explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2991: Beamsplitters

2024-09-29T14:14:23Z

172.71.150.160:

{{comic
| number = 2991
| date = September 27, 2024
| title = Beamsplitters
| image = beamsplitters_2x.png
| imagesize = 479x385px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Under quantum tax law, photons sent through a beamsplitter don't actually choose which path they took, or incur a tax burden, until their wavefunction collapses when the power is sold.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SOLAR PANEL HIDDEN DEEP IN MEDIAWIKI'S HQ - More on title text and the colapse of wavefunction correlation with to whom and when tax should be paid. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|beamsplitter}} is a device, usually made from a pair of prisms or a half-silvered mirror, that splits a beam of light into two beams going in different directions. Beamsplitters are used in numerous scientific instruments such as microscopes and (here) telescopes. In a microscope, a beamsplitter may be used to direct the imaging beam to the user's eyes, or to a recording device such as a camera, or to both at once so as to allow visual aiming at specific targets at the same time as conducting scientific measurements upon them. Beam-splitting in order to simultaneously analyse a single 'ray' of light with two or more different types of detectors is also scientifically useful.

In this comic, a beamsplitter is being used in a large-scale telescope to "steal" part of the incident light beam and direct it to a {{w|Solar cell|photovoltaic cell}}. The power generated is then sold on the local grid. The scientists could be {{w|Embezzlement|pocketing the proceeds}}, or possibly using them to help pay the telescope operation's bills. This could be dark humor, implying that surreptitious and legally/ethically questionable strategies are needed to fund scientists and their projects. The comic pushes the point by supposing that the practice had become so commonplace that the {{w|International Astronomical Union}} (IAU) got wind of it, and has acted to ban the practice.

Most optical instruments, even large telescopes, are unlikely to capture enough light during regular operations to make the "banned" strategy feasible. Moreover, the ban is ham-fisted, as it makes legitimate scientific operation of telescopes profoundly more difficult. For the sake of the joke, both of these issues are ignored.

The telescope shown, without the beam splitter, is a reflecting telescope of the general form of a {{w|Gregorian telescope}}, or a derivative, while the sending of (a fraction of) the light out the side is implemented in the manner of a {{w|Nasmyth telescope}}.

The title text humorously conflates financial tax laws, applicable to the sale of the {{w|Abstracting electricity|"stolen" electricity}}, with the laws of quantum physics, governing the behavior of the photons that are generating the electricity.

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

:[Cross section of a telescope with some parts of the image darkened to represent the path of light, with portions where the light would be more concentrated being darker]

:[Labels with arrows as they appear left to right, top to bottom:]
:Incoming Light
:Primary Mirror
:Secondary Mirror
:Beamsplitter
:Sensor
:Secret Solar Panel
:Power Sold To Grid

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Astronomy News: The International Astronomical Union has finally banned beamsplitters, optical devices used by scientists to embezzle light from their instruments.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2972: Helium Synthesis

2024-08-15T05:38:44Z

172.71.150.160: /* Explanation */ also ICs

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

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

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

Hairbun suggests investigating the origin of helium. Cueball's study reveals that most helium came from {{w|Big Bang nucleosynthesis}}, the process that occurred shortly after the {{w|Big Bang}}, when the first elements including helium were formed. Hairy tasks the team to figure out how to recreate that process, which is not actually possible for a contemporary business organization.{{cn}} Nonetheless, the team builds a machine capable of it. While one would hope they would realize it would obliterate them, ironically that disadvantage seems to escape their attention in their tightly focused drive towards their ill-fated mission.

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

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

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

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

:[Hairy, Megan and Hairbun are working on a large machine labeled "Big Bang nucleosynthesis."]

:[Two panels depict another Big Bang, followed by various stages of cosmic development, including galaxies and planets forming.]

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

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

2972: Helium Synthesis

2024-08-15T04:51:20Z

172.71.150.160: /* Explanation */ rm ,

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

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

This comic explores the challenges of sourcing {{w|helium}} by taking an extremely long-term perspective. A group of people at a company meeting are discussing the recurring problem of {{w|helium shortage}}s, a real-world issue due to helium's limited availability on Earth. Helium is a non-renewable resource that is extracted from natural gas reserves, and its scarcity can affect industries that rely on it, such as medical imaging, scientific research, and the party supplies industry.[https://www.marketplace.org/2023/01/19/heliums-been-rising-in-price-and-its-bringing-businesses-down/]

One of the characters suggests investigating the origin of helium. The study reveals that most helium originates from {{w|Big Bang nucleosynthesis}}, the process that occurred shortly after the Big Bang, when the first elements including helium were formed. The team decide to figure out how to recreate this process, which is not actually possible for a contemporary business organization.{{cn}}

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

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

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

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

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

2913: Periodic Table Regions

2024-03-29T20:35:12Z

172.71.150.160:

{{comic
| number = 2913
| date = March 29, 2024
| title = Periodic Table Regions
| image = periodic_table_regions_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x501px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Cesium-133, let it be. Cesium-134, let it be even more.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a LAWFUL NEUTRAL MURDER WEAPON COMMONLY USED TO MAKE PEOPLE'S VOICES SQUEAKY- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

=== Table Sections ===

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Section
! scope="col" | Real table
! scope="col" | Elements contained
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| Slightly fancy protons || Hydrogen || Hydrogen || Hydrogen atoms are a proton and an electron. Since the electron can be removed and you can call that a Hydrogen+ ion, hydrogen is a slightly fancy proton.
|-
| Weird dirt || Group 1 and 2 metals || Lithium, Beryllium ||
|-
| Regular dirt || Group 1 and 2 metals || Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium
|-
| Ends in a number, let it slumber. Ends in a letter, not much better. || Group 1 and 2 metals || Rubidium, Strontium, Cesium,Barium, Francium, Radium || Highly reactive metals, some of which are commonly used as radioactive isotopes (which are known by a number).
|-
| Boring alloy metals. Probably crucial to the spark plug industry or something. (But one of them is radioactive so stay on your toes. || The left transition metals || Scandium, Yttrium, Zirconium, Niobium, Molybdeneum, Technetium, Hafnium, Tantalum, Tungsten, Rhenium
|-
| $$$ || The platinum group || Rhodium, Palladium, Silver, Iridium, Platinum, Gold ||
|-
| Lawful Neutral || Noble Gases || Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon || These elements are mostly unreactive. UwU
|-
| You are here || Mixed || Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus || Elements involved in biological processes
|-
| Safety Goggles required || Halogens || Fluorine, Sulfur, Chlorine, Selenium, Bromium || These elements are highly reactive. OwO
|}

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

:[A periodic table with regions labeled.]

:[Hydrogen:]
:Slightly fancy protons
:[Lithium and beryllium:]
:Weird dirt
:[4 elements below:]
:Regular dirt
:[6 elements further below:]
:Ends in a number, let it slumber
:ends in a letter, not much better
:[Left side of the d-block:]
:Boring alloy metals
:Probably critical to the spark plug industry or something
:(but one of them is radioactive so stay on your toes)
:[Most of the top row of the d-block + aluminium:]
:Regular metals
:[Between "boring" and "weird metals":]
:$$$$
:[Boron:]
:Boron (fool's carbon)
:[Top-center of p-block:]
:You are here
:[Top-right of p-block, excluding the rightmost column:]
:Safety goggles required
:[5 uppermost elements of the rightmost column:]
:Lawful neutral
:[Iodine and radon:]
:Very specific health problems
:[Below and to the right of "weird metals":]
:Murder weapons
:[Bottom row of d- and p-blocks:]
:Don't bother learning their names - they're not staying long
:[f-block below the rest of the table, arrow pointing to a gap in the third column:]
:Whoever figures out a better way to fit these up there gets the next Nobel Prize

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Chemistry]]

819: Five-Minute Comics: Part 1

2024-03-21T20:19:06Z

172.71.150.160: uwu

{{comic
| number = 819
| date = November 15, 2010
| title = Five-Minute Comics: Part 1
| image = five minute comics part 1.png
| titletext = The wolves thin the RAID arrays, removing the slowest and weakest disks to keep the average seek speed high.
}}

This is the first of three "five-minute comics" Randall posted during a week in November 2010. The introduction to the comic explains everything you need to know about the circumstances behind it.

Randall obviously made more than three of these five minutes comics, and one of them was published later, for a short period of time by a mistake, but an android xkcd browser picked it up while it was on-line and saved it. Since then it has been added to explain xkcd. So here is a complete list of all four comics in the entire [[:Category:Five-minute comics|Five-minute comics]] series:
*[[819: Five-Minute Comics: Part 1]]
*[[820: Five-Minute Comics: Part 2]]
*[[821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3]]
*[[Five-Minute Comics: Part 4]]

==Explanations==
# In astronomy, an "approach" is when two bodies come abnormally close to one another, but not close enough to crash. {{w|Jupiter}}, as most probably know, is the fifth planet in our solar system. Its approach to Earth in September 2010 was the closest seen in many years - in fact, the next time it will come that close will be in 2022. In the comic, this is indicated by Jupiter hovering right above Earth and talking to the characters. Of course, Jupiter is not only planet-sized, but is ''enormous'' compared to Earth; in fact, Earth would fit quite comfortably into the {{w|Atmosphere of Jupiter#Great Red Spot|red spot}} of Jupiter. Gravitational slingshots are used by deep-space probes to gain speed by approaching a planet and then leaving that planet; the gravity fields of the sun and the planet changes the trajectory of the probe, and the end result is an extremely fuel-efficient way of gaining speed during space travel. Jupiter is commonly used for this purpose because it's the most massive planet in our solar system.
# The comic in the middle left features the lyrics to the Johnny Cash song {{w|A Boy Named Sue}}, but with "Sue" replaced with "Trig." Inexplicably, Trig is a name that people actually give their children. The most notable example in the US - and probably the inspiration for Randall drawing this comic - is Trig Palin, the son of Alaskan politician Sarah Palin. Trig is also a widely accepted abbreviation for the mathematical field of {{w|trigonometry}}, and it sounds similar to "twig," so one can imagine how a person with such a name might be ridiculed.
# A child getting trapped in a well is an alien experience to some parts of the Western world, but it's quite a serious problem in places where wells are commonplace. Here, though, rather than attempt to rescue the little girl, Cueball instead tries to grant her wish of owning a pony before her imminent demise; a pony is a stereotypical thing for a little girl to want. Of course, since ponies don't fit into wells too easily,{{cn}} he has to stuff it in, which appears to be quite painful for the pony.
# The server room of a large datacenter would be an unusual place to return "back to nature", to say the least. {{w|Reintroduction}} refers to the process of taking a population of animals raised in captivity and bringing them back to the wild; this is a delicate process, as being raised in captivity affects the natural development of skills the animal needs to survive. In fact, Wikipedia has a page specifically about the challenges of {{w|wolf reintroduction}}. Needless to say, reintroducing wolves to a server room is neither a good idea nor OSHA-approved. Cueball may also be referencing a computer program named "reintroduction" or something similar when he says "We started a reintroduction program".
# Directly below the previous comic, Cueball is telling a "yo mama" joke. Such jokes are usually told in jest, and aren't really targeted at a particular person's mother; however, in this case, Cueball ''was'' attempting to make an honest observation about the listener's mother, and when he discovers his mistake, he realizes that she is, in fact, quite a nice person. Alternatively, Cueball is insulting the femininity of the listener's mother, and the masculinity of the listener's father.
# {{w|Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}} wrote an opera called ''{{w|The Magic Flute}}'', though the comic seems to attribute it to {{w|Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach}}. {{w|Richard Wagner}} wrote a series of operas called {{w|Der Ring des Nibelungen}}, or, more commonly, the ring cycle. Here, Randall interprets the ring cycle as some kind of motorcycle, while the teleporting magic flute comes from video games: in both ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', the player can obtain a magic flute item that has teleportation powers. In the Magic Tree House series, the magic flute is an actual magical flute that does magic when played, although it does not teleport people. The caption implies that even Randall is not sure what meaning this comic has. However, as he has made a mash up of Mozart, Bach and Wagner - this must be intentional - so ''he'' does not attribute the Magic Flute to Bach! Also, due to the anachronistic nature of this comic, it could imply a pun, where they are going "Bach to the future."
# This comic shows how people rate the "hotness" of girls. Glamour magazines have desensitized many people to photo-edited models with large amounts of make-up, so the model gets a "meh" reaction. The girl in biology class, by contrast, is not only "real" by comparison, but is actually a viable choice for dating, so she is given a 2 star rating. If the same girl from bio class is wearing your shirt, that usually means you've had sex the night before, and she spent the night at your apartment, hence the need to get dressed in one of your shirts; this possibility earns the highest rating, 4 stars. Here it starts taking a turn for the worse. If wearing one of ''your'' shirts means she spent the night with ''you'', logically, wearing one of your ''mom's'' shirts means she spent the night with ''your mom''. This earns a "Wat!" reaction. Finally, human skin is not generally designed to detach from its owner.{{Citation needed}} If the girl from your bio class is wearing your mom's skin like a suit, it means she probably murdered your mom and skinned her. This is a reference to serial killer {{w|Ed Gein}}, who (among other things) made suits out of the skin of some of his victims. To this, Cueball can only scream.

The title text refers to the wolves thinning the RAID array. A {{w|RAID|RAID array}} is a way of spreading data redundantly across multiple hard drives, such that 100% of the data is still recoverable if some number of drives go down. This number can be set arbitrarily, as long as you have at least one more disk than the number you want, but it reduces your total storage space accordingly. The seek speed of a drive is how fast it can find a specific point of data on its platter; thus, the wolves are essentially killing the slowest drives, implementing a kind of natural selection to "evolve" the drives to be faster. "Thinning the RAID array" is a play on words. In the ecological sense, it refers to eliminating some members of the population to allow the remaining ones to thrive more successfully. In the datacenter sense, "thin provisioning" refers to the practice of marking an intent to use disk storage for a specific purpose but allowing it to be used for something else until actually needed (as opposed to "thick provisioning" which immediately reserves the storage space, even if unused).

==Transcript==
Because of a family illness, instead of regular comics, this week I'll be sharing some strips that I drew as part of a game I played with friends. Each comic had to be written and drawn in five minutes. -- Randall

====Comic #1====
:[Cueball and Megan stand facing each other.]
:Cueball: Jupiter will make its closest approach to Earth in decades.

:[Cueball points behind Megan, and she turns around.]
:Cueball: In fact, here it comes now!

:[Jupiter, about the size of the characters' heads, hovers into the frame at about head-height.]
:Jupiter: Hey, guys.

:[Jupiter continues to hover through the frame as the characters watch it go.]
:Jupiter: Anyone need a gravitational slingshot?
:Megan: No, I'm good.
:Jupiter: Aight.

====Comic #2====
:[Cueball sits on a box, playing a guitar.]
:Cueball: ...Now I don't blame him 'cause he ran and hid,
:Cueball: but the meanest thing that he ever did
:Cueball: was before he left, he went and named me "Trig."

====Comic #3====
:[Cueball looks down a well.]
:Cueball: Oh God, a little girl is trapped down this well!

:[Cueball runs off screen.]

:[Cueball returns, leading a pony.]
:Cueball: It's okay, we got you that pony you always wanted!

:[Cueball tries to cram the pony down the well with the aid of a large stick.]
:Cueball: Get... in... there...
:Cueball: Ugh!

====Comic #4====
:[Cueball and Megan stand in a server room. ]
:Cueball: I like to get back to nature by coming out here to the server room.
:Cueball: The warmth, the whirr of the drives, the drone of the fans, the howl of the wolves...
:Megan: Wolves?
:Cueball: Yeah, we started a reintroduction program.
:Wolf: Awoooooo

====Comic #5====
:[Cueball stands by himself in the frame.]
:Cueball: Yo momma's so masculine that she... oh, wait, that's your dad.
:Cueball: Is your mom the lady over by the door? Aww, she looks nice!

====Comic #6====
:[Cueball runs toward another man who is wearing a powdered wig, holding a gun in one hand, and a flute in the other. Behind him, someone is chasing him on a motorcycle.]
:Cueball: Bach, activate the magic flute and teleport us home! Wagner's right behind me on his Ring Cycle!

:Why did I ''draw'' this?

====Comic #7====
:Hotness Ratings:
:[A close up of a girl with wavy hair.]
:Incredibly made-up girl on magazine cover.
:Girl: Airbrush!
:[Inset of Cueball: "Meh."]

:[An average girl.]
:Girl in your bio class.
:[Inset of Cueball: "Two out of four stars."]

:[Girl with mussed hair in over-sized men's shirt.]
:Girl in your bio class wearing one of your shirts.
:Girl: Want some breakfast?
:[Cueball: "Four out of four stars."]

:[Girl with another sort of shirt speaking to an older lady.]
:Girl in your bio class wearing one of your mom's shirts.
:Girl: Thanks for the great night.
:[Cueball: "Wat!"]

:[Creepy-looking girl.]
:Girl in your bio class wearing your mom's skin like a suit.
:Girl: Give Mommy a hug!
:[Cueball, screaming: "AAAAAAAA"]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Five-minute comics| 01]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Five-minute comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Furries]]

Talk:1028: Communication

2024-03-17T01:05:31Z

172.71.150.160: /* Religious reference? */ new section

I can't decide if the irony that this comic didn't communicate its idea well was intentional or if I just didn't get it at first because I'm dumb... {{unsigned ip|71.240.171.146}}
:Don't worry. Not everybody can read "international," so it may be a bit hard to interpret. Really, he's just citing John R. Trimble: ''"Clear writers assume, with a pessimism born of experience, that whatever isn't plainly stated the reader will invariably misconstrue."'' In this case, after several examples of ''poor'' communication (and the consequences) the only ''clear'' communicator is [[Beret Guy]], who rather adeptly shows rather than tells [[Cueball]] of the peril. Visual [http://wordnik.com/words/prolix prolix]? Maybe. As you say, that may be the point. -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 02:44, 19 August 2012 (UTC)
:Well, it wouldn't be that you're dumb, it would be that you're "bad at reading comics" :) [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:43, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

I don't believe that the holes are only one person deep. It seems as though the heads are level with the ground just to show who is falling into each hole at that moment. [[Special:Contributions/108.20.154.235|108.20.154.235]] 11:20, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

After panel 5-6, does WHG think that he actually communicated the left hole successfully to the girl, given that he does not understand her "hole!" message as a warning of the right hole? I remember that's how I read it the first time. {{unsigned ip|87.104.184.2}}

Where does the name Harry come from? Is this established usage on the wiki? Dropping it in the explanation out of nowhere is confusing. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:44, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

:Using names to refer to the characters was a tradition that was officially started back on the blog when Berg [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=770:_All_the_Girls guest authored] one of the explanations. This makes it easier for everyone to be sure they are referring to the same character, and they're also cute fan-made names. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:04, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

::Sure sure, I get that, but [[Cueball]] and [[Danish]] have pages where confused users can go to understand where the name came from. "Harry" just drops out of nowhere here. Does he appear in other comics? Should we make a page for him? [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 16:19, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

:::I don't think we call him Harry, but there are other comics where a character with a little bit of hair shows up. If he shows up in at least 3 comics you can go ahead and create the category and his character page. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 17:04, 22 December 2012 (UTC)

::::He was of course referring to [[Hairy]] which has been clarified long time ago. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:11, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

I disagree that the moral is that the best way to teach is to show someone, I believe the moral is that teaching hasn't happened until the learner understands. If you succeed in communicating by talking, that's great, if you succeed by showing, that's great too. However, if you try to teach by talking and the other person doesn't understand, you've failed. If you try to teach by showing and the other person doesn't understand, you've also failed. I'm going to make a change to include that. If anyone objects, revert it. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 20:35, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
:I agree with you (that is a first ;-) I think you forgot to implement the change you were advocating for, and said you would make. I have tried to make it clear that it is about communication not about how you do it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:20, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

I took the moral to be that you need to not immediately jump to what you're you're saying, rather talk a little first. [[User:Banak|Banak]] ([[User talk:Banak|talk]]) 17:00, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

I don't get what part of "there's a hole over there" is so hard to understand that you need to show them it for people not to be confused. Really, this comic must've been based on some special kind of stupid people.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.208|141.101.81.208]] 07:56, 4 June 2014 (UTC)

:Are you familiar with the concept of a metaphor? Did you miss the xkcd comic where Randall himself pointed out that models are imperfect representations of abstract ideas (iirc, the example in question was gravity as it relates to spacetime, "what's pulling the planet down into the grid then?") It isn't lost on me that this comment is a year old, I just... it felt like it necessitated a response. If you're getting caught up in the specifics of this being a literal situation, then it's you who has missed the point. [[User:Aepokk|Aepokk]] ([[User talk:Aepokk|talk]]) 08:55, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

:(yeah, I know this is more than three years old) Aside from what Aepokk already wrote, if I told you "Пази, рупа на путу у оном правцу", would you immediately understand what I was trying to communicate to you? [[User:BytEfLUSh|BytEfLUSh]] ([[User talk:BytEfLUSh|talk]]) 23:06, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

«It is very typical for the character Beret Guy to succeed, especially with something difficult, where White Hat fails.» I would be grateful for examples that show how this is typical. :-) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.106|162.158.150.106]] 19:26, 12 February 2017 (UTC)

I think this is an examination of communication '''gaps'''. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 02:42, 30 August 2019 (UTC)

== Religious reference? ==

Is the similarity between this and the common Christian evangelism explanation a coincidence? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.160|172.71.150.160]] 01:05, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

User talk:NZUlysses

2024-03-01T02:39:45Z

172.71.150.160:

[[File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg]]

NZUlysses

User:NZUlysses

2024-03-01T02:39:13Z

172.71.150.160:

[[File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg]]

NZUlysses

Talk:2892: Banana Prices

2024-03-01T02:34:57Z

172.71.150.160:

[[File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg]]


Is it a linear extrapolation? Or does it only appear so because the Y axis is logarithmic? Inflation is logarithmic, since it's expressed in percentages. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:04, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
:Well, the lines of extrapolation are (invoked as) linear, by dint of the height above the baseline being preconverted to a logarithmic function of the represented axial value. Rather than taking exponential-style extrapolation of data and 'happening' to linearise it through the subsequent transformation, it is almost certainly going to have been merely establishing some trend point(s) through which such an exponential would pass and using that to directly guide the linear plot that (on the converted scale) is the functionally equivalent result to doing it with ''every'' point. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.77|172.71.178.77]] 17:26, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

OK, so... my reading of the comic after studying it for a while is that Randall is making a sophisticated meta-joke about 'lying with data" and unreliable precision and how easy it is to be fooled. He knows, of course, that this graph's "prediction" is completely arbitrary and is likely to be VERY wrong. He is intentionally breaking a whole set of statistical best practices in this graph. If so, I think this comic is one of the most-layerd and subtle he's ever done. You have to know a lot about statistical best practices to see what he's really doing here. .. What's so interesting to me is him using the voice of the caption-writer -- usually good ol' reliable Randall -- to actually be the butt of the joke. ... If someone wants to claim that this is more sarcasm than "unreliable narrator," I guess that's a reasonable interpreation, but the use of the word "probably" in the caption makes me think we're supposed to take the caption-writer seriously. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 18:38, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
:I don't know, I think meta-humor is typically reserved for the title text. I think the comic is a cheap gag about bananas and that the line will eventually become outdated, and and it's oversimplified so that the logic of his joke is clear. The caption is written in a similar speech style to the quote, and I think the title text is Randall's admission that the graph isn't the best. I don't think flaws in the graph are intentional as part of some humor on graph design, just a consequence of making the graph clear enough to not be distracting from the joke. [[User:Kittyabbygirl|Kittyabbygirl]] ([[User talk:Kittyabbygirl|talk]]) 21:04, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
:I think the comic is about how obvious it is that wealthy people are influencing our societies, because they know nothing about our lives, and then kind of how you can comment on that without as much lashback if you criticize yourself as well. Or course, people are getting less and less skilled as we more and more do what we are told and influenced instead of what we would find on our own. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.168|108.162.245.168]] 01:25, 10 February 2024 (UTC)

Bananas are a special case: Basically we have a monoculture. With no genetic variations, bananas are highly vulnerable to the emergence of specialized pathogens and currently Panama 4 is threatening the Cavendish banana: https://www.theguardian.com/food/ng-interactive/2022/apr/14/climate-crisis-food-systems-not-ready-biodiversity So trying to fit this question of "will it go extinct soon?" into a smooth inflation price increase might be another butt of the joke

[[Special:Contributions/172.71.246.88|172.71.246.88]] 18:49, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Randall is way off-base here, by about an order of magnitude. The episode is about Bluth frozen bananas, which require refrigeration, chocolate, and custom labor; they also do not have the economies of scale of fresh bananas. The AD wiki says the prices are >$1; in "Top Banana," Maeby says they cost at least $1. In real life, frozen bananas cost $5 in LA, $8 at ice cream shops on LA-area beaches. This is a joke similar to the Pulp Fiction $5 milkshake; milkshakes have been much more expensive than that for years. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.207.149|172.70.207.149]] 19:12, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
: Randall sometimes ignores basic elements about how the real world works in order to make a nerdy joke or point. The comic last week about Black Hat being tracked 8,000 miles away by NIST is a good example of that. The whole thing rests on us entering into his (slightly) alternate universe with him. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 20:37, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
: The joke set up in the original TV show ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl_Qyk9DSUw|see here]) I think was about the wholesale price of bananas; Lucille says, "What could a banana cost? Ten dollars?". Then Michael replies, "you've never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you?" so certainly he thought she was talking about the banana stand's wholesale input cost rather than what they retail a frozen banana for [[User:NZUlysses|NZUlysses]] ([[User talk:NZUlysses|talk]]) 17:53, 10 February 2024 (UTC)

:Given that these are a Bluth product, I'd be dubious about how much actual banana is involved in the first place.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.70|172.70.90.70]] 09:25, 12 February 2024 (UTC)

I am tempted to say "Keep the change." "What from a fiver." "Yes the world is going to end."
At the time of the radio series, it would have been an excessive amount of change to give away.
They did not keep it for the film, when a fiver would barely pay for one of the six beers. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.23|172.69.195.23]] 19:38, 9 February 2024 (UTC)
:given the extinction of Cavendish being imminent is the worth of a banana actually the worth of a banana?
::The price of bananas these days is just bananas! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.32|172.71.178.32]] 15:03, 12 February 2024 (UTC)

Using log scale here is not a joke. It's perfectly legit. Constant inflation is actually an exponential relation. For example, if prices go 10% up every year, in two years they won't be 20% higher but 21% because 1.10*1.10=1.21. And such an exponential relation becomes linear when plotted using a logarithmic y axis.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 21:57, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

With 34 Trillion debt I would not expect a US dollar to be worth a tenth of a banana in a time frame of hundreds of years - How far they can kick the can is unknown but I would guess years or at best decades over centuries. "what can not be paid back will not be paid back" A banana is worth a banana - it is the money that is losing value and to sustain this circus that must accelerate. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.216|108.162.241.216]] 22:33, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

As Pere points out, the logarithmic scale is in fact the correct scale for estimating the uncorrected price of an item, such as a banana. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.103.214|172.71.103.214]] 22:40, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

The explanation is needlessly long and on occasion wrong. Some one tried to fix it by adding paragraphs in parentheses. If something is confusingly written or wrong it's generally best to rewrite instead of adding a paragraph.
In my eyes the comic is Randall's comment on the fact that agricultural products have become relatively cheaper by having price increases below the inflation rate. This is a long sgandingytrend since the beginning of industrialization and the only reason we can afford new other things than food. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.24|172.71.160.24]] 07:56, 10 February 2024 (UTC)

"That line probably has another century or so left." There seems to me to be a pun here - 'that line' could refer to either the line(s) on the graph, which cross the $10 threshhold in a bit over century AND to the "how much could it cost" line of dialogue. In a century that line (of dialogue) won't be amusing any more since by that point - assuming the projection is correct - bananas WILL cost about $10, so the irony and humour will become lost.

Is it worth mentioning that Randall has referenced this line before? The seventh citation in the Hot Banana What If? post says "It's 300 quadrillion bananas, Michael—what can it cost, 3 quintillion dollars?" Seems like it could be either in the first line (as proof of the meme being well known) or in the Trivia section. What do y'all think? [[User:Magicalus|Magicalus]] ([[User talk:Magicalus|talk]]) 15:20, 12 February 2024 (UTC)

== Bad stats? ==

Are these really 'statistical sins'?

Hot take but I agree with comments that it's reading too much into this comic to call it "a meta-joke about lying with data". Here are the supposed "sins" listed:

# false precision
# extrapolating an order of magnitude deeper into the future than is advisable
# assuming that a non-exponential quantity - prices - will grow exponentially
# referring to a logarithmic extrapolation as linear
# ignoring historical norms and high variability in making future predictions
# articulating multiple potential scenarios that are actually highly correlated with each other.

Taking them one by one:

> 1. false precision

Projecting prices hundreds of years into the future is farcical, for sure, but I'm not sure that's "false precision". "False precision" would be saying "on January 6 2254 this joke will finally be stale". But the comic gives a very imprecise (and wrong!) range "another century or so". If anything the precision of the projection is downplayed.

> 2. extrapolating an order of magnitude deeper into the future than is advisable

This one is true, and is the source of the humor.

> 3. assuming that a non-exponential quantity - prices - will grow exponentially

Inflation _is_ an exponential process, _by design_. Monetary policy holds the explicit aim--more or less upheld since the 1980s--to keep long-range inflation within a low and positive percentage around the 2% mark. That is the aim. There are periods of higher (and lower!) inflation but overall, the Fed has been successful at keeping long-run inflation within the target range for the last 40 years or so in which inflation targeting has been the dominant monetary policy paradigm. And growth on a constant percentage rate in a series just _is_ exponential growth; that's what exponential means.

> 4. referring to a logarithmic extrapolation as linear

idk maybe. The graph is on a log scale but a log scale has the quality of allowing us to visualize an exponential trend on a straight (linear) line. That's the beauty of it. I don't think there's a "sin" here.

> 5. ignoring historical norms and high variability in making future predictions

What historical norms are being ignored here exactly? Long-run inflation is fairly stable. To the degree there's a sin here, it's already covered by (2).

> 6. articulating multiple potential scenarios that are actually highly correlated with each other.

idk can anyone find a quote from their preferred statistical Bible to support the idea this is a sin? To my mind, showing that multiple distinct models converge on an approximate answer is a very good way to test convergent validity of a prediction. There are problems with presenting models as independent when they are not in order to give a false impression of a consensus. I don't think using three different inflation series as alternative models is doing that.

So maybe 1 or 2 of the sins alleged are real, imo. [[User:NZUlysses|NZUlysses]] ([[User talk:NZUlysses|talk]]) 17:22, 10 February 2024 (UTC)

It looks like parts of this explanation were written by ChatGPT. The unnecessary bulleted list, "looks like a wry observation", "using the ignorant tone [...] to wryly acknowledge", "overall", "in truth". This is an unusual tone for this wiki but not unusual for a chatbot.

Its kind of hilarious. Maybe we should keep it. [[User:Ystem|Ystem]] ([[User talk:Ystem|talk]]) 18:26, 10 February 2024 (UTC)

The explanation (as of this writing) is wildly overcomplicating things. The simple, straightforward idea that it will probably take a century for Lucille to be correct is the most likely intent of the comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.174.225|172.71.174.225]] 15:04, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

I disagree that correlations of projections are a problem. Often the future projections are "best case, worst case, most probable case", or at least 25th/50th/75th percentiles of a whole glob of simulated predictions, and will be highly correlated (but divergent, thus representing a potential uncertainty or highlighting when actuality confounds even the edge conditions).<br/>
In this graph, those are three trends that ''might'' (in different amounts of specificity) direct the onward trend of the actual figure, depending upon what factors dominate. Bananas might be 'less price-rising than fruit', which in turn might be 'less price-rising than the general economy' (taking the projections at face value), but if the relative inexpensiveness of bananas hits a 'floor' (by general fruit terms or the wider economic issues) and fails to be disproportionately discounted as it clearly(!) has been then it would be forced to 'jump tracks' to a similarly (but more so) rising cost now parallel to where the successor projection was leading. (That's before other price-shocks like Banana Extinction or Inflationary Recession make the naïve trends of any or all of the lines completely wrong.)<br/>
An example of an actually uncorrelated trend would be something Moore's Law-related, which would apparently be allowed here (by the "sin" objections), though it's difficult to say how that would be any more relevent than what actually is there. Of course, understanding (or explanation) of the potentially confounding (and hopefully relevent) co-dependent extrapolations plays a part in this. But this isn't even a significant "bad graph, just for the sake of laughs" element, IMO. If anything, it's the very squiggly nature of the historic data being projected off into 'likely directions' (dominated by the most recent true-instantaneous-gradient, which is clearly curved upards from any historic rolling average) without any consideration that the future-line might turn out to be just as 'squiggly' (except that it might be mostly rattling around between the upper and lower 'estimates', even as ''their'' true paths also rattle around... the most litteral 'banana price' trend obviously rewriting itself ''as'' the actual banana-price line). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.20|172.69.194.20]] 16:23, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

I agree with the commenters above, and I removed all the “unreliable narrator” and bad stats stuff. I was assuming he was being “Bluthian” about the whole graph, but now I realize there’s not much evidence for that. Hopefully it’s better now. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 21:06, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

Separately: Can non-hyphen-dash editors [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2892:_Banana_Prices&diff=334823&oldid=334816 consider this edit reason] as a suggestion. If I see two words separated by just a line, it litterally screams of being a hyphen (even when it is typographically different). I will gladly dash (or even "&mdash;") an inadvertent hyphen-as-a-dash (or a two-hyphens-as-a-dash!), but to have no spacing makes it then tend towards dash-as-a-hyphen. And unnecessary when, as in these cases, sometimes a simple commaing will serve the same purpose. And parentheses can also be used when already there's too much commaing to be easily read in, out and across the various commas that might be there, with the advantage of clarifying the ins-and-outs of the rhetorical flourishes. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.20|172.69.194.20]] 16:23, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

Another meta-joke might be that this whole extrapolation business displayed here is a bit "bananas"... ;-) [no signature]

Hold on, ''does'' the joke work as well now as it did in 2003? By my calculations, it only works 75-80% as well. (I got those values by dividing $10 by the actual (estimated) price of a banana now and in 2003. Which is a very scientific way to measure how well a joke works, because it involves numbers.) [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 17:07, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
:Counter-analysis: if you took the $10 in 2003 and respoke the value as its 2024 (the one and only place I queried on this matter just said $31.15) would the joke be at its original strength?
:There are inherently funny numbers/strings of digits. c.f 42, 69, 99.999, maybe, which hold their strength of comedy even whilst they become devalued against buying-power. A simple, strong number-name like "ten" might be still considered the apex of funny compared with the arhythmical "thirty one dollars, fifteen cents", or even the slightly rounded "thirty dollars". "Ten dollars" might be as ok (or the best, given the circumstances) up until it gets too unexceptional to be considered 'wrong enough'. By the time 'true cost' gets to $5, though, we'd have to be looking for a higher wrong-value. (Compare original HHGTTG situation of saying "keep the change" from a fiver, having bought several pints of beer and peanut snacks. Quite the gesture in the '80s. The post-millenium film had to offer a ''fifty'', as a fiver might not even have covered a single pint (and snack) in many bars, and barely would have in all the rest.)
:See also Dr. Evil (and Goldmember) having funny and/or realistic numbers in mind for Evil Plan Non-Enacting ransoms at various points in time... There's not necessary a continuum of values, just a time when "one meeelion!" isn't going to cut it (or now ''will'' be funny for being so wrong). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.117|141.101.99.117]] 20:24, 13 February 2024 (UTC)

The quote previously similarly occurred in https://what-if.xkcd.com/158/ (in note [7]: "It's 300 quadrillion bananas, Michael—what can it cost, 3 quintillion dollars?" --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.210|198.41.242.210]] 12:58, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

User:42.book.addict

2024-03-01T02:25:58Z

172.71.150.160:

[[File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg]]
{{Userbox | border-c = #255 | border-s = 1 | info-s = 9 | id = [[File:visited.png|visited.png|45px]] | info = [[1051|This user has seen every xkcd comic ever made.]] | float = left }}

Hi! If you see this, you have reached my user page! I live in California, love reading, and started reading Randall’s works in 2018.
She/Her and They/Them pronouns please. And yes, I’m using an alias after Charlie Spring from Heartstopper.
I started editing on Feb. 1, 2024.

User talk:While False

2024-03-01T02:23:14Z

172.71.150.160:

[[File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg]]
== Vandalbot ==

I just found a bug in the vandal bot: if a page starts with "crap", it won't vandalize. Should we run a similar bot that just prepends the word crap once instead of replacing the text with the word repeated, to "vaccinate" the pages? One crap in addition to the page content would be a lot less disruptive than a page full of it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.251|108.162.245.251]] 22:03, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

::Maybe. (See the source for some code that might work) <div style="display: none">crap</div> [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.251|108.162.245.251]] 22:11, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

== Thanks for fixing the "crap" on my page ==

Hi While False<br>
Saw your comment on my page, and did not see the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Kynde&oldid=232561 crap post] before I was looking into this here. Also read about the problems you had with FaIse account. Sad this happens. Sadly I'm not an admin and have no way on contacting any of them. Shame that the x.k.c.d account again is active. But it is very annoying. Thanks for putting [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:Kynde&direction=next&oldid=232561 my page] right again. Hope it stays that way. Not sure what we can do, I'm not tech wizard... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:59, 4 May 2022 (UTC)

== My Script ==

I thought I owed you a little explanation, since you showed interest earlier.
# Yeah, all the API stuff is indeed by Ozank.
# The tweaks to automatically run the rollback are by my friend [[wikia:w:c:c:User:KockaAdmiralac|KockaAdmiralac]] who I called on shortly before entering the fray.
# I contributed... An autoconfirmed account and enough knowledge of JavaScript to turn down the timer on the script and almost lock myself out of my account by refreshing constantly.
So, you know who to thank. Troll slain. Back to business as usual. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 01:22, 5 May 2022 (UTC)
: More context:
:* The base [[wikia:w:c:dev:Rollback|script]] ''is'' by Ozank, though it got [[wikia:w:c:dev:Special:Diff/130753|rewritten]] by me at some point (probably without changing the API calls, though)
:* It also had to be adapted to work on vanilla MediaWiki at all
:* The last about two thousand reverts were made in part by a different script I wrote on this occasion, that I can rerun later if needed
: [[User:KockaAdmiralac|Cube-shaped garbage can]] ([[User talk:KockaAdmiralac|talk]]) 09:54, 5 May 2022 (UTC)

== Concision and clarity ==

In case it helps, I think that [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1740:_Rosetta&diff=286099&oldid=286098 your edit] was in response to the same person as did a few other edits not long ago, that I reverted. Encompassed by the following lines in Recent Changes, at the end of 2nd June:
* 23:09 1490: Atoms‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (0)‎ . . [162.158.159.137‎; 108.162.245.173‎]
* 23:08 1368: One Of The‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (0)‎ . . [162.158.159.137‎; 162.158.107.52‎]
* 20:43 352: Far Away‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (0)‎ . . [162.158.159.87‎; 108.162.245.43‎]
* 20:41 1140: Calendar of Meaningful Dates‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (0)‎ . . [162.158.159.87‎; 108.162.246.154‎]
:''Leaving you to find and follow the links, tabbing around to copy and paste addresses to link directly is quite awkward, since the latest update of this browser... Urgh!''
By 'coincidence' or not, all the IPs involved in these original edits we reverted have Contrib histories showing various disruptions from the recent vandal. Not proof in itself, but the insertion of uselessly florid language ( <- no stranger to that myself, admittedly! ) - it looks like a new phase of "trying to mess things up" from the same geographic-at-least source. Subtle and not so disruptive, but maybe a drip drip drip thing with a long-game, unless even cleverer than currently obvious.
<br />Anyway glad I'm not the only one who thought it was odd. Just thought I'd say. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.155|172.70.162.155]] 12:43, 3 June 2022 (UTC)
:Thanks for letting me know. Seems malucious indeed. [[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|talk]]) 21:59, 3 June 2022 (UTC)
:I've just reverted several more of the same kind. [[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|talk]]) 22:12, 3 June 2022 (UTC)

== 'Interesting' edits... ==
{{notice|This commenter has a point.}}
{{notice|{{notice|{{notice|{{notice|{{notice|This comment has been taken to heart.}}}}}}}}}}
I get ''some'' of the reasoning behind the splurge of edits you just made, but must admit that the whole also looks like it has a lot of rather random tweaking. No complaints, but... perhaps some of the things you really meant to Sandbox (or at least Preview and then abandon without actually saving) whilst you were exploring whatever it was you thought it worth trying out? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.71|162.158.34.71]] 22:54, 2 October 2022 (UTC)
:Perhaps it is so. [[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|speak]]) 06:35, 3 October 2022 (UTC)

== I think you accidentally enabled a spambot... ==

I could be wrong, but the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:ZitaPortus3&curid=25674&diff=296168&oldid=296003 only edit they have so far made] definitely link-spammed with what appears to be spam-links (not followed them myself, just based upon my spidey-sense upon reading the raw URLs). With no obvious attempt of xkcd-ish parody/irony. Looks (semi-)automated copypasta. — Anyway, I've reverted it (much against my principles, but leaving an 'obvious SEO-fodder' seemed an even worse result) but I would defer to any future "Hey, this ''is'' real!" from the user (despite it being a spammer-type username), yourself or the other mods who may investigate my interference and come to the other conlusion. FYI, however, so that you know (sooner) to actually check it yourself. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.132|172.70.86.132]] 10:43, 7 October 2022 (UTC)
:Oh, that was not my intention. Your revert is obviously sensible. --[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User talk:While False|speak]]|[[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|museum]]) 19:59, 7 October 2022 (UTC)
...you did it again. Not going to link, you can easily find the page I 'blanked' (or replaced, as it turns out) and look at what happened. Plus loads of other weird page-creations. Really no idea what you need to do it all for. Try sandbox/preview-only/your own pages and subpages, perhaps, for most of the little experiments you're doing today. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.155|172.70.162.155]] 20:58, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
:''Bot Whisperer with While False'' —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]]) 21:58, 5 November 2022 (UTC)

== House style ==

Ref: Königsberg Talk, the house style leans heavily against ==Section Headers== in the discussion section, but would typically be downgraded to ''';Section Title''' format that's more just an aesthetic. Of course, each has its place, for when there's a lot to keep track of. And potentially a hash-anchored jumping in point might be useful and need to be ==...==ed, to some degree or other. It's not a consistent policy, but on balance it works that way. (Without back-editing loads of historic stuff, which I think is unnecessary - in case a certain other recent newly-accounted editor is passing by and reading this! ;) )

That aside, I'm with you in removing it, even as a visual-only section label. As far as that the Alumin(i)um discussion started off as a '''Titled''' thing in a total vacuum (nothing else even for it to need it to be marked separate from...) and nobody then bothered to further enTitle discussions that arose outside that scope, either. So it was, at best, potentially confusing until you edited it away. ;)

And, together with your judicious cutting of the image-caption cruft, this is why I think you're a good contributor, and (above things notwithstanding) I just wanted an excuse to say that I value your continued involvement here, as a definite positive. The minor details are arguable, of course, but your heart is definitely in the right sort of place. (For whatever degree the words of an accountless lurker/tweaker might actually matter!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.209|141.101.99.209]] 12:36, 6 November 2022 (UTC)
:I give you thanks for the kind words. You are obviously well-versed in this site as well as in the wiki thing; out of curiosity, why don’t you use an account? —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]]) 22:16, 6 November 2022 (UTC)
::...too much fuss, if I can avoid it. If I don't have a login, I can't forget its details, and irrecoverably lose whatever transient social benefits I somehow acrued through using it. Plus I've not yet thought up a good username/'brand' for my presence. :P [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.47|172.70.162.47]] 02:25, 7 November 2022 (UTC)
::(Hey, how interesting. You also edited [[1305: Undocumented Feature]], which in many ways encapsulates how I feel about being in this place like I am. Except that it aint that 'deep' and hidden. Pure coincidence, but strangely relevent!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.72|162.158.159.72]] 02:32, 7 November 2022 (UTC)

== For the gods' sakes, ''why???'' ==

I don't understand your need to [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=File_talk:null_hypothesis.png&curid=13742&diff=298926&oldid=54387 uselessly comment], and now this latest batch of jumping into seemingly random image comment pages and responding to things often years out of date and which clearly need no new response.

Are you just trying to get yourself listed as Contributor to as much of the site as possible? I don't think that's a good idea. Not if you can't do it sensibly. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.135|172.70.162.135]] 19:00, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

== History of Unicode image file talk ==

Hi, you added [[File talk:history of unicode zoom.png]] to my talk page. I hadn't seen the comment in that file's talk page until you notified me. The image was Randall's broken version of the comic before he fixed it on xkcd.com. I can't remember the exact reasoning why I added the image here, it can be removed if it serves no purpose. -[[User:Asdf|Asdf]] ([[User talk:Asdf|talk]]) 04:09, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
:That was probably not a judicious transclusion considering the age of the comment in question. I have no problem with the image. Please excuse my overzealous attempt at connecting you with the questioner several years to late. —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | [https://www.google.com Google search] | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 05:10, 19 November 2022 (UTC)

== Your reflections worry me. ==

I cannot establish your true intent, but your recent assertions that you are not going to be much longer doing ''whateveritisyouaredoing'' has one level of worry (...a feeling of imminent fatality? ...an intent to suddenly change to a less benign mode of interaction?) and now you seem to be granting some form of successorhood towards a randomly sampled new user which (on the balance of probabilities) may well be nothing more than a failed avatar for some spam-house operation. I won't link to your text on this, you know what I mean and the others of us who have also expressed concerns will probably have seen/be able to find this strange form of baton-passing message.

I hope for you a honest and restful future full of peace of mind, whatever you think your future fate may actually be, and would personally not even mind you continuing in a more ''judicious'' manner of editing. But, if your aim is to quit, this is my qualified tribute to the good work that you have done whilst underlining the more puzzling aspects to your behaviour, etc. Such as ignoring some perfectly good 'new' editors in your choice of representative heir to the good causes you insist you're performing. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.75|172.70.91.75]] 00:33, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
:Don’t worry, I just intend to do something else than frequenting this site, but thank you. —05:16, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

== Announcement ==

With this post, While False bids farewell to [[User:While False/The Gang|the gang]] and all IPs. While False will now without delay, and without saving it in While False’s digital keychain, change While False’s password to something impossible to remember and then without delay log out. While False is largely satisfied with While False’s contributions to this wiki, and so feels that now is a good time to retire. New discoveries and works await elsewhere in the world. While False wishes everyone, from Dgbrt to JLZ0 and from Davidy to (assuming he exists) Bram, all the best.

Do take care.

Yours truly,

While False 19:05, 31 December 2022 (UTC)



{{Welcome}}

User talk:TheusafBOT

2024-03-01T02:19:04Z

172.71.150.160: /* I thought it might autorevert 'wrongly' again. */

== Bot ==

{{notice|Know that thou art a bot most splendid.}}

{{User talk:DgbrtBOT}}

== Hi ==

Hi

== I thought it might autorevert 'wrongly' again. ==

See the sequence encompassed by [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=404:_Not_Found&curid=3587&diff=336235&oldid=322800 this current situation]. IMO, it reverted back past a valid rewrite (I can imagine why, though seemingly it was happy with the pre-vandalism rewrite until the vandalism occured). FYI, ready for perhaps your manual fixing. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.101|141.101.99.101]] 02:05, 1 March 2024 (UTC)
:Yeah, it's definitely acting up. It also removed the Soviet flags that I contributed. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.160|172.71.150.160]] 02:19, 1 March 2024 (UTC)