection to fandom.com, at all. That's not even a local category (like almost every other link around here, you leave it redlinked). You don't need to create many special logins for anything you have done (for the most part, I can do everything worthwhile for the site with no account at all, and you have a clear history of doing unworthwhile things with many accounts, a number of them now banned.
:::So I call bullshit. I've seen others try to help your 'new users' out, with things you've messed up (done it myself, see above) just to be ignored, and then it becomes clear that you continue with whatever game you think you're playing, under an expanding host of aliases. Not cool. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.151|172.70.91.151]] 13:02, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
::::See [http://langmaker.github.io/db/alp_a2z_index.htm this]. It looks like you're going to combine [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:ConscriptGallery/tagline neography with XKCD quotes]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.33|162.158.91.33]] 09:04, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::Someone had made a request on [http://conlang.fandom.com/wiki/Talk:Portal:Main?diff=196196&oldid=138343 this website]. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.98|172.69.134.98]] 09:49, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:::::Nothing much to do with here, though, is it? Do it on that site, if it's what they talk about. Or wait for Randall's future comic that ''specifically'' sparks a need here and then Explain it as succinctly or fully as you necessarily feel like you can. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.62|172.71.242.62]] 12:52, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

User:ColorfulGalaxy/Sandbox

2023-04-14T06:03:16Z

172.69.22.185: Reverted edit by anti-bomb user

💣__NOTITLE__

This page is a sandbox for the upcoming guide for SMILES.

User:ColorfulGalaxy

2023-04-14T06:02:36Z

172.69.22.185:

💣<table class="infobox vcard">
<tr><th colspan=2 class="fn" style="text-align:center; font-size:125%; font-weight:bold; background-color:#BCD4E6;">ColorfulGalaxy</th></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="{{{class|}}}" style="text-align:center; {{{headerstyle|}}}">[[File:ColorfulGalaxy.png|150px|alt=text]]
<div><center>ColorfulGalaxy</center></div></td></tr>
<tr class="{{{rowclass|}}}">
<th scope="row" style="text-align:left; line-height: 1.3em;">Born</th>
<td class="{{{class|}}}" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Unknown</td></tr>
<tr class="{{{rowclass|}}}">
<th scope="row" style="text-align:left; line-height: 1.3em;">Residence</th>
<td class="{{{class|}}}" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Unknown</td></tr>
<tr class="{{{rowclass|}}}">
<th scope="row" style="text-align:left; line-height: 1.3em;">Nationality</th>
<td class="{{{class|}}}" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Unknown</td></tr>
<tr class="{{{rowclass|}}}">
<th scope="row" style="text-align:left; line-height: 1.3em;">Language</th>
<td class="{{{class|}}}" style="line-height: 1.3em;">English and some other languages[[[285|citation needed]]]</td></tr>
<tr class="{{{rowclass|}}}">
<th scope="row" style="text-align:left; line-height: 1.3em;">Institutions</th>
<td class="{{{class|}}}" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Unknown</td></tr>
<tr class="{{{rowclass|}}}">
<th scope="row" style="text-align:left; line-height: 1.3em;">Alma mater</th>
<td class="{{{class|}}}" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Unknown</td></tr></table>

'''ColorfulGalaxy''' is a user on the wiki.

{{notice|'''This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect:''' ''The infobox is broken'' If you can address this issue, please '''[{{fullurl:{{{target|{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}}|action=edit}} edit the page]!''' Thanks.
}}

==Contact him==
If you have suggestions on his articles or spot a mistake, you may [http://www.conwaylife.com/forums/ucp.php?i=pm&mode=compose&u=2640 contact him] at the LifeWiki forums or comment at [[User_talk:ColorfulGalaxy|his talk]] page.

==See also==

; List of Gallifreyan Alternative Alphabets

* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/SCG|Sherman's]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/DCG|Doctor's Cot]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/RSG|Rasilonian]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/TCG|TARDIS Console]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/Flux|Flux]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/CWG|Clockwork]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/GCG|GC Gallifreyan]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/CBG|cBettenbender's]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/CCG|CC Gallifreyan]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Gallifreyan/TKG|Timekeepers]]

; Neography pages

* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Aziana|Aziana]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Baal|Baal]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Block_Script|Block Script]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Brittish|Brittish]] ([http://conwaylife.com/wiki/user:ColorfulGalaxy/Brittish LifeViewer version])
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Chartograph|Chartograph]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/CPG|Chromaphonoglyphics]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Claviograms|Claviograms]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/colorAlphabet|ColorAlphabet]] ([http://conwaylife.com/wiki/user:ColorfulGalaxy/colorAlphabet LifeViewer version])
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Colorbet|Colorbet]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/ColorHoney|ColorHoney]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/KFG|Compact Phonetic]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Elian_Script|Elian]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Embet|Embet]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Exprish|Exprish]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Fakoo|Fakoo]]
* First Ones Writing
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Gernreich|Gernreich]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Graph_Script|Graph Script]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Gridika|Gridika]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Hangulized_English|Hangulized English]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Ineon|Ineon]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Knot|Knot Alphabet]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/MSA|Minimal Stacking]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Nail_Script|Nail Script]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Ogham_for_English|Ogham]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Pattern_Script|Pattern Script]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Periotun|Periotun]] ([http://esolangs.org/wiki/user:periotun/Encoder Encoder]|[http://esolangs.org/wiki/user:periotun/Decoder Decoder])
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Quadoo|Quadoo]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Reality|Reality]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Siekoo|Siekoo]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Spintype|Spintype]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Spiraling_Syllabics|Spiraling Syllabics]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Timescript|Timescript]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Uriovakiro|Uriovakiro]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/Xelbet|Xelbet]]
* [[User:ConscriptGuide/YYAl|Yin]]

; Symbolic Ciphers

* [[User:CipherGuide/Antiker|Antiker]]
* [[User:CipherGuide/Ballet|Ballet]]
* [[User:CipherGuide/Bokscript|Boksript]]
* [[User:CipherGuide/Code_Script|Code Script]]
* [[User:CipherGuide/Dotsies|Dotsies]] ([http://conwaylife.com/wiki/user:ColorfulGalaxy/Dotsies LifeViewer version])
* [[User:CipherGuide/Phono_Braille|Phono Braille]] ([http://conwaylife.com/wiki/user:ColorfulGalaxy/Phono_Braille LifeViewer version])
* [[User:CipherGuide/Tano|Tano]]
* [[User:CipherGuide/YDADY_code|YDADY Code]]

; Neography Showcasing pages

* [[User:ConscriptGallery/tagline|XKCD Logo and Tagline in various neography scripts]]
* [[User:ConscriptGallery/Google|Google logo in various scripts]]
* [[User:ConscriptGallery/Usernames|Usernames]]

; Miscellaneous pages

* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Computer_Dialect_Quiz|Computer-related Dialect Quiz]]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Cryptic|Cryptic]]
* [http://esolangs.org/wiki/User:ColorfulGalaxy/Friendly Friendly numbers]
* [[User:ColorfulGalaxy/Trochaic_tetrameter|List of examples of trochaic tetrameter]]
* [[User:ChemistryGuide/SMILES|SMILES guide]]
* [http://esolangs.org/wiki/User:XKCD_Random_Number Print "4"]
* [http://esolangs.org/wiki/User:XKCD_Wrong_Times_Table Wrong Times Table]

==External Links==
* [http://conwaylife.com/wiki/User:ColorfulGalaxy ColorfulGalaxy] at the LifeWiki
* [http://www.conwaylife.com/forums/ucp.php?i=pm&mode=compose&u=2640 Contact this user] at the LifeWiki forums

Talk:2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-15T22:00:08Z

172.69.22.185: convert to consistent units

I have to wonder, would you slide down to the sun, or be flung outwards? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
: The discs are centered on the orbit of the parent planet, and presumably rotating at the same frequency as the parent planet's orbit. That means the inner edge of each disc is going slower than you'd need to orbit the Sun at that distance, and the outer edge faster. If you moved inward from the original planet's orbit, the Sun's gravity would pull you in, but when you crossed the boundary to the next disc, you'd get flung back outward.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.61|162.158.62.61]] 19:58, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::No Each planet fills out the space within their orbit into the next planet. Easy to see as the outer edge of Neptune's orbit is the same as with the planet flattened. There is a distance from Mercury to the Sun indicated. Maybe because it would melt if it got any closer? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::First, they're rings not discs, but I'm skeptical of the math. And it looks to me like the ring's edges are halfway between the orbits, with Neptune extended outwards the same distance as halfway to Uranus's orbit. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.4|172.69.22.4]] 20:08, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! Planet !! Volume (109 km3) !! Orbital radius (109 km) || halfway to prior || halfway to next || Annulus area (109 km2) || Thickness (cm)
|-
| Mercury || 61 || 58 || 29 || 83 || 19000 || 321
|-
| Venus || 93 || 108 || 83 || 129 || 30637 || 304
|-
| Earth || 108 || 150 || 129 || 189 || 59942 || 180
|-
| Mars || 16 || 228 || 189 || 504 || 685794 || 2
|-
| Jupiter || 1431000 || 779 || 504 || 1107 || 3051847 || 46890
|-
| Saturn || 827000 || 1434 || 1107 || 2154 || 10726236 || 7710
|-
| Uranus || 68000 || 2873 || 2154 || 3684 || 28061145 || 242
|-
| Neptune || 63000 || 4495 || 3684 || 5304 (symmetry) || 45743348 || 138
|}

:::: The volumes in this table are at 2 different scales. Only the Mercury to Mars volumes are at 1010 km3. Jupiter to Neptune are at 1012 km3 [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 21:01, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: Thanks, fixed; I had the scale wrong for the radii too. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 21:16, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Someone please double-check this, I think Randall is off by a factor of 1000. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.229|172.71.154.229]] 21:37, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

This makes about as much sense as other Flat Earth theories. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.137|172.70.200.137]] 20:00, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:But this would actually be a flat Earth. Albeit with a rather larger surface area ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

151: Mario

2023-03-05T00:53:33Z

172.69.22.185:

{{comic
| number = 151
| date = September 1, 2006
| title = Mario
| image = mario.png
| titletext = Why would anyone ever, ever say that? Please, nobody ever say that.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|One-upmanship}} is the act of surpassing another person. In this case, one female character is one-upping her friend's claim of being taken on a mountain hike with a claim that she was proposed to.

Mario is the major figure in the {{w|Super Mario}} series. In the games, completing specific conditions causes a "1-up" (but the marks are chevrons («»), used in some languages like French or Russian instead of quotation marks) to appear on screen, referring to an additional life. The comic relies on the homonym of the action of one-upmanship and the event of one-ups in Mario.

In the title text, [[Randall]] implies that this is a pretty bad joke.

==Transcript==
:Megan: For our anniversary, my boyfriend took me hiking in the mountains.
:Ponytail: My boyfriend proposed to me.
:Ponytail: They should call you Mario, 'cause you just got <<1 up'd.>>

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Video games]]

2109: Invisible Formatting

2022-10-20T20:30:07Z

172.69.22.185:

{{comic
| number = 2109
| date = February 8, 2019
| title = Invisible Formatting
| image = invisible_formatting.png
| titletext = To avoid errors like this, we render all text and pipe it through OCR before processing, fixing a handful of irregular bugs by burying them beneath a smooth, uniform layer of bugs.
}}

==Explanation==

In various word processor programs, when highlighting text, whether by clicking-and-dragging or double-clicking, it is easy to highlight characters which have no visible effects when markup is applied (ie ''italics'' or''' bold'''), such as a space or the end-of-paragraph passage. Since in most fonts the word space looks identical between the bold, the italicized, and the regular, this has no effect on how the end user will read the document, but could theoretically cause a problem in certain occasions, most notably in computers which might parse a bold space differently or incorrectly. This problem is compounded if the text cursor does not indicate clearly the space is in bold or italics when a user hovers their mouse over it. [[Randall]] worries about this.

In the pictured case, Randall does not appear to have selected the word by double-clicking, since the cursor is depicted past the end of the word instead of on top of it; rather, he has clicked-and-dragged the mouse cursor to select it. The space character is a relatively thin character, which makes it hard to avoid and to notice, but even so most people don’t worry if they've selected it and tend not to bother fixing. Randall later uses the same click-and-drag method to have the bold removed, but this time omits the space, retaining its bold formatting on that character. Since it is a blank character, there is no easy way to tell it is still bold — even if it is slightly longer in the bold font, this may be hard to notice. This is the situation the comic is highlighting, [[559: No Pun Intended|no pun intended]].

Usually, if one were to highlight a word via double-clicking, the word and the space following would both become highlighted. Therefore, this problem could have been avoided if Randall had used this method to highlight, as the space would have been automatically included both times, thus removing markup on the space character as well.

Though Randall is likely thinking of computer-related problems caused by his invisible formatting, there is also a chance that his bold space would cause other, non-computer-related issues. As Randall has bolded the word "not" but then changed his mind, it indicates that he believes writing '''not '''is too strongly-worded. With an invisible bold space, whoever the document was intended for could notice Randall's bold space and figure that the word "not" was originally bolded. Depending on the context, a bolded "not" could be enough to change the tone of the text from polite and formal to dismissive (eg. "We believe you are not suitable for this position." vs "We believe you are '''not '''suitable for this position.")

In the title text, Randall says that he “fixes” this by running the text through {{w|Optical character recognition|OCR}}, which turns physical copies or images into text. Although this would "fix" the invisible formatting (since the OCR is unable to detect it), this would usually ruin even more formatting, and add inaccuracies to the text. This way, no one can tell which bugs were introduced by him and which ones by the OCR, which he facetiously suggests is better somehow.

As the title text explains, Randall finds it very important to control all information he publishes. Real-world examples are governments changing the impact of reports for political reasons. Attempted tampering of this kind can be revealed by bold spaces. Another example would be a casual and short one-sentence reply e.g. to a romantic interest, which one takes one hour to formulate to sound as natural as possible.

There are also other occasions where a hidden bold space may be a problem for later editors (see the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section below). Randall’s background in {{w|computer programming}} could also make him more attentive to these types of technical problems, and therefore add this as a reason for his worries about invisible formatting.

==Transcript==

:[A text editor, with some options. They are superscript in one section, bold, italic and underscore in another section and alignments in the third section. The word "not ", including the following space, is highlighted in blue. There is a cursor below it.]
:Text: ...ere, but would not have to mo...
:Action: Select

:[The cursor is on the "bold" option and the selected word is bolded.]
:Text: ...ere, but would '''not '''have to mo...
:Action: Click

:[The cursor is next to the "to". No text is highlighted.]
:Thought bubble: ...Nah, the bold is too much.
:Text: ...ere, but would '''not '''have to mo...

:[The word "not" is now highlighted in blue again, but the following space is not.]
:Text: ...ere, but would '''not '''have to mo...
:Action: Select

:[The cursor is on the "bold" option and the selected word is not bolded.]
:Text: ...ere, but would not''' '''have to mo...
:Action: Click

:[The cursor and the blue highlighting are gone. The space after "not" has a dashed box around it, and an arrow points to it.]
:Text: ...ere, but would not''' '''have to mo...
:Arrow: Hidden bold space

:[Caption below the panels:]
:When editing text, in the back of my mind I always worry that I'm adding invisible formatting that will somehow cause a problem in the distant future.

==Trivia==
There are also other occasions where a hidden bold space may be a problem for later editors etc. These include:
*Editing that adds some text at the location of the space will make this text bold.
*Exporting to plain text files. If for example a {{w|markdown}} style is used, there will be characters in the output that do not make sense.
*Scraping, data mining, and linguistics processing by computer algorithms. Often (although not always) these algorithms are written based on samples of training or testing text that may not have spurious formatting present, and may misprocess something when encountering the spurious formatting.
*Wikis. In''' '''this''' '''sentence,''' '''every''' '''space''' '''is''' '''a''' '''hidden''' '''bold''' '''space. From the editing view, all the spaces look <code><nowiki>like''' '''this</nowiki></code>. This will annoy all future editors of this article, due to the hidden apostrophes which are formatting the spaces. They may also accidentally introduce bold words.
**By default, MediaWiki attempts to prevent this by not including the trailing spaces in the bold formatting when you click the “bold” button, so someone has to manually type the formatting apostrophes to do this.
*A situation where formatted text is not allowed, and is rejected, but the user failed to strip formatting from the spaces, and this is noticed.
*If a font has the word space look different between the bold and the regular, perhaps to make it so bold words are spaced closer to each other, the spacing will look inconsistent if there is a hidden bold space.
*Unnecessary extra formatting will usually unnecessarily increase file size, which may put the document above some maximum file size threshold.
*Bold (or italic or non-breaking) spaces are also popular in {{w|Steganography|steganography}}. By using bold spaces in some places and not in others it is possible to hide secret information in a public text, that will not be visible to the casual reader, who does not explicitly search for the hidden information. Additionally if such a document is found with a person, that person can {{w|Plausible_deniability|plausibly deny}} all knowledge of the encoded information.

Popular modern word processing programs have features which may make it easier to notice improperly formatted invisible characters. In the tutorials linked here, one may learn how to view invisible characters in [https://support.office.com/en-us/article/show-or-hide-formatting-marks-c2d8a607-5646-4165-8b08-bd68f9d172a0 Microsoft Word], [https://support.apple.com/kb/PH23650?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US Pages] and [https://help.libreoffice.org/Writer/Nonprinting_Characters LibreOffice Writer], however even with this on it would be difficult to spot a bolded space (which looks like a bolded dot – now visible but so small it's still hard to tell if it's bold or not). In the older word processor {{w|WordPerfect}}, one could do this with the “Reveal Codes” feature, which showed you character codes, separate from the characters themselves, around the characters. For example, a bolded space would look something like "[BOLD≻&ensp;≺BOLD]".

Web sites which allow content to be edited by users but generate the formatting code automatically often have versions of the invisible formatting problem; for example, eBay listings which use anything other than the default font rapidly accumulate hard spaces, font end and begin transitions, and other invisible formatting if they are subsequently edited, which can slow page loading and cause other problems. This is also seen in blogs etc.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]

56: The Cure

2022-10-20T20:13:41Z

172.69.22.185:

{{comic
| number = 56
| date = January 30, 2006
| title = The Cure
| image = the_cure.jpg
| titletext = My first try at drawing a real face in years.
}}

==Explanation==
The "real face" is that of {{w|Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith}}, best known as the singer of the musical group {{w|The Cure}}, hence the title.

The joke in this comic is very simple: When Robert would sing the above lines of {{w|Coldplay|Coldplay}}'s song "{{w|Clocks_(song)|Clocks}}", fans of his music would know the answer: he's part of The Cure.

In the title text, Randall notes that he has not tried to draw a real face in years, as he mainly does stick drawings. In that way this comic also sticks out.

==Transcript==
:[A charcoal drawing of Robert Smith's head and face.]
:[Caption below:]
:Robert Smith should do a cover of Coldplay's ''Clocks,'' so when he sings "Am I part of the cure or am I part of the disease?" we can say, "Ooh, we know this one!"

==Trivia==
*This was the first comic released only on xkcd, and not on [[LiveJournal]].
**The 11 previous comics were [[:Category:Posted on LiveJournal after xkcd|posted both on LiveJournal and xkcd]].
*The comic before this one, [[55: Useless]], was the 52nd and last comic originally posted also to LiveJournal.
**Two other comics were inserted among the first 52 at some point after xkcd was launched, thus making it a total of 54 comics before this one.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Bad art]]

2687: Division Notation

2022-10-20T10:57:45Z

172.69.22.185: /* Explanation */ quotient

{{comic
| number = 2687
| date = October 19, 2022
| title = Division Notation
| image = division_notation_new_2x.png
| imagesize = 235x310px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Science tip: Scientists hardly ever use the two-dot division sign, and when they do it often doesn't even mean division, but they still get REALLY mad when you repurpose it to write stuff like SALE! ALL SHOES 30÷ OFF!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GROUP OF SCHOOLCHILDREN DIVIDED AMONGST THEMSELVES. Do NOT delete this tazg too soon.}}

This comic pokes fun at some of the ways to write the {{w|Division (mathematics)|division}} operation in math. In this comic, [[Randall]] has used A as the dividend (the number being divided) and B as the divisor (the number that A is divided by). Division is the fourth simplest arithmetic operation in mathematics, after addition, subtraction, and multiplication.[https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/principia-mathematica/#PartIVRelaArit]

The first two of the seven notations shown are the {{w|division sign}} (÷) and the {{w|long division}} notation used for {{w|short division}} and {{w|long division}} in beginning arithmetic. (Note: division typography is only used in some countries, and there are [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_division#Notation_in_non-English-speaking_countries different notations in the non-English speaking world]). These methods of division are often used by school children because the ÷ sign is what most people use when first learning division, and the short division format is usually the first algorithm learned for dividing arbitrary dividends, typically starting with the easier abbreviated short division form.

The expression on the third line, A/B, is the way division is usually written in software code. The four simple arithmetic operations in programming usually are +, -, *, /. This one was missing in the first version of the comic. This is most commonly seen in regular mathematics as it somewhat saves space, and is easy to type with the slash key. Additionally, it uses standard {{w|ASCII}} characters instead of sophisticated notation.

The expression on the forth line, a/b, is how division is usually written when typography costs are not in question, in fraction notation. The Unicode character sets provide some specific fractions such as ⅓ as well as some superscript and subscript characters, so someone familiar with it might use it to write fractions such as ²²⁄₇.

The fifth notation is the way division is written in science: the dividend on the top of the expression over the divisor on the bottom under a horizontal line. This is how a {{w|Fraction|fraction}} would be written. It has the advantage of clearly separating the numerator and denominator when they are longer expressions, such as polynomials, without needing to add parentheses. This format is mostly used in written and professionally typeset math, as it can't be typed without something like {{w|MathML}}, {{w|LaTeX}} or HTML tables.

The sixth notation uses a negative exponent. The exponent -1 is equivalent to {{w|Multiplicative inverse|reciprocation}}. It can be used to keep an entire {{w|quotient}} expression on one line. Note that ab-1 is equal to a/b. This format is often used to express physical units.

The final form of notation declares a function. The writer defines a new function, F, that takes in the parameters A and B, before listing out the function's definition (trailing off in increasingly smaller text). Randall warns the reader they should escape while they still can, because both the function itself and the math environment as a whole are going to get relatively tedious. Integer division can be defined in terms of multiplicative inequalities and the remainder, or modulo ('%' in Python), operator. This situation is likely to occur in many sorts of algebra, where one might have to define what "division" means for two elements of a mathematical object such as a group, ring, or magma. One example would be an object G, such that, for two elements A and B of G, "A divided by B" is defined as an element C such that CB=A, or alternatively as an element C such that BC=A. These definitions will differ if multiplication in G is not commutative. Furthermore, if such a C is not unique, the function F(A,B) will need to include a method to select a unique value for "A divided by B" for each A and B. Thus, the F(A,B) in the comic might not even refer to a uniquely defined operation, but simply to the property of a function F(A,B) that is a valid division operation on G, given some definition of division. You were warned.

The title text recommends distinguishing ÷ from %.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Division notation
:A÷B
:B(Ā Schoolchild.
:A/B Software engineer.
:A⁄B Normal person or Unicode enthusiast.
:A over B Scientist.
:AB-1 Fancy scientist.
:F(A, B) such that F(G)= (text getting smaller) Oh no, run

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Science tip]]

Talk:2687: Division Notation

2022-10-20T09:02:33Z

172.69.22.185: Tableau

Fun fact: In Poland, we don't write the long division like that; we just write A:B with the bar above. I was VERY confused the first time I saw that notation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.246.235|172.70.246.235]] 21:03, 19 October 2022 (UTC)
:Unrelated to {{w|Polish notation}}, i presume? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.13|172.70.134.13]] 22:43, 19 October 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
:In German elementary school we learned the a:b notation. When we learned more complex divisions in secondary school it was with the "scientist" notation. And as I am a software engineer AND (presumably) a normal person I use in general the respective notations. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:24, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

For me, the version on the xkcd website has an additional line ("A/B: Software Engineer") that's not on this site. I think the comic might have been updated. Is anyone else seeing that? [[User:JBYoshi|JBYoshi]] ([[User talk:JBYoshi|talk]]) 23:20, 19 October 2022 (UTC)
:Updated. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 00:31, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

For the Unicode one, I think it’s a reference to ⁄ (U+2044, fraction slash) or characters like ½, ¼, etc. - [[User:Cherryblossom|Cherryblossom]] ([[User talk:Cherryblossom|talk]]) 00:24, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Is it important to note that 1/2 auctocorrects to ½ in many text-based programs like Microsoft Word?--[[User:Theunlucky|Theunlucky]] ([[User talk:Theunlucky|talk]]) 02:32, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

It's possible to use fraction-style notation in LaTeX by using \frac, or am I missing something?--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.125|162.158.2.125]] 05:49, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

"the long division symbol is only used in some countries". Only English-speaking ones, to be more precise. Most of the countries of the world use a different notation. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.80|172.68.51.80]] 06:19, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

In the UK, the 'long division symbol' is nowadays often referred to (particularly with Primary classes, children aged 4 - 11) as the "Bus Stop Method". Because it looks like a UK bus shelter. [[User:MarquisOfCarrabass|MarquisOfCarrabass]] ([[User talk:MarquisOfCarrabass|talk]]) 07:07, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

As a Dutch primary schoolchild, I have used a÷b for calculations and "a over b" for fractions (e.g. ⅘).
For more difficult divisions, like what is 785/35, we used [https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staartdeling Staartdelingen] (nl), long division, of which the primary notation is 35/735\.
I think in early highschool we started using a over b for more complex calculations, "like (x+3) over 5 = 2, what is x". I had up to this XKCD never seen B⟌A, and would confuse it for what we use as square root symbol (√). [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 07:16, 20 October 2022 (UTC)
:Come to think of it, it's kind of odd that we used ":" for division. Why are there this many different division notations anyway? Same for multiplication. There's x, *, ⋅, x but centered vertically, and concatenation (for letter variables)!

In Austria, school children are using the "scientist" notation from this comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.51|172.68.50.51]] 08:17, 20 October 2022 (UTC)
* Same thing in Russia [[Special:Contributions/172.71.98.97|172.71.98.97]] 08:46, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

I live in Denmark, and “÷” seems to be often used here for subtraction, instead of a minus sign! Got confused a few times. [[User:Nclm|nicolas]] ([[User talk:Nclm|talk]]) 08:52, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

; tableau
: tab·leau /ˌtaˈblō/ noun
::a group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story or from history; a tableau vivant.
"in the first act the action is presented in a series of tableaux"
I don't think it means what the editor including it thinks it means. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.185|172.69.22.185]] 09:02, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2685: 2045

2022-10-15T13:02:51Z

172.69.22.185:

I've add a CITATION NEEDED for the medical appointment because in many countries and in the past Soviet Statesit took that long and so is a questionable claim
I've been waiting for Randall to do a comic related to the DART mission. I think I'm going to have to be satisfied with the title text being inspired by it -- altering the orbits of the earth and/or moon would be infinitely harder. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:56, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

though it says Black Hat is rejecting the invitation sarcastically, considering Black Hat it's also possible he's planning something else for the total eclipse, such as playing a prank on people who don't know it's coming, or messing with the meeting under discussion. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.51|108.162.241.51]] 17:31, 14 October 2022 (UTC)
:Or planning to be actively messing with the eclipse... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.97|172.70.85.97]] 18:59, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

That reminds me: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLW7r4o2_Ow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLW7r4o2_Ow] [[Special:Contributions/162.158.239.32|162.158.239.32]] 19:33, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

Here’s a source for moving the Earth or the Sun requiring vast amounts of energy: [https://qntm.org/moving https://qntm.org/moving]. It doesn’t really cover moving the Moon though. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.133|172.69.33.133]] 02:23, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

:And with that breaks the 104-comic streak where we never saw Black Hat. I'm pretty sure that's the longest ever. [[User:ISaveXKCDpapers|ISaveXKCDpapers]] ([[User talk:ISaveXKCDpapers|talk]]) 03:52, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

:Is this Megan or Danish? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.117|172.69.33.117]] 05:28, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

Can somebody please calculate the minimum needed energy amount, if you start now? --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.242.157|172.70.242.157]] 11:09, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

pretty sure the explanation needs to be sanitized of invisible control characters or zero-width whitespace - there were several edits that added thousands of characters but did not result in a visually different page, and those edits were never reverted --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.115.30|172.70.115.30]] 12:43, 15 October 2022 (UTC)
:edit: just now did it, lmk if i missed anything--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.8|162.158.63.8]] 12:46, 15 October 2022 (UTC)
::unedit: just now undid it, lmk if i missed anything

2685: 2045

2022-10-15T01:33:13Z

172.69.22.185: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2685
| date = October 14, 2022
| title = 2045
| image = 2045_2x.png
| imagesize = 350x457px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Sorry, doctor, I'm going to have to come in on a different day--I have another appointment that would be really hard to move, in terms of the kinetic energy requirements."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIGANTIC NUCLEAR FURNACE (THE SUN) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The characters are talking about upcoming total {{w|solar eclipses}}. Partial solar eclipses are fairly frequent (2–5 per year), but total eclipses are less frequent (about every 18 months), and most of them will not be in coven locations for a particular set of people. Cueball seems to be talking about total eclipses visible in much of North America: {{w|Lunar eclipse of April 8, 2024|April 8, 2024}} and {{w|Lunar eclipse of August 12, 2045|August 12, 2045}}. (There's also a {{w|anal eclipse}} on October 14, 2025.) Making plans for eclipses is awkward given the uncertainty present for anything else far in the future, such as whether the attendees will have children by then, and even whether another scheduling program will catch on and replace Google Calendar.

Black Hat claims he can't make it, as he has "a thing" on August 12, 2045. Events for that far in the future usually have not yet been scheduled for a precise date{{Citation needed}}, and this combined with the fact that Black Hat remembers this date without checking implies that this could be another of his grand and sinister plans... or he just doesn't want to go.

The title text is someone cancelling a medical appointment to see the eclipse. The eclipse is hard to move because that would require hastening or delaying it by moving the Earth, Moon or Sun, any of which would require vast amounts of energy.{{Citation needed}} People also don't often schedule doctor's appointments decades in advance.{{Citation needed}} This was published a year before the next eclipse so, if you're someone who plans things a year in advance this serves as a reminder to put it on your calendar.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball, a friend also drawn as Cueball, Danish, and Black Hat are standing together. Danish is looking at her phone.]
:Cueball: ...And then after the one in 2024, there's another on August 12, 2045.
:Friend: We're in! We can invite our kids, assuming we have any.
:Danish: I'll create an event. Do you think we'll still be using Google Calendar in 2045?
:Black Hat: Sorry, I'd love to make it, but I have a thing that day.

:Caption: It's weird making plans for eclipses.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Balls]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

2685: 2045

2022-10-15T01:31:53Z

172.69.22.185:

{{comic
| number = 2685
| date = October 14, 2022
| title = 2045
| image = 2045_2x.png
| imagesize = 350x457px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Sorry, doctor, I'm going to have to come in on a different day--I have another appointment that would be really hard to move, in terms of the kinetic energy requirements."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIGANTIC NUCLEAR FURNACE (THE SUN) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The characters are talking about upcoming total {{w|solar eclipses}}. Partial solar eclipses are fairly frequent (2–5 per year), but total eclipses are less frequent (about every 18 months), and most of them will not be in coven locations for a particular set of people. Cueball seems to be talking about total eclipses visible in much of North America: {{w|Lunar eclipse of April 8, 2024|April 8, 2024}} and {{w|Lunar eclipse of August 12, 2045|August 12, 2045}}. (There's also a {{w|annular eclipse}} on October 14, 2025.) Making plans for eclipses is awkward given the uncertainty present for anything else far in the future, such as whether the attendees will have children by then, and even whether another scheduling program will catch on and replace Google Calendar.

Black Hat claims he can't make it, as he has "a thing" on August 12, 2045. Events for that far in the future usually have not yet been scheduled for a precise date{{Citation needed}}, and this combined with the fact that Black Hat remembers this date without checking implies that this could be another of his grand and sinister plans... or he just doesn't want to go.

The title text is someone cancelling a medical appointment to see the eclipse. The eclipse is hard to move because that would require hastening or delaying it by moving the Earth, Moon or Sun, any of which would require vast amounts of energy.{{Citation needed}} People also don't often schedule doctor's appointments decades in advance.{{Citation needed}} This was published a year before the next eclipse so, if you're someone who plans things a year in advance this serves as a reminder to put it on your calendar.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball, a friend also drawn as Cueball, Danish, and Black Hat are standing together. Danish is looking at her phone.]
:Cueball: ...And then after the one in 2024, there's another on August 12, 2045.
:Friend: We're in! We can invite our kids, assuming we have any.
:Danish: I'll create an event. Do you think we'll still be using Google Calendar in 2045?
:Black Hat: Sorry, I'd love to make it, but I have a thing that day.

:Caption: It's weird making plans for eclipses.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Balls]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

2684: Road Space Comparison

2022-10-12T22:16:49Z

172.69.22.185: /* Explanation */ Fix the reference

{{comic
| number = 2684
| date = October 12, 2022
| title = Road Space Comparison
| image = road_space_comparison_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x1157px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I wonder how hard it would be to ride an electric scooter in a hamster ball.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CHAD WALKABLE CITIES ENJOYER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The comic is a parody of a common comparison done in arguments for walkable cities - the amount of usable space taken up by cars and car-centric infrastructure that could be eliminated for other useful public amenities. It may be inspired by a parody that compares the space taken up by 50 people on different modes of transportation, to 150,000 bats flying over the roadway. Like the parody, this strip devolves further into absurdity.

The first 4 ones are common, real-life comparisons involving people walking, people on bicycles, public transport and private car ownership, which distinctly show how all the alternatives to cars take up significantly less space than cars do for the same amount of people. However it is from this point the comic starts becoming more and more absurd in its comparisons.

The 5th one shows 50 people on a tandem cycle. This would obviously be impractical in a city due to its sheer length and would not be able to work with less people due to its sheer mass. The longest tandem bicycle holds about 20 people<ref>https://www.earthridercycling.com/earth-rider-blog/the-best-postion-on-a-bike#/</ref> which this bicycle outstrips by a significant margin.

The 6th one involves 20 people driving 40 cars, with each person driving 2 cars at a time by straddling them in the middle. Besides being unwieldy and impractical it is also extremely dangerous as the cars could go out of control at any time. Its also results in a really bad traffic jam.

The 7th one has 30 cars riding on 6 buses by stacking them on top of each other. Assuming the same people-per-car/bus ratio from the earlier examples, this arrangement would have about 345 people riding across the same road! However, people getting out of the car when they reach somewhere is a problem for most cars in this arrangement however due to them being stacked under other cars or surrounded by them.

The 8th panel has 50 people in hamster balls. Randall has shown his interest in human sized [[:Category:Hamster Ball|hamster ball]] transportation before, and indeed this would be an enjoyable way to traverse a road, provided no other hamster balls try to drive into you and knock you off the road.

The 9th panel has 40 tiny cars pulling a big one. Such feats of strengths are a common sight while setting world records, so maybe this is a world record attempt by the cars in question. It is unknown how many people fit in the big car.

The 10th panel is a 50 person variation on the classic Boat Crossing Puzzle, which has also been [[2348: Boat Puzzle|referenced before]] by Randall, except this one involves 30 goats, 20 cabbages and 10 wolves trying to cross the now-flooded road with a single boat. It is not known how many people (or cabbages for that matter) the boat fits, but since humans significantly outnumber the goats, cabbages and wolves it doesn't seem like too much of a problem.

The title text proposes a problem related to another alternative form of transport - the electric scooter. Randall wonders how well an electric scooter would function when run inside the hamster ball. This would probably function like a monowheel of sorts.

==Transcript==
[A picture of many traffic scenarios are shown, with the last one being part of a river with road on either side.]
{|class="wikitable" style="marginauto"
|+Road space comparision
|-
!50 people walking!!50 people riding bikes!!50 people riding a bus!!50 people in 33 cars!!50 people on one tandem bicycle
|-
|A picture of 50 people walking on the left lane of a road.||A picture of 50 bicycles with people on them on the left lane of a road.||A picture of a single bus.||A picture of 33 cars filling the road||A picture of 50 people on one long tandem bicycle.
|-
!20 people driving 40 cars!!30 cars riding on 6 buses!!50 people in human-sized hamster balls!!One giant car pulled by 40 smaller ones!!50 people with 30 goats, 20 cabbages, and 10 wolves
|-
|A picture of 40 cars with 20 people between them with one leg in each side window.||A picture of 30 cars stacked as to fit on 6 buses.||50 hamster balls, each containing a person.||A large car connected to 40 normal cars by rope.||A picture of a road separated by a river. In said river is a dock and boat, and on the side closest to us are 50 people, 30 goats, 20 cabbages, and 10 wolves.
|-
|}
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Hamster Ball]]

2683: Fan Theories

2022-10-12T19:56:48Z

172.69.22.185: /* Explanation */ copyedit

{{comic
| number = 2683
| date = October 10, 2022
| title = Fan Theories
| image = fan_theories_2x.png
| imagesize = 267x318px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The universe fandom is great. Such sweet and enthusiastic people.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Created by a THREE-D PRINTED FAN BASED ON A HYPOTHETICAL SOLUTION TO THE NAVIER-STOKES LAMINAR-TURBULENCE BOUNDARY EQUATION. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A fan theory is an unofficial hypothesis about work from enthusiasts instead of the official authors. They may include background information for or continuations of official narratives.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] refers to scientific hypotheses as "fan theories," implying real life is a franchise with an established fandom. Scientists might probably consider doing so as undervaluing their work, because scientific hypotheses are usually the result of much more serious research.{{Citation needed}} Because there are a lot of charismatic cranks who obtain undeserved recognition for their supposedly scientific hypotheses, such disrespect could be perceived as insensitive to real scientists. Once again, [[Randall]] has atempted to devise a new way to annoy scientists.

Conversely, by referring to rigorous scientific studies as "fan theories" [[Randall]] is also elevating the experience of fandom. Though they are typically not supported by research institutions, tenured faculty positions, or grant funding, fandom communities often demonstrate a high degree of skill in literary criticism including evidence gathering, philosophical interpretation, and generative writing. This continues the trend of building connections between disciplines in STEM, social science, and the humanities.

This comic appeared a few days after renewed suggestions that life may exist [https://www.space.com/saturn-moon-enceladus-ocean-phosphorus within one of Saturn's moons].

The title text may be facetious, having to do with unwelcoming or inconsiderate {{w|fandom}}s (or scientists who are annoyed at being called "fans of the universe"), or it could be sincere.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail, Cueball, White Hat, and Megan standing in a line. Cueball has his hand raised, and Megan has hands balled into fists, exasperated.]
:Cueball: But according to leading fan theories, Jupiter's moons may harbor subsurface oceans.
:Megan: Will you ''please'' stop calling them that?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How to annoy scientists: refer to all hypotheses as "fan theories"

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:2683: Fan Theories

2022-10-12T19:52:09Z

172.69.22.185: Edit

To me, the title text seems to be referring to the opposite kind of fandom compared to what the current explanation says. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.203|141.101.76.203]] 06:54, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

Given the constant stream of manchildren vandalizing this, could an admin please restrict editing access to logged in users? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.143|172.68.110.143]] 07:50, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
: manchildren
:You mean the xkcd fandom? [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 16:45, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

I am 100% behind calling hypotheses 'fan theories'. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 16:45, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

To the person who inserted the {{Template|Citation needed}} initially unsuccessfully by <nowiki>[[citation needed]]</nowiki>, and complained in their edit summaries that no other place uses our formatting (of {{}}s)... That's how Wikipedia implements it (or at least the actual Citation Needed... see below) and [[]]s/[]s are for more general hyperlinking (internal and external). You aren't thinking of some BBCode plugin for forums, are you? They will use [tags] and [tag][/tag], and I could imagine a popular tweak to the tag-handler to not require writing <code>[sup][[u][color=#whatever]citation needed[/color][/u]][/sup]</code>, or similar, every time someone wanted to parody (or ''properly'' apply?) the meme... ...although, reading your intention, did you instead intend to use the explainxkcd version that is {{Template|Actual citation needed}}? I can imagine another editor removing it, anyway, but I just moved it the more accepted side of the punctuation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.49|172.70.85.49]] 18:41, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

I think this comic might also be a comment on the following phenomenom: a lot of spectacular ideas that were once regarded as not really significant, "fringe", or even dubious by the mainstream scientific community two or three decades ago are now seriously pursued by science - mostly because the kids whose imagination was fired up by those ideas have now grown into scientists themselves, who can decide on their own what things to research. The idea that life might exist in the Europa ocean is a prime example for this: It was once mainly science fiction, popularized by Arthur C. Clarke in his 2010 and 2061 odyssey novels, but has since become a serious research subject. Similar things might be said about the time, energy and money that is nowadays devoted to SETI or to the search for primitive life on Mars. Scientists in the 60s and 70s would have probably fallen out of their chairs in shock if they knew. (note that I am all in favour of looking for aliens, but scientists in the 60s and 70s were much more interested in planetary geology and stuff like that). --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.247.38|172.70.247.38]] 09:01, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

The inclusion of Kuhn's work as part of the explanation seems odd. This may be because I don't know his work and thus don't see how this is connected to the comic and especially how merely mentioning it actually helps explaining the comic. I removed that part unless someone comes up with some actual explanation why this is relevant. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:12, 12 October 2022 (UTC)
:Kuhn does discuss paradigms as effectively similar to my simple understanding of fan theories, but I don't understand what the "franchise" terminology means. I can't imagine it would make much of a difference. I guess the point was most professional scientists wouldn't be particularly annoyed by the comparison, because it's not novel or really unusual as a concept. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.185|172.69.22.185]] 19:51, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

this suggests a "how to annoy" category w/ [[2036]] and [[2654]] (and possibly [[2118]], though the "expert shouting at cueball" part is absent) --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.231|172.70.110.231]] 13:54, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

What does "franchise with an established fandom" mean? Could you guys please try to use a relatively simple vocabulary and define necessary jargon or specialized language, such as with link(s)? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.163|172.69.22.163]] 19:46, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2683: Fan Theories

2022-10-12T19:51:15Z

172.69.22.185: Reply

To me, the title text seems to be referring to the opposite kind of fandom compared to what the current explanation says. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.203|141.101.76.203]] 06:54, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

Given the constant stream of manchildren vandalizing this, could an admin please restrict editing access to logged in users? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.143|172.68.110.143]] 07:50, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
: manchildren
:You mean the xkcd fandom? [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 16:45, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

I am 100% behind calling hypotheses 'fan theories'. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 16:45, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

To the person who inserted the {{Template|Citation needed}} initially unsuccessfully by <nowiki>[[citation needed]]</nowiki>, and complained in their edit summaries that no other place uses our formatting (of {{}}s)... That's how Wikipedia implements it (or at least the actual Citation Needed... see below) and [[]]s/[]s are for more general hyperlinking (internal and external). You aren't thinking of some BBCode plugin for forums, are you? They will use [tags] and [tag][/tag], and I could imagine a popular tweak to the tag-handler to not require writing <code>[sup][[u][color=#whatever]citation needed[/color][/u]][/sup]</code>, or similar, every time someone wanted to parody (or ''properly'' apply?) the meme... ...although, reading your intention, did you instead intend to use the explainxkcd version that is {{Template|Actual citation needed}}? I can imagine another editor removing it, anyway, but I just moved it the more accepted side of the punctuation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.49|172.70.85.49]] 18:41, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

I think this comic might also be a comment on the following phenomenom: a lot of spectacular ideas that were once regarded as not really significant, "fringe", or even dubious by the mainstream scientific community two or three decades ago are now seriously pursued by science - mostly because the kids whose imagination was fired up by those ideas have now grown into scientists themselves, who can decide on their own what things to research. The idea that life might exist in the Europa ocean is a prime example for this: It was once mainly science fiction, popularized by Arthur C. Clarke in his 2010 and 2061 odyssey novels, but has since become a serious research subject. Similar things might be said about the time, energy and money that is nowadays devoted to SETI or to the search for primitive life on Mars. Scientists in the 60s and 70s would have probably fallen out of their chairs in shock if they knew. (note that I am all in favour of looking for aliens, but scientists in the 60s and 70s were much more interested in planetary geology and stuff like that). --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.247.38|172.70.247.38]] 09:01, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

The inclusion of Kuhn's work as part of the explanation seems odd. This may be because I don't know his work and thus don't see how this is connected to the comic and especially how merely mentioning it actually helps explaining the comic. I removed that part unless someone comes up with some actual explanation why this is relevant. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:12, 12 October 2022 (UTC)
:Kuhn does discuss paradigms as effectively similar to my simple understanding of fan theories, but I don't understand the "franchise" terminology means. I guess the point was most professional scientists wouldn't be particularly annoyed by the comparison, because it's not novel or really unusual as a concept. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.185|172.69.22.185]] 19:51, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

this suggests a "how to annoy" category w/ [[2036]] and [[2654]] (and possibly [[2118]], though the "expert shouting at cueball" part is absent) --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.231|172.70.110.231]] 13:54, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

What does "franchise with an established fandom" mean? Could you guys please try to use a relatively simple vocabulary and define necessary jargon or specialized language, such as with link(s)? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.163|172.69.22.163]] 19:46, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2683: Fan Theories

2022-10-11T08:05:03Z

172.69.22.185:

nigger [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.203|141.101.76.203]] 06:54, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

nigger [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.143|172.68.110.143]] 07:50, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

2683: Fan Theories

2022-10-11T02:21:27Z

172.69.22.185: owo uwu owo

{{comic discussion}}
[[Categowy:Astwonomy]]
[[Categowy:Comics featuwing Ponytail]]
[[Categowy:Comics featuwing Cueball]]
[[Categowy:Comics featuwing White Hat]]
[[Categowy:Comics featuwing Megan]]| titletext = The univewse fandom is gweat. Such sweet and enthusiastic people.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|yall mad bcs fuwwies w bettew than u}}

Once again, [[Wandall]] has devised a new and effective way to annoy a vewy sizable pwopowtion of the scientific community.

In this comic, [[Cueball]] wefews to scientific {{w|hypothesis|hypotheses}} he is twying to explain to [[Ponytail]], [[White Hat]], and [[Megan]], as "fan theowies." Scientists awe sometimes upset when theiw vewy sewious hypotheses awe not tweated with the upmost wespect, because thewe awe a lot of chawismatic cwanks who obtain undesewved wecognition.

This comic appeawed 60 yeaws aftew [https://iep.utm.edu/kuhn-ts/ Thomas S. Kuhn's] wenowned 1962 tweatise, "The Stwuctuwe of Scientific Wevolutions."

The title text may be mocking fandoms, which awe sometimes thought of as unwelcoming and inconsidewate.

==Twanscwipt==
{{incomplete twanscwipt|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail, Cueball, White Hat, and Megan standing in a line. Cueball has his hand waised, and Megan has hands balled into fists, exaspewated.]
:Cueball: But accowding to leading fan theowies, Jupitew's moons may hawbow subsuwface oceans uwu.
:Megan: Will you ''pwease'' stop calling them that uwu?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How to annoy scientists: wefew to all hypotheses as "fan theowies"

{{comic discussion}}
[[Categowy:Astwonomy]]
[[Categowy:Comics featuwing Ponytail]]
[[Categowy:Comics featuwing Cueball]]
[[Categowy:Comics featuwing White Hat]]
[[Categowy:Comics featuwing Megan]]

2673: Cursed mRNA Cocktail

2022-09-17T01:55:40Z

172.69.22.185: /* Explanation */ mayo has some proteins, vitamins and minerals, but I forget which

{{comic
| number = 2673
| date = September 16, 2022
| title = Cursed mRNA Cocktail
| image = cursed_mrna_cocktail_2x.png
| imagesize = 331x513px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Serve one each to guests whose last cursed cocktail was more than 2 months ago.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a VACCINE DRINKER. Do NOT drink the mRNA Cocktail. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Approximately two dozenth in [[:Category:Comics featuring cursed items|the "cursed" series]], this comic describes a process to approximate the molecular composition of certain {{w|mRNA}}-based vaccines in drinkable form. It contains the variety and relative concentrations of the simple molecular constituents found within the injectable mixture. i.e. mostly water, some sugar, lipids, proteins, an amino acid "or" biological and genetic material, and the other constituents of {{w|mayonnaise}}.

Like much of what we eat or drink, the stomach and intestines will neutralise much of the complexity of either the vaccines or this ersatz replica of them, reducing them to simpler proteins of some slight nutritional value. For the vaccine to work, it has been designed to be injected into the body e.g. {{w|intramuscular}}ly to bypass the hostile environment of the human digestive system. While there are similar vaccines administered as a nasal spray, the fragility of mRNA in the human digestive system has curtailed the search for ingestible analogs. [[Randall]]'s replacement mixture '''might provoke generally unwise physiological reactions.''' While very few people would find such a mixture palatable, it is likely nontoxic,{{Actual citation needed}} and contains water, proteins and calories, all important if elementary nutritional components. Because it doesn't contain a complete spectrum of essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals,{{Actual citation needed}} you can't live on it alone.

The instruction to serve in {{w|shot glasses}} is a play on words as "shot" can mean {{w|Injection (medicine)|injection}} in medicine. (U.K.: {{wiktionary|jab#Noun|jab}}; Scotland: {{wiktionary|jag#Noun|jag}}). However, one {{w|Jigger (bartending)|jigger}} is only 0.19 of a cup, so the recipe serves five.

The title text suggests the mixture can be served as a "booster" to a prior dose or serving after an initial treatment. There is much study of vaccine efficacy relative to the timing of subsequent doses. Too little time between makes the new dose not necessarily cause the immune system to react in the way that it should; however most pairs of distinct vaccines work well if delivered on the same day.{{Actual citation needed}} The comic recommends not redosing within two months of the last attempt.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Ever wondered what it would be like to drink the new COVID booster?
:This recipe approximately recreates the taste and nutritional profile!
:''(Note: does not protect against COVID.)''

:[The following two testimonies are displayed in spiky bubbles.]
:"...What? Eww." -CDC spokesperson
:"Please stop." -Dr. Anthony Fauci

:Ingredients
:2 cups water
:3 tbsp mayonnaise
:¼ tsp MSG or nutritional yeast
:1 tbsp sugar

:Directions
:Pour 1 cup of water into a blender. Add the mayonnaise and MSG. Blend until smooth.
:Pour the other cup of water into a glass. Add the sugar and 1 tsp of the mixture from the blender. Stir well.
:Serve in shot glasses.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring cursed items]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2665: America Songs

2022-09-14T21:23:12Z

172.69.22.185: /* Table of names matching the rythmic meter of America */ original

{{comic
| number = 2665
| date = August 29, 2022
| title = America Songs
| image = america_songs.png
| titletext = Juraaaassic Park, Juraaaassic Park, God shed his grace on theeeee
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a JURASSIC PARK SONGWRITER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Many songs, particularly those written by Americans, contain the word "America." Randall has listed 5 such songs: "{{w|America the Beautiful}}", "{{w|God Bless America}}", Neil Diamond's "{{w|America (Neil Diamond song)|America}}", "{{w|America (West Side Story song)|America}}" from the Broadway musical ''{{w|West Side Story}}'', the Guess Who's "{{w|American Woman}}" and Green Day's "{{w|American Idiot (song)|American Idiot}}". These songs usually either praise the United States for its perceived virtues or mock it for its perceived flaws. Regardless of the content of the song, one could likely sing such songs replacing each usage of the word "America" or "American" with another four-syllable word or phrase with emphasis on the second syllable, without disrupting the {{w|cadence}} or meter of the song. Words and phrases like this are said to "{{w|Scansion|scan}}" with the word "America," which means to conform to that metrical pattern.

The comic provides a list of such names, most of which are locations. While some share virtues or flaws with the United States, most would fit into songs about the United States poorly, and only some are prominent enough to justify a song praising or mocking them. So the substitution is humorous for most of the examples. Other examples include Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Liberia, Nigeria, Bolivia, Siberia, Somalia, Albania, Bulgaria, Colombia, Cambodia, Armenia, Australia, Dominica, Estonia, Mongolia, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Africa, El Salvador, the Alamo, and the Netherlands.

Note that inhabitants of some real-world locations mentioned in this comic do not pronounce their names in a way that scans with "America". Also note that the adjective form of many of the places listed either does not exist or does not fit the same rhythmic structure as "American". (For instance, while "Antarctican Idiot" scans with "American Idiot", "St. Petersburgian Idiot" does not; meanwhile, "Canada" does not scan with "America", but "Canadian" does scan with "American" and was in fact used as such in Weird Al's parody, "{{w|Canadian Idiot}}".) In these cases, it would be necessary to use the noun form of the name to preserve the song's meter.

The title text provides an example: substituting "{{w|Jurassic Park}}" for "America" in the song "{{w|America the Beautiful}}".

A similar comparison in "scanning" was made in [[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]].

===Table of names matching the rythmic meter of America===
{| class="wikitable"
! Name || Description
|-
! colspan="2" | Map
|-
| Sasketchewan || Spelled incorrectly, should be ''{{w|Saskatchewan}}''. A province in Canada, whose capital is {{w|Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina}} and largest city is {{w|Saskatoon}}.
|-
| {{w|Ontario}} || The largest Canadian province by population and 2nd largest by total area. Includes the capital of Canada, {{w|Ottawa}}, and its largest city, {{w|Toronto}}.
|-
| {{w|Olympia, Washington|Olympia}} || Capital of the state of {{w|Washington}}.
|-
| {{w|Yosemite}} || National park in the state of {{w|California}}. Pronounced "yoh-SEM-ih-tee".
|-
| {{w|Los Angeles}} || Largest city in the state of California, and 2nd largest city in the United States.
|-
| {{w|Lake Michigan}} || One of the five {{w|Great Lakes}} in the United States. Borders the states of {{w|Wisconsin}}, {{w|Illinois}}, {{w|Indiana}}, and {{w|Michigan}}.
|-
| {{w|Peoria, Illinois|Peoria}} || The county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, and the largest city on the Illinois River. The oldest permanent European settlement in Illinois, according to the Illinois State Archaeological Survey.
|-
| {{w|Columbia, Missouri|Columbia}} (MO) || Fourth largest city in the state of {{w|Missouri}}. One of {{w|Columbia#United_States|many cities}} in the US named after {{w|Columbia (personification)|Columbia}}.
|-
| {{w|Montpelier, Vermont|Montpelier}} || The capital of the state of {{w|Vermont}}, which is a three syllable word pronounced mont-PEEL-yur and thus is erroneously on this list.{{cn}} However, the demonym "Montpelierite" is in fact four syllables so it can be used for the "American" songs.
|-
| {{w|Schenectady, New York|Schenectady}} || City in Schenectady County, {{w|New York}}. In the 19th century, nationally influential companies and industries developed in Schenectady, including {{w|General Electric}} and American Locomotive Company (ALCO).
|-
| {{w|Centralia, Pennsylvania|Centralia}} || Near-ghost town in central {{w|Pennsylvania}} due to a {{w|Centralia mine fire|long running mine fire}} burning beneath the town.
|-
| {{w|Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis}} || Capital city of the state of {{w|Maryland}} and home to the {{w|United States Naval Academy}}.
|-
| {{w|Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia}} (SC) || Capital of the state of {{w|South Carolina}}. One of {{w|Columbia#United_States|many cities}} in the US named after {{w|Columbia (personification)|Columbia}}.
|-
| {{w|Vidalia, Georgia|Vidalia}} || City in the state of {{w|Georgia}}, known for their {{w|Vidalia onion}}s. Vidalia may not actually scan to "America", as it is pronounced "vy-DALE-yuh", not "vy-DALE-ee-ah" or "vee-DAHL-ee-ah".
|-
| {{w|Acadia National Park|Acadia}} || National park in the state of {{w|Maine}}.
|-
| {{w|Connecticut}} || US State, whose capital is {{w|Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford}} and largest city is {{w|Bridgeport, Connecticut|Bridgeport}}.
|-
| {{w|LaGuardia Airport|LaGuardia}} || One of the three major airports in {{w|New York City}} metropolitan area, named after former mayor {{w|Fiorello La Guardia}}. The [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoQEddtFN3Q ''West Side Story'' song in question] was performed in early 2020 on [https://youtu.be/6d7Vk_qaiB8?t=150 ''Saturday Night Live''.] The airport was described in 2014 by Joe Biden as being like a third-world country.
|-
| {{w|Virginia Beach}} || Most populous city in the state of {{w|Virginia}}.
|-
| {{w|The Villages, Florida|The Villages}} || An unincorporated senior living community in the state of {{w|Florida}}. Notable for its local newspaper, ''{{w|The Villages Daily Sun}}'', which was the only top 25 American newspaper (by circulation) to show growth in 2022.[https://pressgazette.co.uk/us-newspaper-circulations-2022/]
|-
| {{w|St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg}} || The fifth largest city in the state of Florida. Part of the {{w|Tampa Bay area|Tampa Bay metropolitan area}}.
|-
| {{w|Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach}} || A coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, across the bay from the city of {{w|Miami}}.
|-
! colspan="2" | Below the map
|-
| {{w|Algeria}} || A country in North Africa. The largest and the 9th most populated country on the continent of Africa. Bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea.
|-
| {{w|Armenia}} || A landlocked country located in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region.
|-
| {{w|Monrovia}} || The capital city of the West African country of {{w|Liberia}}.
|-
| {{w|Brasília|Brasilia}} || The federal capital of the country of {{w|Brazil}} and Brazil's 3rd populous city. Actually spelled ''Brasília''.
|-
| {{w|Australia}} || A country which comprises the mainland of the continent of Australia. The world's sixth largest country by area.
|-
| {{w|Valencia}} || The 3rd most populous city in the country of {{w|Spain}}.
|-
| {{w|Byzantium}} || An ancient Greek city and capital of the {{w|Byzantine Empire}}. Its name was changed to New Rome in 324, Constantinople in 330, and finally Istanbul in 1930.
|-
| {{w|Assyria}} || An major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state and then a territorial state and eventually an empire. The Assyrian Empire fell to the Babylonians and Medes in the late 7th century BC.
|-
| {{w|Beringia}} || A prehistoric land mass and region in the {{w|Bering Sea}} region. It is the most popular site of the hypothesized "land bridge" that early humans used to migrate to the Americas.
|-
| {{w|Antarctica}} || The earth's southernmost and least-populated continent, mostly covered by ice.
|-
| {{w|Sokovia}} || A fictional country in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Described to be in eastern Europe between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Its capital city is destroyed during a battle between Ultron and the Avengers in the film ''{{w|Avengers: Age of Ultron}}'', leading to the ratification of the Sokovia Accords.
|-
| {{w|Andromeda}} || Several things: a {{w|Andromeda (constellation)|constellation in space}}, a {{w|Andromeda Galaxy|galaxy}} within that constellation, or the {{w|Andromeda (mythology)|Greek mythological character}} whom the constellation and galaxy are named after.
|-
| {{w|Lothlórien|Lothlorien}} || A realm of the elves in {{w|Middle-earth}} in the {{w|Tolkien's legendarium|works of J. R. R. Tolkien}}. Ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn. Actually spelled ''Lothlórien'' in the books.
|-
| ''{{w|Subnautica}}'' || Not a place, but an open-world survival action-adventure video game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment released in 2018.
|-
| {{w|metaverse|The Metaverse}} || The online world of {{w|virtual reality}}. (To substitute into ''American Idiot'', the singer could use "don't wanna be a Metaverse Idiot" or "The Metaverse idiot".)
|-
| {{w|Econo Lodge|EconoLodge}} || Actually spelled ''Econo Lodge'', though their wordmark doesn't help. An economy motel chain in the US and Canada.
|-
| Jurassic Park (title text) || Jurassic Park is the titular theme park of cloned dinosaurs in the ''{{w|Jurassic Park}}'' franchise of books, films, and other media. Inevitably, the dinosaurs escape and attack humans.
|}

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

:[A header is written above a map of the US mainland:]
:<big>Places whose names scan to "America," so they can be substituted into songs such as:</big>
:''America the Beautiful''
:''God Bless America''
:Neil Diamond – ''America''
:West Side Story – ''America''
:The Guess Who – ''American Woman''
:Green Day – ''American Idiot''
:[Above the map, towards the left:]
:Sasketchewan
:[Towards the right:]
:Ontario
:[A number of places are marked on the map. From top to bottom, left to right:]
:Olympia
:Yosemite
:Los Angeles

:Lake Michigan
:Peoria
:Columbia (in Missouri)

:Acadia
:Montpelier
:Schenectady
:Connecticut
:LaGuardia
:Centralia
:Annapolis
:Virginia Beach
:Columbia (in South Carolina)
:Vidalia
:The Villages
:St. Petersburg
:Miami Beach
:[Below the map, in columns:]
:Australia
:Armenia
:Monrovia
:Brasilia
:Australia
:Valencia

:Byzantium
:Assyria
:Beringia
:Antarctica

:Sokovia
:Andromenda

:Lothlorien
:Subnautica

:The Metaverse
:EconoLodge

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Substitutions]]