explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1618: Cold Medicine

2015-12-20T19:29:06Z

173.245.54.48: spelling and grammar

{{comic
| number = 1618
| date = December 18, 2015
| title = Cold Medicine
| image = cold_medicine.png
| titletext = Seriously considering buying some illegal drugs to try to turn them back into cold medicine.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is, in this comic, probably representing [[Randall]], who as anyone else is very likely to have a {{w|Common cold|cold}} at this time of year (released in December). The way the title text is phrased makes this even more likely, see below. Also it is only two weeks ago Randall posted another comic about a cold works: [[1612: Colds]]. It thus seems that he is suffering from a long lasting cold, that he just can't get rid off.

Cueball is evidently suffering from a cold and he is searching the shelves labeled cold and {{w|Influenza|Flu}} at a {{w|pharmacy}} for any kind of '''cold medicine''' (hence the title), to alleviate his symptoms. Note that this all he can hope for, as there are still {{w|Common_cold#Management|no cure}} that really helps getting rid of the cold faster. All medication can do is help relieving the symptoms until the body's own {{w|immune system}} takes care of the relatively harmless cold virus.

After looking at several different options Cueball is clearly unsatisfied with what he finds. Either he doesn't feel that any of the unmonitored drugs available on the serve-yourself-shelf is useful, or he is actually too sick to properly ascertain which medicine he needs. In the end he approaches the counter and asks the {{w|pharmacist}} ([[Ponytail]]) to give him one of every kind of cold medicine which requires an ID to purchase. ('''Warning''': Taking lots of different medicines together could harm, or even kill you, because certain combinations of medications interact in ways that make them dangerous or even lethal). But that is not the message that Ponytail tries to give him, instead she tries to warn him that he would end op on some watchlist, presumably one of the government agencies ({{w|FBI}}, {{w|CIA}} etc.) But she never get to finish her sentence because Cueball is beyond caring and tells her this.

In the USA, cold medicines containing {{w|pseudoephedrine}} are kept behind the counter and IDs purchasing them are monitored, because pseudoephedrine can be used to make the illegal drug {{w|methamphetamine}} or meth (a more potent version of {{w|amphetamine}}). However, it is also an extremely effective {{w|decongestant}} (a pharmaceutical drug that is used to relieve {{w|nasal congestion}}/plugged nose), much more so than the common substitutes {{w|phenylephrine}} and {{w|oxymetazoline}}. This could be one reason why Cueball just requests all kinds of cold medicines of amongst other this type; he does not appear to care what exactly he is purchasing, believing that his one criterion will provide him medicine powerful enough for his illness. It may also be that he is just too sick to care or realize that this will arouse suspicion of him being a drug dealer, or to recognize the need to select only one medication of these type, to avoid a potentially deadly overdose.

This could be a reference to the medicine with the brand name {{w|Sudafed}}, sold as an over the counter decongestants with pseudoephedrine as the active ingredient. Now they also sell a different type of medicine for decongestants with the same brand name but without pseudoephedrine, but with for instance phenylephrine, which has recently been deemed only as effective as {{w|placebo}}... If you can buy this from the shelf (because it does not contain the drug precursor) then you could easily get home with the once effective Sudafed, only to realize later that, since you bought it on the shelf it does not help you at all. This could offer another explanation for Cueball's request and outburst in the final panel.

The title text seems to be Randall's own comment on how badly he is affected by his cold. He thus, humorously, suggest that he is now ready to purchase illegal drugs (this would then be ''meth'') in order to turn it back into a cold medicine (i.e. pseudoephedrine). This would not be feasible or safe to do, but may may be a reference to this spoof paper: ''[http://heterodoxy.cc/meowdocs/pseudo/pseudosynth.pdf A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine''], a take on the long-going joke on the recent difficulty in obtaining pseudoephedrine, i.e. it is now easier to get your hands on the illegal drug made from it... It is a humorous exaggeration of how far Randall is willing to go to get the best cold medicine, and the potency of the drugs needed to treat his apparently debilitating illness. There are many illegal drugs that when first synthesized were planned to use as a medical drug, but then later abused by drug addicts, but given the subject of the comic, the title text obviously refers to meth.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is standing in a drug store, with a drug in his hand he has taken from the shelf he is standing next to. The shelf is labeled.]
:Cueball: *Sniffle*
:Label: Cold &Flu

:[Cueball is standing alone, examining some medicine he is holding up, while having some other medicine in the other hand.]
:Cueball: *Cough*
:Cueball: *Sniff*

:[Cueball continues examining more medicine. Looking down on one in his hand, having another in the other hand and there are also three packages at his feet.]
:Cueball: Ughhh...

:[Cueball is at the labeled counter in the drug store with computer etc. Ponytail is behind the counter.]
:Counter label: Sale
:Cueball: Just gimme one of every kind of cold medicine you need ID to buy.
:Ponytail: You'll go on the watchlist for—
:Cueball: Don't care.

{{comic discussion}}

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

Talk:1606: Five-Day Forecast

2015-11-20T13:07:32Z

173.245.54.48:

Very reminiscent of 1245. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 12:31, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

As far as I can figure out, -452 F is something like 4 K, which seems a bit too warm (above OTL microwave background). It probably should be -456 in the next-to-last row and -458 in the last row (-459 for the last column). --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.76|141.101.81.76]] 12:58, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

There will be ambient starlight in addition to the 2.7K background which should raise the temperature slightly. However, the 2.7K background will also redshift to a lower temperature as time goes on: T propto 1/a where a is the scale factor of the Universe. Would be a good assignment for a cosmology class. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.48|173.245.54.48]] 13:07, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1603: Flashlights

2015-11-14T10:50:40Z

173.245.54.48:

Is that it? I swear there must be more to the joke than this explanation implies. It just describes what's going on in the comic. [[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 10:29, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

-- Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. [[User:Pete|Pete]] ([[User talk:Pete|talk]]) 11:19, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

---- but sometimes there is no spoon [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.62|108.162.221.62]] 06:03, 14 November 2015 (UTC)

::Ceci n'est pas une pipe. [[User:Sobsz|Sobsz]] ([[User talk:Sobsz|talk]]) 08:27, 14 November 2015 (UTC)

"A typo", uh? Sure, sure, of course it was only a typo, Randall ;) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.57|108.162.221.57]] 10:38, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
:I also think the type was that he searched on flashlight instead and found the flashlight enthusiast page from that ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:58, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

I think it's unfair to assume lack of detail in the explanation, the fact that research was obviously done on the meaning of fleshlight an it's association to the comic, is more than I would have original got from the comic by itself. However if you perceive additional meaning please share, the thing I love about 'This' website is for the ability for others to add their interpretations. --[[User:Igwarrender|Igwarrender]] ([[User talk:Igwarrender|talk]]) 10:52, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Quote:
<blockquote>When Cueball refers to classic Flashlights(torches) as dim and finnicky, this gives reason to assume that the flashlight he is holding is going to be ridiculously overengineered.</blockquote>
I disagree. In the generation of Randall (and me), the flashlights most of us had as kids really did suck and were dim and finnicky. That's not an exaggeration which, as is implied in the explanation, is used to prepare the joke. It's more of an explanation on why he is interested in modern flashlights in the first place. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.225|162.158.91.225]] 10:58, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
: AND they almost always had at least half flat batteries. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.239.32|198.41.239.32]] 11:41, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Nope...nothing to do with fleshlights. There are in fact multiple flashlight enthusiast forums that have nothing to to with sex toys. Use your favorites search engine to search "flashlight enthusiasts: [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.48|173.245.54.48]] 10:50, 14 November 2015 (UTC)

It's funny how "the explanation" has a need to point out that there were no prior knowledge about fleshlights. (according to Wikipedia) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.197|162.158.180.197]] 12:44, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

I never leave for work without my trusty '''Lumapower EDC-LM31''' with its '''Cree XML(U2) LED''' and its '''3.7 volt size 14500 Lithium Ion cell.''' But I'm not a flashlight geek! Besides, 420 lumens is no where near enough power to set trees on fire. (Personally, I think this comic is an example of Rule 34. Randall was originally thinking about Fleshlights, typo'd into flashlights, and discovered a sort of geeky torch porn sort of thing out there. Also, the flashlight I describe is real, but has nothing on the stuff you'll see in Candlepower Forums.) [[User:Co149|Co149]] ([[User talk:Co149|talk]]) 12:52, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
:The 100,000 lumen lamps (X-LED MRK72 or is that MKR72?) have to be water-cooled! That's plenty hot enough for me.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.147|162.158.34.147]] 14:07, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
::There are videos of flashlights that set things on fire, without lensens etc. One of them is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhdKnMlJ4H4 this] video of an ''Magic Scorpion'' flashlight, a halogen variant. But I've also seen video's of (custom-built) LED flashlight that set things to smolder. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.111|141.101.104.111]] 14:56, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
: It's not lumen that sets things on fire, it's lux. All you need is a good focus. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.101|198.41.235.101]] 17:11, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
: Also note [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkkU0UO3sek this] flashlight, which is just a bunch of ultra-bright LEDs crammed into a case that resembles an oversized flashlight and on full power drains its battery in about 15 minutes...and lights up a city street like it's day. --NXTangl [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.42|108.162.216.42]] 21:33, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

It feels to me that "their highest-end models are ALSO capable of setting trees on fire." is some advertisement where the tree is a metaphore for one's organ. as such it is clear that "They're impossible to use without severe burns". which makes it really twisted that "some [people] swear it's worth it" {{unsigned ip|108.162.228.167}}

I think the burning trees joke comes from this [[http://www.wickedlasers.com/torch "...even fry and egg"]] thing. --[[User:Arturojain|Arturo Jain]] ([[User talk:Arturojain|talk]]) 14:26, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Should the explanation contain something about the prevalence of internet forums dedicated to enthusiasts of various activities or hobbies? [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 17:33, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Currently no (albeit indirect) link to https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/ or others like 119? Ok, so only going to be an incidental link, but... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 17:37, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

it is missimg reference to another comic where randall makes a joke about flashlight and fleshlight. The comic had a star wars setting with death vader and luke skywalker. https://xkcd.com/1397/ --anonymous [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.41|162.158.153.41]] 15:08, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

"Let's" appears to be missing an apostrophe. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.21|173.245.54.21]] 20:23, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Now, see, this is why we Brits call them 'torches'. Less risky with finger trouble. (Hint - don't google 'finger trouble') [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 21:52, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

could it be referencing http://www.wickedlasers.com/torch ?

[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.38|173.245.54.38]] 17:54, 13 November 2015 (UTC)an internet flashlight enthusiast

Why are there personal opinions like "maybe they're trying to trick you!" in the main body? Weird. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.140|162.158.142.140]] 02:26, 14 November 2015 (UTC)

"Of course, a flashlight that cannot safely be pointed at things is fairly useless for the traditional purpose of a flashlight". Really now? A flashlight that set targets on fire is pretty useful - you only need to flash something once, and it'll stay illuminated without having to keep the flashlight on![[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.134|108.162.242.134]] 05:26, 14 November 2015 (UTC){{unsigned ip|192.0.189.206|12:34, 5 June 2012 (UTC)}}

162: Angular Momentum

2014-05-11T18:49:39Z

173.245.54.48:

{{comic
| number = 162
| date = September 25, 2006
| title = Angular Momentum
| image = angular_momentum.jpg
| titletext = With reasonable assumptions about latitude and body shape, how much time might she gain them? Note: whatever the answer, sunrise always comes too soon. (Also, is it worth it if she throws up?)
}}

==Explanation==
Angular momentum is the force upon an object having a certain velocity while spinning. You may remember the certain strain when a spinning yoyo returned into your hand, giving it that much "slip" to discomfort you. The energy of that momentum does that. Angular momentum is also forced upon the Earth, as it is spinning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This 24/7 rotation enables us to have a clock. We say that the Earth is running "clockwise". But viewed from the north of the {{w|ecliptic}}, the Earth in fact turns counter-clockwise.

Nevertheless, [[Megan]] tries to work against this (massive) energy. She is spinning counter-clockwise, trying to generate energy to reduce the Earth's moving. Her move will force the Earth to slow down clockwise, but a stick figure just does not have the mass for a measurable effect. So, it's obvious that she will not be able to alter the turn of the Earth. But the romance part is also obvious, who wouldn't want to be longer with the one they truly love?

[[Randall]] states the obvious in the title text: While not being able to reverse time, enjoy your night time. Sunrise always comes too early. Also, vomiting has may have a negative impact in excess of the extra romance gained by the gesture in question.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits on his bed, looking at Megan who is spinning. It is night.]
:Cueball: What are you doing?
:Megan:
::Spinning counterclockwise
:::Each turn robs the planet of angular momentum
::::Slowing its spin by the tiniest bit
::::Lengthening the night, pushing back the dawn
:::Giving me a little more time here
::With you

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

Talk:1350: Lorenz

2014-04-02T10:27:56Z

173.245.54.48:

I've had the story loop back to the first frame, so it wouldn't surprise me if this could go on infinitely if it had the available dialogue options.

This is going to be a hell of a thing. Good luck... [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 15:39, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:I think this is one of those times when the custom field might come in handy. Duplicating Randall's code seems like it might be difficult, and it might just be easier to link to the original page. Probably. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:47, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::I think it should just show a screenshot of the initial image and options [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.61|173.245.50.61]] 02:49, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

There's always new story lines, even when you think you've read them all, new ones appear to replace them. I don't think it'll ever be possible to record them all. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.192|108.162.212.192]] 15:55, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:The text changes, but there are recurring themes with the panels. The rocket, the big hole, the little hole, Dinosaurcomics, pokemon, waking up, stranded swimming.........[[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:03, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

When I go to XKCD, all I see is the comic from Monday... weird. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:45, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Same here... and a lot of space below it. [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 17:43, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: I think that happens when you have refreshed the page too many time -- kind of an anti spam for user submissions. I simply create an anonymous browser window and I got back to the real page once xkcd was not able to track me as a returning user. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:59, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Currently there appears to be a bug. Instead of the evolving, crowd-sourced comic, I just see an off-center copy of the previous comic, 1349: Shouldn't Be Hard. [http://i.imgur.com/pw2OfOL.png Screenshot here].
UPDATE: it appears to be a bug in the XSRF-blocking code. Chrome console shows me the error "XMLHttpRequest cannot load http://c1.xkcd.com/graph/1/. The 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header has a value 'http://xkcd.com' that is not equal to the supplied origin. Origin 'http://www.xkcd.com' is therefore not allowed access."
FURTHER UPDATE: you can work around this bug by going to http://xkcd.com instead of http://www.xkcd.com!
It also doesn't work if you have HTTPS Everywhere enabled.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.38|108.162.216.38]] 16:46, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

** I can confirm this bug in Firefox. Weirdly, the work-around functioned one time for me, but now going to "xkcd.com" rather than "www.xkcd.com" just gives me a copy of 1349 as well. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 17:40, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:The workaround didn't work for me, I still got monday's comic on either URL. (Chromium 36.0.1919.0 (260611), Mac OS 10.9.2) [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 17:45, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Same here. Used IE and Firefox. Removed the "www." and haven't. (Never used https:// at all.) Tried InPrivate (and FF equivalent) browsers. Gone into the code and can't even fudge it manually from ''<nowiki><div id="comic"><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/shouldnt_be_hard.png" title="Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story." alt="Lorenz" /> <script type="text/javascript">Bernardo.comic({el: $('#comic')})
</script></div></nowiki>'', and the rest, manually. (Indeed, that shows why I get 1349's "shouldn't be hard" image, by default.) Pity. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.224|141.101.89.224]] 02:25, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

This comic introduced(?) a font of its own of Randalls comic type. I don't know if it has been sitting there for long, but I just noticed it: http://xkcd.com/fonts/xkcd-Regular.eot -- phiarc [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.12|108.162.219.12]] 17:20, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:Is it the same as was used in Externalities? [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Does everyone have these options in some order for the first tile?
*Refresh... No New Email... Refresh .. No New Tweets... Refresh...
*These Stupid Tiles... I'll Just Play One More Game
*Oh. Hey. There's Some Kind Of Politicial Thing Going On.
*Let's See If BSD Is Any Easier to Install Nowadays
--[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:54, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

:If so, we can begin to build a map of at least the first set of options before the crowd-sourced ones. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 17:56, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::Yes, though the second-tier options have changed [[User:H|H]] ([[User talk:H|talk]]) 18:00, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:::The first level options may be constant (Im seeing the same as Jeff), but I suspect that the following options is based on some sort of ckick though statitics / machine learning -- which means that the will continue to change until Randall closes off the 'voting' -- if [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1193:_Externalities 1193: Externalities] is anything to go by that should be within the next 24-48 hours, at which point automating the collection of story lines may be possible. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 18:11, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:::: I'm going to transcript some of what I get at least through the first few levels and then we can start with a list of options for those who don't want to go through them all. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 18:37, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
::::: I have no idea how one would do this, but it would be cool to render the transcript as a tree of some sort; having one vertical list will be hard to follow for more than a few decisions. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.180|199.27.130.180]] 00:14, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Ohh, this comic is buggy and the link here at the top gives just the page from Monday, showing errors on debuggers. But removing the WWW from URL helps. Further more I can't see that the result of the choices is dynamic. So let's prove this. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:33, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: Have a look at http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/2b/lorenz_combination1.png and http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/9a/lorenz_combination2.png and you can see the option orders are changing -- this is a typical artifact of A/B testing where randomization of options is needed to avoid selection bias. I have futher observed "your car is on fire" instead of the "dinosaur" option, hence not only the orders are channging but the content as well -- maybe somebody else can capture this. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:08, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

How are new dialogue suggestions approved? Are they random, by popular vote (unlikely, not very many people would suggest the same thing), or is Randall approving them one by one? [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 20:26, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: They may not need to be explicitly approved at all -- one of the beutiful things about click though measures is that the public '''votes''' for what is good by clicking -- this is also a factor in search ranking by your favorite search engine where statistics are driving the entire show -- in a search engine some input to the statistical process comes from the web pages, but other comes from what people are actually clicking [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:14, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

What is this a screenshot of? It's zoomed out so far. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:5b5bd04e-b9d6-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd [[User:Haithere|Haithere]] ([[User talk:Haithere|talk]]) 20:39, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
: you mean this : http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/Rl92nFEWd9huvXABNkHKHg.png ? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:20, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: It appears to be a screen shot from a flight simulator program of some sort, however im not able to tell which, and since it is most likely an 'in-game' screen short we will never find out unless somebody else is playing this precises flight simulator program [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 22:37, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
:: I am not certain, but I strongly suspect that is Kerbal Space Program {{unsigned ip|108.162.242.111}}
::: it really is Kerbal Space Program, or KSP for short {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.65}}
:::: found this image from KSP http://i.imgur.com/UofvQ.png [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 09:07, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

A transcript is going to be futile. It appears as though the comic may go on indefinitely (I've definitely had some branches continue extending until I've seen frames that were present in other branches). I suspect what's happening here is that... options are "suggested", and those suggestions are displayed at random to people. The ones with the most clickthroughs begin to appear more often, until eventually the top 4 are "locked in" and no more suggestions can be made. Very creative! But I'm not convinced that Randall is making frames in near-real-time, nor am I even convinced he's part of the approval process at all. I suspect it's all automated. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.28|108.162.215.28]] 00:29, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

It seems it is possible to have the same option appear twice in the first panel. http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:be7a3304-b685-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.48|173.245.54.48]] 10:27, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

1348: Before the Internet

2014-03-29T14:52:25Z

173.245.54.48:

{{comic
| number = 1348
| date = March 28, 2014
| title = Before the Internet
| image = before_the_internet.png
| titletext = We watched DAYTIME TV. Do you realize how soul-crushing it was? I'd rather eat an iPad than go back to watching daytime TV.
}}

==Explanation==
A girl with a ponytail asks [[Megan]] what life was like before the Internet. The girl obviously was born after the Internet was invented. Megan responds that life was very boring without computers or mobile phones. This comic appears to be a parody of the common complaint — often done by elder people — that life was better and more fulfilling in the "good old days", in that there weren't so many distractions and people could actually get things done that were meaningful. The ages switch roles with the younger character being prepared to believe that life was more fulfilling before technology, and the elder rejecting the proposition.

To Megan, even a more fulfilling and engaging life "wasn't worth" the price of what it meant to be bored in the days before smartphones and computers that could go online. Even though the ponytail girl says that she still experiences boredom in spite of having advanced technology to occupy her, Megan assures her that her version of boredom is nothing like what those in the pre-Internet days had to endure. Again, this is a reversal of the typical exchange in which a young person tries to insist that they still have social contact/get out and about/do worthwhile things in their spare time, and the elder person responds, "Not like we did."

The title text continues in this vein as Megan talks about what people in her day resorted to doing when they were bored, for lack of anything better to do: they watched daytime TV. Daytime television consisted mainly of soap operas, talk shows, game shows, infomercials and children's programming and is notorious for being, in Megan's words, "soul-crushing". To round off the comparison, Megan uses a modern-day metaphor to express her extreme distaste for daytime television, saying that she would rather "eat an iPad" than go through that again. In other words, modern-day gadgets are so much better that she'd still have more fun if she were eating them than if she had to go without them.

Megan might just be responding with the opposite of what she's expected to say in this dialogue in order to mess with the younger girl. In reality, life was neither likely to be noticeably more fulfilling or noticeably more boring without technology: it was just life. People are equally capable of wasting their time and of doing worthwhile things regardless of what age they live in, and those who wax nostalgic about an older, better time are liable to forget that. This recalls the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill Hedonic Treadmill/Hedonic Adaptation] theory which states that people will always be at roughly the same level of happiness regardless of positive or negative events or technological advances in civilisation.

==Transcript==
:[Young girl talking to Megan, both holding smartphones.]
:Girl: Do you remember before the internet?
:Megan: Oh yeah, totally.
:Girl: what was it like?
:Megan: Not having a phone or computer to distract you?
:Girl: Yeah.
:Megan: It was '''''SO. BORING.''''' All the time. I just '''''sat''''' there. It was the '''''worst.'''''
:Girl: But wasn't it, like, more fulfilling? Engaging?
:Megan: Wasn't worth it.
:Girl: ''I'' still get bored.
:Megan: Not like we did.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Internet]]

1318: Actually

2014-01-18T06:37:27Z

173.245.54.48:

{{comic
| number = 1318
| date = January 17, 2014
| title = Actually
| image = actually.png
| titletext = Protip: You can win every exchange just by being one level more precise than whoever talked last. Eventually, you'll defeat all conversational opponents and stand alone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|The article seems plentiful in detail, but maybe things could get a little better structured.}}

The image shows a sphere, a simple model for the shape of the Earth's surface, and six people talking about the best ways to describe it in more simple or more accurate ways. It starts with a flat surface, as believed in the middle ages, and ends up with general relativity, where the entire space is curved.

The statements in detail:

;Actually, measurements suggest it's flat.
* The picture is designed to have us thinking about a planet (presumably Earth), such that when we read the first speaker's comment, we interpret it as "The Earth is flat", which was the earliest view of the planet. (The speaker does not explicitly state their subject, however, which leads to the comic's punchline.)
* Finally, the first speaker comments again, and we now interpret this as referring not to the planet but to the universe itself - current observations suggest that the balance of matter and energy in the universe is such that the universe is, in fact, the {{w|Shape of the universe}} on the largest scales. (Whether this is coincidence or reflective of underlying laws is currently unknown.)
* The arguments could continue around the circle, now referring to the universe. They aren't generally applicable but going round the circle a second time suggests that some similar truth may apply at the scale of the universe, which in turn is again embedded in something else (a kind of meta-universe). The circular layout of the comics invites to continue without end, a nice example of meta-humor.
* The comic may be a reference to "[http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscience/relativityofwrong.htm The Relativity of Wrong]," an essay by Isaac Asimov which uses the Earth's shape as a central example of the role of models in science.

;Actually, it's a sphere.
* The second speaker explains that the Earth is actually a sphere, tracking the progression of knowledge of the Earth's shape.

;Actually, it's an oblate spheroid.
* The third speaker provides further detail on the shape, that rather than being spherical, the Earth is actually an {{w|oblate spheroid}}. On Earth, this occurs because a rotating body tends to bulge at the equator (where the matter experiences greater centrifugal forces - analogous to experiencing more force at the outside of a round-a-bout rather than at the centre), and is known as the {{w|equatorial bulge}}.

;Actually, it's a shape defined by the EGM96 coefficients.
* A more accurate description is the {{w|EGM96|Earth Gravitational Model 1996}} which provided a detailed map of Earth's gravitational field. This therefore refines the oblate spheroid model even further.

;Actually, it's that plus local topography.
* The next speaker notes that this is still a very high level model of the planet (necessary because of the sizes involved) and that the true shape of the planet is given by the actual local topography (i.e., mountains, hills, valleys, etc.) which can be thought as overlaid on the planet wide models.

;Actually, it's embedded in a universe that's curved.
* Changing tack, the remaining speaker notes that our planet sits in a {{w|General relativity|curved space-time}}, where our planet's gravity, as well as all other objects, bends the space and time around them. On the largest scale, this has the potential to lead to a {{w|Shape of the universe|curvature}} of the four dimensional space-time of the universe, hence "universe that is curved". Such a universe can either be "open" or "closed", depending on how much mass and energy there is. In a "closed" universe, if you drew a large enough triangle in space, you would find that the angles did add up to more than 180 degrees (just like if it was drawn on the surface of a balloon - in this case, the angles would add up to more than 180 degrees). An example of closed geometry is {{w|spherical trigonometry}}, where the sum of the angles of a triangle is π < A + B + C < 3π. In an "open" universe, the sum of the angles would be less than 180 degrees.

The pun of the title text lies in the ambiguity of the last sentence. "Eventually, you'll defeat all conversational opponents and stand alone" can literally be interpreted as 'winning' all the debates and standing alone as a sole champion, which would seem to be a flattering thing, but the other interpretation, arguably more likely to occur, suggests that the speaker is going to drive away all conversational partners by being an insufferable nitpicker and end up alone, with no-one wanting to speak to them.

==Transcript==
:[Six people are standing upon a white circle as if it were a miniature planet. Each person is facing the reader and says something to the person on their right. All texts are displayed as a near-continuous stream over their heads to form one circle that encloses the whole picture.]
:[From topmost, going clockwise.]
::Cueball: '''''Actually,''''' measurements suggest it's flat.
::Ponytail: '''''Actually,''''' it's a sphere.
::White Hat: '''''Actually,''''' it's an oblate spheroid.
::Megan: '''''Actually,''''' it's a sphere defined by the EGM96 coefficients.
::Hairy 1: '''''Actually,''''' it's that plus local topography.
::Hairy 2: '''''Actually,''''' it's embedded in a universe that's curved.

{{comic discussion}}
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