explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2756: Qualifications

2023-03-30T00:11:37Z

172.70.111.76:

This reminds me of Ken Thompson's Turing Award lecture, https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:23, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

if you’re playing with your llama and build a time machine, make sure to rescue not only randall but everyone else too ! (edit: llama is a powerful language model presently popular, originally shared to non-researchers on 4chan. the joke relates to consumer and general AI being on a huge up-curve without mention in the comic.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.54|162.158.63.54]] 23:34, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

'''over''' 600 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 00:11, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

1447: Meta-Analysis

2023-03-28T15:48:25Z

172.70.111.76:

{{comic
| number = 1447
| date = November 14, 2014
| title = Meta-Analysis
| image = meta-analysis.png
| titletext = Life goal #29 is to get enough of them rejected that I can publish a comparative analysis of the rejection letters.
}}

==Explanation==
In the scientific literature, {{w|Meta-analysis|meta-analyses}} are studies which compare multiple studies on a single topic, with the aim of giving a balanced overview of the known results. [http://www.medline.com/ Medline], [http://www.elsevier.com/online-tools/embase/about Embase] and [http://www.cochrane.org/ Cochrane] are medical research databases which give access to studies on drug effects or results of other medical procedures.

This comic explores the idea of iterating the process, going from meta-analyses to meta-meta-analyses (which actually exist, though not necessarily by that name, see below) and hence to a meta-meta-meta-analysis.

Of course, the title text adds another level of meta-analysis, since he wants to make a meta-analysis of rejection letters which concern his meta-meta-meta analyses.

All of the cited meta-meta-analyses are real: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0895-4356(03)00110-0 M. Sampson (2003)], [http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2005.01645.x P. L. Royle (2005)], [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2011.01.007 E. Lee (2011)], and [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2005.03.004 A.R. Lemeshow (2005)].

The phrase "too meta" can be found in the comments of videos, blog posts, and other internet content for which the commentator claims they are so abstract that they can't be easily interpreted. It refers to the thing in question being too self-referential, but could just be a cursory dismissal of the presented content.

Comic [[93: Jeremy Irons]] similarly states a slightly absurd "life goal". [[917: Hofstadter]] is "meta"-related.

==Transcript==
:[Excerpt from a scientific paper.]
:Many meta-analysis studies include the phrase “We searched Medline, Embase, and Cochrane for studies…”
:This has led to meta-meta-analyses comparing meta-analysis methods. e.g. M Sampson (2003), PL Royle (2005), E Lee (2011), AR Lemeshow (2005).
:We performed a meta-meta-meta-analysis of these meta-meta-analyses.
:Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, and Cochrane for the phrase “We searched Medline, Embase, and Cochrane for the phrase ‘We searched Medline, Embase, and [cut off]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Life goal #28: get a paper rejected with the comment “Too meta”

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]
[[Category:Self-reference]]

Talk:2743: Hand Dryers

2023-02-28T02:31:51Z

172.70.111.76:

The mouseover text is trolling, since that would be impossible. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.140|172.70.200.140]] 16:23, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

The Pratt & Whitney J58 is capable of producing exhaust velocities exceeding that of Mach 2 at ground level. It would be possible (though extremely inadvisable) to dry one's hands in the exhaust, at least for the brief period where one still has hands. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.115.72|172.70.115.72]] 16:44, 27 February 2023 (UTC) J. Kupec

With a low enough vacuum in the surrounding area, a supersonic hand dryer should be able to apply drying without enough energy dissipation to damage the skin. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.184|172.69.65.184]] 17:27, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

As far as I understand it, the low velocity dryers heat the air, the high velocity ones don't, but rely on the air being compressed and air speed is of the essence. The other problem with the idea of very high speed is that 'stuff' could penetrate the skin (there is a type of needle-less vaccination gun on that principle).[[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 19:31, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

That matches my memory, the first ones I remember were fairly low airspeed and had a data tag "1500 watts" for the heating element. Has anyone tried one of these with *dry* hands, to see how long the element takes to get hot? I don't think they heat up instantly. They certainly get hot--motorcycling on cold days I've pointed the nozzle inside my clothing to warm up at a rest stop.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 19:40, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

I don't think this effect fully explains observations. For example, the airflow feels warmer sooner when someone has used the dryer just before you. [[User:P1h3r1e3d13|P1h3r1e3d13]] ([[User talk:P1h3r1e3d13|talk]]) 21:10, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

"though this was first achieved many decades ago, in the 1950s" Yeager broke the sound barrier in level flight on Oct. 14, 1947, and planes had been doing it in dives for years. [[User:Cser|Cser]] ([[User talk:Cser|talk]]) 21:29, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
:Without reading your comment, I further changed the (as it was for me) "1940s" version of the statement to include the original "inadvertent" barrier-breaking (of prop-planes in almost always irrecoverable dives, without control surfaces that would work well in supersonic/transonic airflows) and included the developments made, which these days are somewhat more trivial than having to sit on a rocket that is released from a high-altitude bomber's wing, and fight to keep it flying straight and level. (We even had a supersonic airliner, for several decades!) There's a lot of interesting history to this, but not really the place to say it all. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.57|172.70.85.57]] 01:45, 28 February 2023 (UTC)

Should we make an "airplane banner" category? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 02:31, 28 February 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2743: Hand Dryers

2023-02-27T19:40:28Z

172.70.111.76: just speculation...

2659: Unreliable Connection

2023-01-27T07:52:36Z

172.70.111.76:

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2728: Lane Change Highway

2023-01-25T02:41:14Z

172.70.111.76: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2728
| date = January 23, 2023
| title = Lane Change Highway
| image = lane_change_highway_2x.png
| imagesize = 374x530px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I just think lane markers should follow the local magnetic declination.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CANDY CANE ROAD - Please continue to expand the description, add the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Highway}}s are large roads designated for high-speed traffic. Like in [[253: Highway Engineer Pranks]], [[Randall]] proposes an ineffective highway design, which reportedly got him fired.

Highways normally have several, but not a fixed number of lanes; more lanes may be included on parts of the highway with higher traffic flow, and the design decision can interact with entrances and exits to the highway. One common structure is to merge a lane from the right to the left after an entrance, to remove the extra lane created by the merge of the entry ramp. Drivers are expected to merge into one of the lanes further left before the lane on the right ends.

Here, Randall has designed a highway where the lanes are not aligned to the road, thus constantly expanding to the left and requiring merges from the right. This is highly impractical, as each individual lane merge is a difficult maneuver compared to normal driving; being forced to perform these near-constantly is a large hindrance at the least and a large danger at the most.

Effectively every car would have to drive with their left turn blinker on constantly in order to drive in a regular straight line. Alternatively cars could stage their lane changes which would make them swerve gently back and forth across the road. Since everyone will choose a different strategy, the road would be chaos. People would almost never try to make a right lane change since lanes to the right end sooner.

==Transcript==
:[In a white panel a black road starts at the bottom left and curves gently towards the right until the middle of the panel, where it begins curving slightly to the left ending in the top right corner. The road has space for four lanes divided by lane markers, but the markers does not follow the direction of the road but goes more from left to right than the road, even though they do follow the general curve of the road, but never the actual direction of the road. This results in all these lanes to end near the right edge of the road. Every time the lane gets too near the edge the lane lines stop and on the end of the lane there is a curving arrow pointing left. Below the arrows the word "Merge" is written. This happens seven times on this small patch of Highway. At the bottom and top there are the lane marker lines entering and exiting, so always there are four lanes. After the three starting at the bottom, seven new ones begin, the last just below the top, where the final merge arrow also is, stopping the last of the right lines from exiting at the top.]
:Merge
:Merge
:Merge
:Merge
:Merge
:Merge
:Merge

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I got fired from my traffic engineering job for building a highway where you could only travel by lane changes.

==Trivia==
* A faint grey outline is visible under the caption, as if text was rewritten over a semitransparent layer, which was never deleted.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Engineering]]

2725: Sunspot Cycle

2023-01-18T21:44:14Z

172.70.111.76:

{{comic
| number = 2725
| date = January 16, 2023
| title = Sunspot Cycle
| image = sunspot_cycle_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x503px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Who can forget the early 2010s memes? 'You know you're a 90s kid if you remember the feeling of warm sunlight on your face.' 'Only 90s kids remember the dawn.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NINETIES KID WHO ATE THE SUN - PLEASE change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a reference to the {{w|solar cycle}}, which is a roughly 11-year cycle of changes in the Sun's activity from a period of minimal levels of various related phenomena ({{w|sunspots}}, solar radiation, ejecta, and solar flares) to one of maximum activity in these areas. As the cycle continues, the Sun returns to minimal activity and starts over. Without actually studying the Sun, however, there is no discernable difference to our daily lives here on Earth, and studying the Sun in enough detail is difficult due to its intrinsic and eye-damaging brightness whenever viewed directly. The comic may be a joke that nobody ever looks outside anymore, and so it may be possible to convince people that the sun has gone away. It's worth noting that the umbra (darkest portion) of a sunspot is still roughly 3000-4500K, so if the sun were to express as one massive umbra it would still be very visible, possibly appearing as a {{w|Stellar_classification#Class_K|type K}} star.

This comic makes a joke that when the absolute number of sunspots appears to decrease it is not because they disappear, but because they get so crowded that they begin to merge, and thus the number of individual spots decreases whereas the area of the sun covered by sunspots continues to increase to near total 'darkness'. This causes there to be a completely dark Sun after 11 years, at which point any new sunspots are ''bright'' patches, and the next 11-year cycle repeats the process but accumulating bright spots until eventually it is all bright once more, giving a total bright/dark cycle of 22 years.

The curve showing the number of differentiable sunspots covers a bit more than 11 years, one full cycle of our normal Sun. During that time the number of sunspots first increases and then decreases down to zero. At the end of this cycle our Sun has returned to its starting brightness. The comic's sun, however, has gone from fully bright to fully dark; its full cycle takes 22 years. The number of distinct spots (of either kind) first increases and then decreases as they merge into just one Sun-enveloping spot. Then the other type of spot appears and begins to dominate once more.

Below is a graph showing the number of sunspots as a function of time from around 1965 to 2025. Periods where the sun is dark are shown with black under the curve, and in transition periods with lines of darkness getting closer together on the way to 'fully' dark area plus vals of light reinserting themselves in the lightening part of the cycle. Also for clarity the troughs are labeled with the sun being bright or dark. It is always when there are few spots that the sun is either completely free from spots and thus bright, or completely covered and thus dark. The maxima are always during the height of the transition between the two extremes, with a wide swathe of the time around the minima being mostly light or mostly dark, alternating at around a decade of each predominating.

At times, this closely synchronises with the calendar decades. From this curve it can be seen that the Sun was bright across the 1990s, but not in the dark 1980s or the dark time from around 2001 to 2014. This fact is mentioned in the title text (see below). Similarly the 1970s were mostly bright, after the largely dark 1960s, the width of the transition periods covering the marked decade-defining years in slightly offset ways compared to the neighbouring ones. After the darkness began around 2000, the shift was such that it finally got bright again around 2014, with darkness returning around 2024. This is because of the sunspot cycles being 11 years (making the illumination cycle 22 years) and eventually it no longer credibly meshes with the arbitrary decadal cut-offs.

All this would obviously be catastrophic if it happened in our version of the universe, as during a dark phase insufficient light would be coming from the Sun, and the Earth could freeze if all the energy from the Sun was reduced. If the spots only affect light in the visible spectrum, then Earth would not freeze but plants would have trouble with photosynthesis and other natural processes would be interrupted. In our universe sunspots cool the area of the Sun where they appear, relative to the rest of the surface (50-75% of the nearly 6000K 'norm'), but they are far from being actually dark; [https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/workbook/sunspot.html NASA says] that each sunspot on its own would glow orange, brighter than the full Moon. So even in a completely sunspot-covered Sun, the Sun would still be brighter than (with a typically bright Sun illuminating it) the Moon, and far brighter than the dark-time Moon would become (possibly causing issues for nocturnal life, as well). It would be possible to see it (and see by it) even if the heat delivered were very low and even noon would seem to be {{wiktionary|crepuscular}} by our normal expectations. See more in the title text explanation.

These problems are obviously not a serious threat in the reality of the comic, as the Sun is truly dark and yet people and natural systems have long survived these dark periods and adapted accordingly. This becomes clear in the title text where internet memes indicate that people lived fine through the dark periods, although they obviously did not 'properly' see the Sun as kids if they were born near the start of a 'dark decade'.

The title text indicates the effect on internet memes that the special solar cycle has had. During the 2010s in our universe there were many '90s kid' memes. Those were also popular in this universe, but they reflect that the Earth had at that time been dark since the 2000s, and thus only those born in the 90s and before would remember dawn or the feeling of the warm sun on their faces.

This of course indicates that the Sun is actually dark and gives no warmth. Thus it is a mystery how life on Earth prevails, but given that there were kids from the 1990s that made memes twenty years after, life does work in this strange alternate universe.

==Transcript==
:[This comics shows two graphs, one also with several images of the Sun in different times in the solar cycle. The top graph is much larger than the bottom graph, and above them is a explanation of what the graphs shows:]
:Ever wonder why the sun disappears for about 10 years every other decade? This terrifying period of worldwide darkness is a natural consequence of the 11-year sunspot cycle:

:[A graph is shown with a label above the arrow on the Y-axis and a label written above the left part of the X-axis with an arrow pointing from it to the right (there is no arrow on the X-axis line). The graph shows a sine curve with a dashed line. It starts close to the bottom and then increases, then decreases before it finally slightly increases again. Above the dashed line are eight circles representing the sun with various levels of sunspots, with an arrow between each circle pointing to the next to the right. All circles are just above the dashed curve and the small arrows between them also follow the curvature of the line, so this string makes the same shape as the curve. along the eight representation of the sun there are five labels. The eight Suns are described below with labels given when relevant.]
:Y-Axis: Sunspot number
:Y-Axis: Time

:[The first Sun's circle is completely white.]

:[The second Sun's circle has a few sunspots. A label is written to the left of it:]
:Dark sunspots appear

:[The third Sun's circle has several sunspots. A label is written to the left of it:]
:Sunspot number rises

:[The fourth Sun's circle is half covered in sunspots.]

:[The fifth Sun's circle is mostly black with a few lines of white dots. Between the fourth and fifth circle is a label:]
:Number falls as sunspots merge.

:[The sixth Sun's circle is almost completely black with just a few small white spots. A label is written above it:]
:Sunspots envelop sun, Earth enters years of darkness.

:[The seventh Sun's circle is mostly black with a few light areas.]

:[The eighth Sun's circle is still mostly black but with some larger white areas. A label is written above and left of it:]
:Bright sunspots appear, cycle reverses.

:[Below is a second graph with a label written near the top of the Y-axis which is otherwise not labeled. The X-axis also has no label, but six years are written beneath at equal intervals. The graph shows a similar sine curve as the one above, but with almost five cycles shown. Also, each cycle is not close to being a perfect sine curve, but has the property with a peak followed by a trough. The five troughs are labeled. The area beneath the curve alternates from being black and white when there is a trough, with the peak in between having several vertical lines, indicating transfer from black to white and vise versa. There are not same distance between peaks and there are also features on the graphs, for instance the two peaks in the middle has a drop, so they look like volcanoes. And the last full peak has a clear outlier year with many sunspots.]
:Label: History:
:X-axis labels: 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
:Through 1970-1980: Sun is bright
:Through 1980-1990: Sun is dark
:Through 1990-2000: Sun is bright
:Through 2000-2010: Sun is dark
:Through 2010-2020: Sun is bright

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Internet]]

2721: Euler Diagrams

2023-01-06T21:37:42Z

172.70.111.76: funnier this way

{{comic
| number = 2721
| date = January 6, 2023
| title = Euler Diagrams
| image = euler_diagrams_2x.png
| imagesize = 370x409px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Things Leonhard Euler created ( most of math ( overlapping circle diagrams ) a cricket bowling machine ) Things John Venn created
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by JOHN EULER AND LEONHARD VENN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Cueball]] is showing an offscreen person a {{w|Venn diagram}} he made about something. The offscreen person then informs Cueball that it is in fact a {{W|Euler diagram}}, not a Venn diagram. Cueball then proceeds to complain that many things are named for {{w|Leonhard Euler}} (specifically {{w|Euler's constant}} and {{w|Euler's function}}) and and wants to call the diagram a Venn diagram to give {{w|John Venn}} more credit.

A Venn diagram is "a widely used diagram style that shows the logical relation between sets". It shows overlap of items in different categories (Sets) by using overlapping {{w|cicrles}} (Or {{w|shape|other shapes}}) to stand in for categories. If an item is within a certain circle, it is in the category the circle represents. So in a venn diagram of "{{w|Animals}}" and "Fuzzy things", {{w|Cat}} would be in the overlap between both circles, {{w|frog}} would be inside only "Animals", and "{{w|Kiwifruit}} would only be in "Fuzzy things". "{{w|Trees}}" would be outside both circles. In a Venn diagram, all 'circles' must overlap with all other circles, even if there are no items in the overlap. This is easy enough for 2 and 3 sets, but as the number of sets increases the diagrams can get [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22159-logic-blooms-with-new-11-set-venn-diagram/ rather complicated], and the sets can start looking very non-circular.

A Venn diagram shows all possible combinations of two or more sets, including those with no elements, and therefore all of the circles must intersect. An Euler diagram only depicts the non-empty combinations, and therefore does not have this constraint.

The title text is an example of a "written" Venn diagram, with Leonhard Euler creating "most of math", John Venn creating a {{w|cricket}} bowling machine, and both of them having created overlapping circle diagrams.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} 
:[Cueball is standing in front of a whiteboard with his palms raised. The text "Venn Diagram of" is visible in large letters, with "of" on the next line and slightly smaller. Below this are two squiggly lines representing illegible text, followed by a <strike>Venn</strike> Euler diagram.] 
:Friend (offscreen): Actually, that's an ''Euler'' diagram, because-
:Cueball: Come '''''onnnn.'''''
:Cueball: '''''Everything''''' is named after Euler. Euler's constant, Euler's function.
:Cueball: Can't we let John Venn have this?
:Friend (offscreen): No.
:Friend (offscreen): Also, numbers are now "Euler letters."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Euler diagrams]]
[[Category:Venn diagrams]]
[[Category:Sport]]

2659: Unreliable Connection

2023-01-05T17:36:25Z

172.70.111.76: Replaced content with "Proven to be much better than Dentitox and by far the most original and well endorsed dental product ever. Visit: https://bit.ly/the-pro-dentim"

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Visit: https://bit.ly/the-pro-dentim

Talk:2710: Hydropower Breakthrough

2022-12-15T07:34:44Z

172.70.111.76:

ChatGPT sez:
:The comic depicts Beret Guy, a character known for his expertise in science and engineering, standing on a podium and announcing that their hydroelectric dam has achieved a level of efficiency greater than one, producing more water than was fed into it. This is cause for celebration, as it indicates that the dam is functioning properly and efficiently. However, the second off-panel voice raises a question, suggesting that there may be more to the situation than initially thought.
:The title text adds further information by revealing that a hydroelectric dam is also known as a heavy water reactor. This suggests that the dam may not be operating in the traditional way, but rather may be using a different type of technology, such as nuclear power, to produce the excess water. This could raise concerns about safety and the potential risks associated with this type of technology.
Meh. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.45|172.69.33.45]] 03:44, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

It *is* possible. All Beret Guy has to do is use the electricity to run air conditioners, which will have one side condensing water from the atmosphere, ergo more water coming out than went in. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 04:00, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:I think there's a conservation of energy violation here, but can't model the entire system. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.97|172.70.134.97]] 14:31, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Considering that he phrases it "more water than we fed into it" in the past tense, it might just be that there's a leak in the dam.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.19|172.69.33.19]] 04:06, 13 December 2022 (UTC) mraction

More variation: "more water than *we* fed into it" ie not counting water from the river that feeds it, or rainfall. There's also the title text turn of phrase "heavy water reactor". "heavy" could refer to either the "water" (in the sense of gravity, or deuterium passing through), or the "reactor" (as in its mass) - [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.242|172.70.210.242]] 05:43, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

A fusion reactor that produces more energy than it consumes does so by consuming and producing things other than energy. If they're running a hydrogen gas turbine at the site, they could be producing more water (from hydrogen and oxygen gases) than they lose, at least in theory. Of course, producing and shipping hydrogen to the site of a dam would be vastly less efficient under any reasonable circumstances than producing electricity instead of hydrogen in the first place.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 07:34, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

If Q is only barely >1 it could square the circle by converting atoms to oxygen by fusion in order to create water but the whole energy of the dam is used to make the fusion of a few oxygen atoms.

"Another member of audience, who is presumably familiar with regular physics, says "Wait.", because conservation of mass usually applies to water such that a dam should produce the same amount of water as that fed into it. That said, for a regular dam in a natural valley like the one shown in this comic, it is entirely normal for the dam to "produce" more water than input in the sense that in addition to water from upstream rivers, the dam will also output any "unofficial" inflow from direct rainfall above and from uncharted sources of groundwater below." 
I thought that the "Wait" comment was in relation to the fact that the announcement, although achieving something that was not achieved so far, is impractical. As the power plants are expected to produce energy, announcement that they produce additional water is irrelevant, and the "wait" comment indicated that they have missed the point. {{unsigned ip|172.68.50.204}}

Given the title of ''Hydropower Breakthrough'', is a possible interpretation that the dam is just about to fail? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.171|172.68.110.171]] 10:35, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

My immediate thought was that he was using the generated electricity to ignite a hydrogen cell, but my immediate thoughts are always weird. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.97|172.70.134.97]] 14:31, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

I feel Randall's comic is strongly indicative of a fair degree of skepticism around recent fusion power hype (many existing ''fission'' reactors produce an energy surplus, but fail to meet their cost of operations)... Yet, the comic's explanation currently reads as a guileless exhortation of fusion's possibilities, making no mention of the many other challenges faced by fusion reactors, besides this critical ''first step'' of generating more power than required to sustain the reaction. The comic is clearly making light of the recent publication\marketing push, yet the explanation gives no sign that fusion power is anything but practical & just around the corner. Fusion still has many remaining challenges to overcome, before reaching practicality as an energy source even for military applications (moreso still, for public utility); wind & solar are the top KWh:$ producers & another 10 or 100 billion spent researching fusion are very unlikely to change that in the next couple decades. In fact, solar research returns more Watts per dollar. The comic should probably mention the other challenges involved in nuclear fusion power, besides raw output quantity?
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:00, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:Top KWh:$ producers sure, by which statistics? The effectivity of different kinds of power plants varies widely both with specific location, cost of input and the method used, but usually the hydroelectric damns build in good terrain would take a lead, especially considering that they can work for more than century. Which wind or solar power plant can hope for that? There is sure lot of research still necessary to make fusion power plants reality, but long term it can easily pay itself, and it can work anywhere, while damns need to be build on river, wind onshore (offshore are MUCH less effective and no research will change that) and solar, well, not too far from equator and somewhere with sunny weather, it wouldn't work when raining. Or, well, in space. Fission might also get good value from research if the research actually will be happening. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:21, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

I think the explanation is overthinking it. The joke is that there's a leak in the dam.
[[User:Nico31415926|An idiot]] ([[User talk:Nico31415926|talk]]) 16:37, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:You mean you only see one of the long list of jokes in this comic? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:21, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:: I guess my mind just thought of the simplest joke first? :shrug: -- [[User:Nico31415926|An idiot]] ([[User talk:Nico31415926|talk]]) 06:03, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

The explanation says nothing about the effect this would have downriver from the dam. [[User:Inquirer|Inquirer]] ([[User talk:Inquirer|talk]]) 16:51, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

I wonder if the image depicts Vajont Dam, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajont_Dam, which was overtopped by a massive wave generated by a landslide--briefly outputting MUCH more water than was input. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.3|172.71.150.3]] 18:38, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Is not counting rain, equivalent to only counting the energy released by the laswers, not the energy fed into the lasers? [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 20:47, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Another possible reason for the "Wait." comment is that, if Beret Guy's dam is indeed magically creating water, then left unchecked it could, over time, lead to the sea levels rising higher than all land surface on Earth. This would indeed be a very unfortunate situation. [[User:Dansiman|Dansiman]] ([[User talk:Dansiman|talk]]) 22:24, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

One of the things I just edited out was the claim that discharging (effectively) distilled water could dehydrate the environment. With an unnaturally hypertonic (dilute) water-source, creatures would not dry out but (if anything) ''absorb'' more water under osmotic pressure, which could lead to cells bursting from too much effort to balance things out. Hypotonic water (too many salts, for a given organism) would draw cellular/bodily stores of water out. Probably a 'pure water discharge' of the kind described would locally dilute the natural body of water that it was set to run into, but would also fairly quickly make itself/its dump-body more eager than normal to adopt ions from the immediate geologies of the run-off path. If you don't presume deluging a parched land with basically your fancy new-water output, there might be effects upon plants and animals adapted to more hard and/or briney water-environments (e.g. creating a disruptive freshwater lagoon within a saltwater marsh), with some ecological concerns to be addressed by careful use of mixing ponds (almost the opposite of most waste-water outlettings, which may require settling ponds or filtrating reed-beds) and questions about relative temperatures (which can be useful ''or'' disruptive to the survival of local creatures who might previously have migrated to more naturally warmer expanses of water), but overall it'd be better than most post-industrial water outflows. With the right eco-oversight to spot side-effects. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.74|172.71.242.74]] 01:39, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Where did all the AWS advertising come from? The comic has no relation to cloud computing or the amazon. The companies green washing ads should be deleted. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.33|198.41.242.33]] 09:30, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Twelve paragraphs is absurd. This wall of text is an order of magnitude harder to understand than the simple comic joke. It needs to be trimmed to three to five paragraphs, tops! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.159|172.71.154.159]] 00:16, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
:Agreed, but it was that large by the time ''I'' arrived at the article, and it seemed that two (or three) separate strands of thought had been separately composed and concatonated. Perhaps not helped by multiple subtly different interpretations of the hidden meanings springing from deep within the words. Major re-editing is needed, but I'm not confident enough to blitz it properly. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.74|172.71.242.74]] 00:39, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
:Those single sentence paragraphs with no context. This is the worst post-start explanation I've seen in months. Now that the next comic is up it's time to get to work. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.17|172.69.134.17]] 04:57, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

The AWS stuff should all be deleted. It is nonsensical. AWS uses water for evaporative cooling of its data centers. It is spending loads of money on wet lands to feel better about it. That has nothing what-so-ever to do with this comic.

ChatGPT may be only barely mediocre at producing good explanations from the transcripts, but it did a fantastic job of reducing 14 absurdly verbose to 5 simple paragraphs (8.3 to 3.6 kilobytes.) I did maybe fiften words of cleanup, mostly to put the (wiki)links back in. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.124|162.158.142.124]] 05:19, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

2708: Mystery Asterisk Destination

2022-12-07T19:34:40Z

172.70.111.76:

{{comic
| number = 2708
| date = December 7, 2022
| title = Mystery Asterisk Destination
| image = mystery_asterisk_destination_2x.png
| imagesize = 288x248px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you ever see the † dagger symbol with no unmatched footnote, it means the writer is saying the phrase while threatening you with a dagger.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT* - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A little treat from Randall to XKCD readers, offering closure to a situation where none is ordinarily found (along the vein of [[391: Anti-Mindvirus]]). Perhaps to make up for the [[859|unmatched parenthesis he willingly set loose onto the world eleven years ago]].

Any good feelings about this closure are short-lived, however, as it then turns out that unmatched instances of † (a dagger; a symbol for a secondary footnote) are in fact threats being made with an actual dagger.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A blank panel with some text at the bottom.]
:'''*''' Whenever you see a mystery asterisk that doesn't have a matching footnote, it points here.

{{comic discussion}}

2708: Mystery Asterisk Destination

2022-12-07T19:34:21Z

172.70.111.76:

{{comic
| number = 2708
| date = December 7, 2022
| title = Mystery Asterisk Destination
| image = mystery_asterisk_destination_2x.png
| imagesize = 288x248px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you ever see the † dagger symbol with no unmatched footnote, it means the writer is saying the phrase while threatening you with a dagger.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT* - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A little treat from Randall to XKCD readers, offering closure to a situation where none is ordinarily found (along the vein of [[391: Anti-Mindvirus]]). Perhaps to make up for the [[859|unmatched parenthesis he willingly set loose onto the world eleven years ago]].

Any good feelings about this closure are short-lived, however, as it then turns out that unmatched instances of † (a dagger; a symbol for a secondary footnote) are in fact threats with an actual dagger.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A blank panel with some text at the bottom.]
:'''*''' Whenever you see a mystery asterisk that doesn't have a matching footnote, it points here.

{{comic discussion}}

2699: Feature Comparison

2022-11-18T19:52:35Z

172.70.111.76: Undo revision 299020 by 172.71.151.26 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2699
| date = November 16, 2022
| title = Feature Comparison
| image = feature_comparison_v2.png
| imagesize =
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Below the Web, and the Dark Web, a shadowy parallel world of Cybiko users trade messages on the Translucent Neon Plastic Web.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MULTIHOMED MESH NODE. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic compares different remote communication services, including the relatively well-known {{w|Twitter}}, {{w|Discord}}, {{w|Mastodon (software)|Mastodon}}, {{w|Facebook}} (FB), {{w|Slack (software)|Slack}}, {{w|Signal (software)|Signal}}, {{w|Internet Relay Chat}} (IRC), {{w|Tumblr}}, {{w|Reddit}}, and {{w|SMS}} mobile telephone text messages. It also includes the less well-known {{w|Cybiko}}® wireless handheld computer for teens. For each of these, it purports to indicate which of various features they support. The comic illustrates how feature comparison charts/infographics can be abused by sellers who are trying to make their products look better than they really are, compared to their main competitors. The comic was likely inspired by the recent news coverage of Twitter's purchase by {{w|Elon Musk}}, and the subsequent mass firings and resignation of its staff, causing many users to start looking for alternatives.

The Cybiko was a handheld computer designed for teens and released in 2000, which featured its own two-way radio text messaging capabilities along with built-in games and a music player. Additional information about it is available at [http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Cybiko the Dead Media Archive], as the device has not been manufactured since 2003. The chart implies that the Cybiko has an advantage over all of the other listed communication services, as it is capable of all eight of the table's listed features - {{w|Private message|direct messaging}}, {{w|group chat}}s, {{w|file transfer}}, built-in {{w|video game|games}}, instances of the software run by individual users instead of the corporation producing it, lack of a {{w|Server (computing)|central server}} requirement, {{w|mesh networking}}, and wireless message delivery without an active internet connection - with none of the others being close.

The comic, purposefully, does not mention the downsides of the Cybiko, that being purchasing and finding friends who own one can be its own challenge, as it was discontinued nearly 20 years ago. Additionally, the comparison can be considered apples to oranges, since Cybiko is a ''device'' rather than a ''service''; a fairer comparison would be to a modern {{w|smartphone}}, which can provide most of these features via multiple apps, including ones written especially for such rival services. Even ignoring the above, some of the Cybiko's "advantages" come with their own drawbacks: while not requiring a central server nor the Internet, for example, is touted as a plus, the Cybiko instead relies on having other devices in proximity to relay messages, meaning unless the person you are sending to is nearby it will not function, which is not an issue of any of the other options. "Mesh networking" is simply a consequence of the design, and is thus akin to advertising say, that a car makes ''vroom'' noises.

This comic contains several errors. Mastodon doesn't require a central server, or support file transfer. Discord does not provide for user-run instances itself, only user-moderated and administrated instances. (There are two third party Discord server implementations, but it is unclear whether those could be counted as run by users.) Slack does not provide for user-run instances itself. Reddit does not provide for user-run instances at all, only user moderation and administration. IRC does require at least one central server,[https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1459.html] and relegates file transfer support to the domain of client extensions. Signal is heavily used in user-run instances via a diverse ecosystem of code forks; many of these don't require a central server, a couple use mesh networking. Reddit occasionally does have built-in games. Finally, Tumblr and SMS both have a form of group chats. An earlier version of the comic suggesting that Mastodon has no user-run instances was corrected by [[Randall]] shortly after publication of the original.

The title text refers to the translucent plastic covers that were popular in the late 90's and early 00's.

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

:[A table with checkmarks to indicate which features various messaging services have. Each column is labeled with a service name and its logo beneath, except that for the last column, the device's longer name is written higher than all the other services' names, with an arrow pointing to a drawing of the device below it.]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Twitter
! Discord
! Mastodon
! FB
! Slack
! Signal
! IRC
! Tumblr
! Reddit
! SMS
! Cybiko® wireless handheld computer for teens (2000)
|-
! Direct messages
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓
|-
! Group chats
| ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! File transfer
| || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! Built-in games
| || ✓ || || ✓ || || || || || || || ✓
|-
! User-run instances
| || ✓ || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓ || || ✓
|-
! Doesn't require central server
| || || || || || || ✓ || || || || ✓
|-
! Mesh networking
| || || || || || || || || || || ✓
|-
! Wireless message delivery works without internet
| || || || || || || || || || ✓ || ✓
|-
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

Talk:2699: Feature Comparison

2022-11-17T04:17:04Z

172.70.111.76:

The image has changed. Now Mastodon includes USER-RUN INSTANCES (though I believe it should also have a check next to DOESN'T REQUIRE CENTRAL SERVER).

I tried googling "wikipedia feature comparison chart". Instead of finding a page explaining how these charts work, I got a chart comparing different wiki softwares. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:22, 16 November 2022 (UTC)

Of course, it wouldn't be hard to make apps on smartphones support mesh networks ... however, the manufacturers and app developers prefer to work hard to make sure they don't work without being connected to internet and serving advertisement. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Direct Although ...] -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 00:25, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

There seems to be a lot of wrongness about this matrix. Besides that mastodon instances can be run by user (which is fixed):
* Mastodon does not support file transfer. You can only upload images, and ''not'' even all image formats—webp is not supported. Some other ActivityPub servers support file upload, but then it's not Mastodon.
* IRC also doesn't support file transfer afaik.
* Mastodon and SMS don't require a central server
* Discord, Reddit, and Slack doesn't have user-run instances
* Discord doesn't have builtin games last time I checked. The games are by the bots,

"IRC itself is a teleconferencing system, which (through the use of the client-server model) is well-suited to running on many machines in a distributed fashion. A typical setup involves a single process '''(the server) forming a central point''' for clients (or other servers) to connect to, performing the required message delivery/multiplexing and other functions." – J. Oikarinen, D. Reed; Internet Relay Chat Protocol; RFC 1459; May 1993. Emphasis added. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.158|172.71.154.158]] 01:45, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

Notably, Mastodon ''eschews'' file transfer - audio specifically - for fear of enabling piracy (issue #7495). Tumblr would have a more comprehensive version of file transfer.
[[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.136|172.71.146.136]] 03:17, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

IRC has (X)DCC for File Transfers and for it's centralisation it depends on the deployment, the original network that became EFNet (Eris-Free Network) doesn't have a central server, but things like Libera and OFTC have centralised services for authentication and servers maintained by only one organisation. Btw for games on the fediverse (which Mastodon is part of) Misskey includes some, sadly they're centralised. [[User:Lanodan|Lanodan]] ([[User talk:Lanodan|talk]]) 03:40, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

Tumblr does have group chats. They're publicly viewable by anyone, but only people in the group can send messages, so I think they still count as group chats.

2695: Soil

2022-11-07T15:21:53Z

172.70.111.76: adding a bit more words and wit

{{comic
| number = 2695
| date = November 7, 2022
| title = Soil
| image = soil_2x.png
| imagesize = 547x217px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You might want to bring your frost-sensitive plants in from the patio. The high-level aerosols may result in short-term cooling across the entire backyard.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EXPLANATION SEED. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] is at it again, what with his wacky powers. this time, he seems to be using {{w|volcano}} seeds to grow tiny volcanoes as an alternative to fertilizing the garden. In reality, volcanoes are caused by the pressure of {{w|magma}} (underground lava) from below the Earth's crust pushing up through it, not seeds.

Volcanic soil is [https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/volcanic-soil generally fertile].

The title text alludes to the fact that sulfate {{w|aerosol}}s from volcanic eruptions may cause a [https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/volcanic-soil short-term cooling effect], expanding on the comedy from a small scale volcano, by adding small scale volcano effects - in reality, the cooling effect occurs because the {{w|aerosol}}s in the atmosphere block out energy from the sun.

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

:[Cueball is standing, holding a trowel. Beret Guy is kneeling, and pouring the content of a small bag in a hole in the ground.]

:Cueball: Thanks for the gardening help!

:Beret Guy: I made these seeds myself!

:[Beret Guy is standing next to a small eruption coming from the ground.]

:[Same scene, eruption is now a knee-high volcano. It produces fumes.]

:Beret Guy: The infusion of nutrient-rich volcanic soil will revitalize your garden.

:[Same scene, the volcano is now waist-high. There are flames on its sides.]

:Voice outside the picture from the direction of Cueball: All my plants are on fire.

:Beret Guy: But soon, life will return to these slopes!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]

Talk:2692: Interior Decorating

2022-11-01T19:40:57Z

172.70.111.76:

what about occam’s razor?[[User:Anonymouscript|Anonymouscript]] ([[User talk:Anonymouscript|talk]]) 22:11, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
:Isn’t ominous, not in itself. —[[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]]) 22:13, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
:It sounds like it would be dangerous, since a razor is a sharp blade. Unless it's Occam's safety razor. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:27, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
::It could be very hazardous to use, if you tried whilst sailing upon the Ship Of Theseus... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.54|172.70.91.54]] 01:47, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

Siege Perilous is ominous and mythical, but what is it a metaphor for? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:27, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

I don't think the Pelosi attack is relevant to this comic. At best, it could be trivia fodder, but I find it highly unlikely that it influenced the comic in any way. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.39|108.162.216.39]] 22:50, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

Isn't Chekhov's gun supposed to be on a mantelpiece? I don't know why I remember that. It's not in Wikipedia but is on plenty of other sites about it. Anyone know the origin of the mantelpiece angle? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.243|172.70.210.243]] 02:12, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
:not necessarily, it's just the most common example of a superfluous detail in 'Why draw attention to an otherwise superfluous detail if it's not of importance?' that's at heart of Chekhov's Gun.[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.217|198.41.242.217]] 07:45, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

This would go great with a dying ivy with only a single leaf, and a blue curtain. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.215.4|172.71.215.4]] 04:21, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

This has one two many metaphors. That last one is the straw that broke the camel's back. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.175.116|172.70.175.116]] 05:48, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

:It was perfectly ok until it tried to jump that shark! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 10:41, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
::No need to jump Chekhov's gun here, sharks are fine, just watch out for those red herrings.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.246.209|172.70.246.209]] 13:05, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
:::Can you shoot red herrings in a barrel with Chekhov's gun? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 13:14, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

img looks slightly blurry. is this because the 2x version is of an odd width (397 pixels) for some reason? --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 19:40, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2692: Interior Decorating

2022-11-01T19:40:47Z

172.70.111.76:

what about occam’s razor?[[User:Anonymouscript|Anonymouscript]] ([[User talk:Anonymouscript|talk]]) 22:11, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
:Isn’t ominous, not in itself. —[[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]]) 22:13, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
:It sounds like it would be dangerous, since a razor is a sharp blade. Unless it's Occam's safety razor. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:27, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
::It could be very hazardous to use, if you tried whilst sailing upon the Ship Of Theseus... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.54|172.70.91.54]] 01:47, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

Siege Perilous is ominous and mythical, but what is it a metaphor for? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:27, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

I don't think the Pelosi attack is relevant to this comic. At best, it could be trivia fodder, but I find it highly unlikely that it influenced the comic in any way. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.39|108.162.216.39]] 22:50, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

Isn't Chekhov's gun supposed to be on a mantelpiece? I don't know why I remember that. It's not in Wikipedia but is on plenty of other sites about it. Anyone know the origin of the mantelpiece angle? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.243|172.70.210.243]] 02:12, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
:not necessarily, it's just the most common example of a superfluous detail in 'Why draw attention to an otherwise superfluous detail if it's not of importance?' that's at heart of Chekhov's Gun.[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.217|198.41.242.217]] 07:45, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

This would go great with a dying ivy with only a single leaf, and a blue curtain. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.215.4|172.71.215.4]] 04:21, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

This has one two many metaphors. That last one is the straw that broke the camel's back. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.175.116|172.70.175.116]] 05:48, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

:It was perfectly ok until it tried to jump that shark! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 10:41, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
::No need to jump Chekhov's gun here, sharks are fine, just watch out for those red herrings.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.246.209|172.70.246.209]] 13:05, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
:::Can you shoot red herrings in a barrel with Chekhov's gun? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 13:14, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

img looks slightly blurry. is this because the 2x version is of an odd with for some reason? --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 19:40, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2685: 2045

2022-10-19T20:10:58Z

172.70.111.76:

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)
: Whatever the old soviet joke is (probably related to the American myth that Canadian medical care takes longer?) it's behind a paywall, so no one can read it anyhow. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.66.45|172.68.66.45]] 19:58, 17 October 2022 (UTC)
:: It's probably the one about the Soviet citizen finally getting permission to obtain a washing machine/fridge/car/whatever, but being told that it would take five/ten/fifteen years to be delivered, or so. "AM or PM?", he asks. Because, as he explains, he has the plumber/electrician/decorator/... due to start work that particular morning. (It's probably on {{w|Russian political jokes|this page}}, or a close version of it, but that's a read and a half and I think I'll go through it later.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.155|172.70.162.155]] 20:34, 17 October 2022 (UTC)
:: From the article:
::Mr. Reagan then told his current favorite [joke], about a Russian who wants to buy a car. A Matter of Delivery
::The man goes to the official agency, puts down his money and is told that he can take delivery of his automobile in exactly 10 years.
::"Morning or afternoon?" the purchaser asks. "Ten years from now, what difference does it make?" replies the clerk.
::"Well," says the car-buyer, "the plumber's coming in the morning." [[Special:Contributions/172.70.174.41|172.70.174.41]] 23:08, 17 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)

:Alternatively, just use 6 cells over 111 generations: [https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/31299/game-of-life-move-the-sun] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.135|172.71.94.135]] 07:10, 18 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)
: And how many probe impacts that would require. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.5|172.71.178.5]] 08:41, 17 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
:::cheeky bastard 💀

Corrected date of annular eclipse to Oct 14 2023 link https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/ Peter 15:13, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

Somebody should add one of those links that redirects to comic no. 2045 to avoid confusion (I'm not super familiar with Mediawiki) [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:06, 17 October 2022 (UTC)
:Not as important, because just trying "2045" sends you there (where there is the {{template|distinguish}} template pointing you here), yet you have to actually try a bit to land here ''instead'' of your true intent to go there. But I just now put one here that tells you about that one, anyway.
:Not sure how many other comics using a <code><nowiki>{{distinguish|...the other comic...}}</nowiki></code> are similarly reciprocated on their 'less favoured sibling' without checking. Could be inconsistently done, if I recall correctly how it was recently set up as a kind of disambiguation measure. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.17|172.71.178.17]] 10:21, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

It claims that 'The moon being hard to move' needs a citation. I know it's a joke, but I have wanted to do the kinetic energy calculations since I saw this, so I give you this: You want a citation? I'll give you a citation! [[User:SqueakSquawk4|SqueakSquawk4]] ([[User talk:SqueakSquawk4|talk]]) 15:58, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

This comic should be a grand example of classical classholeism on black hats part. [[plattermonkey]]

Talk:2685: 2045

2022-10-19T20:09:37Z

172.70.111.76:

This comic should be a grand example of classical classholeism on black hats part. [[User:plattermonkey]]
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)
: Whatever the old soviet joke is (probably related to the American myth that Canadian medical care takes longer?) it's behind a paywall, so no one can read it anyhow. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.66.45|172.68.66.45]] 19:58, 17 October 2022 (UTC)
:: It's probably the one about the Soviet citizen finally getting permission to obtain a washing machine/fridge/car/whatever, but being told that it would take five/ten/fifteen years to be delivered, or so. "AM or PM?", he asks. Because, as he explains, he has the plumber/electrician/decorator/... due to start work that particular morning. (It's probably on {{w|Russian political jokes|this page}}, or a close version of it, but that's a read and a half and I think I'll go through it later.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.155|172.70.162.155]] 20:34, 17 October 2022 (UTC)
:: From the article:
::Mr. Reagan then told his current favorite [joke], about a Russian who wants to buy a car. A Matter of Delivery
::The man goes to the official agency, puts down his money and is told that he can take delivery of his automobile in exactly 10 years.
::"Morning or afternoon?" the purchaser asks. "Ten years from now, what difference does it make?" replies the clerk.
::"Well," says the car-buyer, "the plumber's coming in the morning." [[Special:Contributions/172.70.174.41|172.70.174.41]] 23:08, 17 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)

:Alternatively, just use 6 cells over 111 generations: [https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/31299/game-of-life-move-the-sun] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.135|172.71.94.135]] 07:10, 18 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)
: And how many probe impacts that would require. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.5|172.71.178.5]] 08:41, 17 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
:::cheeky bastard 💀

Corrected date of annular eclipse to Oct 14 2023 link https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/ Peter 15:13, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

Somebody should add one of those links that redirects to comic no. 2045 to avoid confusion (I'm not super familiar with Mediawiki) [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 09:06, 17 October 2022 (UTC)
:Not as important, because just trying "2045" sends you there (where there is the {{template|distinguish}} template pointing you here), yet you have to actually try a bit to land here ''instead'' of your true intent to go there. But I just now put one here that tells you about that one, anyway.
:Not sure how many other comics using a <code><nowiki>{{distinguish|...the other comic...}}</nowiki></code> are similarly reciprocated on their 'less favoured sibling' without checking. Could be inconsistently done, if I recall correctly how it was recently set up as a kind of disambiguation measure. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.17|172.71.178.17]] 10:21, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

It claims that 'The moon being hard to move' needs a citation. I know it's a joke, but I have wanted to do the kinetic energy calculations since I saw this, so I give you this: You want a citation? I'll give you a citation! [[User:SqueakSquawk4|SqueakSquawk4]] ([[User talk:SqueakSquawk4|talk]]) 15:58, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

Talk:998: 2012

2022-10-15T15:38:24Z

172.70.111.76:

2012 is almost over, and no end of the world yet. Makin' progress. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 02:08, 13 November 2012 (UTC)
: We have until Winter Solstice, it seems, whereupon we face a calamity the likes of which haven't been seen since Y2K. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 06:33, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

I haven't been this disappointed by the apocalypse since Y2K. Not even worth a rental. [[Special:Contributions/69.127.136.211|69.127.136.211]] 03:51, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Upgraded to past tense. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 20:32, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

The Mayan did not predict the end of the world, they just would have to use a new calendar.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:56, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
:That's what the explanation says... why the incomplete/incorrect tag? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.117|173.245.53.117]] 10:11, 5 December 2013 (UTC)
::I think it's the "numerous ''other'' faulty predictions" line in the third paragraph. That said, it's not the Mayans who predicted the end of the world, but those who failed to learn from history. Anonymous 01:46, 8 January 2014 (UTC)

I take 4 AP courses this year. AP courses have a bonus point to GPA; for example, an A in an AP course translates to a GPA of 5. I also take a non-AP English course. I am certain that I will get straight-A's in the AP courses, so I can fail the English class and still get a 4.0 GPA, which means straight-A's across the board. --[[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 13:16, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

It would certainly have been the end of the world for those who died or committed suicide on that day. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.223}}

Except for those who did so on Ilkley Moor (unless it was involuntarily. (Or related in some way to the comic.))

Plans to advertise Mayan culture after the year indicate that journalism is a major cause of Fail. Discuss. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 06:36, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Just had a 'Duh' moment, and I don't know why no-one else has noticed this, but not only does 354 days only get you to December 20, that's in non-leap years. 2012 was a leap year. Hence, the number of days should be 356. {{unsigned ip|173.245.48.237}}
:Please do not forget to sign your comments. And your 'Duh' moment is wrong. The comic was released on January 2. Just check the new trivia section. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:25, 2 January 2018 (UTC)

Can we start talking about Mayans again? As mentioned, they're still around in the millions, and languages like Yucatec Maya have ~800,000 speakers, and plenty of resources. The Mayan languages are super cool grammatically. Yucatec Mayan has no tense whatsoever, nor does it have any words like next, after, before, etc. It handles telling the listener about the order and time of events in a completely unique way. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 15:38, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

2685: 2045

2022-10-14T16:45:43Z

172.70.111.76:

{{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.}}
Making plans for eclipses is awkward given how infrequently they occur and the uncertainty of what exactly will be going on at the time, e.g. whether the attendants will have children by then, and 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 12th, 2045. Events as minor as "a thing" are not typically scheduled at a precise date this far in the future{{citation needed}}, and this is likely Black Hat sarcastically rejecting Cueball's invitation.

The title text is someone canceling a doctor appointment to see the eclipse. The event is hard to move because that would require hastening or delaying the eclipse, and ''the sun and moon'' are physically hard to move.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball, another person, 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}}