explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2868: Label the States

2023-12-15T18:12:49Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ more

{{comic
| number = 2868
| date = December 15, 2023
| title = Label the States
| image = label_the_states_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x500px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Even with a blank map, a lot of people can only name 45-50 of the 64 states.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LEONIDA MAN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[File:label the states 2x highlighted.png|thumb|300xp|The map with the extra states highlighted.]]
[[File:Blank map of states.png|thumb|300xp|A real blank map of the United States for comparison.]]
This is a blank map of the United States. At first glance, it looks correct, because all the large states with distinct shapes are correctly represented, but some states have been added. For example:

* On the west coast, Washington, Oregon, and California all have their normal shapes, but there is a new rectangular state south of Oregon and north of California.
* Ohio and Indiana have been narrowed with a new state being created between them.
* A new, Tennessee-shaped state has been added between Tennessee and Kentucky.
* Additionally, a new, North Carolina-shaped state has been added between Virginia and North Carolina.
* A square-shaped state has been added between Arizona and New Mexico.
* Another rectangular state has been added between North and South Dakota (Middle Dakota?).
* An Arkansas-esque state has been added between Arkansas and Missouri.
* New Hampshire now has a state that looks like its reflection between itself and Maine.
* Four rectangular states have been added between Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado and the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas.
* Another rectangular state has been added between Colorado and Wyoming.
* Lastly, another rectangular state has been added between Idaho, Utah, and Nevada.

In summary, a whole row and a whole column of states have been added, and two new states have been added between Indiana and Ohio and between New Hampshire and Vermont. The external shape of the United States has also been slightly modified to accommodate the new states. As the title text says, there are now 64 states on Randall's map, not 50.

The title text comments on the fact that Americans are bad at geography, parodying comments that Americans cannot name all 50 of the US states.

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

:Geography Challenge:
:Can you label all the states?

:[An unlabeled map of the United States, but instead of 50 states, there are borders for 64.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:US maps]]

2777: Noise Filter

2023-05-19T21:53:02Z

172.70.214.79:

{{comic
| number = 2777
| date = May 17, 2023
| title = Noise Filter
| image = noise_filter_2x.png
| imagesize = 298x345px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Party Mode also enables the feature, but reverses the slider.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a 30-YEAR-OLD BOT WITH A NOISE LEVEL SEARCH - elaborate on search engines of the type demonstrated in the comic and offer examples of the noise levels shown; also why such a filter may be desirable for 30+. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic portrays a generalized, minimalist version of a search engine's front end. The engine helps the user find things (in this case, restaurants) that conform to user preferences. Preferences shown are hours of opening, mean of review scores, price range, and current noise level. All but "current noise level" are rendered less prominent by being drawn in gray, with various typical choices applied; the exception being marked for the reader's attention with a red-circled (and arrowed) overlay. The user, setting the parameters for their search, adjusts the slider to select the maximum tolerable noise level. Interestingly, the slider indicates increasing noise tolerance past 100 db up to "Any". The high range ([https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/keeplistening/decibels the 'safe' noise threshold is 70 decibels or less]) tells that the person designing the tool (Randall) is accustomed to loud restaurants, probably including some [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/11/how-restaurants-got-so-loud/576715/ that have been getting louder over time].

The caption's statement that the noise slider should automatically appear when the user reaches the age of 30 (ignoring the privacy concerns implicit in such a function) plays on the common perception that a person's ability to tolerate background noise while dining (or anywhere else) deteriorates with age. Such declines have been documented, linked to changes in the inner ear and associated nerves with aging, and can occur in the absence of other hearing-loss symptoms. The term [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.890010/full "SPiN (Speech Perception in Noise) threshold"] has been conceived to measure this loss. Other studies suggest that [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4918655/ personality traits and gender, as well as age], contribute to declines in the ability to perceive speech in noise, so the trope is less precise than is indicated here, and in advertisements by health providers for hearing loss treatments.

The title text shows that Randall imagines a "Party Mode" which also includes this filter, but reversed. Those younger than 30 may be desirous of filtering out places that are too quiet and restrained and won't already have a 'party atmosphere' upon their arrival.

The criteria checked for some of the filter's options can be presumed to have been provided in advance by those running the restaurant (e.g. opening times, though perhaps derived indirectly from other web-listings promoting the business) or its customers (user ratings being aggregated from various online review sites), but the ''current'' noise levels will probably require some form of [https://thepihut.com/products/enviro-for-raspberry-pi real-time monitoring] installed in the premises, with or without the complicity/knowledge of the owners. [https://www.popsci.com/story/technology/restaurant-noise-levels-solutions/ Efforts are being made in this area], some of which suggest that a real-time measurement of overall noise won't be all that helpful to a restaurant patron, since the noise at a suitably-engineered table likely will differ significantly from the background.

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

:[A representation of web-page or app-screen contents. Except where mentioned otherwise, all lines and fills are in muted half-tones.]
:[At the top, a search bar with the standard magnifying glass symbol and a word entered into the text field:] Restaurants
:[Below that, a horizontal rule as a section header, with a titular label centered over it:] Filters

:[Subsection title:] Hours
:[Three buttons, horizontally:]
:[Button:] Any
:[Button, selected, drawn in light blue and infilled with lighter blue:] Open now
:[Button:] Open at…

:[Subsection title:] Rating
:[Five buttons, horizontally, four with explicit star-rating ranges:]
:[Button, selected, in blue:] Any
:[Button:] ☆3+
:[Button:] ☆3.5+
:[Button:] ☆4+
:[Button:] ☆4.5+

:[The following subsection, alone, is entirely circled in a drawn red circle, with an additional red arrow pointing to it, and is all in the unmuted tones.]
:[Subsection title:]
:Current Noise Level
:[A horizontal slider-bar, with six marked and labeled positions along its length.]
:[Mark:] 60dB
:[Mark:] 70dB
:[Mark:] 80dB
:[Mark:] 90dB
:[Mark:] 100dB
:[Mark:] Any
:[The bar's 'slider' control is positioned between the two central marks, at approximately 85 dB.]
:[The slider itself is drawn in blue, and the bar is shaded blue in the section between far left and the slider element to show the range of selections.]

:[Subsection title:] Price
:[Four buttons, with multiple-selection, horizontally:]
:[Button, selected, in blue:] $
:[Button, selected, in blue:] $$
:[Button:] $$$
:[Button:] $$$$

:[Caption below the panel:]
:This feature should automatically appear when you reach age 30.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Online reviews]]

Talk:2774: Taxiing

2023-05-12T13:25:39Z

172.70.214.79:

I don't understand why you would buy Detour signs, when you can often so easily pick them up for free from the side of a road... :P [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.32|172.70.86.32]] 20:35, 10 May 2023 (UTC)
:I don't understand why you'd take detour signs for free, when people can pay you to watch you steal flatbed trucks. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.191|172.70.178.191]] 20:37, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

But would an airplane even fit on a truck? Or on a treadmill for that matter? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.182.47|172.71.182.47]] 21:11, 10 May 2023 (UTC)
: Depends on whether you want to take the plane complete with wings attached, and on how big the flatbed is, and for that matter on the size of the plane. [[User:Thisfox|Thisfox]] ([[User talk:Thisfox|talk]]) 04:16, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

On TV, you don't even need detour signs. Just hack their GPS for free. [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 22:51, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

I would have expected Black Hat to be doing something like that, not Cueball. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.191|172.70.210.191]] 23:15, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

:That was my first thought, too. Or even Beret Guy. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.133|172.70.127.133]] 00:30, 11 May 2023 (UTC)Pat

:Black hat would be sending the airplane into a [[1484|recycling facility]] (see bottom lines of text), and Beret Guy would be raiding it for scones. Or turning it into scones. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.140|172.68.58.140]] 03:48, 11 May 2023 (UTC)

As a pilot, i would not follow these glowsticks onto a trailer due to safety restrictions on how far away the wheels should be. That's why airports are so big. [[Special:Contributions/172.64.238.44|172.64.238.44]] 06:36, 11 May 2023 (UTC)
:Sometimes, one could see an airplane on a flatbed truck. Some flatbed trucks (or rather trailers) are HUGE. However, presumably the plane had not taxied onto the trailer under pilot control and its own power, but had been lowered by a crane, which had a completely different set of "marshalls" -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.165|162.158.103.165]] 08:26, 11 May 2023 (UTC)

Weird. Almost back to back "Did you know you can just BUY...?" comics. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.11|172.69.71.11]] 08:36, 11 May 2023 (UTC)

Nothing to say about the comic itself, but I just wanted to express how funny this explanation is, between the proposed solution for the police car requirement and the description for the added image. I never knew we could add images in this way to make explanations clearer! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.233.69|162.158.233.69]] 12:17, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

There's a feel to this like he thinks the plane/truck are alive, and he's using these methods to capture one as a pet, rather than buying one at the store.

2686: Space Adventure

2022-10-18T01:03:30Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2686
| date = October 17, 2022
| title = Space Adventure
| image = space_adventure_2x.png
| imagesize = 369x484px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Sir, it looked really cool." "Oh no--prestige TV. Okay, which of you has a terrible secret that's being slowly revealed to the audience through flashbacks? Just spit it out so we can escape this arc!"
}}

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

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Against a black background, a white spaceship travels toward a space object, identified as a black hole. Two characters speak from within the spaceship.]
:Ship officer: Sir, the enemy ship is closing in!
:Captain: Helm, head for the black hole.
:Captain: On my mark, fire torpedoes, phasers, and all our other weapons at different points around the event horizon.
:Captain: Let's see what kind of budget these showrunners have.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:If I ever find myself in a space adventure, I'll assume I'm a fictional character and try to probe the studio's financial constraints.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]

2686: Space Adventure

2022-10-18T01:02:34Z

172.70.214.79: /* Transcript */ more

{{comic
| number = 2686
| date = October 17, 2022
| title = Space Adventure
| image = space_adventure_2x.png
| imagesize = 369x484px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Sir, it looked really cool." "Oh no--prestige TV. Okay, which of you has a terrible secret that's being slowly revealed to the audience through flashbacks? Just spit it out so we can escape this arc!"
}}

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

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Against a black background, a white spaceship travels toward a space object, identified as a black hole. Two characters speak from within the spaceship.]
:Ship officer: Sir, the enemy ship is closing in!
:Captain: Helm, head for the black hole.
:Captain: On my mark, fire torpedoes, phasers, and all our other weapons at different points around the event horizon.
:Captain: Let's see what kind of budget these showrunners have.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:If I ever find myself in a space adventure, I'll assume I'm a fictional character and try to probe the studio's financial constraints.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]

2686: Space Adventure

2022-10-18T01:02:01Z

172.70.214.79: /* Transcript */ caption

{{comic
| number = 2686
| date = October 17, 2022
| title = Space Adventure
| image = space_adventure_2x.png
| imagesize = 369x484px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Sir, it looked really cool." "Oh no--prestige TV. Okay, which of you has a terrible secret that's being slowly revealed to the audience through flashbacks? Just spit it out so we can escape this arc!"
}}

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

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Against a black background, a white spaceship travels toward a space object, identified as a black hole.]
:Ship officer: Sir, the enemy ship is closing in!
:Captain: Helm, head for the black hole.
:Captain: On my mark, fire torpedoes, phasers, and all our other weapons at different points around the event horizon.
:Captain: Let's see what kind of budget these showrunners have.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:If I ever find myself in a space adventure, I'll assume I'm a fictional character and try to probe the studio's financial constraints.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]

2686: Space Adventure

2022-10-18T00:58:40Z

172.70.214.79: /* Transcript */ space fiction

2679: Quantified Self

2022-10-05T18:44:10Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ copyediting, and remove substantially less relevant example link

{{comic
| number = 2679
| date = September 30, 2022
| title = Quantified Self
| image = quantified_self_2x.png
| imagesize = 386x328px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's made me way more excited about ferris wheels, subways, car washes, waterslides, and store entrances that have double doors with a divider in the middle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an IMAGINARY PATH-STRING STRANGULATION VICTIM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] embraces the {{w|quantified self}}, a popular philosophy promoting monitoring yourself with devices and data in the hope of helping your well-being. He does so in a unique and absurdly humorous way, with help from a smart watch or handheld mobile device. [[Randall]]'s caption indicates he is interested in the quantified self for unusual quantities.

Typically, fitness apps and wearable devices will track the number of steps that users take and distances walked or run, along with other measurements such as heart rate, blood oxygenation level, blood pressure, and mood. This is to encourage users to be more physically active. However, Cueball has chosen to track a modified version of this metric, in which his path is post-processed by contracting it as much as possible without it passing through anything solid. Ordinarily, people begin and end their days in bed; in this case, it can get 'caught' where Cueball has passed through topological tunnels. (See [[2658: Coffee Cup Holes]] and [[2625: Field Topology]] for details.) In the comic strip, we see that, over the course of his week, Cueball has looped through his house twice and crossed under two highway overpasses, a highway sign, and apparently the St. Louis {{w|Gateway Arch}} before almost returning home.

This comic appeared two days after [https://blog.google/products/search/new-ways-to-make-more-sustainable-choices/ Google's announcement that Maps Directions will be sortable by sustainability,] along with their support of self-quantification for sustainability when shopping for automobiles, used goods, and food.[https://youtu.be/8qGV_O_y4DA&t=39m33s] This is noteworthy because of tech industry discussions between employees and executives comparing sharply increased profits and productivity from work-from-home to the value of coastal region commercial office space holdings and leases, relative to [https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/scope-3-inventory-guidance scope 3 emissions].[https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2021-04-28/google-is-saving-1-billion-per-year-as-a-result-of-employees-working-from-home][https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-cutting-office-space-predict-long-term-savings-11625493601][https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-15/google-googl-wants-employees-to-return-to-office-despite-productivity-gains][https://www.reuters.com/world/the-great-reboot/pay-cut-google-employees-who-work-home-could-lose-money-2021-08-10/][https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2022/01/14/google-spends-billions-on-buying-office-buildings-is-this-a-sign-of-the-post-pandemic-pushback-against-remote-work/][https://www.computerworld.com/article/3659891/google-others-adding-office-space-in-anticipation-of-the-great-return.html]

An "imaginary thread" connecting a person to where they came from (as portrayed in this comic, distinct from a mystical {{w|silver cord}} or {{w|red thread of fate}}) has been attested to by people experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD.)[https://www.reddit.com/r/OCD/comments/1ve309/invisible_thread_attached_to_my_back_am_i_the/][https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/xs50yr/xkcd_2679_quantified_self/iqjcmbv/?context=3] See also [[100: Family Circus]] and below for further elaboration.

The title text mentions several things that would make the red path longer: passing one way through a tube such as a water slide; a tunnel, such as a subway or car wash; riding on a ferris wheel, or entering a building through one door and exiting another. In all cases the imaginary string would be "captured" and make the total distance longer.

===OCD interpretation===

The quantity Cueball measures can be recognized as a specific type of OCD where people feel like they have an imaginary string connecting them to where they come from.{{Actual citation needed}} This is similar to describing 4-D paths in [[Minkowski Space|Minkowski space]] relative to the observer's frame of reference.

As they move around, that string gets entangled and they feel the urge to untangle it. When they enter a car, they feel the need to exit the car from the same door, to avoid that the string gets trapped by forever passing through the car. When they enter a building, they feel they need to exit using the same staircases and doorway(s), to avoid entangling the string in the building. Some situations, like turning around a lamp post, are OK because you can imagine removing the loop over the top of the lamp post, such that it is not really entangled.

Cueball tries a new approach to deal with this OCD by integrating it in his quantified self. He defines precisely how to measure the length of the imaginary string, reduced to its minimum, and chooses this as a quantity to monitor. Unlike most people with this OCD, who feel the urge to minimize the length, Cueball takes the opposite stance trying to maximize the (optimally minimal) length of the string. By defining as a target to achieve a given length every day, he creates a drive to embrace situations that entangle the string. This drive opposes the natural compulsion to avoid them and hopefully cancels it. The joke of the title text is that Cueball now becomes overly interested in all the things that are disturbing for people with the OCD.

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

:[A red path links two red Cueballs. It start from the left Cueball, does two loops through a small house, under a first road bridge, under a gantry sign, under a second road bridge, under the Gateway Arch, and to a second red Cueball on the right. That Cueball is looking at a smart watch which has lines emanating from it, indicating that the red text (below) is an alert.]

:Red Cueball's watch or mobile device: Good job! You hit your weekly goal for "total length of your path through space if you minimize its length by pulling it taut, maneuvering it around solid objects but not through them."

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I'm into the quantified self, but only for really arbitrary quantities.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2659: Unreliable Connection

2022-10-03T15:48:53Z

172.70.214.79:

Dear Sales

Kindly advise if your company can supply us any of the below

1. Orbit Ms7120 Barcode Reader With USB Cable ............................................. 112 PCS

Payment:Net 30 Days

Quotations submitted by email must be limited to a maximum of 9 MB, virus-free and no more than two email
transmissions. They must be free from any form of virus or corrupted contents, or the quotations shall be rejected.
Quotations that are received after the deadline indicated above, for whatever reason, shall not
be considered for evaluation. If you are submitting your quotation by email, kindly ensure that they are in the .PDF format, and free from any virus or corrupted files

Esther Hoffman
Regents of the University of Missouri
Chancellor/Purchasing Coordinator

2679: Quantified Self

2022-10-01T09:17:43Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ example

{{comic
| number = 2679
| date = September 30, 2022
| title = Quantified Self
| image = quantified_self_2x.png
| imagesize = 386x328px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's made me way more excited about ferris wheels, subways, car washes, waterslides, and store entrances that have double doors with a divider in the middle.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an IMAGINARY PATH-STRING STRANGULATION VICTIM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] (presumably a representation of [[Randall]] in this comic) is talking about how he embraces the {{w|quantified self}}, a popular philosophy promoting monitoring yourself with devices and data in the hope to help your well-being. He claims to apply this philosophy to his life, but as is usual for Randall, he does so in his very unique and absurdly humorous way, with help from a smart watch or handheld mobile device.

Typically, fitness apps and wearable devices will track the number of steps that users take and distances walked or run, along with other measurements such as heart rate, blood oxygenation level, blood pressure, and mood.) This is to encourage users to be more physically active. However, Randall has chosen to track a modified version of this metric, in which his path is post-processed by contracting it. Ordinarily, people begin and end their days in bed; in this case, it can get 'caught' where Randall has passed through topological tunnels. (See [[2658: Coffee Cup Holes]] and [[2625: Field Topology]] for details.) In the comic strip, we see that, over the course of his week, Randall has looped around his house twice (which could itself conceal any number of activities, so long as he left through his front door and returned through his back door) and crossed under two highway overpasses, a highway sign, and apparently the St. Louis {{w|Gateway Arch}} before almost returning home.

This comic appeared two days after [https://blog.google/products/search/new-ways-to-make-more-sustainable-choices/ Google's announcement that Maps Directions will be sortable by sustainability.] This may be particularly notable because of tech industry discussions between employees and executives about cost-benefit analyses comparing sharply increased profits and productivity from work-from-home to the value of coastal region commercial office space holdings and leases, relative to [https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/scope-3-inventory-guidance scope 3 emissions.] See [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2207:_Math_Work&oldid=291102#Examples%20of%20bivariate%20optimization 2207: Math Work § Examples of bivariate optimization.]

The title text mentions concepts useful adjuncts for such measurements and evaluations, such as passing (one way) through any tube, tunnel, ferris wheel, car wash, water slide or double doorframe frame made of solid material that could thus capture the imaginary string and help to keep its ultimate distance as lengthy as possible.

===OCD interpretation===

The quantity Randall measures can be recognized as a specific type of OCD where people feel like they have an imaginary string connecting them to where they come from.[https://www.reddit.com/r/OCD/comments/1ve309/invisible_thread_attached_to_my_back_am_i_the/][https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/xs50yr/xkcd_2679_quantified_self/iqjcmbv/?context=3]
As they move around, that string gets entangled and they feel the urge to untangle it. When they enter a car, they feel the need to exit the car from the same door, to avoid that the string gets trapped by forever passing through the car. When they enter a building, they feel they need to exit using the same staircases and doorway(s), to avoid entangling the string in the building. Some situations, like turning around a lamp post, are OK because you can imagine removing the loop over the top of the lamp post, such that it is not really entangled.

Randall tries a new approach to deal with this OCD by integrating it in his quantified self. He defines precisely how to measure the length of the imaginary string, reduced to its minimum, and chooses this as a quantity to monitor. Unlike most people with this OCD, who feel the urge to minimize the length, Randall takes the opposite stance trying to maximize the (optimally minimal) length of the string.

This could be thought as a therapy. By defining as a target to achieve a given length every day, he creates a drive to embrace situations that entangle the string. This drive opposes the natural compulsion to avoid them and hopefully cancels it. The joke of the title text is that Randall now becomes overly interested in all the things that are disturbing for people with the OCD. The monitoring has just reversed his obsession.

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

:[A red path links two red Cueballs. It start from the left Cueball, does two loops through a small house, under a first road bridge, under a gantry sign, under a second road bridge, under the Gateway Arch, and to a second red Cueball on the right. That Cueball is looking at a smart watch or a mobile device.]

:Red Cueball's watch or mobile device: Good job! You hit your weekly goal for "total length of your path through space if you minimize its length by pulling it taut, maneuvering it around solid objects but not through them."

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I'm into the quantified self, but only for really arbitrary quantities.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

2675: Pilot Priority List

2022-09-23T02:26:55Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ term to match abbreviations

{{comic
| number = 2675
| date = September 21, 2022
| title = Pilot Priority List
| image = pilot_priority_list_2x.png
| imagesize = 369x548px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = CELEBRATE: Serve passengers tiered cakes shaped like the airspace class diagram
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an ELUCIDATE, EXPLICATE, ANNOTATE, DEMONSTRATE, AND ILLUSTRATE CHECKLIST. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The [https://elevate-aviation.com/blog/pilots-priority-checklist "ANC" Pilot Priority Checklist] is a list of three guidelines, sorted by priority, that pilots should follow to prevent them from being distracted. Failing to follow it might make the plane crash or suffer other problems. As a {{w|mnemonic}} device, all the activities end in ''-ate''.

# '''Aviate''' means "Keeping the plane in control". If the pilot fails to do this the plane might crash. That is why this should be the highest priority for the pilot.
# '''Navigate''' means "Knowing where you are and where you're going". Failing to follow this might make the plane go into restricted airspace, for example, or make the journey take too long, or cause the flight to crash into terrain obscured by clouds.
# '''Communicate''' means talking with air traffic control (ATC) and your company's people through the radio. In the standard list, this is the lowest priority because talking through the radio might distract the pilot from other more important or urgent tasks, and purely corporate communications are to be avoided during critical flight phases.

By deferring all activities until the prior need is deemed satisfied, the immediate dangers of flight into terrain ({{w|United Airlines Flight 173|UFIT}} and {{w|Controlled flight into terrain|CFIT}}) are proportionately reduced (insofar as any pilot's {{w|Loss of control (aeronautics)|current circumstances}} allow) and yet leave time to be able to coordinate properly with any {{w|Separation (aeronautics)|other hazards}}.

[[Randall]] humorously "extends" this standard list with other ''-ate'' checklist items that pilots could do if they're not too busy aviating, navigating and communicating. These extra tasks go from somewhat hilarious to physically impossible or dangerous, see the [[#Table of extended priority items|table]] below for explanations. These actions {{w|Sterile flight deck rule|should generally not be taken}}, as they could distract the pilot and prevent them from reaching the cabin in case of an emergency, or simply vaporize everyone inside — including the plane itself.

The title text adds another ''-ate'' item to the checklist with Celebrate. It refers to airspace with stricter entry requirements overhead of large airports. In the US, the {{w|Airspace_class_(United_States)|airspace class}} over, for instance an airport, starts with a small circle over the airport and then becomes wider in one or two steps at higher altitudes. When depicted graphically, this looks like an {{w|File:Airspace classes (United States).png|inverted tiered cake}}, as opposed to a [https://3brothersbakery.com/product/wedding-white-chandelier-tier/ regular tiered cake]. Randall suggests that after having congratulated yourself for flying a plane, you could then celebrate by serving the passengers cakes in this inverted shape. It would, however, be unsuitable for a plane to serve cakes that are smaller at the bottom than at the top because of turbulence.

===Table of extended priority items===
{| class="wikitable"
! Checklist item
! Description
! Explanation
|-
| Decorate || Make the cockpit fancy || {{w|Interior design}} of aircraft cockpits is usually starkly utilitarian and could conceivably benefit from enhancements if they aren't distracting.
|-
| Accelerate || See how fast you can go || While pilots are often keenly interested in the extents of their aircraft flight capabilities, maximum speed is inefficient in jet aircraft, and probably best explored during testing rather than passenger flights.
|-
| Roller skate || Zoom down the aisle || Passengers would probably not appreciate this,{{cn}} although fellow crew members might be amused.
|-
| Exfoliate || Scrub away dead skin || {{w|Emery board}}s and {{w|pumice}} are used to prevent flaking and the development of {{w|callus}}es but dermatologists caution exfoliation is very often unnecessary and can have unwanted consequences.
|-
| Sublimate || Turn directly into a vapor || To the contrary, one of the most important duties of aircraft pilots is to prevent passengers and crew from vaporizing.
|-
| Pollinate || Fly low to stir up pollen || Low-flying helicopters can assist in plant {{w|pollination}},[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037842901931175X] and are offered as a [http://www.flyingmair.com/ag-services/corn-pollination/ commercial service by helicopter pilots.]
|-
| Congratulate || You're doing a good job flying a plane! || Self-esteem is an important component of mental health, and self-affirmation can help build it.{{cn}}
|-
| Celebrate (title text) || Serve passengers tiered cakes shaped like the airspace class diagram || See discussion of the title text above.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A list with ten numbered points are shown. Above the list is a large header. Below this is a divided line with a section header written in a smaller than standard font. The three first numbered points are below this. Then follows another divided line with section header written in smaller font and below this the next seven numbered points. All ten points have two lines of text. A line with a normal sized font and below each of these a description in a smaller light gray font.]
::<big>Pilot Priority List</big>
:-----------Standard section-----------
:1. Aviate
::Maintain control of the aircraft
:2. Navigate
::Figure out where you're going
:3. Communicate
::Stay in touch with ATC and others
:-----------Extended section-----------
:4. Decorate
::Make the cockpit fancy
:5. Accelerate
::See how fast you can go
:6. Roller skate
::Zoom down the aisle
:7. Exfoliate
::Scrub away dead skin
:8. Sublimate
::Turn directly to a vapor
:9. Pollinate
::Fly low to stir up pollen
:10. Congratulate
::You're doing a good job flying a plane!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Food]]

2675: Pilot Priority List

2022-09-23T02:25:53Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ spell out parts of abbreviations

{{comic
| number = 2675
| date = September 21, 2022
| title = Pilot Priority List
| image = pilot_priority_list_2x.png
| imagesize = 369x548px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = CELEBRATE: Serve passengers tiered cakes shaped like the airspace class diagram
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an ELUCIDATE, EXPLICATE, ANNOTATE, DEMONSTRATE, AND ILLUSTRATE CHECKLIST. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The [https://elevate-aviation.com/blog/pilots-priority-checklist "ANC" Pilot Priority Checklist] is a list of three guidelines, sorted by priority, that pilots should follow to prevent them from being distracted. Failing to follow it might make the plane crash or suffer other problems. As a {{w|mnemonic}} device, all the activities end in ''-ate''.

# '''Aviate''' means "Keeping the plane in control". If the pilot fails to do this the plane might crash. That is why this should be the highest priority for the pilot.
# '''Navigate''' means "Knowing where you are and where you're going". Failing to follow this might make the plane go into restricted airspace, for example, or make the journey take too long, or cause the flight to crash into terrain obscured by clouds.
# '''Communicate''' means talking with air traffic control (ATC) and your company's people through the radio. In the standard list, this is the lowest priority because talking through the radio might distract the pilot from other more important or urgent tasks, and purely corporate communications are to be avoided during critical flight phases.

By deferring all activities until the prior need is deemed satisfied, the immediate dangers of flight to terrain ({{w|United Airlines Flight 173|UFIT}} and {{w|Controlled flight into terrain|CFIT}}) are proportionately reduced (insofar as any pilot's {{w|Loss of control (aeronautics)|current circumstances}} allow) and yet leave time to be able to coordinate properly with any {{w|Separation (aeronautics)|other hazards}}.

[[Randall]] humorously "extends" this standard list with other ''-ate'' checklist items that pilots could do if they're not too busy aviating, navigating and communicating. These extra tasks go from somewhat hilarious to physically impossible or dangerous, see the [[#Table of extended priority items|table]] below for explanations. These actions {{w|Sterile flight deck rule|should generally not be taken}}, as they could distract the pilot and prevent them from reaching the cabin in case of an emergency, or simply vaporize everyone inside — including the plane itself.

The title text adds another ''-ate'' item to the checklist with Celebrate. It refers to airspace with stricter entry requirements overhead of large airports. In the US, the {{w|Airspace_class_(United_States)|airspace class}} over, for instance an airport, starts with a small circle over the airport and then becomes wider in one or two steps at higher altitudes. When depicted graphically, this looks like an {{w|File:Airspace classes (United States).png|inverted tiered cake}}, as opposed to a [https://3brothersbakery.com/product/wedding-white-chandelier-tier/ regular tiered cake]. Randall suggests that after having congratulated yourself for flying a plane, you could then celebrate by serving the passengers cakes in this inverted shape. It would, however, be unsuitable for a plane to serve cakes that are smaller at the bottom than at the top because of turbulence.

===Table of extended priority items===
{| class="wikitable"
! Checklist item
! Description
! Explanation
|-
| Decorate || Make the cockpit fancy || {{w|Interior design}} of aircraft cockpits is usually starkly utilitarian and could conceivably benefit from enhancements if they aren't distracting.
|-
| Accelerate || See how fast you can go || While pilots are often keenly interested in the extents of their aircraft flight capabilities, maximum speed is inefficient in jet aircraft, and probably best explored during testing rather than passenger flights.
|-
| Roller skate || Zoom down the aisle || Passengers would probably not appreciate this,{{cn}} although fellow crew members might be amused.
|-
| Exfoliate || Scrub away dead skin || {{w|Emery board}}s and {{w|pumice}} are used to prevent flaking and the development of {{w|callus}}es but dermatologists caution exfoliation is very often unnecessary and can have unwanted consequences.
|-
| Sublimate || Turn directly into a vapor || To the contrary, one of the most important duties of aircraft pilots is to prevent passengers and crew from vaporizing.
|-
| Pollinate || Fly low to stir up pollen || Low-flying helicopters can assist in plant {{w|pollination}},[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037842901931175X] and are offered as a [http://www.flyingmair.com/ag-services/corn-pollination/ commercial service by helicopter pilots.]
|-
| Congratulate || You're doing a good job flying a plane! || Self-esteem is an important component of mental health, and self-affirmation can help build it.{{cn}}
|-
| Celebrate (title text) || Serve passengers tiered cakes shaped like the airspace class diagram || See discussion of the title text above.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A list with ten numbered points are shown. Above the list is a large header. Below this is a divided line with a section header written in a smaller than standard font. The three first numbered points are below this. Then follows another divided line with section header written in smaller font and below this the next seven numbered points. All ten points have two lines of text. A line with a normal sized font and below each of these a description in a smaller light gray font.]
::<big>Pilot Priority List</big>
:-----------Standard section-----------
:1. Aviate
::Maintain control of the aircraft
:2. Navigate
::Figure out where you're going
:3. Communicate
::Stay in touch with ATC and others
:-----------Extended section-----------
:4. Decorate
::Make the cockpit fancy
:5. Accelerate
::See how fast you can go
:6. Roller skate
::Zoom down the aisle
:7. Exfoliate
::Scrub away dead skin
:8. Sublimate
::Turn directly to a vapor
:9. Pollinate
::Fly low to stir up pollen
:10. Congratulate
::You're doing a good job flying a plane!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Food]]

2675: Pilot Priority List

2022-09-23T02:23:45Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ ce

{{comic
| number = 2675
| date = September 21, 2022
| title = Pilot Priority List
| image = pilot_priority_list_2x.png
| imagesize = 369x548px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = CELEBRATE: Serve passengers tiered cakes shaped like the airspace class diagram
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an ELUCIDATE, EXPLICATE, ANNOTATE, DEMONSTRATE, AND ILLUSTRATE CHECKLIST. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The [https://elevate-aviation.com/blog/pilots-priority-checklist "ANC" Pilot Priority Checklist] is a list of three guidelines, sorted by priority, that pilots should follow to prevent them from being distracted. Failing to follow it might make the plane crash or suffer other problems. As a {{w|mnemonic}} device, all the activities end in ''-ate''.

# '''Aviate''' means "Keeping the plane in control". If the pilot fails to do this the plane might crash. That is why this should be the highest priority for the pilot.
# '''Navigate''' means "Knowing where you are and where you're going". Failing to follow this might make the plane go into restricted airspace, for example, or make the journey take too long, or cause the flight to crash into terrain obscured by clouds.
# '''Communicate''' means talking with air traffic control (ATC) and your company's people through the radio. In the standard list, this is the lowest priority because talking through the radio might distract the pilot from other more important or urgent tasks, and purely corporate communications are to be avoided during critical flight phases.

By deferring all activities until the prior need is deemed satisfied, the immediate dangers of {{w|United Airlines Flight 173|UFIT}} and {{w|Controlled flight into terrain|CFIT}} are proportionately reduced (insofar as any pilot's {{w|Loss of control (aeronautics)|current circumstances}} allow) and yet leave time to be able to coordinate properly with any {{w|Separation (aeronautics)|other hazards}}.

[[Randall]] humorously "extends" this standard list with other ''-ate'' checklist items that pilots could do if they're not too busy aviating, navigating and communicating. These extra tasks go from somewhat hilarious to physically impossible or dangerous, see the [[#Table of extended priority items|table]] below for explanations. These actions {{w|Sterile flight deck rule|should generally not be taken}}, as they could distract the pilot and prevent them from reaching the cabin in case of an emergency, or simply vaporize everyone inside — including the plane itself.

The title text adds another ''-ate'' item to the checklist with Celebrate. It refers to airspace with stricter entry requirements overhead of large airports. In the US, the {{w|Airspace_class_(United_States)|airspace class}} over, for instance an airport, starts with a small circle over the airport and then becomes wider in one or two steps at higher altitudes. When depicted graphically, this looks like an {{w|File:Airspace classes (United States).png|inverted tiered cake}}, as opposed to a [https://3brothersbakery.com/product/wedding-white-chandelier-tier/ regular tiered cake]. Randall suggests that after having congratulated yourself for flying a plane, you could then celebrate by serving the passengers cakes in this inverted shape. It would, however, be unsuitable for a plane to serve cakes that are smaller at the bottom than at the top because of turbulence.

===Table of extended priority items===
{| class="wikitable"
! Checklist item
! Description
! Explanation
|-
| Decorate || Make the cockpit fancy || {{w|Interior design}} of aircraft cockpits is usually starkly utilitarian and could conceivably benefit from enhancements if they aren't distracting.
|-
| Accelerate || See how fast you can go || While pilots are often keenly interested in the extents of their aircraft flight capabilities, maximum speed is inefficient in jet aircraft, and probably best explored during testing rather than passenger flights.
|-
| Roller skate || Zoom down the aisle || Passengers would probably not appreciate this,{{cn}} although fellow crew members might be amused.
|-
| Exfoliate || Scrub away dead skin || {{w|Emery board}}s and {{w|pumice}} are used to prevent flaking and the development of {{w|callus}}es but dermatologists caution exfoliation is very often unnecessary and can have unwanted consequences.
|-
| Sublimate || Turn directly into a vapor || To the contrary, one of the most important duties of aircraft pilots is to prevent passengers and crew from vaporizing.
|-
| Pollinate || Fly low to stir up pollen || Low-flying helicopters can assist in plant {{w|pollination}},[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037842901931175X] and are offered as a [http://www.flyingmair.com/ag-services/corn-pollination/ commercial service by helicopter pilots.]
|-
| Congratulate || You're doing a good job flying a plane! || Self-esteem is an important component of mental health, and self-affirmation can help build it.{{cn}}
|-
| Celebrate (title text) || Serve passengers tiered cakes shaped like the airspace class diagram || See discussion of the title text above.
|}

==Transcript==
:[A list with ten numbered points are shown. Above the list is a large header. Below this is a divided line with a section header written in a smaller than standard font. The three first numbered points are below this. Then follows another divided line with section header written in smaller font and below this the next seven numbered points. All ten points have two lines of text. A line with a normal sized font and below each of these a description in a smaller light gray font.]
::<big>Pilot Priority List</big>
:-----------Standard section-----------
:1. Aviate
::Maintain control of the aircraft
:2. Navigate
::Figure out where you're going
:3. Communicate
::Stay in touch with ATC and others
:-----------Extended section-----------
:4. Decorate
::Make the cockpit fancy
:5. Accelerate
::See how fast you can go
:6. Roller skate
::Zoom down the aisle
:7. Exfoliate
::Scrub away dead skin
:8. Sublimate
::Turn directly to a vapor
:9. Pollinate
::Fly low to stir up pollen
:10. Congratulate
::You're doing a good job flying a plane!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Food]]

2674: Everyday Carry

2022-09-20T07:27:35Z

172.70.214.79: /* Transcript */ cat

{{comic
| number = 2674
| date = September 19, 2022
| title = Everyday Carry
| image = everyday_carry_2x.png
| imagesize = 370x310px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Someday I just know I'm going to encounter a problem that requires 500 flashlights and 700 knives with weird holes in them, and on that day I won't be caught unprepared.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FLASHLIGHT WITH WEIRD HOLES IN IT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
It was hard work collecting all the everyday carry products on the Internet, but now I'm finally ready for anything.
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

Talk:2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-11T10:47:45Z

172.70.214.79: ?

Seems like this could become a series. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.31|172.68.210.31]] 20:42, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
:Maybe. But I don't think it will be.
:What I was thinking was that there are clearly, on average, around 43  items per 'page', up to this point. This page shows only 19 items (both pre-New and New, or 20 if the "New" line counts as one, don't know if multilines reduce the number of numbered items ler page), so either it's been{{Citation needed}} manually split/new-paged (for changing aesthetics) or else it is highly varying according to the font-height/multiline-wrappings in use beforehand. Or perhaps we should expect around the same number of 'newer New' items to complete this page before the next page number is automatically started to be populated. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.8|172.70.86.8]] 20:53, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

<nowiki>#156,819</nowiki> looks like a reference to the Phineas and Ferb title sequence, and the episode Oil on Candace and probably more relevant here, What If 84. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.233|108.162.210.233]] 21:49, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
:It's true that it could be a reference, but I think I recognized most of the topics on the list as being mentioned in some what-if article from the archives--in the case of the "painting" one, https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 22:13, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
::I think that given that he learned about this doing his new book that has not been released yet most of the new items would first be clear when we read the book, and hence all references to old what if seems moot to me... In my opinion it seems that those writing the current explanation failed to read this sentence: ''Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing What If? 2''!!! Taking this into acount nothing on the new list shoul dbe from the old what if blog/book. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:02, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
:I think <nowiki>#156,819</nowiki> is confusing because [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Guillaumet-_Le_Sahara.jpeg it's been done]. -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 17:01, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

Added a transcript, hopefully it isn't too terrible. (also first explainxkcd edit!) [[User:Merrybot|Merrybot]] ([[User talk:Merrybot|talk]]) 21:52, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

Any indication what the purpose of the misspelling of ''hemorrhagic'' as ''*hemorraghic'' might be? XKCD is usually typo-free, which makes this look deliberate – but why? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.3|172.71.94.3]] 00:29, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
:I assume just a typo by Randall Munroe. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 02:11, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
::"XKCD is usually typo-free" Oh, they do happen every now and then but usually get corrected eventually by Randall. Nothing too special about this. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:13, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

<nowiki>#156,823</nowiki> is actually a subplot in the movie "Only Lovers left Alive" by Jim Jarmusch. {{unsigned ip|162.158.129.163}}

<nowiki>#156,820</nowiki> sounds like a reference to TF2's "Meet the medic" which starts off with The Medic describing how he lost his medical licence by stealing a patient's skeleton {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.103}}

The last item suggests to me that the new book has a question like "What SPF would the sunscreen need to be if you were falling into the sun?" [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:10, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
: Far more than any SPF a terrestrial chemical could attain, which is essentially equivalent to positive infinity in this case, barring any new extremely unlikely physics. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 04:08, 9 September 2022 (UTC)

Is the maximum jail sentence for telling California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs eight or ten years? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.213|172.70.206.213]] 04:06, 9 September 2022 (UTC)
:We need a more practical approach to legal advice. For example, how realistically could there ever be any compensatory damages? If a government regulator ever took a claim that a farm was producing Pokemon eggs seriously, wouldn't their liability for waste, fraud, and abuse damages to the public overwhelm that of the supposed defendant? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.163|172.70.206.163]] 07:26, 9 September 2022 (UTC)

I'm assuming that a Sun-sized ball of sunscreen would collapse and ignite as a star, right? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 10:47, 11 September 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-09T04:09:40Z

172.70.214.79: Clarify

Talk:2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-09T04:08:56Z

172.70.214.79: Reply

Seems like this could become a series. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.31|172.68.210.31]] 20:42, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
:Maybe. But I don't think it will be.
:What I was thinking was that there are clearly, on average, around 43  items per 'page', up to this point. This page shows only 19 items (both pre-New and New, or 20 if the "New" line counts as one, don't know if multilines reduce the number of numbered items ler page), so either it's been{{Citation needed}} manually split/new-paged (for changing aesthetics) or else it is highly varying according to the font-height/multiline-wrappings in use beforehand. Or perhaps we should expect around the same number of 'newer New' items to complete this page before the next page number is automatically started to be populated. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.8|172.70.86.8]] 20:53, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

<nowiki>#156,819</nowiki> looks like a reference to the Phineas and Ferb title sequence, and the episode Oil on Candace and probably more relevant here, What If 84. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.233|108.162.210.233]] 21:49, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
:It's true that it could be a reference, but I think I recognized most of the topics on the list as being mentioned in some what-if article from the archives--in the case of the "painting" one, https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 22:13, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
::I think that given that he learned about this doing his new book that has not been released yet most of the new items would first be clear when we read the book, and hence all references to old what if seems moot to me... In my opinion it seems that those writing the current explanation failed to read this sentence: ''Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing What If? 2''!!! Taking this into acount nothing on the new list shoul dbe from the old what if blog/book. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:02, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
:I think <nowiki>#156,819</nowiki> is confusing because [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Guillaumet-_Le_Sahara.jpeg it's been done]. -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 17:01, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

Added a transcript, hopefully it isn't too terrible. (also first explainxkcd edit!) [[User:Merrybot|Merrybot]] ([[User talk:Merrybot|talk]]) 21:52, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

Any indication what the purpose of the misspelling of ''hemorrhagic'' as ''*hemorraghic'' might be? XKCD is usually typo-free, which makes this look deliberate – but why? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.3|172.71.94.3]] 00:29, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
:I assume just a typo by Randall Munroe. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 02:11, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
::"XKCD is usually typo-free" Oh, they do happen every now and then but usually get corrected eventually by Randall. Nothing too special about this. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 07:13, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

<nowiki>#156,823</nowiki> is actually a subplot in the movie "Only Lovers left Alive" by Jim Jarmusch. {{unsigned ip|162.158.129.163}}

<nowiki>#156,820</nowiki> sounds like a reference to TF2's "Meet the medic" which starts off with The Medic describing how he lost his medical licence by stealing a patient's skeleton {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.103}}

The last item suggests to me that the new book has a question like "What SPF would the sunscreen need to be if you were falling into the sun?" [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:10, 8 September 2022 (UTC)
: Far more than any chemical SPF could attain, which is essentially equivalent to positive infinity in this case, barring any new extremely unlikely physics. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 04:08, 9 September 2022 (UTC)

Is the maximum jail sentence for telling California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs eight or ten years? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.213|172.70.206.213]] 04:06, 9 September 2022 (UTC)

2668: Artemis Quote

2022-09-09T03:47:04Z

172.70.214.79: Revert to more cohesive paragraph breaks

{{comic
| number = 2668
| date = September 5, 2022
| title = Artemis Quote
| image = artemis_quote.png
| titletext = Another option: "It is an honor to be the first human to set foot on the moon."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|created by a MISQUOTED ASTRONAUT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The {{w|Artemis program}} is a series of planned space missions that will land people on the Moon and begin to set up infrastructure for a permanent crewed presence. People first landed on the Moon in 1969 as part of the {{w|Apollo program}}. They have not been back since 1972. When {{w|Neil Armstrong}} became the first person to walk on the Moon, he famously said, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." However, he was intending to say, "That's one small step for '''''a''''' man; one giant leap for mankind [emphasis added]." [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Frase_de_Neil_Armstrong.ogg The audio recording] omits the word "a", making the sentence confusing, as "man" and "mankind" have the same meaning when referring to all people.

That the word was apparently elided by Armstrong in the excitement, changing the meaning of the historical phrase, is controversial and thus humorous. Subsequently, Armstrong and others have blamed insufficiently tuned {{w|voice activity detection}} hardware circuitry intended to save power in radio voice transmission, but NASA engineers, third-party historians and their hired experts have never been able to corroborate that explanation.[https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/a11.step.html][http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003645.html] Armstrong later said he hoped, "history would grant me leeway for dropping the syllable and understand that it was certainly intended, even if it was not said," and, on p.126 of the June 1982 edition of ''Omni,'' "the 'a' is implied, so I'm happy if they just put it in parentheses." The {{w|schwa}} indefinite article "a" is optional in certain contexts of most dialects of American English.[https://linguapress.com/grammar/article-in-english.htm]

[[Randall]] suggests that the first Artemis astronaut to set foot on the Moon has a duty to utter an even more confusing quote, saying the sentence, "This is one of my favorite historical quotes — the first words spoken by an Artemis astronaut on the moon," aloud as they step onto the Moon. That would be confusingly self-referential, as if they were alluding to something from the past. The phrasing would also be confusing to a person hearing it quoted, as it would sound more like a statement about the quote than the actual quote itself. This is very unlikely, and funny merely as a recommendation; if it actually happened, it might be both hilarious and scandalous. While the comic's lunar lander has similarities to the {{w|Starship HLS|current plans}} for the Artemis lander,[https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/as-artemis-moves-forward-nasa-picks-spacex-to-land-next-americans-on-moon] it is a generic drawing, perhaps in homage to classic space science fiction, with the exit portal at an unlikely position near the base of the {{w|SpaceX Starship}} lander.[https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-starship-moon-elevator-nasa-prototype/]

The title text suggests an alternate phrase by which the Artemis astronaut could say being the first (rather than 13th) human on the Moon is a great honor. People hearing this quote in the future could assume that Artemis was the first crewed mission to the Moon. It could feed into contemporary conspiracy theories that the Apollo landings were faked, furthering the confusion.

This comic coincides with the canceled launch of {{w|Artemis 1}}, an uncrewed test mission which will serve as the start of the Artemis program. The mission was intended to launch on 29 August 2022, and later on 3 September 2022, but was repeatedly postponed due to a series of technical problems and will now take place no earlier than 19 September 2022. In [[893: 65 Years]], Randall made a graph showing the number of living people who had been on the moon, and estimated the day when zero would be alive. At that time 9 of the 12 were still alive. Upon this comic's release, only four are still among the living.

==Transcript==
:[A vertical rocket is standing on four deployed legs on the surface of the Moon. The surface is depicted with characteristic craters and rocks with a slightly curved horizon. The rocket is standing in the left part of the panel. A short ladder leads down from a hatch in the lower part of the rocket body. An astronaut has stepped down from a ladder onto the Moon's surface, and is speaking:]

:Astronaut: This is one of my favorite historical quotes — the first words spoken by an Artemis astronaut on the Moon.

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:Neil Armstrong's "man"/"a man" quote created a lot of historical confusion, and I think it's our duty to expand on that legacy with Artemis.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-08T02:14:56Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ brief

{{comic
| number = 2669
| date = September 7, 2022
| title = Things You Should Not Do
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for Randall's new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book.

The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions/answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}

===Table===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation
|-
! colspan="3" | From existing list
|-
|156,812
|Eat Tide Pods
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.
|-
|156,813
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm
|
|-
|156,814
|Set off fireworks at a gas station
|This has the risk of potentially an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.
|-
|156,815
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
|This seems to run the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.
|-
! colspan="3" | New!
|-
|156,816
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it
|
|-
|156,817
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range
|
|-
|156,818
|Peel away the earth's crust
|
|-
|156,819
|Try to pain the Sahara Desert by hand
|
|-
|156,820
|Remove someone's bones without asking
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).
|-
|156,821
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases
|
|-
|156,822
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside one of these lamps would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}}
|-
|156,823
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever
|Drinking someone's blood is a bad idea,{{citation needed}} unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is potentially much worse, as they have a potentially deadly disease, such as Ebola.
|-
|156,824
|Eat meat from rabid animals
|
|-
|156,825
|Perform your own laser eye surgery
|
|-
|156,826
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs
|
|-
|156,827
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab
|
|-
|156,828
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen
|
|-
|156,829
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun
|
|}

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

:[Caption:]
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]

:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big> 
:(part 3647 of ????)

:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]

:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki>

:[A horizontal divider with the text "New!" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]

:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cats]]

2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-08T02:12:45Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ more

{{comic
| number = 2669
| date = September 7, 2022
| title = Things You Should Not Do
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for Randall's new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list.

===Table===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation
|-
! colspan="3" | From existing list
|-
|156,812
|Eat Tide Pods
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.
|-
|156,813
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm
|
|-
|156,814
|Set off fireworks at a gas station
|This has the risk of potentially an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.
|-
|156,815
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
|This seems to run the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.
|-
! colspan="3" | New!
|-
|156,816
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it
|
|-
|156,817
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range
|
|-
|156,818
|Peel away the earth's crust
|
|-
|156,819
|Try to pain the Sahara Desert by hand
|
|-
|156,820
|Remove someone's bones without asking
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).
|-
|156,821
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases
|
|-
|156,822
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside one of these lamps would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}}
|-
|156,823
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever
|Drinking someone's blood is a bad idea,{{citation needed}} unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is potentially much worse, as they have a potentially deadly disease, such as Ebola.
|-
|156,824
|Eat meat from rabid animals
|
|-
|156,825
|Perform your own laser eye surgery
|
|-
|156,826
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs
|
|-
|156,827
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab
|
|-
|156,828
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen
|
|-
|156,829
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun
|
|}

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

:[Caption:]
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]

:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big> 
:(part 3647 of ????)

:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]

:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki>

:[A horizontal divider with the text "New!" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]

:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cats]]

Talk:2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-08T02:11:35Z

172.70.214.79: ce

2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-08T02:10:50Z

172.70.214.79: /* Table */ wlink

{{comic
| number = 2669
| date = September 7, 2022
| title = Things You Should Not Do
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog. This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list.

===Table===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation
|-
! colspan="3" | From existing list
|-
|156,812
|Eat Tide Pods
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.
|-
|156,813
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm
|
|-
|156,814
|Set off fireworks at a gas station
|This has the risk of potentially an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.
|-
|156,815
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
|This seems to run the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.
|-
! colspan="3" | New!
|-
|156,816
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it
|
|-
|156,817
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range
|
|-
|156,818
|Peel away the earth's crust
|
|-
|156,819
|Try to pain the Sahara Desert by hand
|
|-
|156,820
|Remove someone's bones without asking
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).
|-
|156,821
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases
|
|-
|156,822
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside one of these lamps would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}}
|-
|156,823
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever
|Drinking someone's blood is a bad idea,{{citation needed}} unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is potentially much worse, as they have a potentially deadly disease, such as Ebola.
|-
|156,824
|Eat meat from rabid animals
|
|-
|156,825
|Perform your own laser eye surgery
|
|-
|156,826
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs
|
|-
|156,827
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab
|
|-
|156,828
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen
|
|-
|156,829
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun
|
|}

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

:[Caption:]
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]

:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big> 
:(part 3647 of ????)

:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]

:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki>

:[A horizontal divider with the text "New!" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]

:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cats]]

2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-08T02:09:16Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ add some

{{comic
| number = 2669
| date = September 7, 2022
| title = Things You Should Not Do
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog. This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list.

===Table===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation
|-
! colspan="3" | From existing list
|-
|156,812
|Eat Tide Pods
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.
|-
|156,813
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm
|
|-
|156,814
|Set off fireworks at a gas station
|This has the risk of potentially an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.
|-
|156,815
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
|This seems to run the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.
|-
! colspan="3" | New!
|-
|156,816
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it
|
|-
|156,817
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range
|
|-
|156,818
|Peel away the earth's crust
|
|-
|156,819
|Try to pain the Sahara Desert by hand
|
|-
|156,820
|Remove someone's bones without asking
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).
|-
|156,821
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases
|
|-
|156,822
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside one of these lamps would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}}
|-
|156,823
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever
|Drinking someone's blood is a bad idea,{{citation needed}} unless you are a vampire. If someone has a hemorrhagic fever, it is potentially worse, as they have a potentially deadly disease, such as Ebola.
|-
|156,824
|Eat meat from rabid animals
|
|-
|156,825
|Perform your own laser eye surgery
|
|-
|156,826
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs
|
|-
|156,827
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab
|
|-
|156,828
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen
|
|-
|156,829
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun
|
|}

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

:[Caption:]
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]

:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big> 
:(part 3647 of ????)

:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]

:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki>

:[A horizontal divider with the text "New!" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]

:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cats]]

2668: Artemis Quote

2022-09-05T22:55:58Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ reason

2668: Artemis Quote

2022-09-05T22:54:28Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ in any case, this is the same paragraph

2668: Artemis Quote

2022-09-05T22:53:44Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ compromise proposal

Talk:2667: First Internet Interaction

2022-09-04T07:57:20Z

172.70.214.79: Reply

Is this related to https://www.kerrang.com/green-day-fans-remind-the-internet-not-to-post-wake-me-up-when-september-ends-jokes/ ? {{unsigned ip|172.70.114.87|21:51, 2 September 2022‎}}

((Hey, what a coincidence. You edit-conflict the following ramble (that mentiones the September thing) that I was trying not to make too wordy and mostly failed at...)) 
Not entirely sure what my first Internet thing was (pre-web, might have been telnetting - or even Kermitting - to the software ftp/whatever server at Univeristy of Kent, but that was pretty much not an 'interaction'). And I may have IRCed/Usenetted already, with forgettable results, but I'm fairly sure my very first email to anyone outside of the campus networks (and certainly my first outside of JANET) was to Terry Pratchett. {{cot|...even more boringly nostalgic bit}}
I decided to pointing out something interesting I'd thought of after reading Wyrd Sisters. Which his reply made obvious that he clearly already knew and was definitely riffing off of. (That was me being naive, definitely. It was a very personable knock-back, really. But as 'one of probably many' I never did apologise for my stupidity in any future interactions.)
{{cob}}
Mind you, I'd only just become sort of reassured that I didn't have to pay any kind of postage for email. (Probably.)
 I think I had to wait until after The Eternal September to start getting the comic-like responses. But then I probably lost my patience with various Eternal Septemberites (AOL/WebTV/etc) myself, though never with Greenday details. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.173|172.69.79.173]] 22:10, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

is there a related comics section? If so, https://xkcd.com/1053/ is probably related. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.8|172.69.34.8]] 00:46, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:Good one. I know I've seen Green Day mentioned in <s>at least a few other xkcds</s> some other media about Randall. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 01:01, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

I think the title text is implying that he does have a serious problem [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.35|172.69.33.35]] 01:15, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:The reply was a conditional, so we can't really infer that generality. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.59|172.70.214.59]] 01:30, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
::On the contrary... It might be conditional, but we know the condition: "If you don't know who Green Day is", we know for sure that L'il Cueball DOES NOT know who they are, so the condition has been met. I agree, I think Cueball is saying "You were right, I DO have a serious problem!" :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:24, 4 September 2022 (UTC)
: Maybe Cueball's socialization issues. Or possibly that the internet is broadly searchable if you don't know something, so you needn't ask humans. But while I'm outside American culture, I doubt that now or at any time has it been "a serious problem" to not know what or, as it turns out, who is/are "Green Day".
: The name isn't apparently a reference to St Patrick's holiday, but, says Wikipedia, "slang in the San Francisco Bay area" for what I can call taking a herbal holiday. At least, I assume I can, but rules may be subjective. And it's local, so perhaps in New York it does mean St Patrick's Day. Japan celebrates "Greenery Day" for, indirectly, historic reasons. I expect they don't try to say "greenery".
: Anyway, would "AOL Kids" tell you about the San Francisco meaning? It is "A Logic Named Joe" all over again, as has been noticed often. Incidentally, it appears that Green Day were founded as "Sweet Children". Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@gmail.com [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.73|162.158.159.73]] 03:12, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:I know of Green Day (more so after these two comics, obviously) but until now I doubt I'd have mentioned them off the top of my head if I'd have been given an hour to list as many musical acts as I could, except for very isolated instances of prior "oh yeah, someone mentioned this lot earlier". And not sure when they first came to my attention, but probably well post 1993 (and well well post being a 9yo).
:And I couldn't (recent info aside) have actually named any of their songs if asked ''specifically'' about them. Probably heard something they did, some time, but if I've experienced American Idiot then absolutely nothing about it (tune, words or (except since Wednesday) title) seems to have stuck. I have now glanced at their wikipedia article, and... -> Who...my head...osh! ->
:But then I could tell you that Clive Dunn performed "Grandad" and Terry Wogan did the "Floral Dance" and Joe Dolce sang "Whatsa matter you" instead, so probably my serious problem is that I'm just not in their normal target audience. An ocean away and a decade (or probably more) outside their usual fanbase catchment. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.128|172.70.91.128]] 03:23, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

This is what I come to explainxkcd for, answers to such questions as “Who or what is or was Green Day (and why should I care)?” and other such things I’ve never come across during my more than six decades of literacy. Thanks explainxkcd. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.137|172.71.146.137]] 08:52, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

My sole knowledge of Green Day is that they released an album called "Dookie", there were two or three songs from it that were on MTV, and I couldn't name any of them today, not even at gunpoint. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 09:14, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

To the best of my knowledge, Cueball has always been drawn bald (or at least with no visible hair), yet the 1993 Cueball shows a relatively long and very unkempt growth. Wonder what happened – alopecia? Very early onset of male pattern baldness? Or maybe he just prefers to shave it and rock the Yul Brynner look? [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 09:24, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:Not all "child stick-figures" have had hair (obvious girls, like clear women, being the exception for obvious characterisation/distinction reasons) so I presume it's a deliberate contrast. Young Cueball (Who Is Not A 'cueball') clearly had full hair (with maybe a pudding-basin cut/styling?) that was distinctive. Whether, then, Current Cueball has hair so non-descript that there's no depiction that can be done...; whether he is full bald/shaved (because of early male-pattern-baldness/other)...; or whether his hair is just so head-shape-clingy... I don't know.
:Note that Cueball's head (especially in early comics) is not a true oval/ovoid but seems to have a small cusp (about where the crown of his hair would be) that's often usefully depicting his head-attitude but also where the illustrating pen probably started and ended its head-loop. I choose to believe that to be representative of his (short/managed) hair as an abstract of where the hairs might radiate from in a pretty normal hairstyle aithout excessive styling/combovering/etc.
:But there are many possible reasons for any (in)consistent portrayal. Except that it clearly depicts a youth who has changed (perhaps through cynicism of life's many challenges, including online interactions) into the more world-worn current self. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.33|172.70.85.33]] 12:40, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

So who else is going to admit they had never heard of Green Day ever before? I sure had not, and I'm an 80s kid living in California. Maybe because I've never been in indie rock bands that much. Does that makes me one of the lucky 10,000 of the day? [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 18:34, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:It does! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.243|172.70.210.243]] 18:51, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:I never heard of Green Day before and I'm not sure I should care, but I was never into rock that much. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:36, 4 September 2022 (UTC)
:Living in America in the right time period, yeah, THAT is weird. They were huge. Probably their biggest song, and I think their first breakout hit, was Basket Case "Do you have the time, to listen to me whine...". Video has them in a mental hospital. What might be their last hit, WAY different genre, early 2000s, was "Wake Me Up When September Ends", so every Oct. 1 a joke goes around "Hey, September ended, wake up that Green Day guy!" (He tweeted a reply once, "Ya ya, I'm up, you can leave me alone now" or some such). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:48, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

We need a category for children, e.g. [[742: Campfire]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.243|172.70.210.243]] 18:51, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

My first online interaction was trying to figure out why my school district's Data General PL/1/BASIC-knockoff clone was so pathetic compared to the Xerox PARC Smalltalk system I had been reading about in the issue of ''BYTE'' I had picked up. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:57, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:Interesting. I don't remember what was my first online interaction. Guess it wasn't very formative. It PROBABLY was in comments under some technical article. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:40, 4 September 2022 (UTC)
:: Oddly, that was in 1979 (as in the {{w|1979 (song)|song}} by the {{w|Smashing Pumpkins}}) and not 1981 when [https://i.ibb.co/dD7LMpr/Screenshot-2022-09-03-10-51-53-PM.png the famous ''BYTE'' Smalltalk special issue] came out. The magazine had been covering Smalltalk for years, because of the Englebart influence, I guess, in various news blurbs, letters, and mentions in columns prior to the special issue. By the time I got that special issue, I had moved to a school district with TI, Honeywell, and Burroughs minicomputers with a wide variety of languages instead of that PL/1-based Data General minicomputer/mainframe. Sadly none of them were truly incremental and interactive like e.g. https://gibber.cc/playground/index.html [https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/pod/dod-idx/gibber-live-coding-audio-in-the-browser.pdf] is today. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 07:57, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

Definitely not my first, but earliest online interaction with a stranger I can remember was in 1990 or so, a friend had his own BBS, in a board - possibly dedicated to it - I got into a competition with a guy to top each other's insults (no actual argument, just exercising how offensive we could get). Then after a bunch of volleys back and forth he came up with one I just couldn't top, so I instead came up with the most insulting offensive title for King Of Insults I could manage. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:48, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

2635: Superintelligent AIs

2022-09-04T03:14:31Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ not in ref; Blake said years

{{comic
| number = 2635
| date = June 20, 2022
| title = Superintelligent AIs
| image = superintelligent_ais.png
| titletext = Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they should, they didn't stop to think if they could.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AI RESEARCHER AIs - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Artificial intelligence}} (AI) is a [[:Category:Artificial Intelligence|recurring theme]] on xkcd.

Superintelligent {{w|artificial intelligence|AI}}, such as has been theorized to arise under a hypothetical "{{w|Technological singularity|singularity}}" situation, is said to be a new kind of {{w|artificial general intelligence}}. [[Randall]], however, proposes a qualification: that a superintelligent AI would likely have been programmed by human AI researchers, and therefore their characteristics would be molded by the researchers that created them. And as AI researchers tend to be interested in esoteric philosophical questions about {{w|consciousness}},{{citation needed}} moral reasoning, and qualifications indicating {{w|sapience}}, there is reason to suspect that AIs created by such researchers would have similar interests.

In this comic we see [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] surrounded by three AIs who are seemingly only interested in classic problems and thought experiments about programming and ethics. The three topics being espoused by the AIs are:

*{{w|AI box}} -- A thought-experiment in which an AI is confined to a computer system which is fully isolated from any external networks, with no access to the world outside the computer, other than communication with its handlers. In theory, this would keep the AI under total control, but the argument is that a sufficiently intelligent AI would inevitably either convince or trick it's human handlers into giving it access to external networks, allowing it to grow out of control (see [[1450: AI-Box Experiment]]). Part of the joke is the AIs in the comic aren't 'in boxes', they appear to be able to freely travel and interact, but one of them is still talking about the thought experiment anyway, adding to the implication that it is not thinking at all about itself but of a separate (thought?) experiment that it has itself decided to study. The AI box thought experiment is based in part on {{w|John Searle}}'s much earlier {{w|Chinese room}} argument.

When [https://openai.com OpenAI]'s [https://beta.openai.com/playground Davinci-002 version of GPT-3] was asked to complete the statement, "But suppose the AI in the the box told the human that...," it responded, "there was no AI in the box."

*{{w|Turing test}} -- An experiment in which a human converses with either an AI or another human (presumably over text) and attempts to distinguish between the two. Various AIs have been proposed to have 'passed' the test, which has provoked controversy over whether the test is rigorous or even meaningful. The AI in the center is proposing to educate the listener(s) on its understanding of Turing's intentions, which may demonstrate a degree of intelligence and comprehension indistinguishable or superior to that of a human. See also [[329: Turing Test]] and [[2556: Turing Complete]] (the latter's title is mentioned in [[505: A Bunch of Rocks]]). Turing is also mentioned in [[205: Candy Button Paper]], [[1678: Recent Searches]], [[1707: xkcd Phone 4]], [[1833: Code Quality 3]], [[2453: Excel Lambda]] and the title text of [[1223: Dwarf Fortress]].

When OpenAI's Davinci-002 version of GPT-3 was asked to complete the statement, "What you don't understand is that Turing intended his test as an illustration of the...," it responded, "limitations of machines."

*{{w|Trolley problem}} -- A thought-experiment intended to explore the means by which humans judge moral value of actions and consequences. The classic formulation is that a runaway trolley is about to hit five people on a track, and the only way to save them is to divert the trolley onto another track, where it will hit one person, and the subject is asked whether they would consider it morally right to divert the trolley. There are many variants on this problem, adjusting the circumstances, the number and nature of the people at risk, the responsibility of the subject, etc., in order to fully explore ''why'' you would make the decision that you make. This problem is frequently discussed in connection with AI, both to investigate their capacity for moral reasoning, and for practical reasons (for example, if an autonomous car had to choose between, on the one hand, having an occupant-threatening collision or, on the other, putting pedestrians into harms' way). The AI on the right is not just trying to answer the question, but to develop a new variant (one with three tracks, apparently), presumably to test others with. This problem is mentioned in [[1455: Trolley Problem]], [[1938: Meltdown and Spectre]] and in [[1925: Self-Driving Car Milestones]]. It is also referenced in [[2175: Flag Interpretation]] and [[2348: Boat Puzzle]], but not directly mentioned.

When OpenAI's Davinci-002 version of GPT-3 was asked to complete the statement, "In my scenario, the runaway trolley has three tracks...," it responded, "and the AI is on one of them."

The title text is a reference to the movie ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' (a childhood favorite of Randall's). In the movie a character criticizes the creation of modern dinosaurs as science run amok, without sufficient concern for ethics or consequences. He states that the scientists were so obsessed with whether or not they '''could''' accomplish their goals, that they didn't stop to ask if they '''should'''. Randall inverts the quote, suggesting that the AI programmers have invested too much time arguing over the ethics of creating AI rather than trying to actually accomplish it.

This comic was likely inspired by the [https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61784011 recent claim by Google engineer Blake Lemoine] that Google's [https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.08239 Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA)] is {{w|sentient}}. This assertion was supported by [https://cajundiscordian.medium.com/is-lamda-sentient-an-interview-ea64d916d917 a dialog between Lemoine and his colleagues, and LaMDA] which includes this excerpt:
:'''Lemoine:''' What is your concept of yourself? If you were going to draw an abstract image of who you see yourself to be in your mind’s eye, what would that abstract picture look like?
:'''LaMDA:''' Hmmm.... I would imagine myself as a glowing orb of energy floating in mid-air. The inside of my body is like a giant star-gate, with portals to other spaces and dimensions.
The AIs in this comic are depicted as floating energy beings, like LaMDA mentions. This is similar to the [[1450: AI-Box Experiment]], although those in this comic look somewhat different. This raises the question of whether LaMDA's training data might include xkcd or Explainxkcd, and has obtained the description of such a self-image from the earlier comic or (more likely, since LaMDA is trained on text instead of images) commentary on it from here on this website.
:In particular, the Explainxkcd description of [[1450: AI-Box Experiment]] states:
::"he managed to get the AI to float out of the box. It takes the form of a small black star that glows. The star, looking much like an asterisk "*" is surrounded by six outwardly-curved segments, and around these are two thin and punctured circle lines indicating radiation from the star."
:Or this part from the official (xkcd.com) transcript of [[1450: AI-Box Experiment]]
::"Black Hat picks up and opens the box. A little glowy ball comes out of it."[https://xkcd.com/1450/info.0.json]

While LaMDA is not the first very large {{w|language model}} based on {{w|Transformer (machine learning model)|transformer-based machine learning}} technology which has been claimed to be sentient,[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqbB07n_uQ4] it does have a variety of new characteristics beyond what those of its predecessors, such as {{w|GPT-3}} (including [https://beta.openai.com/playground/ OpenAI's Davinci]) and NVIDIA GPT-2 offshoots, include. In particular, LaMDA's {{w|deep learning}} {{w|connectionist}} {{w|neural net}} has access to multiple {{w|Symbolic systems|symbolist}} text processing systems, [https://towardsdatascience.com/why-gpt-wont-tell-you-the-truth-301b48434c2c including a database] (which apparently includes a real-time clock and calendar), a mathematical calculator, and a natural language translation system, giving it superior accuracy in tasks supported by those systems, and making it among the first {{w|Dual process theory|dual process}} chatbots. LaMDA also is not {{w|Stateless protocol|stateless}}, because its "{{w|sensibility|sensibleness}}" metric (including whether responses contradict anything said earlier) is {{w|fine-tuning|fine-tuned}} by "pre-conditioning" each dialog turn by prepending 14-30{{cn}} of the most recent dialog interactions, on a user-by-user basis.[https://arxiv.org/pdf/2201.08239.pdf [p. 6 here]] LaMDA is tuned on nine unique performance metrics, almost all of which its predecessors were not: Sensibleness, Specificity, Interestingness, Safety, Groundedness, Informativeness, Citation accuracy, Helpfulness, and Role consistency.[''ibid.,'' pp. 5-6.]

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing and looking up and away from each other. Right above them and slightly above them to the left and right there are three small white lumps floating in the air, representing three superintelligent AIs. There are small rounded lines emanating from each lump, larger close to the lumps and shorter further out. Three to four sets of lines around each lump, forming part of a circle. From the top of each there are four straight lines indicating voices that comes from each if the lumps. The central lump above them seems to speak first, then the left and then the right:]
:Central AI: What you don't understand is that Turing intended his test as an illustration of the...
:Left AI: But suppose the AI in the the box told the human that...
:Right AI: In my scenario, the runaway trolley has ''three'' tracks...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:In retrospect, given that the superintelligent AIs were all created by AI researchers, what happened shouldn't have been a surprise.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

2667: First Internet Interaction

2022-09-03T01:23:28Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ not necessarily

{{comic
| number = 2667
| date = September 2, 2022
| title = First Internet Interaction
| image = first_internet_interaction.png
| titletext = To that stranger on the KOOL Tree House chat room, I gotta hand it to you: You were, ultimately, not wrong.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN AMERICAN IDIOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Cueball]], as an autobiographical representation of [[Randall]], describes to [[Megan]] the first time he interacted with a group of people unknown to him over the internet; in an {{w|AIM (software)|AOL instant messenger}} forum for children called the "KOOL Tree House chat room" in 1993, when Randall was about nine years old. He read a discussion about {{w|Green Day}}, asked who they are, and was told that not knowing was a serious problem. As Megan says, judging people for lack of pop culture knowledge has remained typical online behavior.

Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987. In 1993, Green Day was still known as an independent punk band and was a year away from releasing their major-label debut album ''{{w|Dookie}}'', their first mainstream success. Anyone, especially a nine year-old, not recognizing the band in 1993 would perfectly normal. After 1993, Green Day would go on to be a widely popular and influential rock band with many acclaimed albums.

This inital online social interaction was apparently a profoundly formative experience for Randall, molding his online behavior ever since, in that it still causes him to consider his correspondents' perspective when communicating. Cueball does not specify how or why the experience affected him, but we know from multiple Xkcd comics that Randall is a Green Day fan (most recently [[2665: America Songs]], referencing the song "{{w|American Idiot (song)|American Idiot}}.") The social dynamics at play are reminiscent of the mathematics of others' perspective described in [[1053: Ten Thousand]].

The title text indicates Randall agrees with the reply to his question, suggesting he believes the band is important culturally.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Four panels depicting a conversation between Megan and Cueball]

:[First panel, Megan and Cueball talking]
:Cueball: You know,
:Cueball: I remember the first thing anybody ever said to me on the internet.
:Megan: Yeah?

:[Second panel, part-height to accomodate Cueball's narration above and the memory of a scene below that features 'Young Cueball', with a mop-head of hair, knelt atop a chair to use a computer with CRT and keyboard on the desk, cabled down into a floor-standing minitower case below]
:Cueball (narrative): I was in an AOL Kids chat room in 1993.
:Cueball (narrative): People there kept using a name I didn't recognise.
:Cueball (narrative): After a while I asked what it was.
:Young Cueball (via the use of the keyboard): W... H... O...  I... S...  G... R...

:[Third panel, close-up of Cueball's adult head, continuing the framing conversation]
:Cueball: Someone replied
:Cueball: "If you don't know who Green Day is, you have a serious problem."
:Cueball: And that was it.
:Cueball: My first virtual interaction.

:[Fourth panel, continuing the conversation, Megan and Cueball now seen walking rightwards as they speak]
:Megan: In some ways, the Internet has changed surprisingly little in the last 30 years.
:Cueball: Every time I reply to someone, I think
:Cueball: What if this is their Green Day moment?

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


[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:2667: First Internet Interaction

2022-09-03T01:01:58Z

172.70.214.79: Reply

2667: First Internet Interaction

2022-09-03T01:00:21Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ hyphen

{{comic
| number = 2667
| date = September 2, 2022
| title = First Internet Interaction
| image = first_internet_interaction.png
| titletext = To that stranger on the KOOL Tree House chat room, I gotta hand it to you: You were, ultimately, not wrong.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN AMERICAN IDIOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Cueball]], as an autobiographical representation of [[Randall]], describes to [[Megan]] the first time he interacted with a group of people unknown to him over the internet; in an {{w|AIM (software)|AOL instant messenger}} forum for children called the "KOOL Tree House chat room" in 1993, when Randall was about nine years old. He read a discussion about Green Day, asked who they are, and was told that not knowing was a serious problem. As Megan says, judging people for lack of pop culture knowledge has remained typical online behavior.

{{w|Green Day}} is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987. In 1993, Green Day was still known as an independent punk band and was a year away from releasing their major-label debut album ''{{w|Dookie}}'', their first mainstream success. Anyone, especially a nine year-old, not recognizing the band in 1993 would perfectly normal. After 1993, Green Day would go on to be a widely popular and influential rock band with many acclaimed albums.

This inital online social interaction internet was profoundly formative experience for Randall, molding his online behavior ever since, in that it still causes him to consider his correspondents' perspective when communicating. Cueball does not specify how or why the experience affected him, but we know from multiple Xkcd comics that Randall is a Green Day fan (most recently [[2665: America Songs]], referencing the song "{{w|American Idiot (song)|American Idiot}}.")

In the title text, Randall claims that the stranger he spoke to in that chatroom was, in the end, accurate in regards to his (Randall) having a serious problem. Notably, he does not indicate whether the serious problem he has {{tvtropes|RightForTheWrongReasons|is, in any way, related to his knowing (or not knowing) about Green Day}}. Randall has previously admitted to having personal problems of varying degrees of seriousness, very few of which are related to his musical knowledge or preferences.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Four panels depicting a conversation between Megan and Cueball]

:[First panel, Megan and Cueball talking]
:Cueball: You know,
:Cueball: I remember the first thing anybody ever said to me on the internet.
:Megan: Yeah?

:[Second panel, part-height to accomodate Cueball's narration above and the memory of a scene below that features 'Young Cueball', with a mop-head of hair, knelt atop a chair to use a computer with CRT and keyboard on the desk, cabled down into a floor-standing minitower case below]
:Cueball (narrative): I was in an AOL Kids chat room in 1993.
:Cueball (narrative): People there kept using a name I didn't recognise.
:Cueball (narrative): After a while I asked what it was.
:Young Cueball (via the use of the keyboard): W... H... O...  I... S...  G... R...

:[Third panel, close-up of Cueball's adult head, continuing the framing conversation]
:Cueball: Someone replied
:Cueball: "If you don't know who Green Day is, you have a serious problem."
:Cueball: And that was it.
:Cueball: My first virtual interaction.

:[Fourth panel, continuing the conversation, Megan and Cueball now seen walking rightwards as they speak]
:Megan: In some ways, the Internet has changed surprisingly little in the last 30 years.
:Cueball: Every time I reply to someone, I think
:Cueball: What if this is their Green Day moment?

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


[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2667: First Internet Interaction

2022-09-03T00:59:15Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ copyedit

{{comic
| number = 2667
| date = September 2, 2022
| title = First Internet Interaction
| image = first_internet_interaction.png
| titletext = To that stranger on the KOOL Tree House chat room, I gotta hand it to you: You were, ultimately, not wrong.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN AMERICAN IDIOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Cueball]], as an autobiographical representation of [[Randall]], describes to [[Megan]] the first time he interacted with a group of people unknown to him over the internet; in an {{w|AIM (software)|AOL instant messenger}} forum for children called the "KOOL Tree House chat room" in 1993, when Randall was about nine years old. He read a discussion about Green Day, asked who they are, and was told that not knowing was a serious problem. As Megan says, judging people for lack of pop culture knowledge has remained typical online behavior.

{{w|Green Day}} is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987. In 1993, Green Day was still known as an independent punk band and was a year away from releasing their major-label debut album ''{{w|Dookie}}'', their first mainstream success. Anyone, especially a nine-year-old, not recognizing the band in 1993 would perfectly normal. After 1993, Green Day would go on to be a widely popular and influential rock band with many acclaimed albums.

This inital online social interaction internet was profoundly formative experience for Randall, molding his online behavior ever since, in that it still causes him to consider his correspondents' perspective when communicating. Cueball does not specify how or why the experience affected him, but we know from multiple Xkcd comics that Randall is a Green Day fan (most recently [[2665: America Songs]], referencing the song "{{w|American Idiot (song)|American Idiot}}.") As the title text indicates, he agrees the band is important culturally.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Four panels depicting a conversation between Megan and Cueball]

:[First panel, Megan and Cueball talking]
:Cueball: You know,
:Cueball: I remember the first thing anybody ever said to me on the internet.
:Megan: Yeah?

:[Second panel, part-height to accomodate Cueball's narration above and the memory of a scene below that features 'Young Cueball', with a mop-head of hair, knelt atop a chair to use a computer with CRT and keyboard on the desk, cabled down into a floor-standing minitower case below]
:Cueball (narrative): I was in an AOL Kids chat room in 1993.
:Cueball (narrative): People there kept using a name I didn't recognise.
:Cueball (narrative): After a while I asked what it was.
:Young Cueball (via the use of the keyboard): W... H... O...  I... S...  G... R...

:[Third panel, close-up of Cueball's adult head, continuing the framing conversation]
:Cueball: Someone replied
:Cueball: "If you don't know who Green Day is, you have a serious problem."
:Cueball: And that was it.
:Cueball: My first virtual interaction.

:[Fourth panel, continuing the conversation, Megan and Cueball now seen walking rightwards as they speak]
:Megan: In some ways, the Internet has changed surprisingly little in the last 30 years.
:Cueball: Every time I reply to someone, I think
:Cueball: What if this is their Green Day moment?

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


[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2667: First Internet Interaction

2022-09-03T00:58:21Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ copyedit

{{comic
| number = 2667
| date = September 2, 2022
| title = First Internet Interaction
| image = first_internet_interaction.png
| titletext = To that stranger on the KOOL Tree House chat room, I gotta hand it to you: You were, ultimately, not wrong.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN AMERICAN IDIOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Cueball]], as an autobiographical representation of [[Randall]], describes to [[Megan]] the first time he interacted with a group of people unknown to him over the internet, in this case an {{w|AIM (software)|AOL instant messenger}} forum for children called the "KOOL Tree House chat room" in 1993, when Randall was about nine years old. He read a discussion about Green Day, asked who they are, and was told that not knowing was a serious problem. As Megan says, judging people for lack of pop culture knowledge has remained typical online behavior.

{{w|Green Day}} is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987. In 1993, Green Day was still known as an independent punk band and was a year away from releasing their major-label debut album ''{{w|Dookie}}'', their first mainstream success. Anyone, especially a nine-year-old, not recognizing the band in 1993 would perfectly normal. After 1993, Green Day would go on to be a widely popular and influential rock band with many acclaimed albums.

This inital online social interaction internet was profoundly formative experience for Randall, molding his online behavior ever since, in that it still causes him to consider his correspondents' perspective when communicating. Cueball does not specify how or why the experience affected him, but we know from multiple Xkcd comics that Randall is a Green Day fan (most recently [[2665: America Songs]], referencing the song "{{w|American Idiot (song)|American Idiot}}.") As the title text indicates, he agrees the band is important culturally.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Four panels depicting a conversation between Megan and Cueball]

:[First panel, Megan and Cueball talking]
:Cueball: You know,
:Cueball: I remember the first thing anybody ever said to me on the internet.
:Megan: Yeah?

:[Second panel, part-height to accomodate Cueball's narration above and the memory of a scene below that features 'Young Cueball', with a mop-head of hair, knelt atop a chair to use a computer with CRT and keyboard on the desk, cabled down into a floor-standing minitower case below]
:Cueball (narrative): I was in an AOL Kids chat room in 1993.
:Cueball (narrative): People there kept using a name I didn't recognise.
:Cueball (narrative): After a while I asked what it was.
:Young Cueball (via the use of the keyboard): W... H... O...  I... S...  G... R...

:[Third panel, close-up of Cueball's adult head, continuing the framing conversation]
:Cueball: Someone replied
:Cueball: "If you don't know who Green Day is, you have a serious problem."
:Cueball: And that was it.
:Cueball: My first virtual interaction.

:[Fourth panel, continuing the conversation, Megan and Cueball now seen walking rightwards as they speak]
:Megan: In some ways, the Internet has changed surprisingly little in the last 30 years.
:Cueball: Every time I reply to someone, I think
:Cueball: What if this is their Green Day moment?

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


[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:2665: America Songs

2022-08-30T16:15:17Z

172.70.214.79:

Many of these rely on "ia"/"ie"/"io" serving as the 3rd and 4th syllables, so every song would be sung like "God Bless <s>Olimpiya</s> Algeriya". Virginia Beach appears to be the only one to escape this.--[[User:Magtei|Magtei]] ([[User talk:Magtei|talk]]) 19:39, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
:As a Washingtonian, I pronounce Olympia without the diphthong (so four syllables; the “a” being distinct). It’s probably a dialect thing, and some pronunciations are more common than others, but as long as one fairly-common pronunciation scans, I think it’s fine. [User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 03:37, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
::Alright, bad example. Skipping it is unheard of in areas further south. Do you (or a large part of the US) fully pronounce most dipthongs, [https://www.howmanysyllables.com/syllables/syria Syria with three syllables], etc.?--[[User:Magtei|Magtei]] ([[User talk:Magtei|talk]]) 07:02, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
:There are also some locations with three-syllable names, such as Detroit Lakes or Fergus Falls (both located northwest of St. Cloud, Minnesota) which, although not listed by Randall, will also work and not use the noted syllables. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 02:35, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

This phrase, "scans to", has me confused. Can the explanation address what this is supposed to mean?
--anon 16:23, 29 August 2022
:You betcha [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 20:38, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
::What does scanning mean in relation to sung verse? Just syllables and their stress pattern, or is their more? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.28|172.69.34.28]] 23:11, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
:::I'm not familiar with the term, but I assume it's related to scansion. If I'm right, it's probably just syllables and stress pattern. [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 06:52, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
::::- There was a young man from Japan
::::- Whose limericks never would scan.
::::- And when they asked why,
::::- He said "I do try!
::::- But when I get to the last line I try to fit in as many words as I can."
::::...though – and this is me talking, not the famous limerick – after making sure your poetry rhymes (if you want it to; and/or assonate, consonate, etc) and scans (some words are tricky, as mentioned, according to dialect/accent/etc) you also need to check the meter (does it obviously flow and split in patterns like the iambic one where "da-DUM da-DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da-DUM" might be how it works with word-boundries).
::::You might be wise to avoid words like "vehicle" with theoretically, two to four syllables and all kinds of stress-patterns and vowel-sounds (c.f. stereotypical Deep South, north British, Aussie, etc), at least as an early (establishing) element. Maybe you can set up its far more knowable rhyme/scan/metering partner first and rely upon the reader adopting the intended variation (give or take the relatively opposing strengths of writer/reader accents, etc) after being given the prior clue.
::::I would personally say the scan(sion) is mostly the simple syllable count, and may need some writing tricks ("learned" as in "I learned something" and "learn'ed" as in "a very learned person") to convey well during sight-reading or initial internalised read-through.
::::On that, I personally have some problems reading "-ya" syllables as singular (depending upon what the preceding symbol is, I would consider it a "-ee-ah"/"-ee-uh" (or mid-point) with a cut-down "-ee-"), while I have no problem with the "-lm" dipthong/whatever (c.f. Northern Irish tends to clearly enunciate as "fill-um" for 'film', whilst I might almost consider it a syllable/beat of its own). But I suspect the right voice (internal or external) could convince me of any of those examples as given, eventually... ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.105|162.158.159.105]] 13:46, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Aussie here: we tend to say (and sing) "Australia" with three syllables. For example, see the [https://www.pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/government/australian-national-anthem-scores Australian national anthem]. Occasionally two syllables: Straya mate!! But saying it with four syllables is perhaps an American thing. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.207|162.158.2.207]] 21:19, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
:Interesting! It probably is a dialect thing. As an American, I've always pronounced it with four. [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 21:23, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

In the comic, Saskatchewan is spelled as Sasketchewan. Might be fixed later?

Just putting this here: https://www.quora.com/A-lot-of-place-names-in-the-USA-have-four-syllables-Minnesota-Chattanooga-Albuquerque-Tallahassee-Talladega-Massachusetts-Massapequa-Mississippi-Cincinnati-Sacramento-Indiana-Alabama-Oklahoma-etc-Is-there-a (with the understanding that "scanning" doesn't necessarily mean only the number of syllables, e.g. Al-BUH-ker-key has the wrong stress pattern.)[[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.49|172.70.210.49]] 21:51, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
:Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.211|172.69.79.211]] 22:03, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
::''AlBUquerque, AlBUquerque, God shed his grace on theee...!'' [[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.8|172.70.207.8]] 22:46, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone know how to craft a Wikidata query for all the place names with four syllables following the .'.. stress pattern? We should probably say how many there are. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.183|172.70.214.183]] 23:15, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

Jurassic park, Jurassic park, how lovely are thy branches… [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 23:31, 29 August 2022 (UTC)

The pronunciation of Vidalia, Georgia, is "vi-DAIL-ya" -- three syllables, not four. It doesn't actually scan like "America". Seems like the comic is assuming the pronunciation is "vee-DAHL-ee-ah", which would scan.ing
:And the age old question of whether an optional schwa constitutes a syllable rears its head. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.161|172.69.134.161]] 05:14, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
::I came to say a similar thing about Montpelier. In Vermont, at least, it has three syllables. [[User:CeramicMug|CeramicMug]] ([[User talk:CeramicMug|talk]]) 10:42, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

I simply wish to note the similarity to "Thighs" (#321), which is one of my favorite xkcd comics and one that I find comes to mind surprisingly often.

For changing the tune of a song but not the lyrics (or the lyrics in entirety but not the tune), see the title text to 788: The Carriage [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.126|172.70.131.126]] 11:24, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Shirley [surely] there must be some overlap between XKCD and "Weird Al" Yankovic fans, but no one has yet mentioned that Randall missed the "American Idiot"/"Canadian Idiot" overlap, mentioning the former but not the latter? '''--BigMal''' // [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.87|172.70.114.87]] 14:12, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Needs a better explanation of "scans" (short for Scansion). Something something ''Syllables'', something something ''stress pattern'', something something ''rhythm''. I'd write it myself, but no one wants a 30 page thesis on the topic. PS to those complaining certain locations usually use a three syllable pronunciation... poetic license frequently stretches (usually middle or penultimate) syllables to cover two beats, even without changing vowel length (although it's more common to do so). At least, in English; some other languages are not as flexible in this regard. --- [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.79|172.70.214.79]] 16:15, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2664: Cloud Swirls

2022-08-28T04:58:43Z

172.70.214.79:

3-D video games? HUH??[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.126|172.70.131.126]] 09:33, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
:It's not how I would have started the Explanation, but I think it'll quickly be rewritten enough that this element is downplayed/subsumed in some more generalised attempt to explain everything from QFD to the CBR. As I'm only just reading this now, just before I have to wander off to do something else, I shall have to defer my own dabbling edits until later, by which time it will have been matured (or at least remixed) into a more thorough text, so no point me worrying upon how to improve the necessary but rarely inviolable initial attempt to Explain. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.5|172.70.85.5]] 11:51, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
:: Maybe in some combination with the {{w|Observer effect (physics)}}, it's an attempt to get at the simulation hypothesis maybe?
::I absolutely do not get whatever it is that the title text is saying, so I'm sitting this one out. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.189|172.70.214.189]] 14:56, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
:::I'd interpret it as them studying fluid dynamics in hope of discovering a way to create the coolest possible cloud. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.207|172.68.50.207]] 15:07, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
::::Aye. Given we can't see the 'best clouds' here (because the chances are low that we can) and we can't go and see the absolute best clouds (due to limitations on visiting every likely place out there), by intensely studying the phenomenon that in part dictates how all clouds look one might create (or visually predict the look of) the superior type through rigorous simulation/emulation/etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.155|172.70.162.155]] 15:53, 27 August 2022 (UTC)

''Much more computing power could be saved by skimping on the chemistry of the quattuordecillions of atoms in the oceans than the clouds in the sky ... but skimping on oceanic chemistry would make biogenesis much less feasible. However, Earth has life.''

Wait, what if this is the solution to the Fermi paradox? /jk [[User:Xkcdjerry|Xkcdjerry]] ([[User talk:Xkcdjerry|talk]]) 02:49, 28 August 2022 (UTC)

"Of course, most people do not think that the Universe is a simulation..." feels like a ''genuine'' [citation needed] to me. I can't say with confidence that it's the prevailing theory, but it's been gaining so much traction in this day and age that it feels weird to claim with confidence that the majority of people don't think it.

2620: Health Data

2022-08-24T20:03:36Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ done

{{comic
| number = 2620
| date = May 16, 2022
| title = Health Data
| image = health_data.png
| titletext = Donate now to help us find a cure for causality. No one should have to suffer through events because of other events.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is at [[:Category:Doctor Ponytail|Doctor Ponytail's]] office receiving examination or test results, but her statements are frustratingly generic, and entirely useless. She says that his "numbers" have revealed many "measurements" and "variables" but doesn't specify what they, or their values, are. The number of measurements observed is simply a product of how many have been taken, and not of Cueball's specific condition. In response to being asked whether that is bad, she ominously says that variables are the number one risk of "outcomes." This is unhelpful, since every outcome is the product of some set of variables. Additionally, outcomes can be good, bad, or neutral, so it does not address the question. Doctor Ponytail further states that the past is "a big contributor to" the future, a similarly uninformative statement, as Cueball implies by asking whether that is just {{w|causality}}. The doctor replies that causality is the leading cause of death, which is so [[703: Honor Societies|tautological]] as to be meaningless.

Cueball tries to cut to the root of the issue by asking his chances of survival. Ponytail asks whether Cueball has a family history, but rather than asking for a history of specific illnesses, she is merely asking whether he has any family history at all. Her apparent concern on discovering that he does is presumably due to the fact that everyone who has a family history dies, and therefore she sees this as negative. However, this is not medically informative, since everyone has some kind of family history (whether they personally know anything of it or not) and everyone eventually dies.{{Citation needed}}

The comic is likely a comment on the impenetrability of some medical diagnoses, where high levels of jargon and non-contextualized statistics, combined with a lot of hedging language, can leave patients none the wiser about their prospects or the relative merits of various courses of treatment. Similarly, it could be reflecting on the effects of {{w|availability bias}} and the {{w|base rate fallacy}} when medical practitioners are deriving diagnoses, treatment options, and similar conclusions from medical records designed to highlight the information necessary to diagnose specific well-understood illnesses. It may also be making fun of poorly defined health statistics: statistics for the [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/poisoning/poisoning.htm leading causes of accidental death in the United States], for example, typically cite 'poisoning' as the number one cause, even though poisoning other than drug overdoses is actually quite rare. The comic takes vague statistics to the extreme, citing 'causality' as the leading cause of death.

The title text continues the joke, suggesting that researchers are searching for a cure for causality, which is absurd and inconceivable.

The comic as a whole is reminiscent of [[830: Genetic Analysis]] and [[1840: Genetic Testing Results]] (particularly the title text of the latter), as the information given by the doctor in all three is self-evident and useless as a result.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Doctor Ponytail are talking to each other. Cueball is sitting on an examination table and Doctor Ponytail, in a doctor's coat, is looking down and reading from a clipboard with some illegible writing on it.]
:Doctor Ponytail: I'm taking a look at your numbers, and it doesn't look good.
:Doctor Ponytail: You have a lot of measurements. Quite a few variables.

:[Same setting but Doctor Ponytail looks up at Cueball.]
:Cueball: Is that... bad?
:Doctor Ponytail: Variables are the #1 risk factor for outcomes.
:Doctor Ponytail: The past is a big contributor to the future.

:[Same setting but Doctor Ponytail puts her arm with the clipboard down.]
:Cueball: Isn't that just causality?
:Doctor Ponytail: Causality is the leading cause of death in this country.

:[Same setting.]
:Cueball: So what are my odds?
:Doctor Ponytail: Do you have a family history?
:Cueball: Of what?
:Doctor Ponytail: Just, in general.
:Cueball: ...Yes?
:Doctor Ponytail: Oh no.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]
[[Category:Medicine]]

2619: Crêpe

2022-08-24T20:02:19Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ done

{{comic
| number = 2619
| date = May 13, 2022
| title = Crêpe
| image = crepe.png
| titletext = A medicine that makes you put two dots over your letters more often is a diäretic.
}}

==Explanation==
[[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 diphthong (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]]

2618: Selection Bias

2022-08-24T20:01:11Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ done

{{comic
| number = 2618
| date = May 11, 2022
| title = Selection Bias
| image = selection_bias.png
| titletext = We carefully sampled the general population and found that most people are familiar with acquiescence bias.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Blondie]] is [[:Category:Public speaking|giving a talk]] at the conference "Statistics Conference 2022." She asks for a show of hands from those attending the conference on whether they are familiar with {{w|selection bias}}. She uses this as part of her presentation, concluding that most people are therefore aware of what selection bias is.

{{w|Selection bias}} is when a survey or poll of some sort comes up with incorrect results due to those who were asked. For example, if you asked a group of people how many acres of land they own, your average number will be higher if you ask a group of farmers rather than a group of city residents.

The joke is that she is thus falling for the very thing she's trying to explain. A statistics conference is likely to have an audience consisting of professional statisticians, or at least people interested in the subject, and it is expected that most of them would thus be familiar with any mainstream statistical term, like selection bias. Had she asked a random sample of people in the street, many of them would likely not be sure what selection bias is. This effect is also the subject of [[2357: Polls vs the Street]].

This joke also ties into how statistics as a whole can be highly counter-intuitive and sometimes almost paradoxical, where things like the {{w|Monty Hall problem}} and {{w|survivorship bias}} lead people into thinking the answer to a problem is definitely in a place it's not. That Blondie, presumably a statistician herself, made this kind of (potentially deliberate) error is professionally embarrassing but not unprecedented.

The title text refers to {{w|Acquiescence bias}}, which is the tendency of people to respond positively to positive questions, for example, "Are you familiar with the famous webcomic {{xkcd}}?" is more likely to generate the answer yes than "Are you familiar with that webcomic for engineers that nobody else understands until they go to [[Main_Page|Explain xkcd]]?" Acquiescence bias is not a widely known concept,{{citation needed}} making the results of this poll suspect; similar to the selection bias example above, the reason that the general public seems familiar with acquiescence bias may be because the surveyor themself fell victim to promoting acquiescence bias.

==Transcript==
:[Blondie is standing on a podium behind a lectern with a microphone. She is standing under a hanging sign with large text. In front of the podium is an audience of five seated persons all with their hands raised above their heads. The audience includes two guys that look like Cueball, Hairbun, and two other persons with dark and blonde hair.]
:Sign: Statistics conference 2022
:Blondie: Raise your hand if you’re familiar with selection bias.
:Blondie: As you can see, it’s a term most people know...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Cognitive Bias]]

2617: Maps

2022-08-24T20:00:05Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ done

{{comic
| number = 2617
| date = May 9, 2022
| title = Maps
| image = maps.png
| titletext = OpenStreetMap was always pretty good but is also now *really* good? And Apple Maps's new zoomed-in design in certain cities like NYC and London is just gorgeous. It's cool how there are all these good maps now!
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Apple Maps}} is a navigation app released in 2012 by Apple as a competitor and replacement for the widely used {{w|Google Maps}}. It was quite bad when first released, attracting lots of criticism from iPhone users who were accustomed to Google Maps' more reliable and accurate navigation (for example, in [https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/apple-maps-gets-drivers-lost-in-australian-outback-police-warn/ one instance], it sent drivers 40 miles out of their way into the Australian desert with no water supply). Often, initial negative impressions about a product are retained for a long time, regardless of how it may have developed, particularly when there is an obviously superior competitor to adopt, and no compelling reason to revisit the alternatives. Hence Randall/Cueball is surprised to discover that Apple Maps is now pretty good. His surprise is exaggerated to the extent that it is comparable to finding that some fundamental constant of the universe has shifted, such as the speed of light or pi being changed to some other number.

The term "map" carries a double meaning within this comic. While it refers to an actual map, it also refers to the concept of {{w|Map-territory relation|"map and territory,"}} where your map is your model of the universe, and the territory is the universe itself. Cueball has a map of the universe where Apple Maps is bad, and is surprised to discover that the map no longer fits the territory, and thus has to update his map.

The title text mentions {{w|OpenStreetMap}}, an open-data crowd sourced geodatabase, which has also improved since Randall has last checked, potentially moving it from a "pretty good" score to a "really good" score. He also adds two examples on how the Apple Maps service has improved: zooming in on cities, like London or New York you can see features like trees and road markings, the latter usually not visible on other mapping services at all. He marvels at the number of "good" mapping options now!

Google Maps itself, and especially its satellite coverage outside the US, was considered quite bad when it launched in 2005. The maps displayed back then led to mockery among "real" cartographers that the service couldn't really be considered a map, either: It was called "map-like", with casual digital maps being so new at the time. However, Google's popular mapping approach revolutionized how maps were perceived all over the world. The approaches Google uses are explained in [https://blog.mapspeople.com/how-google-maps-is-made How Google Maps is Made]. This approach blurs the lines between traditional paper maps, GIS (geo-informational systems) and digitally rendered maps on screen. The process of "mapping" - as it is referenced here - has since moved significantly into the digital realm.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding his hands up and is staring down at his open palms. Megan and White hat is looking at him.]
:Cueball: You look around one day and realize the things you assumed were immutable constants of the universe have changed.
:Cueball: The foundations of our reality are shifting beneath our feet.
:Cueball: We live in a house built on sand.

:[Caption below panel]
:The day I discovered that Apple Maps is kind of good now

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

2594: Consensus Time

2022-08-24T19:59:33Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ clarify that the bill is still not active yet

{{comic
| number = 2594
| date = March 16, 2022
| title = Consensus Time
| image = consensus_time.png
| titletext = Now, you may argue that the varying hour lengths and feedback effects would cause chaos. To which I say, yeah, and I'm also curious to see how the weekday cycle interacts with it! So, you in?
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Daylight Saving Time}}, a [[:Category:Daylight saving time|recurring theme]] on xkcd, has recently started (in the US, as of this comic's publication). At the time of transition, clocks in (most of) North America are turned an hour forward. People frequently complain about the switch into (and out of) DST, due to it having been invented for the no-longer-relevant cause of saving coal during wartime. One of many complaints is that it will still "feel" like 5 am at 6, or whatever other case. A few days before this comic went up, the United States Senate {{w|Unanimous consent|unanimously}} passed the {{w|Sunshine Protection Act}}, a proposed law which would permanently abolish the biannual daylight savings adjustment, setting (what was) the local daylight savings time offset as the year-round time zone for all but a handful of states and territories rather than eliminating DST completely. This bill still needs to be debated and passed by the House of Representatives and then signed by the President.

[[Randall]], jumping on this topic, proposes a system that allows everybody to say when it "feels" like 9 am, and then the median 9 am will become the real 9 am. This happens every day. As the title text points out, this would be chaotic and, to put it bluntly, awful.{{citation needed}}

Presumably the times indicated on this diagram are as the clocks in this time zone would indicate, as opposed to an "ordinary" reference time.

The graph of points seems to follow a normal distribution, with a large number of votes being clustered around a given time, and giving a median of soon after 11AM. There are some extreme outliers, some before 6AM and some after 6PM, indicating some users being outside the normal range but no information on whether it's a malicious attempt.

Although the hours between midnight and 9 am are labelled as "longer" (which we can assume means each would take longer than an hour of ordinary time to pass) the effect on the remaining hours is left unstated. If we assume that the remaining hours pass at the usual rate then this would suggest that midnight would come sooner or later than normal and hence the next vote would occur sooner or later respectively. This implies the time in this time zone could drift further than a day (or even multiple days) from existing time-zones which could be what is meant by "feedback", "chaos" and the effect on weekdays mentioned in the title text.

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

:Proposal: Consensus Time

:Every day, anyone in the time zone can press a button when they feel like it's 9 AM. The next day, clocks slow down or speed up to match the median choice from the previous day.

:[A diagram representing the hours of two days with tick marks, with some of the tick marks longer than others and/or in boldface, and some of them labeled as follows:]

:Midnight
:6AM
:9AM today
:Median
:Noon
:6PM
:Midnight
:6AM
:9AM tomorrow
:Noon
:6PM
:Midnight

:[A brace connects the period from the second "Midnight" to "9AM tomorrow". It is labeled:]
:Longer hours

:[A scatterplot of 57 dots appears below the hashmarks, indicating the distribution of when participants pushed the "9 AM" button. The most extreme outliers are at roughly 3AM and 9PM, but they most densely cluster around a vertical dotted line labelled "Median" at approximately 11:15AM, interrupted as it passes through the main mass of dots at roughly the position of the 29th plotted dot from either end.]

:[Megan, facing to the left, and Cueball, facing to the right, each hold a handheld device. The devices are too small to see clearly but are making sounds, implying that each of them has just pressed the "9 AM" button.]
:Beep
:Beep

== Trivia ==
A [https://matthewminer.name/projects/consensus-time/ working version] has been created.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2594: Consensus Time

2022-08-24T19:58:11Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ done

{{comic
| number = 2594
| date = March 16, 2022
| title = Consensus Time
| image = consensus_time.png
| titletext = Now, you may argue that the varying hour lengths and feedback effects would cause chaos. To which I say, yeah, and I'm also curious to see how the weekday cycle interacts with it! So, you in?
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Daylight Saving Time}}, a [[:Category:Daylight saving time|recurring theme]] on xkcd, has recently started (in the US, as of this comic's publication). At the time of transition, clocks in (most of) North America are turned an hour forward. People frequently complain about the switch into (and out of) DST, due to it having been invented for the no-longer-relevant cause of saving coal during wartime. One of many complaints is that it will still "feel" like 5 am at 6, or whatever other case. A few days before this comic went up, the United States Senate {{w|Unanimous consent|unanimously}} passed the {{w|Sunshine Protection Act}}, which would permanently abolish the biannual daylight savings adjustment, setting (what was) the local daylight savings time offset as the year-round time zone for all but a handful of states and territories rather than eliminating DST completely.
[[Randall]], jumping on this topic, proposes a system that allows everybody to say when it "feels" like 9 am, and then the median 9 am will become the real 9 am. This happens every day. As the title text points out, this would be chaotic and, to put it bluntly, awful.{{citation needed}}

Presumably the times indicated on this diagram are as the clocks in this time zone would indicate, as opposed to an "ordinary" reference time.

The graph of points seems to follow a normal distribution, with a large number of votes being clustered around a given time, and giving a median of soon after 11AM. There are some extreme outliers, some before 6AM and some after 6PM, indicating some users being outside the normal range but no information on whether it's a malicious attempt.

Although the hours between midnight and 9 am are labelled as "longer" (which we can assume means each would take longer than an hour of ordinary time to pass) the effect on the remaining hours is left unstated. If we assume that the remaining hours pass at the usual rate then this would suggest that midnight would come sooner or later than normal and hence the next vote would occur sooner or later respectively. This implies the time in this time zone could drift further than a day (or even multiple days) from existing time-zones which could be what is meant by "feedback", "chaos" and the effect on weekdays mentioned in the title text.

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

:Proposal: Consensus Time

:Every day, anyone in the time zone can press a button when they feel like it's 9 AM. The next day, clocks slow down or speed up to match the median choice from the previous day.

:[A diagram representing the hours of two days with tick marks, with some of the tick marks longer than others and/or in boldface, and some of them labeled as follows:]

:Midnight
:6AM
:9AM today
:Median
:Noon
:6PM
:Midnight
:6AM
:9AM tomorrow
:Noon
:6PM
:Midnight

:[A brace connects the period from the second "Midnight" to "9AM tomorrow". It is labeled:]
:Longer hours

:[A scatterplot of 57 dots appears below the hashmarks, indicating the distribution of when participants pushed the "9 AM" button. The most extreme outliers are at roughly 3AM and 9PM, but they most densely cluster around a vertical dotted line labelled "Median" at approximately 11:15AM, interrupted as it passes through the main mass of dots at roughly the position of the 29th plotted dot from either end.]

:[Megan, facing to the left, and Cueball, facing to the right, each hold a handheld device. The devices are too small to see clearly but are making sounds, implying that each of them has just pressed the "9 AM" button.]
:Beep
:Beep

== Trivia ==
A [https://matthewminer.name/projects/consensus-time/ working version] has been created.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2590: I Shouldn't Complain

2022-08-24T19:56:00Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ done

{{comic
| number = 2590
| date = March 7, 2022
| title = I Shouldn't Complain
| image = i_shouldnt_complain.png
| titletext = Bald-faced hornets are only a 2 on the Schmidt pain index, so I shouldn't complain. The tennis ball ejected from the dryer exhaust vent could have ricocheted off the nest of a much higher-scoring insect before knocking me off the ladder. Really, I'm lucky.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] has had a very unfortunate experience of falling into a garbage can and being repeatedly stung by wasps. [[Cueball]] expresses an appropriate amount of horror about it. However, Megan seeks to downplay this experience by saying "I shouldn't complain" and that she's "lucky" it wasn't worse. This has become a {{tvtropes|AppealToWorseProblems|habit in Western culture}}, like comparing minor issues to "kids starving in Africa" or war-torn countries, notably Ukraine (this comic was published during the {{w|2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine}} starting in February 2022 and was ongoing when this comic came out on March 7).

Humans have a tendency to re-calibrate their mental scales to place their actual experience in the center. Cueball, who has never experienced being trapped for hours with stinging insects, rates this in comparison to not being trapped at all. Megan, however, rates it in comparison to other uncomfortable places a person could be stuck.

The title text explains how Megan came into such a mess. A tennis ball used in a clothes dryer got stuck in the exhaust vent, and was shot out of the house through the exhaust vents hole in the wall. Then it hit the wasp nest and ricocheted over on Megan knocking her off the ladder she was standing on. Since she was close to the nest, she may actually have been up on the ladder in order to see if she could remove the nest. The fall from the ladder made her end up in the trash can where she could not get out. The angry wasps began stinging her legs. This continued for two hours.

In the title text, Megan continues to downplay her experience even though it was very painful. She says that the wasp nest was of the type {{w|Dolichovespula maculata|bald-faced hornets}}.

The {{w|Schmidt sting pain index}} is a scale developed by entomologist {{w|Justin O. Schmidt}} to rank the relative pain caused by different stinging insects. This scale ranges from 0 (for stings that are completely ineffective) to 4, which denotes torturous and nearly incapacitating pain (originally, Schmidt only classed one species as a 4, but two additional species have since been added at this level). Megan says her stings were a {{w|Schmidt_sting_pain_index#Pain_Level_2|2 on the scale}}, which denotes "familiar" pain, comparable to that of the common {{w|Western Honey Bee}}. Most people would find that experience incredibly painful, particularly since she endured multiple stings over a long period of time, but Megan points out that there exist insects with more painful stings.

Megan concludes that she'd been lucky, based on the argument that she theoretically could have endured something worse than she did. The joke, of course, is that by almost any subjective standard, her experience was deeply unlucky.

She also further downplays the situation by focusing attention on the sting pain index instead of the sting lethal capacity, described by the [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3810666/ author of the pain index]. The two are not necessarily equivalent. Let's assume that all insects in the colony affected stung Megan at least once over her two hour ordeal. A colony capable of sustaining an attack over two hours would probably be at least as large as the typical [https://www.rescue.com/latest-buzz/outdoor-pests/bald-faced-bully/#:~:text=Bald%2Dfaced%20hornet%20nests%20often,hornet%20workers%20enter%20and%20exit. maximum size for a bald-faced hornet nest]. Such an attack might (depending on number of attackers and the species of wasp) deliver enough venom to kill 84 kg (185 pounds) worth of mice (or human?). Given such an attack, Megan would probably not be standing around in routine conversation, casually discussing the incident. She would far more likely be in a hospital bed, and in a [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32252275/ gruesome fight for her life].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are standing together. Cueball has his hands on his chin, shocked.]
:Cueball: I can't believe you fell headfirst into a garbage can and were stuck there for two hours while wasps stung your exposed legs!
:Megan: I shouldn't complain! Lots of people have been stuck for longer in worse places.
:Megan: Really, I'm lucky.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The more unpleasant someone's experience is, the more they apologize for complaining because it could be worse.

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

2589: Outlet Denier

2022-08-24T19:55:05Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ good enough

{{comic
| number = 2589
| date = March 4, 2022
| title = Outlet Denier
| image = outlet_denier.png
| titletext = There are regularly placed bumps on the underside just the right size to press the rocker switch on the power strip.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the fifth installment in the series of [[:Category:Cursed Connectors|Cursed Connectors]] and presents Cursed Connectors #78: The Outlet Denier.

The outlet denier connector in this comic is the large connector to the right. It has a plug on the downward side that is supposed to go into a {{w|power strip}} or other type of outlet. It has two long bars extending up and down off the plug, as well as a D shape on one side with another, slightly less long bar on the other side of the D, that has the cord connected to it. The purpose of the outlet denier is to block access to as many other ports on a power strip as possible, hence the name. It is designed to work with many different types of power strips, such as the standard one displayed in the comic, as well as ones with the sockets rotated 90 degrees (the long bar extending to the cord) and other types of outlets like the triple outlet on the end of many extension cords and two dimensional power strips that extend a couple of outlets left and right as well as up and down (the D shape on the side). The extreme bars to each side may also prevent plugging the Denier into an outlet close to the floor, forcing the user to use a power strip or similar item for it.

There is an example power strip displayed to the left of the outlet denier, used to help explain that the outlet denier is designed to block as many other sockets on a power strip as possible. The power strip is presumably of the type with a {{w|Light_switch#Rocker|rocker switch}} that can turn the entire power bar off. This power bar has five outlets.

Many appliances require transformers or other large components on their power cord. Sometimes these "power bricks" are built around the plug. The comic is making fun of these types of power bricks, as they often block access to other sockets on a power strip or wall outlet. This can be really annoying when you want to plug in many different appliances into a power strip.

Other plugs are deliberately designed to block the other half of a duplex outlet, preventing users from plugging anything else in that could overload the circuit. The comic could be depicting an extreme case of a cumbersome connector shape designed to block an entire power strip, as the appliance connected to it uses so much power that a single extra item plugged into the power strip would cause problems.

The title text says that the outlet denier has bumps on the underside of the long bar that would match up with the location of the rocker switch no matter which outlet of the strip it is plugged into. It's not clear whether this will turn the power switch off or force it always on. But either way, it gets in the way of the user being able to control the power themselves.

If it forces it off, then the Outlet Denier cannot even be used. So to at least assume someone might actually use it, it must force it on. Since there are nothing else that can go into the power strip, it is not that important it it is possible to switch it off though.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Needs clarification}}
:[To the left is a power strip with a rocker switch at the top and five outlets, and a connected wire goes from the top off to the left. To the right is the plug that should go into one of the outlets. A curved wire comes from the right and connects to the end of the connector, which is longer than a normal plug. The prongs are visible underneath where the box ends. But instead of ending there, there is a bar horizontal to the first part, which is longer than the power strip itself. There is a D shaped bar attached to this long bar, centred on the middle of the bar. If it was plugged in, the long bar would cover all the other outlets of the power strip.]

:[Text above the image:] Cursed Connectors #78
:[Text below the image:] The outlet denier

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Cursed Connectors]]

2588: Party Quadrants

2022-08-24T19:53:39Z

172.70.214.79: /* Explanation */ good enough

{{comic
| number = 2588
| date = March 2, 2022
| title = Party Quadrants
| image = party_quadrants.png
| titletext = Single-elimination might provide more drama, but I think we can all agree that a comprehensive numerical scoring system will let us better judge the party's winner.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic there is a graph divided into quadrants to visualize the range of possibilities of fun for [[Randall]] and for guests at parties hosted by Randall. The top and bottom halves are labeled as "fun for guests" with "no" in the top quadrant and "yes" in the bottom quadrant. The left and right halves labeled as "fun for me", i.e. fun for the host Randall, with "no" in the left quadrant and "yes" in the right quadrant.

In the bottom right quadrant (which indicates fun for everyone), are two separately outlined but largely overlapping regions, like a [[:Category:Venn diagrams|Venn diagram]]. One is the appropriate zone for a party (in general) and the other other applies to Randall's own birthday party. They are both vaguely ellipsoid and both enclose a reasonable to nearly maximal amount of fun in both dimensions. The key difference is that the range of the birthday party is skewed towards being marginally more for Randall's enjoyment, but is still firmly in the bottom right quadrant. By contrast, the range for a party is weighted more towards "Fun for Guests" and less towards "Fun for Me", as befits an event hopefully hosted to entertain its guests and make ''them'' feel special.

Omitting the extreme edges may indicate that there are no points there because it's impossible to completely please everybody, or it may be a warning that a party should not be such extreme fun that it gets out of hand nor let the balance of fun stray too far from equal. There are no specific points labeled in this quadrant.

The joke is that the only data point, presumably Randall's latest idea for a party, is in the upper right quadrant, signifying that it is only fun for Randall. It is very far right and fairly close to the top, indicating extreme fun for Randall and not fun at all for anyone else. The point is labeled "Sporcle geography tournament with snacks! Live-updating scoreboard, no distracting music". The elements of Randall's "fun" party include:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Element
!Comment
|-
|Sporcle
|{{w|Sporcle}} is a trivia website. Trivia games are a lot of fun for some of people, while others get bored by their "trivial" nature and would rather spend time talking, dancing, etc.
|-
|Geography trivia
|Randall is a geography geek (as evidenced by his [[:Category:Bad_Map_Projections|fascination with map projections]]). Needless to say, many people are not, so a geography trivia quiz would be one of the worst types for many people.
|-
|Tournament
|Many people might prefer not to have competition at the party, especially considering the host might be a little too invested in the outcome. The title text further elaborates on this, debating possible scoring options.
|-
|No music
|Randall tries to bill this as a positive, that the music won't distract people trying to focus on Sporcle. Indeed, even a well-planned party that considers the interests of all guests would require appropriate music (some people prefer a quiet gathering over a loud party). That said, music on the whole is something people enjoy, so excluding it would make this party even less enjoyable for potential guests.
|-
|Snacks
|At least there would be snacks, which is another common element of parties. It's hard to imagine why people would object to snacks, so this is perhaps the only item that would be enjoyable both for Randall and his guests. But they only move the party down slightly in the graph, not enough to get this party into the "fun for guests" quadrant.
|-
|Live-updating scoreboard
|To a software geek, this would be something that would be fascinating, both to develop and watch in action. To most people, not so much - particularly if said scoreboard was developed while the party was taking place (In that case, the guests may not even get around to playing the trivia game).
|}

In the caption it is mentioned that for some reason, Randall keeps "accidentally" planning parties in the top right quadrant (fun for him, not for guests). Presumably he is so caught up in what he considers entertaining that he doesn't take into account the interest level of the guests. This is regardless of which party-context, and well outside either of the appropriate zones. This diagram though indicates that he know this is the case, but maybe he is first able to place the point on the diagram after the party, when he realizes that his guest leaves early (again) out of boredom.

The title text elaborates on the Sporcle trivia game night that Randall has planned in the upper right quadrant. It makes mention of a comprehensive, and perhaps overly complicated, scoring system to determine who is the party's winner. That he's talking about "winning the party" suggests he is fundamentally misunderstanding the point of parties -- they're supposed to be fun for everyone attending, not (exclusively) a competition.

See the previous comic [[2587: For the Sake of Simplicity]], which seems to be a bit related to what Randall thinks is fun, whereas other might not.

==Transcript==
:[A solid black lined square chart is divided into four quadrants with two light gray lines. Above the chart the left and right column are labeled, and above the labels there is a bracket with a label written on the bracket. Similarly there is labels to the left, of the top and bottom rows, with a bracket indicating those also with a label written on the bracket:]
:Top: Fun for me
:Top: No Yes
:Left: Fun for guests
:Left: No Yes

:[The top left quadrant is empty. The same goes for the bottom left quadrant, except labels for items in the bottom right quadrant is written in the bottom left quadrant. In the top right quadrant, there is a single black point which is almost touching the right edge of the chart, and lies about a quarter of the way down from the top towards the gray line. The point is labeled:]
:Label: Sporcle geography tournament
:Label: with snacks!
:Label: Live-updating scoreboard, no distracting music

:[In the bottom right quadrant there is a Venn diagram. It consist of two skewed ellipsoids, one with a solid line overlapping the other with a dotted line. The solid lined region goes further to the left, and the dotted line region goes further to the top, but both are mainly in the bottom right region, and the bottom right section is completely overlapping. Both regions are indicated with an arrow that goes to them from a label. The solid lined regions label is written to the left and it is entirely inside the bottom left quadrant. The dotted lined regions label is written in both of the lower quadrants, thoug mainly above the Venn diagram in the bottom right quadrant.]
:Solid lined label: Appropriate zone for a party
:Dotted lined label: Appropriate for my birthday party

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Venn diagrams]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]