explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2587: For the Sake of Simplicity

2022-02-28T22:31:28Z

173.245.52.194: Began an explanation

{{comic
| number = 2587
| date = February 28, 2022
| title = For the Sake of Simplicity
| image = for_the_sake_of_simplicity.png
| titletext = For the sake of simplicity, gardeners are assumed to move through Euclidean space--neglecting the distortion from general relativity--unless they are in the vicinity of a Schwarzschild Orchid.
}}

==Explanation==

Cueball and his friends are playing a board game about gardening. He uses the phrase "for the sake of simplicity" to corner around complications. The complications are humorous because they are exaggerated rules of complicated board games. There is irony because what he is saying is not simple.
{{incomplete|Created by a SCHWARZSCHILD ORCHID - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:Countdown in header text

2022-01-12T12:44:03Z

173.245.52.194:

The talk on from [[2565: Latency]] and [[2566: Decorative Constants]] has been moved here by me when I created this page --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:01, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

;From Latency:
What is happening around Feb 1st, there is a countdown that appeared a few hours ago in the upper right corner of the xkcd index. There is also the directory xkcd.com/count-wimRikmef which might be an acronym, if it isnt a countdown package? {{unsigned ip|172.70.130.57}}
:Damn you beat me to it ;-). But I have made a [[2565:_Latency#Trivia|Trivia]] here on this comics page and links to more detail on the [[xkcd Header text]] page. I belie you are a day of, but someone will likely correct me if I'm wrong. As I can see it will be January 31st, 9:59 in Randall's home town Boston.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:06, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::But damned if I can wait. Sure millions will watch the page when it goes to zero! At least it is no April 1st. :-D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:10, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

;From Decorative Constants
Any idea what's going on with the clock that's counting downwards in the banner? Currently counting down from 20 days 16 hours? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.95|172.70.214.95]] 22:08, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:(Simultaneous edit) What is the days-hours-minutes in the box above the comic referring to? The image itself is dated yesterday, as you can see by saving it. Worst-case-scenario, is this a countdown to the end of XKCD? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.223|108.162.245.223]] 22:11, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:: It's going to hit zero at around midnight on Jan 31st 2022 CST? [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 22:16, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::'''Posted this on the previous comics discussion. But lets take it here where there will be more traffic:''' --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:44, 10 January 2022 (UTC) -- Copy paste from previous comics discussion:
::::Damn you beat me to it ;-). But I have made a [[2565:_Latency#Trivia|Trivia]] here on this comics page and links to more detail on the [[xkcd Header text]] page. I believe you are a day of, but someone will likely correct me if I'm wrong. As I can see it will be January 31st, 9:59 in Randall's home town Boston.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:06, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::::But damned if I can wait. Sure millions will watch the page when it goes to zero! At least it is no April 1st. :-D --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:10, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::::Yeah - you're right - I messed up. So as I type this, it's Jan 10th 2022 at 4pm - 1600 hrs Mountain time - which is 1800 hours EST. At this moment, the countdown reads 20d 16h 0m - so Jan 30th + (18+16) hours = which is Jan 30th + 34 hours - which is Jan 31st + 10am in Boston (EST). [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 23:05, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:::::Hey great, can see they agree in the link to reddit below. So happy I got it right both in UTC and Boston. It will be 15:59 here in DK. Not 16:00. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:44, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Counting down to Backwards Day? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.88|162.158.91.88]] 23:28, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
:There's a reddit thread discussing it: https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/s0oynl/xkcd_countdown_timer_20d_21h_49m_remaining_until/ I think the most likely guess is that Randall has a new book coming out. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:40, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
::Would still seem strange if it came out that day with only promotion before being a count down. But then again, he will have the xkcd communities boiling if he gives no other hint. So every one will see if he promotes a book. Also as they wrote at the time I looked at reddit I do not think it is the end of xkcd, or Webb related. Although Webb was the first I thought about. But I mean even if it came to L2 at that day, it is not going to any specific point but just in orbit. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:47, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

::The date fits the idea of it being Backwards Day (https://nationaldaycalendar.com/backward-day-january-31) but what about the choice of time? [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 03:38, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::Backwards day... Never head of it until now. Is it big in the US. I mean when looking after dates so obscure they are not mentioned on wikipedia then there are probably lots of things happening on that day? But maybe it is a think in the US? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:48, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::: I haven't heard of it until now either, so it is probably one of the bajillions of holidays no one actually cares about, and is unrelated to the countdown. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.163|108.162.221.163]] 13:22, 11 January 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

Someone has noticed the image is changing with pixels added at the bottom left corner and is keeping track of it here: https://munvoseli.github.io/xkcd-countdown/ [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.107|198.41.238.107]] 05:49, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:Looks like an image is "moving" into the frame because at the moment you can see some white pixel in the lower left, i.e. the black part might end up as a line as part of some comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.8|162.158.89.8]] 08:31, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
::Thanks used that to pinpoint the start of the countdown. Have added this info to the header text page, and the original trivia. Also just added a line of trivia to this explanation with the link. This was when this comic came out most people noticed the count down. But it did came out while [[Latency]] was up. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:43, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:::Speculating on what it could be, the only thing that makes sense at that angle is a character's arm. 04:47, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

The header changes page says that it's forcing "Friday" to move down to the next line. Not for me. Did he fix it, or is it browser-specific? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:58, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

This is much more likely a count down related to the James Webb Space Telescope. At approximately the day the count down indicates the telescope will be orbiting the L2 gravitational spot.Perhaps most of the mirrors will be approximate place to allow for months of fine tuning. An example of a slightly similar idea is https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-next-steps
[[User:Punchcard|Punchcard]] ([[User talk:Punchcard|talk]]) 15:35, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:I really do not think so. There is nothing special about a specific moment for reaching L2. It will go in orbit around it, but when to day it is there or in orbit is hard to pinpoint. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:13, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

I think the Countdown should get its own entry. What do we think? [[User:Sure|Sure]] ([[User talk:Sure|talk]]) 16:25, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
: I think it should! What with the count itself, the speculation about what it could mean, and now the slowly arriving image (?) this seems like something beyond either of the two comics since it started! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.49|108.162.219.49]] 18:00, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
: I'm surprised it doesn't have one already. This is one of the more unique situations in a long while, more speculation could happen. [[User:Thisfox|Thisfox]] ([[User talk:Thisfox|talk]]) 22:26, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
::I have now created this page and talk page for us to continue the discussion and make dedicated changes about this countdown here. And have moved all discussion from the two pages that had some already (except a few on the first talk page that was also mentioned here. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:13, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

If you take a look at this [[https://xkcd.com/count-wimRikmef/state|link]] it displays this: '''{"img":"72cb154b23f959f908f5dc8eb03069c6df3f0f54aae896a0e7ed27befb2ee639.png","start":"2022-01-10T17:00:00Z","target":"2022-01-31T15:00:00Z","until":"2022-01-11T20:55:38.205303701Z"}''' [[User:Hoodiesandboba|Hoodiesandboba]] ([[User talk:Hoodiesandboba|talk]]) 20:58, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
:To correct your link:
:"...If you take a look at this [https://xkcd.com/count-wimRikmef/state link] it displays..."
:As to where the "72cb154b23f959f908f5dc8eb03069c6df3f0f54aae896a0e7ed27befb2ee639.png" is rooted, I haven't dug into that (or what transforms might be being applied), but it looks like a manipulation of browser states might be able to prematurely reveal it. (I'm on mobile at the moment, and it's significantly more fiddly to poke into the page-scripting and markup than I can be bothered with this moment, but I know what I'd do with a good acreage of screen, mouse control and a proper keyboard to rattle away at. And the combined minds here surely can do even better than myself.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.116|172.70.91.116]] 22:38, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

I think it counts down to Lunar New Year (the Year of the Tiger), as measured in Korea (the earliest timezone where that is celebrated). Actually, it reaches 0 one minute before the New Year, so maybe it will switch to seconds for the last minute. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.98.75|172.70.98.75]] 05:10, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
:Could be, but why. Randall has never to rarely? mentioned this new year... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:13, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

I think we are seeing a zoom out of some image. Perhaps it is the arm of Cueball? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:36, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

I have added the first 12 images on this page: [[Countdown in header text/images]] - anyone may help uploading the new ones there. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:43, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
: Thank you! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.194|173.245.52.194]] 12:44, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone mind if I make a few spelling/grammar corrections to the article? It feels like the kind of thing that could be interpreted as rude, so I wanted to ask first.

Talk:1426: Reduce Your Payments

2014-10-03T01:56:57Z

173.245.52.194: Response to paper bleaching question

It's a chemical reduction. Here's the wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reducing_agent[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.109|199.27.133.109]] 04:25, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

This needs more help by a professional chemist... And I need to go to work... So if anyone continues clarification work - thanks, else I'll do a little more after work/afterwards[[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 05:21, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

I tried to clear up some things, but I am not a chemestry expert either.. --[[User:Flai|Flai]] ([[User talk:Flai|talk]]) 06:31, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Hints (just looked into lit a little bit): NaBH<sub>4</sub> would not really reduce the paper (make it vanish by reducing the cellulose to something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbitol ) but may reduce (and so "vanishing") the ink: http://www.jeb.co.in/journal_issues/200911_nov09/paper_05.pdf http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/de-gruyter/degradation-of-cellulose-by-sodium-borohydride-b1EI17tyhs --> You can use a little bit of NaBH<sub>4</sub> to make whiter paper[[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 08:15, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Google Sodium Borohydride + Paper and the majority of results are based on its use to bleach the pulp during manufacture. A quick search doesn't yield any obvious results on the effects on printed paper. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:10, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Look at that! My chemistry degree comes in handy for once! NaBH4 is used for lots of reductions in organic synthesis. The fact that he is using it on paper (an organic substance) doesn't seem to add to the comic in my opinion. NaBH4 is one of the strongest reducers, so I think it's more of an archetypal reference rather than a specific reference. My two cents. Also I fixed the explanation of reduction.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.169|173.245.54.169]] 09:18, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

If Black Hat is having trouble oxidizing the bill, might I suggest [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_trifluoride chlorine trifluoride]? {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.105}}

Or you can try the infamous Dioxygen Diflouride... [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioxygen_difluoride] {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.136}}

Can someone explain more explicitly what "improve the resulting paper's properties" means? What properties are changed and how does that change represent an improvement (sturdier, whiter, easier to fold, easier to get ink to bind to it, etc.)? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 20:54, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Generally for reductive bleaching for improved brightness in the pulp and paper industry. Often used but not as a rule after a peroxide (oxidative) bleaching step to get several more ISO points of brightness by reducing chromophores. Datasheet from one manufacturer: http://www.montchem.com/MontBrite1240.pdf

Wouldn't Mr. Pedantic suggest Black Hat's question to be "... REDUCING YOUR MORTGAGE BILL."? Would've made more sense to him given Black Hat's explanation. [[User:NerillDP|NerillDP]] ([[User talk:NerillDP|talk]]) 00:25, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

980: Money

2013-12-09T09:17:34Z

173.245.52.194: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 980
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = Money
| image = money.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = There, I showed you it.
}}
As usual, click the date above the comic to go to the xkcd page, and there is a link to the ''much'' larger (Google Maps-like) version. Go find something interesting, don't worry, the wiki will still be here.

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|980: Money}}
Well, that's why this one is late. It is MASSIVE. This is another [[:Category:Charts|chart]] that [[Randall]] does for xkcd from time to time. He has done [[Online Communities|maps of]] [[Online Communities 2|the Internet]] (twice) and other huge visualizations.

Dollar increments are different colors. Dollar increments are green. (Naturally, because American paper money is green.) Thousands are Orange/Red. Millions are gray. Billions are yellow. Trillions are blue. This comic uses {{w|Long and short scales|the short scale}} for naming large numbers.

In the Billions box there is a vague term called the "Economic Vortex" as well as arrows that flow between different blocks of this box. This is to show where the money goes. Where it is collected from, and where it is distributed to.

The title text is a reference to the phrase "Show me the money!" which originates from the film 'Jerry Maguire'.

;Dollars
*Middle-left: Pet Ownership. The {{w|ASPCA}} is the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
*Bottom-right: Four boxes indicate that the CEO pay has skyrocketed from 490.31 (hourly) to $5,419.97 (hourly) in the same time period in which the average worker's salary has skyrocketed 10 cents.

;Thousands
*Top-right: Hogwarts degree: a reference to {{w|Hogwarts|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy}} from the popular book series by {{w|J.K. Rowling}} about {{w|Harry Potter}}. One box is the estimated yearly tuition for the school and the next is how much seven years at the school would cost. To get a degree at the school, it takes 7 years (starting at age 11, ending at age 18).
*Bottom: A reference to the song by {{w|Bare Naked Ladies}} entitled "{{w|If I Had $1000000}}" and all the things referenced in the song to buy the love of another person.
* Bottom: A few items on the marriage of {{w|Wedding_of_Prince_William_and_Catherine_Middleton|Kate Middleton and Prince William}}, the major royal wedding of 2011, including:
** a {{w|Wedding_dress_of_Kate_Middleton|wedding dress with its own wikipedia page}} of 3 times the annual per capita income of the average UK person,
** an 8-tier [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381944/Royal-Wedding-cake-Kate-Middleton-requested-8-tiers-decorated-900-flowers.html wedding cake],
** and the flowers for the wedding. These re-appear in the Millions section of the graph, where they also list the costs for the security around the event ($20 million).

;Millions
*Middle-right: another reference to JK Rowling, in this case it is {{w|MC Front-A-Lot}} (The creator of the subgenre of {{w|hip-hop}} known as "{{w|Nerd Core}}") who estimated her net worth at $1 billion. But, that begs the question, why do the boxes only add up to $82,000?

;Billions
*Top-Left: Billionaires section: Fictional Billionaires sub-section:
**{{w|Carlisle Cullen}} is from the {{w|Twilight (series)|Twilight Series}} of books and movies. He is a vampire and adoptive father of {{w|Edward Cullen|Edward}}, {{w|Emmett Cullen|Emmett}} and {{w|Alice Cullen (Twilight)|Alice Cullen}}, as well as {{w|Rosalie Hale|Rosalie}} and {{w|Jasper Hale}}. He was born in the 1640s and amassed his wealth through many years of compound interest and investments.
**{{w|Scrooge McDuck}} is a cartoon character from many {{w|Disney}} properties including the afternoon cartoon, {{w|Duck Tales}}. Scrooge McDuck has a "money bin" full of coins and other sorts of collectibles that he routinely [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA goes swimming in].
**{{w|Bruce Wayne}} is {{w|Batman}}. {{w|Batman}} is {{w|Bruce Wayne}}. He is portrayed in many comic books, graphic novels, TV shows and movies by many different actors.
**{{w|Artemis Fowl II|Artemis Fowl}} is an Irish child prodigy and a ruthless master criminal from the {{w|Artemis Fowl (series)|eponymous book series}}. He uses his intelligence to build his family fortune through crime.

;Trillions
As Randall already indicated in the transcript, this is the block for world, continent and nation finances. The numbers are really huge.
There are no jokes in here (apart from the fact that Randall tried to make the shapes of the GDP look like the continent), likely because financial values this large aren't funny to start with.
* GDP is {{w|Gross domestic product}}, the market value of all goods and services produced in a nation.
** The major chart in the center shows the development of the GDP in the world since the 1940s. So far the US GDP has always grown, except for a small reduction in the early 1980's, a flat line around the 1991 global recession and a flat line in the second half of the naugths. The world-wide GDP is growing more rapidly, but is also much more volatile.
* In the middle of the box, it shows the worth of all gold ever mined in 2011 prices. This is important because of the concept of the {{w|Gold standard}}, a concept where monetary values are linked to the value of gold. As indicated in the top-right of the box, both the EU and the USA have more debt than the total value of all gold in the world.
* {{w|Derivatives}} are a complex financial instrument where one is not trading in something tangible, but in derived values - like options. Derivatives thus are dangerous as one trades in concepts instead of values. Critics claim that derivatives are at the base of the 'economic bubble'.
** The growth of the derivatives market size is incredible - more than doubling every four years. The derivates market thus is much larger than the GDP of the entire world.

==Trivia==
*xkcd comics are usually posted at, or around, midnight Eastern time the day of the comic (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This one was posted at about noon on Monday
*Each amount has a source at http://xkcd.com/980/sources/ In the dollars section there is a statement that at every possible opportunity Randall used a scholarly work or government publication.

==Transcript==
Money

all of it

(this transcription is only reproducing text visible on the front page comic. There are 5 large panels, each with a series of plots, comparing the values of various things.)

*Dollars
**(This section covers single coffees up to the hourly salaries of CEOs)

*Thousands
**(This section discusses values from around $1000 to $1000000, including a dissection of the song ''If I had $1000000'')

*Millions
**(This section focuses on $1000,000 to $1000,000,000, with a large section on campaign contributions of American political presidential campaigns, values of expensive works of art, and J. K. Rowling.)

*Billions
**(This section gets into larger scale finances, profits of various sectors, costs of natural disasters, and net worths of the richest people on the planet. Also, Donald Trump.)

*Trillions
**(Global financial status is described here. It discusses derivatives, liquid assets, public debt by nation and GDP by continent, culminating with the total economic production of the human race to date.)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Charts]]

1301: File Extensions

2013-12-09T08:53:23Z

173.245.52.194: /* Transcript */ I think that 2 significant digits will be more than enough

{{comic
| number = 1301
| date = December 9, 2013
| title = File Extensions
| image = file_extensions.png
| titletext = I have never been lied to by data in a .txt file which has been hand-aligned.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs more detail}}

This comic plays off of the fact that different {{w|file extension}}s see greater use in certain contexts and/or by certain communities, some of which are more or less likely than average to be presenting serious and reliable information: {{w|.tex}} and {{w|.pdf}} files, for instance, are popular among academics, programmers, and other purveyors of serious information, while {{w|.gif}}'s are famously non-serious, used on many popular websites for humorous effects.

==Transcript==
:Trustworthiness of Information by File Extension
:[A bar graph charting this. No units or figures are given, but for ease of comprehension this transcript will arbitrarily designate the highest score as "+100"; subsequent scores are estimates based on the size of their bars.]
::.tex: +100
::.pdf: +89
::.csv: +85
::.txt: +67
::.svg: +65
::.xls/.xlsx: +49
::.doc: +21
::.png: +15
::.ppt: +14
::.jpg: +3
::.jpeg: -8
::.gif: -36

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]