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1037: Umwelt

2024-09-03T19:01:54Z

172.70.131.106: Aroura shows up in Ankeny, Iowa.

{{comic
| number = 1037
| date = April 1, 2012
| title = Umwelt
| image = umwelt_the_void.jpg
| titletext = Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit--from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your web browser.}}
{{TOC}}
*To view your personal version of the comic, visit the {{xkcd|1037|original comic}}.

==Explanation==
This was the third [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] released by [[Randall]]. The previous fools comic was [[880: Headache]] from Friday April 1st 2011. The next was [[1193: Externalities]] released on Monday April 1st 2013.

An {{w|Umwelt}}, as the title text explains, is the idea that one's entire way of thinking is dependent on their surroundings. Thus, this {{w|April Fools}} comic changes based on the browser, location or referrer. Thus, what the viewer is viewing the comic on, where they live or where they came from determines which comic they actually see. As a result, there are actually multiple comics that went up on April Fools' Day, although only one is seen.
(The term 'Umwelt,' as mentioned in the comic, refers to the semiotic theories of Jakob von Uexküll and Thomas A. Sebeok)

Information about how the wide variety of data was collected and credit for the viewers who contributed can be found [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/rnst4/april_fools_xkcd_changing_comic/ here].

===The Void===
[[File:umwelt the void.jpg]]

If the device or browser you are using does not support Javascript, you will simply see a static image of a white swirl on a dark background.

Possible reference to The Ring (https://imgur.com/wlGmm), as though to suggest that using an alternative browser is dismal and horrific.

Davean (xkcd's sysadmin): "[This] comic isn't available everywhere and it can come up i[n] some situation[s] only for recognized browsers."

Browser: Alternative Browser

===Aurora===
[[File:umwelt aurora.png|800px]]

One could interpret that since Megan didn't go out and therefore missed seeing the {{w|Aurora}} (northern lights), Cueball in his [[1350:_Lorenz#Knit_Cap_Girl|knit cap]] lied about it. That way, she wouldn't have felt sad that she missed out. Another interpretation could be that he decides that since she did not even bother to go outside to see such a spectacular sight he will not tell her about it. And yet another could be that he did not think it was interesting.

Cueball could possibly also be red-green colorblind, seeing the green aurorae as grey "clouds". This would serve as an example for the theme of the comic, as a non-colorblind person and a colorblind person seeing the same color would perceive it differently, one seeing it as its true color, and the other seeing it without the shade of color they cannot see. If this is the case, then it would be a reference to umwelt, as Cueball would be living in a world where the auroras do not reach his location.

In real life, [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-northern-lights-dont-look-anything-like-they-do-in-photos_n_5500a4d9e4b0e62d0dd4f9bb aurorae are usually seen as grey/white clouds] to the naked eye, as our eyes cannot perceive the "greener" colors as well in the dark.

This image changed based on the size of the browser window including different panels at different sizes.

Locations: Canada, Boston, Indiana, Maine, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Minnesota< Norway, Denmark, France, Ireland, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Seoul (Safari), London (on Firefox), China (on Firefox and Safari), Finland (Uses "Canada"). Also in Virginia, but using Ohio in the first panel; in Wisconsin and Maryland, but using Canada in the first panel; in Marion, Illinois, but using Canada in the first panel along with the phrase "as far south as us" in the first panel, and in Utah, also using the phrase "as far south as us", same with Colombia, Spain, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Washington State, and California.

In [[1302: Year in Review]] a possibly different Megan has a completely different approach to the chance of seeing northern lights, as that was the only event she was looking forward to in 2013, and it failed. If this is the same Megan, perhaps she learned that there actually were northern lights in her area from another source, and so desperately wanted to have another chance to see them.

===Snake===
[[File:umwelt snake composite 1024.png]]
[[:File:umwelt snake composite.png|Full size]]

The joke here is the extreme length of snakes. The world's longest living snake is the {{w|reticulated python}}, the longest ever measuring over 22 feet (6.95 meters). The blue and orange circles refer to the hit game {{w|Portal}}.
There is also a reference to the book "The Little Prince" in the second panel, where there is a large bulge in the snake that looks like an elephant. The Little Prince starts out by mentioning a drawing that the author made when he was six that showed an elephant inside a snake.

Also, the number and content of the panels changes depending on the size of your browser window.

This image changed based on the size of the browser window including different panels at different sizes.

Specific AltText for this image: Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit -from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your browser window size.

Location: Texas (on Chrome Version 33.0.1750.154 m), New Jersey, California (on Chrome Version 39.0.2171.95), Maryland, Massachusetts (Safari for iOS, Chrome version 49.0.2623.112), Connecticut (Safari for iOS, Chrome Version 73.0.3683.103, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge), Virginia (on Chrome), Michigan (Firefox v46.0.1), Penang (Chrome Version 65.0.3325.162), London (Microsoft Edge), Germany (on Opera One (version: 106.0.4998.70)), Fruita, Colorado (on Chrome for Android version 123.0.6312.80), China (Chrome and Edge).

===Black Hat===
[[File:umwelt tortoise 1024.png]]
[[:File:umwelt tortoise.png|Full size]]

Cueball as an analyst attempts to psychoanalyze [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] [[72: Classhole|classhole]] tendencies. Cueball's quote and the whole setup is a direct reference to the movie {{w|Blade Runner}} (1982) and Black Hat is taking the Voight-Kampff test which is used to identify replicants from real humans.

Black Hat's reason for not helping the tortoise is that ''it '''knows''' what it did'' and thus in Black Hat's world view it deserves being turned over. The final part of the joke is that when zooming out it turns out that there is a tortoise behind Black Hat and he has actually already turned it over for what it did.

Location: Seems to appear mostly in "other countries" — those without location-specific comics.

===Too Quiet===
[[File:umwelt too quiet 1024.png]]
[[:File:umwelt too quiet.png|Full size]]

A reference to {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} which has been [[87: Velociraptors|constantly]] [[135: Substitute|referred]] [[1110: Click and Drag|to]] [[155: Search History|before]] [[758: Raptor Fences|in]] this comic.

Also referencing the film {{w|2 Fast 2 Furious|2 Fast 2 Furious}}, an entertaining, yet intellectually unprovoking sequel in a popular film franchise, which is aimed at teenagers and young adults, prompting the blunt response from the stickman. The fact that Steve would use such a cliché {{w|2000s (decade)|noughties}} movie term in such an intense moment, and the subsequent curse, is the joke in this comic.

Location: short version — iPhone 5c Safari browser in Texas, iPhone 5 Chrome Browser in Minnesota, long version - Google Chrome browser in Indiana, Windows 8 Laptop

===Pond===
[[File:umwelt pond mobile.png]][[File:umwelt pond wide.png]]

Two different versions showed, the narrower version for mobile devices.

Location: The Netherlands and various other countries.

===Galaxies===
[[File:umwelt galaxies 1024.jpg]]
[[:File:umwelt galaxies.jpg|Full size]]

Megan is distracted from her conversation with [[Cueball]] by realizing that the space behind his head, from her vantage point, contains millions of galaxies. This is similar to an [https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/astro/hst_deep_field.jpg incredible photograph] taken by the Hubble Telescope, in which a tiny dark area of space in fact contained numerous galaxies.

The title text is an imaginative leap from this scenario: that the galaxies would be up to no good once Cueball is turned away from them.

This comic was only reported once... the intended environmental context is a mystery.

Location: unknown

===xkcd Gold===
[[File:umwelt xkcd gold.png]]

This is probably a reference to the 4chan Gold Account, an implementation on 4chan that does not actually exist, and is usually used to trick newcomers into revealing their credit card numbers. The joke is that "Gold Account" users can supposedly block other users from viewing images they have posted. The fifth panel is probably a reference to Beecock, a notorious set of shocker images. 4chan's moderators have been known to give out "beecock bans" or "/z/ bans" to particularly annoying users, which redirect the user to a page containing beecock and the text "OH NO THE BOARD IS GONE".

Referrer: 4chan

===Yo Mama===
[[File:umwelt dog ballast.png]]

Possible reference to Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s "{{w|Harrison Bergeron}}."

The joke is that people's different experiences shape how they perceive the world in that the people who live in this world would perceive the joke as funny, while people in our world would not get it. This is the idea of umwelt mentioned at the top of the context where different individuals perceive the world differently.

Refer: Facebook

===Reddit===
[[File:umwelt reddit.png]]

Reference to referencing, because Reddit, as a referring site, likes references to its referencing in its references.

This comic also features recursive imagery similar to [[688: Self-Description]] where the second panel embeds the entire comic within itself. (Except, conspicuously, the arrow indicating that it is "You" in the first panel.)

One of the browser tabs visible in the center panel is {{w|Elk}} on Wikipedia.

Referrer: Reddit

===Buns and Hot dogs===
[[File:umwelt somethingawful.jpg]]

This is a reference to the question "Why do hot dogs come in packages of 6 while buns come in packages of 8?"

Another, more sexual reference to this question can be found in [[1641: Hot Dogs]].

Referrer: SomethingAwful, Questionable Content, & MetaFilter

===Twitter===
[[File:umwelt twitter.jpg]]

A summary of the "content" typically found on Twitter.

In the tweet feed, there are three tweets about some podcast on the top, followed by the tweet containing link they clicked on to get to the comic, tweets about Rob Delaney, unspecified passive-aggressive tweets, and a tweet from {{w|Horse_ebooks}} retweeted by one of the users the reader follows.

On the left, the topmost dialog, with profile information, shows that the user has posted 1,302 tweets, but only follows 171 people and has even fewer followers, at a measly 48. This is marked with a sad face, implying that the user wants more followers.

Below that is the "who to follow" dialog, which is written up as consisting of "assholes".

Below that is the "trending tags" dialog for the United States. It is full of tags about word games, tags about misogyny, and tags about Justin Bieber.

Below that is an unidentified dialog full of "stuff your eyes automatically ignore". And finally, on the bottom is the background color, which is "a really pleasant blue".

"Aggression" is misspelled.

Referrer: Twitter

===Wikipedia===
[[File:umwelt wikipedia wide.jpg]]
[[File:umwelt wikipedia mobile.png]]

The term {{w|Mile High Club}} (or MHC) is a slang term applied collectively to individuals who have had sexual intercourse while on board an aircraft. Randall says that reading the news articles on it has distracted him from making that comic.

Two different versions shown, the narrower version (the single panel with all the text) for mobile devices.

Referrer: Wikipedia

===Google Chrome===
[[File:umwelt chrome1.jpg]]

{{w|Sergey Brin}} (born August 21, 1973) is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the most profitable Internet companies. As of 2013, his personal wealth was estimated to be $24.4 billion. Randall makes the joke that as the founder of Google, Brin's permission would be needed to use Google Chrome. Because there are millions of people who use Google, it is likely that at least some of the time Brin would be asleep, thus he would need to be woken.

Browser: Chrome

===Chrome/Firefox===
[[File:umwelt chrome2.png]]

Mozilla {{w|Firefox}} is a free and open-source web browser developed for Windows, OS X and Linux, with a mobile version for Android and iOS, by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. Cueball is complaining about {{w|Google Chrome}}, to which [[Ponytail]] replies that there is an {{w|add-on}} that fixes what he is complaining about. When questioned, she replies that the add-on is Firefox, which isn't an add-on at all and is instead a different browser.

Browser: Chrome

===Google Chrome-2===
[[File:umwelt chrome3.png]]

This panel references Google Chrome's error screen, which shows a puzzle piece. The comic humorously implies that Chrome is looking for that piece. When completing jigsaw puzzles, a common strategy is to figure out where the pieces must be from their geometry rather than from the picture they create. In this case, the text suggests that Chrome believes the puzzle piece connects to the pieces which form one of the corners of the puzzle, which may seem impossible because any piece that links up to a corner would usually have at least one flat edge, which this piece has none. However, more complicated puzzles have complex shapes and are not always simply approximate squares with tabs and blanks.

Browser: Chrome or silk on desktop view

===Mozilla Firefox Private Browsing===
[[File:umwelt firefox incognito.png]]

Another reference to crashing web browsers.
Firefox shows the history when it crashes.
Browser: Firefox (Incognito only?)

===Internet Explorer===
[[File:umwelt ie.png]]

This is yet another reference to crashing web browsers but instead, Internet Explorer has given up. It could be because there are too many sessions, they are shutting it down, or maybe it was too lazy to do anything.

Browser: Internet Explorer

===Maxthon===
[[File:umwelt maxthon.png]]

Browser: {{w|Maxthon}}

===Netscape Navigator===
[[File:umwelt netscape womanoctopus.png]]

[[File:umwelt netscape man.png]]

{{w|Netscape Navigator}} was a web browser popular in the 1990s.

Browser: Netscape

===Rockmelt===
[[File:umwelt rockmelt.png]]

{{w|Rockmelt}} is a social-media-based browser.

Reference to the gospel song {{w|Longing for Old Virginia: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934)|"There's no hiding place down here" by The Carter Family}}, later covered by Stephen Stills.

:I run to the rock just to hide my face
:And the rocks cried out, no hiding place
:There's no hiding place down here

It may additionally be a reference to the ''Babylon 5'' episode "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," which featured the song.

Browser: Rockmelt

===Plugin Disabled===
[[File:umwelt plugin disabled.png]]

When the Google Chrome web browser does not have the required software (called a plug-in) to display a web page's content, it displays a puzzle piece icon and an error message. In this case, Chrome informs the user that the content is impossible to display.

Browser: Plugin (?) Disabled, Safari Desktop

===Corporate Networks===
[[File:umwelt corporate general.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon chrome.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon firefox.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon other.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate google chrome.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft chrome.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft firefox.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft other.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate nytimes chrome.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate nytimes other.png]]

These error messages appear if the user is on a network owned by one of the corporations noted. The error message includes a warning against speaking on the company's behalf.

ISP: Corporate networks of Amazon, Google, Microsoft, NY Times

===Military===
[[File:umwelt military.png]]

[[Cueball]] assumes that anyone using a military network has an important job like watching for incoming missiles. He includes a thank-you to the user for their military service.

ISP: Military networks

===T-Mobile===
[[File:umwelt tmobile.png]]

Reference to T-Mobile's distinguishing feature (at the time it was written) of weaker coverage, in relation to other major providers.

ISP: T-Mobile

===Verizon and AT&T===
[[File:umwelt verizon.png]]

[[File:umwelt att.png]]

Reference to Verizon and AT&T's scandals/controversy regarding implementation of bandwidth caps.

ISP: Verizon and AT&T

===France===
[[File:umwelt france.jpg]]

A common joke about France is that the nation does not win wars. This originated from France's annexation by Germany during World War II, and America's late entry into the war, which is sometimes portrayed humorously as a case of America 'saving' Europe, in this joke particularly France (the role of the French resistance is usually not mentioned), leading to a common American joke at the expense of France's military prowess [https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html][https://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-frenchmilitaryvictories.htm][https://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljokefrenchmilitaryhistory.htm]. When France did not form part of the coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003, aligning with the many countries that condemned U.S. action, the joke was revived.

A Google search of "French Military Victories" + 'I'm feeling lucky' used to direct to "did you mean: french military defeats" (due to a {{w|Google bomb}}). Cueball is trying to show this to his friend, who is French. However, his joke backfires, as his friend immediately points out that the stereotype of France not having military victories is undercut by the fact that one of the most innovative military commanders in history, Napoleon, was French by citizenship (though Italian/Corsican by culture, as the French annexed Corsica a few months before his birth to an Italian noble family), and in fact conquered much of Europe.

Following the theme of umwelt, the comic highlights the two characters' differing perspectives: The American thinks that France is a military failure, while the Frenchman thinks of Napoleon.

The last line of the comic further implies that Cueball is not as smart as he thinks he is in regards to anything French, as he mispronounces the French loan word "{{w|Touché (fencing)|touché}}".

Locations: France & Quebec

===Germany===
[[File:umwelt germany.png]]

This comic references the {{w|Berlin airlift#The start of the Berlin Airlift|Berlin Airlift}}, a relief measure for citizens in West Berlin (surrounded by East Germany) instituted by the Western Allies after World War II. In reality, the Western Allies flew a grand total of 500,000 tons of food over the Soviet blockade in planes. Randall puts a twist on this event by making it more fun: dropping supplies from a grand chairlift. The play on words is that "chairlift" rhymes with "airlift" and thus makes an easy substitution. The chair force is also a name that other service branches use to make fun of the air force. Note East Germany wasn't blockaded, only West Berlin. "Blockade" is misspelled.

Location: Germany

===Israel===
[[File:umwelt israel.png]]

Translation: Mom, I met a great guy! But he's not Jewish. ...Wait, what do you mean "neither are we"? I'm completely confused.

A reference to the multiple use of the word Jewish to denote both a {{w|Judaism|religious group}} and a {{w|Jews|nationality/ethnicity}}, as well as the stereotype of Jews holding low opinions of interfaith marriage.

A side note: Randall accidentally drew an apostrophe instead of the similar-looking Hebrew letter י everywhere that letter should appear.

Location: Israel

===Carnot Cycle===
[[File:umwelt japan.png]]

A pun on "cycle"; a "{{w|Carnot cycle}}" is a thermodynamic cycle (e.g. refrigeration). Its efficiency depends on the temperature of the hot and cold 'reservoirs' in which it is operating. The icon on the side of the motorcycle resembles a [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Carnot_cycle_p-V_diagram.svg/1000px-Carnot_cycle_p-V_diagram.svg.png graph of the Carnot cycle.]

Location: Japan

===UK===
[[File:umwelt uk.jpg]]

He worded this as though to imply that the UK is a state of the U.S., and an unimportant one at that, which pokes fun at the UK, creating a paradox (sort of).

Location: UK

===Blizzard===
[[File:umwelt disasters blizzard.png]]

This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or blizzards are harsher conditions to live under. In keeping with the theme of umwelt, the comic demonstrates that the two people perceive the world in two different ways due to their different experiences: The Californian perceives a mild earthquake and a severe blizzard, while the Northeasterner perceives a severe earthquake and a mild blizzard.

For each particular location in which this displayed, the state name was substituted in the third panel.

Locations: Alabama, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Georgia, Halifax, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, the Northeast, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ottawa, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Texas, Toronto, Tennessee, New York, Wisconsin

===Tornado===
[[File:umwelt disasters tornado.png]]

This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or tornadoes are harsher conditions to live under. In keeping with the theme of umwelt, the comic demonstrates that the two people perceive the world in two different ways due to their different experiences: The Californian perceives a mild earthquake and a severe tornado, while the Midwesterner perceives a severe earthquake and a mild tornado. It's similar to [[#Blizzard|Blizzard]].

For each location this displayed in the state name was substituted in the third panel.

Locations: Alabama, Dallas, Illinois, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ottawa, Tennessee, Texas (and Virginia, but it used Ohio in the third panel)

Tornadoes are a [[:Category:Tornadoes|recurring subject]] on xkcd. The picture used in [[1754: Tornado Safety Tips]] very reminiscent of the one from this version of Umwelt. [[Category:Tornadoes]]

===Hurricane===
[[File:umwelt disasters hurricane.png]]

This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or hurricanes are harsher conditions to live under. In keeping with the theme of umwelt, the comic demonstrates that the two people perceive the world in two different ways due to their different experiences: The Californian perceives a mild earthquake and a severe hurricane, while the Easterner perceives a severe earthquake and a mild hurricane. It's similar to [[#Blizzard|Blizzard]] and [[#Tornado|Tornado]].

For each location this displayed in the state name was substituted in the third panel.

Locations: D.C, Florida, Georgia, Houston, Miami, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia

===Lake Diver Killer===
[[File:umwelt lake diver.png]]

This comic shows a news reporter standing in front of a lake. She is reporting on a serial killer who targets divers. As more divers are sent in to investigate and/or search for bodies, more divers go missing, the implication being that they were also murdered. The more likely reason is the lake itself is dangerous for diving, and the divers probably drowned from natural hazards (undercurrents, entanglement, running out of oxygen in tanks, etc.) instead of a malicious assailant. Also, this is a sort of loop, where each time a diver gets killed, the investigative team goes and investigates, causing more divers to get killed, causing more deaths, and so on.

Location: Bay Areas, Metro Detroit, Vermont showed an image specifically referencing Lake Champlain

===Lincoln Memorial===
[[File:umwelt lincoln memorial.png]]

{{w|Abraham Lincoln}}, the 16th president of the United States of America, was not an entity composed wholly of nanobots that attempted to consume the entire nation to then be imprisoned within the {{w|Lincoln Memorial}}.{{Citation needed}} The inscription references the epitaph at the actual Lincoln Memorial, which reads "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever".

Locations: Illinois & Washington, D.C.

===Helicopter Hunting===
[[File:umwelt helicoptor.png]]

In Alaska, governments and individuals have {{w|Wolf hunting#North America 2|shot wolves en masse from helicopters}} in an attempt to artificially inflate populations of game, such as moose and caribou, to make hunting them easier. This is opposed by many, as the game populations are not endangered (thus, this threatens ecological balance); wolves are a small threat to livestock in North America; most of the wolf body —including meat and bones— goes wasted as they are sought mainly for their pelts.

Knowledge of this issue was popularized by press around vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's infamous support for this culling method.

Location: Alaska

===Newspaper===
[[File:umwelt life scientists.png]][[File:umwelt life rit.png]][[File:umwelt life umass.png]]

Creating new life has long been a well understood process, in a lab or otherwise.

This comic is likely a reference to the title text of [[983: Privacy]]

Location: Various

Specific versions appeared for RIT and UMass Amherst

===Robot Paul Revere===
[[File:umwelt paul revere.png]]

Combination of the legend of {{w|Paul Revere#"Midnight Ride"|Paul Revere}} and a computer bit that differentiates between two situations by indicating a zero or a one.

Location: Boston

===Counting Cards===

All four colleges in this series are in Massachusetts and, being similar, in pairs, rival each other to some extent (Harvard-MIT and Smith-Wellesley). The comic contains a reference to the {{w|MIT Blackjack Team}}, which entered popular culture via the {{w|21 (2008 film)|film 21}}, and a possible reference to Orwell's book '1984' and/or {{w|Chain of Command (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|popular homage to it via Star Trek}}: "There are four lights."[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChYIm6MW39k]

Bonus: The thought-gears in panel 3 are spinning against each other.

Location: Harvard

[[File:umwelt counting cards harvard.png]]

Location: MIT

[[File:umwelt counting cards mit.png]]

"Course 15s" at MIT are the business major students, often mocked for taking a less-rigorous program. The different interpretation for why the MIT students could not count cards compared to Harvard may be a reference to the theme of umwelt.

Location: Smith

[[File:umwelt counting cards smith.png]]

Location: Wellesley

[[File:umwelt counting cards wellesley.png]]

Both Wellesley and Smith are all-women colleges in Massachusetts.

===Giant Box Trap===
[[File:umwelt box trap.png]]

Randall got his undergrad in Physics at the {{w|Christopher Newport University}}, and was scheduled to return shortly to give a talk. The "Trible" figure on the right is Paul Trible, the then-president of CNU. This comic depicts a classic trap, where an upside-down box is propped up with a stick. When the stick is removed, by pulling a string, the box falls and traps whatever is underneath it. Aside from the joke of the obvious trap, there's also the fact that the president would not be responsible for revoking unearned diplomas.

Location: Christopher Newport University

===Chemo Support===
[[File:umwelt chemo.jpg]]

[[Cueball]] has shaved his head in support of people going through {{w|chemotherapy}} but, as he is always depicted as a stick figure with no hair, no one can tell.

Randall's now-wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and apparently DFCI is where they've been spending much of their time.

Location: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

===Reviews===
[[File:reviews.png]]

The previous strip appears twice when using [[wikipedia:Tor (anonymity network)|Tor]].

This strip was previously used in [[1036: Reviews]].

Browser: Any using Tor, xkcd API (JSON, RSS, Atom), w3m and reports of seeing it on a Kindle Fire HD, unixkcd; also happens if visiting with a browser that does not support JavaScript (such as Firefox with NoScript)

===Nothing===

[[File:Umwelt blank.jpg]]

In some cases, the comic can be completely absent, with only the top and bottom buttons visible. On most newer browsers, this is caused by a script loading part of the comic via a HTTP request while the rest of the webpage is delivered over HTTPS. This is referred to as [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security/Mixed_content mixed content] and is blocked on modern browsers by default due to security concerns. This version of the comic is therefore likely not an intended outcome, but rather an unintended consequence of how this comic was implemented. [https://mastodon.social/@chromakode/109531309722997557 It has been confirmed] that this was not intentional and will be fixed. Since this comic's release, all devices viewing it have returned two rows of navigation buttons if near IP address 69.114.249.104.

The http(s) issue seems to have been fixed.

==Transcript==
:'''[This section only covers the first three comics. For the transcript of the entire comic, go to the [[1037: Umwelt/Transcript|full transcript page]].]'''

===The Void===
:[An epic void with a bright light shining right on you.]

===Aurora===
:[Cueball heading out past Megan comfortably sitting in front of a desk.]
:Cueball: Apparently there's a solar flare that's causing some Great Aurorae. CBC says they may even be visible here! Wanna drive out to see?
:Megan: Hockey's on.
:Cueball: Ok. Later.

:[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky.]

:Megan: See anything?
:Cueball: No, just clouds.
:Megan: Not surprised.

===Aurora-US===
:[Cueball heading out past Megan comfortably sitting in front of a desk.]
:Cueball: Apparently there's a solar storm causing northern lights over Canada. CNN say they might even be visible {Options: "As Far South As Us", "Here in Boston", "Maine", "Ohio", "Oregon", "New York"}! Wanna drive out to see?
:Megan: It's cold out.
:Cueball: Ok. Later.

:[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky.]

:Megan: See anything?
:Cueball: No, just clouds.
:Megan: Not surprised.

===Snake===
:[Two people standing next to each other. Megan is holding the head end of a snake. Depending on the width of your browser, the snake is: three frames, the third of which has a little bit of a bump; the first frame has a human-size bump, the second has a third person looking at the snake, and the third has the snake going though two Portals; a squirrel and the human-size bump in the first frame, a ring next to the third person in the second frame, and Beret Guy riding the snake in front of the portal; or The squirrel, a fourth person within the snake being coiled, and the human bump in the first frame, the ring, a fifth person in love, and the third person in the second frame, Beret Guy and the portal in the third frame, and the same two people in the fourth frame.]

:Megan: I found a snake, but then I forgot to stop.

:'''[For the transcript of the entire comic, go to the [[1037: Umwelt/Transcript|full transcript page]].]'''

==Trivia==
* The Reddit user [https://www.reddit.com/user/SomePostMan SomePostMan] created a [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/t6wmh/all_umwelt_1037_comics_in_two_imgur_albums/ post] that collected all of the Umwelt comics and added explanations. Much of his information is now included in this wiki.
* At the start of the [https://xkcd.com/1037/info.0.json official transcript of this comic], the writer added a note alluding to its extreme length:
:: <nowiki>[[Two people...]]</nowiki>
:: ((..wait.. <scrolls through a listing of everything> oh goddammit Randall. Thanks a bunch, dude. I better get a raise for typing out all this))
* This comic was released on April 1 even though that was [[:Category:Sunday comics|a Sunday]] (only the third comic to be released on a Sunday). But it was only due to the April Fools' joke, as it did replace the comic that would have been scheduled for Monday, April 2nd. The next comic, [[1038: Fountain]], was first released on Wednesday, April 4th. This was the first that could be different for different readers.
* This comic displays the previous comic, Reviews (1036), when you try to view it on uni.xkcd.com.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Comics with blood]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]

125: Marketing Interview

2022-07-06T03:26:34Z

172.70.131.106:

{{comic
| number = 125
| date = July 7, 2006
| title = Marketing Interview
| image = marketing_interview.png
| titletext = There are a lot of books on marketing out there. I wonder if you're safest just buying the most popular one.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Black Hat]] is trying to get a job running a marketing program. [[Cueball]] conducts the interview and says that although he has heard that Black Hat is the best in the business, his portfolio does not show that he has run any major marketing campaigns. Black Hat asks where he heard that rumor and Cueball begins to respond. Then he realizes that Black Hat has used his perfect marketing campaign tactics to get into the business. Then, Black Hat tries to skip ahead of the interview process and coyly asks, before being offered the job, when he can start working.

A book that becomes the most popular in its field is the one with the best marketing, not necessarily the one with the best content. The title text suggests that in this case, where the subject matter is marketing, the most popular book would in fact be written by those with the best marketing skills, and would therefore contain the best content. However, this fails to realize that the publishers of the book would only be good at marketing themselves, but not necessarily at teaching marketing. Furthermore, it could be that the people authoring those marketing books are incentivized to sell bad advice, since less competition in the field means more opportunities for themselves.

[[:Category:Job interviews|Job interviews]] are a recurring topic on xkcd.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat, standing in front of Cueball, who is sitting behind a executive desk, looking at some papers.]
:Cueball: I've heard you're one of the best in the marketing business, but I've got your portfolio here and looks like you've never run a major campaign. Why should I hire you to head our new initiative?

:[Same scene.]
:Black Hat: If you don't mind asking, what gave you the idea I was one of the best in the business?
:Cueball: Hm? I don't remember. Just word of mouth or someth-- ...oh, you're good.
:Black Hat: Thank you. When can I start?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Job interviews]]

Talk:2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T23:55:24Z

172.70.131.106:

Is anybody going to try to calculate the amount of power such a turbine could collect? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 19:24, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Good idea; what should we use for an estimate of the geometry for https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine ? The final panel makes it look like the blade diameter is about twice the size of a fist. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] says "exhaled air velocity varies from 2.2 m/s to 9.9 m/s (5.66 ± 1.57 m/s, mean ± SD) and exhalation time varies from 2.10 s to 8.21 s (4.42 ± 1.73s, mean ± SD)."
:I guessed 10 cm radius and used that mean breath speed. I should have used the top 9.9 m/s though, shouldn't I? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 20:56, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:After a closer look at that article, the mean is more appropriate. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:19, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Although these miniscule wind turbines don't generate much power, mice probably don't need much. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:That's certainly a fair point. How much power would a mouse-sized fridge need? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:23, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Someone please check my mouse energy needs math and assumptions. I made a couple misplaced decimal mistakes getting to where it is now, and I'm going to have another beer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 22:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

I'm confused by the statement that smaller turbines are less "efficient". There's nothing about efficiency at that link. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.43|172.70.114.43]] 22:33, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:The graph shows the ratio between size and output has risen from about half to 85%. What is a better term for this? I'm pretty sure one of the multiple definitions of efficiency is technically correct, but it can never hurt explaining better. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.113|172.69.33.113]] 22:42, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Changed to "relative power output" but I'm not sure that captures the idea very well either. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.113|172.69.33.113]] 22:44, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Well wind turbines may not scale down ideally but still better than nuclear power plants. I suspect those have fixed minimal size and it's pretty big. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:32, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Isn't the power output of a solar panel directly dependent on its size (and wether it's covered with snow, angle to the sun, clouds? And prolly something I'll think of as soon as I hit save).[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.106|172.70.131.106]] 23:55, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

2598: Graphic Designers

2022-07-03T14:50:50Z

172.70.131.106:

Hey, my name’s Eric and for just a second, imagine this…

- Someone does a search and winds up at explainxkcd.com.

- They hang out for a minute to check it out. “I’m interested… but… maybe…”

- And then they hit the back button and check out the other search results instead.

- Bottom line – you got an eyeball, but nothing else to show for it.

- There they go.

This isn’t really your fault – it happens a LOT – studies show 7 out of 10 visitors to any site disappear without leaving a trace.

But you CAN fix that.

Talk With Web Visitor is a software widget that’s works on your site, ready to capture any visitor’s Name, Email address and Phone Number. It lets you know right then and there – enabling you to call that lead while they’re literally looking over your site.

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Plus, now that you have their phone number, with our new SMS Text With Lead feature you can automatically start a text (SMS) conversation… so even if you don’t close a deal then, you can follow up with text messages for new offers, content links, even just “how you doing?” notes to build a relationship.

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2640: The Universe by Scientific Field

2022-07-02T01:33:16Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 288019 by 162.158.170.63 (talk)

= OVERTURN DOBBS! REINSTATE ROE! FREE ABORTION ON DEMAND! SAFE LEGAL AND FUNDED! #BANSOFFOURBODIES =

2640: The Universe by Scientific Field

2022-07-02T01:31:48Z

172.70.131.106: Replaced content with "= OVERTURN DOBBS! REINSTATE ROE! FREE ABORTION ON DEMAND! SAFE LEGAL AND FUNDED! #BANSOFFOURBODIES"

= OVERTURN DOBBS! REINSTATE ROE! FREE ABORTION ON DEMAND! SAFE LEGAL AND FUNDED! #BANSOFFOURBODIES

765: Dilution

2022-07-01T19:10:13Z

172.70.131.106: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 765
| date = July 12, 2010
| title = Dilution
| image = dilution.png
| titletext = Dear editors of Homeopathy Monthly: I have two small corrections for your July issue. One, it's spelled "echinacea", and two, homeopathic medicines are no better than placebos and your entire magazine is a sham.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Homeopathy}} is the belief that poisons, bacteria, and other harmful substances can actually cure the diseases they normally cause, if they are administered in sufficiently dilute form. The normal procedure is to prepare a solution, then successively dilute it with water or alcohol by multiple factors of 10. (There's also a "succussion" step between rounds, which basically consists of shaking or striking the mixture, but no serious mechanism for how this would affect anything has been provided.) In the medical world, {{rw|homeopathy|it's known to be total bunk}}, with countless scientific studies repeatedly showing it to have no more effectiveness than a {{w|placebo}}. Keep in mind that homeopathy was invented when standard treatments included blood letting, so doing effectively nothing like homeopathy had better results than other treatments of the time.

Here we find [[Cueball]], a firm believer in homeopathy, applying the idea to fertility by diluting his semen. 30X means that the semen has been diluted with water at a 1:10 ratio 30 times, so the solution contains 1 part semen to one-nonillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) parts water. Since the average ejaculation contains 200 to 500 million sperm cells, this means the solution Cueball is holding has a 3.5x10-20% chance of containing even a single sperm cell. Clearly, [[Megan]] will not be getting pregnant from this, so she and Cueball will not be passing on their genes, which is why the comic states that the belief in homeopathy is not selected for.

According to the belief of homeopathy, diluted sperm should not help in getting pregnant, but help to cure the symptoms, e.g. pregnancy, caused by it. So even if diluting it 30X, would have a homeopathic effect, it would be the opposite of the one Cueball states he wants to achieve.

{{w|Echinacea}} is a genus of flowers commonly used in herbal remedies to stimulate the immune system. Scientific studies have not shown that such an effect exists. The title text is intended to represent a letter to the editors of fictitious journal 'Homeopathy Monthly', starting with a minor complaint that they seem unable to perform the basic proof-reading and fact-checking necessary to correctly spell one of the most well-known herbal remedies. This is followed up by a complete dismissal of homeopathy as a whole and the magazine in particular.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands at a desk with a beaker in one hand and a turkey baster in the other. Megan lies in a bed in the same room.]

:Cueball: Okay, this time I've diluted the semen 30x.
:Megan: We'll be ''sure'' to get pregnant now!

:Belief in homeopathy is not, evolutionarily, selected for.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2621: Mainly Known For

2022-05-19T05:55:29Z

172.70.131.106: add cats

{{comic
| number = 2621
| date = May 18, 2022
| title = Mainly Known For
| image = mainly_known_for.png
| titletext = Oh sure, I know Keira Knightly, from the first movie in that series by The Land Before Time producer. You know, the franchise with the guy from Jurassic Park and Ghostwriter, and script work by Billie Lourd's mom?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by that guy from NASA, what was his name? Something Munroe - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Megan points out an uncanny resemblance between someone's dad and {{w|Steve Jobs}}. However, she has trouble remembering Jobs's name. Frequently, when people can't remember a celebrity's name, they will point out other works they are known for in hopes someone else will recognize them from that and remind them of the name{{citation needed}}. While these associations are often prone to the {{w|Mandela effect}}, Megan's information about the celebrities is, in fact, correct, but apparently not what those people are best known for.

Megan refers to Jobs as "the Pixar guy". Jobs is mainly known for (hence the comic's title) being the co-founder and twice CEO of {{w|Apple Inc.|Apple Computer}}, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s (between his stints at Apple), he was the chairman of Pixar Animation Studios, which is what Megan knows him for.

Cueball points out that Megan's tendency to avoid the "main" association and instead go with a much more secondary one is weird, which confuses her. To demonstrate how weird her associations are, Cueball asks her, "Who is {{w|John Lennon}}?" Lennon is a famous songwriter who played and wrote for {{w|The Beatles}} before they broke up, and later continued on a solo music career. Megan recognizes Lennon as a musical artist, but is unable to remember the name of The Beatles. She instead asks about the band he was in with {{w|Ringo Starr}}. Ringo, however, is not mainly memorable to her for his role in The Beatles, but rather as Mr. Conductor from the first season of the 1989 children's television show {{w|Shining Time Station}}. The Beatles' fame seems to have escaped Megan, which vexes Cueball.

Hoping to show that she really does know Lennon and that her associations aren't weird, she points out that she remembers {{w|Fame (David Bowie song)|Fame}}, a 1975 song that he co-wrote with {{w|David Bowie}} and performed backing vocals and guitar on. She is, however, again unable to remember Bowie's name, recognizing him for his acting roles in ''{{w|Labyrinth (1986 film)|Labyrinth}}'' and ''{{w|Zoolander}}'', rather than his more famous musical career (such as his smash hits {{w|Space Oddity}} or {{w|Let's Dance (David Bowie song)|Let's Dance}}).

Sensing Cueball's annoyance, she attempts to excuse herself by saying ''Zoolander'' came out a long time ago, during the {{w|Presidency of George W. Bush}}. ''Zoolander'' was indeed released in 2001. Apparently unable, again, to remember the president's name, she identifies him as "{{w|Jenna Bush}}'s dad". Jenna Bush is a TV personality and much less widely known than her father{{citation needed}}.

===Title text===
In the title text, Megan refers to "{{w|Keira Knightley|Keira Knightly}}" [''sic'' -- her surname is spelled Knightley], who is probably best known for her role in the {{w|Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)|''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films}}, by referencing her small role in {{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}.

Megan continues her unusual references by identifying the film as the "first movie" (it was the first in the plotline, but the fourth one made) in "that series by ''The Land Before Time'' producer" ({{w|George Lucas}}, creator of {{w|Star Wars}}, was also one of the executive producers of the 1988 animated film {{w|The Land Before Time (film)|The Land Before Time}}).

She also identifies another actor in the ''Star Wars'' series, {{w|Samuel L. Jackson}}, by his roles in {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} (an extremely successful film, but one in which Jackson had a relatively small role) and the PBS children's series {{w|Ghostwriter (1992 TV series)|Ghostwriter}} (in which Jackson appeared in only a few episodes). In addition, Megan mentions that the ''Star Wars'' series had "script work by {{w|Billie Lourd}}'s mom", referring to {{w|Carrie Fisher}}, who contributed uncredited script-doctoring work to the ''Star Wars'' franchise. However, Fisher is more closely associated with ''Star Wars'' for having played the major role of Princess Leia Organa in six films in the series.

''Ghostwriter'' was previously featured in [[130: Julia Stiles]], which described a scene from the show as "the best thing ever to appear on TV".

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

:Megan: ...And her dad looks ''exactly'' like the Pixar guy. Steve what's-his-name? Jobs?
:Cueball: "Pixar guy"?
:Cueball: You always know famous people for such weird reasons.

:Megan: What do you mean?
:Cueball: Who is John Lennon?
:Megan: Wasn't he in a band? With Ringo from ''Shining Time Station''.
:Cueball: How is ''that'' your main association?

:Megan: I also know he once did a song with the guy from Labyrinth!
:Cueball: You mean David Bowie? I think he's famous for some other stuff, too.

:Megan: Oh yeah, he was also in Zoolander!
:Megan: I forgot that movie, it came out back when Jenna Bush's dad was president.
:[Cueball facepalms]
:Cueball: ''*SIGH*''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Jurassic Park]]

2619: Crêpe

2022-05-16T17:52:20Z

172.70.131.106:

{{comic
| number = 2619
| date = May 13, 2022
| title = Crepe
| image =
| titletext = :(
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a ÇRÊPË - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[File:crêpe.png|thumb|The word "crêpe" in the comic]]
[[Cueball]] has made a {{w|crêpe}}, a thin pancake known for its legendary status in French cuisine, which he proudly announces. However, the {{w|circumflex}} (the accent above the e) is written strangely. Instead of the usual simple angle (^), it looks more like the outline of a flattened arrowhead (⮝). [[Megan]], who can apparently {{tvtropes|PsmithPsyndrome|hear the orthography}} of spoken text, comments on the odd shape with an appropriate pun.

Megan's response, "Weird circumflex but okay" is a play on the recent expression [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Weird%20flex%20but%20ok Weird flex, but ok]. A "flex" is bragging about something. A "weird flex" is used when the speaker acknowledges (perhaps ironically) that the first person is attempting to brag about something, but doesn't recognise the thing as brag-worthy.

Her answer could also be applied to the shape of the crêpe, as circumflex means "bent around".

In some dialects of English (e.g. British English), and in the original French pronunciation, "crêpe" is said so that the ê is pronounced as in "get", i.e. "cr-eh-p", but American English speakers pronounce it like an "A", i.e. "cr-ay-p".

The title text continues the wordplay by saying that "A medicine that makes you put two dots over your letters more often is a diäretic".

The word diäretic is a pun on {{w|diuretic}} (a substance promoting increased urine production), {{w|Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis}} (a symbol in the form of two dots placed above a vowel, as the ä in the made up word diäretic; the adjective form of diaeresis can be spelled "[https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Diaresis dieretic]") and {{w|diacritic}} (a glyph added to a letter to distinguish its sound from the normal version, what both the circumflex and the diaeresis are). See also the comic [[1647: Diacritics]] about the use of these. Taking a diäretic medicine would supposedly cause you to use diaeresis (also known as umlaut) över möre lëtters thän wöuld üsuallÿ bë thë cäse.

Diacritics are rarely used in English, potentially because of the diverse set of origin languages it developed from, or the wide variation of pronunciations within a same nation, but are a common feature of other languages. In English, they are normally only seen in specific loanwords (such as crêpe) or used for emphasis or decoration (for example the {{w|metal umlaut}} seen in rock bands like {{w|Motörhead}}, {{w|Mötley Crüe}}, {{w|Queensrÿche}}, or {{w|Spın̈al Tap}}). The exception to this is the diaresis, which when it is used at all, is placed over the second vowel in a double-vowel word to indicate a morphological break between them as opposed to a dipthong, e.g. naïve or coöperation. The diaresis is optional, and, especially with words beginning with the co- prefix (e.g. cooperation, coevolution, or coincidence), rarely used. The New Yorker magazine is a famous outlier, advising consistent use of the diaresis in [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis its style guide].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding a plate up in both hand, showing Megan the crepe lying on the plate. His word for crêpe has a different diacritic over the "e" than the normal circumflex (^). Instead it looks more like an open arrow head.]
:Cueball: Check out this crêpe I made!
:Megan: Weird circumflex, but okay.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Food]]

622: Haiku Proof

2022-05-13T19:24:24Z

172.70.131.106: It isn't a dream. The whole point is that he is still awake and hallucinating. The hallucinations only affect part of his reality, as noted by Megan remaining still.

{{comic
| number = 622
| date = August 12, 2009
| title = Haiku Proof
| image = haiku_proof.png
| titletext = After somewhere around 40 hours, there's no academic reason to go to the class. Only go for the hallucinations.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[Cueball]] attends a math class after having been awake for two full days (48 hours). After that he begins to {{w|hallucinate}} and dreams that the teacher [[Miss Lenhart]] (a [http://xkcd.com/622/info.0.json professor] in this comic) answers [[Megan|Megan's]] question, about a proof that there are an infinite number of {{w|prime numbers}}, in {{w|haiku}}. After the first line she floats up and during the third and final line she flies over the students heads. Note also that when Cueball looks up at the flying teacher when she takes off, Megan never moves her head because it's not happening in her world, and Cueball only hallucinates the teachers flies.

{{w|Euclid's theorem}} states that there are an infinite number of primes, prime numbers being numbers that are only divisible by themselves and 1. The most notable proof of this theorem, and the one presented in this comic, was first given by Euclid himself in his ''{{w|Euclid's Elements|Elements}}''. A more traditional form of this proof follows:

:If we suppose that there are a finite number of primes, then they must have a product, i.e. ''p''1''p''2...''p''n = ''q''. Now consider ''q'' + 1. If this number is prime itself, then we have discovered a new prime number, contrary to the assumption that we had listed them all. If it is not prime, it must have a prime divisor. Since all of the ''p''k are a factor of ''q'', they cannot be a divisor of ''q'' + 1. So ''q'' + 1 is divisible by a prime not on the list, which again is a contradiction. Therefore, there must be infinitely many primes.

At the last line of the haiku, [[Miss Lenhart]] says "Q.E.D., bitches!", Q.E.D. stands for "Quod Erat Demonstrandum", which means "Thus, it has been demonstrated." This is a Latin phrase which is used to show a proof is over. Ironically, the proof is not complete.

The comic essentially takes this proof and states it in the form of a {{w|haiku}}, which is a traditional form of Japanese poetry, which is in Japanese broken up into patterns of {{w|morae}} (or {{w|syllables}}), a unit that measures the length of sound. A Japanese haiku consists of three lines with 5, 7 and 5 morae respectively per line. An English Haiku has 5, 7 and 5 syllables per line. The proof poem goes like this:
:Top prime's divisors'
:Product (plus one)'s factors are...?
:Q.E.D., bitches!

Which can be [http://www.syllablecount.com/ divided in syllables] like this:
:Top - prime's - di - vi - sors'
:Pro - duct - (plus - one)'s - fac - tors - are...?
:Q. - E.- D., - bit - ches!

The haiku proof given is slightly off, as the first line talks about the "top prime's divisors," which makes no sense because the top prime doesn't have any divisors besides itself and one. You need to take the product of ''all'' primes, not just one. But, hey, it's a hallucination.

Haiku was also referred to before in [[554: Not Enough Work]].

The comic and title text conclude that going to class while sleep-deprived is an interesting, but entirely noneducational, experience. So, go for the sake of the hallucinations.

==Transcript==
:[Miss Lenhart teaching a class gestures with both hands up as Megan, sitting at the first desk on a stool, raises a hand and asks a question. Cueball sits at the desks behind her supporting his head in both hands with the elbows on the desk.]
:Megan: How do you know there are an infinite number of primes?
:Miss Lenhart: I'll answer in haiku!

:[In a frame-less panel, Miss Lenhart lifts a hand up while answering. Both students sit upright on their stools.]
:Miss Lenhart: Top prime's divisors'

:[Miss Lenhart floats into the air with three lines beneath her legs. Cueball looks up. Megan does not change position.]
:Miss Lenhart: Product (plus one)'s factors are...?

:[Miss Lenhart flies over the students heads with a curved line behind her. Neither student look up. The bottom frame of the panel is a curving thought/dream bobble that goes through the middle of the panel at a height just below the desk tops. Two thought circles goes from Cueball's head down to this frame, and Cueball's thoughts are shown below outside of the panel - without any frame around.]
:Miss Lenhart: Q.E.D., bitches!
:Cueball (thinking): Wow, after the 48-hour sleep-dep mark, lectures get ''really'' interesting.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Analysis]]
[[Category:Dreams]]

Danish

2022-05-11T18:10:13Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 266489 by 👖🔥 (talk)

{{Infobox character
| image = Danish.png‎
| imagesize = 150px
| caption = Danish
| first_appearance = [[377: Journal 2]]
}}

'''Danish''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. She frequently appears with [[Black Hat]], and like him, is one of the few xkcd characters to represent the same character in each appearance.

==Characteristics==
Danish is characterized by her cynicism and devilish tricks. She is very similar in appearance to [[Megan]], but has distinctly longer hair. Personality-wise, she is similar to [[Black Hat]], with whom she seems to have a permanent romantic relationship that began in the [[:Category:Journal|Journal]] series (which also marked her first appearance). Thus, she mainly appears in comics together with Black Hat, which is the most certain giveaway that a long-haired woman is Danish rather than Megan.

==Name==
Like most xkcd characters, her real name is unknown. The name "Danish" is picked from when [[Black Hat]] called her "my dearest darling danish", as a term of endearment, referring to a {{w|danish pastry}} in [[515: No One Must Know]]. Obviously, this is not her real name, but as it is the only name given to her by any character, it is the name used here.

==Appearances==
Danish first appeared in the [[:Category:Journal|Journal]] series as an adversary of Black Hat who could match his cunning and trickery. At the end of that series, it seems that she got under Black Hat's skin which resulting in them going on a date.

She thus later appears to be in a continued relationship with Black Hat, as seen in [[440: Road Rage]], [[515: No One Must Know]], [[524: Party]] and [[542: Cover-Up]]. She mainly appears together with him, although after her first seven appearances after ''Journal'' ended she began appearing without him, the first time being in [[914: Ice]]. In cases where Black Hat is not present, it can be difficult to determine with certainty that it is her. However, obvious examples of her personality, as in ''Ice'', are reason enough to confirm her identity.

A girl who resembles Danish appeared in [[139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards]], long before she was introduced in the Journal series. In [[177: Alice and Bob]] a similar-looking character with a propensity to destruction is called Eve – a reference to cryptographic schemes involving communication between Alice and Bob with Eve playing the role of an attacker.

In [[1608: Hoverboard]] there is a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/bc/1608_1012x1078y_Bridge_on_the_Rebel_Blockade_Runner.png long-haired woman on the bridge] of the Rebel Blockade Runner, whose behavior towards both ''Star Wars'' as well as ''Star Trek'' fans could suggest that it was Danish. However, there is not enough evidence that this is Danish to list her as such.

==See also==
*[[:Category:Comics featuring Danish|Comics featuring Danish]]
*[[User:Danish]]

{{navbox-characters}}

[[Category:Characters]]

1757: November 2016

2022-05-11T18:08:33Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 266655 by 👖🔥 (talk)

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

==Explanation==
This is yet another comic designed to [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|make people feel old]], following soon after the last one [[1745: Record Scratch]]. Not so long ago a comic with the very title of the largest bold letters in the caption above the panel was released: [[1686: Feel Old]]. The next comic about feeling old, was released 11 months later, with a similar title, which is special in itself, [[1898: October 2017]] see more on both title and this follow up comic in the [[#Trivia|trivia]] section below.

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

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

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

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

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

==Table for the guide==
*Explanation of table:
**Person's age as given in the comic.
**Person's birth year. 2016 minus person's age.
**Date of things. For instance a release date, the year that a thing began/happened or a year where it became a phenomenon (in the USA).
**Things as given in the comic. There can be more than one "thing" for each age, so it should be things in plural form.
**Half age - Person's age divided by two, so either an integer or a halved integer (10 or 5.5). This number should never be higher than the last column, which is also the case, when taking release dates into account.
**Years ago - the number of years since the things became "a thing". In order for this thing to have been in a persons life for the majority of their life this need to be larger (or at least equal) than half that person's age. Therefore, this number should be larger than the previous column. If there is more than one thing for a given age, the average year for these things is taken and used to calculate the number of years. This number should be given with a decimal, and is not necessarily in whole or half years. Only one of the entries is more than one year higher than the half age. This has been highlighted in '''bold'''.

{| class = "wikitable"
! Age
! Birth year
! Date of things
! Things
! Explanation
! Half age
! Years ago
|-
| 16
| 2000
| April 29, 2008
| ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto IV}}''
| Popular video game published by {{w|Rockstar Games}}; the 11th title in the ''{{w|Grand Theft Auto}}'' series. The games are often rated as Mature (and thus aimed at adults) and this entrance should not really affect 16 year olds, who may have tried the game now, but should not have played the game when they were only 8 years old.
| 8
| 8.5
|-
| 17
| 1999
| May 2007
| {{w|Rickrolling}}
| A prank and internet meme involving an unexpected appearance of the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}", a bait and switch which has been [[:Category:Rickrolling|referred to often]] in xkcd. Since this was aimed at people who knew the song (from 1987) and were online (mainly young adults in 2007), this entry should not really affect 17 year olds who are unlikely to have been rickrolled when they were only 8.5 years old.
| 8.5
| 9.5
|-
| 18
| 1998
| April 13, 2007
| ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters}}
| American Flash animated surreal comedy film based on the {{w|Adult Swim}} animated series ''{{w|Aqua Teen Hunger Force}}''. This seems to be a joke, as both this movie and the one it was based on are for adults, and the people this targets would only have been 9 when it was released, and probably won't recognize the reference. The joke will fail, because they will not feel old. Very few people have ever heard of this movie, which is probably part of the joke.
| 9
| 9.6
|-
| 19
| 1997
| November 19, 2006
| The {{w|Nintendo Wii}}
| 2006 is the time when the Nintendo Wii was released, with the Wii dominating 2006-2012. Ten year olds were likely to play Wii, and thus as 20 year olds remember and be surprised at how long it is since the first time, and feel old. This is the first entry that might actually work.
| 9.5
| 10.0
|-
| 20
| 1996
| March 2006
| {{w|Twitter}}
| 2006 was a big year. Twitter was created. There were probably only a few 10-11 year olds that used Twitter in the first year of its release, and thus not many twenty year old people today would have been active on Twitter at the very beginning. This will only make that minority of people feel old.
| 10
| 10.7
|-
| 21
| 1995
| November 22, 2005 (Xbox 360), September 30, 2005 (xkcd)
| The {{w|Xbox 360}}, {{w|xkcd}}
| 2005 saw the creation of the Xbox 360, another successful console. [[Randall]] also decided to throw in a 'reference joke', referring to the fact that xkcd was also created in 2005 where the [[:Category:First day on LiveJournal|first 13 comics]] where released on [[LiveJournal]] on September 30, 2005. As a callback, he has two x words in the same sentence, referring to [[1750: Life Goals]]. The same two words were both in that comic. (Average release date for the two was October 25, 2005). The Xbox will work on the twenty-one year old, for the same reason the Wii above would work. xkcd would not, because it is not directed at pre-teens. They would not have any feelings towards the comic. It is included to make faithful xkcd readers feel old. "Is it really more than 10 years ago I read it first..." (and also for the self-reference).
| 10.5
| 11.0
|-
| 22
| 1994
| 2005 (no specific date)
| {{w|Chuck Norris Facts}}
| Satirical factoids about martial artist and actor {{w|Chuck Norris}} began to appear on the Internet in early 2005. To begin with, they where not centered on Norris, instead focusing {{w|Vin Diesel}}. This makes it difficult to put a precise date on their appearance than "During the year 2005." Chuck Norris has {{w|Chuck_Norris_facts#Norris.27_response|replied to these factoids}} more than once, but the first time was in December 2006, almost two years after the {{w|meme}}s began appearing. The "facts" are mainly based on his series {{w|Walker, Texas Ranger}}, which ran from 1993-2001. Since the series ended when the twenty-two-year-old of today was 7, they were not the target group for the crazy Chuck Norris Facts. It seems unlikely that this entry would work.
| 11
| 11.5
|-
| 23
| 1993
| January 25, 2004
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}}'s Mars Exploration
| {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity}} is a {{w|Mars rover}} that landed on Mars on January 25, 2004. Mars Rovers are a [[:Category:Mars rovers|recurring subject]] on xkcd. Even people who were not interested in science were very aware of Opportunity's voyage--it was covered in every type of news medium for a long time.
| 11.5
| 12.8
|-
| 24
| 1992
| February 4, 2004
| {{w|Facebook}}
| Facebook is a social networking service created in 2004 as a competitor to {{w|Myspace}}. It grew quickly to become the #1 social networking service. Since kids under thirteen are not allowed on Facebook, twenty-four-year-olds could not have signed up at the time of its foundation. When it was opened up for anyone in 2006, they would have been fourteen, but that would then only have been 10 years ago. However, today everyone knows about Facebook (and many preteens created accounts by lying about their ages), and to learn that it has existed for half of your life may make you feel old even if you didn't sign up immediately.
| 12
| 12.8
|-
| 25
| 1991
| April 1, 2004 (Gmail), July 9, 2003 (''Pirates of the Caribbean'')
| {{w|Gmail}}, ''{{w|Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)|Pirates of the Caribbean}}''
| Gmail is an email service created by Google. It was originally invitation-only (until 2007), and not marketed to kids, so it is unlikely that many thirteen year olds would have been using it in 2004; however, it has since been opened to anyone, and a lot of 25 year olds use it today. The first movie in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' franchise, {{w|Curse of the Black Pearl}}, debuted in 2003. Three more movies followed before the release of this comic (average date is November 4, 2003). The movie was rated PG-13 and would likely have been a hit among 12-13 year old kids, so this would make many people born in 1991 feel old.
| 12.5
| 13.0
|-
| 26
| 1990
| January 7, 2003
| {{w|In da Club}}
| Rap song by {{w|50 Cent}}. The song was a #1 hit on multiple charts and in multiple countries. It is very likely that people who were thirteen at its release would have been aware of it, even if they were not "clubbing" themselves yet.
| 13
| 13.8
|-
| 27
| 1989
| September 20, 2002
| ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''
| ''Firefly'' is a space western drama TV series created by {{w|Joss Whedon}}, that became a cult classic. This may be Randall's favorite TV series, and it has been [[:Category:Firefly|referenced often]] in xkcd.
| 13.5
| 14.1
|-
| 28
| 1988
| October 7, 2001
| The {{w|War in Afghanistan}}
| The United States of America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the {{w|September 11 attacks}} (popularly known as 9/11), in an effort to eliminate the terrorist group {{w|al-Qaeda}}. Almost anyone who was 14 in 2001 would have been aware of the war.
| 14
| 15.1
|-
| 29
| 1987
| October 23, 2001
| The {{w|iPod}}
| The iPod was a music playing device created by {{w|Apple Inc.}} in 2001. This would probably make lots of 29 year-olds feel old.s 14-15 year old kids were likely to have had (or wished they had) an iPod.
| 14.5
| 15.0
|-
| 30
| 1986
| May 18, 2001 (''Shrek''), January 15, 2001 (Wikipedia)
| ''{{w|Shrek}}'', {{w|Wikipedia}}
| ''Shrek'' is a popular parody film about fairy tales. It quickly gained a cult following and became a mega-hit, earning it three sequels and a franchise. It was a big hit popular for ages. Fifteen year old were likely to and love the movie, so they would probably feel old as 30-year-olds realizing it came out half their life ago.

Wikipedia is a an online encyclopedia created in 2001, which anyone can edit. (It is massively linked to from [[explain xkcd]] which has a [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia category]] for comics like this that reference the website directly). (Average date is March 17, 2001). It is questionable how many kids used Wikipedia during the year it launched. Of course, realizing that before Wikipedia, you had to use a paper encyclopedias may still make a 30 year old feel old.
| 15
| 15.8
|-
| 31
| 1985
| July 14, 2000
| Those X-Men movies
| The {{w|X-Men (film series)|X-Men}} film series, probably only referring to the first trilogy (''{{w|X-Men (film)|X-Men}}'' (July 14, 2000), ''{{w|X2 (film)|X2}}'' (May 2, 2003), ''{{w|X-Men: The Last Stand}}'' (May 26, 2006) - us release dates). The release date refers to the first of these three movies. Presumably Randall is counting the series as existing from the time of the first release. 15-16 year old kids are likely to have loved ''X-Men'', and feel old when they realize it came out half their life ago.
| 15.5
| 16.3
|-
| 32
| 1984
| February 4, 2000
| ''{{w|The Sims}}''
| ''The Sims'' is a simulation video game created by Maxis in 2000 in which you build homes, cities, and families. It was an immediate success upon launch. It seems likely that many people would have played The Sims, and thus many 32 year old people would feel old. This was the one that Randall could have used on himself to feel old. He turned 32 a few weeks before the release of this comic.
| 16
| 16.8
|-
| 33
| 1983
| October 19, 1998
| Autotuned hit songs
| 1998 was when non-audio-professionals became aware of {{w|Auto-Tune|autotuning}} songs. {{w|Cher|Cher's}} song ''{{w|Believe (Cher song)|Believe}}'', released October 19, 1998 {{w|Auto-Tune#In_popular_music|may be the first time}} that most people really noticed autotuning. This is the only entry where there seems to be more than one year between the age of the thing and the half age of the person. However, it is also one of the entries where specific dating is difficult. Because the dates are not specific, it is difficult to judge how it would affect 33 year old people. Autotuning has been a standard for years, so it may make one feel old to know it has around for half your life.
| 16.5
| '''18.1'''
|-
| 34
| 1982
| May 19, 1999
| The {{w|Star Wars Prequels}}
| The Star Wars prequel trilogy (''{{w|Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace}}'' (May 19, 1999), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones}}'' (May 16, 2002), ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith}}'' (May 19, 2005), us release dates). The {{w|Star Wars}} universe is most likely the [[:Category:Star Wars|most referenced]] movie universe in xkcd. The release date refers to the first of these three movies, because even only taking the first two movies, the average would only be 16 years ago, less than half the age of a 34 year old. These movies were awaited eagerly by many 17 year old kids, so they would remember the release well and feel very old.
| 17
| 17.5
|-
| 35
| 1981
| March 31, 1999
| ''{{w|The Matrix}}''
| Action film created by {{w|The Wachowskis}} (formerly known, at the time of ''The Matrix'', as The Wachowski Brothers). Two more films followed, although they were widely regarded as inferior to the first (by for instance by Randall as seen in [[566: Matrix Revisited]]). ''The Matrix'' was something new and is likely to have influenced 17-18 year old kids, so this entry would likely to produce feelings of age.
| 17.5
| 17.6
|-
| 36
| 1980
| September 28, 1998
| {{w|Pokémon Red & Blue}}
| A popular video game franchise in the {{w|Pokémon}} series, a series [[:Category:Pokémon|often referenced]] in xkcd. The game was first released in Japan in 1996, but not in North America until 1998. It seems likely that many people interested in playing computer games would have played Pokémon games. and in particular this one, which was released when the target group was 18 years old. And now that's half their life ago, perhaps making them feel old.
| 18
| 18.1
|-
| 37
| 1979
| August 29, 1997 (Netflix), June 26, 1997 (Harry Potter), September 15, 1997 (Google)
| {{w|Netflix}}, {{w|Harry Potter}}, {{w|Google}}
| All three are still major things 19 years later. "Harry Potter" refers to the original publishing date of ''{{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone}}''. Google refers to the date that the Google domain name was registered. (Average date is 03-07-1997). Harry Potter is widely read, but at the time of its release it was probably not at first taken up by those of 18-19 year old. That may have first come later, maybe with the release of the {{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|first movies}} in 2001, four years later. It may this not be the best example for this age group. Also using Google and Netflix just when they where launched may also not have been so popular among 18-19 year olds in 1997. Still, all three things are big, and to realize that they have been around for half of a life may still make someone feel old.
| 18.5
| 19.4
|-
| 38
| 1978
| May 11, 1997
| Deep Blue's Victory
| {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}} was a {{w|chess computer}}, who defeated {{w|Garry Kasparov}}, the reigning chess champion, in a match in 1997. It was the first chess computer to defeat a world champion under tournament conditions. Randall has a great interest in {{w|chess}} and it is a [[:Category:Chess|recurrent subject]] on xkcd. Unless a 38 year old is interested in chess, they may not even know what Deep Blue, is let alone have any impression of long ago the victory occurred. Chess players and computer nerds (both of whom are very likely to be xkcd fans) would certainly be aware of this particular day.
| 19
| 19.5
|-
| 39
| 1977
| September 13, 1996
| {{w|Murder of Tupac Shakur|Tupac's Death}}
| {{w|Tupac Shakur}} was an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996. Eight of his albums are certified platinum (five released after his death), and he has been ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time. (Rolling Stone ranked him 86/100). It seems likely that many 39 year olds would feel old realizing that 2Pac has been dead for half of their lives.
| 19.5
| 20.2
|-
| 40
| 1976
| December 31, 1995
| The [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/31 last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip]
| ''{{w|Calvin and Hobbes}}'' is a comic strip by {{w|Bill Watterson}} that ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. It is a [[:Category:Calvin and Hobbes|recurring subject]] on xkcd . This comic had a lot of fans among people that are 40 today. Even those who didn't read it during its run may have discovered it later. Even those who didn't notice the ending at the time, might still feel old realizing it was so long ago.
| 20
| 20.9
|-
| 41
| 1975
| November 22, 1995
| ''{{w|Toy Story}}''
| The {{w|Pixar}} animated film ''Toy Story'' was the first feature length digitally-animated film to be released theatrically (and also Pixar's first feature film). Given that this was the first film of its kind, many 20-21 year olds would have seen it. For xkcd fans, such movies might be a big thing. For anyone who saw this movie (and the two sequels) this could cause feelings of age. Side note: 41 year olds might actually feel young when reading this comic in November 2016, because they are the last people to still be expected to feel young before Randall deliberately destroys the feeling.
| 20.5
| 21.0
|-
| >41
| Before 1975
| N/A
| [Don't worry, they've got this covered]
| This joke is that people who are legitimately old already feel old. This could also be a reference to the number 42, 42 being the "{{w|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything}}" in the {{w|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}. He has referenced this number more than once before, for instance in [[1213: Combination Vision Test]] and in the [[1608#Messages_in_Play_Area|messages in the ''Play Area'']] of [[1608: Hoverboard]]. Showing people 42 years or more old this table will make them feel old, when they look for their age and find this. Also, it may disappoint older readers of xkcd, as they do not to get their own humorous half-your-life entry. (See the opposite effect mentioned for the 41 years old above).
| >20.5
| N/A
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:The November 2016
:Guide to making people
:'''feel old'''
:
:[A chart with a list of items to be put into the two first lines above the chart. First there are a line using the first column, then there are two lines using the second column. Below those lines are the two columns with underlined captions above. Between the columns are a long line connecting the two.]
:If they're [age], you say:
:<big>"Did you know</big> [thing] <big>has been around for the majority of your life?"</big>
:
:;Age
::Thing
:
:;16
::Grand Theft Auto IV
:
:;17
::Rickrolling
:
:;18
::''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters''
:
:;19
::The Nintendo Wii
:
:;20
::Twitter
:
:;21
::The Xbox 360, xkcd
:
:;22
::Chuck Norris Facts
:
:;23
::Opportunity's Mars Exploration
:
:;24
::Facebook
:
:;25
::Gmail, ''Pirates of the Caribbean''
:
:;26
::In da Club
:
:;27
::''Firefly''
:
:;28
::The War in Afghanistan
:
:;29
::The iPod
:
:;30
::''Shrek'', Wikipedia
:
:;31
::Those X-Men movies
:
:;32
::''The Sims''
:
:;33
::Autotuned hit songs

:;34
::The ''Star Wars'' prequels
:
:;35
::''The Matrix''
:
:;36
::''Pokémon Red&Blue''
:
:;37
::Netflix, ''Harry Potter'', Google
:
:;38
::Deep Blue's Victory
:
:;39
::Tupac's Death
:
:;40
::The last ''Calvin and Hobbes'' strip
:
:;41
::''Toy Story''
:
:;>41
::[Don't worry, they've got this covered]

==Trivia==
*The title of this comic is special, and the like has never been seen before. Months have been included in the titles before, and also years, but never like this with a month and a year.
**But since then one more comic like this has been released, see below.
*Of course this also indicates that this comic only really work during November 2016.
**Three earlier comics has used month names in the title, two with specific holiday dates, and one with the month as part of a rhyme:
***[[656: October 30th]]
***[[680: December 25th]]
***[[1595: 30 Days Hath September]]
**And just a year has been used for time (including later comics):
***[[998: 2012]]
***[[1311: 2014]]
***[[1624: 2016]]
***[[1779: 2017]]
*As a side note to the whole idea about feeling old, the chosen release day might not have been the most relevant to post such a comic.
**This comic was released just past midnight on the day that the result of the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}} was determined (i.e. the day after the election on November 8th 2016), so before anything was determined but likely at a time when the first polls showed which way it might end.
**In the previous comic [[1756: I'm With Her]], from Monday the day before the election, Randall had {{w|Political endorsement|endorsed}} {{w|Hillary Clinton}} from the {{w|US Democratic Party|Democratic Party}}.
**Thus a 600 days election campaign finished on this day. It was a very controversial election and the {{w|US Republican Party|Republican}} nominee {{w|Donald Trump}} became {{w|President-elect of the United States}} after winning the election.
**This result had been feared to happen by half of the people of the United States, and the other half had feared that Clinton would win. And many people thus stayed up to follow the election all night. And now the whole thing is over, and the headache starts.
**And on this day Randall tries to make people feel old... It seems likely he did not need to try so hard, as lots of people probably felt much older than their years after all this!
*Almost a year later Randall then released [[1898: October 2017]], the only second comic with this type of title.
**This comic is also designed to make you feel old, thus continuing the trend of this comic.
**But furthermore, in the title text, it references the election from the day before this comic came out, coming full circle on what might make you feel old.
**Could be a reference to above mentioned discussion if it was really needed to make someone feel old on that particular day in November 2016, thus indirectly acknowledging people that had such objections.
**This was also the first release of a comic to make one feel old since this one. Thus reminding people that a year has almost passed already, is in a way another way to make people feel old, if they remember this previous comic.

{{comic discussion}}

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

464: RBA

2022-05-11T18:07:20Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 266145 by 👖🔥 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 464
| date = August 18, 2008
| title = RBA
| image = rba.png
| titletext = This is a story all about how I started drinking.
}}

==Explanation==
A [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bel%20Air Bel-Air] is an internet meme where a poster on a message board starts a post on a serious topic, but partway through the post switches to reciting the lyrics to the opening theme song of ''{{w|The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air}}'', a 1990s sitcom starring {{w|Will Smith}} (previously known in his rapping career as the "Fresh Prince") as a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who has been sent to live with his affluent and stuffy Aunt and Uncle in Bel Air, Los Angeles by his mother as a consequence of a single altercation with a couple of no-good guys who were making trouble in his previous neighbourhood.

[[Megan]] in the comic reverses the traditional arrangement by starting the conversation with a recitation of the lyrics to said theme song, and then switching partway through to a very serious discussion of the status of their relationship culminating in a break-up.

The lyrics go like this:

:Now this is the story all about how
:My life got flipped, turned upside down
:And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
:I'll tell you how I became ''the prince of a town called Bel-air''

The title ''RBA'' is an initialism for ''Reverse Bel-Air''.

The title text is also an RBA, but one that diverges from the song lyrics much more quickly. It's a play on the phrase "started drinking." This phrase usually refers to someone becoming an alcoholic (in this case, it would be because of the break-up), but in this case refers to the actual fact that Cueball had just started drinking (a glass of water) when Megan started talking to him.

A similar (though less serious) play on the Bel-Air meme was later used in [[1059: Bel-Air]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan walks up to Cueball pouring himself a drink.]
:Megan: Now, this is a story all about how

:Megan: My life got flipped turned upside down

:Megan: And I'd like to take a minute
:Megan: Just sit right there

:Megan: I'll tell you how I became uncertain about our relationship. I think you just like having a girlfriend, it doesn't matter who.
:Megan: I think we should break up.

:The reverse Bel-Air only works once, so make it something unforgettable.
:[Cut to a dropped glass, the drink spilled on the ground.]
:Cueball: ...wait, seriously?
:Megan: Yeah.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

2616: Deep End

2022-05-08T18:08:18Z

172.70.131.106: /* Explanation */ I think 3 citation needed tags in one paragraph is a bit overkill, so I've kept the funniest one.

{{comic
| number = 2616
| date = May 6, 2022
| title = Deep End
| image = deep_end.png
| titletext = Hey! No running in the back-arc basin!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This article needs additional citations for verification. Unsourced articles may be given an espresso and a free lolcat. The transcript has been reformatted but needs extra description. - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Pools, like oceans, contain water.{{Citation needed}} This comic produces a schematic for the former, derived from science about the latter. On Earth, the surface consists of tectonic plates which move around. In this comic, [[Randall]] equates swimming pools with {{w|plate tectonics}}, to explain how deep ends form in said pools. Unfortunately, swimming pools aren't really formed by plate tectonics.

A {{w|swimming pool}} is a pool of water, typically used for swimming. Most of these have a deep end and a shallow end. This is intentional, usually to accommodate for new swimmers to have somewhere to stand while accommodating for more confident swimmers for whom the floor would get in the way.

{{w|Subduction}}, a geological process in which one plate slips beneath another and is forced down into the mantle, is shown here as the reason swimming pools have deep ends. This usually takes place between continental plates and oceanic plates, although it could happen with two oceanic plates. The comic depicts the former; an oceanic plate subducting under a continental one.

A splash zone is an area of a waterpark with water being sprayed around, allowing people to get wet without the need to get into the pool. In this comic, the splash zone is actually geysers, fed by the bubbles of water from the subduction. While this particular scenario as shown in the comic is obviously far-fetched, subduction zones do create similar effects: water moving up from subducting plates is the origin of many {{W|volcanic arc|volcanic arcs}}. These volcanic systems sometimes include features such as the geysers depicted in the comic's splash zone.

The title text refers to {{W|back-arc basin|back-arc basins}}, zones of depression that sometimes occur slightly beyond volcanic arcs due to a rift in the tectonic plate. The ban on running in this area likely has more to do with its proximity to the pool area than any danger intrinsic to back-arc basins. A typical safety rule around swimming pools is to avoid running on the pool deck to prevent injuries due to slipping and falling on the hard deck.

Other comics that mention unusual tectonic plate motion include [[1388: Subduction License]] and [[1874: Geologic Faults]].

==Transcript==

{{incomplete transcript}}

[Caption above the panel:] How deep ends form in pools

:[On the left of the image is the shallowest water in the pool, about the height of [[Megan]]. All the water in the image is grey. She is swimming in the water, and a duck floatie and a beach ball are floating to the left of her. It is labelled:] Shallow End

:[Underneath, a thick layer is labelled:] Pool Floor

:[Going to the right from there, the pool floor begins to curve downwards. As the floor goes down, the water gets deeper. In the deepest area, it is labeled:] Deep End

:[At the bottom of the deep end, there is a curve and a deposit on the pool floor. Within the sediment and pool floor, there are some small pools of trapped water, labelled with three arrows:] Trapped Water

:[On the pool floor an arrow indicates that the oceanic plate is moving left-to-right across the image. It is labelled:] Subduction

:[Some of the water pools are dragged along by the oceanic plate, while others float up through the continental plate. These are accompanied by several arrow pointing up to indicate upwards movement. These are labelled:] Upward Migration

:[At the surface there is an area labelled:] Splash zone

:[The water erupts in two geysers, the left slightly larger than the other. Several children (small versions of [[Ponytail]], [[Hairy]], and [[Science Girl]] as herself) are playing there. Science Girl is sitting with her arms in the air facing the geysers, and Ponytail and Hairy are running towards the left geyser, Hairy with his arms in the air. The label above this area is:] Splash Zone

:[To the left of the splash zone is the edge of the pool, where a [[Cueball]] figure is midair after jumping off the diving board, with his arms outstretched. This is labelled:] Pool Deck

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

2228: Machine Learning Captcha

2022-05-04T22:44:23Z

172.70.131.106:

{{comic
| number = 2228
| date = November 13, 2019
| title = Machine Learning Captcha
| image = machine_learning_captcha.png
| titletext = More likely: Click on all the pictures of people who appear disloyal to [name of company or government]
}}

==Explanation==

All websites other than explain xkcd have difficulties with spambots, which are automated entities created in order to log onto a website and spam or otherwise wreak havoc upon it. (This never happens to explain xkcd.) To guard against this eventuality, websites have implemented {{w|CAPTCHA}}s, a challenge used to prove the user is a human and not an automated program. A typical CAPTCHA might distort a random sequence of letters and numbers and put it in a strange and/or mixed font and ask a user to type it, or it might show a set of pictures and ask the user which ones contain fire hydrants; these tasks are meant to be easy for humans but obscenely difficult for computers. [[:Category:CAPTCHA|CAPTCHAs]] are a recurring theme on xkcd.

CAPTCHAs run by Google are also used to train artificial intelligences to get better at these difficult tasks, such as reading poorly-scanned text or identifying objects of interest on the road (the latter being the subject of [[1897: Self Driving]]).

This comic jokes about a malicious CAPTCHA which is being used to train an AI to dominate the world. In order to prevent people from taking shelter, the AI uses the CAPTCHA to ask humans like Cueball to tell it places where they would hide. The implication is that during a robot uprising, the AI, on the side of the robots, would then be able to track down humans much more easily. The choices presented are (left to right, top to bottom):

;House
:Sometimes, the best (or least-worst) response to a disaster is to "shelter in place" until the danger is passed, rather than risk getting caught in the open or in traffic. This is commonly advised in response to biological, chemical, or radiological hazards, or in the case of a violent act committed in the community. If the robot uprising is localized, then sheltering at home would be a fine response, because traveling to the other locations would increase the risk of being spotted and attacked by self-driving cars or aerial drones. On the other hand, most homes contain a multitude of internet-connected devices, some of which may control vital electrical or heating systems, so if the robot uprising is widespread, then the home would not be a safe shelter.
;Tree or forest
:If there is a robot uprising, then traveling to a forest or other nature reserve, far away from developed cities and towns, would reduce the risk of being near a hostile piece of technology. However, it also comes with limited resources for sustaining human life, unless the forest abuts meadows or farmland.
;Bunker or bomb shelter
:If the robot uprising includes the use of weapons of mass destruction (as in the ''{{w|Terminator (franchise)|Terminator}}'' franchise, or as was threatened in ''{{w|WarGames}}''), then only a hardened military structure is likely to survive.
;Car
:Cars offer some shelter and, more importantly, mobility in one convenient package. Most families own at least one, and they are widespread in human-occupied areas, so even if the car is not as suitable as a long-term shelter (depending on how the road and gasoline/power networks survive the uprising) it makes a fine first step in evacuating to a more permanent hiding place. This is of course assuming that the car is not self-driving and that hostile self-driving cars are not widespread.
;City
:Cities offer thorough selections of supplies and tools that may be harder to come by in more rural areas, but they are also home to lots of robots and automated systems that may participate in the uprising, not to mention humans who may be prime targets for the machines. It may be necessary to visit the city to stock up on supplies in a post-apocalyptic scenario, but in the early stages of a robot uprising, it is best to leave them as quickly as possible.
;Sidewalk
:The sidewalk is exposed and presumably falls within a built-up area that is readily accessible to the machines; it is not at all suitable as shelter.
;Lean-to
:The log with a board leaning on it is an example of an improvised shelter. Such a shelter could be constructed anywhere with local materials, and would not be marked on any map known to the robots, which are both positives for surviving the onset of the uprising. However, it is lacking in insulation and protection, which makes it less suitable for longer stays.
;Mailbox
:Only a very young infant could fit in this mailbox. This is not a viable shelter.
;A hole in the ground
:Like the improvised shelter, this option can be made almost anywhere and is easy to camouflage, and it offers additional insulation from weather and weapons of mass destruction. It's a fine option if you happen to already have one or know where to find one, but it will be difficult to create a suitable one after the uprising begins.

Some of these choices may be {{tvtropes|CowTools|Cow Tools}}, that is, presented not as serious options but to be funny because they are nonsensical.

The title text imagines a different malicious CAPTCHA which Randall says is "more likely" than the robot-uprising scenario, in which a company or government asks users to identify "disloyal" members of society. Presumably the company or government would then use this information to eliminate such "disloyal" members, either by firing them (company) or jailing, expelling, or executing them (government). This follows a theme of previous comic strips (e.g. [[1968: Robot Future]]) in which Randall expresses that he is more concerned about humans using AI for evil ends than he is about AI being evil in itself.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting in an office chair at his desk with one hand in his lap and the other poised over the keyboard of his computer. A zigzag line is drawn from a starburst on the computer screen going above the computer to where it is shown what is displayed on the screen. At the top there is the following text:]
:Computer: To prove you're a human, click on all the photos that show places you would run for shelter during a robot uprising.

:[Below the text there are nine images arranged in a 3 by 3 square. In reading order they are: A house, possibly with an open carport; a large tree with two trees in the background; a bunker/bomb shelter; a car; a city skyline with several sky scrapers; a sidewalk with road on the left, grass on the right; a log with a board leaning up on the log; a mailbox; and a hole in the ground.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:CAPTCHA]]
[[Category:Politics]]

Talk:1458: Small Moon

2022-05-04T01:01:33Z

172.70.131.106:

Probably another dig at the Pluto "dwarf planet" controversy?[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.109|199.27.133.109]] 06:38, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
:Implying that it might not be? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.109|108.162.216.109]] 15:54, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

This is too good. I laughed for about 2 straight minutes.. :D [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.89|199.27.128.89]] 06:50, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Added a short placeholder explanation for the comic itself, using [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.109|199.27.133.109]]'s suggestion. Needs refining and explaining of the alt text. Cheers. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.207|173.245.54.207]] 07:04, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

In the movie, they didn't have 3 hours to argue over the thing. Not sure if that's relevant... [[User:Haelbarde|Haelbarde]] ([[User talk:Haelbarde|talk]]) 07:11, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

The reason it couldn't be a space station would be that something so large would wind up collapsing in on its own gravity. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.204|173.245.54.204]] 08:38, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
:It's not solid, it's a comapritively low density on the whole (on the order of ten thousand million''th''s that of Earth's sea-level atmospheric pressure, if I've not thrown a rogue zero or two in to the calculation by accident, so is doubtless mostly vacuum outside of the functional/habitable/structural areas), there are obviously various gravitational compensators for the inhabited sections (hence "looking sideways out of the equator ring" and along the beam-channel, yet "up from the surface" from the trench system defence turrets and other internal shafts are also vertiginously 'up-down' in nature) and doubtless its structural stength is composed of various Unotanium (i.e. "durasteel") alloys and the like, way beyond what we could currently build with Earthly technology. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.245|141.101.98.245]] 10:37, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

I would note that a Death '''Star''' can not be a moon. [[User:Briff|Briff]] ([[User talk:Briff|talk]]) 10:10, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
:Note that it is canon that the "Star Destroyer"s are neither (if taken literally) capable of destroying stars nor (in the sense of "star ship" in general) are they technically destroyer-class ships. You've got to put it down to The Empire just having no sense of relevence when it comes to naming its vessels. Probably too much influence from clone-thinking... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.245|141.101.98.245]] 10:37, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
:I will argue that by my understanding of the term, it actually is a moon whenever it is orbiting a planet but it would probably be better to come up with new terminology given the interstellar capabilities. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.183|108.162.237.183]] 12:44, 10 December 2014 (UTC)Band of Traveling Accountants

I've never heard of the word "deunifying"; did you mean "disuniting" or "disunifying"?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.203|173.245.54.203]] 14:09, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
:That would probably have been me who wrote that. I didn't spend too much time thinking about it, was just putting something up, fully expecting it to get fixed up later [[User:Haelbarde|Haelbarde]] ([[User talk:Haelbarde|talk]]) 00:57, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

I marked the transcript as incomplete; we can't be sure as to who is saying which lines in the final panel without Randall telling us himself. Notably, the second-to-last-line does not sound like something Ben Kenobi would say; more likely it's Han Solo. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.188|108.162.216.188]] 13:54, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
:Agreed. Comment is much more easily seen as coming from Solo than Kenobi. And, if they did rescue Leia during the intervening interval (one of the two scenarios suggested), Kenobi wouldn't be present. Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.117|199.27.128.117]] 16:59, 10 December 2014 (UTC)
:I have two reasons why I'd stick with my original Luke and Ben for the last panel: 1) On a cursory read of the comic, without thinking about what would have happened in the movie, the natural assumption is they have been arguing for the entire 3 hours, so its the same two people, and 2) If they had actually been captured by the Death Star, there would no longer be any argument. They would have found upon closer inspection that it is in fact a space station. Note that in the final panel they're arguing about classifying it as a moon, as opposed to the Title Text, in which the options both acknowledge its artificial/station status.[[User:Haelbarde|Haelbarde]] ([[User talk:Haelbarde|talk]]) 00:57, 11 December 2014 (UTC)
:Randall's official transcript (in the source code of http://xkcd.com/1458/, look for <code><div id="transcript" style="display: none"></code>) shows who is saying what in the last panel. Therefore, I have updated the previously "Unknown" speakers in the Transcript section for this comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.155|108.162.238.155]] 23:32, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

Dear other editors: "In this galaxy" was wordplay on the {{w|Star Wars opening crawl}}. I find your lack of pop culture disturbing. Changing the phrase to "In this solar system" was incorrect. Furthermore, although the predominant civilization on Earth allows moons of nearly any size, it is not necessarily true that inhabitants of SWG followed the same nomenclature. I think the wording should be restored. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 17:42, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

:In fact, we know for sure that SWG defines "moon" differently {{w|Natural satellite|than we do}}, because when the Millennium Falcon arrived, the Death Star was not orbiting another non-star body (it was the largest body in its spatial neighborhood) and therefore could not be a moon (as defined in this galaxy). - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 18:03, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

:Frankie's observation is something I thought of after seeing the movie as a kid, but the station could actually be orbiting the combined gravity of the debri field of the planet it just destroyed. The 'tidal' forces on the station would be different from the debri than from the planet, because the matter is now distributed differently, but the death star still could be an orbiting body, for a while at least. Once the debri field becomes more distributed the situation would be as Frankie stated. [[User:SeanLynch|SeanLynch]] ([[User talk:SeanLynch|talk]]) 15:54, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

I notice Randall removed the "We'll be back next week" line from his What-If page today. I wonder what's up since it's been over two weeks. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.241|108.162.210.241]] 02:21, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Would it be fair to say this strip is also a reference to the fact that any object of large enough mass in space would have its own gravity? (Setting aside an earlier comment about the Death Star being mostly vacuum) {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.246}}

I haven't seen Star Wars in a while, but was it not Han Solo who said the "It's too big to be a space station" line? After all, Solo was more worldly than Luke at the time. [[User:Phineas81707|Phineas81707]] ([[User talk:Phineas81707|talk]]) 08:59, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

:Actually, in Munroe's transcript it says 'Luke: It's too big to be a space station.' Should we stick with the transcript on site or with the canon (according to which you are correct, Phineas81707)? After all, the comic is diverging anyway and does so just two lines earlier, according to Munroe's transcript. {{unsigned ip|162.158.89.175}}
::Please don't forget to sign your comments. But thanks for your eagle eyes, at the original transcript it's Luke. I'll fix it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:14, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Just fixed some vandalism, some guy filled the entire page with just the word crap. Smell ya later. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.106|172.70.131.106]] 01:01, 4 May 2022 (UTC)

2565: Latency

2022-05-04T00:38:50Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235882 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2565
| date = January 7, 2022
| title = Latency
| image = latency.png
| titletext = Each SCAPDFATIAT point increases the chance that the process will involve the phrase 'by the next business day.'
}}
*While this comic was still on the front page of xkcd the [[Countdown in header text]] began.

==Explanation==
This comic is about the time it takes for a request to be processed; a total of 1 second is devoted to automated processes, but 2-15 minutes or longer are devoted to a not-yet-automated process that is performed by a human.

Part of the humor comes from the fact that most, if not all, instances of a person copying and pasting data from one place to another could be trivially automated and included as part of the automated steps, if only a programmer could take the [[1205: Is It Worth the Time?|time]] to program the process. Having a human take several minutes to move data that a computer could move in fractions of a second is incredibly inefficient, and reflects the humorously poor optimization present in many routine processes.

The title text refers to SCAPDFATIAT, which is defined in the comic as Someone Copies and Pastes Data From a Thing Into Another Thing.

Because it requires a human worker to fully accomplish, in-between various other work commitments as well as possibly personal/non-work activities, it is plausible that (even if the copying was started promptly enough) the person involved will not have pasted onwards by the time their effective working day ends. It might be reasonable to assume that a job that ought to take no more than a few actual minutes thus is only 'guaranteed' to be concluded at some point the following working day (which may be a whole long weekend away, possibly including public holidays). The business will therefore state (e.g. in contractual service agreements) that the guaranteed response times are of the order of "within one working day". Even if they hope and expect that any request passed to their staff is handled within a much shorter timescale. If reliably capable of being fully automated (e.g. with a resilient and continually maintained server infrastructure), could be fulfilled almost instantly at any time of day or night. But it may be the need to keep an 'intelligent' human in the loop (as well as to "under-promise and over-deliver", rather than the reverse) that makes the concept of "next-working-day" a more attractive commitment to make.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above a graph showing a bar with 6 lines between the two ends:]
:Typical process latency:

:[The bar is split in two small regions at either end with two times two lines close to each other at the left and only one of those pairs of lines near the right. In between is a very long white area with no features. Above the two small segments at either end, there are small brackets of this type "{" lying down so the tip points up towards a curved line that then goes up to two labels.]
:Left: Automated steps: 800 ms
:Right: Automated steps: 200 ms

:[A similar, but very long, bracket is below the bar indicating the long white area in the middle. The tip points down to a label:]
:Someone copies and pastes data from a thing into another thing:
:2-15 minutes
:(More if the person on call is busy)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]

2393: Presidential Middle Names

2022-05-04T00:37:53Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235867 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2393
| date = December 2, 2020
| title = Presidential Middle Names
| image = presidential_middle_names.png
| titletext = The bottom of the list remains unchanged. Poor Rutherford Birchard Hayes.
}}

==Explanation==
A list of what Randall perceives will be the prettiest presidential {{w|middle names}} after the inauguration on January 20, 2021. {{w|Joe Biden|Joe Robinette Biden}} (46th president-elect) will take the second slot bumping previous second-place holder {{w|Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin Delano Roosevelt}}, the 32nd president, back to third. {{w|Warren G. Harding|Warren Gamaliel Harding}}, the 29th president, remains in first. Robinette is Biden's [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2008/08/joe_bidens_middle_name_is_robi.html grandmother's maiden name].

The title text announces that {{w|Rutherford B. Hayes|Rutherford Birchard Hayes}}, the 19th president, remains at or near the bottom.

Overall, the ranking would not include every president, as many early presidents, such as {{w|George Washington}} and {{w|John Adams}}, lacked middle names. Some presidents were also more commonly known by their middle names as opposed to their first names, particularly John {{w|Calvin Coolidge}}, Stephen {{w|Grover Cleveland}}, Hiram {{w|Ulysses Grant}}, and Thomas {{w|Woodrow Wilson}}. In the case of Grant, the Senator who enrolled him at West Point messed up his full name as Ulysses Simpson Grant, hence he is widely known as ''Ulysses S. Grant'' with the spurious middle "S". Also, {{w|Harry S Truman}}'s middle name was just the letter S and was not an initial of a name; Truman's parents could not agree on which of his grandfathers' names to give him, but luckily they both started with the letter. One president has even changed their entire name: {{w|Gerald Ford}} was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., officially changing his name in 1935.
There is no evidence in the comic for how Randall’s list would deal with these cases.

The humor is based on the sheer oddity of ranking people by the perceived prettiness of their obscure middle names.

== Trivia ==

{{w|Raphael Warnock|Raphael Gamaliel Warnock}} became a U.S. senator in January 2021, a hundred years and a week after former president Warren Gamaliel Harding left the Senate. Randall’s favourite presidential middle name is thus once again represented in government.

==List of Presidents with middle names==
(updated for 2021, as the comic)
{| class="wikitable"
|+ (Ordered by middle name)
! President
! Presidential order
|-
|James ABRAM Garfield
|20
|-
|Chester ALAN Arthur
|21
|-
|Lyndon BAINES Johnson
|36
|-
|Rutherford BIRCHARD Hayes
|19
|-
|John CALVIN Coolidge
|30
|-
|Herbert CLARK Hoover
|31
|-
|Dwight DAVID Eisenhower
|34
|-
|Franklin DELANO Roosevelt
|32
|-
|James ("Jimmy") EARL Carter
|39
|-
|John ("Jack") FITZGERALD Kennedy
|35
|-
|Warren GAMALIEL Harding
|29
|-
|Stephen GROVER Cleveland
|22, 24
|-
|William HENRY Harrison
|9
|-
|George HERBERT WALKER Bush
|41
|-
|William HOWARD Taft
|27
|-
|Barack HUSSEIN Obama
|44
|-
|William JEFFERSON Clinton
|42
|-
|Donald JOHN Trump
|45
|-
|James KNOX Polk
|11
|-
|Richard MILHOUS Nixon
|37
|-
|John QUINCY Adams
|6
|-
|Joseph ("Joe") ROBINETTE Biden
|46
|-
|Gerald RUDOLPH Ford
|38
|-
|Harry S. Truman
|33
|-
|Hiram ULYSSES Grant (Ulysses SIMPSON Grant during his presidency)
|18
|-
|George WALKER Bush
|43
|-
|Ronald WILSON Reagan
|40
|-
|Thomas WOODROW Wilson
|28
|}

The Presidents without middle names — almost all of those before Grant, and a few a bit later — were George Washington, John Adams, {{w|Thomas Jefferson}}, {{w|James Madison}}, {{w|James Monroe}}, {{w|Andrew Jackson}}, {{w|Martin Van Buren}}, {{w|John Tyler}}, {{w|Zachary Taylor}}, {{w|Millard Fillmore}}, {{w|Franklin Pierce}}, {{w|James Buchanan}}, {{w|Abraham Lincoln}}, {{w|Andrew Johnson}}, {{w|Benjamin Harrison}}, {{w|William McKinley}}, and {{w|Theodore Roosevelt}}.

==Transcript==
:<big>Prettiest</big>
:Presidential Middle Names Official Rankings
:(Updated for 2021)

# Gamaliel (Warren Harding)
#Robinette (Joe Biden) '''(NEW!)'''
#Delano (Franklin Roosevelt) 

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Rankings]]

2473: Product Launch

2022-05-04T00:29:48Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 232764 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2473
| date = June 7, 2021
| title = Product Launch
| image = product_launch.png
| titletext = "Okay, that was weird, but the product reveal was normal. I think the danger is pas--" "One more thing." "Oh no."
}}

==Explanation==
Three people are discussing the upcoming public announcement of their company's new product, apparently an electronic device shown on the pedestal between them. Hairy mentions that smart devices can make people uncomfortable. Common reasons include:

* It is impossible for consumers to know what the device is really doing (since it is a "black box" with inaccessible software).
* The device could stop working in the future due to poor quality or software problems;
* The device could be used to spy on its owner or others, including ones who did not consent to this by purchasing the device.
* The device could represent a security or even safety risk by allowing hackers or other groups access to the network or any systems that the device controls.
* The device could significantly alter the life of the user via digital addiction.

To allay these concerns, the device should be presented as non-threatening. Cueball asks to confirm the '''non''', implying that this was not clear to him before. In fact, it even appears he thought he was being asked to put together a ''threatening'' presentation, but does not explain.

Later, Cueball presents the device on-stage, with statements that have been styled to sound positive but carry double meanings. The subtlety of the changes in tone could make them harder to discuss for many.

* He confirms that the product can "change the world for good or evil" (most would merely claim that their new product is good, or will change the world).
* The "plaintive cries of [the company's] customers"; those cries may be because of the company's actions rather than customer demands for a new product.
* The company wants to "give [customers] what they deserve," a phrase often associated with judgments that are as likely to punish as to reward.
* Instead of being merely uncovered, the product is being exposed to the atmosphere (implying a chemical or physical reaction) and is to affect customers within five city blocks (nearly 1 km). This is further than common smart devices (using wireless technologies such as WiFi or Bluetooth) would reach. Worse, this event is supposed to be surprising, unlike, for example, the sudden availability of a new long-distance radio network.
* When someone in the audience decides to leave in the middle of the presentation, Cueball reassures them that a "staggering" large number of people will survive; this is usually considered true of non-military fair-trade product launches,{{fact}} but this is also not a reassuring way to phrase that fact. Plus, there is no assertion that the "staggering" number is in fact 100%, which is the survival rate for most product launches.{{fact}}

In the title text, someone is saying that the actual reveal was uneventful. Cueball interrupts, implying that there is one last feature to demonstrate, at which point the first speaker assumes the worst (that the product's most threatening aspect was saved for last).

Besides the main joke of a product that is likely so unsafe as to be illegal, the comic could also be poking fun at the desire of tech companies to make their products sound important, which can undermine the message of benign safety.

This comic was released on the day of Apple's 2021 WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) keynote, at which the company traditionally announces new features and products. "One more thing" is a tagline famously associated with Steve Jobs' product announcements and something of an Apple tradition.

==Transcript==

:[Hairy and Ponytail are standing to the left of a wrapped object. Cueball is standing on the right.]
:Hairy: The press is here for the product launch!
:Hairy: Remember, people are wary of smart devices, so we want to strike a non-threatening tone.

:[Pan over to just Cueball; Hairy and Ponytail are off of the left side of the panel.]
:Cueball: Hang on, did you say '''''non'''''-threatening?
:Hairy: Yes. Why-
:Cueball: Nothing. It's probably fine.

:[Caption: Soon...]
:[Cueball is standing on a platform next to the previously seen wrapped object.]
:Cueball: They say technology can change the world, for good or for evil. Our new product will show how true that is.
:Cueball: We hear the plaintive cries of our customers. We want to give them what they deserve.

:[Zoom in on Cueball, who has his hand up in a gesture.]
:Cueball: Now, let us expose our product to the atmosphere for the first time, surprising and delighting customers within a five-block radius.
:(Voice off-panel): I'm leaving.
:Cueball: No, don't worry! A staggering number of people will survive!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]

2606: Weird Unicode Math Symbols

2022-05-04T00:26:36Z

172.70.131.106: Add anti-vandalism div tag to prevent spam bot from touching this

<div style="display: none">crap</div>
{{comic
| number = 2606
| date = April 13, 2022
| title = Weird Unicode Math Symbols
| image = weird_unicode_math_symbols.png
| titletext = U+2A0B ⨋ Mathematicians need to calm down
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A SNAKE AVOIDING A BEE ON A WHITEBOARD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic proposes joke explanations for various {{w|unicode symbols}} with obscure or no known uses.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Symbols
|-
! Codepoint !! Symbol !! Unicode Name !! Actual use !! Randall's meaning || Explanation
|-
| U+29CD || ⧍ || Triangle with Serifs At Bottom || No standard use, but resembles the {{w|National Park Service}} cartographic symbol for a campsite.[https://github.com/nationalparkservice/symbol-library/] || Shark || May look like a shark fin sticking out of the water.
|-
| U+23E7 || ⏧ || Electrical Intersection || Indicates where wires branch off || Traffic circle || Looks like a diagram of a {{w|roundabout}} as might be shown on a minimap beside a routing direction.
|-
| U+2A33 || ⨳ || {{w|Smash product}} || The quotient of the underlying spaces of two {{w|pointed space}}s, where points in the {{w|product spaces}} are identified if they contain either labeled point as an element. || Hashtag || Looks somewhat like the {{w|Number sign|hash}} symbol (#) – commonly used for indicating tags called {{w|hashtag}}s in social media – turned by 45 degrees.
|-
| U+2A7C || ⩼ || Greater-Than with Question Mark Above || Used in proofs to indicate a greater-than relation that should exist but hasn't been proven yet (non-rigorous) || Confused alligator || One metaphor used when teaching inequality signs in primary school is that the sign looks like an alligator mouth "eating" the larger number. Question marks are commonly used in cartoons to indicate confusion on the part of a character.
|-
| U+299E || ⦞ || Angle with S Inside || Plural for the angle symbol (∠) [https://www.quora.com/Unicode-How-is-the-s-in-triangle-glyph-used-in-mathematics][https://www.birdvilleschools.net/cms/lib2/TX01000797/Centricity/Domain/1114/Homework%20Helper%20Unit%203%20ch%209-10.pdf] rarely used || Snack || May look like a mouth eating an S, where the S symbolizes some snack food.
|-
| U+2A04 || ⨄ || {{w|Arity|N-ary}} Union Operator with Plus || Disjoint union[https://books.google.com/books?id=531cAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=%E2%A8%84&source=bl&ots=oYXkMNXP-T&sig=ACfU3U2QvMRBkD7uVG0OSumKI0JQtjTIKA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwios862ypL3AhWXVTABHTnQALQQ6AF6BAgKEAM] (joining a family of sets that have no elements in common) || Drink refill || Looks like a cup with a plus to indicate adding drink to the cup.
|-
| U+2B48 || ⭈ || Rightwards Arrow Above Reverse Almost Equal To || Pairs with ⭂ which could conceivably mean {{w|Assignment (computer science)|assignment}} of an {{w|Approximation|approximation}}, but neither seem to be in use. || Snakes over there || Looks like two squiggles to represent snakes and an arrow indicating the direction where they may be found.
|-
| U+225D || ≝ || Equal To By Definition || Indicates an equation where the left side is to be defined as the right side[https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/1z1mty/can_someone_please_explain_the_equal_to_by/] usually used in proofs to indicate a definition is being introduced|| Definitely, for sure || "Def" is a contraction of "definitely" used in slang; the equal sign looks like a double underline, indicating heavy emphasis.
|-
| U+237C || ⍼ || Right Angle with Downwards Zigzag Arrow || No purpose is known.[https://ionathan.ch/2022/04/09/angzarr.html] Speculation includes "Y axis continues downward," a diode with a gate, proof by contradiction, a proofreaders' mark to split a word, and indication of polarization direction. || Larry Potter || Looks like the letter "L" and a lightning bolt. {{w|Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter}} is known for having a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. The character {{w|Legal_disputes_over_the_Harry_Potter_series#Nancy_Stouffer|Larry Potter}} figured in a fraudulent legal claim against J.K. Rowling.
|-
| U+2A50 || ⩐ || Closed Union with Serifs and Smash Product || Indicates that a collection of topological spaces is {{w|Union-closed sets conjecture|closed}} when taking arbitrary unions and smash products. That is, if you take the union of any collection of topological spaces in the collection (even uncountably many), or the smash product of them, the result will also be in that collection. This is apparently important because the sets can't be isomorphic (one cannot be rearranged to be exactly the other.) [https://mathoverflow.net/questions/196084/counterexample-for-associativity-of-smash-product] || Spider caught with a cup and index card || Spiders or other bugs found within someone's house or workspace may be caught with a glass and something flat, often a card or a magazine, to be released outside. The projecting lines of the smash product symbol resemble the legs of a spider. Confusingly, some fonts display this symbol with different numbers of "legs": eight, as a 45°-rotated hash symbol, or six as an asterisk.
|-
| U+2A69 || ⩩ || Triple Horizontal Bar with Triple Vertical Stroke || Emblem of the Romanian {{w|Iron Guard}} fascist political movement; possibly a four-by-four {{w|tic-tac-toe}} board.[https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~sandlund/NumericalTicTacToe.pdf] || ℍ𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕥𝕒𝕘 || Hash symbol with one extra vertical and horizontal line, or perhaps a hash symbol which has been accidentally double-struck or overprinted.
|-
| U+2368 || ⍨ || APL Functional Symbol Tilde Diaeresis || Used for a two-argument operation to [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Commute commute] (swap) its arguments or allow it to use a single provided argument in both argument slots, and to convert a value into a [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Constant constant] function || :/ || Looks like a confused or disappointed face. Randall's use is in fact common among {{w|APL (programming language)|APL}} programmers in the comments, as documented [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/APL_Orchard#Emoticons here] and [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Humour#Glyph_puns here].
|-
| U+2118 || ℘ || Script Capital [''sic''] P || A stylized {{w|round hand}} 'p' used by Weierstrass for his "{{w|Weierstrass elliptic function|p-function}}," with features of both capital 𝒫  and small 𝓅. Sometimes also used as the {{w|power set}} operator.
|| Snake || This symbol coils around like a long snake, with a tapering-off tail on one end and a small "head" on the other.
|-
| U+2AC1 || ⫁ || Subset with Multiplication Sign Below || Indicates that one set is subset of another by means of the cross product || <div style="writing-mode: vertical-rl; text-align: center;">User experience</div> || Looks like the letters "Ux" sideways; UX is a common abbreviation for {{w|user experience}}.
|-
| U+232D || ⌭ || {{w|Cylindricity}} || A symbol used in geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) to represent a parameter called "cylindricity" which describes the statistical deviation of an ensemble of surfaces from a reference cylinder. [https://cimquest-inc.com/metrology-minute-cylindricity/ example use] || Rolling dough between your hands to shape it into a ball || Looks like two flat hands (perhaps like stick-figure arms) rolling a ball between them. Rolling dough between one's hands to make it into a ball is an important step in making many kinds of pastry and bread.
|-
| U+2A13 || ⨓ || Line Integration with Semicircular Path Around Pole || Very rare symbol for half of a closed {{w|Contour integration|contour}} or {{w|Line integral|line}} integral which contains the {{w|Origin (mathematics)|origin}} in its interior. Contour integrals which circle the origin are very important in complex analysis. If such an integral were split into two parts, each could be represented by this symbol (which can be mistaken for ⨔, the integral not including the {{w|Zeros and poles|pole}}, with a wider and more complete arc around an offset dot.) [https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/2299363/where-is-the-%E2%A8%93-integral-symbol-defined]
|| Integral that avoids a bee on the whiteboard || Looks like an {{w|integral}} symbol with a bump that goes around a dot, as if a professor was drawing an integral on a whiteboard but did not want to disturb a bee that had landed right in the path of their marker.
|-
| U+2A0B (title text)|| ⨋ || Summation with Integral || The sum of the sum of the discrete elements (∑) and the integrals (∫) over the connected pieces. This symbol requires context to be meaningful but could occur, for instance, when computing probabilities using mixed distributions.
[https://twitter.com/fermatslibrary/status/1308743505309822977 see also]
|| Mathematicians need to calm down || Each of the two symbols is specifically used to represent a kind of summation that is calculated completely differently from the other. Combining them could produce frustration for people unfamiliar with the usage. The comment given may make fun of mathematicians' tendency to form increasingly complex expressions in their work. It may as well be a pun on the pronounciation of the letter {{w|Esh_(letter)|Esh}} (Shhhh).
|-
|}

This comic may have been inspired by [https://ionathan.ch/2022/04/09/angzarr.html this blog post], which went viral (in a limited sense) the same day the comic was published.

==Transcript==
<big>Weird Unicode Math Symbols</big>
And their meanings

{|
| U+29CD || ⧍ || Shark
|-
| U+23E7 || ⏧ || Traffic circle
|-
| U+2A33 || ⨳ || Hashtag [the text is slanted counterclockwise]
|-
| U+299E || ⦞ || Snack
|-
| U+2A04 || ⨄ || Drink refill
|-
| U+2B48 || ⭈ || Snakes over there
|-
| U+225D || ≝ || Definitely, for sure
|-
| U+237C || ⍼ || Larry Potter
|-
| U+2A50 || ⩐ || Spider caught with a cup and index card
|-
| U+2A69 || ⩩ || [The word "hashtag" but with extra horizontal and vertical lines]
|-
| U+2368 || ⍨ || :/
|-
| U+2118 || ℘ || Snake
|-
| U+2AC1 || ⫁ || [The words "user experience" rotated clockwise 90 degrees]
|-
| U+232D || ⌭ || Rolling dough between your hands to shape it into a ball
|-
| U+2A13 || ⨓ || Integral that avoids a bee on the whiteboard
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Unicode]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Harry Potter]]

2606: Weird Unicode Math Symbols

2022-05-04T00:25:54Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235698 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2606
| date = April 13, 2022
| title = Weird Unicode Math Symbols
| image = weird_unicode_math_symbols.png
| titletext = U+2A0B ⨋ Mathematicians need to calm down
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A SNAKE AVOIDING A BEE ON A WHITEBOARD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic proposes joke explanations for various {{w|unicode symbols}} with obscure or no known uses.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Symbols
|-
! Codepoint !! Symbol !! Unicode Name !! Actual use !! Randall's meaning || Explanation
|-
| U+29CD || ⧍ || Triangle with Serifs At Bottom || No standard use, but resembles the {{w|National Park Service}} cartographic symbol for a campsite.[https://github.com/nationalparkservice/symbol-library/] || Shark || May look like a shark fin sticking out of the water.
|-
| U+23E7 || ⏧ || Electrical Intersection || Indicates where wires branch off || Traffic circle || Looks like a diagram of a {{w|roundabout}} as might be shown on a minimap beside a routing direction.
|-
| U+2A33 || ⨳ || {{w|Smash product}} || The quotient of the underlying spaces of two {{w|pointed space}}s, where points in the {{w|product spaces}} are identified if they contain either labeled point as an element. || Hashtag || Looks somewhat like the {{w|Number sign|hash}} symbol (#) – commonly used for indicating tags called {{w|hashtag}}s in social media – turned by 45 degrees.
|-
| U+2A7C || ⩼ || Greater-Than with Question Mark Above || Used in proofs to indicate a greater-than relation that should exist but hasn't been proven yet (non-rigorous) || Confused alligator || One metaphor used when teaching inequality signs in primary school is that the sign looks like an alligator mouth "eating" the larger number. Question marks are commonly used in cartoons to indicate confusion on the part of a character.
|-
| U+299E || ⦞ || Angle with S Inside || Plural for the angle symbol (∠) [https://www.quora.com/Unicode-How-is-the-s-in-triangle-glyph-used-in-mathematics][https://www.birdvilleschools.net/cms/lib2/TX01000797/Centricity/Domain/1114/Homework%20Helper%20Unit%203%20ch%209-10.pdf] rarely used || Snack || May look like a mouth eating an S, where the S symbolizes some snack food.
|-
| U+2A04 || ⨄ || {{w|Arity|N-ary}} Union Operator with Plus || Disjoint union[https://books.google.com/books?id=531cAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=%E2%A8%84&source=bl&ots=oYXkMNXP-T&sig=ACfU3U2QvMRBkD7uVG0OSumKI0JQtjTIKA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwios862ypL3AhWXVTABHTnQALQQ6AF6BAgKEAM] (joining a family of sets that have no elements in common) || Drink refill || Looks like a cup with a plus to indicate adding drink to the cup.
|-
| U+2B48 || ⭈ || Rightwards Arrow Above Reverse Almost Equal To || Pairs with ⭂ which could conceivably mean {{w|Assignment (computer science)|assignment}} of an {{w|Approximation|approximation}}, but neither seem to be in use. || Snakes over there || Looks like two squiggles to represent snakes and an arrow indicating the direction where they may be found.
|-
| U+225D || ≝ || Equal To By Definition || Indicates an equation where the left side is to be defined as the right side[https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/1z1mty/can_someone_please_explain_the_equal_to_by/] usually used in proofs to indicate a definition is being introduced|| Definitely, for sure || "Def" is a contraction of "definitely" used in slang; the equal sign looks like a double underline, indicating heavy emphasis.
|-
| U+237C || ⍼ || Right Angle with Downwards Zigzag Arrow || No purpose is known.[https://ionathan.ch/2022/04/09/angzarr.html] Speculation includes "Y axis continues downward," a diode with a gate, proof by contradiction, a proofreaders' mark to split a word, and indication of polarization direction. || Larry Potter || Looks like the letter "L" and a lightning bolt. {{w|Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter}} is known for having a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. The character {{w|Legal_disputes_over_the_Harry_Potter_series#Nancy_Stouffer|Larry Potter}} figured in a fraudulent legal claim against J.K. Rowling.
|-
| U+2A50 || ⩐ || Closed Union with Serifs and Smash Product || Indicates that a collection of topological spaces is {{w|Union-closed sets conjecture|closed}} when taking arbitrary unions and smash products. That is, if you take the union of any collection of topological spaces in the collection (even uncountably many), or the smash product of them, the result will also be in that collection. This is apparently important because the sets can't be isomorphic (one cannot be rearranged to be exactly the other.) [https://mathoverflow.net/questions/196084/counterexample-for-associativity-of-smash-product] || Spider caught with a cup and index card || Spiders or other bugs found within someone's house or workspace may be caught with a glass and something flat, often a card or a magazine, to be released outside. The projecting lines of the smash product symbol resemble the legs of a spider. Confusingly, some fonts display this symbol with different numbers of "legs": eight, as a 45°-rotated hash symbol, or six as an asterisk.
|-
| U+2A69 || ⩩ || Triple Horizontal Bar with Triple Vertical Stroke || Emblem of the Romanian {{w|Iron Guard}} fascist political movement; possibly a four-by-four {{w|tic-tac-toe}} board.[https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~sandlund/NumericalTicTacToe.pdf] || ℍ𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕥𝕒𝕘 || Hash symbol with one extra vertical and horizontal line, or perhaps a hash symbol which has been accidentally double-struck or overprinted.
|-
| U+2368 || ⍨ || APL Functional Symbol Tilde Diaeresis || Used for a two-argument operation to [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Commute commute] (swap) its arguments or allow it to use a single provided argument in both argument slots, and to convert a value into a [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Constant constant] function || :/ || Looks like a confused or disappointed face. Randall's use is in fact common among {{w|APL (programming language)|APL}} programmers in the comments, as documented [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/APL_Orchard#Emoticons here] and [https://aplwiki.com/wiki/Humour#Glyph_puns here].
|-
| U+2118 || ℘ || Script Capital [''sic''] P || A stylized {{w|round hand}} 'p' used by Weierstrass for his "{{w|Weierstrass elliptic function|p-function}}," with features of both capital 𝒫  and small 𝓅. Sometimes also used as the {{w|power set}} operator.
|| Snake || This symbol coils around like a long snake, with a tapering-off tail on one end and a small "head" on the other.
|-
| U+2AC1 || ⫁ || Subset with Multiplication Sign Below || Indicates that one set is subset of another by means of the cross product || <div style="writing-mode: vertical-rl; text-align: center;">User experience</div> || Looks like the letters "Ux" sideways; UX is a common abbreviation for {{w|user experience}}.
|-
| U+232D || ⌭ || {{w|Cylindricity}} || A symbol used in geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) to represent a parameter called "cylindricity" which describes the statistical deviation of an ensemble of surfaces from a reference cylinder. [https://cimquest-inc.com/metrology-minute-cylindricity/ example use] || Rolling dough between your hands to shape it into a ball || Looks like two flat hands (perhaps like stick-figure arms) rolling a ball between them. Rolling dough between one's hands to make it into a ball is an important step in making many kinds of pastry and bread.
|-
| U+2A13 || ⨓ || Line Integration with Semicircular Path Around Pole || Very rare symbol for half of a closed {{w|Contour integration|contour}} or {{w|Line integral|line}} integral which contains the {{w|Origin (mathematics)|origin}} in its interior. Contour integrals which circle the origin are very important in complex analysis. If such an integral were split into two parts, each could be represented by this symbol (which can be mistaken for ⨔, the integral not including the {{w|Zeros and poles|pole}}, with a wider and more complete arc around an offset dot.) [https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/2299363/where-is-the-%E2%A8%93-integral-symbol-defined]
|| Integral that avoids a bee on the whiteboard || Looks like an {{w|integral}} symbol with a bump that goes around a dot, as if a professor was drawing an integral on a whiteboard but did not want to disturb a bee that had landed right in the path of their marker.
|-
| U+2A0B (title text)|| ⨋ || Summation with Integral || The sum of the sum of the discrete elements (∑) and the integrals (∫) over the connected pieces. This symbol requires context to be meaningful but could occur, for instance, when computing probabilities using mixed distributions.
[https://twitter.com/fermatslibrary/status/1308743505309822977 see also]
|| Mathematicians need to calm down || Each of the two symbols is specifically used to represent a kind of summation that is calculated completely differently from the other. Combining them could produce frustration for people unfamiliar with the usage. The comment given may make fun of mathematicians' tendency to form increasingly complex expressions in their work. It may as well be a pun on the pronounciation of the letter {{w|Esh_(letter)|Esh}} (Shhhh).
|-
|}

This comic may have been inspired by [https://ionathan.ch/2022/04/09/angzarr.html this blog post], which went viral (in a limited sense) the same day the comic was published.

==Transcript==
<big>Weird Unicode Math Symbols</big>
And their meanings

{|
| U+29CD || ⧍ || Shark
|-
| U+23E7 || ⏧ || Traffic circle
|-
| U+2A33 || ⨳ || Hashtag [the text is slanted counterclockwise]
|-
| U+299E || ⦞ || Snack
|-
| U+2A04 || ⨄ || Drink refill
|-
| U+2B48 || ⭈ || Snakes over there
|-
| U+225D || ≝ || Definitely, for sure
|-
| U+237C || ⍼ || Larry Potter
|-
| U+2A50 || ⩐ || Spider caught with a cup and index card
|-
| U+2A69 || ⩩ || [The word "hashtag" but with extra horizontal and vertical lines]
|-
| U+2368 || ⍨ || :/
|-
| U+2118 || ℘ || Snake
|-
| U+2AC1 || ⫁ || [The words "user experience" rotated clockwise 90 degrees]
|-
| U+232D || ⌭ || Rolling dough between your hands to shape it into a ball
|-
| U+2A13 || ⨓ || Integral that avoids a bee on the whiteboard
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Unicode]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Harry Potter]]

1315: Questions for God

2022-05-04T00:22:02Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235472 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1315
| date = January 10, 2014
| title = Questions for God
| image = questions_for_god.png
| titletext = What sins could possibly darken the heart of a STEAMBOAT? I asked The Shadow, but he says he only covers men.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] is paraphrasing a famous quote from the British applied mathematician, and fellow of the Royal Society, {{w|Horace Lamb}}, who famously {{w|Horace_Lamb#Career|stated in 1932}}:
:"I am an old man now, and when I die and go to heaven there are two matters on which I hope for enlightenment. One is {{w|quantum electrodynamics}}, and the other is the {{w|Turbulence|turbulent motion of fluids}}. And about the former I am rather optimistic."

This was referring to two phenomena in physics that, at the time, were poorly understood and difficult to explain. Lamb proved to be correct in his prediction that quantum electrodynamics (QED) was easier to explain; nowadays we have a much clearer understanding of QED, while our understanding of turbulence has improved little. {{w|Richard Feynman}}, who was himself largely responsible for explaining QED, famously {{w|Turbulence|described turbulence}} as "the most important unsolved problem of classical physics".

[[Cueball]], in response, indicates that if he were to gain divine elucidation his question would relate to the widespread schoolyard rhyme "{{w|Miss Susie}}", which typically begins with the stanza:

:"Miss Susie had a steamboat
:The steamboat had a bell
:Miss Susie went to heaven
:The steamboat went to...

:'''Hell'''-o operator
:Please give me number nine
:..."

The rhyming scheme between the second and fourth lines, and implied contrast with "heaven," causes the listener to fill in the word "Hell" instead of the innocuous "Hello". Therefore, Cueball is wondering what a steamboat, an object lacking will,{{cn}} could have done to deserve divine punishment.

The title text is a reference to the 1930s pulp series "{{w|The Shadow}}", whose eponymous character is a psychic vigilante. The 1937 radio plays introduction began with the line ''"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"'' Unfortunately, since a steamboat is not a person,{{cn}} The Shadow would be unable to determine what heinous crimes the steamboat had committed to deserve damnation.

This comic, in particular the way Megan and Cueball are walking and its reference to theology, greatly resembles the later comic [[1505: Ontological Argument]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball walks together.]
:Megan: Horace Lamb said he would have two questions for God: why quantum mechanics, and why turbulence?
:Cueball: I'd have just one: ''What did Miss Susie's steamboat '''do?!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Religion]]

367: Fandom

2022-05-04T00:21:38Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235529 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 367
| date = January 7, 2008
| title = Fandom
| image = fandom.png
| titletext = Ron Paul wants to put the New Republic back on the Corusca gem standard.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the concept of {{w|fandom}}, which is basically the collective noun for fans of a given thing. Usually, this is used in the context of people who like a certain work of fiction, like ''Star Trek'' or ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''.

Here, [[Cueball]] digs through a box and discovers his old collection of ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' books, referring to authors {{w|Timothy Zahn}} and {{w|Michael A. Stackpole}} (who wrote several ''Star Wars'' novels), and ''{{w|The Corellian Trilogy}}''. These books are part of the {{w|Star Wars Expanded Universe}}, which is used to refer to media that is ''Star Wars'' canon, but not the films.

Almost all of the Expanded Universe content created prior to 2015 is now considered by Disney (who are the owners of Lucasfilm and Star Wars since 2012) to be part of a separate canon called "Legends," a decision presumably made to allow a clean[er] slate for the upcoming sequel trilogy and spin-off movies to start from.

Cueball apparently loved these books as a kid, which prompts Megan to remark if he started becoming a fan of other science fiction series like ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}'' or ''{{w|Battlestar Galactica}}'', to which he clarifies that he simply grew out of the fandom mindset. Megan, perhaps sarcastically, asks him about how politician {{w|Ron Paul}} (who has appeared in the comic [[:Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul|several times]]) is doing, and Cueball excitedly runs off to check, ironically disproving his earlier remark - people don't outgrow a fandom state of mind, but rather shift their point of interest.

The title text refers to the {{w|New Republic (Star Wars)|New Republic}}, the main government in ''Star Wars'' after the final film, and [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Corusca_gem Corusca gems], which are extremely rare and valuable gems from the aforementioned expanded universe. The text says that Ron Paul wants the New Republic to adopt the Corusca gem as the basis for their currency. This entire joke is an allegory for the {{w|Gold Standard}}, which Ron Paul is a personal advocate of, even though it is no longer in use by the United States.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is looking through a box.]
:Cueball: Hey, my old Star Wars books!

:[Cueball is holding a pair of books and showing them to Megan.]
:Cueball: Man. Timothy Zahn, Michael A. Stackpole, The Corellian Trilogy...
:Cueball: This was my world.

:Megan: What'd you leave it for? Firefly? BSG?
:Cueball: Nah.
:Cueball: I guess I've just grown out of the whole obsessive fan mindset.

:Megan: Really.
:Megan: So how's Ron Paul doing?
:Cueball: Ooh! Lemme recheck today's blogs.
:[Cueball drops the books and heads off to recheck the blogs.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ron Paul]]

2351: Standard Model Changes

2022-05-04T00:21:12Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235256 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2351
| date = August 26, 2020
| title = Standard Model Changes
| image = standard_model_changes.png
| titletext = Bugs are spin 1/2 particles, unless it's particularly windy.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic strip, Randall is proposing some changes to the {{w|Standard Model}} of particle physics. The currently accepted particle table has 17 slots: 12 fermions (first 3 columns of the table - six quarks [top two rows] and six leptons [bottom two rows]) and five bosons (last two columns of the table - four gauge bosons [left hand column] and one scalar boson [right hand column]).

[[File:1024px-Standard Model of Elementary Particles.svg.png|500px]]

This comic consists of a normal version of the particle table to which Randall has made substantial alternations and additions, which are drawn in red over the black and white table.

While the Standard Model's predictions are very well supported by experiments, the physics community has identified several flaws in it (e.g. it lacks any particles to convey gravity), and so lots of research is committed to searching for "{{w|Physics beyond the Standard Model}}". Some of Randall's changes are sort of intended to fill some of those gaps, but for the most part they are nonsensical (although not quite as much as the [[2301: Turtle Sandwich Standard Model|Turtle Sandwich Standard Model]] or [[1621: Fixion|Fixion]]).

=== Quarks ===

Randall's proposed changes to the quarks are relatively restrained -- he proposes only that the "strange" and "charm" names should be moved to bosons, while the strange quark should be renamed the "right quark" and the charm quark should be renamed the "left quark", so that all quarks will have "ordinary" directional names.

In reality, the original quark model proposed by Murray Gell-Mann included only three quarks, with the "strange" quark so named because the particles that contained them were ''strangely'' long-lived relative to their masses. The "charm" quark was so named when it was proposed because it brought a "charming" symmetry to the weak interaction, which we now understand is because it completes the second generation of quarks, along with the strange quark. When a third generation of quarks was proposed, they were called top and bottom by analogy to the up and down quarks (which are so named because of the {{w|isospin}} they carry), though the names 'truth' and 'beauty' were briefly in competition, and colliders working with B quarks are sometimes even now called "{{w|B-factory|Beauty Factories}}".

Randall likely applied "left" to "strange" and "right" to "charm" simply due to the placement of the particles in the table: In the American English vernacular, the phrase "left and right" is more common than "right and left", in the same way that "top and bottom" is more common than "bottom and top", and "up and down" is more common than "down and up". So he placed "left" above "right" to match the ordering of the other quark generations.

=== Leptons ===
While Randall leaves two leptons, the electron and the muon, untouched, he has opted to discard the tau lepton entirely. Each of these three leptons has an associated neutrino; Randall has decided to discard all but the electron neutrino, as he has decided that three are too many neutrino types. He has also replaced the standard symbol for the neutrino, the Greek letter ν (nu), with a capital N, in order to avoid confusion between ν and v, the two letters appearing similar, though this might further be confused with nucleon (particle physicists commonly use N to denote "proton or neutron", and excited states of nucleons are given the symbol N, followed by the mass in parenthesis<ref>https://pdglive.lbl.gov/ParticleGroup.action?init=0&node=BXXX005</ref>) or possibly even with the symbol for Nitrogen (the atomic nucleus with 7 protons and a similar number of neutrons, encountered more in radiology/chemistry as an N, 7N, 14N, N+, N2 and other variations).

In place of one of the neutrinos, Randall has introduced a new elementary particle that supposedly explains the existence of dark matter. The nature of dark matter is one of the most famous mysteries in physics: galaxies seem to have much higher gravity than their detectable matter would account for, yet this mysterious form of matter does not seem to interact with other matter in any other detectable way. Neutrinos are known for rarely interacting with other matter, due to their lack of charge, which could justify Randall's decision, but even the little interaction that neutrinos have with the weak force rules them out as candidates for dark matter. Hypothetical {{w|sterile neutrino}}s could be the source of dark matter, and also for the small but nonzero masses of the familiar neutrinos, but no such particles have yet been identified. Together with the arrow, the only one in the comic that points at the particle's ''box'' rather than the symbol, the triumphant exclamation "We found it!" probably means that the new "dark matter" entry in the table ''is'' the dark matter particle.

=== Bosons ===

Randall proposes several new names for existing particles. First, that the {{w|W and Z bosons}} should be renamed to the charm and strange bosons, respectively (taking the names from the quarks), and second, that the {{w|Higgs boson}} should be named the {{w|Vin Diesel}} boson, as he considers {{w|Peter Higgs}}'s name to be too boring to be given to a particle. The Higgs boson is known in the popular press (to the chagrin of many physicists, including Higgs) as "{{w|The God Particle (book)|The God Particle}}", which is certainly a flashy name, but which itself was changed by the editors of the book of the same name from its authors' originally-intended title: The ''Goddamn'' Particle.

Randall inserts the graviton, a purely theoretical particle, noting that its inclusion is "probably fine". While the graviton has never been observed, it is occasionally included in diagrams of the standard model to show its hypothetical place, which likely convinced Randall to do the same. Here it is shown below the Higgs boson, implying to be a scalar boson, though it is theoretically a 2nd-order tensor boson (with a spin of 2) and is usually given its own column.

Randall also proposes that a false decoy "Magic" particle should be added to the Standard Model, to trip up promoters of {{w|quantum mysticism}}. Presumably, anyone who invokes this particle to support their claims will expose themselves as a fraud, much as cartographers will print {{w|trap street}}s on their maps to catch plagiarism.

Finally, Randall adds "Cool bugs" as a fundamental particle, with an explanation of "Very small bugs are fundamental particles now".

The title text builds on the "Cool bugs" entry, joking about what spin bugs would have if they were a fundamental particle.

==Table==
The title text references {{w|Spin (physics)|quantum spin number}}, a property of particles in physics that bears similarities to actual spinning. Although the cool bugs particle is put in the {{w|scalar boson}} group with spin 0, Randall states that it instead has spin 1/2, like a fermion. It is thus not clear whether cool bugs obey the {{w|Pauli exclusion principle}} or not. Unique among elemental particles, cool bugs are affected by wind, which can change their spin.

Changes highlighted in red.
{| class="wikitable"
! Particle !! Symbol !! Actual particle !! Actual symbol !! Explanation
|-
| Up quark || u || {{w|Up quark}} || u || No change.
|-
| Left quark || l || {{w|Charm quark}} || c || Randall is continuing the pattern of naming quarks after directions. This wouldn't work well with [[474: Turn-On]] unfortunately. The charm quark was named due to bringing a "charming symmetry" to the weak interaction, completing the second generation of quarks.
|-
| Top quark || t || {{w|Top quark}} || t || No change.
|-
| Gluon || g || {{w|Gluon}} || g || No change.
|-
| Vin Diesel boson || V || {{w|Higgs boson}} || H || {{w|Peter Higgs}} is a British theoretical physicist who predicted the existence of scalar bosons, particles with spin 0. Randall suggests that the Higgs boson needs a flashier name and proposes to rechristen it the "Vin Diesel boson", named after American actor {{w|Vin Diesel|Mark Sinclair}}, who has nothing to do with physics.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| Down quark || d || {{w|Down quark}} || d || No change.
|-
| Right quark || r || {{w|Strange quark}} || s || Randall is suggesting this name to match the charm (now left) quark. Particles containing this quark were considered "strangely long-lived".
|-
| Bottom quark || b || {{w|Bottom quark}} || b || No change.
|-
| Photon || γ || {{w|Photon}} || γ || No change.
|-
| Graviton || G || {{w|Graviton}} (Hypothetical) || G || The graviton is a hypothetical particle which mediates the force of {{w|gravity}}. Randall is taking a very breezy point of view, stating that it would probably be fine to include it, even though its existence has not been confirmed yet. It is not recommended to act this way, though many do.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| Electron || e || {{w|Electron}} || e || No change.
|-
| Muon || µ || {{w|Muon}} || µ || No change.
|-
| (no one needs Tau leptons) || (none) || {{w|Tau (particle)|Tau lepton}} || τ || The tau lepton is a lepton with average lifetime much shorter than the electron or the muon. Randall apparently considers this particle redundant and states "No one needs tau leptons".
|-
| Strange boson || S || {{w|Z boson}} || Z || The Z boson is one of two particles (three, counting the W boson's different charges) that mediate the {{w|weak force}}, named for having '''z'''ero charge. Randall suggests the strange quark's name would be better suited for this particle.
|-
| Magic || M || (none) || (none) || Randall suggests a "magic" particle as a decoy to trip up {{rw|quantum_woo|quantum woo}} promoters in order to expose them as the frauds they are.
|-
| Electron neutrino || Ne || {{w|Electron neutrino}} || νe || Randall is annoyed by the similarity of the Greek lowercase nu (ν) and the lowercase V (v). Interestingly Randall leaves the "electron" part of its name and the subscript E of its symbol, even though he has eliminated the other neutrinos.
|-
| (too many neutrinos) || (none) || {{w|Muon neutrino}} || νµ || Randall thinks one neutrino is enough, and to be honest, who can argue with him?
|-
| Dark Matter || D || {{w|Tau neutrino}} || ντ || {{w|Dark matter}} is thought to make up most of the universe's matter. Randall claims to have found it; replacing the tau neutrino with it. This could easily be the most abundant particle in the universe.
|-
| Charm boson || C || {{w|W boson}} || W || The other mediator of the '''w'''eak force. Randall is suggesting that it would suit the charm name more than the charm quark.
|-
| Cool bugs || 🐞 || (none) || (none) || Randall has decreed that extremely small bugs are fundamental particles. Bugs in reality are several orders of magnitude larger than any of the other known particles.{{Citation needed}} They would not make a good elementary particle{{Citation needed}} for a number of extremely obvious reasons{{Citation needed}} and would make physics pretty frightening to some people.{{Citation needed}} Randall uses the insect emoji as the symbol of the cool bugs particle.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A chart of the Standard Model of particle physics with red marks all over the chart.] 
:Changes I would make to the Standard Model

:[In reading order:] 
:u up, connected to the down quark below. 
:c charm, connected to the strange quark below, in faded gray with a red l left written over it. Above is a red note with an arrow pointing to the :charm quark. The note reads, 
:Consistent quark names (use "strange" and "charm" for bosons) 
:t top, connected to the bottom quark below. 
:g gluon 
:H Higgs, in faded gray with a red V Vin Diesel writted over it. To the right is a red note with an arrow pointing to the Higgs boson, which reads, 
:With all respect to Peter H, the Higgs boson needs a flashier name 

:d down, connected to the up quark above. 
:s strange, connected to the charm quark above, in faded gray with a red r right written over it. 
:b bottom, connected to the top quark above. 
:γ photon 
:G graviton, in red with a red border. To the right is a red note with an arrow pointing to the graviton, which reads, 
:Let's just include it, it's probably fine 

:e electron, connected to the electron neutrino below. 
:µ muon, connected in faded gray to the muon neutrino below, with red rounded corners cutting it off. 
:τ tau, connected to the tau neutrino below, in faded gray with a red scribble over it. On the tau lepton is a red note which reads, 
:No one needs tau leptons 
:Z Z boson, with the Z symbol and the Z in the name in faded gray. The symbol has a red s written over it and the Z in the name is scribbled out in :red. The word strange is written in red between the symbol and the name. 
:M magic, in red with a red border. To the right is a red note with an arrow pointing to the magic particle, which reads, 
:Decoy particle for people making nonsense claims about "quantum" philosophy stuff 

:v e electron neutrino, with the e as a subscript of the v, connected to the electron above. The v is in faded gray and a red N with a circle around it is written on it. Below is a red note with an arrow pointing to the electron neutrino, which reads, 
:Fix neutrino symbol so I stop mixing up ν and v 
:v μ muon neutrino, with the µ as a subscript of the v, connected to the muon above, in faded gray with a red scribble over it. On the muon neutrino is a red note which reads, 
:Too many neutrinos 
:v τ tau neutrino, with the τ as a subscript of the v, connected to the tau lepton above, in faded gray. Written over it is a D dark matter in red with a red border. Below the tau neutrino is a red note with an arrow pointing to it, which reads, 
:We found it! 
:W W boson, with the W symbol and the W in the name in faded gray. The symbol has a red c written over it and the W in the name is scribbled out in red. The word charm is written in red between the symbol and the name. 
:🐞 cool bugs, in red with a red border. To the right is a red note with an arrow pointing to cool bugs, which reads, 
:Very small bugs are fundamental particles now

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2348: Boat Puzzle

2022-05-04T00:20:52Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235587 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2348
| date = August 19, 2020
| title = Boat Puzzle
| image = boat_puzzle.png
| titletext = 'No, my cabbage moths have already started laying eggs in them! Send the trolley into the river!' 'No, the sailing wolf will steal the boat to rescue them!'
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a twist on {{w|Wolf, goat and cabbage problem|an old riddle}}. In the original riddle, a person has to cross a river in a boat that can only hold them and one other object. They have a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage that they need to bring across with them, similar to the first panel. If the wolf is left alone with the goat, however, the wolf will eat the goat; and if the goat and cabbage are alone, the goat will eat the cabbage. (The problem can be solved in seven trips.)

However, the comic quickly devolves into surrealism in the later panels as new characters show up, bringing deviations of the original "cabbage", "goat", and "wolf" that add extra layers of complexity to the riddle. [[White Hat]] brings extra wolves and cabbages. [[Black Hat]], in his traditional [[72:_Classhole|classhole]] style, brings {{w|cabbage moth}}s which will infest unsupervised cabbages with destructive larvae, and boat-destroying {{w|termite}}s. How he intends to bring them across the river (or even if he wants to) is unknown, but it brings to mind the parable of {{w|The Scorpion and the Frog}}. [[Beret Guy]] arrives with a wolf who can operate a boat, who could perhaps serve as a second pilot to expedite the crossing, so long as he is not asked to ferry a goat, and also a goat who eats wolves, possibly in addition to the cabbages. This is unusual, as one would expect from Beret Guy's associates.

The last panel is a reference to the {{w|Trolley_Problem|Trolley Problem}}, a moral test that asks the participant whether they would passively let people in the way of an uncontrollable trolley die or actively divert the trolley to kill a single person standing on a branch of the tracks. The comic gives a twist here too: according to the title text, the characters must choose between stopping the trolley full of wolves with a cushion of cabbages (in which Black Hat's cabbage moths have laid eggs, which he implicitly argues are morally equivalent to "innocent children") or letting it crash into the river (at which point the wolf who can operate a boat will steal the boat to rescue the wolves from the trolley, which will delay the other characters from crossing the river).

The River Crossing puzzle was also mentioned in [[1134: Logic Boat]] and referenced in [[589: Designated Drivers]].

The Trolley Problem was also mentioned in [[1455: Trolley Problem]] and referenced in [[1938: Meltdown and Spectre]].

==Solving The Problem==

Unlike typical Logic Boat problems the presence of multiple humans makes finding a solution almost trivial, however trying to determine the solution with the least number of trips could still make the somewhat challenging. Because the set of constraints are both ambiguous and incomplete, it requires the reader to make assumptions that, in turn, will lead to different solutions.

===Reasonable Assumptions===

The following assumptions can be made based on the setup of the problem or are necessary to avoid an unsolvable puzzle.

* '''Cueball is an observer.''' He is set up as an observer there to solve the problem, not pilot the boat or "watch" the cargo.
* '''The boat can only hold two items.''' This is standard in logic boat problems. Groups of insects count as one item.
* '''Black Hat and Beret Guy both want to cross the river with their cargo'''. Neither states that they wish to cross the river like Ponytail and White Hat, but it can be inferred from the setup of the scenario.
* '''The termites will destroy the boat ''after'' crossing.''' Otherwise the problem is unsolvable. This is similar to the {{w|Poncelet–Steiner theorem}}, which shows that any compass-and-straightedge construction can be completed with a "rusty compass", so long as the compass works at least once.
* '''The wolf-eating goat also eats cabbage.''' The wolf-eating constraint adds to the goat's existing constraints.
* '''The sailing wolf follows the command of an adjacent human.''' The alternatives require more assumptions for a solvable puzzle.
* '''The sailing wolf returns the trolley wolves to the near shore.''' The trolley wolves show no indication of wanting to cross the river.
* '''Stopping the trolley destroys all the cabbages.''' Otherwise the event does not affect the logic puzzle.
* '''The pack of wolves from the trolley will eat a human or wolf-eating goat left by themselves.''' Aligns with the spirit of the constraints.
** '''A wolf can protect a human from a pack of wolves'''. A human who is accompanied by one of the wolves who want to cross the river should not count as being "alone" for the purpose of getting eaten by the wolves from the trolley; otherwise, there is no way to get everyone across.

===The Trolley===

The trolley problem creates two versions of the puzzle, one where the cabbages are destroyed, the other where they are not and a wolf rescue takes place. The ethical issues associated with the trolley problem are independent from the logic of how to cross the river.

===Solutions===

* General

With four humans involved, the first trip across can bring an extra human who then can guard the cargo as it is brought across in arbitrary order with care being taken not to have predator and prey alone together at the end. The termites must be last cargo ferried across as they will destroy the boat.

* The Trolley is Stopped

The cabbages are destroyed. The second to last trip brings across the last human and the last trip brings across the termites.

* The Trolley is not Stopped

A pack of wolves is now on the near bank. The last human is brought across in the third to last trip, followed by the last wolf and lastly the termites.

===Missing Information===

No information is provided about whether or not the humans all get along with each other and this is left as a possible exercise for the reader given all of the characters' varying personality traits. However the sailing wolf would likely come in handy if certain humans (ex Black Hat, Beret Guy) cannot be left alone. It is also probable that certain characters might not serve in the capacity as a cargo guard.

It is also unclear if humans can leave with their cargo once all the cargo has been brought across. This could complicate matters if a far side "guard" leaves early.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing on the bank of a river. There is a boat in the river. A goat and wolf are also on the riverbank, and Ponytail is holding a cabbage.]
:Ponytail: I need to cross the river. I have a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage.
:Cueball: Hmm.

:[White Hat appears, accompanied by two wolves and pulling a wagon full of cabbages.]
:Cueball: OK, here's what-
:White Hat: Hi, I also need to cross. I have two wolves and 100 cabbages.

:[Black Hat arrives, surrounded by a cloud of flying creatures and carrying a jar of bugs under his arm. Beret Guy follows with another wolf and goat on leashes.]
:Black Hat: I have 50 cabbage moths and 2,000 boat-destroying termites.
:Beret Guy: I have a wolf that can operate a boat, and a goat that eats wolves.

:[The fourth panel is a zoomed-out shot, where everything but the sky appears black.]

:[A trolley speeds in, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. A person is standing on the front, and many ears are barely visible above the seats.]

:Cueball: Hang on, I need to make a spreadsheet.
:Trolley operator: Look out!
:Trolley operator: My wolf-filled trolley is out of control and can only be stopped by a cushion of cabbages!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]

2513: Saturn Hexagon

2022-05-04T00:20:24Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 233121 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2513
| date = September 8, 2021
| title = Saturn Hexagon
| image = saturn_hexagon.png
| titletext = Sorry, in SI units that's "there's a big football in there."
}}

==Explanation==
[[File:PIA20513_-_Basking_in_Light.jpg|thumb|400px|Saturn's hexagon]]

{{w|Saturn's Hexagon}} is a cloud formation on Saturn centered on its north pole. Similar to Jupiter's {{w|Great Red Spot}}, Saturn's Hexagon has proven a persistent feature observed by multiple space probes. The cause was not known until recently, when data from the 2006-2009 {{w|Cassini–Huygens}} probe could be analyzed in depth. This finding was widely publicized in popular science media (see for example [https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-think-they-figured-out-how-saturn-s-giant-hexagonal-storm-could-have-formed]) and is related to how currents flow deep within Saturn's atmosphere.

Randall proposes an alternate explanation: it is the top of a {{w|Ball_(association_football)|soccer ball}}. Soccer balls are made in the shape of a {{w|truncated icosahedron}}, where faces alternate between regular hexagons and regular pentagons to achieve a more uniform roll. This design was introduced in 1968 as the {{w|Adidas Telstar}}, and is now considered the "traditional" soccer ball. The article is shown to refer to this as the "BSBIT model", a technical-sounding acronym from "Big Soccer Ball In There".

"Soccer" is the name used in the United States for {{w|association football}}, a game called simply "football" in much of the world. Similarly, the US makes wide use of {{w|United States customary units|customary units of measurement}} (inches, feet, miles, pounds, etc.) where much of the world uses the SI or metric system (centimetres, metres, kilometres, kilograms, etc.), so "football" is jokingly referred to in the title text as the SI name for "soccer". As much of the Web panders to a significantly US-based audience{{fact}}, many sites use only American customary measurements and omit metric equivalents, which might annoy non-US users; Randall parodies this by sarcastically and non-seriously apologizing.{{fact}}. Just as the American customary units derive from British {{w|Imperial units}}, the term "soccer" originated in the UK, originally to {{w|Names_for_association_football#Background|distinguish it}} from rugby football (sometimes "rugger"), before soccer became the most common form of football there.

This comic may also reference something often quoted to students decades ago that Saturn [https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/in-depth/#:~:text=Structure-,Structure,by%20intense%20pressure%20and%20heat. would float] if there were a large enough pool of water to hold it, often having been stated as "Saturn is a giant beach ball". This refers to the property that Saturn is the planet with the {{w|Saturn#Physical_characteristics|lowest average density}}. This, of course, is a lot more [https://www.wired.com/2013/07/no-saturn-wouldnt-float-in-water/ complicated] in reality.

Incidentally, the presentation of the truncated-icosahedral 'football', pressing one clear polygonal face up along the upper limit of the planetary sphere, has much in common with the (non-truncated) icosahedron that floats within a {{w|Magic 8-Ball}}, arranged to display just one random triangular face whenever its viewing window is upwards. This may be coincidence, without any obvious attempt to directly reference any of the [https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1404098-safely-endangered popular memes] relating to this. Randall has previously parodied the magic 8-ball in [[1525: Emojic 8 Ball]].

==Transcript==

[Cueball is presenting in front of a poster, which he is pointing at with a stick.]

Cueball: We're proud to announce that our team has finally determined the origin and nature of Saturn's polar hexagon.

[The poster represents Saturn and its ring-system. There is a massive football/soccer ball drawn as if inside the semi-transparent planet, taking up slightly less than half of it by volume.
One of the ball's hexagons coincides with Saturn's polar hexagon, and is labelled "Hexagon". Other labels are illegible. 
The poster's title is "There's a Big Soccer Ball In There". The rest of the poster is illegible, except for a section heading that reads "BSBIT Model".]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category:Soccer]]

2512: Revelation

2022-05-04T00:20:05Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235584 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2512
| date = September 6, 2021
| title = Revelation
| image = revelation.png
| titletext = And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, but then more heaven kept appearing to replace it, as if the scroll was infinite.
}}

==Explanation==

A user with a profile picture of a stick figure with hair, who could be on an island and is called John, posts the Bible text from [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%206%3A12&version=KJV Revelation 6:12] on a social media website. The author(s) of the book of Revelation refer to themselves as John; some religious scholars identify the author as {{w|John of Patmos}} or as {{w|John the Apostle}}. Thus it is likely that the user has the identity of the said John, either as this biblical-era person themselves (online communities existing in their time, or vice-versa) or adopting the historic character name for interpretive or parodic reasons. The comic places a Biblical event in the modern day to portray what it would be like for apocalyptic miracles to happen nowadays. It also depicts how even the epically largest of our most meaningful and moving moments can end up being treated online.

A news channel's official social-media monitor understands this to be an actual (natural) disaster in progress and asks for permission to use the posted information in a broadcast. This could be what would have happened if John had been using Twitter in his own time, in which case his Revelation might have received this response from that time's similarly-connected reporters, perhaps not comprehending the observations to be 'prophetic visions of the future', with potentially a different level of significance altogether, rather than reports of events just happened.

If the monitor has just found some form of dislocated account (a ''very'' old message, a modern echo for proselytizing purposes or a jape of some kind) then they appear to have been drawn in, having not recognized it as historic text from the Bible.

Whichever way, the response is typical of a 'foot in the door' approach probably used for any and all candidate 'breaking news' citizen-reports, identified by trawling and searching the media-feeds for newsworthy content by either reporters or an 'algorithm'. As well as trying to ask for republishing permission, as per the duty of care reporters should grant to their sources, it is couched behind a typically bland statement of concern.

The reply may seem underwhelming, given the Revelation-level nature of the scenario, but this early in the reporting cycle the researcher may not have enough facts from which to respond more empathetically. Without any 'empathy' the channel and its staff may look entirely uncaring, but anything too effusive would also look unprofessional. Whether the news-organization and/or its staff could be truly concerned, or simply going through the motions, would highly depend upon their established reputation in the eyes of one viewing this exchange. Cynicism might be involved, all round.

The title text modifies verse 14 from "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places" to instead reference the {{w|scrolling#Film_and_television|infinite scrolling}} of a {{w|news ticker}}. Thus this news story would just be one on an infinite scroll page of ever-new stories.

Alternatively, a Biblical-level disaster actually IS occurring, in which case the newscaster's response is underwhelming, to say the least.

Each of the described events happens at times. The sun is black during an eclipse, the moon is red when it sits at the horizon and/or in eclipse, and earthquakes happen on a frequent basis across the planet. When events happen together, it can have great import, and people may become more disconnected from what is real or common nature as lives become digitized. Many people are so used to sunrises and sunsets while seeing the moon high in the sky that they do not realise that the moon also turns red when it rises and sets.

In 2014, a series of four total lunar eclipses were identified by some Christian preachers as being the "{{w|Blood moon prophecy|blood moon}}" mentioned in Revelation 6:12, but the world did not proceed to end.{{fact}}

==Transcript==
:[A Twitter-like page is displayed with a post and a comment nested beneath it. The top poster's profile image is of a man with wild hair, standing on hill near a coast looking out over the ocean. The beach is visible below him. His name is revealed in the comment as John. The poster of the comment's profile image is of a man with flat hair. There is a logo "9 News" at the bottom right. Beneath both pictures are unreadable text. There are also four icons with unreadable text beneath both posts. A line divides the original post and the comment.]
:John: And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.

:Channel 9 News: Hi John, incredible story, hope you and your family are safe. Can Channel 9 News share your account in broadcast and print?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Religion]]

2070: Trig Identities

2022-05-04T00:19:43Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235589 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2070
| date = November 9, 2018
| title = Trig Identities
| image = trig_identities.png
| titletext = ARCTANGENT THETA = ENCHANT AT TARGET
}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows several real {{w|List_of_trigonometric_identities#Trigonometric_functions|trigonometric identities}} at the first two lines and further below some identities "derived" by applying algebraic methods to the letters in the trigonometric function names, which is obviously nonsense.

The first line are the known trigonometric functions: sine, cosine and tangent, and the second line contains the reciprocals of the trigonometric functions from the first line: cosecant, secant, and cotangent.

The following identities are made up and are increasing in absurdity. The comic reflects on the confusion one gets when working more intensely with these identities, since there are a lot of hidden dependencies between them. You can also check how they are related through the various [https://www.teachoo.com/9723/1412/Trigonometry-Formulas/category/2-sin-x-sin-y-formula/ Trigonometry Formulas].

The third and fourth line is made by treating the [https://grabnaukri.com/trigonometry-formulas/ trigonometric function] as a product of variables rather than a function and then using the above identities to create words. e.g. sin = b/c -> cin = b/s (this could also be a reference to the C++ cin).

The second to last line performs some algebra on the individual letters of (tan θ)² = b²/a² as a setup to the last line. The last line takes the formula distance = 1/2 at² "from physics" and plugs it into the equation of the previous line, doing some algebra to replace at² with distance2 and expanding (na)² into nana to get the final equation, distance2banana = b³/θ². This is valid algebra only if the trigonometric operators are taken as variable products rather than operators, but this is a common misconception encountered when people first learn trigonometry. The distance equation is the distance a constantly accelerating object initially at rest moves in a given length of time t, most often used to find how far an object dropped from rest will fall under the influence of gravity in a given amount of time (or how long it will take to fall a given distance).

There are a few formulas that have mistakes if you simply make algebraic manipulations to the six standard trigonometric functions.

* cas θ = o/c seems to be derived from cos θ = a/c but to reach "cas" from "cos" one has to divide by "o" and multiply by "a". This would lead to cas θ = a²/oc.
* In the identity sin θ sec θ = insect θ² one of the "s"'s has turned into a "t", however this may be reached by 'phonetic stretch' from the sound of saying 'sin sec' together being similar to the sound of the word "insect". Another possible conversion is if you treat "s" as seconds, then "t" could be time, which keeps with the identity theme.

The title text is an {{w|Anagram|anagram}}. Due to the commutative property of multiplication (which states that order does not affect the product), these equations are equivalent if treated as individual variables as earlier. Another layer of absurdity is added in that the variable Theta is spelled out and broken into its letters, which are then treated as individual variables. (The {{w|arctangent}} referred to here is the inverse tangent, a one-sided inverse to the tangent function. You would not normally write <math>\arctan\theta</math>, since the theta in the comic refers to an angle, and the arctangent has an angle as its ''value'' rather than as its ''argument''; however, using theta here is merely unconventional, not forbidden.) The arctangent generally produces theta, the meaning of it being taken on theta being poorly understood. Randall here elucidates, via tongue-in-cheek algebraic proof, that taking a second arctangent of theta produces magical effects.

===From physics (and beyond)===
The formula s=1/2 at² gives the distance a uniform accelerating object reaches over time. The second formula belongs to astronomy and the {{w|Kepler's laws of planetary motion#Third law of Kepler|third law of Kepler}} in which ''the square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit'', meaning the fraction of b3 and t2 is a constant (banana).

But using the angle ''θ'' as an argument leads to {{w|Richard Feynman}}, who did many famous ''{{w|The Feynman Lectures on Physics|Lectures on Physics}}'' and his lost lecture about the ''{{w|Feynman's Lost Lecture|Motion of Planets Around the Sun}}'' from 1964 in which he only used geometry, based on the orbital ellipse, a circle around, and matching right-angled triangles to illustrate this law from Kepler. For deeper understanding why it really does work there is a nice presentation at the "Journal of Symbolic Geometry": [http://ceadserv1.nku.edu/longa/classes/calculus_resources/docs/kep.pdf Feynman Says: “Newton implies Kepler, No Calculus Needed! (Brian Beckman, 2006)”]

===Proof of algebraic mistakes in the comic===
Some have tried to argue there are mathematical justifications for the errors in some of the formulas, by stating (without proof) that you could prove that valid solutions to the original six trig identities (where letters are taken to be variables multiplied together) can be manipulated to show that solutions must have
:a=o and s=t.
These proofs are incorrect and can be shown easily with a counterexample. If you make the following assignments of variables like
:o=s=1/2 and set c=e=2
:while leaving the other variables set to 1 (a=b=i=n=t=θ=1). This variable assignment will simultaneously satisfy all six original trig identities:
:<math>\sin \theta = \frac{1}{2} = \frac{b}{c}</math>;
:<math>\cos \theta = 2\cdot \frac{1}{2}\cdot\frac{1}{2}=\frac{a}{c}</math>;
:<math>\tan \theta = 1 = \frac{b}{a}</math>;
:<math>\cot \theta = 2\cdot\frac{1}{2} = \frac{a}{b}</math>;
:<math>\sec \theta = \frac{1}{2}\cdot2\cdot2 = \frac{c}{a}=2</math>;
:<math>\csc \theta = 2\cdot\frac{1}{2}\cdot2 = \frac{c}{b} = 2</math>.
However in this valid assignment, we have
:<math>a\neq o</math> since
:<math>1 \neq \frac{1}{2}</math> and we have <math>s \neq t</math> as <math>\frac{1}{2} \neq 1</math>.
This demonstrates that you can not make a valid algebraic derivation of
:<math>\operatorname{cas} \theta = \frac{o}{c} \frac{a^{2}}{o^2} = \frac{o}{c}</math> or
:<math>\sin \theta \sec \theta = \operatorname{insect} \theta^{2}</math>
without additional assumptions beyond the six given trigonometric identities.

==Transcript==
:[Inside a single frame comic a right-angled triangle is shown. The shorter sides are labeled "a" and "b" and the hypotenuse has a "c". All angles are marked: the right angle by a square and the two others by arcs. One arc (enclosed by "a" and "c") is labeled by the Greek symbol theta (θ).]

:[Supposed trigonometric functions of the marked angle θ are shown:]

:sin θ = b/c
:cos θ = a/c
:tan θ = b/a

:cot θ = a/b
:sec θ = c/a
:csc θ = c/b

:cin θ = b/s
:cas θ = o/c
:tab θ = b²/na

:bot θ = a/c → boat θ = a²/c → stoat θ = a²/c · st/b

:tan θ ( = b/a = b/a · c/c = b/c · c/a = sin θ sec θ ) = insect θ²

:(tan θ)² = b²/a² ( → t²n²a⁴ = b²/θ² → at²ba(na)² = b³/θ²
:from physics: distance = 1/2 at² → ) distance2banana = b³/θ²

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Key trigonometric identities

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]

303: Compiling

2022-05-04T00:19:13Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235364 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 303
| date = August 15, 2007
| title = Compiling
| image = compiling.png
| titletext = 'Are you stealing those LCDs?' 'Yeah, but I'm doing it while my code compiles.'
}}

==Explanation==
Computer programming involves writing instructions for a computer to follow, in a specific {{w|programming language}}, which is largely human readable and writable, at least to programmers who understand that language. However, for the computers to follow instructions, they need to be given {{w|machine code}} — the actual "language" that computers "speak" and one that ''can'' be written directly with the correct tools, but would be too tedious and error-prone for just about any practical modern project where alternatives exist, where anything more than a {{w|%22Hello,_World!%22_program|Hello World}} could be awkward to implement straight into machine-code.

Conversion from the more conveniently human-writable code into {{w|computer-executable files}} is performed by {{w|Assembly language#Assembler|assemblers}}, {{w|Interpreter_(computing)|interpreters}}, or {{w|compilers}}.

Programs can be written in {{w|Assembly language|assembly code}}, which is basically just a set of mnemonics that make machine code much easier for a human to remember and correctly parse; the human-written assembly code is then run through a simple assembler to convert it directly into machine code. Assembly coding is necessary whenever one is programming for a completely new architecture (one for which no other tools yet exist), and is still used in some other situations (as it allows the code to be optimized more closely for the system on which it is to run than is possible with other types of coding), but is still fairly tedious and error-prone, and assembly code needs to be completely rewritten if one wants to port it to a computer with a different architecture.

Interpreters (e.g. that for {{w|PHP}} for one example) generally read through the code, or script, each line at a time as and when required, and has to do a lot of work with various processing overheads and the risk of hitting an invalid instruction or mistake in syntax that it can't handle. It also requires that a relevant version of the interpreter exist on any machine that has to run the script and perhaps some additional knowledge by the end-user.

For widely distributed (and especially commercial) programs, some form of compilation will instead be used. Compiling may have just one computer system read through the man-written code and (barring errors) produces the equivalent stand-alone and direct machine-readable code, suitable for a given range of computers. This process might involve several passes to check for 'obvious' errors in the code, as well as converting some programming concepts that are easiest for humans to understand into equivalent concepts that may be far easier for the computer to work with.

As such, compiling takes a certain amount of time at the time of production. Normally, this takes a few seconds, but, depending on the size of the project and the power of the computer doing the compilation, the time required to compile a program may measure in minutes, or even hours. As of 2015, the {{w|Linux Kernel}} contains over 19 million lines of code, arguably a massive job for any compiler, but if done correctly, it saves time for all the people who will ultimately be using its output.

Thus, when Cueball is caught wasting time at work, he argues that such activities are not worse than any other possible ones, at this moment. If his job is writing code and compiling it, then there may be nothing else that he ''can'' do right now. He cannot usefully tweak the code before it finishes compiling and the expected result checked.

The title text takes this a step further. Cueball claims that ''all'' activities are equally benign while the code is compiling — and that includes committing illegal acts, such as stealing {{w|LCD}}s.

Nine years after this comic was released, [[Randall]] made a comic called [[1755: Old Days]] about how compiling worked in the old days. It was Cueball who asked. The next comic after that, [[1756: I'm With Her]], was released the Monday before the {{w|2016 United States presidential election}}. And in that comic, a Cueball with a sword on an office chair like in this comic is featured. Seems realistic that Randall had that politically loaded comic ready for some time, and when finding and deciding to use this old version of Cueball, he may have gotten inspired by the compiling theme to make Old Days.

==Transcript==
:The #1 Programmer Excuse for Legitimately Slacking Off: "My code's compiling."
:[Two programmers are sword-fighting on office chairs in a hallway. An unseen manager calls them back to work through an open office door.]
:Manager: Hey! Get back to work!
:Cueball: Compiling!
:Manager: Oh. Carry on.

==Trivia==
*A T-shirt based on this comic is available in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/compiling xkcd store].
*This comic is available as a signed print in the [https://store.xkcd.com/products/signed-prints xkcd store].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

1241: Annoying Ringtone Champion

2022-05-04T00:18:46Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235559 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1241
| date = July 22, 2013
| title = Annoying Ringtone Champion
| image = annoying_ringtone_champion.png
| titletext = It beat out 'Clock radio alarm', 'B-flat at 194 decibels', 'That noise from Dumb & Dumber', and 'Recording of a sobbing voice begging you to answer'.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic satirizes the large variety of {{w|Ringtone|ringtones}} that may be used on their cell phones. While many are simply tunes that personalize a user's phone, some will use ringtones that resemble everyday sounds, such as doorbells, coughing, alarm noises, or in this case, the buzzing of a mosquito. Although rather innocuous, these ringtones can get very annoying to some people, which is what this comic is getting at.

Here, [[Black Hat]] has set his ringtone to "The sound a mosquito makes as it buzzes past your ear", the winner of the "Awful Ringtone Championship". [[Cueball]], hearing the sound, cries out and swats the air around his head, mistaking the ringtone for an actual mosquito buzzing past his ear. In addition to being an extremely unpleasant sound, it could also cause confusion to others, as shown in the comic, thus being unanimously decided as the most annoying ringtone. [[Black Hat]]'s response is likely a pun meaning both "Oh, I've got to take this [call]" (like someone who has been interrupted by a phone call) and need to leave and respond and "Oh, I've got to take this [competition]" since the ringtone is so annoying.

The title text refers to four other annoying ringtones, apparently none of which were deemed as annoying as a mosquito buzzing:
*"Clock radio alarm". These sounds are often loud and annoying, just to ensure that you really will wake up.
*"B-flat at 194 decibels". {{w|B♭ (musical note)|B-flat}} is a musical note with a pitch of 466.16 Hz. 194 decibels is 501187233627% (most devices only go up to 100%/0dB) and is the {{w|Sound pressure#Examples of sound pressure and sound pressure levels|limit at 1 atmosphere pressure}}. Any more energy would create a shockwave. This could also be a reference to a crowd of {{w|vuvuzela}}s as they also produce sounds pitched around B flat. This may also refer to several B-flat-related phenomena discussed in an NPR story, [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7442915 Have You Heard About B Flat?] Specifically, B-flat has been found to agitate alligators, and waves passing through gas near a black hole have been found to resonate at a frequency which results in a B flat 57 octaves below middle C. Regardless of all this, a sound played as loud as 194 dB is quite literally deafening, so the ringtone would be not so much annoying as dangerous.
*"That noise from Dumb & Dumber". {{w|Dumb and Dumber}} is a comedy movie from 1994. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs The noise] from Dumb & Dumber is referring to the point in the movie when Harry and Lloyd asked, "Do you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?" and began shrieking in imitation of a loud fax machine.
*"Recording of a sobbing voice begging you to answer". Self-explanatory. Such a ringtone is obviously disruptive, annoying, and potentially worrying to those in the vicinity of the phone.

==Transcript==
:[At the top of the frame is an annoying humming tone shown. Cueball is cringing while raising his arms above his head. Black Hat pulls out his phone looking at it.]
:Ringtone: hMMMMMM<big>M<big>M<big>M</big>M</big></big>MMMMMMMM
:Cueball: <big>Augh!</big>
:Black Hat: Oh, I've gotta take this.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:By unanimous decision, the winner of the Awful Ringtone Championship is "the sound a mosquito makes as it buzzes past your ear".

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Rankings]] 
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Music]]

383: Helping

2022-05-04T00:18:22Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 234104 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 383
| date = February 13, 2008
| title = Helping
| image = helping.png
| titletext = Oh, look, the 'make everything better' button was here behind the bookshelf all along.
}}

==Explanation==
Everyone wants to help someone in need, but sometimes the help they can offer isn't enough, or is the wrong kind of help. [[Cueball]] tries to help [[Megan]], who is in psychological/emotional distress, but despite his efforts she ends up in hospital. She may have attempted suicide, but it's not very clear. The point is that sometimes you just can't make people happy, it's something they have to do themselves.

The title text refers to a hidden button behind the bookshelf, but Cueball did not find it. This is ironic because, although people can try help with psychological/emotional problems, there is no magic button that makes everything better.

Given his likely negative feelings towards {{w|Valentine's Day}}, as seen in the most of his [[:Category:Valentines|Valentines comics]], it may not be a coincidence that he sent this one out the day before February 14. He did not draw any Valentines Day related comics this year as he did the past two years.

==Transcript==
:It turns out you can't take responsibility for someone else's happiness.
:[Cueball looking at a curled-up Megan.]

:[Cueball's hand on Megan's shoulder.]

:[Megan has her head in her hands.]

:[Cueball watching an ambulance take Megan away in a stretcher.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

382: Trebuchet

2022-05-04T00:18:07Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 234005 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 382
| date = February 11, 2008
| title = Trebuchet
| image = trebuchet.png
| titletext = It was also fun when those teenagers tried to egg our house and it insta-cooked the eggs in mid-air.
}}

==Explanation==
This is a straightforward comic playing on [[Megan]]'s contradictory stance on [[Cueball]]'s historical {{w|trebuchet}} project and her own {{w|Automatic target recognition|auto-targeting}} kilowatt {{w|laser}}.

She explains her stance with the fact that her invention helps keep the squirrels off the {{w|Bird feeder|feeder}}. The fact that it actually works is backed up by the sound of a squirrel squeaking as it gets zapped by the laser. But getting hold of such a laser and programming the auto-targeting so it only zaps squirrels and not the birds is a very complicated process - and there are probably many other ways to keep the squirrels off the feeder. So Megan is of course no better than Cueball here.

The title text refers to {{w|egging}}, throwing eggs at houses, other objects, or even people. While this is illegal it's still a famous form of protest; more often it's simple random {{w|vandalism}} or {{w|prank|pranking}}, most common on {{w|Halloween}} in the US. Generally targets are chosen at random, with little specific malicious intent towards the victim, although it's not unusual for people to seek out and target the property of those who they dislike.

If we do, however, assume that Megan programmed the laser to only shoot squirrels, it's likely faulty (unless her intent all along was to fry eggs in midair). Or it could be that she has programmed the laser to shoot any object moving towards her house in the air.

Trebuchets are referred to in later comics: [[1160: Drop Those Pounds]] and [[1190: Time]]. They are also mentioned in the title text of [[1378: Turbine]].

Much later in [[1846: Drone Problems]] Megan has created a device to shoot down drones, so this is her go to solution for annoying things...

To give some scale for Megan’s kilowatt laser: in {{what if|13|Laser Pointer}}, [[Randall]] remarks that a 1-watt laser (so, 1000 times less powerful) <q cite="https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/">is an extremely dangerous thing … capable of burning skin and setting things on fire</q>, and implies that it should not be legal for consumer purchase in the US. The limits for a 'safe' laser (one that can be used without goggles, so laser pointers for example) is a 5mW laser (0.005W). A “kilowatt laser” – it’s unclear if this is exactly a 1kW laser or merely around that range – is a {{w|laser weapon}}: for instance, Lockheed Martin’s {{w|Area Defense Anti-Munitions}} system uses a 10kW laser, at most only ten times as powerful as Megan’s laser.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is working on something on a table, and Megan is sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: The trebuchet is almost done!
:Megan: Mm.
:Cueball: The range should be over 150 meters.

:[Megan leans back on her chair.]
:Megan: Look,
:Megan: I'm sure it's a cool project.

:[Picture of a trebuchet, with some spare parts to its right.]
:Megan: But eventually you'll need to outgrow these toys, and focus your energy on something practical.
:Megan: This mad science is getting out of hand.

:[The camera zooms out, and we see a cross-section of an exterior wall/window from ground to gutter and lower edge of the roof, showing that the characters are inside but the off-frame action is outside.]
:Cueball: Says the girl who mounted an auto-targeting kilowatt laser on the roof.
:Megan: That's practical! It keeps the squirrels off the feeder!
:[From off-frame.]
:Laser: ''GZZZZZAPP''
:Squirrel: ''Squeak!''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Trebuchet]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]

381: Mobius Battle

2022-05-04T00:17:43Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 233316 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 381
| date = February 8, 2008
| title = Mobius Battle
| image = mobius battle.png
| titletext = Films need to do this more, if only to piss off the people who have to feed it into the projector.
}}

==Explanation==
[[File:mobius battle.gif|right|frame|The Möbius comic strip as an animated GIF.]]
A {{w|Möbius strip}} (the comic's spelling Mobius strip is also acceptable) is an object with only one surface and one edge. It can be created by taking a strip of paper and twisting it 180 degrees before taping both ends together.

The idea of the Möbius strip has been used here to create a comic strip that could potentially loop forever. In it, [[Cueball]] is standing in front of a ball. Then another Cueball runs in and kicks the ball, which hits first Cueball in the head, due to which he falls out of the panel. The second Cueball then turns away, retaining the first Cueball's original position, only flipped horizontally. Because of the nature of the Möbius strip, if the comic strip were to be printed out in such a way that the comic could be seen on both sides of the paper, like on tracing paper or on one "side" of a strip of clear plastic or film, the comic would repeat, so that the second Cueball would become the first Cueball, and someone else, potentially the original first person, would push them out of the comic becoming himself the first Cueball. This means that neither person ever really "wins," and the comic could thus be conveying an anti-violence message in this respect. See also the title text of [[1890: What to Bring]].

The comic's viability as a Möbius strip preserved the use of symmetrical letters in a palindromic word to denote laughing ("HAHAHAH") as well as using symmetrical punctuation for the other character's [[wikt:grawlix#English|grawlixes]]. A similar use of a Möbius strip in story-telling can be seen in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mdEsouIXGM Wind and Mr. Ug] by Vi Hart.

Finally, at the title text, [[Randall]] jokes that he would like to see actual films do this solely as a joke on projectionists, who would have a difficult time feeding a Möbius strip film reel properly into a normal projector due to the twist.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing next to a ball. A flash appears on the left side of the panel.]
:[Another Cueball comes in from the left, preparing to kick the ball.]
:[The other Cueball kicks the ball into the first Cueball's head.]
:[The first Cueball is lying outside of the frame. Second Cueball points and laughs.]
:Second Cueball: HAHAHAH
:First Cueball: <nowiki>!#^*!*</nowiki>
:[Second Cueball is now standing next to the ball.]
:[To the right, the strip above is looped around like a film strip, but a one-half-turn is put into the loop to make it a Mobius strip.]

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

2575: What If? 2

2022-05-04T00:17:16Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 233827 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2575
| date = January 31, 2022
| title = What If? 2
| image = what_if_2.png
| titletext = CLARIFICATION: By 9/13, I mean September 13th, not the 9th day of Jancember, the cursed 13th month that exists between December and January in the transdimensional temporal plane.
}}

*This comic came out just a few minutes after the [[Countdown in header text]] finished. The countdown was to the revelation in this comic!
==Explanation==
This comic is [[Randall]]'s way of announcing and [[:Category:Book promotion|promoting]] his new book, ''what If? 2'', based on his [[what if?]] blog and following his first what if book.

The entire comic (including the [[xkcd_Header_text#2022-01-31_-_What_if.3F_2|xkcd Header text]]) is a link to a [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ what if? 2: the book] page on {{xkcd}}.

Apart from promoting the book, the comic also explains why he ended up writing a sequel. After the first book came out Randall was flooded with ''what if?'' questions. Presumable mainly from his readers via e-mail, but his friends and families also started texting him with these questions. Some of these texts are displayed in the comic, but only partially, so none of the six question texts can be read. But where one might think that this would become tiresome, Randall instead tells the readers the opposite: "Honestly, I love it."

He then continues to praise the quality of the questions, mentioning no less than nine examples of what the questions were about. And in the process ensures the reader that planets, including the Earth, will be destroyed multiple times in his new book. At the end he lets the readers know that some of the features of the first book, with short answer sections and disturbing questions (likely not answered), are also included in this book.

He also states that a few of his favorites from the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/ ''What If?'' site] site have been included, so it is not all new material. From the book stores, it seems like he includes his very last online ''What If?'' ({{what if|157|Earth-Moon Fire Pole}}) for instance, which was released on 2018-05-21, almost four years before this comic was released. Also, by the time the book is released, it will be almost four years and four months since the last article on ''What If?''

The final part of the comic is a picture of the book that both makes it clear when the book is released and how to preorder it.

Randall ensured the maximum possible attention to his announcement by placing a [[Countdown in header text|countdown]] in the [[xkcd_Header_text#2022-01-10_-_Standard_text_with_countdown|header]] about three weeks prior to the announcement. This has caused a lot of speculation as to what would be revealed on the day of this comic's release 2022-01-31. The timer was inside a panel at the top right of the xkcd header text next to the standard header text: ''xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday''. Inside the panel a picture began emerging after the first day, but the picture only changed approximately once every four hours. After a few weeks was it certain that it was a plane that was being revealed. And on the second to last day, around day twenty, it was clear that it featured a ''T. rex''-like dinosaur ''en silhouette'' standing on top of the aircraft, apparently trying to eat its way into the fuselage, and it might have been possible to guess the relation to the ''What If?'' sequel. On the day before the announcement on xkcd, however, [[Countdown_in_header_text#Blow_up_by_Amazon|Amazon made visible a preorder page for the book]], so the answer was made clear about a day before Randall had intended. This clearly annoyed users of this page as can be seen in the [[Talk:Countdown_in_header_text|talk page for the countdown]].

Until then, however, there were numerous [[Countdown_in_header_text#Theories|theories]] about the [[Countdown_in_header_text#Countdown|countdown]] and what the [[Countdown_in_header_text#The_picture|image would reveal]] as the image gradually changed throughout the eventual [[Countdown_in_header_text/images|136 frames]].

In the title text, Randall feels that he must clarify the release day (as in [[2562: Formatting Meeting]]), since he has often joked about the way different countries (and people) write dates. He did not use the one version he himself had promoted in earlier comics. He does however give two different versions of the release date: the first is "9/13" in the first panel, which is at least (usually — see below) only readable one way; harder to misinterpret is the more expansive "Sep 13, 2022" in the final panel. A format that he could have used to avoid any confusion is: "the book is released on 2022-09-13," using the international standard as defined in the {{W|ISO 8601}} standard and shown in [[1179: ISO 8601]].

The clarification reads: By 9/13, I mean September 13th, not the 9th day of Jancember, the cursed 13th month that exists between December and January in the transdimensional temporal plane.

Since there are only 12 months in the year,{{citation needed}} 9/13 actually cannot be mistaken, while 9/12 might be. So there was really no need for this clarification, especially with the last text in the last panel. So this is of course just a title text joke, where he can manage to make a [[:Category:Portmanteau|portmanteau]] of January and December ("Jancember") and then then call this a cursed month as it would be the 13th month if it came before New Year. This comic came out at the end of January, so it could have been at the end of Jancember instead. The number thirteen is seen by many as an unlucky number, so a thirteenth month would be considered cursed by some, or at least unlucky.
In reality, a 13th month can exist in some alternate calendars and is then called "{{W|Undecimber}}".

At the release of this comic, the header changed to promote the website, the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#xkcd_links|xkcd links]] in the top left section of xkcd was changed to promote the book and he made his first [[Blag]] post in more than two years with the [https://blog.xkcd.com/2022/01/31/what-if-2/ What If 2] post.

The [https://what-if.xkcd.com/ what if?] header was also changed to accommodate promotion of the new book; not so strange, seeming as it was based on that blog. A picture is displayed at the top with the book at both ends and this text in between, with the first line taking up the top and the two other lines below, the first in a frame:
:What If? 2
:Preorder now
:On sale 9/13
The entire picture links to the what if? 2 page.

Exactly two months after the release of this promotion comic Randall made another comic about his new what if? 2 book: [[2600: Rejected Question Categories]]. In this he also gives the release day as 9/13, in the title text, although without any mention of the ambiguity of this date format.

==Transcript==
:[Randall, drawn as Cueball, is throwing his arms out as he stands next to a big red book with white drawings on the cover. The cover shows a large passenger plane that has just taken off, as can be seen since the landing gear still has the wheels extended (only one wheel is visible at the middle part and then the one in the front). A Tyrannosaurus Rex has jumped on to the plane and it is biting down on the ceiling of the plane a bit in front of the wings, as if on the back of a prey. The dinosaur has already broken through the ceiling. Below is a jagged landscape with small mountain like peaks in the background. Megan and Cueball are standing on the top of the second of two raised plateaus, looking up at the plane and dinosaur. There is unreadable white text above the plane, then a title beneath the plane, and the authors name below the landscape, and more unreadable text beneath that, all in white. Below the book, there is a small arrow pointing to the right bottom of the book, with a label beneath.]
:Randall: '''Announcement:''' I’m publishing a ''what if?'' sequel!
:Book cover: what if? 2
:Book cover: Randall Munroe
:In stores 9/13, available for preorder now: xkcd.com/whatif2

:[Randall is shown holding up his smart phone in one hand. The screen lights up as indicated with small lines at the top. These point up to at least six SMS texts, each with two lines of text. They are shown in speech bobbles with a small arrow in the bobbles lower left corner. All six are covered partly by either the other five, or by Randall’s head, and none of them can be read in any meaningful way; only parts of sentences or words are clearly visible. The bobbles and the text in them are all drawn in gray. Randall is narrating (not speaking) in this panel, both above the SMS texts, and below.]
:Randall narrating: Ever since I wrote '''''what if?''''', I’ve been flooded with questions.
:Randall narrating: And not just from readers- My friends and family stated texting them to me, too.
:Text 1: Hey, could s.. ele
:Text 2: Hypothe…
:Text 3: If you s… Jupiter…
:Text 4: Could my c… or…
:Text 5: Do you… my car…
:Text 6: If I trie… the sun, would I…
:Randall narrating: Honestly, I love it.

:[Randall is again standing next to his red book talking. There is also a second version of the book lying to the right of the closed book, and this has been opened up to reveal two pages. The text is unreadable and the images are very hard to see, but it seems that two people are standing next to each other on the right page. The image at the top of the left page has been enlarged and shown to the right of the open book. It is an image of the Earth that is being peeled by a potato peeler, which takes off a large peel from the north part of Scandinavia and then goes via Russia into Asia. The title and author name can still just be read on the book,but maybe only because they are already known...]
:Randall: The questions are so good. People have asked about touching exotic materials, traveling across space and time, eating things they shouldn’t, and smashing large objects into the Earth. There are questions about lasers, explosions, swingsets, candy, and soup. Several planets are destroyed-one of them by the soup.
:Book cover: what if? 2
:Book cover: Randall Munroe

:[Zoom in on the top part of Randall speaking on.]
:Randall: Like the first book, '''''what if? 2''''' also features collections of short answers, new lists of weird and worrying questions, and some of my favorite answers from the What if site.

:[Only the closed red book are shown in this panel, in an even larger version than in any of the previous panels. But it is still only the title and the author name that can be read, but in this version these can also be read on the spine of the book. Randall is narrating again, and there are text both above and below the book.]
:Randall narrating: If you want to get it when it’s released, you can preorder a copy at xkcd.com/whatif2
:Book spine: what if? 2 Randall Munroe
:Book cover: what if? 2
:Book cover: Randall Munroe
:Randall narrating: Available Sep 13, 2022

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:What If?]]
[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Portmanteau]] 
[[Category:Calendar]] 
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cursed Items]]

161: Accident

2022-05-04T00:15:55Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235365 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 161
| date = September 22, 2006
| title = Accident
| image = accident.png
| titletext = As far as treachery-as-driving-music goes, Katamari music is matched only by Guitar Hero music.
}}

==Explanation==
After someone plays a game enough, various instincts develop. One might be ready to push the right button when a right arrow comes up on screen. One might learn the tricky sequences of moves needed for a situation in the game, and find oneself doing them in another game in a similar situation. Or, as in this case, one might get used to pushing a giant ball around trying to collect smaller objects, and try doing so with your car when the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMH49ieL4es game's theme song] starts playing.

In the game {{w|Katamari Damacy}}, the player has to grow a large ball of clutter by rolling the ball over smaller objects in the playfield, which become attached to the ball, growing the clutter ball larger and larger. As the clutter ball gets larger, bigger things in the environment will begin sticking to the clutter ball instead of acting as obstacles, giving the player more clutter to grab. How big the player can get this clutter ball, or "katamari," determines how well the player does in the game, as is also mentioned in [[83: Katamari]].

When Katamari Damacy's theme song comes on in the third panel, [[Cueball]] begins acting out the game's premise, and drives his car into a mailbox - which "looked smaller" than his car - trying to get it to attach. This doesn't work so well outside of the game.{{Citation needed}}

The title text implies that music used in the game {{w|Guitar Hero}} is equally hazardous when driving. Anyone who's become accustomed to rocking out on a fake guitar to a particular song could find themselves involuntarily playing the air guitar when said song comes on the radio unexpectedly. Randall is pointing out that Guitar Hero-induced spontaneous air guitar performances are not safe activities while driving. Alternatively, one may try to hit all incoming objects in an attempt to mimic hitting strings of notes as they move down the fretboard, which would be immediately more disastrous. Another possibility is that the hazard is pressing several buttons repeatedly to mimic Guitar Hero, which would not only distract from driving, but also cause chaos in the car.

The theme song from Katamari Damacy is also mentioned in [[851: Na]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball driving in a car while listening to some music.]
:Music: ♫ ♩ ♬
:[Another panel of Cueball listening to music while driving. Cueball's head is turned to the right.]
:Music: ♬ ♪ ♩
:[A third panel. Cueball's head is turned to the left.]
:Music: ♫ NAAAA NA NA NANA NANA NA NA KATAMARI DAMACY ♪ ♩
:[Cueball and Megan talking.]
:Megan: And that's when you veered into the mailbox?
:Cueball: It looked smaller then me. It was just instinct.

==Trivia==
* According to [https://xkcd.com/161/info.0.json this comic's official transcript], Megan is the owner of the mailbox.

{{Comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Katamari Damacy]]
[[Category:Rhythm Games]]
[[Category:Guitar Hero]]

2574: Autoresponder

2022-05-04T00:15:22Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235366 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2574
| date = January 28, 2022
| title = Autoresponder
| image = autoresponder.png
| titletext = I ADMIRE HOW YOU SET BOUNDARIES AND I HOPE YOUR COLLEAGUES RESPECT THEM! PLEASE SPARE MY LIFE!
}}
*This was the ninth comic to come out after the [[Countdown in header text]] started and the one that was on the front page when it ended! Just minutes before the next comic came out.

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] and [[White Hat]] are going to some kind of show (a movie or concert, perhaps), and Cueball asks White Hat if he is ready to go, who affirms this but asks for Cueball to email him the tickets before they go.

When Cueball does this he apparently opts to send them to White Hat's work email address. When White Hat is not at work, he has an {{w|autoresponder}} activated that tells people to not disturb him as he is not at work. Usually this means that his email server sends an automatic response telling the sender of the mail that he is not at work, and not to expect an immediate reply.

But in this comic, White Hat has a physical autoresponder standing behind him, drawn as a human with thicker/rougher lines as if clad in bulky clothing, wearing spiky knee and elbow guards and a spike-embossed and notably scarred crash-helmet upon its head. It holds a glinting, sharp sword in its hand. When Cueball inadvertently activates it, it plunges forward to 'defend' White Hat from being disturbed by work related things during his spare time. It is so aggressive that it even violently pushes White Hat out of the way, with a blow to the face so that he falls back and dislodges his hat, as it prepares to confront the perpetrator, Cueball.

In the caption below, [[Randall]] states that he feels bad when he activates his friends' autoresponders. It is unclear if this is because he thinks he disturbs them with what they might think is work, because he then knows he will not get a reply or if he feels attacked (like Cueball in the comic) by their "aggressively worded" auto-replies.

In the title text Cueball shouts out (in all caps) to the autoresponder "I admire how you set boundaries and I hope your colleagues respect them! Please spare my life!" He therefore thinks it is a ''good'' idea to have time away from work where you cannot be contacted by your colleagues.

It is unclear if the autoresponder is a human or a robot, but the open-faced helmet reveals the fringe and neck-length hair generally seen on female characters, although for instance [[Megan]]'s hair is usually longer and not so messy as this creature. This would be reminiscent of the [[:Category:Android|Android series]], especially [[600: Android Boyfriend]], where one of the androids moves past its owner.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are talking to each other while Cueball is typing on his smartphone. A dark-haired figure stands behind White Hat, drawn with thicker/rougher lines as if clad in bulky clothing; wearing spiky knee and elbow guards, a spike-embossed and notably scarred crash-helmet upon its head; and is holding a glinting sharp sword in its hand.]
:Cueball: Ready to go?
:White Hat: Yup! Can you email me the tickets before we leave?
:Cueball: Sure, one sec.

:[The next panel is nested inside the first, although at first it just looks like two individual panels. This could indicate the second panel is an immediate response to the first. The armored figure aggressively moves forward towards Cueball, who drops his phone in surprise. The armored figure has its sword-arm raised, the other hand pushing White Hat behind it, by pushing him in the face which causes him to stumble backwards so his hat starts to fall off.]
:Cueball: Okay, I sent it to-
:Armored figure: ''It is outside work hours!''
:Armored figure: ''Prepare to die!''
:Cueball: ''Augh!''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I always feel bad when I trigger my friends' work autoresponders.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Email]]

367: Fandom

2022-05-04T00:15:09Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235370 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

1241: Annoying Ringtone Champion

2022-05-04T00:14:45Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235478 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

140: Delicious

2022-05-04T00:14:23Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 234043 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 140
| date = August 11, 2006
| title = Delicious
| image = delicious.png
| titletext = I'm currently in the I Have Cheese phase of this cycle.
}}

==Explanation==
The simplest explanation for the comic is the recipe for {{w|nachos}}. You take some {{w|tortilla chips}}, spread them out on a plate, sprinkle them with {{w|grated cheese}} and perhaps some other ingredients like salsa, beans, or guacamole, and put the plate in the oven until the cheese is melted. As usual with a full bag of snacks, you always end up with that tiny bit left at the bottom of the bag. In this case, it is either leftover grated cheese (left) or tortilla chips (right). So you end up buying another package of the other ingredient to make nachos again.

This is an example of a {{w|Virtuous circle and vicious circle|virtuous or vicious cycle}}, in which a feedback loop reinforces itself. A virtuous cycle has favorable results, while a vicious has detrimental results. In this case, it is neither a virtuous or vicious cycle, but a ''delicious cycle'' - the pun of this joke.

The title text just says that currently, [[Randall]] has leftover cheese. He will probably get chips soon, continuing the cycle.

The same problem with having leftovers when making a dish using two types of food that don't match up is the setup for the joke in [[1641: Hot Dogs]].

==Transcript==
:[Frame is split by a diagonal.]
:[First half: Cueball in front of open fridge.]
:Cueball: I have leftover cheese. I should get chips and make nachos.

:[Second half: Cueball with bag of chips.]
:Cueball: I have leftover chips. I should get cheese and make nachos.

:[Caption below the two drawings:]
:A delicious cycle

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Puns]]

139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards

2022-05-04T00:13:56Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235372 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 139
| date = August 9, 2006
| title = I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards
| image = electric_skateboards.png
| titletext = Both the skateboards I owned were pretty cheap and broke from heavy use; I'm gonna get a really nice one if I move to the city.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] likes {{w|electric skateboard|electric skateboards}} (he has owned two already by the time of this comic). This comic shows a simple move where [[Cueball]] drives one from A to B.

It's not very artistic, but the "chicks" are cheering, and the comic states that this is how they work. The humor of the comic is an understated joke that if you use an electric skateboard just to get around, by the time you get to where you are going, there will already be a group of chicks cheering and following you just because electric skateboards are awesome. (The pickup artist in [[1178: Pickup Artists]] would be disappointed to learn that this is not actually accurate, as it would save him the bother of "sleazy" social manipulation of the desired "chicks," assuming they can afford to acquire an electric skateboard instead.)

In the title text, Randall tells us that both of his two electric skateboards were cheap and have been worn down by heavy use. If he ever moves to the city, he will buy a really nice skateboard. If it is to be able to get around over the shorter distances of the city or if it is just because there are many more "chicks" to impress is left up to the reader's imagination.

Electric skateboards have been the subject of [[:Category:Electric skateboard|several other comics]], but this was the first. It has been featured most prominently in [[:Category:The Race|The Race]], a five part comic series.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panels:]
:How electric skateboards work:

:[Cueball is standing on a skateboard, just to the right of a sign. He pushes a button on the remote he has in his hand. The remote is connected to his skateboard through a wire.]
:Sign: Point A
:''Click''

:[Cueball skates while he stands still on the board.]
:''Whirrrr''

:[He stops just in front of another sign. To his left are three girls; Megan, Ponytail, and another Megan-like girl with even longer hair than the first. Below them are three arrows pointing to each of them and a label connected to all three arrow.]
:Sign: Point B
:Label: Chicks

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Electric skateboard]]

2341: Scientist Tech Help

2022-05-04T00:13:30Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235374 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2341
| date = August 3, 2020
| title = Scientist Tech Help
| image = scientist_tech_help.png
| titletext = I vaguely and irrationally resent how useful WebPlotDigitizer is.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Randall pokes fun at stereotypes of scientists that "tech people" hold.

In the first panel Randall, presents an idealized view of the tasks of tech people. A group of scientists have run their experiments and compiled their data, but find that the data is simply too complicated for humans, even advanced scientists such as themselves; the tech people resolve in heroic statements to decipher the data with their most advanced algorithms. Large portions of {{w|machine learning}} and {{w|data science}} hinge around finding a pattern (either regression or classification) in a given data set, but the more common, real-world problem is in {{w|data cleaning}} and preparation. For the most part, the rest can be done with preexisting implementations. These types of tasks are those that tech people both expect to perform, and hope to expand upon.

The second panel presents a different reality. The scientists are fully confident they can interpret the data on their own, provided they can access it, because the methods of ''recording'' their data are incredibly sub-par. Apparently wasps had infested the lab, and the scientists had to take photos of their equipment through the window. This created a much more fundamental problem of data format than normal (image vs spreadsheet, as opposed to something more normal like pixel-wise vs vertex-based segmentation). The joke is that the scientists' questions for their tech specialists are very mundane in nature; it presents not a chance to test and prove their machine learning systems, but a simple and tedious process of untangling digital paperwork. [https://old.reddit.com/r/talesfromtechsupport/comments/hxt0fw/my_whole_computer_went_black_what_did_you_do/ This is true in real life] — experts' expertise is usually deep, but not broad, and helping them with issues outside their comfort zone is rarely glamorous.

{{w|Polaroid Corporation|Polaroid}} is a brand of {{w|instant camera}}, though "Polaroid" is often used to refer to instant cameras in general. Excel is referring to {{w|Microsoft Excel}}, a spreadsheet management program.

The title text refers to [https://automeris.io/WebPlotDigitizer/ WebPlotDigitizer], a tool which may be used on visual displays of data such as graphs and charts in order to extract the underlying data. This tool would have the potential to solve the problem which the scientists have by extracting data from the images taken of the equipment. Randall acknowledges the usefulness of the tool, but also expresses some dislike that the tool was invented at all — someone must have had the original data to draw the graph, thus if they had made the data available then he wouldn't have to reverse engineer the plot. Other possibilities are that he simply feels that the tool is too powerful and leaving him less work to do, or that tools so trite and seemingly unnecessary prove so useful in the end.

[[2116: .NORM Normal File Format]] deals with nested file formats.

==Transcript==
:What tech people think scientists need help with:
:[Cueball, Ponytail, and Megan are facing a second Cueball and Hairbun. Ponytail is gesturing with her hand out. The second Cueball has his finger raised.]
:Ponytail: Please–our data, it's too complex! Can your magical machine minds unearth the patterns that lie within?
:Cueball 2: We shall marshal our finest algorithms!

:What scientists actually need:
:[The two Cueballs, Ponytail, Megan, and Hairbun are in the same position as before. The second Cueball no longer has his finger raised.]
:Ponytail: For a few weeks in June, the lab was infested by wasps, so we had to take pictures of the equipment through the window.
:Ponytail: How do you get graphs from a Polaroid photo into Excel?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Computers]]

1315: Questions for God

2022-05-04T00:12:59Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235373 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

1368: One Of The

2022-05-04T00:12:44Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235376 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1368
| date = May 14, 2014
| title = One Of The
| image = one_of_the.png
| titletext = 'The world's greatest [whatever]' is subjective, but 'One of the world's greatest [whatever]s' is clearly objective. Anyway, that's why I got you this 'one of the world's greatest moms' mug!
}}

==Explanation==
Another of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[238: Pet Peeve 114|many]] [[:Category:Pet Peeves|Pet Peeves]], this times on reporters.

[[Cueball]] is a [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]] describing the {{w|Gateway Arch}} as one of the most recognizable arches in {{w|St. Louis}}. In this case the designer the reporter is likely referring to is {{w|Eero Saarinen}}.

When describing things, reporters try to make only factual statements. If reporters use absolutes (that something is the largest or the smallest thing of its class, or that it is unprecedented, to give several examples) they risk making errors: it is possible that some other example of the thing exists that is even larger or even smaller or that there was some similar incident in the past, and they were not aware of it. If a reader or viewer points out the existence of that thing, even if obscure or trivial, the reporter must issue a correction. As a result, reporters learn to hedge by using formulations such as "one of the biggest" or "a rare example of."

[[Randall]] states that it is his {{W|pet peeve}} when reporters avoid absolutes unnecessarily — that is, in cases where there's vanishingly little risk of error. As an absurd example, Randall depicts one such reporter using this language about the Gateway Arch. As the most well-known monument in Missouri and the largest free-standing arch in the world, it's indisputable that this would be the most recognizable arch in St. Louis.

In the title text, Randall jokes about what could happen if you misunderstand the practice of avoiding absolutes; he thus appears to think it is an ostentatious display of faux objectivity, as opposed to a correction-avoiding strategy. The title text refers to novelty mugs (and T-shirts, and other printed items) that use superlative descriptions such as "World's Greatest Mom" or "World's Greatest Dad." Obviously, such a statement is an expression of personal affection on the part of the family member who gave such a gift and is not meant to be understood as a literally true fact about the world. Using a parody of reporter-speak (like giving a mug to your mother that says "one of the world's greatest moms") would ruin the compliment by suggesting to her that you thought some other people's moms were as good or better.

The title text also refers to {{w|Mother's Day}}, which in the US was three days before this comic was published.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is a news anchor sitting in front of a screen showing the Gateway Arch with some landscape features around it.]
:Cueball: ...And he went on to design the Gateway Arch, one of the most recognizable arches in St. Louis.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Pet peeve:
:Reporters unnecessarily hedging with "one of the"

==Trivia==
*This comic is referenced in the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|89|Tungsten Countertop}}'', with the quote "the sun is one of the meltiest things in the solar system."
*[[1261:_Shake_That]] features a gift mug with the absolute statement of "greatest daughter"

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Pet Peeves]]

1719: Superzoom

2022-05-04T00:12:31Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235379 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1719
| date = August 12, 2016
| title = Superzoom
| image = superzoom.png
| titletext = *click* Let him know he's got a stain on his shirt, though.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, [[Cueball]] is showing off his new {{w|superzoom}} camera to [[White Hat]]. These are cameras with large zoom lenses, often 25× or higher magnification. He is very excited and starts by exclaiming how they can take detailed photos of the craters on the {{w|Moon}}, and (on better models) relatively large photos of {{w|Jupiter}} even with a resolution so individual clouds can be seen. (See examples of zoom on these objects [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwLbj0fBvXk here] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de2LjQ5F3HE here] without cloud resolution though, but with Jupiter's {{w|Galilean moons|four large moons}} and {{w|Saturn|Saturn's}} {{w|Rings of Saturn|rings}}.)

He then spots a bird (which is just a speck in the sky) and uses the superzoom for {{w|birdwatching}}, which is a popular use for these cameras. He can see that it's a {{w|peregrine falcon}} and that it has been {{w|Bird ringing|banded}} (ringed) and he can even read the number on the band (later it seems he has more trouble locating birds with his camera in [[1826: Birdwatching]]). He then spots an airplane and having taken a picture of it, he can tell that it is a {{w|Boeing 787 Dreamliner|787 Dreamliner}} from {{w|Japan Airlines}}, and he can even make out the registration number. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-0X3xJf-kg All this is possible], with a {{w|Nikon Coolpix P900}}, which may not be much larger than the one Cueball stands with here, with an extremely long lens, and at the time of this comics release that type of camera could be [https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-COOLPIX-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B00U2W4JEY bought at Amazon] for less than $600. If that is within the limit Cueball gives of a few hundred dollars can be [[1070: Words for Small Sets|debated]]... A [http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/powershot-sx60-hs-refurbished|Canon SX-60, refurbished] with [https://www.flickr.com/groups/2290116@N21/pool/|65x optical zoom] currently sells for $379. Its predecessor, the SX-50 sold, refurbished, for less than $200 until going out of stock.

Note that before each comment he has taken a picture, presumably zooming further in after each photo of each new object, zooming out again before beginning with the next object.

Finally, White Hat exclaims that he is sold and states that he also want a superzoom camera like Cueball's. Cueball then points the camera down the street takes a picture and tells White Hat that the shop on ''Union Road'' has these camera in stock, indicating that he can see this inside the store (or in their window). He then takes another image and is able to make out not only the worker Kevin inside, he also recognizes him and (as mentioned in the title text after taking yet a further zoomed in picture) notice a stain on Kevin's shirt. He seems to like Kevin and asks White Hat to tell Kevin about the stain when he goes there to buy a superzoom camera. (This was the first time the name Kevin was used in xkcd for a fictive person, see more in [[1795:_All_You_Can_Eat#Kevin|this trivia]]).

Even with the ability of these cameras, it would be difficult for Cueball to be able to make out a specific worker inside the store, but if he is standing near a window it is not impossible, and if he has a stain on his shirt, it is in the same league as spotting a band on a bird in the air. Of course he has to be in a spot where he can see straight to the front of the shop.

The last panel and title text is also a remark on how such cameras can be used to spy on people for quite a far distance, which has often been (mis)used by {{w|Paparazzi|paparazzi photographers}} taking pictures of famous people (often while almost naked or in a bikini or other bathing clothes). Now everyman gets this disconcerting possibility to spy on their neighbors and others for just a few hundred dollars.

There are lenses that can do what Cueball describes about Jupiter's clouds in the comic (e.g., the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRq18WpQZC0 Canon 5200mm]), but so far not such a small consumer camera as shown in the illustration.

A couple of other factors that many people may not realize until after they've bought a consumer-level superzoom camera is that a) taking a hand-held picture at maximum zoom is typically rather blurry because the lens is magnifying all vibration and it's impossible to hold the camera steady enough (so a camera tripod would be needed), and b) that the lens' aperture at maximum zoom is typically much smaller than at normal focal lengths, with the result that the shutter time must be several times longer to get proper exposure, compounding the vibration / blurry problem. Modern superzoom cameras do have "image stabilization", which can mitigate blurriness due to vibration, but extreme telephoto photography is still more challenging than implied in the comic.

Also having zoomed so much it is very hard to actually locate a moving plane or bird in the sky while looking at the image shown on the camera. And as shown in the comic the lens is zoomed very much in. Of course this could be done by Cueball after having found the flying object with much less zoom. But still if he loses sight of the bird while fully zoomed in it will be almost impossible to find it again without zooming back out.

White Hat and Cueball have discussed photography before in [[1314: Photos]].

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Cueball are walking right. Cueball is looking down at a camera with a long lens he is holding in both hands.]
:Cueball: I love these superzoom cameras. For a few hundred dollars you can take pictures of Moon craters and Jupiter's clouds.

:[They stop, White Hat looks up in the air while Cueball does the same but through the camera he is holding up to his eye while taking pictures. The camera lens is further zoomed out and is clicking.]
:Cueball: And birds! See that speck up there?
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>
:Cueball: Peregrine falcon!
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>
:Cueball: It's banded, too. Want the number?

:[White Hat looks even further up as Cueball turns left and point the even further zoomed camera almost straight up while taking photos.]
:Cueball: And see that plane?
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>
:Cueball: 787 Dreamliner
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>
:Cueball: Japan Airlines.
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>
:Cueball: Registration is—

:[White Hat looks back down on Cueball who has turned to the right holding the fully out-zoomed camera level to the right along the ground.]
:White Hat: OK, I'm sold—I want one.
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>
:Cueball: They're in stock at the place on Union Road.
:<nowiki>*Click*</nowiki>
:Cueball: Hey, Kevin's working today! He's great.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Animals]]

829: Arsenic-Based Life

2022-05-04T00:12:13Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235381 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 829
| date = December 3, 2010
| title = Arsenic-Based Life
| image = arsenic_based_life.png
| titletext = According to a new paper published in the journal Science, reporters are unable to thrive in an arsenic-rich environment.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic is about the December 2010 announcement of the (since refuted) discovery of a {{w|GFAJ-1|strain}} of {{w|extremophile}} bacteria that incorporate arsenic instead of phosphorous into some of their biochemistry. The first three panels depict a group of scientists—including one shown with long, curly hair bound in a ponytail, identifiable from this hairstyle as Felisa Wolfe-Simon, the post-doctoral research associate who spearheaded the arsenic research (see [[2421: Tower of Babel]] for another female scientist who is identifiable by her hairstyle)—preparing for their press conferences announcing the details of the discovery.

The trio are worried that the press conference about their discovery will be less exciting to the reporters, because the press are expecting news of life on {{w|Saturn}}'s largest moon, {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}. The researchers decide to try and make the event more exciting, but they don't know how to throw a good party. As a result, they look up advice on the internet and decide to serve cocktails and {{w|Hors d'oeuvre|hors d'œuvres}} to fit the theme of the event.

The final panel shows the result, where the reporters are either dead or dying. It is implied that in order to fit the theme the researchers have laced the food and drinks with arsenic.

{{w|Arsenic}} is a chemical element which is known to be poisonous to humans and most other life forms. In 2010 {{w|NASA}} announced the discovery of bacteria {{w|GFAJ-1}} (an abbreviation for "get Felisa a job") and claimed it to be able to sustain itself when starved of phosphorus, by substituting arsenic for a small percentage of its phosphorus. Most scientists did not believe in this and it was disproven in 2012.<ref>Tobias J. Erb; Patrick Kiefer; Bodo Hattendorf; Detlef Gunter; Julia Vorholt (July 8, 2012). "GFAJ-1 Is an Arsenate-Resistant, Phosphate-Dependent Organism". Science 337 (6093): 467–70. doi:10.1126/science.1218455. PMID 22773139. Retrieved 2012-07-10.</ref>

The comic draws its humor by picking on both scientists and reporters. It is a common theme in xkcd to show scientists who may be extremely clever within their field, but sometimes lack common sense and are inept at social situations. Reporters are often criticized for over sensationalizing discoveries and hunting for exciting stories.

==Transcript==
:[Three people, a curly, dark-haired girl with a ponytail (identifiable from context and hairstyle as Felisa Wolfe-Simon), Megan, and Cueball, stand looking at a laptop screen, which is sitting on a desk. Dr. Wolfe-Simon is pointing at the screen. There is no speech line down to her, but from her posture it must be assumed she does the talking written above the three.]
:Wolfe-Simon: Our arsenic-based DNA discovery is cool, but these reporters are expecting life on Titan! Our press conference will be such a letdown!

:[Wolfe-Simon turns around to face Megan, zooming in so Cueball is not in the frame.]
:Wolfe-Simon: Okay, we need to make it more exciting for them. How do you make an event entertaining?
:Megan: Dunno, I suck at parties. Music, I guess?

:[Wolfe-Simon turns back around and leans over to start typing on the computer, while the other two look on. Megan puts her hand to her chin.]
:Wolfe-Simon: WikiHow says you can "serve cocktails and hors d'œrves that fit the theme of your event."
:Megan: Easy enough!

:[Wolfe-Simon stands on a podium behind a lectern ready to deliver the news, while Cueball stands amongst the audience, holding a tray with three drinks glasses. A fourth glass lies at foot of the lectern on the podium. Two Cueball-like guys in the audience are lying on the floor, one of them having fallen backwards in his chair, while a third Cueball-like guy is still standing but has his hands up to his throat as he is suffocating. Finally, Ponytail is slumped over in her seat with her head on her chest. One empty chair is still standing.]

==Trivia==

The words "hors d'oerves" at the comic are just a misspelling by Randall for "hors d'oeuvres" (in French ''"hors d'œuvre"'' both singular and plural). The English pronunciation of these words is awr-DURVZ /ɔrˈdɜrvz/, with the R '''before''' the V, not after, which explains the mistake.<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hors+d%27oeuvre</ref> As opposed to the original French pronunciation, where the v and r keep the same order.<ref>http://fr.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C5%93uvre</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]

166: Misusing Slang

2022-05-04T00:11:56Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235382 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 166
| date = October 4, 2006
| title = Misusing Slang
| image = misusing_slang.png
| titletext = It slowly dawns on us that our parents knew exactly what they were doing.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] expresses excitement for the time in the future where he can intentionally misuse modern-day slang in order to make nearby teenagers feel uncomfortable. He illustrates this by using the word "pwned," the past tense of "pwn" (from "own," as in to defeat completely): "The noob was pwned by the pro."

Many teenagers believe their parents to be not "with the times," but Randall suggests that parents actually ''do'' know what the words mean, but are acting otherwise in order to mess with their heads for their personal amusement. The title text reinforces this, as every generation has had some form of slang that they used, and it could be possible that this practice has been continued for a good while. It also suggests that the parents of teenagers may be "pwning" their children by intentionally misusing these modern-day slang.

==Transcript==
:The best part of getting older is gonna be intentionally misusing slang around teenagers just to watch them squirm.
:Cueball: Oh man, that song is so pwned!
:Teenager: ''twitch''

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

193: The Perfect Sound

2022-05-04T00:11:28Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235383 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 193
| date = December 6, 2006
| title = The Perfect Sound
| image = the_perfect_sound.png
| titletext = Oh, what a pity, can't you understand...
}}

==Explanation==
This comic relates to the song "{{w|Mickey_(Toni_Basil_song)|Mickey}}", performed in 1982 by one-hit-wonder {{w|Toni Basil}}. The lyrics, as well as the instrumentation of the song, were in fact rather simple, being a perfect example of {{w|Bubblegum pop|bubblegum pop}} in the early 1980s.

In the comic, however, the song is introduced as a musical masterpiece. [[Cueball]] points out the opening sequence to his friend and states that it should be considered art. When the chorus sets in and the song unfolds its lyrical brilliancy, his friend has no other comment to make except that there must be something wrong with Cueball.

Cueball's actions might be seen as a critical approach towards over-interpreting music. The comic's title, as well as the stereo setup depicted, could perhaps also denote a sidesweep on {{w|audiophiles}}.

The title text parodies a line from the song and links it with the incomprehension of Cueball's friend.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and his friend are listening to music on a stereo.]
:Cueball: I'm telling you, listen right here to the sets of rising notes following the opening section.
:Friend: Uh huh.
:[Cueball indicates stereo.]
:Cueball: And then right here, the transition into the chorus. This is music. This is art!
:[Cueball dances along with the music.]
:Stereo: Oh Mickey, you so fine, you so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey! *clap* *clap* Hey Mickey!
:Friend: There's something wrong with you.

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

2052: Stanislav Petrov Day

2022-05-04T00:11:07Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235386 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 2052
| date = September 28, 2018
| title = Stanislav Petrov Day
| image = stanislav_petrov_day.png
| titletext = I was going to get you an alarm clock that occasionally goes off randomly in the middle of the night, but you can ignore it and go back to sleep and it's fine.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Stanislav Petrov|Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov}} was a lieutenant colonel of the {{w|Soviet Air Defence Forces}} who became known as "the man who single-handedly saved the world from {{w|nuclear war}}" for his role in the {{w|1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident}}. The incident was unknown to the public until it was revealed shortly before the {{w|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} in 1991.

On 26 September 1983, during the {{w|Cold War}}, the satellite-based early-warning system of the {{w|Soviet Union}} reported the launch of multiple {{w|Intercontinental ballistic missile|intercontinental ballistic missiles}} from the {{w|United States}}. At the time, tensions with the U.S. were on edge, and high officials of the Soviet Union, including General Secretary {{w|Yuri Andropov}}, were thought to be highly suspicious of a U.S. attack.

Petrov checked ground-based radars which had not detected a launch, noted that the warning system had detected only 1-5 missiles instead of the hundreds that would have been expected in the event of a {{w|pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike}}, and chose to mark the system alert as a false alarm. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear attack, which would have probably resulted in immediate escalation of the Cold War stalemate to a full-scale nuclear war and the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had indeed malfunctioned.

While it is highly probable that if Petrov had reported this incident to his superiors they would have come to the same conclusion, it was a point in time when many people feared that the Cold War might become hot. Andropov, the new Soviet leader, was considered weak by the US president {{w|Ronald Reagan}}, and the Western countries were deploying new missile installation in Europe to counter existing missiles in the Eastern Bloc. This fear of nuclear war meant that at this time the {{w|Peace movement|peace movement}} in most western countries reached one of its highest levels.

In this comic [[Cueball]] reacts to his alert on Stanislav Petrov Day as if it was a false alarm. This is of course a pun since what we celebrate is that Stanislav treated an alert as a false alarm. Also his first comment "Oh shoot" could have been the reaction of Stanislav if he had not assumed it was a false alarm.

In real life, many ''alerts'' reach everybody on their mobile devices, often causing them to be ignored without deeper knowledge about the issue behind. This was however not the point in this comic.

The title text presents a much less important false alarm where one of them, probably [[Cueball]] (or perhaps [[Randall]]), was thinking about giving a gift to the other one in the form of an alarm clock that alerts randomly in the middle of the night. That particular alarm is one where she or he can just breathe a sigh of relief and go back to sleep because it's not a real alarm and is perfectly safe to ignore. However if this keeps going off when it’s not supposed to, then when you are actually supposed to wake up you may very well end up assuming that it’s another false alarm, and thus will sleep late anyway, completely defeating the point of the alarm. Also when a real alarm is supposed to wake you up in the middle of the night, you will have been trained to ignore alarms. This is all part of the joke.

====History of Petrov Day as a holiday====
On the 2007 anniversary, {{w|Eliezer Yudkowsky}} wrote a [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QtyKq4BDyuJ3tysoK/9-26-is-petrov-day blog post] for {{w|LessWrong}} suggesting that "Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world." Not destroying the world has since evolved into an annual tradition. There is a [http://petrovday.com/ website] for the holiday, with several variations of a ritual involving lighting and snuffing candles. The intended mood is that of a somber holiday, somewhere between {{w|Thanksgiving}} and a funeral.

However, there are also [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day more lighthearted takes]. A "hardcore mode" would be just like the normal holiday, but "During said ceremony, unveil a large red button. If anybody presses the button, the ceremony is over. Go home. Do not speak." Alternatively, "you use a website connected to *another* house where people are also celebrating Petrov Day. If anyone in one house presses the button, the other house receives a launch alarm. They have 60 seconds to respond. At the end of 60 seconds, their party is over, and they must go home silently. The website has some chance of giving you a false alarm." The website can be found [https://petrovday.bubbleapps.io/ here] with instructions on how to use it [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XJxwFMSL5TPN2usC6/modes-of-petrov-day#s4XtBX7Qg9btGf5Kx here].

Stanislav Petrov himself died in 2017, but in 2018 the {{w|Future of Life Institute}} decided to [https://futureoflife.org/2018/09/26/50000-award-to-stanislav-petrov-for-helping-avert-wwiii-but-us-denies-visa/ award] his surviving family a $50,000 prize for his contributions. However, in the words of MIT Professor Max Tegmark, who presented the award, the fact that Petrov's son couldn't "get a visa to visit the city his dad saved from nuclear annihilation is emblematic of how frosty US-Russian relations have gotten, which increases the risk of accidental nuclear war.”

==Transcript==
:[Megan is looking at her phone while Cueball stands in front of her.]
:Megan: Hey, Wednesday was Stanislav Petrov Day. We missed it.
:Cueball: Oh, shoot!
:Cueball: I got a calendar alert for it, but I assumed it was a false alarm.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]

163: Donald Knuth

2022-05-04T00:10:50Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235388 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 163
| date = September 27, 2006
| title = Donald Knuth
| image = donald_knuth.png
| titletext = His books were kinda intimidating; rappelling down through his skylight seemed like the best option.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Donald Knuth}} is a computer science Professor Emeritus at {{w|Stanford University}} who is famous for writing ''{{w|The Art of Computer Programming}}'' and developing the TeX computerized typesetting system.

In computer science, an array is a structure that stores multiple values in a fixed order, and the elements are accessed by their index number. In {{w|Fortran}}, for instance, one writes <tt>array(1)</tt> to access the first element in the array. Most "modern" (read: descended from {{w|C (programming language)|C}}) languages use 0 as the index for the first element in the array, but it is possible (if one is careful about it) to ignore the 0th element and use 1 as the first index. In some programming languages, such as {{w|Pascal (programming language)|Pascal}} or {{w|Ada (programming language)|Ada}}, it is possible to select an arbitrary range of indices for each array type, so the first index might not only be 0 or 1, but also −42 or 100000. [[Cueball]] is complaining that [[Black Hat]] was not consistent in his choice of where to start his arrays. This is a valid complaint, as a lack of such consistency can make coding errors both more likely and more difficult to detect.

Black Hat cites Donald Knuth to support his rebuttal, but the quote he uses does not seem relevant. Presumably, Black Hat had illegally entered the professor's house in order to question him on indices. Donald Knuth's words were not an intellectual response to the question, but rather an alarmed response to the presence of an intruder. It is not clear if Black Hat is aware of this.

The title text suggests that Black Hat finds Knuth's books intimidating, due to perhaps their size or complexity, to the extent that he considers breaking into Knuth's house (a risky, difficult crime) to be the better option in finding his answer. Even for Donald Knuth's books, this is very exaggerated and illogical behavior.{{Citation needed}}

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Cueball are sitting back to back at two separate desks, typing. Black Hat has turned toward Cueball to respond to him.]
:Cueball: Man, you're being inconsistent with your array indices. Some are from one, some from zero.
:Black Hat: Different tasks call for different conventions. To quote Stanford algorithms expert Donald Knuth, "Who are you? How did you get in my house?"

:[Black Hat and Cueball are sitting back to back at two separate desks, typing. Cueball has turned toward Black Hat, confused.]
:Cueball: Wait, what?
:Black Hat: Well, that's what he said when I asked him about it.

==Trivia==
Later, the topic of breaking into a software expert's house through the skylight became topic of [[225: Open Source]] again.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Donald Knuth]]
[[Category:Programming]]

1026: Compare and Contrast

2022-05-04T00:10:33Z

172.70.131.106: Undo revision 235390 by X. K. C. D. (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1026
| date = March 7, 2012
| title = Compare and Contrast
| image = compare_and_contrast.png
| titletext = Frankly, I see no difference between thee and a summer's day. Only Ron Paul offers a TRUE alternative!
}}

==Explanation==

A reference to the most well-known {{w|sonnet}} in the English-speaking world: {{w|William Shakespeare|William Shakespeare's}} "{{w|Sonnet 18}}", the first line of which is: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?". In this comic [[Randall]] sets about this in a typically goal-oriented chart, as opposed to the rather more romantic poetry of the Bard.

"Thee" is a form of the archaic second-person singular pronoun "thou". In Shakespeare's day, English had more second-person pronouns in common use, thou/thee (informal/singular), and you (formal/plural). This is similar to second-person pronouns in many modern European languages, such as French. {{w|English personal pronouns#Full list of personal pronouns|Wikipedia}} has a nice chart for all of English's personal pronouns, current and archaic.

For both the chart and the original sonnet, whether or not the work is autobiographical is unknown. Also unknown is the identity of the person whom each work refers to. It is believed that Sonnet 18 is addressed to a {{w|Shakespeare's Sonnets#Fair Youth|young man}}.

The lines are:

# The first line is a reference to the sonnet itself, which reads: "Thou art more lovely and more temperate". He considers both thee and a summer's day to be "fair" (this is a pun; depending on context, "fair" can refer to complexion or weather) and "temperate" (meaning "warm", which again can describe a person or the weather).
# "Hot, sticky" also refers to both, in different ways. "Hot" can mean sexually attractive or simply that the temperature is high. "Sticky" refers to either a humid day (for summer day) or to have ejaculated after sex (for "thee").
# "Short" is another pun. "Thee" (the subject of the comparison with the summer's day) is not tall. A summer day is chronologically long (time from dawn to dusk.)
# "Harbinger of hurricane season" is technically accurate; hurricane season does follow the summer.
# "Required for a good beach party" is not a pun, although it is another example of a word with slightly different meanings. The party is required to be held on a summer's day and with "thee" present at the party. The party would not be held on "thee", although some of the other lines suggest that the writer might personally be on top of "thee" during the party.
# Heat stroke is a condition mainly affecting children and the elderly. Heat waves and excessively hot days are highly linked with heat stroke incidence
# "Linked to higher rates of juvenile delinquency" refers to juveniles committing crimes. Apparently, "thee" is either a juvenile delinquent or inspires juvenile delinquency (or both). Summer is also linked to juvenile delinquency. This results, to some degree, from school not being in session, rather than simply as a direct result of the summer weather.
# "Sometimes too stifling" can refer to the weather - oppressive heat and humidity, or a person that is overly oppressive and constraining. It is also unusual in that it expresses a negative feeling about "thee", unlike the other entries which express what the author likes or admires about thee.
# "Arrested for releasing snakes in the library" is a fairly self-explanatory criterion. Apparently "thee" has been caught doing this. A summer's day, on the other hand, cannot be arrested at all, much less for this. This is possibly inspired by the movie ''{{w|Snakes on a Plane}}''.
# The last line "difficult to focus on work while I'm in" is probably a sexual reference, on the "thee" side, not on the "summer's day" side. To be "in" someone refers to the penetrative part of sex, which would occupy a typical person's attention,{{Citation needed}} or that while she is around the house it can be difficult to focus of work. Summer can be distracting from work due to heat, excitement, or just the general feeling of the season.

The title text is a reference to {{w|Ron Paul}}, a 2012 {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republican}} candidate for {{w|President of the United States|President}} who was on top in the {{w|Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012|Republican Primary}} against a few other challengers for the nomination. Ron Paul was frequently represented on the internet using similar language to the title text (with Paul offering an alternative to typical Republican and Democratic candidates). Paul was seen by many as an alternative because of his {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian}} views.

==Transcript==
:[A checklist comparing "thee" to "a summer's day" for a number of properties, displayed as separate rows in a table with 3 columns. The properties are shown in the first column with no header label, and the second and third columns have a header label of "Thee" and "A Summer's Day" with a checkmark in one or both columns for each row.]

:[Row 1]
:Property: Fair, Temperate
:Thee: Checked
:A Summer's Day: Checked

:[Row 2]
:Property: Hot, Sticky
:Thee: Checked
:A Summer's Day: Checked

:[Row 3]
:Property: Short
:Thee: Checked
:A Summer's Day: Not Checked

:[Row 4]
:Property: Harbinger of Hurricane Season
:Thee: Not Checked
:A Summer's Day: Checked

:[Row 5]
:Property: Required for a Good Beach Party
:Thee: Checked
:A Summer's Day: Checked

:[Row 6]
:Property: Major Cause of Heat Stroke in the Elderly
:Thee: Not Checked
:A Summer's Day: Checked

:[Row 7]
:Property: Linked to Higher Rates of Juvenile Delinquency
:Thee: Checked
:A Summer's Day: Checked

:[Row 8]
:Property: Sometimes Too Stifling
:Thee: Checked
:A Summer's Day: Checked

:[Row 9]
:Property: Arrested for Releasing Snakes in Library
:Thee: Checked
:A Summer's Day: Not Checked

:[Row 10]
:Property: Difficult to Focus on Work While I'm In
:Thee: Checked
:A Summer's Day: Checked

{{comic discussion}}

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