explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2804: Marshmallow

2023-07-21T07:24:23Z

172.71.178.64:

Made a start, not sure if the heating up science is completely correct though [[User:MrCandela|MrCandela]] ([[User talk:MrCandela|talk]]) 13:54, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

Because I'm a nitpicker, I kind of want to see some mention in this blurb about how reentry is usually a communications blackout period, due to the plasma sheath blocking all radio waves and so talking with Houston *during* reentry is unrealistic. I strongly suspect Randall knew this, though and ignored it for the sake of the joke. [[User:Trimeta|Trimeta]] ([[User talk:Trimeta|talk]]) 14:08, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

:In the case of the space shuttle it was possible to circumvent the problem of radio blackout by relaying the radio through satellites (the plasma blocks the radio waves downwards, but there was be a window upwards). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_blackout#Spacecraft_reentry [[User:Rps|Rps]] ([[User talk:Rps|talk]]) 15:39, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

:The current explanation suggests that Mission Control would be concerned by the lack of communication from the capsule, but given that they would be aware of the effects of reentry, there's no particular reason why this should cause them concern.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.134|141.101.99.134]] 15:58, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

Some things that should probably be added:
The comic was likely published in anticipation of the 54th anniversary of the first moon landing on the 20th of July 1969
In reality, the marshmallow, exposed to the vaccum of space, would expand due to the internally trapped gasses until its structural integrity failed https://youtu.be/MYAmPRQ4eWo?t=285
The title text should probably direct reference to {{w|Kessler syndrome}}, in which a single collision of orbiting objects causes a chain reaction filling low earth orbit with debris, in this case, tasty stacks [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.71|162.158.155.71]] 14:30, 19 July 2023 (UTC)
: The phrase "rapid unplanned disassembly" in the explanation of the Kessler syndrome, however, is inspired! [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 11:02, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

IMO, "Reentry Marshmallow Toasting Module" refers only to the Marshmallow arm and any necessary associated parts (covers, actuators, etc.), not the whole spacecraft (as the way it is currently written suggests). That is, as for instance, Apollo had a command module, a service module, etc.(?) in this case, there is this extra module. I think it is not unusual to have experiments or sensors piggy-backing in a existent spacecraft or probe. [[User:Rps|Rps]] ([[User talk:Rps|talk]]) 15:55, 19 July 2023 (UTC)
:Agreed - I'd just amended the article to that effect before coming down here and reading this. :o) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.134|141.101.99.134]] 15:59, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

"the marshmallow has been on the outside of the module for the entire journey, exposed to the vacuum of space. In this situation, it would have radiated all its heat energy away, reaching temperatures near absolute zero" I think this is incorrect: the side of the spacecraft in the shadow gets quite cold, although probably not ~3ºK (cosmic background temperature), since in low-earth orbit you have a warm body (the Earth) radiating some heat some (most?) of the time. But the sun side gets quite hot. Apollo used "Passive Thermal Control" (informally, it was called “barbecue roll”) to even out the temperature. [[User:Rps|Rps]] ([[User talk:Rps|talk]]) 16:11, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

I wonder if Randall played Outer wilds recently. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 17:00, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

I don't think the specific choice of graham crackers is a reference to anything scientific. That's the usual cracker used to make s'mores. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 02:35, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

:I completely agree. I'm sure that the S'mores Randall is familiar with would have been made with Graham crackers and that's what he's referring to. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 04:46, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

:I had to look up s'mores. I don't think they are common in the UK.--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.251.40|172.70.251.40]] 15:04, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

:Also agreed, graham crackers are the normal recipe for s'mores, there's no reason to expect any reference to Graham's number. I'll remove that from the explanation.[[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 05:05, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

An Apollo capsule returning from a lunar mission would be traveling at approximately escape velocity. If you think about it, how would it lose all the velocity it gained falling from lunar orbit, except by atmospheric friction? (Luna is at approximately infinity in terms of velocity needed to reach L1. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 02:55, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Space is not zero kelvin, the CBC is some degrees above that. Also as we are close to the Sun and Earth, and the marshmallow might have been exposed to sunlight/Earth light so there is no reason to believe it is frozen. But any water could have evaporated. Furthermore it may have been deployed from inside shortly before reentry. It looks normal in the picture, so it could be presumed it is a fresh marshmallow only just put outside when reentry begins. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:07, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
:And, contrary to current explanation (indicating that it'll end up salty and wet), the de-deployment process might allow the snack ...once 'done'... to be brought back in whilst still undergoing descent (perhaps once they're on 'chutes). But I definitely think there should be three such equidistant modules, for a more fair/timely availability of snacks. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.190|172.71.242.190]] 14:51, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

AT 8 km/s, once they hit the atmospheric interface, how long would Smith reasonable have before the marshmallow (then the stick) were instantly vapourised? I'm guessing maybe 5-10 seconds. I've always said that good timing is essential to good cooking. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.66.60|172.68.66.60]] 01:56, 21 July 2023 (UTC)Beechmere

I have to mention this prior art on atmospheric reentry marshmallow toasting, and I regret to say Randall's idea is inferior, because this one has cats: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LKb5LjZTEYY [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 07:24, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

1662: Jack and Jill

2023-07-07T14:43:54Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ Various possible technicalities

{{comic
| number = 1662
| date = March 30, 2016
| title = Jack and Jill
| image = jack_and_jill.png
| titletext = Jill and Jack / began to frack. / The oil boosts their town. / But fractures make / the bedrock shake / and Jack came tumbling down.
}}

==Explanation==
"{{w|Jack and Jill (nursery rhyme)|Jack and Jill}}" is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The rhyme dates back at least to the 18th century, one version even with 15 stanzas.

The first and most commonly known verse is the one referenced by Jill in the comic as she says the first three lines:
:Jack and Jill
:went up the hill
:To fetch a {{w|wikt:pail|pail}} of water.
:Jack fell down
:and broke his crown,
:And Jill came tumbling after.

The comic makes fun of the counterintuitive idea that Jack and Jill go ''up'' a hill to fetch water, because natural water sources like rivers and streams flow downhill, making them usually found in valleys rather than on top of hills. Thus it shouldn't be necessary to have to go up a hill to get water. Similarly, if the water is coming from a well, then building a well at the top of a hill seems an odd choice to [[Megan]]. The groundwater table stays at about the same level over smaller areas, so building a well on a hill should require digging further.

However, Megan is probably not aware that since groundwater tends to flow in a similar direction to the slope of the land, it is often considered safer to dig a well uphill from potential sources of runoff (such as outhouses, fields or septic systems) that may flow down into the underlying pedosphere and porous bedrock below. In times when populations were more predominantly rural, and probably when the poem was composed, "Always dig your well uphill from the outhouse" was a well-known maxim. Moreover, since it takes more energy to bring water uphill from a well (especially in a pail), there is a long-term advantage to having wells higher than main residential areas, as opposed to lower. (This principle explains why water towers are used, even in cities.) Finally, artesian wells deliver water from confined aquifers, which can sometimes be as close to the surface at higher elevations as at lower ones, easier to access through thin hill-top pedospher3 than through the alluvial flood-plain deposits or even ''only'' present in the zone of a particular {{w|Fold (geology)|geological fold}} that helped form the foothill or plateau being described. It is also not unknown for a fortified position upon a defensible high point to have {{w|Castle well|dug an internal well}}, as proof against potential sieges, and perhaps such a useful feature is still the most convenient maintained source - even long after the defensive structure has been abandoned. But Megan may get water from more modern sources, such as a mains water supply grid, and is not familiar with the principles of well placement that Jack and Jill are particularly accustomed to in this instance.

This all said, the predominance of [https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rkQ-MitrSvI/maxresdefault.jpg drawing Jack's and Jill's well at the peak], which is rarely the best place to put any well, makes Megan's (and Randall's) comment understandable. Alternatively, the nursery rhyme may refer to a {{w|Dew pond|dew pond}} (which is more likely to be at the peak than a well), another concept that Megan would not be familiar with, having not grown up in the English countryside.

The title text is [[Randall]]'s own version, a parody of this first verse, where the names have been switched in the first and last line:
:Jill and Jack
:began to frack.
:The oil boosts their town.
:But fractures make
:the bedrock shake
:and Jack came tumbling down.

This version, which may explain why they went up the hill after water, connects the idea to {{w|hydraulic fracturing}} (colloquially "fracking") methods for oil and gas extraction. In these methods, highly pressurized liquids are forced into a given ground stratum (or layer). With enough pressure, the stratum starts to deform and crack. This allows potential gas and oil to flow more freely. The liquid used for fracturing usually also contains materials like sand or ceramics which, once the liquid is removed, will help to maintain the newly formed cracks so as to further allow the desired free movement of oil and gas.

A common {{w|Environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing|side effect of this method}} is that water levels and presence at the surface might be modified. In this comic, water can now be found at the top of the hill. This goes against the usual laws of hydraulics, themselves subject to the laws of gravity, which indicate that water should go down through ground cracks. Thus water is usually found at the bottom of valleys or hills. But in the comic, fracking at the bottom forces the water up, thus explaining why the kids go get water up the hill, which, as [[Megan]] points out, is messed-up {{w|hydrology}}. Also, fracking may cause {{w|induced seismicity}} in the form of {{w|microearthquake}}s, as alluded to in the title text, which is the cause for tumbling down in the title text version.

Randall has previously composed another version of this poem, which was by mistake published in [[Five-Minute Comics: Part 4]].
:Jack and Jill went up a hill
:To fetch a pail of water.
:Alas, that hill was San Juan Hill,
:And gruesome was the slaughter.
In this comic it is made clear that Randall did know that it is possible to have a well on top of a hill, as he has drawn just one of these in the second image. The well in [[561: Well]] and more obviously in [[568: Well 2]] was also found on top of a hill, although it appears this well did not contain any water.

This is the second Wednesday in a row that Randall uses two children to make a reference to an environmental issue, the first being [[1659: Tire Swing]], about {{w|tire recycling}}. In the other comic one of the girls is [[Science Girl]] who looks like Jill in this comic, and this fits well with her knowledge of science, fracking, and needing to go up the hill after water...

==Transcript==
:[Megan is watching as the two kids Jill (drawn as Science Girl) and Jack (with spiky hair) are walking by her. Jack has a pail in his hand.]
:Jill: Me and Jack are going up the hill to fetch a pail of water.

:[Megan, standing back alone, calls out after them.]
:Megan: Okay, have fun!

:[Beat panel.]

:Megan: ...Wait. What the ''heck'' is going on with the hydrology around here?

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Kids]]

2601: Instructions/Images

2023-06-22T18:56:39Z

172.71.178.64: Undo revision 315880 by MyroDock (talk) Wrong place for such a comment.

*Below, you will find images relevant for comic [[2601: Instructions]].
==Dynamic part of the comic==
:Radio off:
:[[File:instructions.png]]
:Radio on:
:[[File:2601 Instructions Radio on.png]]
:Radio on muted:
:[[File:2601 Instructions Radio on muted.png]]

==Turtle picture==
:[[File:2601 Crawling turtle.png]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:2601}}
[[Category: Comic subpages]]

Talk:1931: Virtual Assistant

2023-06-21T01:34:09Z

172.71.178.64:

I just set up Siri to do this: https://youtu.be/B32YLUa6bUg [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 15:54, 20 December 2017 (UTC)
:Should use the actual sounds, not just somebody reading the words. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.82|172.68.141.82]] 00:56, 23 December 2017 (UTC)
::I would like to see you do that [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 18:47, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
The transcript has to follow the common layout as used in nearly all former comics. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:22, 20 December 2017 (UTC)

I feel like the explanation for this one missed the masturbation reference - the sounds of the sink and the zipper? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.181|172.68.189.181]] 22:36, 20 December 2017 (UTC)
:Agreed. It's like when the guys are at Chuckie's house in Good Will Hunting and Morgan gets called downstairs with the guiltiest look on his face. Here, the virtual assistant is doing something embarrassing and hides the evidence before addressing Megan's request. Doing up his pants is the zip, washing his hands is the sink running, running around hiding his magazines and toys makes up the thumps, clicks, and slams.[[User:D5xtgr|D5xtgr]] ([[User talk:D5xtgr|talk]]) 05:11, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
::Not agreed. I don't see ANY reason to expect it about masturbation instead of just peeing. But I think the current explanation just discretely mentioning a pit stop suits either way to look at it. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]])

Reminds me of Fibber McGee's closet from Fibber McGee and Molly. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.82|172.68.141.82]] 00:54, 23 December 2017 (UTC)

Someone should hang a warning sign on that TvTropes link, you are playing with fire here! --Pax
:The TvTropes links on this page actually have that. they have a mouseover (or alt text, or tooltip or whatever you wanna call it), mentioning the warning, when you hover over the link with the mouse. [[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]])
::What about those of us who don't use a mouse to click a link but instead tap the screen with a fingertip? I tried a tap-and-hold but no warning came up. ---- {{unsigned ip|172.68.65.210}}

After several tries, I was able to turn off the "ok google" only by removing the right to use microphone from that application. "Not able to turn off" seem to been covered on my phone. Turn off assistant, yes, turn off listening and responding on "ok google" when on homescreen, no - when assistant was off, it just asked if it should turn it on. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 19:55, 21 December 2017 (UTC)

Oversleeping / startled awake, then running into things (maybe because it's dark, or because balance can be off when you get up too fast) and flipping light switches seems more natural to me than locked doors. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 00:52, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

I think the above explanation completely misses the joke. The assistant is acting like they think the person invoking them are the police, flushing the evidence down, while rushing to the door to respond. {{unsigned ip|172.71.151.48|22:34, 20 June 2023}} *ORIGINALLY ADDED TO END OF EXPLANATION*
:With the "Ziiiiip!" sound, if indeed a coherent narrative is intended then it seems more like a 'convenience break'. Though you could invent many other narratives (a hold-all being opened?), and ''that'' is most likely the joke, IMO. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 01:34, 21 June 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2671: Rotation

2023-06-19T14:31:33Z

172.71.178.64:

For extra credit: Waht is the resolution of the phone screen? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.135|172.71.94.135]] 18:59, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

:IMHO 400px. Note SMALLER. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 19:53, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

:From the image you can assume an 9/20 aspect ratio. Assuming each rotation reduces the image dimensions by that fraction after 9 rotations the dimensions would be reduced 1322 times so the resolution would be something between 1322x595 pixels (anything less than that would made it require 8 rotations or less) to 2935x1321 pixels (anything beyond that would require 10 rotations or more). 1600x720 or 2400x1080 maybe? Applying the same formula for the phone width and assuming atoms are typically around 100 picometers across then the phone width is close to 4.67 cm, too small, but maybe that's because rounding. In the other hand that formula does not work with Planck length at all: using it the phone width would be 1.69 meters. If you assume a width of 7 cm and 97 rotations you get pretty close to Planck length, but the comic says 101, not 97. Something is wrong with my calculations, I don't know what. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.160|162.158.63.160]] 21:03, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

::I took almost the reverse approach. Estimate phone height is 0.2 metres, Planck length is 1.6e-35 metres, ratio is 1.25e34, then take the 101th root. That would give about 2.176 as the reduction factor, which is also the screen aspect ratio. Then ask, "how far off might this be?" I assumed the 101th reduction is just barely smaller than the Planck length, it could be almost another reduction and still work. In other words, the aspect ratio is constrained to be between the 101th root and the 102nd root of the screen height in Planck units. With a 20 cm high screen, that puts the aspect ratio between 2.159 and 2.176 -- so the 9:20 aspect ratio (2.222) is completely ruled out. However <s>all the</s> [https://mediag.com/blog/popular-screen-resolutions-designing-for-all/ latest iPhone sizes] work just fine: 1792/828=2.164, <s>2436/1125=2.165, 2688/1242=2.164, 2436/1125=2.165</s>. I'll just guess that Randall has one of those. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 06:41, 13 September 2022 (UTC)
::Adding: I forgot to apply your method to constrain the width in pixels. 1125 and 1242 is ruled out because they are bigger than 2.159^9. In fact all the phone dimensions in that list I linked are ruled out except one: '''iPhone XR, 828x1792 pixels'''. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 07:01, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

: This question assumes it is the same phone screen being used for every screenshot. That seems to be unlikely to me. Wouldn't the reason for taking a screenshot be to share it with others? Also, my Samsung phone saves screenshots as JPEG images, which are lossy. Does the iPhone save screenshots lossless? I would love to see the image degradation caused by so many repeated lossy saves! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.211|162.158.222.211]] 07:40, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

This seems like it could actually be really cool. Can anyone do this and put the picture here as an example? Also, if possible, include an AI upscale of the one pixel. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.90.83|172.69.90.83]] 19:07, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

There's a '''minor''' counting error: instead of pointing to the 9th rotation, the 'nine rotations' statement points to the 8th as the first phone has no rotations.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.77|172.70.90.77]] 19:10, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
:That error is also on the 25 rotation, in both cases he counts the first screen with, and thus is one rotation behind. Also there are only 99 screens and thus 98 rotations so he missed the last 3 rotations, and screens, as there should have been 102 screens. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:06, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

Anyone getting a 404? Seems like the comic has disappeared. EDIT: ...aaaand it's back. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.54|172.70.100.54]] 19:34, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Just putting https://www.codeguru.com/multimedia/rotate-a-bitmap-image/ here. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.131|172.69.134.131]] 20:12, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
: Microsoft C#, and not the original HAKMEM or Smalltalk 80? Please! You might as well be using C++: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/wingdi/nf-wingdi-plgblt [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.173|162.158.166.173]] 20:21, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
:: I see your trivial software squabble, and raise one peer reviewed open access article citation: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-010-9144-5 [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.5|172.69.22.5]] 22:03, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
:::I'll see your humorously ambiguous reference, and raise you a slightly more on-topic chapter encompassing both: https://journalspress.com/LJRHSS_Volume17/208_The-Geometric-Progression.pdf [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.125|162.158.166.125]] 22:10, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Tiktok [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.68|108.162.246.68]] 20:40, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Where would the rotated photograph bar be on [[1909: Digital Resource Lifespan]]? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.50|172.70.211.50]] 22:14, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Doing this with an jpeg does the same. When rotating an image and saving it the lossy compression will lose more pixels. This makes it more blurry each step. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.203.38|162.158.203.38]] 22:41, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

:Who said it had to be something like JPEG? Since the information added at each step is known and finite, you could easily devise an iterated rotated image format that perfectly preserves the detail at every level down to the Planck length, and provide the possibility of zooming in on the screen all the way down. Of course you couldn't *display* all the detail at every level at the same time, but you could certainly store it in a hypothetical IRI (tm) format. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 16:00, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

I'm skeptical of "details at a sub-pixel level but that would have been significant if recorded at a greater resolution ''cannot'' emerge" -- this is subjective at a couple levels, and not as entirely impossible as opposed to just vaguely unlikely as the italics imply. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.119|172.69.22.119]] 00:43, 13 September 2022 (UTC)
:Well, after finding the context... Using pixel-multiplying techniques on low-res pixels (either direct, a poor imaging source, or upon previously downsampled high-res one) will either never recreate features 'lost' in the lower resolution or will ''always'' do (or at least always in a given non-zero proportion of pixel-patternations indistinguishable from the more justified one) even in situations where there was no justification for such an algorithmically-invoked artefact.
:But I suppose the most perfect fractal-compression, if it matches 'reality' well enough, could be rediscovered by the statistical pixel analysis which then extrapolates (or interpolates) all kinds of image details that were never even present even in the rawest of raw digital images but were always there to be discovered in the real-world had only the correct zoom level and framing been used. And, if you've got something that can do that, I'll up the stakes with the Photo Enhancer/Inferrer thing that Rick Deckard used... It can even interpolate ''around corners''! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 02:33, 13 September 2022 (UTC)
The title text reminds me of the CSI TV show where a reflection of a faint image would be zoomed in on and the tiny text on the original could be read clearly.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.136|172.70.100.136]] 11:13, 13 September 2022 (UTC)
:After casually getting links to potentially follow up on 172.71.178.65, above, one of the interesting ones is: https://www.google.com/amp/s/scifiinterfaces.com/2020/04/29/deckards-photo-inspector/amp/ [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 13:17, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

I thought Randall was poking fun at all the dumb movies and TV programs that have the magic ability to “enhance” images and recover sub-pixel detail. It’s such an egregious plot point that you can recognize computer scientists by their groans in movie theaters. There’s even a TV Trope about it: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnhanceButton — Also, the infinitely regressing image is called a ''Droste Image''. --[[User:Dúthomhas|Dúthomhas]] ([[User talk:Dúthomhas|talk]]) 08:08, 14 September 2022 (UTC)

This comic reminds me a lot of [[1683: Digital Data]], which is also about degradation of images through re-posting screenshots. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.211|162.158.222.211]] 09:27, 14 September 2022 (UTC)
: Absolutely no question, I spent half an hour looking for that one. Added; thanks! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.162|172.70.211.162]] 21:03, 14 September 2022 (UTC)

" This is funny because the default resolution of contemporary camera phones can be too large to meet size requirements for e.g. mobile phone {{w|Multimedia Messaging Service}}, web file uploads, or email attachments, so one or two steps of this awkward procedure are sometimes necessary." - if true (presumedly screen-res and thus screencap-res is lower than the camera output, so after the image viewer is used to effectively downscale (maybe even pinch-zoom in and reframe the image) without using an actual image-editor/cropper app) then I don't see why two steps are necessary. The second scrcap step has the same number of pixels as the first... But, hey, it sounds like a kludge anyway. And I just thought I'd comment, don't mind me. (Can't see how "this is funny because", though. This is lacking all the humour of the almost-literal ''reductio ad absurdum'' already demonstrated and discussed. I don't think many times "This is funny because..." has been a useful thing to add to an Explanation, even if that's the intention of the site.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 10:57, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
: What's more useful on this site than explaining the jokes? If you want to teach people how to fish, you should be on WikiHow. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.209|172.70.210.209]] 22:11, 16 September 2022 (UTC)
::"This is funny because..." is redundant if true, I would say. The explanation can reveal the humour explicitly or by cluing the reader into it, but those four extra words add nothing. And subtract much when wrong. Interesting interpretations (like the above? Do people actually downscale by screenshotting?) may add to understanding, but not any humour. And then the statement is wrong, as it stands. That's without the "...or two steps", which I also think is just plain wrong, just never got around to editing out. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.61|172.70.90.61]] 00:30, 17 September 2022 (UTC)

A similar case in real life: https://9gag.com/gag/aL2e3YM {{unsigned ip|198.41.231.180|13:41, 21 September 2022}}

[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2671:_Rotation&oldid=315629 "(Why was '.' being used instead of '*' for multiplication?)" – possibly because it's one of the various {{w|Multiplication#Notation and terminology|valid notations}} in use, although I might have used ''x•a'', or even just gone for ''xa'', myself. Just a matter of style choice, really, though there are indeed many different styles that some situations might (differently) stronly suggest. But it's perfectly understandable in context. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 14:31, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

2790: Heat Pump

2023-06-17T05:43:35Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ I actually doubt it, as while the Grauniad is running the storey, this is the first I've heard of it, and I'm not in the Americas. But corrrecting/adjusting accordingly. It may be removed by someone else, but not for being a bit wonky.

{{comic
| number = 2790
| date = June 16, 2023
| title = Heat Pump
| image = heat_pump_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x400px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If I'm not going to upgrade to a powered one, I should at LEAST stop leaving the door open so often.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BIG CHUNGUS HEAT PUMPER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic appearing on 16 June, 2023 could be in reference to the conversation in German media and politics about a [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/14/germany-coalition-staves-off-implosion-with-11th-hour-heating-law-amendment controversially drafted law] to regulate heating systems in homes and buildings.

A {{w|heat pump}} is a system which applies the {{w|ideal gas law}} to transfer heat from a relatively cold area to a relatively hot area, i.e. to heat an insufficiently warm room/building or to cool an insufficiently chilled room/building, even if the outside air is at the opposite heat-gradient for the purpose. The extra energy used to achieve this prevents the {{w|second law of thermodynamics}} from being violated, and is usually assumed to be added to the warmer side of the system. This is why the back of a refrigerator will feel hot, as it maintains the cooler internal temperature (and why leaving its door open does not cool the room that it is in down, just heats it up as it fruitlessly attempts to both heat and cool the same air-mass).

In this comic, [[Cueball]] has a ''manual'' heat pump, and he is manually heating an area by walking from the warm area (colored in ''red'') to a colder area (colored in ''blue''), and "drawing" residual heat into the "bellows" (accordion-shaped device) by expanding them to cool them below the outside air temperature (more intense blue). He then returns back to the warm area and compresses the bellows to concentrate heat above the sustained room-temperature (more intense red), then letting it radiate away and increasing room temperature before going back outside to repeat the process of drawing heat out of the cooler air. As expected, this is a laborious process, as captioned in the text below the panel. Manual heat pumps of this kind do not exist in real life{{cn}}, but are partly emulated by devices such as {{w|fire piston}}s. The {{w|air source heat pump}} effectively does the same thing as this comic, but by using components installed across a wall (letting fluids/vapors flow between the two sides) rather than moving physical components through doors.

The title text refers to the problem of having to open the door to carry the device in and out. This would let the warmed air flow out, and cool air flow in, to undo some of the effort used to attempt to increase the difference. In lieu of some device that does not require the door to be opened at all, he should at least promptly close it between each passage through it.

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

:[Cueball indoors (light red background) holding a (matchingly light red) accordion-shaped device in his hands and walking towards an open door.]

:[Cueball outdoors (light blue background) with the door closed, the device is still light red.]

:[Cueball extends the device and it turns blue.]
:''Release''

:[Cueball looks behind while the device has turned light blue to match the area it is in.]

:[Cueball walking back inside through an open door, the device is still light blue.]

:[Cueball indoors with the door closed. He squeezes the device and it turns red.]
:''Squeeze''

:[Cueball looks at the door while the device is glowing in bright red.]
:''Radiate''

:[Cueball is leaving the indoors area (now having a slightly more intense red background, to closely match the now less bright red of the device) through an open door.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Manual heat pumps are such a pain.

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

Talk:2759: Easily Confused Acronyms

2023-06-04T02:29:25Z

172.71.178.64: As we're restoring (niche) jokes, giving them the best signature details we can establish, 'pour encourager les autre'.

Comic 1937 also features misinterpretation of acronyms. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 03:59, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

.... i am gonna need a cetation on that bit about Archimedes. Does anyone have one? I don't doubt the veracity of the statement, but we have standards around here! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.143|162.158.154.143]] 06:14, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

: ''On the Equilibrium of Planes'' (Ancient Greek: Περὶ ἐπιπέδων ἱσορροπιῶν, romanized: perí epipédōn isorropiôn) is a treatise by Archimedes in two volumes. The first book contains a proof of the law of the lever ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Equilibrium_of_Planes ) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.246.60|172.71.246.60]] 07:05, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

The wikipedia page for LEVER is not working. I think it's case sensitive. [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 06:31, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

: fixed. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.200|162.158.86.200]] 07:15, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

Somebody posted a link to Comic 1937 by mistake and I made an edit to the page about San Diego and The Scrabble. Coincidentally, The new comic was also about acronyms. Incredible. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:10, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

Do we need a category about acronyms? There's [[1341: Types of Editors]], [[1460: SMFW]], and today's comic, and there may be more. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:22, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

xkcd = '''X'''ight '''K'''mplification by the '''C'''imulated '''D'''mission of radiation --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.140|162.158.154.140]] 09:29, 6 April 2023 (UTC)
:Except that ''R'' was not even used. So it'd be "adiation", for we replace "R" with nothing. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.12|172.68.51.12]] 09:02, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
LEVER is an acronym - Light Electric Vehicle Education and Research, [https://www.micromobilityresearch.com apparently].[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.65|172.71.178.65]] 09:49, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

: Another use of LEVER as an acronym is [https://www.acronymattic.com/Laboratory-for-Evaluation-and-Validation-of-Epidemiologic-Research-(LEVER).html Laboratory for Evaluation and Validation of Epidemiologic Research] -- [[Special:Contributions/172.71.222.172|172.71.222.172]] 14:34, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

This raises the question why are there no SODARs, RANARs and LINARs? Or RASERs for that matter? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.77|162.158.111.77]] 12:34, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

:RASERs only work in the online realm, where they're known as eRASERs.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.173|172.71.242.173]] 13:30, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

:In ''theory'', you could build a RASER (that is, a radio-wavelength LASER) via the 21cm (1420 MHz) hyperfine hydrogen transmission. That would require some fairly nontrivial engineering, and probably needs a very large superconducting magnet to establish a magnetic field gradient and allow for separation of atoms into parallel and anti-parallel magnetic moment populations. But, in principle, because of the astronomical importance of the 21cm transition, you could use this as an interstellar signalling device. Indeed, SETI considered (but rejected) the idea early on (although I'm not sure that building a 21cm RASER was feasible at the time). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.97|172.70.178.97]] 20:10, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

:RANAR exists pretty much only in controlled environment laboratory conditions. Radio doesn't reflect well enough off the ground for how noisy it tends to be in that spectrum. It's like trying to noticably brighten up a large grassy field in the middle of the day by shining a dim normal flashlight at it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.119|172.71.146.119]] 06:15, 7 April 2023 (UTC)
::...whilst looking through a narrow-band anti-green filter and waving the torch around to try to invoke observable parallax in the remaining illumination/shadows. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.122|141.101.99.122]] 08:25, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

:Gotta say, I love this community for like this, the very reasonable conversation-rich question of why such logical things don't exist. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:00, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Is this comic inspired by a laser incident? [[User:Memo Spike Connector|2503: Memo Spike Connector]] ([[User talk:Memo Spike Connector|talk]]) 06:17, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

*It isn't ''just'' the first letter changed in the comic in the manner used in the article: if only the initials of ''stimulated'' were changed, it were "ntimulated", "dtimulated", "vtimulated" etc. So I believe that was just simplified to easen pronunciation.
*''RANAR'' would mean ''Ra''dio ''n''avigation ''a''nd ''r''anging (cf. above), ''LINAR'' would mean ''Li''ght ''n''avigation ''a''nd ''r''anging, ''SODAR'' would mean ''So''und ''d''etection ''a''nd ''r''anging, etc. (but I don't know how usable any of these are, or if they are used outside of controlled environments)
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.11|172.68.51.11]] 09:01, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

Sad to see that TASER isn't in the list, cause that really throws someone for a loop. Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle {{unsigned|Daemionfox|13:18, 19 April 2023}}

:And here I was, thinking that TASER stood for Torture Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.141|172.70.110.141]] 14:13, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

Does anyone here know about the Federal Oroadcasting Xompany? {{unsigned ip|172.69.22.144|08:06, 8 May 2023}}
: Japan also has a "National Hroadcasting Kssociation". {{unsigned ip|162.158.166.173|02:58, 18 May 2023}}

User talk:ClassicalGames

2023-05-16T12:31:42Z

172.71.178.64: General advice, still useful. Add this IT Guy's quote-for-truth. But it's "indiscreetly" (yeah, I also get "discrete" and "discreet" confused, sometimes).

You can create pages.

I've changed my password for you. [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 23:00, 8 May 2023 (UTC)

:Thank you. You can change your password back and continue to use your own computer. [[User:ClassicalGames|ClassicalGames]] ([[User talk:ClassicalGames|talk]]) 07:28, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

::As a computer security professional, can I just internally scream at this whole premise of a scenario? If it's even a real premise. I'm not convinced. But bad practice, regardless. And even more bad to publicly announce such things when you would clearly have had another more private back-channel (or even in-person chat) that you used to coordinate the initial request through, without then 'going public' with such inanities. You're liable to being modded out of existence, in some places, for even suggesting that you're sharing accounts.
::Look, kids, whatever you want to do in the privacy of your own server-rooms (whether with a 'friend' or even on your own) is all well and good, but the message should be to ''always'' practice Safe Hex. And "oral hex" doesn't mean that you have to indiscretely talk about it afterwards! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.172|172.71.242.172]] 12:34, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

:: Done! [[User:ChristmasGospel|ChristmasGospel]] ([[User talk:ChristmasGospel|talk]]) 22:54, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2763: Linguistics Gossip

2023-04-18T10:48:15Z

172.71.178.64:

Added initial explanation [[User:Bamboo|Bamboo]] ([[User talk:Bamboo|talk]]) 14:08, 14 April 2023 (UTC)Bamboo

Added possible explanation of title text [[User:Bamboo|Bamboo]] ([[User talk:Bamboo|talk]]) 14:14, 14 April 2023 (UTC)Bamboo

Has anyone asked O what they think of all this?[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.152|172.70.91.152]] 14:32, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

NOTE: I'm assuming the IE/VE ligature is IE, where the I is tilted
Could this also be a reference to the historical Latin pronunciation of Æ, and its separation into "AA" (which could be represented by "ar" in English ("r" is silent), hence the ligature "AR") and "IE" (which would be pronounced "ee" as in "relieve") [[User:1844161|1844161]] ([[User talk:1844161|talk]]) 15:21, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: I disagree. The title text strongly points towards VE as the logical interpretation [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 15:52, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: Me too. Also, funnily I thought of Andy Warhol...but in his "LOVE" pop art, the O is tilted, not the V.[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.133|198.41.242.133]] 09:20, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
::That wasn't Warhol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_(image) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.151|162.158.63.151]] 13:33, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

I think it might be helpful to readers to provide a parenthetical describing the pronunciation of the 'ash' glyph, so that people who aren't old language aficionados aren't left in the lurch if they're the sort who read aloud in their head. I'm going to add it, but if someone removes it I won't be miffed. Also, there's no way the new E ligature is meant to be IE. The title text only makes sense if it's VE.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.67.136|172.69.67.136]] 15:56, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: Thank you. That was super helpful as I'm language-curious, but not an æficænado. Any chance we could get similar explanations of the AR (seems legit) & AV(seems not)? [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 13:49, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

I hope AR wedding hat a pirate theme. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 16:05, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

The AR ligature is used in aeronautical engineering for the aspect ratio of a wing. This mainly applies to handwritten work, since there isn't an easy way to insert that glyph when typing. [[User:D5xtgr|D5xtgr]] ([[User talk:D5xtgr|talk]]) 17:18, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: Example of 🜇 in aeronautics: http://tug.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/aspectratio/ar.pdf . It was also used in antiquity: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exempla_Mensurarum_Sal%C3%B2.JPG [[User:Jlearman|Jlearman]] ([[User talk:Jlearman|talk]]) 19:29, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

The AR (🜇) ligature also stands for a substance that can mix with gold. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.125|162.158.166.125]] 09:09, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
:If you mean {{w|Aqua regia}}, it's not so much 'mix with' as 'dissolve'. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.34|172.70.90.34]] 18:08, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
::Is this comic inspired by an "aqua regia" incident? [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 02:07, 17 April 2023 (UTC)
:::Does it have to be? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.31|172.70.86.31]] 19:24, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

2763 -MathHacked

I suppose the Æsop is that it's not necessary to maintain a chimæric quæstionability just for primævally æsthetic reasons, or have sæcularly dæmonic adhærence to adhæsively mæandering through an anæsthetic tædium of hæritage fæcality. Unless that's all just hæretical hyperbolæ, casting pædagogical umbræ on the matter. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.160|172.70.162.160]] 21:22, 14 April 2023 (UTC)
: Well plæd.
: AUGH!!! Just make it stop!!!!
It's just too bad they all now live in the same ''small recreational vehicle'' because that leads to awkwardness. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.159|172.71.142.159]] 02:07, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
: Seems pretty roomy based on the space between them.;)

A and E got REM🜇RIED?! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.96|172.70.38.96]] 05:28, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

It is downright incorrect to refer to the ae-ligature as 'ash', as this is only true when it is used to Latinize the aesc-rune in Old English, which is anything but the most common use of this ligature. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.192|172.70.46.192]] 18:01, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
: Does it really matter? It's certainly not the only glyph(s) which are supposed to be multiple letters but get grouped and treated as identical because the difference is tomayto/tomahto. Take the diaresis and the umlaut, for example. Different origins, different functions, Unicode only assigns one codepoint for both. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.178.51|162.158.178.51]] 04:02, 18 April 2023 (UTC)

I went looking for "AR" and "VE" ligatures in general use (and in Unicode), and found nothing. Are they in general use? If not, a comment to that effect in the explanation would be helpful. -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 21:44, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
:(Ignoring that D5xtgr said there was an AR, and an IP even ''wrote'' an 🜇...) Of course they weren't in general use, because A and E were together all that time, but now they're recoupled..! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.87|172.71.242.87]] 21:58, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

I'm no linguist, but this may refer to the fact that many languages with the AE ligature are romance languages, while English is not. [[User:Unreliable Connection|2659: Unreliable Connection]] ([[User talk:Unreliable Connection|talk]]) 09:04, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

[[https://battlefordreamisland.fandom.com/wiki/2,763 2763]] is a running gag in BFDI :) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.22.106|172.71.22.106]] 19:02, 16 April 2023 (UTC)Bumpf
:Probably unrelated. By the way, is it OK for me to edit comic explanations? [[User:Missed Connections|935: Missed Connections]] ([[User talk:Missed Connections|talk]]) 22:58, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
:Don't feign ignorance, [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2763:_Linguistics_Gossip&diff=prev&oldid=310554 CG]. Do as you know you should do and (whatever accounts you use) make any useful edits to Explanations that you think are necessary, but refrain from rewording Talk stuff from anyone else (without very good reason, such as reverting vandalism of spam). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.169|172.70.85.169]] 08:09, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

AE could refer to Adam and Eve. Then we get EV as Eve. Not yet sure where AR refers to, Adam and Romeo, Augmented Reality? Love does contain VE as reverse of EV. [[User:XKCDnl|XKCDnl]] ([[User talk:XKCDnl|talk]]) 04:16, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

AR stands for:
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%9F%9C%87
synonym for
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%9F%9C%86#Translingual
stands for to "aqua regia" that means:
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/aqua_regia
"royal water"

So we have Eve and the royal water, so is she now baptised and blessed with love?
[[User:XKCDnl|XKCDnl]] ([[User talk:XKCDnl|talk]]) 14:48, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

The letter Æ is, to me pronounce "fuckit, not gonna read this book!" The ita initial teaching does include a similar character.

37: Hyphen

2023-03-25T01:08:30Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ Without dragging "arse" back into it, if the person saying "ass" hasn't got an American accent then I might personally default to interpreting it as involving the four-legged thing, not the two-buttock thing.

{{comic
| number = 37
| date = October 28, 2005
| title = Hyphen
| image = hyphen.jpg
| titletext = I do this constantly
}}

==Explanation==
This is the first "[[My Hobby]]" comic in ''[[xkcd]]''. In these comics, [[Randall]] suggests an obscure activity or pastime he enjoys that he declares as his "hobby." In the premiere "My Hobby" comic, Randall's hobby is mentally re-interpreting what people mean when they say "[adjective]-ass [noun]" by moving the hyphen to after the word "ass" instead of before.

The semi-{{Wiktionary|scatological}} suffix "-ass" is used as an intensifier in informal US English speech, usually attached to an adjective directly modifying a noun, as in "big-ass car" or "funny-ass comedian." In this comic, [[Cueball]] is exploring the increased humor aspect of changing "-ass" from a suffix modifying the adjective, to "ass-", a prefix modifying the noun, yielding a "big ass-car" or a "funny ass-comedian," the former presumably being a large car for carrying buttocks, the latter being a humorous comedian specializing in jokes about lower backs. The prefix "ass-" may also have a negative connotation, indicating that something is disliked. An "ass-car" may be a very terrible car, for example.

Another explanation would be that, since this suffix/prefix refers to an element of human anatomy, the car would be in the shape of said anatomical piece. (Or, conceivably, something to do with {{w|donkey}}s.)

==Transcript==
:[Cueball (on the left) is talking to his Cueball-like friend (on the right) about a car (left to both of them) that resembles a Volkswagen Beetle. Above the drawing is a statement:]
:My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right.

:Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car.

==Trivia==
*This was the 25th comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
**The previous was [[23: T-shirts]].
**The next was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]].
*Original title: "Friday's Drawing - Hyphen"
**After a series of comics with no real title, only the week day as a heading, he began again, with this one, to add titles, but only after stating the week day.
**He kept this practice with including the title after the weekday, until he began using the xkcd site - see [[45: Schrodinger#Trivia|this trivia]].
***Except for the next Barrel comic, with no added title.
***And the last Barrel comic [[31: Barrel - Part 5| Barrel - Part 5]] with the original title but not the week day.
*Original [[Randall]] quote: "Tune in Monday for the conclusion to the story of the boy and his barrel."
**The next comic on Monday really wasn't the conclusion of the [[:Category:Barrel|barrel story]] as mentioned above.
**This is the first, and probably last time, that Randall has used a quote/[[Title text|title text]] to advertise the next comic.
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].
*This is one of the two comics featured in ''[[Blue Eyes]]: The Hardest Logic Puzzle in the World'', the other being [[82: Frame]].
*On an interesting note, there '''really is''' such a thing as an {{w|ASS (car)|Ass-Car}}!
*There is a bot on reddit that does this to people's comments.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 25]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Footer comics]] 
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

Talk:871: Charity

2023-03-23T14:36:28Z

172.71.178.64:

Not sure whether this should be added to the "official" explanation but I interpret the titletext to hint at a better way to bring good into the world than pointing out where others aren't really good, is to one-up them, so to speak, by donating oneself without organizing a reward for oneself.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.180|162.158.90.180]] 19:48, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

What's with the '0 internet arguments' in the title text? I don't get that part. [[User:Runxctry|Runxctry]] ([[User talk:Runxctry|talk]]) 15:04, 11 April 2013 (UTC)
:I did add a small explain on this but I think it's still incomplete.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:16, 10 June 2013 (UTC)
:Look at the posts below about charity directors, overfishing, and celebrities raising money for charity. He's saying that letting others know that you think a charity is good is going to lead to an argument online about whether you are really doing good or not. And he's clearly been proven right by this discussion page.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.48|172.68.47.48]] 00:58, 26 November 2017 (UTC)

Isn't he only holding one game? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.218|108.162.237.218]] 17:07, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
:I think that is actually a phone, so he could be either browsing a site like gamestop to buy PC/console games, or thinking about buying apps. [[User:Athang|Athang]] ([[User talk:Athang|talk]]) 14:44, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

How much do the directors of the charity get paid?

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 00:17, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Eye m n idoit, [[User:Vctr|Vctr]] ([[User talk:Vctr|talk]]) 21:06, 18 April 2015 (UTC) Vctr
:Sorry, but I'm deleting your comment and replacing it with something else, simply because it was stupid. If anyone wants to know what he said, reply to this comment. Otherwise, this imbecile's statement shall remain deleted. [[User:R3TRI8UTI0N|R3TRI8UTI0N]] ([[User talk:R3TRI8UTI0N|talk]]) 12:27, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
::Trust me, there are stupider comments. (And, by that, I'm not saying anything about relative truths, just stupidity of what/how something was said.) In isolation, the smiley might have mitigated the apparent sentiment, but honestly I have no idea of the intent. A nearly eight-year-old comment (that I clearly ignored the first time round) probably didn't need our renewed attentions adding to it, anyway. Not to say your heart isn't in the right place, but far characters are dedicated to this 'deleted' thing than perhaps strictly necessary. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 14:36, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

'''sorry, but they destroy all fish's life''': see NY times etc.: [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/world/africa/mosquito-nets-for-malaria-spawn-new-epidemic-overfishing.html?_r=0 mosquito-nets-for-malaria-spawn-new-epidemic-overfishing] -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.17|162.158.92.17]] 12:07, 6 October 2015 (UTC)
:This point maybe valid, but it's also an example of what Randall says he used to do: Respond to someone else doing something good by figuring out a reason that they're not really as good as they seem, and thereby starting an internet argument.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.48|172.68.47.48]] 00:58, 26 November 2017 (UTC)
::Actually, this may not be the best example of that. If the good that somebody is doing actually turns out to be, on net, worse than not doing it, then a response might be warranted, because that would mean it's better if what was thought to be the act of charity is actually doing more harm than good. Of course, it's really hard to determine the net benefits of mosquito nets. If people don't use the nets for mosquitos, and use them for overfishing instead, then there's no benefit to the nets, but there is harm. However, not all people use the nets for fishing, so you'd have to look at how many people are benefiting from using the nets properly, and then look at how many fish are being harmed. If you think the harm from the fishing is more impactful than the benefit to the people who are using nets properly, convincing somebody not to do it would be worthwhile. [[User:Jeffkmeng|Jeffkmeng]] ([[User talk:Jeffkmeng|talk]]) 17:49, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

My favorite whine is about celebrities endorsing 'causes'. They are essentially saying something like 'I have millions of dollars, and this cause is close to my heart. However, I won't give any of my money. Rather, I'll sing a beautiful song. And then you, wage-earner with modest disposable income, should donate money to the cause; while I get honors and recognition for all the money I raised." [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 03:46, 6 January 2016 (UTC)
:This is also an example of someone responding to someone else doing something good by figuring out a reason that they're not really as good as they seem, and thereby starting an internet argument. Randall's point is definitely right.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.48|172.68.47.48]] 00:58, 26 November 2017 (UTC)

Talk:2752: Salt Dome

2023-03-21T10:28:29Z

172.71.178.64:

Made a guess. [[User:No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO|By me.]] ([[User talk:No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO|talk]]) 22:39, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

Odd that Beret Guy’s not the one doing it. We’ve seen White Hat act a normal extra character before, but having Beret Guy in a comic not doing anything strange feels wrong. [[User:Intara|Intara]] ([[User talk:Intara|talk]]) 04:09, 21 March 2023 (UTC)
: Agree. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:37, 21 March 2023 (UTC)
:: I have just mentioned this in the explanation and compared Cueball's power with Beret Guys strange powers. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:39, 21 March 2023 (UTC)
:: My reading of it is that Beret Guy does strange things because he doesn't truly understand how things work (the way that scientific consensus understands, c.f. Vacuum Energy). This geologist is doing a strange thing because he is ''just so good'' at the regular science he knows. Success through hypercompetancy, not hypernaïvity, in modulating pressure-waves (like a phased-array transmitter?) from the four chair-leg points sent through ''theoretically'' knowable layers of floor and bedrock.
:: It's a stretch, but given the changes needed to put Beret Guy into protagonist position (it'd be just "don't ask this guy...", not a geologist) then I think it's a perfectly valid compositional choice on behalf of Randall. (Who can do as he likes, without my trying to be apologist for him, but I'll explain my conclusions anyway.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 10:28, 21 March 2023 (UTC)

The text mentions the UK Salt reserve, used to prevent black ice on roads. I assume that US states that get sufficient snowfall also maintain reserves of salt and grit to keep their roads open. Or does it simply get too cold for ice to be of any use? {{unsigned|Arachrah}}

Hmmm, I also see a somewhat indecent connotation between passing the salt and passing a kidney stone, in particular that the salt in the picture is being extruded through an orifice in the ground... -- [[Special:Contributions/172.68.138.179|172.68.138.179]] 09:55, 21 March 2023 (UTC)

Maybe Beret guy lended his powers to a geologist.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.204|172.68.51.204]]

Talk:2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-17T09:44:55Z

172.71.178.64:

I have to wonder, would you slide down to the sun, or be flung outwards? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
: The discs are centered on the orbit of the parent planet, and presumably rotating at the same frequency as the parent planet's orbit. That means the inner edge of each disc is going slower than you'd need to orbit the Sun at that distance, and the outer edge faster. If you moved inward from the original planet's orbit, the Sun's gravity would pull you in, but when you crossed the boundary to the next disc, you'd get flung back outward.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.61|162.158.62.61]] 19:58, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::No Each planet fills out the space within their orbit into the next planet. Easy to see as the outer edge of Neptune's orbit is the same as with the planet flattened. There is a distance from Mercury to the Sun indicated. Maybe because it would melt if it got any closer? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Take another look at the top and bottom images, you'll notice that the Neptune disc is significantly larger than Neptune's orbit (especially on the left hand side of the image). I suspect that, as the other response suggested Mercury and Neptune takes the inner edge of the disc as the average between Neptune and Uranus's orbital radii, and then the outer radius the same distance on the other side of Neptune's orbit. Similar for Mercury.
:::First, they're rings not discs, but I'm skeptical of the math. And it looks to me like the ring's edges are halfway between the orbits, with Neptune extended outwards the same distance as halfway to Uranus's orbit. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.4|172.69.22.4]] 20:08, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

{{cot|My mistake, Randall's math is correct, sorry.}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! Planet !! Volume (109 km3) !! Orbital radius (106 km) || halfway to prior || halfway to next || Annulus area (10<s>9</s> ''12'' OOPS! km2) || Thickness (<s>cm</s> ''10s of microns'')
|-
| Mercury || 61 || 58 || 29 (to 0) || 83 || 19,000 || 321
|-
| Venus || 928 || 108 || 83 || 129 || 30,637 || 3,029
|-
| Earth || 1,083 || 150 || 129 || 189 || 59,942 || 1,802
|-
| Mars || 163 || 228 || 189 || 504 || 685,794 || 24
|-
| Jupiter || 1,4310,00 || 779 || 504 || 1,107 || 3,051,847 || 46,890
|-
| Saturn || 827,130 || 1,434 || 1,107 || 2,154 || 10,726,236 || 7,711
|-
| Uranus || 68,340 || 2,873 || 2,154 || 3,684 || 28,061,145 || 244
|-
| Neptune || 62,540 || 4,495 || 3,684 || 5,304 (symmetry) || 45,743,348 || 137
|}

:::: The volumes in this table are at 2 different scales. Only the Mercury to Mars volumes are at 1010 km3. Jupiter to Neptune are at 1012 km3 [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 21:01, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: Thanks, fixed; I had the scale wrong for the radii too. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 21:16, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::Someone please double-check this, I think Randall is off by a factor of 1000. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.229|172.71.154.229]] 21:37, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::: I did my own spreadsheet, and my figures agree with Randall's (roughly). I think your thinkness figures are mostly out by 1000, and a few of your volume figures also have the wrong scale (Mercury is smaller than Mars, and the giants are too big by a factor of 10). [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 22:07, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: 61 * 10^9 km^3 is [https://www.google.com/search?q=61+*+10%5E9+km%5E3+in+cm%5E3 6.1 × 10^25 cm^3], 19000 * 10^9 km^2 is [https://www.google.com/search?q=19000+*+10%5E9+km%5E2+in+cm%5E2 1.9 × 10^23 cm^2], and (6.1 × 10^25 cm^3) / (1.9 × 10^23 cm^2) is [https://www.google.com/search?q=%286.1+%C3%97+10%5E25+cm%5E3%29+%2F+%281.9+%C3%97+10%5E23+cm%5E2%29 3.2 meters]. I'm afraid I'm correct. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.145|172.69.22.145]] 22:31, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::: According to {{w|List_of_Solar_System_objects_by_size#Objects_with_radius_over_400_km}} yes I had Mars wrong (corrected) but the others are roughly correct. I stand by my claim that Randall is in error. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.86|172.71.154.86]] 22:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::::: Mercury's orbital radius is about 58 * 106 km, not 58 * 109 km, which makes the annulus' area 19000 1012 km2. [[User:Sandor|Sandor]] ([[User talk:Sandor|talk]]) 23:20, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::::: I fixed that label, hold on... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.86|172.71.154.86]] 23:30, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::::::: You're right. Thanks. Sorry. Reverted on main. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.215|172.71.154.215]] 23:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

|} 

This makes about as much sense as other Flat Earth theories. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.137|172.70.200.137]] 20:00, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:But this would actually be a flat Earth. Albeit with a rather larger surface area ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:And..the Earth-ring is not a disc and it's also in the same plane as the sun. Meaning If you were to stand on the surface of this ring earth , there would be a perpetual sunrise / sunset... And similar for everything else in the plane of the ecliptic. [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 12:36, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

But what does the plot of surface gravity vs distance from the Sun look like? Gravity of an infinite plane and all that?--[[User:Brossa|Brossa]] ([[User talk:Brossa|talk]]) 00:01, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

The explanation currently says that it would require "several solar system's worth" of matter, but isn't there enough matter in the actual solar system? --[[User:Purah126|Purah126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 00:49, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:That was said in reference to the Alderson Disk, which requires 1000km or so of thickness. Clearly more than the proposal here that gives a minute thickness (relatively) from the ''actual'' planetary mass in the solar system. Even if you reduced its extent (smaller outer, bigger hole for the Sun) it wouldn't thicken up enough. The prior (non-xkcd) version would require a mass of material rivaling, if not exceeding, that of the Sun itself. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.222|172.70.162.222]] 02:07, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

One of the reasons NASA rejected this could've been the use of inches. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.13|172.71.102.13]] 02:26, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
: Except for Mars. I can only imagine that use of the metric system for the Mars ring is a reference to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter#Cause_of_failure Mars Climate Orbiter] fiasco, which certainly would not endear Randall, or his proposal, to a NASA granting agency program officer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.150|172.70.214.150]] 02:45, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:: I assume the use of microns there is simply because 5/512 is a really awkward fraction. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.223.25|172.71.223.25]] 05:48, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
::: Awkward? Its vulgar! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.56|172.70.162.56]] 08:05, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:: Oh right, the Mars Climate Orbiter reference makes sense! I was wondering why Randall would mix imperial and metric units like that. No sane physicist would do that, especially not Randall. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.250.88|172.71.250.88]] 12:52, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
::: And Randall rubs more salt into the wound by using "micron", when the formal/correct SI unit name is "micrometer".[[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.187|172.70.206.187]] 17:13, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

If the planets of the solar system were to become disks centered on the respective planet's current orbit, how do we deal with the different orbital eccentricities? For example, per That Other Wiki, Venus has an orbital eccentricity of 0.006772, Earth has 0.0167086, and Mars has 0.0934. Not to mention Neptune's 0.008678 and Pluto's 0.2488; Pluto's orbit actually crosses Neptune's. Surely that would cause issues with the disks? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.98.5|172.71.98.5]] 08:33, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:Pluto isn't involved, so at least that difficulty doesn't have to be dealt with. Maybe Pluto and other dwarf planets could be used to supplement the asteroid ball bearings.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.63|172.71.242.63]] 10:55, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

It appears that there is enough material in the asteroid belt to do this, since a ring of asteroid ball bearings with a 1 trillion kilometer diameter where each ball bearing was a cube 1 meter by 1 meter (clearly more than enough!) would be less than 10 trillion cubic meters. Since the total mass of the asteroid belt is 10^21 kg, and the average density is around 2 g/cm^3, = 2000 kg/m^3, then the amount of matter required is 2,000*10 trillion = 2 quadrillion which is much less than 10^21. (Not sure if this is actually correct) --[[User:Purah126|Purah126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 12:17, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:Ahh yes, the classic cubic-bearing. Just what we need in this planetary ring system we've created. Since Randall elects to eschew spheres for the planets, let's go all in and refuse them for the bearings as well. Bravo. ;-) [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 12:40-12:47, 16 March 2023 (UTC) 
::''I just want to say that this line of logic ''really'' tickled my funnybone. Well done! ...I've got no other valid contribution at this time, just that.'' [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.101|172.70.90.101]] 13:11, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
::That was to further overestimate the material needed, since a cube is more mass than a sphere. --[[User:Purah126|Purah126]] ([[User talk:Purah126|talk]]) 15:09, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
Did anyone notice that this came out just after pi-day? [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 12:40, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
: That's really crusty of Randall. It does explain the rolling pin. He probably also knows, and chooses (for cause) not to disclose, that pronunciation of the Greek letter as "pie" [https://www.dude-n-dude.com/2023/03/14/amoebas-lorica-14-march-icymi/ doesn't conform to modern language usage]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.232|162.158.90.232]] 17:01, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:: for the same reasons outlined in the link, beta and phi are also pronounced differently, and I'm pretty sure zeta, eta, theta, xi and chi are too [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.105|172.71.26.105]] 22:03, 16 March 2023 (UTC)Bumpf
:::Although all these terms were deliberately taken from ancient Greek, because that's when they were first proposed! I believe Pi was devised around 250 BC by the Greek mathematician Archimedes, and is sometimes called Archimedes' Constant. There is no reason to use more modern pronunciation, except to make jokes about "Pee Day", I suppose. Why are we talking of hypotheticals of Randall's knowledge and secret humor, anyways? Do we need such an elaborate justification to quote and link to this dude, "Amoebe"? Please wait til next time, next year![[User:Cuvtixo|Cuvtixo]] ([[User talk:Cuvtixo|talk]]) 22:40, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

I don't know if there's a non spoilery-way to mention that there are similar ideas explored in the novel ''Death's End'' by Liu Cixin. [[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]]) 13:22, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

What would even happen here? Would the rings collapse into planets again? Where will the atmospheres go? Are the rings a uniform material like rock or many small pebbles? What happens at the borders? Would i be squished or will all life still be intact? If i a squished, do i have to put up with my worst enemy next to me? Will it be like the flat skins from //All Tomorrows//? Will i die? I expect to see this in «What If 2» coming out 13th october. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.134.38|172.68.134.38]] 14:31, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
:Presumably for the gas giants to hold a disc shape, the gas would have to be encased in hollow discs made out of the solid cores. How thick would the walls be? What if we used thinner cavities to store the inner planets' atmospheres as well? And how much would the core material decompress as a result of not being a core? [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 18:18, 16 March 2023 (UTC)
::isn't it hypothesized that they're "solid cores" are only solid because of the immense pressures? Like isn't much of Jupiter's inner core (or outer-inner core) metallic helium or something? My reading about this is outdated, but it's mentioned in the explanation that it requires "tensile strength beyond what is likely physically possible for any known form of matter." Actually I'm a little annoyed that this statement doesn't get "citation needed", rather than "planets of our solar system would not be suitable for this endeavor", because obviously if the first statement is true, the second needs no citation if the first is true, because no planet is made of unknown forms of matter. Correct?" [[User:Cuvtixo|Cuvtixo]] ([[User talk:Cuvtixo|talk]]) 22:19, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

2749: Lymphocytes

2023-03-16T12:57:25Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ There's no "or" about it. Rephrased and generalised a bit, allowing for ''some'' capacitor/etc examples, too. But in this case it is a cell(/’battery') accordingly.

{{comic
| number = 2749
| date = March 13, 2023
| title = Lymphocytes
| image = lymphocytes_2x.png
| imagesize = 651x733px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's very hard to detect, but recent studies have determined that when plasma B cells are producing antibodies, they go 'pew pew pew'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the WORLD'S SECOND COOLEST IMMUNOLOGIST - Table is cool, but some entries miss mention or explanation of the text in the comic, when it may have relation to the real life cell etc. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The human body contains many different types of immune cells. This comic is a list of {{w|lymphocyte}}s, a specific type of immune cell that is found in blood and lymph. As the comic goes on, in the style of many "informative" xkcd comics, the descriptions of the names of the cells get more and more removed from reality. Though many of the cells are real, only two descriptions are accurate, those for the plasma B cell and that of the out of context D cell. The diagrams are either uninformingly similar to each other, as an extremely generic diagram of a biological cell, or made to look somewhat like the item spoofed by the description.

The title text is possibly a reference to this recent study: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.3c00638

{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Real Lymphocyte? !! Randall's description !! Comment
|-
| {{w|Plasma B cell}}s || Yes || Churn out antibodies || Does as the comic says.
No parody, except for the very vague diagram of a cell with a perinuclear region within it that could also just be a fried egg.
|-
| Naïve B cells || Yes || Try to stop pathogens by asking nicely || {{w|B cell}}s that have not yet been exposed to an antigen. Can only "ask nicely" for pathogens to stop because they cannot yet contribute to the immune system.
Image remains as much just a 'fried egg' as the prior image.
|-
| {{w|Memory B cell}}s || Yes || Very quietly sing {{w|Memory_(Cats_song)|"Memory" from ''Cats''}} at all times || Long-lived B cells that "remember" an antigen they have previously encountered, allowing them to quickly respond to a reappearance of the same antigen.
"Memory" is one of the most famous songs from the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber ''{{w|Cats (musical)|Cats}}'' musical, and the otherwise very similar diagram appears to be singing notes.
|-
| {{w|Regulatory B cell}}s || Yes || Required by local ordinance || Suppress certain immune responses, or in other words, regulates the immune response, which is their actual namesake, as opposed to the made-up namesake of only being in the body because some regulation requires it.
Cells do follow instructions from DNA, and their environment, which might be considered to be local ordinances. The image is again just another ''slightly'' different version of the generic cell image.
|-
| CD8+ T cells || Yes || Melee combat || {{w|Cytotoxic T cell}}, responsible for killing cells which are cancerous or infected. Named after the surface protein "CD8" ("Cluster of Differentiation") it uses when searching for targets.
Possibly a reference to the tabletop gaming terminology where "d8" means 8-sided dice, "d4" means 4-sided dice, etc. D&D and many of its derivatives use d8s primarily for damage, particularly for some of the most common weapons like rapiers, longswords, and longbows, and also for several spells like Chill Touch or Ray of Frost. The image is again fairly generic without any gross distinction to it.
|-
| CD4+ T cells || Yes || Scream at other cells || {{w|T helper cell}}, releasing cytokines as a signal that prompts the immune system into action, thus "screaming" at other cells. Named after the surface protein "CD4" (see above), that is used for binding to other cells while "screaming".
The generic cell image seems to be shouting "AAAAAAAAA!". Possibly also a reference to the D&D spell "Vicious Mockery" which may involve screaming and does damage based on a "d4" die.
|-
| {{w|Gamma delta T cell|Gamma-Delta T cell}}s || Yes || Unknown / classified || T cells found largely in mucous membranes of the gut, with different T-cell receptors than normal. Effectively the immune system's first line of defense.
The image, this time, has a dashed outer line and a question-mark instead of any nucleus. ''{{w|Delta Force|Delta Force}}'' is a famous military special forces organization involved in classified and not-generally-known operations, and its operatives are unlikely to be identified in publically available images.
|-
| CDRW+ T cells || No || Rewritable, 700MB || Here, the meaning of "CD" is switched from {{w|Cluster of Differentiation}} to {{w|Compact Disc}}, as in the {{w|CD-RW}} re-writable media format. 700 megabytes is a common size format for CDs.
By skewing the 'cell' diagram into an oval, with concentric central 'nucleus' and adding some subtle radial and concentric lines, it now resembles a typical item of optical media.
|-
| DVD+R T cells || No || Different from DVD-R, though no one is sure how || {{w|DVD+R}} is a DVD format designed by {{w|HP Labs}}, while DVD-R (pronounced "dash R") came originally from {{w|Pioneer Corporation}} and was the earlier accepted system. The two formats are not trivially compatible, but many (re)writing DVD drives were made multiformat to automatically handle both of these, {{w|DVD-RAM}}, read/write versions and CD-density media, as necessary, under the general label of "DVD±RW". The user then ends up not usually needing, or bothering, to know the technical differences.
Another 'skewed oval', with a few more lines (to perhaps suggest greater data density) but not functionally different from the prior diagram.
|-
| {{w|Natural killer cell}}s || Yes || Named by the world's coolest immunologist || Kills cells infected by intracellular pathogens and other malfunctioning (e.g. cancerous) cells, similar to CD8+ cells but part of the {{w|innate immune system}}. Randall likes the name of these cells more than the next item, making Rolf Kiessling and Hugh Pross "the world's coolest immunologist(s)."
The cell image is a bit more crinkled at the edge, than any prior cell, but otherwise not remarkably distinctive.
|-
| ILC1, ILC2, and ILC3 cells || Yes || Named by a significantly less cool immunologist || {{w|Innate lymphoid cell}}s, regulating the innate immune system through signaling molecules. Named in [https://www.nature.com/articles/nri3365 this paper in Nature] by Hergen Spits, David Artis, Marco Colonna, Andreas Diefenbach, James P. Di Santo, Gerard Eberl, Shigeo Koyasu, Richard M. Locksley, Andrew N. J. McKenzie, Reina E. Mebius, Fiona Powrie and Eric Vivier, making them collectively much less cool than Kiessling and Pross above.
Represented by three small cell-images, snuggling close to each other without touching, and no real reason to assume which of the three is which.
|-
| D cells || No || Larger than C and AA cells, used in old flashlights || This is not a blood cell, but a {{w|D battery|"D cell" battery}}. (A battery is technically a package of cells in series. Without examining the contents of one, however, the contents of a single-cell {{w|Alkaline battery#Construction|''battery''}} is indistinguishable from a {{w|Nine-volt battery#Technical specifications|multi-cell}} version to the casual user.) Biological cells called "D cells" or {{w|delta cell}}s do actually exist, but they are not lymphocytes.
Drawn as a diagramatic 'cylinder', the cell edge forming a round-ended rectangle with a faint 'nearside' line to hint at its [[2509: Useful Geometry Formulas|3D nature]]. The 'nucleus' is pushed into one end of the shape, reminiscent of the distinctive 'cap' to {{w|Duracell|some batteries, commonly imitated}}, emphasising the polarity of tue item, but also represents a highly simplified version of how the electrolyte might be placed within the housing.
|}

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

:[Title] Lymphocytes
:[Subtitle] And their functions
:[A 4 by 3 grid of frames, each containing the name of the lymphocyte, a visual depiction of the cell and a description]

:[Row 1, Column 1]
:Plasma B cells
:[Egg-like shaped cell with the nucleus right from the middle]
:Churn out antibodies

:[Row 1, Column 2]
:Naïve B cells
:[Almost circular cell with the nucleus in the middle]
:Try to stop pathogens by asking nicely

:[Row 1, Column 3]
:Memory B cells
:[Like panel 2, but with some music notes next to it, as if it produces sound]
:Very quietly sing "memory" from Cats at all times

:[Row 1, Column 4]
:Regulatory B cells
:[Like panel 2]
:Required by local ordinance

:[Row 2, Column 1]
:CD8+ T cells
:[Also oblong, but with the nucleus left from the middle]
:Melee combat

:[Row 2, Column 2]
:CD4+ T cells
:[Circular, with a large nucleus, saying ‘AAAAAAAAA!’]
:Scream at other cells

:[Row 2, Column 3]
:Gamma-Delta T cells
:[Dashed circle with a question mark in the middle]
:Unknown / classified

:[Row 2, Column 4]
:CDRW+ T cells
:[Shaped like a CD, with a large hole in the middle]
:Rewritable, 700MB

:[Row 3, Column 1]
:DVD+R T cells
:[Shaped like a DVD, with a bit smaller hole in the middle]
:Different from DVD-R, though no one is sure how

:[Row 3, Column 2]
:Natural killer cells
:[Irregularly shaped oblong cell with nucleus in the middle]
:Named by the world's coolest immunologist

:[Row 3, Column 3]
:ILC1, ILC2, and ILC3 cells
:[Three cells]
:Named by a significantly less cool immunologist

:[Row 3, Column 4]
:D cells
:[Cylindrical shaped ‘cell’, with a smaller cylindrical ‘nucleus’ inside it at the right, roughly shaped like a D battery]
:Larger than C and AA cells, used in old flashlights

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Science]]

2614: 2

2023-03-14T21:52:31Z

172.71.178.64: Undo revision 308559 by Stilloes (talk) Surely some mistake. What is being CNed? (Whole page? The Cursed category, which it fits?) Assuming an unintentional edit.

<noinclude>:''This page refers to the comic named "2". For comic #2, see [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 2614
| date = May 2, 2022
| title = 2
| image = 2.png
| titletext = It's like sigma summation notation, except instead of summing the argument over all values of i, you 2 the argument over all values of 2.
}}

==Explanation==

This demonstrates the different ways in which the number 2 can be typeset in various scientific fields. While these ways of typesetting are used with any number, using the number 2 in this instance provides a clear illustration how adding numbers can significantly alter a feature of a concept (such as the number of electrons in an atom) or perform a mathematical operation on it (such as raising a value to its second power).

The dotted box represents any character (a number, letter, or bigram of letters, as appropriate to the various signifiers). All the other notation consists only of the digit 2, with occasional additional punctuation, in various locations in relation to this character. Each of these is labelled as to what its 'purpose' might normally be with respect to the general term:
;Regular Math
:Precedes the term. "2x" indicates two times the value of ''x'' in normal {{w|algebra|algebraic}} use that should be familiar for many people.
;Physics
:A preceding superscript. "2H" would indicate the particular {{w|isotope}} of hydrogen with the atomic weight of two, namely deuterium, which is most often encountered when working with the atomic level of matter where the total number of neutrons and protons in the atom is important. It can also represent {{w|tetration}}, which is iterated exponentiation.
;Chemical Physics
:A preceding subscript, as in "2He", indicates the atomic number of an atom, which is the number of protons it contains. It is thus a guide to the number of electrons its unionised form usually has and hence is meaningful for its potential chemical interactions with other atoms. This number of protons should be invariant for any particular named element, but is usually given simultaneously with the presuperscripted mass number for which it can indicate the applicable nuclear physics. {{w|Chemical physics}} is a subdiscipline of physics and chemistry. It can also represent {{w|pentation}}, which is iterated tetration.
;Regular Math or Footnotes
:A trailing superscript is typical of a {{w|Exponentiation|power value}}; in this case "x²" would be ''x'' multiplied by itself - a common mathematical standard.
:Additionally, superscripted numbers are one common way to mark words in a line of text in a way to refer to a {{w|Note (typography)|footnote}}, typically placed at the bottom of the page and containing additional information that would distract from the main text itself. The ambiguity between footnotes and exponents was used in [[1184: Circumference Formula]].
;Chemistry
:A trailing subscript is used in chemistry to indicate a multiple of the element (or group of elements, in brackets) in a {{w|chemical formula}}. "H2O" indicates two hydrogen atoms bond with a single oxygen atom in a molecule of water.
;Matrices! ("2,2")
:Extending the trailing subscript with a comma-separated value usually indicates a multidimensional array (e.g., establishing a 2-by-2 square of numbers, or this particular position in such an array), which is in the realm of {{w|Matrix (mathematics)|matrix mathematics}}. This is a little bit beyond 'everyday algebra' for many people, as seemingly indicated by the exclamation of the mere mention of matrices.
;The Physicists Are At It Again ("2;2")
:This label encompasses a mark that turns the prior comma into a semicolon, as part of the trailing subscript. This is a common notation for the {{w|Covariant derivative}} of a tensor field, which is commonly used in the mathematics of general relativity.
;Either High School Math Function or Incomprehensible Group Theory
:The number 2 in parentheses that follow a term would normally be the argument to a {{w|Function (mathematics)|function}}. For example, "f(2)" means that you should take the value 2, and find the result if manipulated by the predefined function ''f''. It is generally taught as part of algebraic mathematics in {{w|Secondary school|high school}}.
:In {{w|group theory}}, however, the number 2 in parentheses could indicate a special kind of group, such as an an element of a symmetry group that keeps 2 fixed, or some kind of group of 2x2 matrices. For instance, {{w|SU(2)}} is a 3-dimensional {{w|Lie group}} of {{w|unitary matrices}}. These concepts are taught in graduate or advanced undergraduate mathematics courses.
;Oh no. Whatever this is, it's cursed.
:A symbol centered underneath another larger symbol is normally reserved for doing summations or products, where the big symbol is Σ or Π, or some other operation applied to a sequence of numbers. It does not make sense to have a single number on top of a smaller one. As with [[2529: Unsolved Math Problems|other things]] where something appears to have gone wrong in Randall's comic universe, the explanation for this particular anomaly is that it is 'Cursed'.
:Two {{w|natural number}}s may be stacked directly on top of one another in parentheses as {{w|binomial coefficient}}s: ( <table style="display: inline-table; line-height: 0.6em; vertical-align: middle; font-size:7pt; text-size-adjust: none;"><tr><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>2</td></tr></table>), but those are always the same size, denoting a {{w|combination}}. In this case, ''2 choose 2'' is equal to one combination.
:The usage mentioned in the alt text is an operation (e.g. Σ for summation) over a variable, usually indicated by a letter such as i, where the operation is performed over all values of the variable (i.e., you Σ (sum) the argument over all values of i). In the "2" case, the alt text says "you 2 the argument over all values of 2" (i.e., the Σ operation has been replaced by the "2" operation and the i variable has been replaced by the "2" variable). 2 is usually not an operation, though the definition of 2 under {{w|Church_encoding#Church_numerals|Church encoding}} is a function that takes in and produces functions. 2 applied to 2 in Church encoding is 4. However, the title text implies that 2 is treated like a variable, which it is not (and it's definitely not a operator and variable at the same time).
: Things being cursed is a common trope within recent xkcd comics, which have mentioned items including [[2332:_Cursed_Chair|Cursed chairs]] and [[:Category:Cursed_Connectors|cursed connectors]]. This notation is one of the few occasions where the supernatural has demonstrable implications for science and mathematics for those foolhardy enough to use it.

==Transcript==
:[An apparent generalisation of a scientific expression consisting of a dotted rectangular 'box' outline, left empty, and various commonly-themed symbology around it:]

:[as normal text, to the left of all the rest:] 2
:[superscript to the immediate left of the box:] 2
:[subscript also to the immediate left of the box:] 2
:[superscript to the immediate right of the box:] 2
:[subscript also to the immediate right of the box:] 2;2 [i.e. separated by a semicolon]
:[as normal text, to the right of almost all the rest:] (2) [i.e. enclosed in standard parentheses]
:[smaller subscript, centered immediately beneath the 2 within the parentheses:] 2

:[Further details are drawn in grey tone, around or near various of the elements of the expression:]
;[Captions above the numbers]
:[with an arrow pointing to the leftmost 2:] Regular Math
:[with an arrow pointing to the leftwards superscript 2:] Physics
:[with an arrow pointing to the rightwards superscript 2:] Regular math or footnotes
:[with an arrow pointing to the parenthetical 2 at the right:] Either high school math functions or incomprehensible group theory

;[Captions below the numbers]
:[with an arrow pointing to the leftwards subscript 2:] Chemical Physics
:[with an arrow pointing to just the rightwards subscript 2:] Chemistry
:[with an arrow pointing to a distorted grey ring snaking around only the comma of the semicolon and the following 2 of the rightmost subscript:] Matrices!
:[with an arrow pointing to a larger grey ring that passes fully around the whole semicolon and final 2 of the rightmost subscript:] The physicists are at it again
:[with an arrow pointing to the small 2 placed below the parenthetical 2:] Oh no. Whatever this is, it's cursed.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Comics featuring cursed items]]

2747: Presents for Biologists

2023-03-09T00:40:31Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ ...various

{{comic
| number = 2747
| date = March 8, 2023
| title = Presents for Biologists
| image = presents_for_biologists_2x.png
| imagesize = 396x353px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = A lot of these are actually non-venomous, but I can see which species you mistook them for. If you pause the crane for a sec I can give you some ID pointers for next time!
}}

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

In this strip, [[Black Hat]] is a supervillain subjecting James Bond to a death trap, similar to [[123: Centrifugal Force]] (presumably Mr. Bond managed to escape in that instance). This time, however, he also has another victim, [[Hairbun]], being subjected to the same device – a pit full of snakes, into which the victims are slowly lowered (upside-down and suspended by just one ankle) entirely at the whim or mercy of the antagonist.

While Bond voices typical defiance at Black Hat's scheme, Hairbun instead gushes over the sight of an unfamiliar snake species within the pit, asking Black Hat to lower her faster before that creature either escapes (there seemingly being very little to prevent any snake escaping the pit) or just moves to the other end of the pit.

The caption reveals that Hairbun is a biologist. For her, the contents of this death trap would be happily considered a suitable birthday present, and apparently even these circumstances don't dampen the experience sufficiently to reduce her interest.

The title text explains how Hairbun has expertly spotted how the supervillain has included some less dangerous snakes, probably {{w|Coral snake#North American coloration patterns|in error}}. Ever the professional, she suggests the possibility of her advice to help him avoid these errors in the future. She would need a short stay of execution, to do so, but is apparently not particularly fazed by how things end up immediately afterwards.

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

:[Hairy and Hairbun are hanging upside down from ropes attached to their feet. Underneath them, there is a pit with many snakes. Black Hat to the left is operating a lever.]
:Hairy: You won't get away with this!
:Hairbun: Ooh! Ooh! That one is a new species for me!
:Hairbun: Hey, can you lower me faster? It's getting away!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:There's a surprising amount of overlap between "Good presents for biologists" and "Things villains want to do to James Bond."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:395: Morning

2023-03-08T17:06:54Z

172.71.178.64:

I always thought she was seeing airplanes, satellites, planets, or stars. --[[Special:Contributions/67.243.62.50|67.243.62.50]] 03:01, 28 September 2013 (UTC)

"Seeing dead pixels in the sky" seems like a rehash of an important quote in some work. Any ideas on what that work is? [[Special:Contributions/24.104.10.45|24.104.10.45]] 06:16, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

:It's like that quote from CJ in the first season of West Wing: We can all be better teachers.
:It sounds so deep you think they must have borrowed it from somewhere. But no, it's original. Kudos to Randall. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 21:37, 3 January 2014 (UTC)
:It's reminiscent of the opening sentence of Neuromancer: The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.174|173.245.55.174]] 04:28, 17 September 2015 (UTC)

Btw, if anyone is curious, life's resolution is approximately [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1+inch+%2F+1+planck+length 1.572×10^33 DPI] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.213|108.162.212.213]] 16:29, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

:And its framerate is, ignoring relativistic effects, roughly [https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1+second+%2F+1+planck+time 1.8549×10^43 FPS]. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.10|162.158.106.10]] 17:19, 5 July 2020 (UTC)

:: I wonder how big the GPU is [[Special:Contributions/172.69.208.136|172.69.208.136]] 16:17, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

::: The memory would be your real constraint, along with network latency if it's a distributed computing system. (Hey, what if that's the cause of relativistic effects? A node having more data than usual to process, so it slowly lags behind other nodes...) As for the speed of the system, as long as it's turing complete and has sufficient storage for the data, it doesn't matter how fast each frame is processed from the viewpoint of the simulation's Users, the people inside the sim would still experience time as normal. Just ask a Dwarf Fortress player if their dwarves ever perceive the effects of FPS Death. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.194|108.162.246.194]] 12:28, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

:::: Do you think it's a good idea for us all start rolling loads of dice to increase the latency of the simulation? It'd be nice to screw with whatever's running the thing. But would macroscopic "randomness" even affect a system that powerful? It's something to think about. [[User:Lyricalcarpenter|Lyricalcarpenter]] ([[User talk:Lyricalcarpenter|talk]]) 04:15, 16 October 2021 (UTC)

IMO, the unspoken big picture is that during a prairie winter you can get "white out" conditions when an overcast sky matches the color of snow cover. This eliminates all shadows and you can walk face first into a snow drift without seeing it. The whole world looks like dead pixels. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.87}}

"It is likely what she is seeing is a star or other stellar object." I'm not sure this bit fits the context of the image. It is supposed to be dead pixels, and stellar objects don't often pop out of no where (unless an infinite improbability drive is involved). [[User:Kirdneh|Kirdneh]] ([[User talk:Kirdneh|talk]]) 21:08, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

It may just be me, but I thought the dead pixels she is seeing form the words "And seeing dead pixels in the sky.", making the comic self-referential in a typical xkcd way. Does anyone agree with me? [[User:Richmond tudor|Richmond tudor]] ([[User talk:Richmond tudor|talk]]) 06:35, 13 January 2015 (UTC)

Has nobody else noticed the several square pixels depicted in the sky? Zoom in, Gramps! [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.11|199.27.129.11]] 02:41, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Am I the only one that doesn't actually think the pixels are there just to annoy the reader like it says in the explanation? It seems like they're there because the text says so. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.51|108.162.216.51]] 17:46, 3 February 2016 (UTC)

I didn't notice the red and green dots until this page "explained" it. Until then, I conjectured that the "dead pixels" were snowflakes that had fallen from the sky to the ground. The trees look like evergreens, which made me think of winter. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.6|162.158.63.6]] 21:24, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

Is this a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference? {{unsigned ip|162.158.146.40|16:45, 8 March 2023}}
:Hardly. The comic itself alludes directly, and unambiguously, to it being a Matrix thing. (I'm as much a duoquadragintiphile as anyone, but it really doesn't always boil down to that.) Now ''maybe'' there's a twisted path of inspiration between H2G2 and the world of Neo, but hardly so simple and surely nothing to concern us here. For one thing, when Deep Thought designed the Earth computer, he/it didn't make it a virtual illusion to its inhabitants. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 17:06, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

Talk:850: World According to Americans

2023-03-01T18:02:25Z

172.71.178.64:

NB: Paupa (sic!) New Guinea [[User:Leob|Leob]] ([[User talk:Leob|talk]]) 20:10, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

:You're right, there's a typo in the comic! Good catch ;) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:10, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

::The group did come from the geography bee, not the spelling bee. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 15:22, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

98% of American's would only be able to locate about 4 countries so this is way too generous ~JFreund
:"American's" [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 12:12, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

Made a typo with Phillipines. It's Philippines. @JFreund No stereotyping, please. I can list 51 or 52 countries and I'm not even in middle school. Add a bit more thinking and I've got to 58.[[User:Randomperson4000|Randomperson4000]] ([[User talk:Randomperson4000|talk]]) 01:59, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

@JFreund: That's not true... I'm a seventh grader who can't stand geography for the life of me, yet I can name a good twenty or so.
And as a very very simplified example, most fifth graders can easily name America (duh), Mexico, Canada, Russia, and England.
That is rather, for lack of a better term, racist of you. ~jazz14456

@jazz14456 Well for comparison I'm an seventh grader from europe(We call it year eight there) and I can name 64 off the top of my head, that's 320% more. Therefore the point of the comic and @JFreund 's point still stand. ~Samarthwiz

:Your brand of negativism, as well as the additional above, does nothing to advance any sort of constructive dialogue. Please check your misconceptions, generalizations, and inaccuracies about entire populations at the door. They're not welcome in communities of thinking people. [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 12:25, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

::While the petty point scoring is of no value, it is worth noting that Europeans have an advantage when it comes to the trite 'How many countries can you name' or 'How many countries have you visited' competitions. You can quite easily spend a day driving through Europe and visit (drive through) 5 countries. As an example: England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany. The fact that an American can do this across different states, or may be able to name all 50 states in addition to however many countries, or have travelled far and wide within the states doesn't seem to carry any weight. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:03, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

:::I wholeheartedly agree. They are regions with their own flags and laws and geography too only one slight criticism is that most of them call it America. So they want to be classed as an whole continent or two, a country that is more correctly called the USA and they want credit for knowing where Delaware or Rhode Island is. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 18:48, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

::::I think it's sad that I'm an American in eighth grade and the only reason that I can name 87 (88 if you count Vatican City as its own country) is because I play Call of War and Conflict of Nations--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.73|173.245.52.73]] 20:54, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

::::: There really is no need to be smug just cause you're European. Only 64? I had known at least 80 when I was in eighth grade, as well as the climates, geography, religions, capitals, international organizations they were in, and a little bit of the economy of said country. And you're being smug just because you can name more countries than others? And let's not forget the individual states, many of which could pass as a country on their own... so add 50 to that total. You think you're so smart? Try me. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:27, 11 March 2018 (UTC)

BTW, the Robinson drawing in the comic is '''much''' too accurate to be pure freehand. He probably used tracing or grid point marks. -- [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 21:46, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

*Randall considers this to be 'good at geography'?! They only named, like, 30 or so countries... There's 197!* [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.184|173.245.56.184]]

It's probably sarcasm too that "Tibet" is incorrectly labelled on Xinjiang. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.47|108.162.223.47]] 01:20, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

"Aral sea (??Toane" is probably "Aral sea (gone)" {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.60}}
:This is a wiki. Edit it in yourself next time (done it for you this time).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.11|141.101.104.11]] 05:32, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

I added some comments/explanations. The distance between Afrcia and USA was measured by google maps. I tried out several spots. If someone finds a shorter distance, fell free to correct :) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:01, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

The annotation regarding the poor labelling of Africa needs more/better explaining, especially what it means by it 'speaking volumes'. Although I've put that it lends weight to the 'Ignorant American' viewpoint, my feeling is that there is actually a more widespread ignorance amongst the rest of the world towards Africa (in general, not just geographically). While I could probably name a few more countries in Africa, I wouldn't be able to place them within the continent. I have an average knowledge of world geography, but the big hole in my knowledge would definately be Africa, and I suspect that the majority of people I know would say the same. I could come up with all sorts of theories as to why it is Africa I know so little about, but this comment is already too long! --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 13:49, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

: Done, I think. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 17:47, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure if it's necessary to include all the other not yet mentioned/explained areas, such as Western/Eastern Europe and others. We ''could'' make lists of which countries belong to that regions similar to the "Various former soviet states"-area, but that would simply result in a list of all nations of the world. If you agree, we could remove the incomplete-tag, I think. If not... well... there are a lot of countries ;) On the other hand, I'm not quite sure, if the colors may have a special meaning... But I think most likely not. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 17:47, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

: I've added a bit more detail on the title text. Personally I don't think we need to add all the labels, unless there is something specific on this comic which can be explained about that label. Like you say, it would turn into a list of countries with no relevant additional information. As far as colours go, I can't see any obvious pattern behind their assignment. I vote we remove the incomplete tag, in my view any other additions serve to enhance the article rather than to complete it. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:23, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

The opening paragraph is inaccurate; the comic satirises portrayals of American geographical ignorance (X% of Americans can't locate Y on a map!) rather than jokey maps about cultural stereotypes.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.84|141.101.99.84]] 09:56, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

Please improve the explanation for India. It is not clear, and the mostly Hindu/Muslim regions seem to be referring to the countries India and Pakistan. I tried editing, but someone reverted it claiming that it was not Pakistan. {{[[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.229|162.158.154.229]] 08:48, 19 April 2017 (UTC)}}
: That was me. Pakistan is obviously included in the part labeled as "Afghanistan & Pakistan". If you compare the red area of India in the comic's map with an actual map of India (e.g. this one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Political_map_of_India_EN.svg) you'll see that the red area actually _is_ India. Ofc, the border drawn in this comic is not 100% accurate, but that is true for almost all borders. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 12:18, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

Well, as a neutral outsider I can point out that people from the USA are consistently showing their ignorance here of the difference between a continent and a country. "America" is a continent, the USA is a country. Same goes for Africa, it's not a country, it's a continent. The only continent that is also a country is Australia.

I wonder if the people who make comments like the one above also insist on referring to the UK as the UKGBNI(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). While the de facto name of the country established in 1776 is the Unite States of America, Its people are known as Americans. This is distinguished from other people of the 1 (or 2) continents called The Americas or North and South America.(North Americans, and South Americans) While referring to the USA as the USA, the US or the States is one way you distinguish the country from its neighbors, it's not the only way.
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.76|172.70.178.76]] 17:06, 1 March 2023 (UTC)
:The biggest problem with UK(oGB&NI) is that various terms (Britain, Great Britain, England, British Isles; and grammatically derivative versions) often get used in situations where they are actually a subset, superset or misaligned set against the intended scope. And often the more precise you try to be, the more likely you are to accidentally get the real coverage wrong. (Compare the statuses of Gibaltareans, the Manx, Channel Islanders, Falklanders, etc, etc... Some of those are British Isles, some of those are British, some are part of the realm of the UK... and others are not, but in different combinations).
:Plus I might consider myself (geographically) a european, still, even if not (politically) a European.
:And the {{w|List of countries that include United States in their name}} reveals some possible contemporary (as well as historical) confusions, when untied from a certain set of anglocentric (or 'USA'-centric!) assumptions. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 18:02, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

2659: Unreliable Connection

2023-02-16T21:05:04Z

172.71.178.64:

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Talk:2738: Omniknot

2023-02-16T12:26:21Z

172.71.178.64:

Down the middle, that's Granny, Reef, ...(k)not sure.., ?bow line and two half hitches? and something of a plaited-knot that the name escapes me entirely right now (but an extension of the other one I can't identify). I'm sure there's a handy online catalogue of knots, to reference, though, before I try to stumble over the side-knots too. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.172|172.71.242.172]] 16:05, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

Binding security maximized but unbinding security minimized. RIP, tethered sailor beneath a capsized boat. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.78|172.70.114.78]] 16:20, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

This comic is dead on for a facetious rock climbing saying: "If you can't tie a knot, then tie a lot." Based on the tactic some climbing newcomers use, of tying tons of knots all over the place because they aren't confident that any one knot will hold. This tactic is strongly frowned upon - you should learn the right knot, use it, and don't add any extraneous ones.

Somebody on twitter posted an image with the two strings in different colours, which helps to visualize the knots:
https://twitter.com/hollowgrin/status/1625902852387352576
[[User:Rps|Rps]] ([[User talk:Rps|talk]]) 17:08, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

Damn, I traced it myself and I am pretty sure the picture on twitter is better (I will not look, I will only get depressed...) I'd put that coloured picture under "transcript" ;-)[[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.140|172.68.51.140]] 18:05, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

I don't suppose any of you knot-loreheads would care to add an explanation/link to explain "Connecting them with a hitch" from the title text? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.231|172.70.254.231]] 21:58, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

A "bend" is a knot that connects two ropes or lines. A "hitch" is a knot that connects a rope (a.k.a. line) to something like a post, loop, or shackle.

Is there a mistake in the title text then, since he says to use a random hitch to connect something from the top (presumably rope in the form of a knot) to something in the bottom (presumably more rope)? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.82.186|172.70.82.186]] 22:06, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

I tied it in real life. Once everything was tightened, the main taut portion was the Carrick bend with the other four knots slacking below, and it held pretty well. I imagine if the slack was on the other side, putting stress on the granny knot, it would be a different story. I would upload the picture but I messed up the reef knot and that pulled straight out. --[[User:Jacky720|Jack]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|t]]|[[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|c]]) 22:15, 15 February 2023 (UTC)

Sailor here. The "granny knot" is what a sailor would call a "thief's knot", and it used to be used in place of a reef knot, in some parts of the world, when stores were suspected to be going missing; the thief, after taking some of the stores, would re-lash the remainder using a proper reef knot (through force of habit) and the change of knot would give away that the stores are being taken from that pile.

Additionally, the two bends at the sides look more like sheet bends than bowlines, to me. It just looks like a rope is passed through a bite and then holds the bite together with a half-hitch. (Maybe I just can't get my head around the orientation, though?)

Lastly - is it maybe worth adding that the reason for the figure-of-eights at the tail of the rope is to act as a "stopper" knot, to prevent the tail working it's way back through the half-hitch, which would enable the bite to come apart and the whole thing to come loose? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.147|172.70.86.147]] 10:01, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
:A note that a Granny knot is ''not'' the Thief knot. A Granny is (often!) a mis-tied Reef, half re-handed to create a less flat version of the binding, whilst a Thief is a variation of the Reef, which has the opposite track to one of the cords to look the same at first glance (enough to catch the unwary/rushed, as you say, who might then fail to restore it as originally left).
:In fact, a knot that has been given the variations of both '''Gr'''anny and Th'''ief''' is called a "Grief", rather than be back to the original Reef (or a functionally identical reflection/rotation). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 12:26, 16 February 2023 (UTC)

Talk:688: Self-Description

2023-02-07T07:05:07Z

172.71.178.64:

This is one of the comics with a direct link at the bottom of xkcd. [[Special:Contributions/173.26.186.224|173.26.186.224]] 04:18, 29 December 2012 (UTC)

I do wish they said 'comic' rather than 'image' as for the longest time, I assumed 'image' only referred to the individual box, which doesn't make each one necessarily linked.[[Special:Contributions/24.70.188.179|24.70.188.179]] 06:52, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

:Anyone know what language Randall may have used to create this image? Perhaps Python? and how do you prevent it from entering an infinite feedback loop? [[User:Saibot84|Saibot84]] ([[User talk:Saibot84|talk]]) 23:02, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

::I'd do it in Perl, but that's because I'm a bit partial to Perl. I don't think it matters too much. It could even be a semi-manual process.
::However, whatever way it's done, if there was a loop (or a flip-flop state, i.e. more black pixels overall means less black pixels on a graph, which means less black pixels overall, without a point of stability) then I'd detect for that and work out which "immutable" parts (e.g. lengths of drawn axes) could be altered by an appropriate number of pixels to have another go at looking for stability. In Perl, that'd be detected by something like a simple "$coverage{$no_of_black_pixels}++" for every state visited, with an "if (exists $coverage{$no_of_black_pixels}) { reject_and_renew() }"-style check before that, probably "die"ing the program to let me read the log of rejections that led there and let me choose a basic change (or other mutable element) that could lead us in the right direction.
:::In an [http://www.maa.org/publications/periodicals/math-horizons/the-mathematics-behind-xkcd-a-conversation-with-randall-munroe interview], Randall Munroe explains that he did it completely by hand, counting the black pixels with Photoshop and iterating manually. Notice that, once you chose the radius of the disc, the width and scale for the rectangles of the second panel, and the text, decorations and legend, it is fairly easy to write the equations satisfied by the amount of black ink each panel. It turns out to be a set of linear equations, easily solved. This is for the continuous problem (say, if the comic strip were drawn with Bezier curves and a vector image). For the discrete problem, you have to iterate a little bit from this first insight, but not that much. [[Special:Contributions/138.96.199.247|138.96.199.247]] 10:15, 16 September 2013 (UTC)
::As a more simple example, if the original title-text hadn't turned out to be one where a certain stated number of characters made the text that same number of characters, I'd add, remove or change a word (or item of punctiation!) towards something that worked. As a dumb example of the way I'd do it: "This sentence has <foo> characters." has 35, there, including the five of "<foo>", so "thirty-five" would be six too many, "forty-one" would be 39-long, "thirty-nine" makes it "forty-one", and we know that loops back. I could be more intelligent and choose a number where own_length==(what it depicts, minus thirty), where the easy answer is "32" in digits. But there's no obvious set of number words that obet that rule, so let's change the sentence to "There are <foo> characters in this sentence.", and see where ''that'' leads us. Quick answer? 39+length of added number words. If I'm right, that's "forty-nine".
::Of course, there are multiple loop-backs with a self-referential image. But while it would be 'obvious' if extra spaces were inserted (or some removed!) to make a line of text fit itself in a self-referential way, an image has more "neutral space" (or 'fill') that can be changed with no effect on itself but (in a non-linear way and deminishing returns, especially with the multiple levels of recursion in the third panel) can shuffle values in the rest, perhaps to hit upon a self-consistent result overall. Narrowing or widening the panes (thus making more/less white space, and only slightly different black space) could change the ratio enough to hit a solution. Or altering the radius of the pie-chart by a pixel or three (while obviously also updating the angle filled in) could help. And if it didn't work with a pie-chart, for some reason, a big block of text saying "x% black vs y% white", or similar, could have possibly set up a result. The problem is not finding a method of solving the problem, but that there are way too many ways. But once you hit one that doesn't look forced, that'd be good enough and you could roll with it.
::Still, I'm rather in awe of the ''concept'' of the comic. I know I could repeat it (or something very like it), but to think of the idea ''in the first place'' is, I think, the most amazing thing about what we have here...
::Too wordy? Meh... There are three-hundred and twenty-one 'e's in this entry. [[Special:Contributions/31.111.35.144|31.111.35.144]] 19:39, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
::(Post-script: of course "three-hundred and twenty" would also have worked, there, assuming I counted correctly in the first place! [[Special:Contributions/31.111.35.144|31.111.35.144]] 19:39, 15 May 2013 (UTC))

This could be another reference to the mysterious 242 inside joke which is mentioned in another comic's title text (forgot which one)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.253|141.101.98.253]] 14:43, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
: 903:Extended Mind [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.82|172.68.78.82]] 01:49, 14 January 2017 (UTC)

Should I make a picture of the mentioned dependency graph and put it in the article? Basically it would be like a less ugly version of [http://goo.gl/photos/99xQJzqdMFGqa38j8 this]. {{unsigned ip|Fabian42}}
:I don't think this would explain anything from the comic and I can't find a "dependency graph" mentioned.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:23, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
::In the mouseover text: "The graph of panel dependencies" Also this wiki explains everything in every possible detail, so I think it would be ok to include. The page is short for the amount of complexity in this comic anyway. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 14:36, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
:::Yup, I should have read everything before answering. Maybe some wiki articles should be mentioned too: {{w|Dependency graph}}, {{w|Circular dependency}}, and of course {{w|Dependency hell}}. The paragraph here definitively needs an enhancement. Your edits are welcome and a nice picture I can upload for you. And when necessary you also can set the incomplete tag.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:06, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

I created a composite image showing the original comic, then the scatterplot enlarged to the size of the original, then iterate a couple more times. Is there a way to upload and link images here, and would that be a useful addition to the explanation? [[User:Matchups|Matchups]] ([[User talk:Matchups|talk]]) 16:00, 21 February 2018 (UTC)

The time used to draw something like this out on paper must have been mind-boggling. [[User:QATEKLYXM|Klyxm]] ([[User talk:QATEKLYXM|talk]]) 4:05, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

SMBC did it first.

Dammit, my gimmick didn't work. 10:46 - ADST {{unsigned|No Idea If There's A Character Limit LMAO|23:46, 6 February 2023}}
:I see what you tried to do. If I didn't think it was overkill, I might have done it in a more 'workingy' way for you. But I appreciated the effort, and I definitely smiled a bit at the obvious intent.
:But perhaps try the sandbox page and/or using the Preview button, next time, to not go through several iterations and then decide to revert. It (the latter, particularly) saves on edit-history entries that document your not-quite-right baby steps progress as you learn the fine details of markup/templates/etc, and can then even be abandoned without leaving such a trail of experimentation. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 07:05, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

2733: Size Comparisons

2023-02-06T17:30:37Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ Closing quote. And, to probably annoy everybody, emphasise the quote while trailing off the quote's container?

{{comic
| number = 2733
| date = February 3, 2023
| title = Size Comparisons
| image = size_comparisons_2x.png
| imagesize = 238x373px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you shrank the Solar System to the size of Texas, the Houston metro area would be smaller than a grasshopper in Dallas.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TEXAS-SIZED CRICKET - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Another comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series.

[[Cueball]] attempts to emphasize to [[Ponytail]] what {{w|Texas}}'s size is (as the largest state in the {{w|contiguous US}}, although the second largest state in the whole of the {{w|US}}), by making a size comparison. He states that with Texas expanded to the size of the {{w|Solar System}}, the {{w|ant}}s in Texas will be as large as {{w|Rhode Island}} (the smallest US state). However, Cueball on purpose (according to the caption) just proves how small Texas actually is compared to the Solar System (which is a lot larger){{Citation needed}}. Additionally, the deeper truth of the original statement is inverted; if a much smaller state (Rhode Island, Delaware, etc.) were scaled up to the size of the solar system, its ants would be the size of Texas itself, over 200 times as large as the scaled up Texan ants, so the relative smallness of the Texan ants shows how big Texas is.

A common analogy for expressing a statistic (such as area/volume/population size/population density) of unfamiliar things is to compare that thing to some other reference that people are likely to already have an understanding of, if only through past comparisons. For instance, it is said that a human-sized {{w|flea}} could jump the equivalent height of the {{w|Eiffel Tower}} (if jumping ability scaled with animal size; which it does not, due to how some of the different numbers involved will scale to the square or cube of the linear factor, so such aspects as power-to-weight ratios and sheer biomechanical strengths cannot be maintained). In this case, Randall is comparing objects that are extremely different in scale (the state of Texas and a small insect), but then blowing Texas up to yet another size many orders of magnitude larger, and then comparing it with something else his addressee has no comprehension of, with the result that the comparison is of no value in understanding how big Texas is (which could be supposed to be Cueball's intended impartation), or what ants have to do with anything in the first place. The only message you get in the end is that "Texas is much bigger than an ant!"...

There are a lot of definitions for how large the Solar System is, but one that is used (and easily agreed upon) is based upon {{w|Neptune}}'s {{w|Apsis#Perihelion and aphelion|aphelion}} (the farthest point from Sun of the outermost planet). Using the {{w|Area of a circle|circle area equation}}, we might say that the 'area' of the solar system is 6.49×1019 square kilometers (2.506×1019 square miles), which is a lot, with Texas's area being in turn measured as 696,241 km² (268,820 mi²). The difference in size is the huge factor of 9.32×1013 (not a [[2707: Astronomy Numbers|simple number]]). Ants, unfortunately for the calculations, vary vastly in size, but Rhode Island's area is known to be 3,144 km² (1,214 mi²). We can therefore back-calculate that Randall's average "ant" would occupy 33.73 square millimeters. Roughly measured, an ant has an "aspect ratio" of 1:2 (width to length), and such an assumption leads to a length of 8.21mm, which falls easily into the range of 2–25mm for various possible species and types of ants. Therefore, Randall's calculated comparison indeed holds up as valid.

The title text refers to the opposite, with the entire Solar system being scaled down to the size of Texas. {{w|Houston}} (a city in Texas) has a {{w|Greater Houston|metropolitan area}} (an area extending a bit beyond the city itself) that, if ''shrunk'' by the same factor as before, would be smaller than a grasshopper in {{w|Dallas}}, another city in Texas. (This, of course, only works if Houston's environs are part of what is shrunk, yet the grasshopper – and perhaps at least part of its apparent hometown of Dallas – remains unchanged.) The calculations to verify this hinge upon Houston's metro area normally being considered to be 26,061 km² (10,062 mi²), and hence becoming 279.6 square millimeters. A grasshopper may be considered thinner than an ant, so we shall use the aspect ratio of 1:3 instead, to give a length of 28.96 mm, or almost 3 centimeters and approximately an inch. This falls within the range of 1–7cm range, that may be found [https://animalcorner.org/animals/grasshopper/ quoted in some places], but is significantly smaller than [https://a-z-animals.com/blog/the-10-largest-grasshoppers-in-the-world/ notably large species]. Whether the Dallas grasshopper is any particular variety (or even a native, rather than an exotic pet) is not expounded upon.

On the other hand, the comparison would be meaningful the other way around: "The Solar System is so big that if you shrink it to the size of Texas, (the shrunken) Rhode Island would now be as small as (unshrunken) ants".

==Transcript==
:[Cueball speaking to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: Texas is so big that if you expanded it to the size of the Solar System, the ants there would be as big as Rhode Island.
:Ponytail: Wow!
:Ponytail: ...Wait.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My hobby: Unhelpful size comparisons

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Ants]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2732: Bursa of Fabricius

2023-02-02T11:14:57Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ Tweaks2(of2?)

{{comic
| number = 2732
| date = February 1, 2023
| title = Bursa of Fabricius
| image = bursa_of_fabricius_2x.png
| imagesize = 298x399px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If an anatomical structure is named for a person, it means they were the only person to have it. Pierre Paul Broca had a special area of his brain that created powerful magnetic fields, enabling him to do 19th century fMRI research.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by FLYING BIRD SCIENTISTS WITH TRANSPLANTED AVIAN LYMPHATIC ORGANS - Better description of the two people looking at Fabricius and how they may represent his time era. More on what fMRI is and how it today may be used to study what Broca studied on dead people only. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|Bursa of Fabricius}} is an organ found in birds that is necessary for the development of their immune systems.

This comic claims that the 16th century anatomist {{w|Hieronymus Fabricius}} (for whom the organ was named) was able to fly because he also had that organ. However, this organ does not in fact contribute directly to flight (despite being of avian orgin). Also given that it only exist in birds, then it is doubtful that Fabricius also independently had this anatomical feature.

But [[Randall]] asserts that, because the organ was named after Fabricius, he is the one and only human to have had this organ. And, having this avian organ, that grants him the birds' ability of flight.

In the comic, Fabricius (drawn mostly bald and with a beard) is shown swooping through the air with great enjoyment, yelling ''Wheee'' as he swoops down from the sky; this being a typical outburst made by people flying/falling and enjoying it, in Randall's work, and a homorous contrast between the childlike glee and the perhaps more traditionally elderly seriousness that a the bearded and balding intellectual look would typically suggest. Two persons look up at him, from the ground. A man with some form of wide-brimmed hat and a woman with a scarf over her hair and draped down behind her, probably meant to match the styles in use when Fabricius lived in the 16th century. The woman is particularly disturbed by the flying man, holding her hands up to her mouth in a pose of being shocked/surprised by his behaviour and/or abilities.

Many scientific and mathematical discoveries, including anatomical structures, are named after the people who discovered or described them. Rare diseases are often named for the first or most famous (possible even the only) person known to have had the disease. For instance {{w|ALS}} is commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease in the US because of baseball player {{w|Lou Gehrig}} having notably developed the condition. Alternately, a person who identifies the specifics involved either puts their own name to it or is later so honoured by those who recognise their vital contribution, such as with {{w|Parkinson's disease#History|Parkinson's disease}}.

The title text continues with the idea from the comic claiming that anatomical structures are in sole possession of the human for which they are named, in another similar example. {{w|Pierre Paul Broca}}, a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist, was known for his research on what is now known as {{w|Broca's area}}, a region of the brain used for speech and language processing. The premise being that, having this feature, he was uniquely gifted with the special ability to created powerful magnetic fields, enabling him to do {{w|fMRI}} research in the 19th century.

Broca did not do fMRI research, a powerful method of non-intrusively imaging and analysing the internal structures of the living human body (amongst other things), as it was not invented in his lifetime nor is it likely that this ability could be 'naturally' possessed by any individual. He was, however, able to physically study brains of known speech-impaired patients who had then subsequently died, determining that damage in the area (to be then named for him) was directly related to their specific condition. Today, we can safely view this area in living people, using fMRI, and directly connect what we see with the current prognosis of patients. This increase our knowledge of the brain, as with the mythical abilities Randall gave Broca, but also possibly even allows us to help those currently under the effects of any observed damage (not necessarily possible by any 19thC physician, even with this superpowered form of vision to assist them).

In reality, if Broca was the only person to have ever possessed Broca's area then this might have meant that only he had ever had the power of speech (as we understand it), which would indeed give him a very special ability; but one begging a number of other vital questions, if only anybody else could have asked them...

==Transcript==
:[An almost bald man with hair around the neck and a full beard, is shown flying in the top right part of the image, swooping down from the sky with arms outstretched in front of him while yelling. Three dotted lines behind him indicate his path. Two people look up at him from the bottom left corner, a man with a tropical helmet and a black haired woman with a scarf over her hair, which is hanging down behind her. She is holding both her hands up to her mouth. At the top of the panel there is text:]
:The '''''bursa of Fabricius''''' is a lymphoid organ found only in birds and in 16th century anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius, to whom it conferred the power of flight.
:Hieronymus Fabricius: ''Wheee''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Research]]

Talk:673: The Sun

2023-01-26T00:05:06Z

172.71.178.64:

Interesting (or deliberate?) that there's no reference at all in the explanation to [[wikipedia:Sunshine_(2007_film)|Sunshine]], released two years previously. [[Special:Contributions/178.99.247.73|178.99.247.73]] 21:07, 20 May 2013 (UTC)
* I just want to know if Randall knew the film Sunshine existed when he made the comic.

Can't "to spring" be thought of as a physical movement? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 00:49, 7 January 2014 (UTC)
: Yes; that's why the mnemonic works. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 16:08, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
:: Also, the mnemonic works because physically it is relatively easier to spring (i.e., jump) forward and to fall (through the simple action of gravity, without being able to catch yourself with your arms) back(ward) than it is to do the reverse. --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 01:09, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
the fusion reactions are well understood
By whom?

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 22:12, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Okay, I'm too lazy to figure out a rewrite, but honestly...it seems pretty durned obvious that it's making fun of "The Core" which is actually mentioned in the comic, not making fun of some random British film not mentioned. Also look at the movie poster for "The Core" on Wikipedia; the similarities to the last panel with the group of people and the silhouettes is pretty obvious. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.150|108.162.215.150]] 23:11, 12 April 2015 (UTC)MW

I think "not on my watch" is being used as another pun, as daylight savings would not happen on your watch if you couldn't adjust it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.127|173.245.52.127]] 12:19, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

It's not incorrect to say that this comic makes fun of science fiction disaster movies, but that's not right place to start. The comic is really about the fact that there are two ways to interpret the term "daylight saving time", and one of those ways sounds like the over-adrenalized style that one sees in action movie posters. That's the central joke, and the mockery of science fiction disaster movies is there in order to make that joke funny

The statement that "Even in the nearly impossible event of the sun's fusion is failing in the traditional sense, the sun would collapse causing a supernova." is incorrect as the Sun does not have enough mass to fuel a supernova. IIRC it's mass would have to be about 40% higher for that to happen
: Removed it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.236|162.158.238.236]] 02:29, 30 October 2020 (UTC)
Is the second Cueball in panel one dismissing Ponytail's warning, or dismissing the other Cueball's question of whether it makes sense? I took it as a joke on people dismissing such criticism of such disaster movies by pointing out they are just an excuse for two hours of pretty people and special effects, and aren't supposed to be thought about. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.16|162.158.79.16]] 15:38, 17 March 2022 (UTC)

How are we sure there are two ponytails in this comic? It could be the same character. After all they will need someone competent on their team. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.172|162.158.103.172]] 18:04, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
:There's no sign that the common illustrative (and filmic) convention has been broken, of NASA-calling Cueball being in direct communication with helmet-carrying Cueball across the 'jump-cut' between the two frames/scenes. For original Ponytail to have had time to be in both scenes presupposes a whole omitted period of time (ok, so not rare in film trailers, which reassemble the storyline how they see fit) but, more than that, it makes nonsense of the helmet-Cueball seeming to learn of the group's instructions by phone when Ponytail (of the initial scene) seems to be already both knowledgable ''and'' authoritative enough to have briefed the team upon her arrival (at whatever point in the intervening time that was).
:...you'd need to assume some big "but is the threat ''really'' real?" plotpoint where Ponytail (initial version) and her staff have primed NASA but some beaurocratic process then had to have been seen (in the full movie) in which Ponytail (and perhaps even one of 'her' Cueballs, because... expendible sidekick?) rock up to NASA, get them to at least prepare for the mission, all the while awaiting the go/no-go direct from the person in charge (NASA boss/POTUS/whatever), at which point the explicit confirmation comes through and is rhetorically relayed to a team who know ''exactly'' what it is they'll be doing (if it turns out they're doing anything) and just need an "It's a Go, guys!"
:Not that some dialogue/screenplay isn't as bad as the backformed trailer-cut version forces us to assume (nor that some trailers don't horribly Lie with misplaced or even unused film-footage that sort of makes its own sense, if you don't notice the same character present in both scenes). But I prefer to think that Astronomer-Ponytail is perhaps NASA-Ponytail's twin sister. Making it even more dramatic that, in order to save the world from <whatever>, the former has to put her super-sibling as directly into harm's way as any practical and observational person can, even given the latter's obvious tendency to a more risk-taking profession (but probably still topped the intelligence tests).
:...yet that's just my own [[1401: New|headcanon]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 00:05, 26 January 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2727: Runtime

2023-01-21T03:55:56Z

172.71.178.64:

It has to be said that a first season of a series generally will be written ''as'' a whole season (give or take any pilot/feature-length-special that may be the heralding first episode). Whereas film sequences don't tend to be purposefully made/anticipated together (notable exceptions: Back To The Futures 2 & 3, the LOTR and (later) Hobbit trilogies, various sub-sets of Star Wars (the prequel and sequel trilogies, certainly, the OT's second and third conclusions to the story started with Ep4). Sometimes it runs well enough to get up into high numbers of at least sufficiently similar-yet-innovating releases that satisfy the theme (the Fast And Furiouses... the whole Bond œuvre..?), though sometimes it might stutter (Highlander 2!) and may or may not actually recover. Either way, it risks becoming a made-for-TV-movie sinkhole (as Disney knows well enough), unless it was always intended to reproduce some previously successful serialisation (Tolkein's stuff, as already alluded to; J.K. Rowling's surprisingly popular product). I think, therefore that Cueball is right to more dread the effort of dealing with some multi-sequel monstrocity of a film-canon, compared to whatever degree of {{tvtropes|EarlyInstallmentWeirdness|First Season Disservice}} he has suffered or heard that he must suffer before the kinks are properly ironed out in seasons 2-6. (Then it goes funny for 7, 8 and most of 9, until the story arc evolves into something that gets it to series 20 before a bit of cancel/uncancel shenanigans plague the production, spin-offs (including a prequel series and/or an animated version) take over the franchise and relegate the old stars to cameo-actors, the franchise then gets a Series: The Movie! which either does surprisingly well or surprisingly manages to upset the whole diverse fanbase in loads of differing ways... or some variation on all that.)
 ...but, anyway, it's not surprising. Yet it ''does'' probably qualify as an interesting point that fully deserves to be highlit or else we might never have thought of it for ousrselves, in as many words. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 03:55, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

User talk:ColorfulGalaxy

2023-01-21T02:20:36Z

172.71.178.64: Undo revision 305057 by ChristmasGospel (talk) Not going to be a good-faith request, given the account's history of contribution. Which is not the only strange aspect, so saving time

==12==
Hi, what happens in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:ColorfulGalaxy&curid=25508&diff=301086&oldid=292141 12 edits]? Have a life-changing day in a good way! —[[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}}) 21:56, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

: I meant that I need 12 more edits to get [[explain_xkcd:Autoconfirmed_users|autoconfirmed]] so I can create more pages in my user page. The computer that I'm using runs awfully slow. My other computer blocks CAPTCHA automatically. [[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 07:51, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

::Cool —[[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}}) 07:58, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

::: I just made it! Thanks for confirming my account! Now I can stop using that slow computer. --[[User:ColorfulGalaxy|ColorfulGalaxy]] ([[User talk:ColorfulGalaxy|talk]]) 09:08, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

== Google search link ==

A couple of times, recently, you provided a Google search link to something. I don't like following those (with their "q=..." stuff and hangover metadata in other POST data) when you could perhaps give the direct link you intend instead?

i.e. right-clicking on the Google page's item and copying that link is wasteful (and not ''always'' correct), you should instead follow the link you intend and then copy the true address (if proven to be what you wish) from the address-bar. And, even then, best to cut away any "&referer=..." type stuff (and restest the cut down link!) so that everyone who follows you has a bare-bones link that works without having to mess with reconstructing the metadata that means "<nowiki>http://whatever.com/foo/bar/baz.html#indexpoint</nowiki>", or howsoever it should resolve.

Just a tip. To streamline and not unneccessarily obfuscate the use of your contributions... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.77|172.70.91.77]] 15:15, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

== This is probably the first numbered comic whose title... ==

''Probably'' you could just confirm these claims, ''before'' making them? It seems easy enough to do, and you seem to have the time to do it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.141|172.71.242.141]] 23:25, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

1576: I Could Care Less

2023-01-11T00:20:17Z

172.71.178.64: Undo revision 304498 by 172.71.218.245 (talk) I don't understand the objection voiced in the comment of the edit I'm undoing. As the literal meaning is to stand, yet used for to tumble.

{{comic
| number = 1576
| date = September 11, 2015
| title = I Could Care Less
| image = i_could_care_less.png
| titletext = I literally could care less.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic references the dichotomy between the literal meaning of the phrase "I could care less" and its idiomatic meaning in American English as an expression of indifference, [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/care synonymous with "I could'''n't''' care less."] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCUsPnKD1gk&t=14s Many] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw&t=1m2s people] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc&t=1m7s argue] that this use is incorrect and the phrase should only be "I couldn't care less," which is the original form of the expression and remains the [http://blog.dictionary.com/could-care-less/ standard form in British English]. This is the opinion expressed, for example, by the Weird Al Yankovic song "Word Crimes": <blockquote>Like I could care less 
That means you do care 
At least a little</blockquote>
However, linguists point out that the strict application of logic to an idiom is inappropriate: many expressions seem on the surface to mean the opposite of the meaning they are used to convey (e.g. "head over heels"), and they [http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/03/18/why_i_could_care_less_is_not_as_irrational_or_ungrammatical_as_you_might.html defend "I could care less" on those grounds]. The psychologist Steven Pinker argues in ''The Language Instinct'' that the phrase is sarcastic (cf. "Big deal!"), [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/giveadamn.html while linguist John Lawler explains] it as a "Negative Polarity Item," a phrase that is practically only used in negated form, allowing the explicit negation to be omitted (a pattern often found in French).

In this comic, Megan feels alone because there is unavoidable difference between her understanding of her own words and the listener's interpretation, so while she sees discussion of semantics as being of potentially high social and emotional value, she doesn't think it has objective value. However, ironically, at the end of the comic, the meaning of "I could care less" with regards to Ponytail's behavior is ambiguous: either Megan is brushing off Ponytail's pedantry because she doesn't care about it (she couldn't care less) or she is hurt by Ponytail's focus on the details of her words rather than the emotional cues she should have learned over the course of their relationship (she actually could care less).

The title text refers to another word often used in ways some consider incorrect: "literally" (see [[725: Literally]]). The sentence is also ambiguous, as it may mean that 'literally' or 'figuratively,' the speaker could or couldn't care less. Further, it implies that [[Randall]] considers the argument over whether literally may be properly used to mean 'figuratively' is petty in the same way. Later in [[1735: Fashion Police and Grammar Police]] Ponytail is once again on the side of the grammar police and also in this comic the word literally is used.

Alternatively, it could mean that Megan cares too much about Ponytail's correction, considering her response to it.

In a further alternative, the title text could amount to a self-ironical evaluation on Randall’s part to the effect that he himself might be devoting too much of his time and energy to the meaning of the phrase in question, as evidenced by the comic itself.

The inverse image of Megan floating through space in the fourth panel, as well as her long introspection, is a reference to the five-part "Choices" series, starting at [[264: Choices: Part 1]].

==Transcript==
:[The first three panels are slim compared to the next row below, and they only takes up the same space as the first two of the three panels below this row. Similarly the bottom row, also with three panels, take up less space, although more than the top row. But in this bottom row the empty space in the comic is to the left vs. to the right in the top row.]

:[Megan and Ponytail are walking together, Megan in front holds her arms out to the side.]
:Megan: ...Anyway, I could care less.

:[Zoom in on Ponytail holding up her hand (which can atypically be seen), finger pointing up.]
:Ponytail: I think you mean you '''couldn't''' care less. Saying you '''could''' care less implies you care at least some amount.

:[Back to Megan and Ponytail walking, both have their arms down.]
:Megan: I dunno.

:[The next panel supposed to be to the right of this is missing, instead the comic jumps to the next row. This fourth panel has inverted brightness, with a white Megan floating in a black void, with white text above her.]
:Megan: We're these unbelievably complicated brains drifting through a void, trying in vain to connect with one another by blindly flinging words out into the darkness.

:[Back to Megan and Ponytail walking.]
:Megan: Every choice of phrasing and spelling and tone and timing carries countless signals and contexts and subtexts and more,
:Megan: and every listener interprets those signals in their own way.
:Megan: Language isn't a formal system. Language is glorious chaos.

:[Zoom in on Megan's head.]
:Megan: You can never know for sure what any words will mean to anyone.
:Megan: All you can do is try to get better at guessing how your words affect people, so you can have a chance of finding the ones that will make them feel something like what you want them to feel.
:Megan: Everything else is pointless.

:[They have stopped walking as Megan holding a hand out has turned around facing Ponytail.]
:Megan: I assume you're giving me tips on how you interpret words because you want me to feel less alone.
:Megan: If so, then thank you.
:Megan: That means a lot.

:[Megan and Ponytail resume with their walking.]
:Megan: But if you're just running my sentences past some mental checklist so you can show off how well you know it,

:[Megan and Ponytail continue walking.]
:Megan: then I could care less.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Pedantic]]

Talk:2716: Game Night Ordering

2022-12-27T15:27:54Z

172.71.178.64:

Should we create a category for comics about game night? It can contain at least this and https://xkcd.com/2486/. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:32, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
:I'm not going to oppose it, but keep in mind that it would overlap with [[:Category:Board games]]. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.48|172.70.178.48]] 22:50, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
::We absolutely need a general [[:Category:Games]] because we have e.g. roleplaying games under Board games. Does anyone know how to edit in a superclass category? The last time I ever did anything sophisticated with Mediawiki categories was like 2008. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.38|172.71.154.38]] 23:39, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
:::{{done}} [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 06:20, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

The rules would seem to be similar to the card game Cheat (or, at least, the version we used to play). Using an ordinary wholly-dealt pack of cards (for any number of players), it was a "blind bid and discard" game whereby each player has to state "<one to four> <card value>s" (or more than four, with merged packs, each of which might be whole or partial) was going on the discard pile, such that the card value was within one (-1, =, +1, with standard wrapping ...>10>J>Q>K>A>2>...) of the prior stated discard. And ''something'' had to be discarded, whether or not the player could technically do so. The forfeit for not continuing play ''or'' challenging, within a generally acceptable thinking time, was the same for either being successfully challenged (you stated you put down two threes, but on checking the dump pile you discarded two sevens) or for the person who wrongly challenged... to pick up the discard pile and be so much further from the ultimate goal of ending up with zero cards (the first the winner, optionally the second, third, etc to do so to earn further ranks just for the sake of continuing/last-ranking the one who ended up as the only one still with cards). - I presume this game just applies the same penalty (buying the food) to anyone who dithers over whether to challenge anything or 'play their own hand'. There doesn't need to be anything more complicated to it. Unless there's also an 'empty hand' winning state, that I can't discern from the brief discourse given in the comic. But it seems more geared to finding the eventual 'loser' (the one who pays up) than any single beneficiary. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.230|162.158.34.230]] 23:17, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
:If there is a link for Cheat you should add it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.150|172.70.206.150]] 23:20, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
::Well, I think there's far too many variations... Though, surprisingly, it does look like {{w|Cheat (game)}} actually describes ''my'' learnt version quite well. But I don't think I see any 'time out' penalties mentioned there, and that was th XXX oe key part of the "play or challenge, don't dither, or you lose" bit to my (sorry, rather long) description above... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.230|162.158.34.230]] 23:27, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
::: Never apologize for verbosity on talk; devote that energy to brevity on main. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.156|172.71.154.156]] 23:41, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
::::We need a quotes page. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.150|172.70.206.150]] 02:13, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::(Plus there's the inverted "loser finder" rather than "winner finder" primary nature of the gameplay. It makes the methodology of play a bit too different.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.231|162.158.34.231]] 23:30, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
:::My favourite tactic (knowing that I'm unlikely to identifiably play against anyone who reads this...) in Cheat is that ''when'' I have four (or more, in multipack) of a particular in-range card value, and not chosen to ignore someone else's clearly false declaration of that rank, I declare one or two of this (but dump something else, as convenient) on one pass, on the very next opportunity (fellow players tending to random-walk the ±1 bracket-change) I declare/dump 'another' one or two (for real), and then on the next opportunity I truthfully get rid of all the remainder. That adds up to greater than the possibly held number of cards. But when the suspicions are ramped up against me (I've now declared six of the four jacks in the pack!) I'm proven correct. And yet, when I was lying, I knew that nobody else could hold any (or enough) of the rank to have reasonable doubts about me.
:::As a bonus, so long as I remember what I dumped in the first bit of this tactic, I can conceivably have still had ''those'' cards if gameplay forces me to submit something in thir separate range. Meaning that now it's fairly safe to pretend to dump them (but actually dump any further different card-values as I decide), without increased suspicion. Especially when all this is slotted into a more general "honesty is the best policy" gameplay, save for some of the above traps or ''strictly necessary'' bluff, meaning it's high risk to challenge me. Even upon my having just declared the latest in a running total of ''seven'' deuces, or whatever it turns out I've apparently racked up since the last forced pickup (which I treat as opportunity, should I suffer it).
:::Though none of this relates easily to the comic's game, of course, which is more a combination of knowledge, prepartee and hutzpah... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.74|172.71.242.74]] 08:31, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::::What?? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.6|172.71.158.6]] 10:52, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

We should make a payment service for providing crowdfunded rewards to the best contributors to explanations. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.16|172.69.134.16]] 01:16, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:I love this idea but it would conflict with the ethos of completely anonymized contributions here. Unless someone can propose how it might not? I mean, if there was some way to include an SHA-256 identity-confirming hash in edit summaries? Would keeping track of them in terms of surviving text after, say, a month be a decent leaderboard scoring? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.84|172.69.33.84]] 01:42, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::My meager anonymous IP contributions to explanations have been completely dwarfed by my attempts to revert vandalism on the official main page leaderboard, but is that a good or a bad thing? The idea needs to be carefully considered. I would absolutely kick in $25 to support other explainers, but I would need some assurance that the system couldn't be gamed by, e.g. paraphrasers, which I'm not sure is even possible. [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 01:54, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::: It's easy to hijack someone else's contributions with paraphrasing and refactoring. It's a dead end. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.230|162.158.166.230]] 02:05, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:::: True, but is there a way to avoid the cheating? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.253|172.70.214.253]] 02:28, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::: I would probably also kick in $25 if the system was well-designed, even if it was vulnerable to paraphrasing or refactoring, as long as someone could call out such flaws as they happened. Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.173|162.158.166.173]] 02:39, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:::: The operationalism issue is how to set up actual payment flows while still allowing criticisms of them. The cost to reverse a payment is too high compared to the relative number of payments you might want to reverse. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.90|172.71.158.90]] 05:33, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
: You could make this simple by having it be opt-in and having contributors identify themselves in their summary. Like, just put a payment address in the summary, and then link to the contribution in the discussion here. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.79|172.70.114.79]] 14:46, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

Is this about cryptocurrency scams? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.135|172.70.211.135]] 02:50, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:I want to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlMwc1c0HRQ&ab_channel=NickKing subscribe to your newsletter.] [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.92|172.70.206.92]] 05:20, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

Am I an idiot because I didn't know Amazon did food delivery before clicking on that first link? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.92|172.70.211.92]] 05:42, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:I didn't know either until you brought it to my attention, but firstly their prices are high compared to established players, and secondly it's a dystopian vision of capitalism which everyone is trying to avoid even though we all know it's inevitable. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.217|172.71.158.217]] 07:39, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::Dude! You can say that again! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.125|172.69.33.125]] 07:45, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone else see the food : money :: atoms : bits analogy? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.19|162.158.186.19]] 07:26, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

The strategy mentioned in the alttext might not be faecetious- consider the alternate categories of apps and services that might exist, such as randomisers, colour pickers, specialty search engines, wikis, en and decoders, photo editors, etc. I could pull off somehting like a list of encoding bits in python in a couple hours off of seventh grade computer science. ~Tanz
:No, you could make a fake, standalone site that might even suffice to phish payment details from the sufficiently gullable.
:OTOH, there are eCommerce-focused Content Management Systems out there that you can pay to host something that (with further effort, including effort to advertise to consumers ''and'' recruit supply-end businesses to service the orders) might then be considered valid, and might eventually even make an honest profit from. At least before taxes/business rates, financial services/payment handling fees, etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 15:27, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

2707: Astronomy Numbers

2022-12-06T11:04:42Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ Weight is an Earthbound concept (and/or in particular situations, all of which are individually scaled to circumstances) so correcting to the (invariable?) concept of mass, more consistently.

{{comic
| number = 2707
| date = December 5, 2022
| title = Astronomy Numbers
| image = astronomy_numbers_2x.png
| imagesize = 593x315px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I adopted a cat that weighs 12 solar masses. Laser pointers love chasing it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CAT-LOVING LASER POINTER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Space is big. Vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big,[https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/14434-space-is-big-you-just-won-t-believe-how-vastly-hugely] and the things that are in space can also end up being very big themselves. As a result of this, most quantities in astronomy can vary by huge scales. For example, Earth has a mass 10^23 times more than the average human, and the Sun is 10^5 times more than that, which itself is 10^12 times less massive than the Milky Way. The same applies to speeds, distances, and time, which can often be measured in terms of light speed, light-years, and millions (or even billions) of years. Because of this, it's a truly unusual occurrence for anything in space to end up in the fairly narrow range of scales of mass, size, speed, or time that humans can easily grasp.

Ponytail, a scientist apparently researching something related to Earth's orbit, remarks that she finds it “suspicious” when reasonably human-scaled numbers come up. She then extends this paranoia to things that should be measured in regular numbers, such as the weight of cats. The vet (Megan) is seemingly used to this problem (perhaps she gets a lot of physicists) so restates the 12 lb weight of Ponytail’s cat in solar masses, which sounds more correct to the astronomer.

Although the Earth's orbital velocity around the Sun is far above any "normal" scales (around 30 kilometers per second or 108,000 kilometers per hour), Earth has a pretty circular orbit around the Sun so most of this speed ends up being tangential (sideways) rather than radial (towards or away from) the Sun, which is the value relevant for Ponytail's calculations. On January 1, Earth's radial velocity is close to its smallest value because we reach our closest point to the Sun in the first few days of January each year (in 2023, it happens on January 4) so by January 1, it's nearly come to a standstill before it starts traveling away from the Sun again. On the other hand, by April 3, 2023, Earth will be receding from the Sun by almost 500 meters per second or 1800 kilometers per hour, a slightly less normal speed for the average person to encounter in everyday life.{{citation needed}}

65 miles per hour is approximately equal to 105 kilometers per hour, although the even more typical scientific value (in {{w|International System of Units|SI}} derived units) would be 29 meters per second. 3 × 10^−30 solar masses is approximately equal to 6 kilograms or 13 pounds (consistent with the 12 pounds, or slightly under 5.5 kilograms, of the original figure) and is normal, if perhaps slightly overweight, for a cat.

The title text suggests that laser pointers "love chasing" a new cat with a weight of 12 solar masses (an inversion of the typical cat behavior of [[729: Laser Pointer|chasing laser pointer dots]]).
All gravitational fields bend light towards their center, a 12 solar mass object would bend quite a lot. A Laser pointer pointed at such a cat would bend towards it or "chase" it. In fact, 12 solar masses, would have a Schwarzschild radius of around 36 kilometers, so a regularly sized cat that size would very definitely be a black hole, drawing all light within 72 kilometers around it into its singularity.

Another interpretation of the title text is that Randall has (presumably) accidentally adopted a distant star instead, which astronomers usually take a liking to pointing laser pointers at during both star parties & normal parties they were unwisely invited to. Assuming Randall's 12-solar-mass cat goes through similar life cycles to a 12-solar-mass star, his cat will probably end up living a violent, short life of just a few million years before expanding into a red supercat and exploding as a feline supernova, which might explain why astronomers are so interested in pointing it out.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is standing in front of a whiteboard writing on it with a pen, while Cueball looks over her shoulder from behind her. On the board is an almost circular ellipse with a cross that centers on a dot towards the left side of it. On the right side there is a small circle on the ellipse's line. There are several lines of wiggles representing unreadable text. To the left of the ellipse there are two lines near the top of and four near at the bottom of the ellipse. Ponytail is writing a fifth line below these almost under the ellipse. At the bottom to the left there is a rectangular frame with a line of text beneath it and at the bottom left corner there is a line forming a half closes rectangle around two dots.]
:Ponytail: …And we need to correct for our elliptical orbit. On January 1st, Earth will be approaching the sun at a rate of ...let's see...
:Ponytail: 65 miles per hour.
:Ponytail: Weird. Okay.
:Cueball: Weird?

:[Ponytail has turned towards Cueball, the pen is no longer in her hand and the white board is no longer shown.]
:Ponytail: I get suspicious whenever I see a normal number in astronomy. We're not supposed to have those. Feels wrong.
:Ponytail: Scales should all be incomprehensible.

:[Megan in a lab-coat raised her hand palm up towards an animal carrier cage standing on her desk. The cage has a handle and five air holes are at the top. Behind two of them something black inside the cage can be seen. Ponytail is standing on the other side of the desk looking at Megan. Above the top of the panels frame there is a panel with a label:]
:Earlier, at the vet:
:Megan: Your cat weighs 12 lbs.
:Ponytail: Ridiculous, nothing weighs "12". You must mean 10-20? Or 1040?
:Megan: Fine. Your cat weighs 3x10-30 solar masses.
:Ponytail: Okay. Better.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Cats]]

451: Impostor

2022-12-02T09:51:55Z

172.71.178.64: Undo revision 300198 by 172.69.134.161 (talk) I don't see the bookshelf even mentioned. Was it that "self" has been misread as as "shelf", perhaps, by that editor?

{{comic
| number = 451
| date = July 18, 2008
| title = Impostor
| image = impostor.png
| titletext = If you think this is too hard on literary criticism, read the Wikipedia article on deconstruction.
}}

==Explanation==
While the comic is ostensibly about grad students, it is really [[Randall]]'s way of poking fun at the relative rigor of different fields, reminiscent of [[435: Purity]]. In the comic, [[Cueball]] attempts to pose as an expert in a given field (a [[:Category:Banned from conferences|recurring pastime]] of his) and sees how long it takes before the real experts detect his nonsense.

The first panel shows [[Cueball]] discussing an {{w|engineering}} problem with [[Ponytail]]. Ponytail is talking about an immediate practical problem involving heat dissipation. Cueball suggests 'using {{w|logarithm|logarithms}}' to solve it; logarithms are a mathematical tool used for expressing an exponential relationship as a linear one. While logarithms have many uses in engineering, they are an abstract mathematical concept, and not a method of dissipating heat, so in the context of the conversation, it makes no sense and outs Cueball as having grabbed a random word he knows engineers use and thrown it in to sound smart. With the engineer's conversation focusing on an immediate practical application, it only takes 48 seconds before he exposes himself.

The second panel shows a conversation with {{w|linguistics|linguistic}} grad students who are apparently discussing the {{w|Finno-Ugric languages|Finno-Ugric language family}} (a family of related languages that includes Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian). Cueball asks if {{w|Klingon language|Klingon}} is included in this family. The linguists instantly recognize the meaninglessness of the statement — either because Klingon is a constructed language, designed to sound "alien" to avoid sounding like any human language (thus it cannot be part of any real linguistic family), or because "Klingon" is a recognizable pop-culture reference. Either way he has exposed himself after only 63 seconds of conversation. That all being said, the inventors of the Klingon language took the word order from the Finno-Ugric languages after research showed that the order of "predicate, subject, object" is least common in human languages, so there are at least some roots of Klingon language to analyze.

In the third panel, the humor comes from the fact that the idea of {{w|sociology}} existing to rank human beings on some arbitrary intrinsic value is not only ridiculous in a scientific context, but also politically offensive. Cueball unknowingly recreates the logic behind some of the worst crimes in human history, a problem sociologists are trained to be very aware of. However, it may be something that a less educated non-sociologist would assume could pass within the field. When he describes his unscientific and offensive approach, we see one of the sociology grad students facepalming in exasperation. Because a non-expert may be able to sound somewhat educated in sociology before making such a slip-up, it is four minutes into the conversation before he is detected.

In the final panel, he attempts to pass as an expert in {{w|literary criticism}}. This field notoriously uses a great deal of impenetrable jargon, so when Cueball makes up seemingly meaningless sentences, no one notices. His quip at "deconstructing the self" may be a meta joke about the field itself failing under deconstruction... (or this sentence may be a meta-meta- example of someone applying literary criticism standards to the analysis of this specific comic). We find that rather than being caught out within minutes as in the other fields, he has now published 8 papers and 2 books. The humor comes from the fact that he has accidentally made himself into a recognized authority in the field, despite not having any idea what he was talking about. In this panel, Cueball is sitting in an armchair in the position of an expert lecturing to a student, who sits at his feet apparently absorbing his inane statement.

This implies that the field itself has published a great deal of meaningless things that only superficially look meaningful through the impenetrability of the jargon. The title text challenges the audience to take a look at {{w|Deconstruction|the Wikipedia article for literary deconstruction}} if they don't believe this criticism applies - the Wikipedia article in question is almost constantly flagged for "clean-up" on the grounds that it's a jumbled mess. An archive of the article as it was when this comic was published is available [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deconstruction&oldid=225953741 here].

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panels:]
:::My Hobby:
:Sitting down with grad students and timing how long it takes them to figure out that I'm not actually an expert in their field.

:[For all four panels below, there are two frames crossing the border of each panel. The ones at the top left have a caption, and the one below right has the result of the timing.]

:[Ponytail and Cueball are sitting across from each other in office chairs.]
:Engineering:
:Ponytail: Our big problem is heat dissipation
:Cueball: Have you tried logarithms?
:48 seconds

:[Cueball is sitting in a chair at the center of a table looking left at another Cueball-like guy. To the right is a long black-haired girl.]
:Linguistics:
:Cueball: Ah, so does this Finno-Ugric family include, say, Klingon?
:63 seconds

:[Cueball is standing with his hands up talking to another Cueball-like guy and Megan who has lifted her arm to palm her face.]
:Sociology:
:Cueball: Yeah, my latest work is on ranking people from best to worst.
:4 minutes

:[Cueball is sitting in an armchair with another Cueball-like guy sitting attentively in front of him on the floor.]
:Literary Criticism:
:Cueball: You see, the deconstruction is inextricable from not only the text, but also the self.
:Eight papers and two books and they haven't caught on.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

2704: Faucet

2022-11-30T14:17:58Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ While valid, we have a template for that (and compressed a little more by *adding* the source word and using auto-plural)

{{comic
| number = 2704
| date = November 28, 2022
| title = Faucet
| image = faucet_2x.png
| imagesize = 315x414px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's okay, they can figure out which control positions produce scalding water via a trial-and-error feedback loop with a barely-perceptible 10-second lag.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SCALDING AND CONFUSED FAUCET - Please change this comment when editing this page. You are encouraged to delete this tag too soon.}}

A variety of {{w|Tap (valve)#Nomenclature|faucet}} controls have been designed for the control of a shower or sink's water output; however, Randall seems to find all the existing options to be inadequate in some way and posits in this comic that engineers share a desire to create a more ideal design. The comic shows one such engineer, looking unkempt and rambling like a madman as he explains to an off-screen character how his new faucet design works. The off-screen character promptly tells him that he should get some sleep, a request which the engineer ignores in favor of continuing the search for the "perfect" water faucet.

In general, a faucet's output has two independent parameters: flow velocity and temperature; some particularly frustrating faucet controls only offer one degree of freedom which simultaneously turns up the flow rate and the temperature, and thus cannot fully explore the shower-space (making it sometimes difficult to find a comfortable setting). Some faucets can adjust both parameters but only have a single lever which must be angled along degrees of freedom which are not always labeled clearly or intuitively, and this may also irk Randall. Other faucets have two independent controls for the flow of cold water and hot water; however, while these are highly granular, it can be difficult to adjust the parameters independently e.g. change the temperature without changing the flow, or changing the flow without changing the temperature.

While two-handle faucets may seem simple in the abstract, they are imperfect in practice. In older houses or those with hot water systems based on tankless or instant hot water heaters, the hot water pressure is rarely the same as the cold water pressure. This can cause problems with cold water flowing back into the hot line, creating temperature drifts, unexpected changes in temperature based on slight input changes, and non-reproducibility in shower settings.

Newer systems include {{w|thermostatic mixing valve}}s which are designed to alleviate these problems; ideally, they contain one control for temperature and one for flow, which would seem to fit the "non-confusing" brief and solve Randall's problems. However, designing a system technically functional and making it intuitive (and making it work in practice for all water supply systems) is non-trivial, so Randall may have had trouble with even these faucets in the past.

The experience of a shower being affected by a significant change in usage of water elsewhere in the building (a running washing machine clicking into or out of a rinse-cycle, or the sudden use of a flush-toilet) is a typical one in any place without deliberately over-engineered plumbing. Purpose built hotels ''may'' have an in-built degree of resilience of this kind, but over many temporary stay-overs by guests (each new set having to become familiar with the plumbing) will develop wear and tear that later guests will not be automatically aware of — including the gradual wearing off of the traditional red and blue arrows intended to show the polarity of hot-and-cold controls.

The title text is a hyperbolic and slightly sarcastic explanation of the merits of a faucet system, presumably from the engineer who designed it. It describes that the user can identify an undesirable result, e.g. of scalding water, through a trial-and-error feedback loop. But, with a decidedly long delay in response time as the scalding (then non-scalding) mix works its way through the system, it means that they are left waiting for any adjustments made to prove themselves as useful (or not) whilst still experiencing the prior state of the water.

==Transcript==
:[A designer with short, messy hair and a scuffed face stands in front of a whiteboard. He is holding a pen and is sketching with it above his head. His other empty hand is also held up above his head, possibly touching part of the sketch. On the whiteboard are various scribbles, pieces of illegible text, drawings of waves, arrows, and side views and cross sections of a faucet. In the center of the whiteboard, drawn with soft, sketched lines is the faucet, the designers empty hand is touching it. It has a vertical wall-mounted square base with a semicircle above. Attached to the semicircle is a tightly curled helical tube that curls twice, this is the one the designer is drawing on at the moment. Below it is a drawing of a spout with a stream of water going almost to the bottom of the board. On the floor around the designers feet is an upright beverage can, a large piece of crumpled paper, and 6 smaller pieces of crumbles or ripped paper and one larger flat piece of paper. He talks to someone off-panel, who replies from a star burst on the right border of the panel.]
:Designer: ...So you tighten the spiral to make the water hotter, and to adjust the flow rate you just-
:Off panel voice: You need to sleep.
:Designer: '''''No! I can do this!'''''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Every designer's dream is to finally invent a non-confusing faucet control.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Dreams]]

2702: What If 2 Gift Guide

2022-11-27T22:53:52Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ Additionally justifying the problem with "Mike"

{{comic
| number = 2702
| date = November 23, 2022
| title = What If 2 Gift Guide
| image = what_if_2_gift_guide_2x.png
| imagesize = 500x878px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = BABIES OR LITERATURE BUT NOT BOTH: Baby shoes
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OUT-OF-CONTROL HANDHELD NEUTRINO CYLINDER FOR TEENS. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Randall]] is again promoting his new book, ''[https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ What if? 2]'', and starts by explaining the kind of recipient who might appreciate it, basically anyone who is into science or anything in the Universe... So basically anyone.

Then he also gives both direct and humorously indirect instructions of how to obtain the book for them, the latter method making a jocular (but not completely wrong) presumption that almost any text-input widget leads to some relevant search-engine result. Also the entire comic is a link to the what if? 2 page on xkcd that he writes the link to in the comic. As always clicking anywhere on the image will take you there (so also if you actually click on the link).

He also suggests some other tongue-in-cheek gift ideas for several other subtypes of gift-receiver. Most of which are, in keeping with the What If ethos, somewhat dangerous or impractical. A number directly reference things previously mentioned or depicted by xkcd.

{| class="wikitable"
|+
|-
! Interest !! Gift Idea !! Explanation
|-
| Engineering || The {{w|International Prototype of the Kilogram|platinum cylinder}} formerly used to identify the kilogram || This is an object of historical relevance of which only six exist, making it a very expensive or illegal gift. With the {{w|2019 redefinition of the SI base units|redefinition of the SI base units}} in 2019, {{w|2019_redefinition_of_the_SI_base_units#Kilogram|the kilogram}} is now defined using only natural constants rather than a physical standard. It took some time before this last SI unit was redefined, 3 years prior to this comic's release. The old prototypes are no longer as important as they were when they were actually used to define the kilogram. But they are still historical artifacts with enormous value, even apart from the value of a kilogram of platinum (about $32 000 at time of writing).
|-
| Biology || The genomes of the scientists who headed the human genome project || The "International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium," as the {{w|Human Genome Project}} team was known, involved scientists from twenty institutions in six countries. In the US, it was initially led by DNA structure co-discoverer {{w|James Watson}} who was succeeded by {{w|Francis Collins}}. In the UK, the project was led by {{w|John Sulston}}. The teams from other countries' institutions were less prominent and performed substantially less work on the initial sequencing. James Watson's genome was sequenced in 2007. The genome of {{w|Craig Venter}}, the CEO of {{w|Celera Genomics}}, was used as the exemplar for Celera’s sequence. While the “race” between Celera and NIH was declared a tie by then-President Clinton, in actuality, Celera had some 85+% coverage while NIH was about 50%.
|-
| Physics || A beam of neutrinos delivered through the earth by the LHC || {{w|Neutrino}}s interact very weakly with other particles, to the point that they almost always pass straight through matter completely unaffected. This means that particle accelerators can send neutrinos to any other point on Earth by aiming the particle beam into the ground, and the neutrinos pass straight through the Earth. This point is referenced in the What-If article "{{what if|73|Lethal Neutrinos}}". The low interactivity of neutrinos would also mean that the recipient would be unable to perceive their gift, making this a poor present for anyone except the small proportion of physics aficionados who already have a neutrino detector on-hand.
|-
| Animals || Surprise wildlife encounter (gift-wrapped box with a bobcat inside) || This is a reference to [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Bobcats xkcd's rich history of mailing boxed bobcats to people]. This gift would place the recipient in a perilous situation, and, although definitely a wildlife encounter, is not a good gift.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| Law || A vacation to that area of Idaho where you can commit crimes with impunity due to a court district boundary error || This refers to the "{{w|Zone of Death (Yellowstone)|Zone of Death}}", a 50-square-mile area of Yellowstone National Park that is in the physical boundaries of Idaho, but in the legal jurisdiction of Wyoming. Because a jury in the United States must be composed of residents of the same district ''and'' state in which the crime was committed, but no one lives in this small area of a National Park, anyone who committed a crime here could not (according to a legal theory not fully tested in the courts) receive a trial, and thus could not legally be punished for said crime in any circumstance. This is an interesting legal loophole, but going to this area does not provide any more value than hearing about it, and could scare your law-enthusiast friend.
|-
| Chemistry || A necklace of element samples whose symbols spell out the recipient's name (note: names like "Katherine" and "Brandon" may cause radiation accidents.) || Novelty necklaces are a common and innocuous gift, and using element symbols in place of the same letter is a common gimmick, such as in the title of Breaking Bad. However, making an object out of whatever element sample corresponds to someone's name could have unpredictable results - some elements in their pure form are too brittle or have too low a melting point for such an application, although placing the samples in some kind of small container could work around this problem; some are unsafe. "Katherine" would be made from Potassium (highly reactive), Astatine (rare, '''radioactive''' and has a short half-life), Hydrogen (gaseous at room temperature, flammable), Erbium, Iodine (sublimes into a gas at room temperature), and Neon (gaseous at room temperature). "Brandon" would be made from Boron, Radium ('''radioactive'''), Neodymium, Oxygen (gaseous at room temperature), and Nitrogen (gaseous at room temperature). The problems with element samples could be partially alleviated by allowing compounds rather than pure elements, but the radioactivity would still be a problem, and neon does not form compounds and as such is always gaseous. Additionally, the letters J and Q do not appear in the periodic table symbols, while M does not appear on its own (only followed by six other characters, with "o" as the only vowel amongst them), so a name like John, Quinn, or Mike would be problematic.
|-
| Puzzles || Two goats and a new car || This is a reference to the the "{{w|Monty Hall problem}}", in which a game show contestant can win only one of the three items. (See [[1282: Monty Hall]] for another cartoon inspired by this problem.) This gift places the recipient within a puzzle which is typically discussed hypothetically, rather than happening in real life. Although many people would consider a new car a ''great'' gift, those who would appreciate a gift of a goat are more uncommon.
The problem that the recipient would have would likely be how to transport the two goats - it'd be difficult to fit both into a compact car at once, but one can't be left behind unattended (especially not with [[2348: Boat Puzzle|a cabbage or a wolf]]).
|-
| Technology || Cybiko® wireless handheld computer for teens (2000) || This is a direct callback to [[2699: Feature Comparison|one of the previous week's comics]], which humourously suggested that this device is a better option than most of the current popular communication technologies. While an interesting example of the history of communication technology and coming from a time when experimentation was common and standards were few, it isn't very useful now, because it is no longer supported, has a communication range of 100 meters (sending text messages via radio) and one can only use it to communicate with users of the same device. However, technology enthusiasts could find it interesting as a collectors' item, so by all means it is one of the most plausible gift ideas on this list.
|-
| Space || Webb telescope personal photoshoot || The Webb telescope belongs to NASA, the ESA and the CSA, and is currently very far from Earth. It is designed to capture distant space objects in previously unseen detail. If the photoshoot implies photographing a nearby human, it is not designed to do this, even if the difficulties of sending a human about a million miles to it's location could be overcome. On the other hand, if it means photographing the recipient on the earth's surface, Webb would have to point at the warm Earth and expose its optics to the Sun, permanently crippling the telescope ([https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/faqLite.html Which is forbidden by NASA.]) and it would not have sufficient resolution to make out the subject in any case. These circumstances make it a highly impractical gift, to all intents and purposes to the point of impossibility.

On the other hand, a gift experience of being allowed to take your own snapshot of Webb in position, perhaps with a [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10442913/James-Webb-Space-Telescope-seen-Earth-settles-orbit.html robotic telescope], might be an attractive gift to a space enthusiast! So might a chance to use the Webb telescope to take pictures of whatever celestial objects one chooses, as time on the Webb telescope is very carefully allocated.
|-
| Literature || Stephen King's writing desk (he's still using it so you'll have to fight him) || {{w|Stephen King}} is an author lucky enough to have legendary status while still alive. The desk of an author that has died would become an object of historic significance and would likely be either kept for exhibition or auctioned by their respective estate, but as Stephen King is still alive, he would probably object to his desk being subjected to the same.
|-
| Philosophy || Out-of-control trolley || This is another gift that places the recipient in the situations that they like discussing hypothetically. This refers to the {{w|trolley problem}}, which places stress on the person forced to make the decision, and exists to make them examine their morals. Facing someone with the hypothetical problem is already not a good gift, but [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sl5KJ69qiA forcing them to live through it in real life] is a terrible gift. (See [[1455: Trolley Problem]] for another cartoon inspired by this problem.)
|-
| Psychology || A nice gift with a note saying you don't expect anything in return || This is perhaps the most viable option on this list. This kind of gift giving could induce the Benjamin Franklin effect, causing the gift giver to like the recipient more. It could also be used to manipulate the recipient by increasing pressure to reciprocate. This would cause them stress, making it a bad gift, but a psychologist would hopefully understand it to be a joke.
|-
| (Title text) Babies or literature but not both || Baby shoes || This is a reference to the six-word story {{w|For sale: baby shoes, never worn}} which is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway. Someone with babies, such as expecting or new parents would find baby shoes as a valuable gift for their child. Someone interested in literature would see the reference to a famous work. But someone who understands the reference would possibly also be sad if they simultaneously actually enjoyed babies or have children of their own (since the story implies the seller was expecting a baby but there was an accident). So if they are into both then find another gift.
|}

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

What If? 2 Gift Guide

What if? 2 makes a good gift for anyone who's into science, absurd ideas, or just the universe in general. To order, go to xkcd.com/whatif2, or just type "what if 2" into some random box on your device; it will probably work.

Here are some other gift ideas for hard-to-shop-for science enthusiasts:

Interest - Gift Idea

Engineering - The platinum cylinder formerly used to define the kilogram 
Biology - The genomes of the scientists who headed the human genome project 
Physics - A beam of neutrinos delivered through the earth by the LHC 
Animals - Surprise wildlife encounter (gift-wrapped box with a bobcat inside) 
Law - A vacation to that area of Idaho where you can commit crimes with impunity due to a court district boundary error 
Chemistry - A necklace of element samples whose symbols spell out the recipient's name (note: names like "Katherine" and "Brandon" may cause radiation accidents.) 
Puzzles - Two goats and a new car 
Technology - Cybiko® Wireless Handheld Computer for Teens (2000) 
Space - Webb telescope personal photoshoot 
Literature - Stephen King's writing desk (he's still using it so you'll have to fight him) 
Philosophy - Out-of-control trolley 
Psychology - A nice gift with a note saying you don't expect anything in return. 

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Bobcats]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]
[[Category:Photography]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Psychology]]

2702: What If 2 Gift Guide

2022-11-25T04:33:36Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ More treatment of the pre-tabular text.

{{comic
| number = 2702
| date = November 23, 2022
| title = What If 2 Gift Guide
| image = what_if_2_gift_guide_2x.png
| imagesize = 500x878px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = BABIES OR LITERATURE BUT NOT BOTH: Baby shoes
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OUT-OF-CONTROL HANDHELD NEUTRINO CYLINDER FOR TEENS. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Randall Munroe]], author of xkcd, is promoting his new book, ''[https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ What if? 2]'', and starts by explaining the kind of recipient who might appreciate it before giving both direct and humorously indirect instructions of how to obtain it for them, the latter method making a jocular (but not completely wrong) presumption that almost any text-input widget leads to some relevent search-engine result.

He also suggests some other tongue-in-cheek gift ideas for several other subtypes of gift-receiver. Most of which are, in keeping with the What If ethos, somewhat dangerous or impractical. A number directly reference things previously mentioned or depicted by xkcd.

{| class="wikitable"
|+
|-
! Interest !! Gift Idea !! Explanation
|-
| Engineering || The {{w|International Prototype of the Kilogram|platinum cylinder}} formerly used to identify the kilogram || This is an object of historical relevance of which only six exist, making it a very expensive or illegal gift. With the {{w|2019 redefinition of the SI base units|redefinition of the SI base units}} in 2019, {{w|2019_redefinition_of_the_SI_base_units#Kilogram|the kilogram}} is now defined using only natural constants rather than a physical standard. It took some time before this last SI unit was redefined, 3 years prior to this comic's release. The old prototypes are no longer as important as they were when they were actually used to define the kilogram. But they are still historical artifacts with enormous value, even apart from the value of a kilogram of platinum (about $32 000 at time of writing).
|-
| Biology || The genomes of the scientists who headed the human genome project || The "International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium," as the {{w|Human Genome Project}} team was known, involved scientists from twenty institutions in six countries. In the US, it was initially led by DNA structure co-discoverer {{w|James Watson}} who was succeeded by {{w|Francis Collins}}. In the UK, the project was led by {{w|John Sulston}}. The teams from other countries' institutions were less prominent and performed substantially less work on the initial sequencing. James Watson's genome was sequenced in 2007. The genome of {{w|Craig Venter}}, the CEO of {{w|Celera Genomics}}, was used as the exemplar for Celera’s sequence. While the “race” between Celera and NIH was declared a tie by then-President Clinton, in actuality, Celera had some 85+% coverage while NIH was about 50%.
|-
| Physics || A beam of neutrinos delivered through the earth by the LHC || {{w|Neutrino}}s interact very weakly with other particles, to the point that they almost always pass straight through matter completely unaffected. This means that particle accelerators can send neutrinos to any other point on Earth by aiming the particle beam into the ground, and the neutrinos pass straight through the Earth. This point is referenced in the What-If article "{{what if|73|Lethal Neutrinos}}". The low interactivity of neutrinos would also mean that the recipient would be unable to perceive their gift, making this a poor present for anyone except the small proportion of physics aficionados who already have a neutrino detector on-hand.
|-
| Animals || Surprise wildlife encounter (gift-wrapped box with a bobcat inside) || This is a reference to [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Bobcats xkcd's rich history of mailing boxed bobcats to people]. This gift would place the recipient in a perilous situation, and, although definitely a wildlife encounter, is not a good gift.{{Citation needed}}
|-
| Law || A vacation to that area of Idaho where you can commit crimes with impunity due to a court district boundary error || This refers to the "{{w|Zone of Death (Yellowstone)|Zone of Death}}", a 50-square-mile area of Yellowstone National Park that is in the physical boundaries of Idaho, but in the legal jurisdiction of Wyoming. Because a jury in the United States must be composed of residents of the same district ''and'' state in which the crime was committed, but no one lives in this small area of a National Park, anyone who committed a crime here could not possibly receive a trial, and thus could not legally be punished for said crime in any circumstance. This is an interesting legal loophole, but going to this area does not provide any more value than hearing about it, and could scare your law-enthusiast friend.
|-
| Chemistry || A necklace of element samples whose symbols spell out the recipient's name (note: names like "Katherine" and "Brandon" may cause radiation accidents.) || Novelty necklaces are a common and innocuous gift, and using element symbols in place of the same letter is a common gimmick, such as in the title of Breaking Bad. However, making an object out of whatever element sample corresponds to someone's name could have unpredictable results - some elements in their pure form are too brittle or have too low a melting point for such an application, and some are unsafe. "Katherine" would be made from Potassium (highly reactive), Astatine (rare, '''radioactive''' and has a short half-life), Hydrogen (gaseous at room temperature, flammable), Erbium, Iodine (sublimes into a gas at room temperature), and Neon (gaseous at room temperature). "Brandon" would be made from Boron, Radium ('''radioactive'''), Neodymium, Oxygen (gaseous at room temperature), and Nitrogen (gaseous at room temperature). The problems with element samples could be partially alleviated by allowing compounds rather than pure elements, but the radioactivity would still be a problem, and neon does not form compounds and as such is always gaseous. Additionally, the letter Q does not appear in the periodic table symbols, so a name like Quinn would be problematic.
|-
| Puzzles || Two goats and a new car || This is a reference to the the "{{w|Monty Hall problem}}", in which a game show contestant can win only one of the three items. (See [[1282: Monty Hall]] for another cartoon inspired by this problem.) This gift places the recipient within a puzzle which is typically discussed hypothetically, rather than happening in real life. Although a new car is a ''great'' gift, goats are only useful to people with specific professions.
The problem that the recipient would have would likely be how to transport the two goats - it'd be difficult to fit both into a compact car at once, but one can't be left behind unattended (especially not with [[2348: Boat Puzzle|a cabbage or a wolf]]).
|-
| Technology || Cybiko® wireless handheld computer for teens (2000) || This device was referenced in [https://xkcd.com/2699/ one of last week's comics], so Randall seems to have a temporary fixation on it. While an interesting example of the history of communication technology and coming from a time when experimentation was common and standards were few, it isn't very useful now, because it is no longer supported, has a communication range of 100 meters (sending text messages via radio) and one can only use it to communicate with users of the same device. However, technology enthusiasts could find it interesting as a collectors' item, so by all means it is one of the most plausible gift ideas on this list.
|-
| Space || Webb telescope personal photoshoot || The Webb telescope belongs to NASA, the ESA and the CSA, and is currently very far from Earth. It is designed to capture distant space objects in previously unseen detail. It is not designed to photograph nearby objects of human size, assuming that that is what photoshoot implies. These circumstances make it both an impossible and impractical gift. Furthermore, unless the recipient of the gift is able to travel a long way from Earth, Webb would have to point at the warm Earth and expose its optics to the Sun, permanently crippling the telescope. [https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/faqLite.html This is forbidden by NASA.]

On the other hand, a gift experience of being allowed to to take your own snapshot of Webb in position, perhaps with a [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10442913/James-Webb-Space-Telescope-seen-Earth-settles-orbit.html robotic telescope], might be an attractive gift to a space enthusiast! So might a chance to use the Webb telescope to take pictures of whatever celestial objects one chooses, as time on the Webb telescope is very carefully allocated.
|-
| Literature || Stephen King's writing desk (he's still using it so you'll have to fight him) || {{w|Stephen King}} is an author lucky enough to have legendary status while still alive. The desk of an author that has died would become an object of historic significance and would likely be either kept for exhibition or auctioned by their respective estate, but as Stephen King still writes, his desk, while valuable, cannot be subjected to the same.
|-
| Philosophy || Out-of-control trolley || This is another gift that places the recipient in the situations that they like discussing hypothetically. This refers to the {{w|trolley problem}}, which places stress on the person forced to make the decision, and exists to make them examine their morals. Facing someone with the hypothetical problem is already not a good gift, but [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sl5KJ69qiA forcing them to live through it in real life] is a terrible gift. (See [[1455: Trolley Problem]] for another cartoon inspired by this problem.)
|-
| Psychology || A nice gift with a note saying you don't expect anything in return || This is perhaps the most viable option on this list. This kind of gift giving could induce the Benjamin Franklin effect, causing the gift giver to like the recipient more. It could also be used to manipulate the recipient by increasing pressure to reciprocate. This would cause them stress, making it a bad gift, but a psychologist would hopefully understand it to be a joke.
|-
| (Title text) Babies or literature but not both || Baby shoes || This is a reference to the six-word story {{w|For sale: baby shoes, never worn}} which is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway. Someone with babies, such as expecting or new parents would find baby shoes as a valuable gift for their child. Someone interested in literature would see the reference to a famous work. But someone who understands the reference would possibly also be sad if they simultaneously actually enjoyed babies or have children of their own (since the story implies the seller was expecting a baby but there was an accident).
|}

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

What If? 2 Gift Guide

What if? 2 makes a good gift for anyone who's into science, absurd ideas, or just the universe in general. To order, go to xkcd.com/whatif2, or just type "what if 2" into some random box on your device; it will probably work.

Here are some other gift ideas for hard-to-shop-for science enthusiasts:

Interest - Gift Idea

Engineering - The platinum cylinder formerly used to define the kilogram 
Biology - The genomes of the scientists who headed the human genome project 
Physics - A beam of neutrinos delivered through the earth by the LHC 
Animals - Surprise wildlife encounter (gift-wrapped box with a bobcat inside) 
Law - A vacation to that area of Idaho where you can commit crimes with impunity due to a court district boundary error 
Chemistry - A necklace of element samples whose symbols spell out the recipient's name (note: names like "Katherine" and "Brandon" may cause radiation accidents.) 
Puzzles - Two goats and a new car 
Technology - Cybiko® Wireless Handheld Computer for Teens (2000) 
Space - Webb telescope personal photoshoot 
Literature - Stephen King's writing desk (he's still using it so you'll have to fight him) 
Philosophy - Out-of-control trolley 
Psychology - A nice gift with a note saying you don't expect anything in return. 

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Bobcats]]

2700: Account Problems

2022-11-19T01:36:55Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ A case where "punctuation before every quote" is not useful.

{{comic
| number = 2700
| date = November 18, 2022
| title = Account Problems
| image = account_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 538x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My password is just every Unicode codepoint concatenated into a single UTF-8 string.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a }}
[[Cueball]] walks toward [[Ponytail]] carrying his laptop. Ponytail is sitting at her desk, and turns to face him. Having attempted to fix Cueball's computer problems before (e.g., [[2083: Laptop Issues]]), she replies with dread. Cueball promises that "It's a normal problem this time", and Ponytail reluctantly agrees to look at it. Cueball then reveals that he has included a {{w|Null-terminated_string|null string terminator character}} in one of his passwords, probably for a website. Ponytail responds in disbelief, and Cueball defends his actions by saying that the website told him to use special characters.

In computers, every "character" is a sequence of bytes. Every byte is a sequence of eight bits. A bit is always either a zero (0) or a one (1).

Every character is a sequence of bytes, but not every sequence of bytes is a valid character. For example, a JPEG image is also a sequence of bytes (much longer than a character). An MP3 audio file is also a sequence of bytes.

A null string terminator is a type of character called a control character. Unlike characters which are letters of the alphabet or numbers, control characters are not intended to be displayed on the screen, and are not intended to be typed on a keyboard; rather, they are used for internal purposes in the computer program. It is thus strange and hard to understand how Cueball was able to successfully insert such a character in his password, since there is no sequence of keys he could type that would result in a null terminator.

Null terminators are used in older, C-based languages to mark where a string ends. Every programming language has variables{{citation needed}}, which are used to store data. In C, a primitive variable can store a small amount of data, such as an integer or boolean (true or false) value. Strings (which are a sequence of characters) often need to store much larger amounts of data; too much to fit in the memory space which is available for a primitive. To solve this, C uses a system called "pointers", in which the variable is an integer which refers to a memory location. When the string needs to be read or written, C looks up the memory location, and interprets the data as a series of characters. One problem is, because a string can be any length (big or small), C needs to know where to stop reading from memory. The null terminator is C's solution to this. When C encounters the null terminator, it knows it has reached the end of the string and stops reading. Therefore, it is important that the null terminator is not a normal character that can be typed on a keyboard.

This has implications for security. If users are able to add or remove null terminators at will, then they can exploit C's string reading mechanisms in order to read data in a way not intended by the software programmers. If a malicious user is successful in doing this, they may be able to intentionally cause security problems on the computer, such as infecting it with malware.

Based on Ponytail's reaction, this is not the first time Cueball has come to her with strange problems. Based on Cueball's reaction, it does not look like he was purposely trying to exploit a security vulnerability, but instead ended up in this situation through some mysterious, unexplained happenstance.

Cueball notes that his password contains a "special character", which is a typical requirement imposed on users. However, in most contexts, "special character" means an ordinary printable character, other than letters or numbers, that can be typed on a normal keyboard and seen on the screen. Cueball's use of "special" is technically true, as null terminals do have a specialized purpose; but his word usage is not in keeping with the way that phrase is normally understood.

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

:[Cueball walks up to Ponytail.]
:Cueball: Can you help me with my account?
:Ponytail: Oh no.
:Cueball: No no, I promise it's a normal problem this time.
:Ponytail: Okay. Fine. What is it?
:Cueball: I included a null string terminator as part of my password, and now I can't-
:Ponytail: How?!
:Cueball: They said to use special characters!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Cueball Computer Problems]]

1889: xkcd Phone 6

2022-11-16T23:23:34Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ Trivial corrections.

{{comic
| number = 1889
| date = September 13, 2017
| title = xkcd Phone 6
| image = xkcd_phone_6.png
| titletext = We understand your privacy concerns; be assured that our phones will never store or transmit images of your face.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the sixth entry in the ongoing [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone series]], and once again, the comic plays with many standard tech buzzwords, and horribly misuses all of them, to create a phone that sounds impressive but self-evidently isn't to even the most ignorant customer. Its number appears to be 6, VII, 10, X, 26, ''and'' 1876. The same phone having six different version numbers at once is clearly ridiculous. The previous comic in the series [[1809: xkcd Phone 5 ]] was released 7 months before this one and the next [[2000: xkcd Phone 2000]] was released 8 and a half months later.

This comic was released the day after Apple announced their new {{w|iPhone 8}} and the higher-end {{w|iPhone X}} (pronounced iPhone 10) with facial recognition features.

===List of features (clockwise from center/top)===

; Front camera (centered for eye contact during video chat)
: A front camera has become a common feature of smartphones. The camera lens is located on the same side of the phone's case as the main screen, making it possible to capture the image of the user's face looking at the screen and display the interlocutor's face on the screen simultaneously, enabling video chat. However, as the camera is usually located above the screen, when the user looks at the displayed image of the other person they direct their eyes at the center of the screen and not at the camera's lens. This makes it appear on the other end of the chat as if the person talking was looking down and not making eye-contact, which can be an uncomfortable situation for many people. For this reason, professionals involved in movie or TV-making, like actors or reporters, are trained to look straight into the camera's lens while talking, which creates impression of looking straight at the viewer's face. During a video chat, however, looking into the lens of an above-screen camera does not allow one to see the interlocutor's face clearly because it is then in the peripheral field of vision.

: To solve this conundrum, Randall proposes locating the camera lens right in the middle of the screen. The user looking at the the other person's face on the screen would then also be looking at the lens, creating an impression on the other end of the chat that they are looking straight at the other person. This is absurd, since the lens would then take place of some of the center pixels of the screen, which would probably mean that it could not display the center part of the captured image of the other person's face. This could include features such as eyes and/or lips, which play an important part in non-verbal communication. Locating the camera lens in this way would probably also interfere with the touch-screen function. It would probably make other applications on the phone difficult to use, since virtually no user interface is designed to accommodate a blind spot in the center.

: The idea of having the camera in the middle of the screen is only currently absurd, however, as advances in technology may eventually enable such a feature to work without disturbing the appearance or function of the phone's display, unlike the visual disturbance clearly indicated in the comic. For instance, previous technological advancements have improved the functionality of the display, starting with adding touch sensing. The touch sensitive hardware of the phone is located in a thin layer above the hardware, that generates the image for the display, and capacitive touch sensing technology is less obtrusive than previous resistive sensing. While it has yet to be released to market, certain manufacturers are aiming to place a phone's fingerprint reader underneath the screen, for seamless functionality. Although it may be difficult at this point, figuring out a way to have a camera capture images through the array of pixels on the screen is not completely beyond imagination.

; Full-width rear camera
: Historically, there has been an 'arms race' among phone manufacturers to increase the 'size' of the rear camera, in terms of the number of pixels they can capture. This is not typically accompanied by equivalent increases in physical size, though. Phone cameras tend to have lenses which are quite small, and round or square -- measuring the same in width as in height. On this phone, the 'full-width' lens appears to be a long, thin strip, like an oval or rectangle shape. This could allow the camera to gather a lot more light, potentially working in low light situations. However the lens would be more vulnerable to damage and dirt. Unless a very large sensor was used, focusing the image could be a problem, since cell phones are typically not very deep.

; CDC partnership - phone automatically administers seasonal flu vaccine to cheek every year
: U.S. {{w|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}} is a government agency tasked with addressing public health concerns, such as infectious diseases, including seasonal flu. A common way of limiting the spread of an infectious disease is {{w|Vaccine|vaccination}}, which most often involves administering a specially prepared vaccine via an {{w|intramuscular injection}}, though researchers have investigated other delivery systems, including aerosol, or microneedle injection. Uptake of vaccination is often poor, and many governments routinely use various different campaigns and techniques to try to encourage more people to get themselves vaccinated.

: This feature implies that the phone would automatically perform some form of injection once a year, administering a vaccine via a small aperture while the user is holding the phone to their cheek during a call. However, the placement of this component is dubious, as it would line up with the user's ear, rather than their cheek, during a phone call. It may be designed to detect the fraction of a second during which your cheek would be in the appropriate position (perhaps after a phone call, as you may be dropping the phone from your ear), and administer it at that moment; this would conveniently prevent disturbances to a majority of conversations.

: A further absurdity to this feature is that the vaccine is different every year, in order to account for various mutations causing different, and typically new, strains of the virus, which is the reason it has to be administered yearly. The CDC bases the combination of strains on a best-guess of what will be the most significant strains in circulation over the upcoming year, so in order to have the current year's vaccine, the user would have to physically load the new version into the phone for later administration, or there would have to be a mechanism to synthesize the concoction on-board the phone, and an associated logistics framework and digital standards for OTA delivery of specifications for the year's vaccine.

; 12-function
: Most smartphones can be used for more than twelve different things{{Citation needed}}. However, this may refer to the twelve basic functions of algebra (identity, squaring, cubing, square root, logarithm, exponential, reciprocal, sine, cosine, greatest integer, absolute value, and logistic), or the twelve function keys on a modern keyboard (more than the ten on the original IBM PC keyboard). Alternatively, it may be a reference to calculators: basic models are sometimes referred to as four function calculators (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), and complex scientific calculators may advertise 250 or more functions.

; Dishwasher safe
: Waterproofing has become a much-pushed feature of many recent smartphones, with manufacturers competing on the claimed resilience of their models. A phone that was truly dishwasher safe would be ahead in this race, as it would have to be able to withstand high-pressure jets of water, high temperatures, and caustic effects of detergent over significant periods. This is often listed as a selling point of items used for preparing, serving, or storing food, such as plastic containers or crockery, which a normal person might want to clean using a dishwasher, but it seems excessive for phones, which are rarely cleaned with anything more than a quick wipe, and most people would not intentionally attempt to clean in a dishwasher.

; GPS transmitter
: Many smartphones have a receiver for the {{w|Global Positioning System}}, which allows a phone to compute its position based on signals from the constellation(s) of GPS satellites. However, a device with a "GPS transmitter" would broadcast signals that would interfere with the GPS receivers of all devices nearby. This might be used in some form of differential GPS, broadcasting signals from a known location to allow more precise determination of other locations, or such a system might be used to confuse or control devices, such as drones, which navigate using GPS.

; 3-G acceleration
: This is a mixture of three unrelated concepts with similar names. In computer graphics, "{{w|Graphics processing unit|3-D acceleration}}" refers to GPU hardware that speeds up handling of three-dimensional data, such as shapes rotating in space. In physics, "3 Gs of acceleration" refers to speed increasing at a rate of 3 times the acceleration of Earth's gravity, or approximately 30 m/s². In cellular networks, {{w|3G}} refers to a standard for data communication. GPUs, accelerometers, and compatibility with 3G networks are all normal features of modern smartphones. "3-G acceleration", however, is not a real term, and doesn't describe any meaningful feature of a phone. It appears to suggest that either the phone is capable of self-propelling with 3 Gs of acceleration, which doesn't seem particularly useful, or, perhaps more feasibly, that it has some way of increasing the data transfer rate over a 3G connection.

; Portable, solar-heated
: Portability is pretty much the entire point of using a ''mobile'' phone, so advertising portability is rather redundant. Solar ''power'' charging could be a very useful feature on a phone, but solar ''heating'' usually applies to plumbing, where a water tank is heated by the sun and used to supply hot water to taps. Technically, as the sun heats up everything it shines on, the phone is in fact solar heated. However, since avoiding overheating is a particular challenge in smartphone design, deliberately capturing solar energy simply in order to heat the device would seem rather counter-productive.

; Pore-cleaning strip
: Pore-cleaning strips are sticky strips designed to be applied to the skin and then pulled away to remove dirt and oils from the pores, with the intention of reducing spots and improving the complexion. The location shown for this feature would be inconvenient and irritating, as it would come into contact with the face every time the phone was held to the ear to make a call; something sticky on that location would be very annoying for clean-shaven people and extremely painful for anyone with facial hair. It would probably also result in that strip of the screen becoming obscured by an accumulation of facial gunk. Pore strips have been mentioned before in [[777: Pore Strips]].

: This may act as a sensor for the ''Shroud of Turin-style facial transfer unlock'', whereby the phone would collect the dirt, oils, and microflora from the user's face when it is pressed against the phone, and use it to verify their identity.

; Maximum strength
: Medicines are often sold as "Maximum strength", usually indicating that they contain the highest dose of active ingredients allowed by law, or allowed without a prescription. For phones, there are sometimes "hardened" or "ruggedized" versions, which are designed to survive harsher environmental conditions, such as surviving drops and collisions, excessive water, dust, etc. ''Maximum strength'' here could indicate such a "ruggedized" phone, though this would be hard to achieve with a screen that extended past the edges.

; Never needs sharpening
: Phones do not need to be sharpened in the first place{{Citation needed}}. This is a feature more likely to be found in a knife advertisement -- the slogan is infamous for hawking knives that ''cannot'' easily be sharpened, like a serrated blade -- or a mechanical pencil. Since the screen goes past the edge, it might be sharp enough to cut through things, much like a knife, though the phone would be unsafe to carry and handle if that were the case{{Citation needed}}.

Might also refer to sharpening the camera, which usually means adjusting the lens till an object is in focus. Most phones have autofocus and rarely need to be manually sharpened.

; Can survive up to 30 minutes out of water
: This is a play on the common IP-rating of water resistance, which is typically rated for submersion to a rated depth for 30 minutes. A phone which could only be used or carried for 30 minutes before it needed to be immersed in water would be rather inconvenient, although the phone short circuiting would likely not be an issue, as the phone is "dishwasher safe."

: Alternatively, either this phone's target market could be whales, dolphins, or other marine life, such as octopodes, or the feature could be optional. While such a feature would prove to be extremely useful for aquatic customers, the "solar-heated" feature would undoubtedly be inhibited significantly as water depths increased.

; Exclusive Audubon Society app identifies birds and lets you control their flight
: The {{w|National Audubon Society}} is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of nature, and mainly of birds, which also organizes open {{w|birdwatching}} events. There are apps that attempt to identify bird species, for example, from a [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.labs.merlinbirdid.app&hl=en_GB photo] or [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.isoperla.birdsongid&hl=en_GB audio recording] of a bird made by the smartphone itself, though the Audubon Society's [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.audubon.mobile.android&hl=en_GB own app] does not offer anything this interactive. An app allowing you to control the bird's flight would be way cooler and might work using the built-in GPS transmitter, confusing their navigation systems. However birds do not use GPS to navigate{{Citation needed}}, and it would fly in the face of the Audubon Society's core activity. This is a reference to {{w|Unmanned_aerial_vehicle|drones}} (which could be thought of as artificial "birds") which are often controlled by a smartphone app. This may also be a reference to [[1425: Tasks]], in which an app that can recognize if a bird is on camera is proposed.

; Extra screen
:Some phones advertise an additional display or display mode, often giving access to basic information, such as battery level and notifications without needing to activate the main screen function. Typically, this would be a low-power mode of operation of the normal screen, or else a form of display on another surface of the phone, such as the side or rear. Here, it seems to be an oddly shaped rectangular extension on the bottom of the main screen. This may have been added to make up for the loss of screen estate due to the center camera.

; Wireless charging port
:A port for {{w|Inductive_charging|wireless charging}} is an oxymoron, since wireless charging has no wires and thus has no need for a port, unless it is required for fuel for a fuel cell (see clean coal, below). This may be a jab at Apple's removal of the headphone port from their previous phones.

; Safe for ages 6-8 months, 10 months, 18 months-3 years, and 12 years and older
:Usually an item is deemed safe for a particular age or older, or (in the case of toys) is recommended for a particular age range. This is unusual in that it's a hodge-podge of age ranges with no apparent reason why some ages are safe and others are not. It may be a parody of drug commercials that list several age ranges for which the drug had to be separately approved.

; Screen goes past the edge
:A parody of the trend of "edge to edge" displays in recent generations of smartphones, or phones whose screens curve partway around the edge of the phone. In this case the screen is wide enough that it ''could'' curve partway around the edge, except the spillover does not actually form to the curves, resulting in a screen that is wider than the body of the phone. If the spillover is rigid, this would make the phone rather uncomfortable to hold, and the spillover is at risk of chipping off.

; High thread count CPU
:A {{w|Thread_(computing)|CPU thread}} is a task the CPU performs. Several threads may share memory, making them a process. Threads are meant to run in parallel and the operating system distributes the workload on the available hardware execution units. These execution units are sometimes called hardware threads, especially when there is more than one per processing unit (or core). For example, the Intel Core i7 7700 is considered a 4-core, 8-thread CPU. The vague "high thread count" statement could make sense in this context, however, it is most likely a joke about bedding, where it is an actual selling point; the thread count of a textile signifies the density of fibres in the material, and a high thread count is an indicator of a high quality fabric.

; Shroud of Turin-style facial transfer unlock
:The {{w|Shroud of Turin}} contains an image of the body and face of a man, originally believed to be {{w|Jesus Christ}}, before the Shroud was found to be 1200 years too young. Some theories suggest the image was created by interaction with or transfer from the body that was wrapped in the shroud. Presumably, to unlock this phone, the user would have to physically {{w|facepalm|press their face}} against the phone, the way the Shroud-Man's image was allegedly transferred to the shroud. This is probably a reference to the iPhone X's FaceID unlock, which uses a ''photograph'' of your face, augmented with spatial information, to unlock itself, and which had attracted [https://www.wired.com/story/iphone-x-faceid-security/ significant criticism] immediately before this comic came out.

; Fonts developed by NASA
: This may be a reference to many advertisements that claim that their product uses technology developed by NASA in an attempt to make it seem more impressive. NASA technology does often tend to be quite strong and advanced, as they claim at their [https://spinoff.nasa.gov/ spin off] website. Between 1975 and 1992 NASA used the {{w|NASA insignia|"worm" logotype}} in its insignia; it was a special font that omitted the horizontal bar in the capitalized letter A. However, it would not be particularly impressive to use this, since fonts have very little to do with NASA's core operations{{Citation needed}}, and it potentially implies that it would not support many other common, and perhaps more readable, fonts.

: This may also be riffing on the {{w|Writing_in_space|urban legend}} that NASA invested vast amounts of research in developing a pen that could write in space, rather than just using a pencil.

; Includes applicator
: This is found on the packaging for many products, such as tampons, cosmetics, and paints. An applicator for a phone would be absurd, since the phone cannot be applied, spread, inserted, or attached to something else. However, this may be referring back to the aforementioned yearly vaccine.

; Burns clean coal
: Clean coal is coal that is burned so that it does not give off as much soot, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, or other pollutants as "normal" coal, or methods of burning coal that give off relatively less pollutants. This may be advertised by energy companies trying to appear to be using clean energy, due to pollution concerns. Coal burning power plants are usually quite large, so a traditional coal fired thermal-electric plant in a cell phone would be absurd. {{w|Fuel cell|fuel cells}}, which produce electricity by oxidizing some fuel, can be small enough to fit in a cell phone, but they do not typically burn coal. The cordless charging port might be a receptacle for refueling the phone, using liquid or a fuel cartridge.

; Pre-seasoned
:Pre-seasoned typically refers to cast iron cookware which is ready to use out of the box, as opposed to needing to season it with oil and heat. It can also refer to packaged meats which are ready to cook without needing to be seasoned with herbs and spices, or timber that has been dried and is ready for use. A more technical definition of 'seasoning' means operating devices, usually calibrated standards or battery cells, for a while in the factory, to make sure the device meets constant performance requirements without deviating or diminshing too much. In this sense it could apply to the battery of the phone.

; Broad-spectrum SPF 30
:The xkcd phone somehow gives a {{w|sunscreen|sun protection factor}} (SPF) 30 level of protection from sunlight, meaning that it blocks all but 1/30 of skin-burning UVB radiation from sunlight, though it is not clear whether it is the user or the phone itself which is protected. Phones do not typically require protection from sunlight{{Citation needed}}. On the other hand, if, when placed between the user and the sun, the phone allows >3% of the radiation through, this would be remarkably more translucent, and therefore less effective, than most phones (which allow much less than 1% of UVB, or any other visible or near-visible wavelength, through). It would also be an inefficient method of protection, since it would only be able to protect a relatively small patch of skin.

; College-ruled
:College-ruled is a style of notebook paper having narrower than normal lines, in order to fit more text per page. That the phone is college-ruled suggests that there are lines permanently displayed on the screen, which could obscure any images on the screen, and make any text that doesn't line up with the lines hard to read. Defective screens can show similar patterns; for example, the iPhone 6 "touch disease" causes regularly spaced vertical lines to appear on top of the screen. Here, it is possible that the manufacturer is trying to pass off screen defects as features.

; Sterile packaging
:Useful for medical supplies, less so in a phone. There are numerous studies and resulting 'news' articles looking at the number of bacteria, fecal samples, and so forth, that can be found on the typical phone, typically with a sensationalist take on how you will be 'shocked' to discover this. However, sterile packaging would do little to counter this, since most of this contamination is accumulated after the user removes the phone from the packaging and begins using it.

; Radium backlight
:The discovery of the radioactive element radium sparked a brief fad in which manufacturers of consumer products began coating them with a paint containing radium and a radioluminescent substance, such as zinc sulfide, which converted the radiation from the radium into visible light. In particular, some clock and watch makers painted the faces or hands of their timepieces, allowing the time to be read at night without an external power source for the light. However, it was eventually realized that regular exposure to radium could result in radiation poisoning, particularly for the workers assembling and painting the products. A radium-based backlight would therefore be both potentially dangerous (especially for an object carried on one's person much of the time) but also largely useless, as the radioluminescent light is rather dim compared to conventional phone back lights.

; 4K pixels (50×80)
:"4K" typically denotes a screen with a width of ~4000 pixels, such as 4K TVs, which have 3840×2160 pixels, or about 8.3 million pixels total. That would be an outstanding resolution for a cell phone. Here, however, the "fine print" in parentheses clarifies that 4000 is actually the total number of pixels, not the width, which would be remarkably low resolution for a smart phone. As a comparison, the old Commodore VIC-20, with a resolution of 176 × 184, would have over 8 times the pixels of this phone. It is more comparable to the screen resolution of the sturdy Nokia 3310, which boasted a total of 4032 pixels, positioned 84 × 48.

===Version===
In the caption below the phone [[Randall]] presents many different version numbers:
*The number 6 is in correct order of all the xkcd phones
*The {{w|Roman numerals|Roman numeral}} VIII refers to the newly announced {{w|iPhone 8}} and jokes about the Roman numeral X below
*Version number 10 is the current version of Microsoft Windows
*The {{w|iPhone X}} was announced together with the iPhone 8 by Apple on September 12, 2017, a day before this comic was released. Apple clarified that X is meant to be read as the Roman numeral for 10, so for additional absurdity two xkcd phones share the same number, using different numerals
*The number 26 refers to the number of letters in the English alphabet
*In the year 1876 {{w|Alexander Graham Bell}} received the U.S. Patent No. 174465 for the {{w|invention of the telephone}}, but there is still a {{w|Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell telephone controversy|controversy}} whether {{w|Elisha Gray}} was the first to present a working telephone.

The "nonconsecutive version number war" referenced below the version names refers to several recent phones, and possibly operating systems, released consecutively with nonconsecutive version numbers, including:
*The iPhone X (or Ten) which will be released shortly after the iPhone 8
*The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was released after the Note 5
*The Oneplus 5 was released after the OnePlus 3T
*The ZTE Axon 7 was released after the original Axon, skipping numbers 2-6.
*Microsoft Windows has a long history of non-consecutive version numbers/names, with the most well-known releases being (in order) {{w|Windows 3.1|3.1}}, {{w|Windows NT|NT}}, {{w|Windows 95|95}}, {{w|Windows 98|98}}, {{w|Windows 2000|2000}}, {{w|Windows Me|Me}}, {{w|Windows XP|XP}}, {{w|Windows Vista|Vista}}, {{w|Windows 7|7}}, {{w|Windows 8|8}}, and {{w|Windows 10|10}}.

Randall's ludicrous naming scheme aims to 'defeat' all of these by eclipsing them. By counting parallel version numbers xkcd defeated Apple 6:2.

The symbols at the end are ™ for trademark, ® for registered trademark, and © for copyright. The degree symbol ° after the letter C could be a play with degree Celsius. The use of all four symbols after the phrase is ridiculous, as ™ and ® indicate trademarks with opposite registration statuses, slogans can't be copyrighted, and the degree symbol usually has no meaning when applied to text.

In the title text Randall recognises privacy concerns about the facial recognition feature. A picture of a face will only be used for facial recognition, but never stored on the device nor transmitted to the internet. A ''small'' side effect may be that the famous selfie pictures aren't possible anymore, as well as video calls. Ironic, considering that the reason the camera is in the middle is to allow easier video calls.

==Transcript==
:[A smartphone is shown, the screen is slightly wider than the case, in the middle is a photo lens, and at the right bottom a small extra part is added to the screen.]
:[On top a bracket ranges nearly over the entire width of the case. The text reads:]
:Full-width rear camera
:[The label at the photo lens is:]
:Front camera (centered for eye contact during video chat)
:[The label on the extra part says:]
:Extra screen
:[At the bottom below the case a label reads:]
:Wireless charging port

:[The labels left to the phone are:]
:4k pixels (50x80)
:Radium backlight
:Sterile packaging
:College-ruled
:Broad spectrum SPF 30
:Pre-seasoned
:Burns clean coal
:Includes applicator
:Fonts developed by NASA
:Shroud of turn-style facial transfer unlock
:High thread count CPU
:Screen goes past the edge
:Safe for ages 6-8 months, 10 months, 18 months-3 years, and 12 years and older

:[The labels right to the phone are:]
:CDC partnership: Phone automatically administers seasonal flu vaccine to cheek every year
:12-function
:Dishwasher safe
:GPS transmitter
:3-G acceleration
:Portable, solar-heated
:Pore-cleaning strip
:Maximum strength
:Never needs sharpening
:Can survive up to 30 minutes out of water
:Exclusive Audubon Society app identifies birds and lets you control their flight

:[Text below the phone:]
:Introducing
:'''The xkcd Phone 6, VIII, 10, X, 26, and 1876'''
:''We didn't start this nonconsecutive version number war, but we will not lose it.''™®©°

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:xkcd Phones]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|xkcd Phones]]

Talk:2693: Wirecutter Recommendation

2022-11-07T11:13:23Z

172.71.178.64:

I'm glad the explanation (as of reading, at least) lept straight into reminding me about the website. I initially read the first panel as Cueball looking for a {{w|Diagonal pliers|specific item}} recomendation... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.12|172.70.86.12]] 18:42, 2 November 2022 (UTC)

Soooo.... what sort of dreams would these be? Is Randal talking about the invasive "we control you while you sleep" dystopia, or is he referring to life goals? [[User:Cwallenpoole|Cwallenpoole]] ([[User talk:Cwallenpoole|talk]]) 18:44, 2 November 2022 (UTC)
:I'm pretty sure he means life aspirations -- even if you could rate sleeping dreams ("Flying -- 5 stars"), how would you make use of them? There are some people who claim to be able to control their dreams, it's not something most people can do. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:01, 2 November 2022 (UTC)

Is this fitting for [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Rankings Category:Rankings]? —[[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]]) 21:07, 2 November 2022 (UTC)

I totally misunderstood the first panel as "I just went with the one wirecutter *which was* recommended". Like, there was a comparison of different wire cutters, but only one of them was recommended, and that's the one Cueball went with. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.16|172.69.22.16]] 21:52, 2 November 2022 (UTC)
: As did I. I had never, in fact, heard of the Wirecutter review website until I came here looking for an explanation.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.196|172.69.79.196]] 22:22, 2 November 2022 (UTC)
::Ditto. I initially thought it might be another 1036-type idea.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 22:55, 2 November 2022 (UTC)
::Me too, but when I went to panel 2 I realized it must be a recommendation site that I hadn't heard of. Then I came here and got the confirmation. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:58, 2 November 2022 (UTC)
::One of most confusing strips to date. Spent good couple minutes thinking just how applying wire cutters to your pet is merely weird but to a site for product recommendations is very bad. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.52|172.68.51.52]] 10:48, 3 November 2022 (UTC)
:::Agreed. If "WIRECUTTER" was in italics, then it would have easier to understand it was a proper noun and not "wirecutter". [[Special:Contributions/172.68.70.108|172.68.70.108]] 18:59, 4 November 2022 (UTC)

Blood-type [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.237|172.70.110.237]] 23:11, 2 November 2022 (UTC)

This was pretty confusing because being outside the US, I had never heard of wirecutter :P [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.41|172.68.210.41]] 23:54, 2 November 2022 (UTC)

Specifically for neighborhoods, beyond the easy to compare numbers like property values and crime rates, there are websites that "review" them for less quantitative things like access to community services, traffic and noise, and reputation of nearby schools. It is still normally too complex a decision to reduce to "whichever the website recommends". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.13|172.70.134.13]] 00:48, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

The title text could be a reference to the regress argument. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.239|162.158.222.239]] 10:39, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

"Your college major will determine the rest of your life significantly." <- Clearly written by someone who has not gone through college. {{unsigned|172.70.131.85}}
:Or someone who went to a college which taught in a language other than English, or who isn’t very careful when they write on Explain xkcd compared to when they wrote essays in college. In short: Please don’t be rude. —[[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]]) 17:39, 4 November 2022 (UTC)
::You call me rude, yet you're the one making assumptions about me, assuming that my native language is English, or that I went to an English-speaking college. I have been through college, specifically, university. It's a waste of money unless you're going into medicine or law. Other degrees are meaningless pieces of paper and the only things that actually matter in the job market are personal connections.
:::Well, I have assumed neither your language nor your college. To call someone uneducated is a common insult. —[[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]]) 19:03, 4 November 2022 (UTC)
::::I think you're a bit off base here - pretty sure they weren't seriously calling anyone uneducated - simply making a half-joking pbservation that a college degree isn't anywhere near as valuable as that statement suggested.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.64|172.71.178.64]] 11:13, 7 November 2022 (UTC)
:...regardless of all that, a Wirecutter review would be useless, because we already know that [[1052: Every Major's Terrible]]! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.166|141.101.76.166]] 21:36, 4 November 2022 (UTC)

Had to come here to find out why in the world anyone would recommend using one wire cutter (as opposed to more?) on a vacuum cleaner, headphones, or scooter, let alone those other things. I supposed that if headphones stopped working, having one wire cutter might be useful. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.65|172.71.146.65]] 22:31, 4 November 2022 (UTC)

2694: Königsberg

2022-11-05T13:38:39Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ It is an island, actually. The river(s) along its north and south sides is(/are) from the same upstream source. It just pokes out far beyond the typical maps of the problem.

{{comic
| number = 2694
| date = November 4, 2022
| title = Königsberg
| image = konigsberg_2x.png
| imagesize = 448x343px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = At first I thought I would need some gold or something to pay him, but then I realized that it was the 18th century and I could just bring a roll of aluminum foil.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WOLF, TWO GOATS, AND THREE BAGS OF GRAPH NODES. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[File:Konigsberg bridges.png|frame|right|{{w|Königsberg}}, Prussia in Euler's time, showing the Pregel river and its seven bridges. The Baltic port city is now Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave. Only five of the bridges remain.[https://goo.gl/maps/ChdBoeQMr3AQPi446] ]]

This comic is about the {{w|Seven Bridges of Königsberg}}, a seminal {{w|graph theory}} problem solved by the famous mathematician {{w|Leonhard Euler}}.[https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/leonard-eulers-solution-to-the-konigsberg-bridge-problem] {{w|Graph (discrete mathematics)|Graphs}} are a data structure common in many algorithmic problems in computer science. The problem was to devise a path through the city that would cross each of the seven bridges exactly once, without crossing the river forks any other way. In 1736, Euler proved that there was no such possible path. This result is considered to be the first theorem of graph theory and the first proof in the theory of networks[http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/courses/2004/cscs535/review.pdf] — a subject now generally regarded as a branch of {{w|combinatorics}} — and presaged the development of {{w|topology}}. Combinatorial problems of other types had been considered since antiquity.

[[Cueball]] attempts to cheat on the final exam in his algorithms class by traveling back in time to commission the construction of an eighth bridge before Euler could learn of the problem, allowing a trivial solution that would remove the rationale for further analysis. He hopes that this would alter his present-day timeline in such a way that the test becomes easier because graph theory might never have been developed.

With the addition of the eighth bridge, it becomes possible to cross each bridge exactly once, starting at the north bank and ending on the larger eastern island, or vice-versa. However, there is still no way to traverse each bridge exactly once and return to the starting point, because the altered graph would have an {{w|Eulerian trail|Euler trail}} but not an Euler cycle. Thus the problem might still have been sufficiently interesting to spark Euler's curiosity. Adding a ninth bridge connecting the north bank to the east island would render the problem completely trivial. Without the seven bridges problem, Euler could have focussed on a different foundation for graph theory, possibly resulting in an even harder examination in Cueball's time.

The title text alludes to the fact that ordinary {{w|aluminum foil}}, which was not commercially available until 1911, would have been a tremendously valuable curiosity in the 18th century, which didn't even have {{w|tin foil}}. Aluminum was a highly priced metal before the 1880s when inexpensive methods were developed to refine it. The {{w|Washington Monument}} was constructed with a tip made of pure aluminum due to its value and conductive capacity. Aluminum had not been extracted in its pure form at the time of Euler, and was known only in compounds such as {{w|alum}}, so the metal would have been unique and exotic.

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

:[Cueball, standing next to two men wearing wigs, pointing with a pointer at a map showing the seven bridges problem, with an extra bridge added in dashed lines]
:Cueball: Lord Mayor of Königsberg, I will reward you handsomely if you construct this bridge before my friend Leonhard arrives.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I tried to use a time machine to cheat on my algorithms final by preventing graph theory from being invented.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Programming]]

2694: Königsberg

2022-11-05T05:52:26Z

172.71.178.64: /* Explanation */ He did not solve the problem. He showed how (in part by reducing the countless possible streetwise routes to the minimal necessary links) the layout had no actual working answer.

{{comic
| number = 2694
| date = November 4, 2022
| title = Königsberg
| image = konigsberg_2x.png
| imagesize = 448x343px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = At first I thought I would need some gold or something to pay him, but then I realized that it was the 18th century and I could just bring a roll of aluminum foil.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WOLF, TWO GOATS, AND THREE BAGS OF GRAIN. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[File:Konigsberg bridges.png|frame|right|{{w|Königsberg}} in Euler's time, showing the Pregel river and its seven bridges]]

This comic is about the {{w|Seven Bridges of Königsberg}}, a seminal {{w|graph theory}} problem encountered by the famous mathematician {{w|Leonhard Euler}}. The aim was to devise a path through the city that would cross each of the seven bridges exactly once, without crossing the river forks any other way. In 1736, Euler proved that there was no viable solution to the configuration. This result is considered to be the first theorem of graph theory and the first proof in the theory of networks[http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/courses/2004/cscs535/review.pdf] — a subject now generally regarded as a branch of {{w|combinatorics}} — and presaged the development of {{w|topology}}. Combinatorial problems of other types had been considered since antiquity.

[[Cueball]] attempts to cheat on the final exam in his algorithms class by traveling back in time to commission the construction of an eighth bridge before Euler could learn of the problem, granting it a trivial solution that would remove much impetus for mathematical analysis. He hopes that this would alter his present-day timeline in such a way that the test becomes easier because graph theory might never have been developed.

With the addition of the eighth bridge, it becomes possible to create a path that crosses each bridge exactly once, starting at the north bank and ending on the eastern island (or vice-versa). However, there would remain no way to traverse each bridge exactly once and return to your starting point, because the altered graph would have an {{w|Euler trail}} but not an {{w|Euler cycle}}. Thus, the problem might still have been sufficiently interesting to spark Euler's curiosity. Adding a ninth bridge connecting the north bank to the east island would render the problem completely trivial. Without the seven bridges problem, Euler could have focussed on a different foundation for graph theory, possibly making an even harder examination in Cueball's time.

The title text alludes to the fact that ordinary {{w|aluminum foil}}, which was not commercially available until 1911, would have been a tremendously valuable curiosity in the 18th century, which didn't even have {{w|tin foil}}. Aluminium itself was a highly priced metal before the 1880s, when methods were developed to cheaply refine it. Famously, the {{w|Washington Monument}} was constructed with a tip made of pure aluminum due to its great value and conductive capacity. Aluminum had not even been extracted in its pure form at the time of Euler, and was only known in compounds such as {{w|alum}}, so it would have been unique and exotic.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball, standing next to two men wearing wigs, pointing with a pointer at a map showing the 7 bridges problem, with an extra bridge added in dashed lines]
:Cueball: Lord Mayor of Königsberg, I will reward you handsomely if you construct this bridge before my friend Leonhard arrives.

:[Caption below the panel]
:I tried to use a time machine to cheat on my algorithms final by preventing graph theory from being invented.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Programming]]