explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1562: I in Team

2015-08-10T08:01:55Z

173.245.53.125: /* Explanation */ +wikilinks

{{comic
| number = 1562
| date = August 10, 2015
| title = I in Team
| image = i_in_team.png
| titletext = There's no "I" in "VOWELS".
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|explain the meaning of "I in team" }}

{{w|Orthography}} is a set of rules and conventions that dictates how a language should be written. [[Cueball]] is trying to point out to [[Hairy]] that the spelling of a word doesn't relate to its meaning (an instance of the {{w|use–mention distinction}}). He does this by the use of a self-referential joke.

The title text provides another example of the difference between orthography and meaning. In this case the vowel "I" does not appear in the word "vowels".

"There is no 'I' in team" means that when working as a team one cannot think only for oneself or work alone and can be used to reprimand someone on your team who isn't cooperating. Cueball is using the same joke against Hairy by saying there ''is'' a "u" in "People who apparently don't understand the relationship between orthography and meaning". The joke here is that the person who is not cooperating will refer to him/herself as "I" but there is no "I" in team, so they can't only think about themselves. There is a "u" in what Cueball said, implying that Hairy is included in the set of people who mistakingly link orthography and meaning.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy and Cueball stand opposite each other.]
:Hairy: Remeber, there's no "I" in "team".
:Cueball: No, but there's a "U" in "People who apparently don't understand the relationship between orthography and meaning".

{{comic discussion}}

1561: Water Phase Diagram

2015-08-07T11:55:10Z

173.245.53.125: /* Explanation */ +wikilinks

{{comic
| number = 1561
| date = August 7, 2015
| title = Water Phase Diagram
| image = water_phase_diagram.png
| titletext = Vanilla Ice was produced in small quantities for years, but it wasn't until the 90s that experimenters collaborated to produce a sample that could survive at room temperature for several months.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Ethion of scientific detail required.}}

This is a modified version of the {{w|phase diagram}} for water. A "phase diagram" is a chart that shows the states, or "phases", that a substance will be in under various temperatures and pressures. Water's phases are particularly well-studied; on a [http://ergodic.ugr.es/termo/lecciones/water1.html real phase diagram for water], there are a great many phases listed.

Most people are familiar with three phases of water—solid, liquid, and gas—and with the fact that an increase in temperature will cause water to change from one state to another. The gas and liquid phases ("water vapor" and "liquid water") are quite straightforward; however, there is in fact not one single solid phase of water ("ice"), but a variety of numbered phases ("ice I" through "ice XV" are currently recognized), several of which are divided into sub-categories. Ordinary, everyday ice is known as "{{w|Ice Ih|ice I<sub>h</sub>}}" ("ice one-h"). Most of the more unusual forms of ice only form under very high pressures.

Randall's phase diagram starts out realistically, though slightly simplified in several ways. For one, it simply uses the name "ice" for the usual form(s). It is focused in on a narrower area than the more complete diagram linked earlier; on that version, the "ice V" region is quite small, and "ice III" is barely visible, whereas both are quite plain to see on Randall's diagram. Lastly, Randall has the pressure scale increase downwards (probably so that the jokes are at the bottom), where most phase diagrams have pressure increase upwards.

As the diagram continues downwards and the pressure increases, the jokes begin. Beyond the moderately high-pressure forms of ice (ice II, III and V), a real phase diagram has ice VI; Randall has "{{w|Vanilla Ice}}" (the name of a white rap/hip-hop artist from the 1990s). Vanilla Ice's biggest hit, "{{w|Ice Ice Baby}}", used samples from the earlier song "{{w|Under Pressure}}", by {{w|David Bowie}} and {{w|Queen (band)|Queen}}; accordingly, on Randall's diagram, the "Vanilla Ice" region transitions to "David Bowie & Queen" when it is under (even higher) pressure.

Further references to "Ice Ice Baby" are found in the title text. Near the beginning of the song, Vanilla Ice raps the line, "All right stop, collaborate and listen". The unusual choice of "collaborate" in this line has made it memorable, and the word is used in the title text (in a more typical context). The phrase "survive at room temperature for several months" is likely a reference to "Ice Ice Baby" being Vanilla Ice's only major hit, humorously suggesting he faded out of the public view after a few months of fame. Finally, even the word "sample" may be deliberately chosen as a reference to the sampling of "Under Pressure".

Lastly, another image is faintly visible just below and to the right of the "Water Vapor" label. It appears to be a copy of an actual phase diagram for water [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_diagram_of_water.svg from Wikipedia]. It is unclear why this image is present in the picture; it may be some sort of hidden message, or perhaps an error.

===Related comics===
Randall has referenced "Ice Ice Baby" and "Under Pressure", separately and together, on many previous occasions, notably in [[159: Boombox]].

The [[what if?]] that was current at the time of this comic's publication was [http://what-if.xkcd.com/138/ 138: Jupiter Submarine], which began with an even more fanciful phase diagram: that of a submarine.
It also contains a reference to the songs "Under Pressure" and "Ice Ice Baby" in one figure.

==Transcript==
;Temperature
:[horizontal axis, increasing in value to the the right]
;Pressure
:[vertical axis, increasing in value downwards]
[From top to bottom and from left to right...]
:;Ice
::[region alongside to "Pressure" axis covering about half of its length]
:;Water vapor
::[region spanning top-right corner of graph, i.e. higher temperatures and lower pressures]
:;Liquid water
::[region below "Water vapor" and to the right of "Ice"]
:;Ice II
:;Ice III
:;Ice V
::[small regions below "Ice"]
:;Vanilla Ice (ice VI)
::[region below "Ice II", "Ice III", "Ice V" and "Liquid water"]
:[dashed line with arrows pointing downwards]
:;David Bowie & Queen
::[region below dashed line]

{{comic discussion}}

1544: Margaret

2015-06-29T14:19:41Z

173.245.53.125: /* Explanation */ more Blume refs

{{comic
| number = 1544
| date = June 29, 2015
| title = Margaret
| image = margaret.png
| titletext = Otherwise known as Margaret the Destroyer, I will bring pain to the the Great One. Then again, maybe I won't.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

There is a reference to the book ''{{w|Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.}}'' by {{w|Judy Blume}}, but the actual quote is:

"Are you still there God? It's me, Margaret. I know you're there God. I know you wouldn't have missed this for anything! Thank you God. Thanks an awful lot..."

"I know you're listening" may refer to an earlier XKCD comic, [[525: I Know You're Listening]].

The part "Are you scared... You should be" seems to be used in several horror movies.

The title text references three of Blume's other books: ''{{w|Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great}}'', ''{{w|The Pain and the Great One}}'', and ''{{w|Then Again, Maybe I Won't}}''.

==Transcript==
[A woman (Margaret) is talking, alone]

'''Margaret''': Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret.

'''Margaret''': I know you're listening.

'''Margaret''': Are you scared, God? Are you?

'''Margaret''': You should be.

Margaret is coming for you.

{{comic discussion}}

1544: Margaret

2015-06-29T14:14:00Z

173.245.53.125: fmt link

{{comic
| number = 1544
| date = June 29, 2015
| title = Margaret
| image = margaret.png
| titletext = Otherwise known as Margaret the Destroyer, I will bring pain to the the Great One. Then again, maybe I won't.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

There is a reference to the book ''{{w|Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.}}'' by {{w|Judy Blume}}, but the actual quote is:

"Are you still there God? It's me, Margaret. I know you're there God. I know you wouldn't have missed this for anything! Thank you God. Thanks an awful lot..."

"I know you're listening" may refer to an earlier XKCD comic, [[525: I Know You're Listening]].

The part "Are you scared... You should be" seems to be used in several horror movies.

The title text references Blume's follow up book, ''{{w|Then Again, Maybe I Won't}}''.

==Transcript==
[A woman (Margaret) is talking, alone]

'''Margaret''': Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret.

'''Margaret''': I know you're listening.

'''Margaret''': Are you scared, God? Are you?

'''Margaret''': You should be.

Margaret is coming for you.

{{comic discussion}}

1544: Margaret

2015-06-29T13:25:50Z

173.245.53.125: /* Explanation */ linking/formatting tweaks

{{comic
| number = 1544
| date = June 29, 2015
| title = Margaret
| image = margaret.png
| titletext = Otherwise known as Margaret the Destroyer, I will bring pain to the the Great One. Then again, maybe I won't.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

There is a reference to the book ''{{w|Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.}}'' by {{w|Judy Blume}}, but the actual quote is:

"Are you still there God? It's me, Margaret. I know you're there God. I know you wouldn't have missed this for anything! Thank you God. Thanks an awful lot..."

"I know you're listening" may refer to an earlier XKCD comic, [[525: I Know You're Listening]].

The part "Are you scared... You should be" seems to be used in several horror movies.

==Transcript==
[A woman (Margaret) is talking, alone]

'''Margaret''': Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret.

'''Margaret''': I know you're listening.

'''Margaret''': Are you scared, God? Are you?

'''Margaret''': You should be.

Margaret is coming for you.

{{comic discussion}}

1541: Voice

2015-06-22T12:13:25Z

173.245.53.125: /* Explanation */ mention 1530

{{comic
| number = 1541
| date = June 22, 2015
| title = Voice
| image = voice.png
| titletext = Anyway, we should totally go watch a video story or put some food in our normal mouths!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First draft; Alt-Text explanation missing}}

During a casual talk, Ponytail suddenly interrupts her normal speech by stating that she is for some reason only capable of controlling her own voice once every six years, apparently for a very brief time since she immediately returns to the casual talk, continuing her previous sentence mid-word before being able to tell Megan how she could help her. Upon Megan's confused request, she denies knowledge of the occurrence, although in a somewhat suspicious way, using a (fake?) laughter.

It remains unclear if this is just a prank by Ponytail, or if she is indeed possessed by some sort of power that prevents her from expressing her own thoughts, except for a very short time every six years. If the latter is the case, it appears that Ponytail's usual "self" is indeed said power and is aware of suppressing the "real" Ponytail, as becomes clear by her response to Megan's inquire.

The title text suggests that Ponytail is possessed by some sort of inhuman entity, most likely and alien or AI, unfamiliar with movies and eating. A similar situation was recently explored in [[1530: Keyboard Mash]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Ponytail are walking.]
:Megan: Are you doing anything later?
:Ponytail: I was th- ''I can only control my voice every six years. Please, you have to'' -inking of going out, but no real plans.
:Megan: ...what was that?
:Ponytail: Haha, what?

{{comic discussion}}

1536: The Martian

2015-06-10T10:05:37Z

173.245.53.125: /* Explanation */ oops

{{comic
| number = 1536
| date = June 10, 2015
| title = The Martian
| image = the_martian.png
| titletext = I have never seen a work of fiction so perfectly capture the out-of-nowhere shock of discovering that you've just bricked something important because you didn't pay enough attention to a loose wire.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Stub}}
This comic refers to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4PCI0NamI this trailer] for ''{{w|The Martian (film)|The Martian}}'', which was released the on Monday 8th June. This is the first comic after the release of that trailer. A teaser [https://youtu.be/CumZP6_9sHU "viral" trailer] had been released the previous day. The film is starring {{w|Matt Damon}} (of ''{{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}}'') and directed by {{w|Ridley Scott}} (of ''{{w|Alien (film)|Alien}}''). The film is due to be released in the United States on November 25th, 2015. (At the time of writing, no other release dates are listed.)

''The Martian'' is based on {{w|The Martian (Weir novel)| a book of the same name}} by {{w|Andy Weir (writer)|Andy Weir}}. The book is very popular for its funny writing, great cast of characters, and skilled use of realistic science to create drama. The plot is – therefore – a cross between ''{{w|Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13}}'' (but on Mars) and ''{{w|Robinson Crusoe}}''.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a computer and White Hat walks in.]
:Cueball: Ooh, trailer for ''The Martian!''
:Whitehat: What's that?
:Cueball: Movie of a book I liked.
:Whitehat: Should I read it?

:[Cueball pivots on chair and turns away from computer to face Whitehat.]
:Cueball: Depends. You know the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy says "we have to figure out how to connect ''this'' thing to ''this'' thing using ''this'' table full of parts or the astronauts will all die?
:Whitehat: Yeah?

:[Cueball pivots on chair again and resumes using computer while talking. White Hat looks at his smart phone.]
:Cueball: ''The Martian'' is for people who wish the whole movie had just been more of that scene.
:Whitehat: How on earth did ''that'' become a big-budget thing with Matt Damon?
:Cueball: No idea, but I'm ''so'' excited.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Space]]

1536: The Martian

2015-06-10T10:04:40Z

173.245.53.125: lost edit

{{comic
| number = 1536
| date = June 10, 2015
| title = The Martian
| image = the_martian.png
| titletext = I have never seen a work of fiction so perfectly capture the out-of-nowhere shock of discovering that you've just bricked something important because you didn't pay enough attention to a loose wire.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Stub}}
This comic refers to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4PCI0NamI this trailer] for ''{{w|The Martian (film)|The Martian}}'', which was released the on Monday 8th June. This is the first comic after the release of that trailer. A teaser [https://youtu.be/CumZP6_9sHU "viral" trailer] had been released the previous day. The film is starring {{w|Matt Damon}} (of ''{{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}}'') and directed by {{w|Ridley Scott}} (of ''{{w|Alien (film)|Alien}}''). The film is due to be released in the United States on November 25th, 2015. (At the time of writing, no other release dates are listed.)

''The Martian'' is based on {{w|The Martian (Weir novel)| a book of the same name}} by {{w|Andy Weir (writer)|Andy Weird}}. The book is very popular for its funny writing, great cast of characters, and skilled use of realistic science to create drama. The plot is – therefore – a cross between ''{{w|Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13}}'' (but on Mars) and ''{{w|Robinson Crusoe}}''.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a computer and White Hat walks in.]
:Cueball: Ooh, trailer for ''The Martian!''
:Whitehat: What's that?
:Cueball: Movie of a book I liked.
:Whitehat: Should I read it?

:[Cueball pivots on chair and turns away from computer to face Whitehat.]
:Cueball: Depends. You know the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy says "we have to figure out how to connect ''this'' thing to ''this'' thing using ''this'' table full of parts or the astronauts will all die?
:Whitehat: Yeah?

:[Cueball pivots on chair again and resumes using computer while talking. White Hat looks at his smart phone.]
:Cueball: ''The Martian'' is for people who wish the whole movie had just been more of that scene.
:Whitehat: How on earth did ''that'' become a big-budget thing with Matt Damon?
:Cueball: No idea, but I'm ''so'' excited.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Space]]

1536: The Martian

2015-06-10T10:03:59Z

173.245.53.125: /* Explanation */ +wikilinks

{{comic
| number = 1536
| date = June 10, 2015
| title = The Martian
| image = the_martian.png
| titletext = I have never seen a work of fiction so perfectly capture the out-of-nowhere shock of discovering that you've just bricked something important because you didn't pay enough attention to a loose wire.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Stub}}
This comic refers to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4PCI0NamI this trailer] for ''{{w|The Martian (film)|The Martian}}'', which was released the on Monday 8th June. This is the first comic after the release of that trailer. A teaser [https://youtu.be/CumZP6_9sHU "viral" trailer] had been released the previous day. The film is starring {{w|Matt Damon}} (of ''{{w|Interstellar (film)|Interstellar}}'') and directed by {{w|Ridley Scott}} (of ''{{w|Alien (film)|Alien}}''). The film has is due to be released in the United States on November 25th, 2015. (At the time of writing, no other release dates are listed.)

''The Martian'' is based on {{w|The Martian (Weir novel)| a book of the same name}} by {{w|Andy Weir (writer)|Andy Weird}}. The book is very popular for its funny writing, great cast of characters, and skilled use of realistic science to create drama. The plot is – therefore – a cross between ''{{w|Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13}}'' (but on Mars) and ''{{w|Robinson Crusoe}}''.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a computer and White Hat walks in.]
:Cueball: Ooh, trailer for ''The Martian!''
:Whitehat: What's that?
:Cueball: Movie of a book I liked.
:Whitehat: Should I read it?

:[Cueball pivots on chair and turns away from computer to face Whitehat.]
:Cueball: Depends. You know the scene in Apollo 13 where the guy says "we have to figure out how to connect ''this'' thing to ''this'' thing using ''this'' table full of parts or the astronauts will all die?
:Whitehat: Yeah?

:[Cueball pivots on chair again and resumes using computer while talking. White Hat looks at his smart phone.]
:Cueball: ''The Martian'' is for people who wish the whole movie had just been more of that scene.
:Whitehat: How on earth did ''that'' become a big-budget thing with Matt Damon?
:Cueball: No idea, but I'm ''so'' excited.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Space]]

1533: Antique Factory

2015-06-03T10:42:48Z

173.245.53.125: /* Explanation */ +links

{{comic
| number = 1533
| date = June 3, 2015
| title = Antique Factory
| image = Antique_Factory.PNG
| titletext = WARNING: This item was aged by the same inexorable passage of time that also processes nuts.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This antique has just recently been constructed.}}
[[Beret Guy]] seems to have another new job with a confusing premise. He apparently now works in an {{w|antique}} factory, which probably entails simply waiting for things to get old.

==Transcript==
Beret Guy: Gotta go - I'm late for work.
Offscreen voice: Oh where are you working now?
Beret: Antique factory!

Talk:1497: New Products

2015-03-11T08:22:06Z

173.245.53.125:

Seems to me that the humor on the first two is based on engineers and programmers not understanding the general public's needs and wants. Also based on how engineers may find products "exciting" based on how novel the product's functionality is, not based on how useful that functionality is. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.150|108.162.215.150]] 07:02, 11 March 2015 (UTC)MW
* It seems to me to be a bash on various makes, remakes, re-remakes, /(re-){2,}remakes/ and sequels of sequels that become very successful. —[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 07:52, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
* It looks to me that it refers for example to the Oculus rift.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.125|173.245.53.125]] 08:22, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1486: Vacuum

2015-02-15T09:39:36Z

173.245.53.125:

This is obviously a reference to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_energy Vacuum Energy].
The "Tremendous" part is because calculation based on quantum electrodynamics suggest it should be 100 order of magnitudes larger than measured (That is a "1" with 100 zeros after it). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.202|141.101.98.202]] 09:42, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
:AKA a googolplex -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:55, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
::No, that's just a googol. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.77|141.101.104.77]] 13:55, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Wondering if this is a reference to Terramex [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Terramex] {{unsigned|Stese}}

:My antivirus says this link is [[609|not safe]]. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.77|141.101.104.77]] 10:50, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
::I see what you did there. - Equinox [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.120|199.27.128.120]] 17:03, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
:::can't speak to your antivirus, but I don't see any problem with the site (TVTropes) - it's a page about a video game called "Terramex" (which in summary is a game about adventurers finding a scientist that can prevent a meteor from hitting Earth) - no idea what that might have to do with vacuum energy, vacuum cleaners, living rooms, berets, or billiard balls, or even flying, but oh well -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:55, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
::::You completely missed the point. xkcd comic 609 referenced TVTropes' addictive power. You can get trapped in the web of links all day. Therefore, 141.101.104.77 was simply joking that their antivirus had detected this, and warned them that the site was not safe. I understand not seeing the comic before, but the IP did provide a link to explain the joke. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 18:00, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
I tried to read this explanation, but couldn't because of xkcd 1240 [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.63|141.101.98.63]] 10:23, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
I was expecting something related to February 14. You know, something about YouTube, IBM, ENIAC, Pale Blue Dot, Shoemaker, Hilbert, Catalan, etc. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.77|141.101.104.77]] 10:39, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Isn't 'the universe is mine to command!' a quote from Aladdin?? {{unsigned|Atty70}}

:Yes it is a quote from Aladdin (by Jafar when he becomes a genie) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103639/quotes]. It is also a quote from "insert your bond/sci-movie here" as it is the usual goal for any scientist that creates a lot of energy or a new weapon (only exception to this is in the real world with Einstein and the atomic bomb). Maybe something to add to the description (looking at someone with better english and story telling skills than I got) [[User:Aquaplanet|Aquaplanet]] ([[User talk:Aquaplanet|talk]]) 12:44, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

::One [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer#Trinity actual quote] related to atomic bomb is not so different: "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 17:20, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

faced?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.157|108.162.249.157]] 12:53, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Has anyone found a calculation or example of how much energy would be required to run a "vacuum (in the space time sense) cleaner"? And what would it be cleaning exactly? [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 18:50, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

:I suppose it would clean a soft vacuum into a hard vacuum, so it would be cleaning particles. Which is kind of exactly what vacuum (in the household appliance sense) cleaner does, just on a larger scale. [[User:Shishire|Shishire]] ([[User talk:Shishire|talk]]) 20:57, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Can we get that last panel as a tee shirt? {{unsigned|dragonkingofthestars}}
:I want one too. But i must say i found the idea of accidentially tapping vacuum energy with a vacuumer extremely far fetched. I mean it was obvious what beret gey was ''trying'' to do, but to let him succeed ?!? ;-) --[[User:Wilberforce|Wilberforce]] ([[User talk:Wilberforce|talk]]) 22:37, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
:Two words: [[1293|Soup Socket]]... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 01:26, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Is supernatural powers for Beret Guy an official XKCD theme now? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 04:26, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

"On an additional note, many scientific breakthroughs in history have been made because the person making them did not realize they were supposedly impossible ..." On an additional, additional note, the vacuum cleaner was invented based on a music hall demonstration of a cleaning machine that blew instead of sucked, and the person watching the demonstration got the idea that the machine would "suck" less if it sucked, if you get my meaning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_cleaner#Vacuum_cleaner --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 12:14, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

The energy for black hole evaporation doesn't come from the vacuum state, it comes from the mass of the black hole itself. The explanation given on this page is incorrect.

Talk:1340: Unique Date

2014-03-11T10:27:13Z

173.245.53.125:

My first thought was that he makes fun of people that consider dates like the 12.12.12 as important. As any other date they occur only once and are thus not more special. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.66|108.162.254.66]] 04:37, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Good point, I have added something about that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 04:49, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Possibly related to the upcoming Pi Day. Also, next year's Pi Day will be 03-14-(20)15, which a few images going around on the Internet have made an annoyingly big deal about. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 06:24, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

So - Maybe I suck at searching (I do), but I can't find any information about us being limited to 4 digits in our calendar system...?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.107|173.245.53.107]] 08:38, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Most of the computer software that handles dates would have problems with more (or less) then four digits. Why bother with variable year length when you can just take the first four characters of "2014-03-10" and it works for the next 8 thousand years? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.103|103.22.200.103]] 09:42, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
:Also, most digital displays are limited to four digits for the year. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.103|103.22.200.103]] 09:43, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

::And I don't think we actually start address that sooner that in September 9999. It will be Y2K over again! .... not sure where will people of 9999 get {{w|Fortran}} and {{w|Cobol}} programmers, though. Maybe we should freeze some before we run out of them. :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:20, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:::Check [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_billennium#In_literature this] out.--[[User:Rael|Rael]] ([[User talk:Rael|talk]]) 21:38, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:I'm with you. I suppose there may be places where leading zeros are used (somewhere in software where memory space has been set aside, I suppose) but I can't think of '''any''' common system where one has to use five digits when using a four digit number.
:When we get to December 31, 9999 (assuming he Gregorian calendar is still in use (BIG assumption)) the next day will simply be January 1, 10000 because, as you said, the Gregorian calendar isn't limited to four-digit years. And, as I say, anyone who think there is some problem with writing years as four digit numbers is simply demonstrating that they are not someone to take seriously. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.84|199.27.128.84]] 16:32, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

After visiting the website for the "Long Now Foundation", I find I'm left wondering - why, oh why, would they stop at using a five digit year? why not six? eight? ten? sixteen? thirty-two? [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:06, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

I think the point in the comic title is that writing years always with 5 digits is as significant as the zero to the left it will take to do so for most of the next 8000 years. [[User:FlavianusEP|FlavianusEP]] ([[User talk:FlavianusEP|talk]]) 12:25, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

My first thought was that the comic was about date formats and yyyy-mm-dd being better than yy-mm-dd or dd.mm.yy. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.138|173.245.53.138]] 12:40, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

;Dynamic?

Wanna bet that this comic always shows the current date?--[[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 10:23, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Haha, that's a great observation! I wish it were so, I'll check again tomorrow. If it's not, someone email Mr. Munroe to make it so, great idea. {{unsigned|Adityarajbhatt}}

:It's 00:07 (11th of March) right now in China where I am currently located and it still shows 10th of March...just for the record [[Special:Contributions/108.162.225.191|108.162.225.191]] 16:13, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

It's funny that Randall seems to have never heard of [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2550 RFC 2550], which goes than the Long Now Foundation in expanding the representable date range. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.161|173.245.53.161]] 15:05, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

:Technically, there will be another 2014-03-10; on October 3rd. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.65|108.162.219.65]] 16:01, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
::It would actually be 2014-10-03 "under our system" as stated in the comic. Technically. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.64|108.162.237.64]] 17:14, 10 March 2014 (UTC)
::It's like me saying that there will be another 2014-03-10 on March 14th. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.63|173.245.50.63]] 19:45, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

I wonder if this is also somehow related to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interesting_number_paradox Interesting number paradox]. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.29|199.27.128.29]] 18:48, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

The problem of the date rolling back is partially mitigated by storing the year as an integer instead of as characters, such as how certain Spreadsheet programs, such as OpenOffice Calc, stores years as a 16-bit signed integer. This doesn't solve the issue, only pushing it back to be the year 32768 problem. This is even less of an issue for 64 bit Unix time, which expire on 15:30:08 UTC on Sun, 4 December 292,277,026,596. It's also important to note that the dates, such as 99, or 00 should not be seen as digits, they should be seen as characters (unless, of course, they are BCD digits, which entirely defeats the purpose of shortening the date to 2 characters length). This might seem trivial, but I think it's an important difference.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.41|108.162.216.41]] 02:46, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
: 3rd of October won't happen for another seven months.