explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Template:Dubious

2024-12-13T19:43:39Z

172.70.211.130: Standardised template, to compare favourably with citation needed

[[[1847: Dubious Study|''dubious'']]]<noinclude>
[[Category:Templates]]</noinclude>

Talk:2980: Lava Lakes

2024-09-03T02:58:04Z

172.70.211.130:

yoo wait this is cool first yay [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 01:05, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

yoo [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.159|172.70.230.159]] 01:24, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

:Bro Why'd you delete my comment [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 01:29, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

::the wiki is a strange place where sometimes two people edit at the same time and it causes funny things [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]{{citation needed}} 01:34, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Third post! [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 01:29, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

we're so back [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]{{citation needed}} 01:52, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

I do not think this current discussion is actually about XKCD at all, much less this comic. Perhaps the internet itself is that sixth lava lake, with all the hot mess it contains. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.253|172.68.22.253]] 02:54, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

In fact, the Volcano Golf Course [https://volcanogc.com] is built on an active volcano, Kilauea.

2972: Helium Synthesis

2024-08-15T08:50:06Z

172.70.211.130: /* Explanation */ explain more

{{comic
| number = 2972
| date = August 14, 2024
| title = Helium Synthesis
| image = helium_synthesis_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x312px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our lawyers were worried because it turns out the company inherits its debt from the parent universe, but luckily cosmic inflation reduced it to nearly zero.
}}

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

This comic explores the challenges of obtaining {{w|helium}}. [[Hairy]] is leading a meeting with [[Megan]], [[Cueball]], and [[Hairbun]], who are discussing the recurring problem of {{w|helium shortage}}s, a real-world issue due to helium's limited availability on Earth. Helium is a non-renewable resource extracted from {{w|natural gas}} deposits, and its scarcity can affect industries that rely on it, such as medical imaging, semiconductor manufacturing, scientific research, and party balloon supplies.[https://www.marketplace.org/2023/01/19/heliums-been-rising-in-price-and-its-bringing-businesses-down/] (See also [[2766: Helium Reserve]].)

Hairbun suggests investigating the origin of helium. Cueball's research reveals that most helium in the universe came from {{w|Big Bang nucleosynthesis}}, the "primordial" process that occurred shortly after the {{w|Big Bang}}, when the first elements were formed. However, 99% of the helium here on Earth has been produced from the {{w|radioactive decay}} of {{w|uranium-238}} and {{w|thorium-232}} into {{w|alpha particles}} equivalent to ionized helium, with only the remaining one percent being primordial.

Hairy assigns the team to figure out how to recreate Big Bang nucleosynthesis, which is not actually possible for a contemporary business organization.{{cn}} Nonetheless, the team builds a machine capable of it. While one might hope they would realize activating it would obliterate them along with at least all the closest galaxies, ironically that disadvantage seems to escape their attention in the tightly focused drive towards their ill-fated mission.

The final panels show the creation of a second Big Bang, and the following 14 billion years into the future, culminating with the same characters in the same meeting, presumably having arisen from an identical series of post-Big Bang events as had occurred in the original universe, only to arrive at the same predicament: helium shortages are still a problem, and they still need a reliable source. That such an extreme solution didn't actually solve the problem shows the impracticality of their plan, suggesting that some problems are too complex or vast to solve through brainstorming of corporate efforts.

The title text is a wordplay on the concept of {{w|cosmic inflation}}, a theory in cosmology that describes the rapid expansion of the universe just after the Big Bang. The joke imagines the company as having inherited a debt from the parent universe, perhaps due to the expense of creating a second Big Bang. However, thanks to cosmic inflation which dramatically expanded the universe, the debt was diluted (perhaps across the vastness of space), reducing it to almost nothing—much like how {{w|monetary inflation}} reduces the relative cost of debt in fiscal terms. (See also [[2688: Bubble Universes]].)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Hairy sits at the head of a conference table, with Cueball and Megan also at the table.]
:Hairy: These helium shortages every few years are such a pain.
:Hairy: Our company needs a reliable source of helium.

:[The same situation, but now Hairbun is also seen at the table to Cueball's left. Cueball holds a cellphone in his left hand, which Megan looks at.]
:Hairbun: Where does helium come from, anyway?
:Cueball: Hmm, apparently most of it is from "big bang nucleosynthesis"?
:Hairy: Well, let's figure out how to do that.

:[Hairy, Megan and Hairbun are working on a large machine labeled "Big Bang Nucleosynthesis," with Megan holding its control device.]

:[Two panels depict another Big Bang, followed by various stages of cosmic development, including galaxies and planets forming, shown in white on a black background.]

:[The scene returns to the same conference room setup as before, with the characters in the same positions. Text at the top reads: "14 Billion Years Later."]
:Hairy: These helium shortages every few years are such a pain.
:Hairy: Our company needs a reliable source of helium.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-09T16:42:07Z

172.70.211.130: /* Explanation */ don't know why full names (first middle last) are needed; excepting when not known by first name - cleanup

{{comic
| number = 2969
| date = August 7, 2024
| title = Vice President First Names
| image = vice_president_first_names_2x.png
| imagesize = 364x556px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Political pundit on the ScrabbleTV News channel] "After four years of defying orthographic pressure, Joe ceded the top of the ticket to Kamala, who--after considering Josh, Mark, Andy, Roy, and Pete--picked Tim."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by CORNELIUS LYSANDER THROCKMORTON "BOT" BOTTINGFORD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Randall observes that American {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents}} since the 80s have almost all gone by short first names. It should be noted that all of the "short" first names in this strip, with the exception of John (F. Kennedy) are diminutives (or initials) of longer names, but all represent the names which the candidates preferred and publicly used. This comic was published one day after {{w|Kamala Harris}} (who replaced Biden as presidential candidate) chose {{w|Tim Walz}} as her running mate for the {{w|2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election}}. Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are present for 2024, since the 2024 election had not yet concluded when this comic was made. Either party winning would match the observation.

In the comic's caption, Randall amusingly describes this as an emerging "political consensus."

While not a "political" consensus per se, the observed phenomenon is a type of consensus — reflecting a multi-decade change in US societal norms — and is not simply a random coincidence.
* There has been a national US trend toward shorter names since the 1980s and 1990s, with a rise in the popularity of baby names like Ryan, Kyle, Amy and Lisa. (The trend has continued, with even shorter names like Ava, Mia and Max becoming more common in the 2000s and 2010s.)
* This has paralleled a trend in shorter business names, with companies like Dell, Cisco and eBay before the turn of the millennium and Google, Uber and Lyft after (cf. pre-1980 businesses like AT&T, BNSF or 3M which had to convert their very long names into acronyms to adapt). Product naming also began to simplify in the late 20th century, driven by marketing strategies that favored brevity and memorability, exemplified by Apple's iconic "iMac" and "iPhone" products (again, cf. names like "Tandy 1000", "Ford F 500" or "Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies").
* All of these naming trends reflect a ''general'' societal trend toward minimalism and less formality, also seen with corporate logos, product design (Apple), clothing design (Gap), furniture design (IKEA) and web/app design.

This societal shift may explain why many politicians with given names like Albert and Richard might have preferred to go by shorter, less formal sounding, more approachable names like Al and Dick, to match the zeitgeist. James Danforth Quayle additionally used his middle name (that being another common self-naming decision; or one arising from family tradition/convenience, given that James Cline Quayle was his father), one less commonly seen than the other unabbreviated name from which "Dan" might have come.

Given that trend, it is noteworthy that Vice Presidents have generally adopted shorter names, but presidents have been less likely to do so. It's possible to create theories around this (eg, the office of President is expected to have more gravitas and formality, while the Vice President has less of an official role, and wants to be more approachable), but the size of the group is small enough that it could easily be coincidence, particularly since many of those names (such as George, Barack and Kamala) can't be easily shortened. The exception, Donald Trump (which can be shortened to Don), did not become a politician until late in life, when he was already nationally famous using his full name.

The '''title text''' amusingly suggests (1) the existence of a ScrabbleTV News channel (named after {{w|Scrabble|the word game}}) staffed with (2) political pundits who (3) report Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign as being driven by orthographic (related to the writing of words) pressure to conform to the aforementioned political consensus. Having Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as VP violated this pattern, but elevating Harris to the presidency and selecting a short-named running mate would restore it. In addition to Tim Walz, all of the candidates considered most likely as running mate had short first names: Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper and Pete Buttigieg. This could also be a subtle joke about political pundits tending to give confident, inaccurate hot-takes. (Biden's decision was driven, among other things, by worsening polling, rising concerns about his age, a poor debate performance against Trump and subsequent pressure from other leading Democrats.)

This is Randall's second recent comic about US politics and Kamala Harris, the first being [[2962: President Venn Diagram]] which was published right after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Presidential Ticket Names
! Year !! President !! Vice-President
|-
| 2024 || Kamala ({{w|Kamala Harris}}) Donald ({{w|Donald Trump}}‎) || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Tim''' ({{w|Tim Walz|''Timothy'' Walz}}) '''JD''' ({{w|JD Vance|''James David'' Vance}}, né James Donald Bowman)‎
|-
| 2020 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Joe''' ({{w|Joe Biden|''Joseph'' Biden}}) || Kamala (Kamala Harris)
|-
| 2016 || Donald (Donald Trump)‎ || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Mike''' ({{w|Mike Pence|''Michael'' Pence}})
|-
| 2008 || Barack ({{w|Barack Obama}})‎ || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Biden)
|-
| 2000 || George ({{w|George W. Bush}}) || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Dick''' ({{w|Dick Cheney|''Richard'' Cheney}})
|-
| 1992 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Bill''' ({{w|Bill Clinton|''William'' Clinton}}, né W. J. Blythe III) || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Al''' ({{w|Al Gore|''Albert'' Gore Jr.}})
|-
| 1988 || George ({{w|George H. W. Bush}})‎ || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Dan''' ({{w|Dan Quayle|James ''Danforth'' Quayle}})
|-
| 1980 || Ronald ({{w|Ronald Reagan}})‎ || George (George H. W. Bush)
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy ({{w|Jimmy Carter|''James'' Carter Jr.}}) || Walter ({{w|Walter Mondale}})
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1974 || ‎Gerald ({{w|Gerald Ford}} Jr., né Leslie Lynch King Jr.) || Nelson ({{w|Nelson Rockefeller}})*
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1973 || ‎Richard ({{w|Richard Nixon}}) || Gerald (Gerald Ford Jr.)*
|-
| 1968 || ‎Richard (Richard Nixon) || Spiro ({{w|Spiro Agnew|Theodore Spiro Agnew}})
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon ({{w|Lyndon B. Johnson}}) || Hubert ({{w|Hubert Humphrey}} Jr.)
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
|-
| 1960 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''John''' ({{w|John F. Kennedy}}) || Lyndon (Lyndon B. Johnson)
|-
| 1952 || Dwight ({{w|Dwight D. Eisenhower}}, né David Dwight Eisenhower) || Richard (Richard Nixon)
|}

:Darkened rows show transitions not made via an {{w|List of United States major party presidential tickets|electoral 'ticket'}}.
::''* Replacements made in response to political scandal''
::''† Accession to Presidency due to assassination, VP position left unfilled until next election (not shown in comic)''

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Tables are bad? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A table is shown in a panel. Names of "Four letters or fewer" are shown in the comic on a yellow background (bolded in the table below).]
:{| class="wikitable"
! !! President !! VP
|-
| 2024 ||? Kamala ? Donald || '''Tim ? JD ?'''
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' || Kamala
|-
| 2016 || Donald‎ || '''Mike'''
|-
| 2008 || Barack‎ || '''Joe'''
|-
| 2000 || George || '''Dick'''
|-
| 1992 || '''Bill''' || '''Al'''
|-
| 1988 || George || '''Dan'''
|-
| 1980 || Ronald‎ || George
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy || Walter
|-
| 1974 || ‎Gerald || Nelson
|-
| 1973 || ‎Richard || Gerald
|-
| 1968 || ‎Richard || Spiro
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon || Hubert
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' || Lyndon
|-
| 1952 || Dwight || Richard
|}

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Since the 1980s, a political consensus has emerged: vice presidents should have short first names.

==Trivia: Other ways to shorten names==
Politicians can also use a more casual name by using an already less unwieldy middle name (as with {{w|Mitt Romney|Willard Mitt Romney}}, but doubly-averted in Dan Quayle's case). Even when they're not shortened to four or fewer letters, names can be made more casual in other ways (as with {{w|Bernie Sanders|Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders}}). As well, some politicians were commonly called by short nicknames even if they did not run under those names (Dwight 'Ike' Eisenhower).

Some of these may have been adult decisions, a personal choice to mark adulthood (or a change of career) by a more character-distinguishing variation, others may have been 'imposed' upon them by family, friends or peers over time and become happily accepted as the norm by the recipient without any great personal consideration.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-09T16:27:46Z

172.70.211.130: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2969
| date = August 7, 2024
| title = Vice President First Names
| image = vice_president_first_names_2x.png
| imagesize = 364x556px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Political pundit on the ScrabbleTV News channel] "After four years of defying orthographic pressure, Joe ceded the top of the ticket to Kamala, who--after considering Josh, Mark, Andy, Roy, and Pete--picked Tim."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by CORNELIUS LYSANDER THROCKMORTON "BOT" BOTTINGFORD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Randall observes that American {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents}} since the 80s have almost all gone by short first names. It should be noted that all of the "short" first names in this strip, with the exception of John (F. Kennedy) are diminutives (or initials) of longer names, but all represent the names which the candidates preferred and publicly used. This comic was published one day after {{w|Kamala Harris}} (who replaced Biden as presidential candidate) chose {{w|Tim Walz}} as her running mate for the {{w|2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election}}. Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are present for 2024, since the 2024 election had not yet concluded when this comic was made. Either party winning would match the observation.

In the comic's caption, Randall amusingly describes this as an emerging "political consensus."

While not a "political" consensus per se, the observed phenomenon is a type of consensus — reflecting a multi-decade change in US societal norms — and is not simply a random coincidence.
* There has been a national US trend toward shorter names since the 1980s and 1990s, with a rise in the popularity of baby names like Ryan, Kyle, Amy and Lisa. (The trend has continued, with even shorter names like Ava, Mia and Max becoming more common in the 2000s and 2010s.)
* This has paralleled a trend in shorter business names, with companies like Dell, Cisco and eBay before the turn of the millennium and Google, Uber and Lyft after (cf. pre-1980 businesses like AT&T, BNSF or 3M which had to convert their very long names into acronyms to adapt). Product naming also began to simplify in the late 20th century, driven by marketing strategies that favored brevity and memorability, exemplified by Apple's iconic "iMac" and "iPhone" products (again, cf. names like "Tandy 1000", "Ford F 500" or "Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies").
* All of these naming trends reflect a ''general'' societal trend toward minimalism and less formality, also seen with corporate logos, product design (Apple), clothing design (Gap), furniture design (IKEA) and web/app design.

This societal shift may explain why many politicians with given names like Albert and Richard might have preferred to go by shorter, less formal sounding, more approachable names like Al and Dick, to match the zeitgeist. James Danforth Quayle additionally used his middle name (that being another common self-naming decision; or one arising from family tradition/convenience, given that James Cline Quayle was his father), one less commonly seen than the other unabbreviated name from which "Dan" might have come.

Given that trend, it is noteworthy that Vice Presidents have generally adopted shorter names, but presidents have been less likely to do so. It's possible to create theories around this (eg, the office of President is expected to have more gravitas and formality, while the Vice President has less of an official role, and wants to be more approachable), but the size of the group is small enough that it could easily be coincidence, particularly since many of those names (such as George, Barack and Kamala) can't be easily shortened. The exception, Donald Trump (which can be shortened to Don), did not become a politician until late in life, when he was already nationally famous using his full name.

The '''title text''' amusingly suggests (1) the existence of a ScrabbleTV News channel (named after {{w|Scrabble|the word game}}) staffed with (2) political pundits who (3) report Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign as being driven by orthographic (related to the writing of words) pressure to conform to the aforementioned political consensus. Having Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as VP violated this pattern, but elevating Harris to the presidency and selecting a short-named running mate would restore it. In addition to Tim Walz, all of the candidates considered most likely as running mate had short first names: Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper and Pete Buttigieg. This could also be a subtle joke about political pundits tending to give confident, inaccurate hot-takes. (Biden's decision was driven, among other things, by worsening polling, rising concerns about his age, a poor debate performance against Trump and subsequent pressure from other leading Democrats.)

This is Randall's second recent comic about US politics and Kamala Harris, the first being [[2962: President Venn Diagram]] which was published right after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Presidential Ticket Names
! Year !! President !! Vice-President
|-
| 2024 || Donald (John {{w|Donald Trump|Trump}}‎) Kamala (Devi {{w|Kamala Harris|Harris}}) || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''JD''' (''James David'' {{w|JD Vance|Vance}}, né James Donald Bowman)‎ '''Tim''' (''Timothy'' {{w|Tim Walz|Walz}})
|-
| 2020 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Robinette {{w|Joe Biden|Biden}} Jr.) || Kamala (Devi Harris)
|-
| 2016 || Donald (John Trump)‎ || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Mike''' (''Michael'' Richard {{w|Mike Pence|Pence}})
|-
| 2012 2008 || Barack (Hussein {{w|Barack Obama|Obama}} II)‎ || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Robinette Biden, Jr.)
|-
| 2004 2000 || George (Walker {{w|George W. Bush|Bush}}) || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Dick''' (''Richard'' Bruce {{w|Dick Cheney|Cheney}})
|-
| 1996 1992 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Bill''' (''William'' Jefferson {{w|Bill Clinton|Clinton}}, né W. J. Blythe III) || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Al''' (''Albert'' Arnold {{w|Al Gore|Gore}} Jr.)
|-
| 1988 || George (Herbert Walker {{w|George H. W. Bush|Bush}})‎ || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''Dan''' (James ''Danforth'' {{w|Dan Quayle|Quayle}})
|-
| 1984 1980 || Ronald (Wilson {{w|Ronald Reagan|Reagan}})‎ || George (Herbert Walker Bush)
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy (''James'' Earl {{w|Jimmy Carter|Carter}} Jr.) || Walter (Frederick {{w|Walter Mondale|Mondale}})
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1974 || ‎Gerald (Rudolph {{w|Gerald Ford|Ford}} Jr, né Leslie Lynch King Jr.) || Nelson (Aldrich {{w|Nelson Rockefeller|Rockefeller}})*
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1973 || ‎Richard (Milhous {{w|Richard Nixon|Nixon}}) || Gerald (Rudolph Ford Jr.)*
|-
| 1972 1968 || ‎Richard (Milhous Nixon) || Spiro (Theodore {{w|Spiro Agnew|Agnew}})
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon (Baines {{w|Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson}}) || Hubert (Horatio {{w|Hubert Humphrey|Humphrey}} Jr.)
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1963 || Lyndon (Baines Johnson)† || ''vacant''
|-
| 1960 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''John''' (Fitzgerald {{w|John F. Kennedy|Kennedy}}) || Lyndon (Baines Johnson)
|-
| 1956 1952 || Dwight (David {{w|Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower}}, né David Dwight Eisenhower) || Richard (Milhous Nixon)
|}

:Darkened rows show transitions not made via an {{w|List of United States major party presidential tickets|electoral 'ticket'}}.
::''* Replacements made in response to political scandal''
::''† Accession to Presidency due to assassination, VP position left unfilled until next election (not shown in comic)''

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Tables are bad? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A table is shown in a panel. Names of "Four letters or fewer" are shown in the comic on a yellow background (bolded in the table below).]
:{| class="wikitable"
! !! President !! VP
|-
| 2024 ||? Kamala ? Donald || '''Tim ? JD ?'''
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' || Kamala
|-
| 2016 || Donald‎ || '''Mike'''
|-
| 2008 || Barack‎ || '''Joe'''
|-
| 2000 || George || '''Dick'''
|-
| 1992 || '''Bill''' || '''Al'''
|-
| 1988 || George || '''Dan'''
|-
| 1980 || Ronald‎ || George
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy || Walter
|-
| 1974 || ‎Gerald || Nelson
|-
| 1973 || ‎Richard || Gerald
|-
| 1968 || ‎Richard || Spiro
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon || Hubert
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' || Lyndon
|-
| 1952 || Dwight || Richard
|}

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Since the 1980s, a political consensus has emerged: vice presidents should have short first names.

==Trivia: Other ways to shorten names==
Politicians can also use a more casual name by using an already less unwieldy middle name (as with {{w|Mitt Romney|Willard Mitt Romney}}, but doubly-averted in Dan Quayle's case). Even when they're not shortened to four or fewer letters, names can be made more casual in other ways (as with {{w|Bernie Sanders|Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders}}). As well, some politicians were commonly called by short nicknames even if they did not run under those names (Dwight 'Ike' Eisenhower).

Some of these may have been adult decisions, a personal choice to mark adulthood (or a change of career) by a more character-distinguishing variation, others may have been 'imposed' upon them by family, friends or peers over time and become happily accepted as the norm by the recipient without any great personal consideration.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

612: Estimation

2024-08-02T20:14:21Z

172.70.211.130: /* Explanation */ Added a mention of Dave Plumber.

{{comic
| number = 612
| date = July 20, 2009
| title = Estimation
| image = estimation.png
| titletext = They could say "the connection is probably lost," but it's more fun to do naive time-averaging to give you hope that if you wait around for 1,163 hours, it will finally finish.
}}

==Explanation==
When moving or copying files using {{w|File Explorer|Windows Explorer}}, a dialog box opens to inform the user how long it would take. However, to the bafflement of many the time often keeps wildly fluctuating. This comic pokes fun at this quirk of Windows.

One possible cause of this behavior is an estimation where the current transfer rate is given the most weight, which if we were to continue with the car scenario put forth by Randall, is like giving an ETA based on the speed the car is currently at with no consideration of the future, such as traffic lights, traffic jams, or expressways. File transferring is limited by various factors such as how fast the files can be read, how quickly the disk can be written to, and even the size of each file themselves (think the difference between carrying a large box versus having to carry a hundred miscellaneous items).

A better implementation would keep track of the average file transfer rate over the entire operation, which would even out the bumps and give a more accurate estimate. Windows 8 avoids the problem by doing away with the time estimate.

The title text refers to the fact that if the connection is lost, and data can no longer be transmitted, the estimation just gets larger and larger as time goes on rather than realizing that no data being sent means there is no connection. This is a behavior that occurs on {{w|Microsoft}} network connections even when the connection is not lost. Kubuntu avoids this problem, but not that of wide fluctuations, by including only the past few seconds in its estimate. If there has been zero progress within the averaging interval, it reports "Stalled".

This comic is refrenced by Dave Plumber (the creator of the Windows Explorer ETA system) in [https://youtu.be/9gTLDuxmQek?si=bTBIpzCQM9J7MV8I this YouTube video]

==Recognition==
In 2021, [[:wikipedia:Dave Plummer|Dave Plummer]], whose team worked on the Windows progress dialog, created a [//youtu.be/9gTLDuxmQek video in response to this strip]. It further explains why the estimate can be wrong and fluctuate extremely.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is in a car, talking on his phone.]
:Cueball: I'm just outside town, so I should be there in fifteen minutes.
:Cueball: Actually, it's looking more like six days.
:Cueball: No, wait, thirty seconds.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:The author of the Windows file copy dialog visits some friends.

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

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T01:36:45Z

172.70.211.130: /* Transcript */ more spec

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 2,382,203 Massachusetts write-in ballots for Randall Munroe - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic features a three-way {{w|Venn diagram}}. The three circles represent eligibility for US presidency, qualification for US presidency, and love for Venn diagrams. According to Article II of the {{w|U.S. Constitution}}, someone is {{w|President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility|eligible for the presidency}} if they are a natural-born citizen of the United States, are at least 35 years old, and are a resident in the United States for at least 14 years.

Randall is known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily on xkcd. In this comic he implies that one reason why he is likely to support {{w|Kamala Harris}} for president is her alleged love of Venn diagrams, which she shares with Randall (who claims to be eligible for president but not qualified to be a good president).

Current Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic party nominee for the 2024 election, following current President {{w|Joe Biden}}'s ending of his campaign the day before this comic's release. Kamala's love for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]

The title text implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A Venn diagram with three circles. 
Upper left circle: "Eligible to be President" 
Upper right circle: "Would be a good President" 
Lower circle: "Unusually vocal about love of Venn diagrams" 
Intersection of all three circles: "Kamala Harris" 
Intersection of the upper left and lower circles: "Me"

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Venn diagrams]]
[[Category: Politics]]
[[Category: Elections]]
[[Category: Comics featuring politicians]]

2720: Biology vs Robotics

2024-05-02T16:47:57Z

172.70.211.130:

{{comic
| number = 2720
| date = January 4, 2023
| title = Biology vs Robotics
| image = biology_vs_robotics_2x.png
| imagesize = 546x260px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Sorry, I've just always had these random things I don't like--like olives, or robots drilling holes in me without warning.
}}

==Explanation==

In this comic, [[Cueball]] is walking along next to a robot holding a conversation – from this we can infer the robot is {{w|sentience|sentient}} or even {{w|sapience|sapient}}. Cueball is complaining to said robot about the problems of biology, especially his own biology, whining that "biology is the worst" and "bodies have all these random problems". The human body does have many challenges, ranging from the {{w|Recurrent laryngeal nerve|mildly inefficient}} to the {{w|Stroke|lethal-without-warning}}, and culminating in irreversible senescence and obligate mortality. The robot, an abiological entity ([https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/robotic-future/0/steps/26359 some] {{tvtropes|BrainInAJar|exceptions}} {{w|Biorobotics|apply}}) responds by posing a question which may or may not be intended as rhetorical.

The robot thus highlights an advantage that biological bodies have – i.e., the ability to heal themselves, while metal robots like this one don't and probably must seek out repairs. However, Cueball immediately points out that this ability only works "sometimes", and is often painful. First and foremost, one must actually survive a hole if they wish to heal from it, as death comes with some pretty big impacts on their continuing ability to do so.{{Citation needed}} Secondly holes can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, in many widths and depths with many further complications (including the aforementioned death). For example, a small hole made for an earring would be easy to close, whereas one carved by {{w|List of the largest cannon by caliber|a 91.4cm mortar shell}} would be less easy to heal. There is also ambiguity in what counts as a hole. Is a cut a hole? Is surgery, etc? This variability is likely why Cueball says "Sometimes".

He also states that "it" is "not exactly fun". This is either sarcasm or an understatement, as {{w|Gunshot wound|some holes}} can really hurt. "It" is implied to be the holes themselves, as while the healing process can hurt, the formation of the hole (such as being shot) is often a '''lot''' more painful.{{Citation needed}}

The title text is Cueball apologizing for his whining, explaining his frustration with certain things such as particular fruits and unexpected robotic incursions. He appears to equate these two issues, where most normal people would consider one a minor irritation, and the other a serious threat (though he may be deliberately making this comparison sardonically). Even when a robot is used purposefully for cutting into a human (such as robotic surgery), it should be expected and consented to. There are few situations where cutting open a human without consent would be considered socially, morally, legally or cybernetically acceptable in most countries {{Citation needed}} (one example would be a trained medic trying to saving an unconscious person’s life by urgently cutting into them {{w|tracheotomy|in some way}}).

Part of the humor may also derive from the fact that Cueball is complaining about things which the Robot could only dream of for its own future (self-repair, automatic recharging from abundant naturally occurring proteins [food], self-replication without external construction, etc). This is similar to [[1839: Doctor Visit]] where the doctor marvels at the fact that "your body has been moving around for years and still works at all. My USB cables fray after like a month". Some people argue {{Citation needed}} that self-replicating, self-repairing sentient robotics would in their complexity be quite similar to biological systems and might even suffer from similar problems.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is walking to the left with a robot following behind him. It is a bit shorter than Cueball and is made out of three rectangles, one almost a square representing the head with a part representing where it can see the surroundings and a small antenna on the back. This is connected with a thin neck to a large rectangle representing the torso. This torso has three smaller rectangles, one on the front and one on the back, and a larger one on the side. The latter could represent some sort of arm. Below this is a thin rectangle with, probably, eight small wheels, four are visible. Motion lines indicate that the robot is rolling after Cueball. Cueball is holding both arms up with his palms up, while walking and talking to the robot:]
:Cueball: Ugh, biology is the worst. Bodies have all these random problems.

:[Same setting but with Cueball walking with his arms down. A scatter burst, from the top front of the robot's "head", indicates that it speaks to Cueball:]
:Robot: Is it true that if someone makes a hole in you, it just closes up on its own?

:[Same setting but in a wider panel. The scatter burst, indicating that the robot is speaking, now comes from the top rear end of the robot's "head".]
:Cueball: Only '''''sometimes'''''. And it's not exactly '''''fun'''''.
:Robot: Noted. I'll try to avoid perforating your surface.
:Cueball: Thanks! It's kind of a pet peeve.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Food]]

Talk:2914: Eclipse Coolness

2024-04-24T19:46:54Z

172.70.211.130: Search for concorde eclipse

Awww :(. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.143|162.158.222.143]] 03:39, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:Awww :(? Yeaa :)! I _despise_ the Fool. It's hard enough for me to tell when people are serious as is.
:i agree. [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 07:18, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

This comic is contributing to the extremes of eclipse tourism, by telling people only the total eclipse counts.
Now, a week before the eclipse it will be very hard, and expensive, to secure transportation and accommodation
in the path of total eclipse. They are recurring phenomena, don't fall for it. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.122.215|172.71.122.215]] 05:42, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:I'm in my 60's, this could be the last one for me, since the next one in the continental US will be in 20 years. It's going to be 93% here in eastern Mass, and they're predicting clear skies. I could drive 7 hours to Buffalo, but they're currently forecasting 40% cloud cover. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:34, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
::I'd have to wait until 2090 for another 'local' one (and, like you, age is an issue, but also the effective footprint size of the country doesn't help). I don't know what the weather is going to be like, yet, so fingers crossed it's better in ⅔rds of a century than it was ¼ of one ago... ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.131|141.101.99.131]] 18:44, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:They are a recurring phenomena, but that doesn't mean they're always accessible. Not everyone can afford to hop on a plane and go fly to another continent to see a Total Solar Eclipse. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.255.19|172.71.255.19]] 22:44, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
I don't think "along the path" is correct, doesn't the x-axis show the distance "away from the path?" [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.131|172.70.114.131]]
:Totally agree.

What? No April Fool's? Why? [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4bo-hj-mDyOOUp_Yp0pug youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)] 08:47, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:I guess that was the april fools joke - that there wasn't one [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you want to]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 19:29, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Randall's title text overstates the coolness of both total and partial eclipses. A cool sunset is way cooler than a partial eclipse, and probably cooler than a total eclipse, especially if the eclipse happens on a day that's cloudy to start with.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.30|172.70.163.30]] 09:22, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:The only eclipse I was under totality for (in '99), I was also unfortunate enough to put myself on a hill that found itself under cloud at the time. But it was still atmospheric, much moreso than the partials that I subsequently happened to be near. Even ''not seeing'' the Sun being entirely not visible (I had caught glimpses of 'on the way' partiality, before, and again after) was more profound than seeing (safely, of course) the partial effects that were as good as I could get on later occasions.
:Sunsets (and -rises, especially with the [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-68403553.amp right weather]) are indeed visually stunning. But I'd argue that, barring perhaps the fleetingly transient '{{w|green flash}}' or rather specific {{w|Manhattanhenge|landscape effects}}, the novelty is smeared around. Both during the event and, unless you're only rarely at the time and place (and awake/attentive) these things happen, across all possible occasions.
:Being on the Moon (once you get over "I'm on the Mooon!!") would make fortnights between sunrises/-sets, no weather getting in the way (no weather to give it any special differences!), and probably psychological effects that become mundane/depressing (for a long enough residence there). Solar eclipses (our Lunar Eclipses) will be probably be at least twice a year, won't feature a Diamond Ring, will be Moon-wide (well, just the near-face half/bits of 'rim', or significant parts of that in the case of partial LEs). What would be the relative wonder of an SE-from-Moon and a Lunar sunset? It'd be a tricky equation. But I think we'd lose a lot from the eclipse not being with two 'similarly-sized' bodies. And an 'Earth eclipse' from the Moon (looking for the tiny dot of travelling umbra, as it traces across the Earth's disc) probably wouldn't be worth it at all. (But you're "On the Mooon!", so that might be the biggest excitement, still, {{w|Moon (2009 film)|until it isn't (spoilers! ...if you haven't seen it yet)}}.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.19|172.70.162.19]] 12:43, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
::Iain Banks covered this in a similar vein in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_(novel) Transition]. An aspiring scriptwriter, trudging from meeting to meeting trying to pitch his idea, has to be disappeared. Why? His pitch: the circumstances that gave rise to our moon were wildly unlikely, a protoplanet crashed into our young Earth and created an utterly huge moon (by galactic standards); so if you're looking for aliens, forget Roswell or SETI, just look at the people around you on the path of totality during a solar eclipse. Because if there's one thing that an intelligent alien being probably cannot experience elsewhere, it's the total coolness of a perfect solar eclipse on a habitable world.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.131.80|172.71.131.80]] 22:18, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
:While some sunsets are incredibly cool, they happen often enough that it's not as thrilling. Partial eclipses have some unique features, like all the crescent-shaped shadows of tree leaves. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:34, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
::Well that would be the 'NFT Theory' of coolness, where a thing's coolness is proportional to it's rarity. I'd subscribe much more to an 'Inherence Theory' of coolness, and found that the experience of an eclipse (both partial and totality), while certainly more ''novel'' than sunsets, wasn't as ''cool''. Especially when he specified 'a cool sunset' - so not just any sunset, but the top few percent - as compared against any old eclipse, regardless of conditions.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.214|141.101.99.214]] 15:36, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:::We shouldn't be comparing just the 'cool sunsets' (presumably just the right amount of clouds to ''be'' 'cool') with ''all'' the eclipse experiences, regardless of cloud cover. Like-for-like, most sunsets are rather unspectacular. It's quite easy to go "has the Sun actually set yet? I'll check the app... Wait, what's 'civil twilight', again?", but of course it's been a dim and overcast day and it's been dark enough to need lights for maybe an hour so the precise optical interaction between the Sun and horizon is just a minor detail, with nothing to see.
:::'Cool sunsets' are rare enough. A west-facing oceanic shoreline might be helpful (though a few bits of land-bound geography might also work), but you really need 'big skies' (without being ''totally'' free of cloud, just having enough in the right place to add to the effect). But you can find your tropical beach-hut (or prairie cabin, or mountain refuge) where perhaps they do happen reasonably often, and enjoy them frequently, or at least anticipate one the next evening or one so soon after.
:::Eclipses are so hard to be part of, and can be ruined at least as easily, but a 'cool one' has something you can't really expect to see again in any equivalent manner unless you make a lot more effort to do so.
:::And sunsets are probably best to be seen with the one (or few) closest people to you (if not alone, by preference). Eclipses (unless, again, you prepare to make your sole claim on a spot of your own choosing) are very much expected to be a communal event, congregating with total strangers (or, if 'lucky', many fellow members of your own eclipsed community) hoping to witness a suitable climax to the hopeful and festive event. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.71|172.71.242.71]] 16:30, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
::::I agree that we ''shouldn't'' be compering cool sunsets with all eclipses, but that is what Randall has done. Even so, if you just compare cool sunsets and cool eclipses, for me, I think the sunsets win in terms of coolness. It's more repeatable, but that has no bearing on its coolness.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.20|172.70.162.20]] 17:14, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:::::Randall is saying that a cool sunset is nothing like a full eclipse, of course. My car is nothing like the Enterprise ({{w|USS Enterprise|''any'' of them}}), and there's really no comparison. Even if my car happens to be a Batmobile, Delorean, General Lee or Knight Industries Two-Thousand. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.131|141.101.99.131]] 18:44, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:::::What Randall is saying is "Partial eclipse : total eclipse :: Cool sunset :: broken sky". The point is the comparison between two experiences in each pair, not equivalence between experiences. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
::::: The 1999(?) eclipse was not total at my house, and I blew it off, totally forgot, mowed my lawn. The light got very creepy, the grass looked odd, and shadows under trees showed crescents. Yes, leafy trees act as thousands of pinhole cameras. Not blatant, but once you see it you get it. This probably is my last "total", and the totality is only 3 hours away, and those folks are geared-up to take my money come clouds or shine, but I'll sit it out at 10% total (not hardly dark). --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 21:26, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:::::: OK - I suppose you could read it that way, but in that case it's poorly written - it would have been clearer to say that a partial eclipse is to a cool sunset as a total eclipse is to a broken sky.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.76|172.70.85.76]] 08:15, 3 April 2024 (UTC)

If you change the labels so that X-axis is people and Y-axis is money, it becomes a global wealth distribution chart with the richest 1% at the center of the X-axis. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.90.43|172.69.90.43]] 22:39, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:What kind of "people" axis measurement would have the ones that feature high on money slap bang in the middle? I don't dispute the idea of a 1% (with maybe 99% of the wealth), but that'd usually be a blip at the far end of "population, ordered by wealth", or similar, not something with a central blip. ...so a point made, but not really related. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.106|172.70.85.106]] 22:58, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:: idk, I thought that maybe it made sense to have the richest at the center and the poorest progressively at the edges, because they're "marginalized" but maybe it was a dumb idea. Also, yep, totally unrelated. Just a thought that occured to me when I saw the chart. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.90.43|172.69.90.43]] 23:07, 2 April 2024 (UTC)
:: It makes sense as a graph of vanity vs. being near to Carly Simon. "Well, I hear you went up to Saratoga, and your horse naturally won. Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun." Obviously not everyone can afford to do that. Only the richest people. A less rich person would have to go to Nova Scotia on the horse. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.31|172.70.163.31]] 08:31, 4 April 2024 (UTC)

That graph is infinitely different from a Dirac delta.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.191|162.158.155.191]] 14:23, 5 April 2024 (UTC)

Ya know, there '''''was''''' an eclipse the other day, wonder why so many comics were made about that, even this one, which is not an April Fool's Comic. Come on Randall, show some judgement... [[User:Z1mp0st0rz|Z1mp0st0rz]] ([[User talk:Z1mp0st0rz|talk]]) 16:52, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

Hmmm, according to that Forbes map, I'm on the edge of the Totality zone... Too bad I was asleep, LOL! Maybe I should have broken my routine to make SOME effort for once. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:27, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

He forgot the singularity (might be hard to plot) of being inside a Concorde traveling at nearly the ground speed of the shadow and spending over an hour in total in totality. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.130|172.70.211.130]] 19:46, 24 April 2024 (UTC)Anonymous Terry

Talk:1052: Every Major's Terrible

2024-03-21T03:47:23Z

172.70.211.130:

The video link 404's - here is a working archive link: [https://web.archive.org/web/20190610190844/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c https://web.archive.org/web/20190610190844/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhaEjgnmy3c] --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.82|172.68.174.82]] 17:32, 7 March 2024 (UTC)

I think Iambic Octameter has a ''stressed-unstressed'' pattern, not the other way around as this explanation says. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.4|172.68.34.4]] 02:56, 10 April 2017 (UTC)
:No, the explanation is correct, I misread the Wikipedia article. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.4|172.68.34.4]] 13:41, 16 April 2017 (UTC)

Panel 1's cueball is in the same pose as Rodin's "The Thinker"

Panel 4 background is the periodic table of elements.

Panel 5, Fowler's Toad emits a noxious secretion that irritates skin and mucous membranes (it was previously thought to cause warts)

Panel 6, Psychology = a serial killer with a chainsaw, Sociology = hobo; Social Psych = hobo serial killer with chainsaw.

Panel 15, LISP, Scheme, and other computer languages with an excess of parentheses.

Panel 16, biohazard symbol

Panel 19, bongos were played by Richard Feynman

Panel 27, fear of snakes, study of reptiles

Panel 28, a picture of a stomach, pun on "stomach" being slang for "tolerate"

Panel 30, words in all lowercase like e.e.cummings

-- [[Special:Contributions/75.103.23.206| 75.103.23.206 ]] 22:04, 7 December 2012‎
:Hobo serial killer with chainsaw? Social psych sounds awesome!
:[[Special:Contributions/24.2.217.188|24.2.217.188]] 22:42, 22 October 2013 (UTC)
----
In panel 22 (History), what's the theme connecting the years 1935, 1969, and 1991?
[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 15:40, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
:1935 is certainly related to some event that lead to the WWII (a quick look at the Wikipedia page for 1935 show that was the year Hitler rearmed Germany), which paved the way to the Cold War. 1969 was Apollo 11, a high moment of the Cold War, as the USA essentially won the race to the Moon. And 1991 was the year that the USSR dissolved, officially ending the Cold War. [[User:Sir labreck|Sir labreck]] ([[User talk:Sir labreck|talk]]) 18:37, 11 August 2015 (UTC)
:1935, Harlem race riot; 1969, race riot in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 1991, Rodney King race riots... 2014-2016??? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.62|173.245.54.62]] 03:33, 13 December 2015 (UTC)
:Although the race riot dates match, I think war related is more likely. 1935 (WWII), 1969 (Vietnam), 1991 (Gulf War) I'm not sure what the common thread is, though, and 'war' is too broad [[Special:Contributions/172.69.250.4|172.69.250.4]] 20:37, 30 September 2018 (UTC)
::{{w|WWII}} began in '''1939'''. The {{w|Vietnam War}} was 1955-1975 and {{w|Gulf_War_(disambiguation)|Gulf War}} is ambiguous. Just sayin... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:34, 1 October 2018 (UTC)
----
This explanation is very small for that big comic. I am starting to add the transcript and after that I will do more investigations to that opera. This should be the key to explain all the panels.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:13, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

:The answer won't lie in the song, trust me. Pirates of Penzance is probably my favorite comic opera out there. Plus Randall gives that the lie in saying you can use the tune from the elements song (a well-known parody) or even Marry Poppins (similar tune, but not exactly the same). I think each panel is just a reference to the words, I don't think that Randall is actually involving The Pirates of Penzance in any way other than the tune. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.211|173.245.52.211]] 20:53, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
----
Feynman was also known for being a ladies' man, so the two girls in panel 19 are significant IMHO.
--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.117|141.101.80.117]] 13:51, 25 December 2013 (UTC)
----
Needs explanation what does it mean to '''choose a major''', and what '''major''' is in this context. Note every reader is from U.S.A.; different countries have different higher education systems. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 10:56, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
:True that. 'Graduation' in Brazil means 'Undergraduation' in the US. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.105|108.162.254.105]] 03:51, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
----
"Math's just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality" - that isn't a binary tree, its a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcation_diagram bifurcation diagram] from chaos theory. And, sorry, it has nothing to do with the Banach–Tarski paradox - that's just mindless name-dropping.
[[User:Davidbak|Davidbak]] ([[User talk:Davidbak|talk]]) 20:54, 10 February 2014 (UTC)
:Are you sure it is not just an illustration of Banach-Tarski, arguably the most famous example where mathematical reality and (physical) intuition diverge? Why would the verse be illustrated by a bifurcation diagram (which I think, and I might be a bit ignorant here, is a concept pretty much only found in the "applied side" of mathematics, which ''is'' constrained by precepts of reality)? And even if it were a bifurcation diagram, why would the mass of the balls change? (again, I am perhaps showcasing my ignorance; if so, please be gentle) Finally, i would deem the bifurcation explanation a bit too obscure to be the real deal - a panel which is only understood by somewhat specialized mathematicians seems strange to me, especially given that all other frames contain understandable references. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.183|108.162.229.183]] 13:38, 9 October 2015 (UTC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRexBMPeRTo[[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 18:59, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
:That is distinctly a bifurcation diagram. Banach Tarski doesn't factor into this at all. Disagree-P 15:39, 20 Nov, 2020

Panel 30: possibly iambic septameter[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.154|141.101.104.154]]

---
I think that the reason for not getting hugs in panel 16 is more to do with the fact that as a virus researcher you would be aware of how easy it is to get a virus/disease and so you would keep away from people and be worried about hugs because of that. (Sorry if I've done something wrong this is my first comment!) [[User:Yxquillio|Yxquillio]] ([[User talk:Yxquillio|talk]]) 08:24, 3 January 2016 (UTC)

Another song I guess could provide a good match is "Can You Stop the Calvary?" by Jona Lewie (or "Where's the Modding API" if you're a YOGSCAST fan like me. :)) --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 11:50, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

"End of the first verse where Cueball tells his academic advisor that he is undecided as every major's terrible. He even throws away his study guide." Are you sure it's not a course catalog? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.59|108.162.212.59]] 10:33, 19 June 2017 (UTC)

I think I should add that Pratchett used that quote to prove that geography was not a boring science, as it is physics, which is exciting, with some trees on it. Just a thought.[[User:MrBookBoy|MrBookBoy]] ([[User talk:MrBookBoy|talk]]) 01:30, 22 May 2018 (UTC)

Hey, the cs parens are missing a close paren. Like literally. Lol. [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 15:00, 22 May 2021 (UTC)
----
It should be noted that in panel 35, they're referring to "Sophie's Choice." A movie in which the protagonist has to decide which of her two children to save, and which one to kill.
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.245|108.162.245.245]] 16:36, 11 October 2021 (UTC)

Is "Undecided" related to the alignment chart? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.228|172.71.154.228]] 22:58, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

Panel 31. While epidemiology may well involve the study of causes and trends and whatnot, so does history. Epidemiology is the study of diseases.

The thing for panel 14 is wrong. You can't use that argument to argue for the existence of a greatest possible vacuum cleaner or greatest possible pizza because those things imply limitations like limited size, limited age, able to be broken (for the pizza), etc. If it didn't have these or any limitations it wouldn't be a vacuum cleaner/pizza; it would just be God. "basically, if your pizza gets infinitely great it will turn into God" - [https://www.youtube.com/@redeemedzoomer6053 Redeemed Zoomer] [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.130|172.70.211.130]] 03:47, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

2900: Call My Cell

2024-02-29T06:15:36Z

172.70.211.130: /* Transcript */ cats

{{comic
| number = 2900
| date = February 28, 2024
| title = Call My Cell
| image = call_my_cell_2x.png
| imagesize = 509x222px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Hey, can you call my cell?' '...I'm trying, but it says this number is blocked?' 'Ok, thanks, just checking.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THIS GUY'S BOT - feel free to elaborate on any and all points. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When a person cannot find their cell phone, it is not uncommon to ask a friend to call the phone in question. This will set off the device's ring cycle, and - assuming the device is not on silent - play the ringtone, making it easier to find.

At first, [[Black Hat]] appears to have misplaced his cell phone, as he asks [[Cueball]] to call it. However, when Cueball does call Black Hat's cell, it is revealed to be on his person. He then makes a show of ''annoyance'' that Cueball is calling him, sends the call to voicemail, and leaves. From this, it can be inferred that Black Hat was simply trying to demonstrate that he doesn't ''want'' Cueball to call him.

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

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