explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2272: Ringtone Timeline

2020-02-24T17:46:00Z

173.245.54.55:

{{comic
| number = 2272
| date = February 24, 2020
| title = Ringtone Timeline
| image = ringtone_timeline.png
| titletext = No one likes my novelty ringtone, an audio recording of a phone on vibrate sitting on a hard surface.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a COOL SPACE BEEP. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1392: Dominant Players

2020-02-18T17:57:43Z

173.245.54.55:

This may be related to the recent MOBA segregation controversy: http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/07/02/hearthstone-tournament/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.25}}

What is the significance of the line colors? {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.78}}
:I think the red lines are those players that were undisputed #1 for a significant period. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 08:02, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
: But Petrosian has no colored line, although he was world champion. Maybe he did not have the highest ELO rating despite being WC?[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 09:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:Ya, this line colouring thing is bugging me. :P [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:22, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:The lack of explanation of the red lines bugs me too. Makes me think this comic was rushed, or never finished. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.216|108.162.250.216]] 22:18, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Dashed lines are apparently for the period before ELO ratings existed, taking 1965 as a start point (midway between the point in time when ELO rating was adopted by USCF and FIDE, respectively. There seems to be an exception for Alekhine -or is that a very long dash? [[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 09:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Naughty Randall, always label your axes! [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:00, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

The comment in the women's rankings about Kira Zvorykina is a little odd. One would hope she continued playing in tournaments into the 20th century, given that the first 81 years of her life were in the 20th century. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.220}}

While at the time, the V-1 was called a "Flying Bomb", wikipedia indeed calls it an early pulse-jet ancestor of the modern cruise missile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb . I built a model of one in an 8th grade rocketry club, replacing the pulse jet with an Estes D-6-0. Mine took off, but sure enough, yes, the stubby wings stalled easily, the flight path was a weird s curve as the wings stalled out twice while under thrust.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 09:03, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Link to the game against Deep Blue, anybody? Also, shouldn't the title text be at least mentioned? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.71|199.27.128.71]] 09:13, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Kasparov-Deep Blue Games: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1014770 {{unsigned ip|141.101.64.131}}

The explanation says in the first sentence that for chess there's an overall rating and a woman's rating in the comic. All I see is a men's rating and a woman's rating, no overall rating, however. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.24}}
: As Judith Polgar is present in the first chart, it appears to be an overall, not specifically a men's chart.[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 11:37, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:: My impression is that the above is the Men's Chart but with Judit added (hence the note), because (although unsure because of the curse of unlabelled axes) some of the other top-ranking-women-but-not-top-ranking-overall would still earn a position on the above 'graph'.
:: (Also, something in me wanted a reference to Chess-Boxing, but it appears that was not the aim.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 13:16, 10 July 2014 (UTC)
:There is no "woman" ranking.[[User:Chvsanchez|Chvsanchez]] ([[User talk:Chvsanchez|talk]]) 05:11, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

Anyone knows why Viswanathan Anand is not included (or am I blind?) Marty / [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.43|141.101.104.43]]
I had the exact same question. It appears that this is a West and Russian centric view of the world [[User:Indianrediff|Indianrediff]] ([[User talk:Indianrediff|talk]]) 13:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:No. Koneru Humpy is mentioned. He's a big Carlson fan and I think he doesn't like Anand. One of his old comics suggested that. Probably never realised Anand met and beat Carlson back in 2008. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.78|108.162.222.78]] 16:37, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:Out of pure curiosity, could anyone please upload an image/link of how Anand's curve might look, if it was added to the graph? I'm not a huge chess fan, but I am interested in seeing the extent of Randall's possible bias in this regard. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.62|173.245.62.62]] 05:21, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

For me it feels weirder to see Stefanova there, but not Topalov. Then again, for some reason Bulgarian media keep a low profile of her. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.107}}
It's Julius Erving not Irving. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.151|173.245.54.151]] 13:27, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

The choice of basketball and chess is something to think about. This mostly is about chess, and basketball represents the physical sports. It immediately stands out that chess players have much longer careers than basketball players. [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 15:55, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

:Something else I think someone needs to look at is the line of best fit. For basketball it's basically horizontal, but for chess it tends to curve upwards. I'd add it myself, but I feel like there's more than just that and I'm missing something. [[User:Athang|Athang]] ([[User talk:Athang|talk]]) 16:53, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

I haven't seen any mention of this interpretation, so it might be just me, but I immediately read the juxtaposition of basketball to chess as a contrast of how skill at the top level of basketball is essentially stagnant, whereas the best chess players have been outstripping their predecessors for decades. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.157}}

The y-axis is unlabelled, that's annoying --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.93.222|141.101.93.222]] 19:53, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

A couple points;
1) I would interpret the Basketball vs. Chess dichotomy as a slam against basketball, with the (largely) serious comments about chess vs. pointing out movies on BB. There are a jillion things he could have chosen to comment on - why highlight the embarassing career moves of BB players?
(2) The rating system for BB has an (essentially) static upper limit, whereas these chess rating systems have larger upper bounds as the player pool grows, so comparisons of upper bounds are unfair. That may be part of the point, or a dishonest comparison. Not sure of Randall's motivations. (not that I like BB anyways...)
(3) No comparison to women's BB is made - so this further inclines me to think that there are two separate agendas here: (i) physical BB vs. mental chess and (ii) women's rights in chess. An honest comparison would include women's BB as well.
(4) The vertical axis on the graphs do not start at zero, so the scaling could be correct... just somewhat deceiving by violating fundmental rules of creating graphs (no labels, inconsistent scales and they have non-zero bases).
(5) Red lines are *generally* the top person at some point in their career for more than 5(?) years (David Robinson seems like the tell)

All in all, rather disappointed in the seemingly conflicting political agendas and poorly represented graphs.
[[User:Chorb|Chorb]] ([[User talk:Chorb|talk]]) 21:36, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Also, please note that player efficiency ratings and similar "aggregate scores" are the subject of much discussion in basketball due to inherent biases, and their performance is particularly poor when comparing players from different eras. Attempts at adjusting for pace and game styles have not been too successful so far. {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.87}}

Statistician Jeff Sonas produced his famous research in 2005. You can find his graph here: http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Summary.asp.[[User:Chvsanchez|Chvsanchez]] ([[User talk:Chvsanchez|talk]]) 05:11, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

I have more or less included all the info and thoughts above, and added data tables, and links to a graph of another sources paths. I have thus completed the comic. But feel free to improve or add more (or if still not complete enough please note why and mark it as incomplete again.) ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:31, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

This comic had the potential to be really cool, but Randall just ''had'' to go all social justice soldier and shit it up with benevolent-sexist feminism. "Here's the 'regular' graph: '''Chess'''. And here's the ''other'' graph: '''Chess (''Women!'')''' (''They're different'') (''They're special'') (''I'm not reinforcing social inequality by doing this, I'm changing it for the better!'')." Yeah, eat shit, Randall. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.215|108.162.212.215]] 16:45, 15 July 2014 (UTC)
: Chess is divided by sex at the professional level. Because of the way that Elo is calculated, this division makes it impossible to fairly display them on the same chart. Elo is based on a comparison of players to one another, and because it's not zero-sum, the level of skill described a certain Elo lowers over time. When it was new, a thousand would have been incredible, because everyone had started out low and were competing against other low-ranked players. And since the pools of opponents are different due to the professional-level sex divide, their skills cannot be compared by Elo. Plotting women onto the mens' chart would result in the women being ranked poorly, because the meaning of a certain Elo score is different. This is also why chess is gradually climbing while basketball stays at the same maximum. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.209|108.162.246.209]] 12:54, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

::That's incorrect, Chess is not officially divided by sex at the professional level. There are "Open" tournaments, in which either gender is welcome to compete, and "Women's" events, in which only women are allowed to compete. Second, elo is not gender specific. It is merely a comparison of playing strength/a prediction of the likelihood player A defeats player B, and there is no "men's" elo and "women's" elo. Nor are the "pools of opponents different." At any broadly open tournament in the world, like the U.S. Open, men and women play each other. You might be mistaken by looking only at ultra high-tier tournaments, which are almost exclusively men, as many of them are by invite or placement only. But again, that is because men dominate the upper level of competition, not because women are not allowed in; it's just a plain statement of fact that a top women's player like Hou Yifan would be steamrolled at a tournament like Wijk An See. When Judit was an active player, she regularly competed in these tournaments because her skill level was on or near par with these players.

::In short, your comment is just wrong. The meaning of an Elo score is not different for each sex. There is no official segregation at the professional level; there is just a nuanced appreciation that the major female players are not yet at the level of the major male players. That is why very small (in terms of number of players) round robin tournaments like Wijk An See have a women's section and an open section-without a women's section, there would be no women in the tournament at all. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.210}}

Any way to find out which NBA and ABA Randall is referring to? NBA could be National Basketball Association or Nepal Basketball Association. ABA could be Australian Basketball Association, American Basketball Association or Adriatic Basketball Association. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 21:43, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
: ABA is near certainly the American Basketball Association, since the two leagues merged in 1976 and four current NBA teams came from the ABA. I find it difficult to imagine that we have the stats necessary to determine a number 1 player statistically from other leagues. Additionally, Julius Irving and Moses Malone are listed on the chart -- they were both playing for ABA teams prior to the merger. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.55|173.245.54.55]] 17:57, 18 February 2020 (UTC)

Talk:1392: Dominant Players

2020-02-18T17:57:18Z

173.245.54.55:

This may be related to the recent MOBA segregation controversy: http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/07/02/hearthstone-tournament/ {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.25}}

What is the significance of the line colors? {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.78}}
:I think the red lines are those players that were undisputed #1 for a significant period. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 08:02, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
: But Petrosian has no colored line, although he was world champion. Maybe he did not have the highest ELO rating despite being WC?[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 09:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:Ya, this line colouring thing is bugging me. :P [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:22, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:The lack of explanation of the red lines bugs me too. Makes me think this comic was rushed, or never finished. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.216|108.162.250.216]] 22:18, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Dashed lines are apparently for the period before ELO ratings existed, taking 1965 as a start point (midway between the point in time when ELO rating was adopted by USCF and FIDE, respectively. There seems to be an exception for Alekhine -or is that a very long dash? [[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 09:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Naughty Randall, always label your axes! [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 08:00, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

The comment in the women's rankings about Kira Zvorykina is a little odd. One would hope she continued playing in tournaments into the 20th century, given that the first 81 years of her life were in the 20th century. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.220}}

While at the time, the V-1 was called a "Flying Bomb", wikipedia indeed calls it an early pulse-jet ancestor of the modern cruise missile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb . I built a model of one in an 8th grade rocketry club, replacing the pulse jet with an Estes D-6-0. Mine took off, but sure enough, yes, the stubby wings stalled easily, the flight path was a weird s curve as the wings stalled out twice while under thrust.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 09:03, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Link to the game against Deep Blue, anybody? Also, shouldn't the title text be at least mentioned? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.71|199.27.128.71]] 09:13, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Kasparov-Deep Blue Games: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1014770 {{unsigned ip|141.101.64.131}}

The explanation says in the first sentence that for chess there's an overall rating and a woman's rating in the comic. All I see is a men's rating and a woman's rating, no overall rating, however. {{unsigned ip|108.162.254.24}}
: As Judith Polgar is present in the first chart, it appears to be an overall, not specifically a men's chart.[[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 11:37, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:: My impression is that the above is the Men's Chart but with Judit added (hence the note), because (although unsure because of the curse of unlabelled axes) some of the other top-ranking-women-but-not-top-ranking-overall would still earn a position on the above 'graph'.
:: (Also, something in me wanted a reference to Chess-Boxing, but it appears that was not the aim.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 13:16, 10 July 2014 (UTC)
:There is no "woman" ranking.[[User:Chvsanchez|Chvsanchez]] ([[User talk:Chvsanchez|talk]]) 05:11, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

Anyone knows why Viswanathan Anand is not included (or am I blind?) Marty / [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.43|141.101.104.43]]
I had the exact same question. It appears that this is a West and Russian centric view of the world [[User:Indianrediff|Indianrediff]] ([[User talk:Indianrediff|talk]]) 13:23, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:No. Koneru Humpy is mentioned. He's a big Carlson fan and I think he doesn't like Anand. One of his old comics suggested that. Probably never realised Anand met and beat Carlson back in 2008. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.78|108.162.222.78]] 16:37, 9 July 2014 (UTC)
:Out of pure curiosity, could anyone please upload an image/link of how Anand's curve might look, if it was added to the graph? I'm not a huge chess fan, but I am interested in seeing the extent of Randall's possible bias in this regard. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.62|173.245.62.62]] 05:21, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

For me it feels weirder to see Stefanova there, but not Topalov. Then again, for some reason Bulgarian media keep a low profile of her. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.107}}
It's Julius Erving not Irving. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.151|173.245.54.151]] 13:27, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

The choice of basketball and chess is something to think about. This mostly is about chess, and basketball represents the physical sports. It immediately stands out that chess players have much longer careers than basketball players. [[User:Jim E|Jim E]] ([[User talk:Jim E|talk]]) 15:55, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

:Something else I think someone needs to look at is the line of best fit. For basketball it's basically horizontal, but for chess it tends to curve upwards. I'd add it myself, but I feel like there's more than just that and I'm missing something. [[User:Athang|Athang]] ([[User talk:Athang|talk]]) 16:53, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

I haven't seen any mention of this interpretation, so it might be just me, but I immediately read the juxtaposition of basketball to chess as a contrast of how skill at the top level of basketball is essentially stagnant, whereas the best chess players have been outstripping their predecessors for decades. {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.157}}

The y-axis is unlabelled, that's annoying --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.93.222|141.101.93.222]] 19:53, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

A couple points;
1) I would interpret the Basketball vs. Chess dichotomy as a slam against basketball, with the (largely) serious comments about chess vs. pointing out movies on BB. There are a jillion things he could have chosen to comment on - why highlight the embarassing career moves of BB players?
(2) The rating system for BB has an (essentially) static upper limit, whereas these chess rating systems have larger upper bounds as the player pool grows, so comparisons of upper bounds are unfair. That may be part of the point, or a dishonest comparison. Not sure of Randall's motivations. (not that I like BB anyways...)
(3) No comparison to women's BB is made - so this further inclines me to think that there are two separate agendas here: (i) physical BB vs. mental chess and (ii) women's rights in chess. An honest comparison would include women's BB as well.
(4) The vertical axis on the graphs do not start at zero, so the scaling could be correct... just somewhat deceiving by violating fundmental rules of creating graphs (no labels, inconsistent scales and they have non-zero bases).
(5) Red lines are *generally* the top person at some point in their career for more than 5(?) years (David Robinson seems like the tell)

All in all, rather disappointed in the seemingly conflicting political agendas and poorly represented graphs.
[[User:Chorb|Chorb]] ([[User talk:Chorb|talk]]) 21:36, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Also, please note that player efficiency ratings and similar "aggregate scores" are the subject of much discussion in basketball due to inherent biases, and their performance is particularly poor when comparing players from different eras. Attempts at adjusting for pace and game styles have not been too successful so far. {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.87}}

Statistician Jeff Sonas produced his famous research in 2005. You can find his graph here: http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Summary.asp.[[User:Chvsanchez|Chvsanchez]] ([[User talk:Chvsanchez|talk]]) 05:11, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

I have more or less included all the info and thoughts above, and added data tables, and links to a graph of another sources paths. I have thus completed the comic. But feel free to improve or add more (or if still not complete enough please note why and mark it as incomplete again.) ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:31, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

This comic had the potential to be really cool, but Randall just ''had'' to go all social justice soldier and shit it up with benevolent-sexist feminism. "Here's the 'regular' graph: '''Chess'''. And here's the ''other'' graph: '''Chess (''Women!'')''' (''They're different'') (''They're special'') (''I'm not reinforcing social inequality by doing this, I'm changing it for the better!'')." Yeah, eat shit, Randall. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.215|108.162.212.215]] 16:45, 15 July 2014 (UTC)
: Chess is divided by sex at the professional level. Because of the way that Elo is calculated, this division makes it impossible to fairly display them on the same chart. Elo is based on a comparison of players to one another, and because it's not zero-sum, the level of skill described a certain Elo lowers over time. When it was new, a thousand would have been incredible, because everyone had started out low and were competing against other low-ranked players. And since the pools of opponents are different due to the professional-level sex divide, their skills cannot be compared by Elo. Plotting women onto the mens' chart would result in the women being ranked poorly, because the meaning of a certain Elo score is different. This is also why chess is gradually climbing while basketball stays at the same maximum. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.209|108.162.246.209]] 12:54, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

::That's incorrect, Chess is not officially divided by sex at the professional level. There are "Open" tournaments, in which either gender is welcome to compete, and "Women's" events, in which only women are allowed to compete. Second, elo is not gender specific. It is merely a comparison of playing strength/a prediction of the likelihood player A defeats player B, and there is no "men's" elo and "women's" elo. Nor are the "pools of opponents different." At any broadly open tournament in the world, like the U.S. Open, men and women play each other. You might be mistaken by looking only at ultra high-tier tournaments, which are almost exclusively men, as many of them are by invite or placement only. But again, that is because men dominate the upper level of competition, not because women are not allowed in; it's just a plain statement of fact that a top women's player like Hou Yifan would be steamrolled at a tournament like Wijk An See. When Judit was an active player, she regularly competed in these tournaments because her skill level was on or near par with these players.

::In short, your comment is just wrong. The meaning of an Elo score is not different for each sex. There is no official segregation at the professional level; there is just a nuanced appreciation that the major female players are not yet at the level of the major male players. That is why very small (in terms of number of players) round robin tournaments like Wijk An See have a women's section and an open section-without a women's section, there would be no women in the tournament at all. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.210}}

Any way to find out which NBA and ABA Randall is referring to? NBA could be National Basketball Association or Nepal Basketball Association. ABA could be Australian Basketball Association, American Basketball Association or Adriatic Basketball Association. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 21:43, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
: ABA is near certainly the American Basketball Association, since the two leagues merged in 1976 and four current NBA teams came from the ABA. I find it difficult to imagine that we have the stats necessary to determine a number 1 player statistically from other leagues. Additionally, Julius Irving and Moses Malone are listed on the chart they were both playing for ABA teams prior to the merger. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.55|173.245.54.55]] 17:57, 18 February 2020 (UTC)

1713: 50 ccs

2016-07-29T12:38:53Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1713
| date = July 29, 2016
| title = 50 ccs
| image = 50_ccs.png
| titletext = There's been a raccoon accident at an accordion bacchanalia! Double doses!
}}

==Explanation==
In medicine, "cc" usually means "cubic centimeter", and is often called that by medical personnel. A cubic centimeter is equal to 1 ml (milliliter), so "50 CCs" usually means 50 ml of a certain medicine. In this case however, the doctor has not told the nurse to bring 50 CCs of a medicine; she needs to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times, with both words containing the letter combination "cc", so she needs to write those combination 50 times. There's no {{w|vaccine}} against {{w|hiccup}}s.

The title text text refers to a fictional event with four words containing "cc" (ra'''cc'''oon, a'''cc'''ident, a'''cc'''ordion, ba'''cc'''hanalia), which means she needs to write "cc" 100 times. Referring to the 50 CCs from above, this would be a double dosage.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail in a doctor's coat, walks right while reading from a clipboard, passing Cueball walking the other way while she talks to Megan walking in front of her.]
:Ponytail: Nurse, bring me 50 CCs!
:Ponytail: I need to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times!

{{comic discussion}}

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

1713: 50 ccs

2016-07-29T12:34:48Z

173.245.54.55: /* Transcript */ Typo and extra space.

{{comic
| number = 1713
| date = July 29, 2016
| title = 50 ccs
| image = 50_ccs.png
| titletext = There's been a raccoon accident at an accordion bacchanalia! Double doses!
}}

==Explanation==
In medicine, "cc" usually means "cubic centimeter", although it should be written cm³ according to the SI system. A cubic centimeter is equal to 1 ml (milliliter), so "50 CCs" usually means 50 ml of a certain medicine. In this case however, the doctor needs to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times, with both words containing the letter combination "cc", so she needs to write those combination 50 times. There's no {{w|vaccine}} against {{w|hiccup}}s.

The title text text refers to a fictional event with four words containing "cc" (ra'''cc'''oon, a'''cc'''ident, a'''cc'''ordion, ba'''cc'''hanalia), which means she needs to write "cc" 100 times. Referring to the 50 CCs from above, this would be a double dosage.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail in a doctor's coat, walks right while reading from a clipboard, passing Cueball walking the other way while she talks to Megan walking in front of her.]
:Ponytail: Nurse, bring me 50 CCs!
:Ponytail: I need to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times!

{{comic discussion}}

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

1713: 50 ccs

2016-07-29T12:33:15Z

173.245.54.55: No further explanation is necessary. The words' double CCs are all that are important to understanding the comic.

{{comic
| number = 1713
| date = July 29, 2016
| title = 50 ccs
| image = 50_ccs.png
| titletext = There's been a raccoon accident at an accordion bacchanalia! Double doses!
}}

==Explanation==
In medicine, "cc" usually means "cubic centimeter", although it should be written cm³ according to the SI system. A cubic centimeter is equal to 1 ml (milliliter), so "50 CCs" usually means 50 ml of a certain medicine. In this case however, the doctor needs to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times, with both words containing the letter combination "cc", so she needs to write those combination 50 times. There's no {{w|vaccine}} against {{w|hiccup}}s.

The title text text refers to a fictional event with four words containing "cc" (ra'''cc'''oon, a'''cc'''ident, a'''cc'''ordion, ba'''cc'''hanalia), which means she needs to write "cc" 100 times. Referring to the 50 CCs from above, this would be a double dosage.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail in a doctor's coat, walks right while reading from a clipboard, pasning Cueball walking the other way while she talks to Megan walking in front of her.]
:Ponytail: Nurse, bring me 50 CCs!
:Ponytail: I need to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times!

{{comic discussion}}

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

1175: Moving Sidewalks

2016-07-18T14:56:41Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1175
| date = February 18, 2013
| title = Moving Sidewalks
| image = moving sidewalks.png
| titletext = I think I could spend hours just stepping on and off of conveyor belts moving at various speeds.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are getting ready to ride an array of mini-conveyor belts, each going at a speed multiple of the first one's. Assuming they both take the one in front of them, each conveyor belt will speed them up a little bit more with little effort on their part, ultimately reaching a point where they are going very fast and are close enough to be able to high-five each other.

The average moving walkway speed globally is 3 feet/second (~1m/sec), so Cueball and Megan would only be travelling about 2/3 average human running speed by the time they meet. Even with the opposing forces added to their high five, it would be very unlikely for them to injure each other (though the slap would more than likely be painful).

The title text may be a reference to a music video made by OK Go, "Here It Goes Again", in which the band jumps on and off of various treadmills in a similar fashion.

A series of parallel accelerating conveyor belts is also a long distance travel mechanism used in Robert A. Heinlein's {{w|The Roads Must Roll}} and in Isaac Asimov's Robot Detective novels.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan on the opposite far ends of a bidirectional moving sidewalk. Arrows indicate that one half will carry Cueball from left to right, while the other half will carry Megan from right to left. In each direction, the sidewalk is made up of a series of individual conveyors.]
:Cueball: Ready?
:
:[A diagram labels various individual conveyors as follows.]
:[Outermost conveyors:] Moving Sidewalk
:[Second and second-last conveyors:] Moving Sidewalk (2x Speed)
:[Next conveyors:] 3x Speed
:[Next conveyors:] 4x Speed
:[Innermost conveyors:] 5x Speed
:[Spot between the two sidewalks, directly in the center:] High-Five Location
:
:Megan: Ready.

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

1707: xkcd Phone 4

2016-07-18T14:45:24Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */ Corrected spelling of "February."

{{comic
| number = 1707
| date = July 15, 2016
| title = xkcd Phone 4
| image = xkcd_phone_4.png
| titletext = The SpaceX system carefully guides falling phones down to the surface, a process which the phones increasingly often survive without exploding.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Not everything explained}}

This is another entry in the xkcd Phone series (see [[1363: xkcd Phone]], [[1465: xkcd Phone 2]] and [[1549: XKCD Phone 3]]), and once again, the comic plays with many standard tech buzzwords to create a phone that sounds impressive but would actually be very impractical.

From the top, going clockwise:
* '''18,000 μAh (micro-Ampere hours) nickel-lithium-iron battery (non-rechargeable)''' Phone battery capacity is measured in {{w|ampere-hour}}s (which thanks to the magic of {{w|dimensional analysis}}, is just an unusual way of denoting electric charge, which equals 3600 Coulombs). Usually, the capacity is quoted in milliampere-hours (one-thousandth, or 10-3, of an ampere hour); however, this one is quoted in ''micro''ampere-hours (one-millionth, or 10-6, of an ampere-hour), presumably as a marketing ploy to give a more impressive-looking number. Quoted in more standard terms, this phone's battery capacity is 18 mAh. In comparison, an iPhone 6+ has a battery capacity of 2,750 mAh. This phone's battery is dreadful (under a typical current draw of 0.1A, it would power the phone for about 11 minutes). There is nothing normally called a "nickel-lithium-iron battery" - rather, this seems to be a [[739|malamanteau]] of the experimental {{w|nickel–lithium battery}} and the common {{w|lithium ion battery}} (which does not contain any iron) or the lithium-iron-phosphate battery, often called lithium-iron, but more often called the LiFePO battery. The {{w|nickel–iron battery}} may contain {{w|lithium hydroxide}}, but it's ''terrible'' for most applications. Worse, this battery is non-rechargeable, meaning that it would have to be replaced to use the phone again after it is exhausted (every 11 minutes, at that!).
** [[XKCD Phone 3]] was powered by two {{w|AA battery|AA batteries}} (not included), which have an energy capacity roughly 100 times larger.
** Many devices have a small second battery which is only used for keeping the clock time. This could be such a battery.
* '''Subwoofer''' - A {{w|subwoofer}} is a large bass speaker, which this is not. Some phones do have high-quality speakers for playing music, but these are not placed right next to the earpiece - this would be a surefire way to deafen your users. When put next to Dog Whistle, this is probably a pun, since both relate to dogs; the sound a dog makes, at least in English, is "Woof".
* '''"Dog whistle"''' - A {{w|dog whistle}} is a high-pitched whistle that humans cannot hear, but dogs can. In speaker terminology, a bass speaker is called a {{w|woofer}} because it could reproduce the low pitch of a dog bark. A treble speaker is a {{w|tweeter}}; if this "whistle" is actually a speaker, it might be termed a ''supertweeter''. The scare quotes may be a reference to "dog-whistle politics", in which certain phrases have a particular meaning to a segment of the audience that passes unnoticed by the rest. This allows a candidate to surreptitiously signal agreement with that group, without alienating the rest of the audience, among whom the ideas might be unpopular if plainly stated.
** [[xkcd Phone 2]] contained a "dog noticer".
* '''Non-porous, washable''' - On the one hand, it's rare for a phone to be made of porous materials. On the other, there are legitimately waterproof phones that seal the speakers and ports with rubber.
** [[xkcd Phone 2]] was also washable (though only once).
* '''''WebMD'' partnership: cough-activated feature reads aloud a random diagnosis for "coughing"''' - {{w|WebMD}} is a website to help people diagnose themselves. For the vast majority of people, a cough just means an irritated throat or maybe a cold, but selecting randomly from all WebMD diagnoses gives some much more ominous - if very unlikely - ones, including {{w|ricin}} poisoning, {{w|plague}}, {{w|lung cancer}} and {{w|radiation poisoning}}.
* '''Wings''' - These {{w|wings}} resemble the ones found on {{w|sanitary towel}}s (sometimes called "pads", making this a possible iPad pun) which attach the pad to the {{w|gusset}} and keep it in place between the woman's legs during her period ({{w|Menstruation}} cycle). If actually functional as {{w|aerodynamic}} wings, they would likely come into play when the "SpaceX" impact protection feature becomes engaged, and would likely make holding the phone awkward if rigid.
** [[XKCD Phone 3]] had a similarly positioned wristband.
* '''Beveled bezel''' - The ''bezel'' is the ring around the edge of watches and screens. This one's {{w|bevel}}ed, which means it's cut at an angle.
* '''Bezeled bevel''' - Punning on the above. Doesn't make much sense, but could mean that it features a beveled edge which is surrounded by a bezel.
* '''Seedless''' - Fruit such as grapes can be "seedless", which means that they're grown from a special {{w|cultivar}} that doesn't grow seeds in the normal way. Making a phone seedless probably won't do anything, but {{w|Random seed|it might hurt}} its {{w|random number generator}}.
** [[XKCD Phone 3]] was boneless.
* '''Water resistant down to 30 meters and below 50''' - {{w|Water resistance}} is often measured in terms of how deep an object can be submerged, since pressure increases with depth. In this case, the phone can be submerged to almost any depth, but there's an odd lacuna between 30 meters and 50 meters. It also plays with the confusion in describing depths greater than 50m as "below 50". Alternatively, this might indicate the phone must remain dry above 50 meters altitude.
** [[xkcd Phone]] and [[XKCD Phone 3]] could drown. The latter was otherwise waterproof. [[xkcd Phone 2]] was only waterproof internally.
** The previous comic [[870: Advertising]] presented a similarly absurd range: "Up to 15% or more!"
* '''Turing-complete''' - A computer is {{w|Turing completeness|Turing complete}} if it can perform all the operations needed to simulate a {{w|Turing machine}}. All modern computers are usually described as Turing complete, which would make this not very impressive, but no computer can ever be Turing complete in the truest sense (since they can only ever have a finite amount of memory) - if the xkcd Phone 4 is truly a universal computer, it's ''very'' impressive indeed.
* '''Gregorian/Julian calendar date switch''' - The {{w|Julian calendar}} is the predecessor to the modern {{w|Gregorian calendar}} - the difference is that the two calendars calculate leap years differently. The current difference between the calenders is 13 days, which will remain unchanged until February 2100. The Julian calendar is still used occasionally--mainly by Eastern Orthodox Christians--but it's not something so vital that it needs a hardwired switch on the front of the phone.
* '''''SpaceX'' impact protection: when dropped, phone lands on barge''' - The rocket company {{w|SpaceX}} recently trialed a {{w|SpaceX reusable launch system development program|reusable rocket stage}} which after separating from the launch vehicle, lands on a {{w|Autonomous spaceport drone ship|drone barge}} to be reused. The alt-text pokes fun at the number of SpaceX rockets that [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3wZRdg-Tmo crashed and exploded] before they got the landing gear right.
* '''Parallel port''' - A {{w|parallel port}} is a type of interface which transfers high-volume simultaneous data. It was often used to connect printers and other devices to computers, but was generally considered obsolete by the time smartphones began to appear on the market, and would be very bulky and slow compared to the USB ports generally used in phones. It was commonly found together with {{w|serial port}}s, which are used for low-volume sequential data such as [[485: Depth|mouse]] [[1110: Click and Drag|movements]]. Here it is paired with a serial interface for analog data with parallel outputs for several people.
* '''12 headphone jacks''' - Phones often include a single headphone jack to allow the user to privately listen to a call, play music, etc. Twelve of them would be pointless overkill, especially given the difficulty of getting twelve people close enough to all use their headphones. Presumably joking about the [http://www.businessinsider.com.au/apple-headphone-jack-iphone-side-effects-2016-7#/#smaller-headphone-makers-would-be-at-a-disadvantage-4 constant rumours] that Apple's next iPhone will not have any headphone jacks, and the weird vents on the bottom of the phone. It could also be a reference to one of the more [http://www.overclock3d.net/news/audio/sennheiser_shows_audio_module_concepts_for_project_ara/1 talked-about modules] for the upcoming [https://atap.google.com/ara/ Project Ara] phone from [http://www.google.com google] which gives 4 headphone jacks - not only allowing sharing between four people, but more usefully, would allow full surround-sound recording/playback at any location (something often limited to recording studios).
* '''Onboard cloud''' - The "cloud" is a catch-all term for the use of remote computers to store data, providing a backup if all local copies are lost and allowing the data to be accessed from a broad network. An "onboard cloud" would thus be a contradiction in terms, and appears to be a marketing ploy to use the "cloud" buzzword to describe the device's onboard storage capacity.
* '''New BrightGloTM display incorporates genetically spliced jellyfish protein (should have used the glowing genes, not the stinging ones)''' - {{w|Aequorea victoria}} jellyfish contain a protein called {{w|green fluorescent protein}}, the gene for which has been isolated and can be used in many ways. Unfortunately, the developers of this phone took the wrong gene, and ended up getting [http://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-015-1568-3 one of the hundreds of proteins from jellyfish venom], which will presumably mean that touching the screen becomes a painful experience.
* '''✓ Certified''' - Twitter certifies accounts related to music producers, government, journalism, business, sports, and other more "official" types of accounts with a blue checkmark besides the twitter handle (besides the @whomever). It's of course nonsense for a phone to be twitter verified. Alternatively, it might be a reference to [[1096: Clinically Studied Ingredient]], in which buzzwords such as "tested" and "certified" are intended to make a given product sound more legitimate.
* '''Software-defined''' {{w|Software-defined radio}}s are quite popular in some areas, meaning the radio hardware is quite universal and can be adapted to different radio protocols just by changing software. SDR would actually be quite a nice feature for a cellphone. Of course it doesn't specify if it's the radio that is software defined.
* '''Exposed ductwork''' - A phone shouldn't even have ductwork, unless it has a very sophisticated cooling system, but this could supply air to the dog whistle. Exposed ductwork is a trademark of {{w|Bowellism|Bowellist}} architecture such as the {{w|Lloyd's Building}} in London and the {{w|Pompidou Centre}} in Paris. Exposed ductwork is also considered a crucial flaw in a death star. May also refer to a transparent window in the side of the phone allowing the user to see the circuitry inside, similar to computer cases with transparent side panels popular among DIY computing enthusiasts.
* '''Voice interaction: {{w|Siri (software)|Siri}}, {{w|Cortana (software)|Cortana}}, {{w|Google Now}} and {{w|Amazon Echo|Alexa}} respond simultaneously''' - These are all {{w|intelligent personal assistant software}} (from Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon respectively) and all do the same thing: control your phone and answer questions using speech recognition. Having all four talk at once would mean you'd have a total cacophony while gaining nothing.
** [[XKCD Phone 3]] might have included Siri.

* '''Did you know "4" is "IV" in Roman numerals?®©™''' - the tenth version of Apple's {{w|operating system}} for its {{w|Macintosh computer}} was labeled {{w|OS X}}, which was intended to be read as "oh ess ten". {{w|Steve Jobs}} was irritated that everyone else preferred "oh ess ecks". This phrase is labeled with trademark and copyright symbols, as if someone desires it to be the product's {{w|tagline}} but has poor understanding of relevant laws. In particular, "<big>{{w|™}}</big>" is a symbol for {{w|unregistered trademark}}s while "<big>{{w|®}}</big>" is a symbol for {{w|registered trademark}}s. If the phrase were an unregistered trademark, the owner would be prohibited from using "<big>{{w|®}}</big>".

==Transcript==
:[An image of a smartphone featuring wings is shown. Clockwise from the top left the labels read:]

:18,000 μAh nickel-lithium-iron battery (non-rechargeable)

:Subwoofer

:"Dog whistle"

:Non-porous, washable

:WebMD partnership: Cough-activated feature reads aloud a random diagnosis for "coughing"

:Wings

:Beveled bezel

:Bezeled bevel

:Seedless

:Water resistant down to 30 meters and below 50

:Turing-complete

:Gregorian/Julian calendar switch

:SpaceX impact protection: When dropped, phone lands on barge

:Parallel port

:12 headphone jacks

:Onboard cloud

:New BrightGloTM display incorporates genetically spliced jellyfish protein (should have used the glowing genes, not the stinging ones)

:✓ Certified

:Software-defined

:Exposed ductwork

:Voice interaction: Siri, Cortana, Google Now and Alexa respond simultaneously

:[Below the phone:]
:Introducing
:<big><big>The XKCD Phone 4</big></big>
:Did you know "4" is "IV" in Roman numerals?®©™

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Smartphones]]

959: Caroling

2016-07-13T18:53:02Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */ Took speculation out of description.

{{comic
| number = 959
| date = October 3, 2011
| title = Caroling
| image = caroling.png
| titletext = For a thousand generations we vowed never to forget how his soldiers feasted on our brother Stephen.
}}

==Explanation==
Here are the lyrics for the first verse of the Christmas Carol, "{{w|Good King Wenceslas}}"

:''Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,''
:''When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;''
:''Brightly shone the moon that night, tho' the frost was cruel,''
:''When a poor man came in sight, gath'ring winter fuel.''

While not a king, {{w|Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia}} is considered a martyr and a saint. Far from being responsible for any massacre, he protected his subjects from external dominance, and is still a national hero to the Czech people. [[Black Hat]] is supplying {{w|disinformation}} to unsuspecting carolers, either to shut them up or just because he's a classhole like that.

The title text references "the {{w|St. Stephen's Day|Feast of Stephen}}" which is also known as the "Feast of St. Stephen" or "St. Stephen's Day", which is a holiday celebrated on 26 or 27 December, depending on the Western or Eastern church respectively. It is not actually a feast that involved eating a person named Stephen, instead a celebration of the Saint named Stephen.

If you look closely, you can see that the carolers may be a family. The man and woman are confused by what Black Hat has said, and the girl is looking to the adults, perhaps gauging their facial reactions, or just waiting for their reply.

==Transcript==
:[Three people stand together singing Christmas carols.]
:Carolers (in unison): Good king Wenceslas looked out on the—

:[Black Hat leans out of an above ground window.]
:Black Hat: King Wenceslas massacred my people.

:[The carolers stand in silence, one looks at the others.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Music]]

954: Chin-Up Bar

2016-07-13T15:59:14Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 954
| date = September 21, 2011
| title = Chin-Up Bar
| image = chin up bar.png
| titletext = Those few who escaped found the emergency cutoff box disabled. The stampede lasted two hours and reached the bottom three times.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Black Hat]] has a plan to block traffic on the {{w|Escalator#Longest individual escalators|longest, single-tier escalator}} in the Western hemisphere. At the time of the comic's publishing, that placed the comic in the {{w|Wheaton (WMATA station)|Wheaton station}} in {{w|Washington D.C.}}'s {{w|Washington Metro}} subway system, where the 70-meter (230-foot) escalator is.

An {{w|escalator}} is a motorized stairway. [[Black hat]] totes a {{w|chin-up bar}} up the escalator, resulting in a conversation about [[Black hat]]'s motives for doing such, where [[Black hat]] uses sly conversing methods to avoid saying his true motives. Upon reaching the top, he quickly locks the bar in place at about waist height.

Chin-up bars are typically capable of holding up a 300 pound (130 kg) person without moving. The unexpected appearance of a solidly attached bar at the top of a crowded escalator could be disastrous. The first people would probably stumble backward to avoid it or hit it and topple backwards, and collide with the passengers immediately behind them, knocking them off their feet and likely creating a {{w|domino effect}} all the way down. As the escalator continues to move people forward, the wave of falling people is moving backward, however its {{w|Theory of special relativity|apparent speed}} will be slower than its actual speed.

That is the joke in the title text, that over two hours the wave can reach the bottom three times, whereas if this were a simple staircase the event would only last once and be over as quickly as people can fall down. The people that actually made it to the bottom and escaped the moving stairs were unable to use the emergency shutdown because Black Hat had disabled it.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is standing on an escalator as it ascends. He is carrying a pole with what looks like a bracket on each end, resting on his shoulder. In front of him is Ponytail, and in front of her is a punk with spiked hair and pimples. Behind Black Hat is Cueball. Behind Cueball is a man wearing glasses with a goatee standing next to someone with short hair.]

:[The view closes on Black Hat and Cueball. In the background a girl can be seen standing on the descending escalator.]
:Cueball: This is a long escalator.
:Black Hat: 70 meters. Longest in the country.

:[In the background the girl from the last panel has now passed the group and a few other people can be seen descending.]

:Cueball: Why're you carrying a chin-up bar?
:Black Hat: Why aren't you wearing a hat?

:[The view opens up a bit more to show the two riders ahead, and the two behind.]
:Cueball: I'm not really a hat person.
:Black Hat: And I'm not really a not-carrying-a-chin-up-bar person.

:[Close up on Cueball.]

:[The view opens up to show the same people in the first panel. They're near the top of the escalator now and Ponytail is beginning to step off.]
:Cueball: Seriously, why did you bring it?
:Black Hat: How should I know? I'm not a psychologist.

:[As Black Hat steps off the escalator he turns and installs the chin-up bar such that it blocks people from leaving the escalator, about waist height. Cueball turns to observe what Black Hat is doing.]
:''Twist''
:''Click click''

:[They get onto the descending escalator. The man with glasses and a goatee and his companion are blocked from leaving the escalator by the chin-up bar.]

:[The view shows an extended section of the escalator, the top right has become a pile of people all squished together and on top of each other. One person has grabbed another by the hair and is standing on a third person in an attempt to not fall. Someone is falling off the pile and another person is running down the escalator to avoid them. People closer to the bottom of the escalator are looking horrified at the scene ahead of them. In the background hat man and his companion are visible. Black Hat is looking toward the bottom of the escalator, not caring or noticing the chaos unfolding. Cueball looks back pensively.]

==Trivia==
*It would appear that the glasses-and-goatee'd man behind Cueball is the psychologist from [[435: Purity]], and that the person he is with is the sociologist from the same comic. This gives new meaning to Black Hat's line about not being a psychologist.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

954: Chin-Up Bar

2016-07-13T15:58:26Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */ Simplified the location. As it was written, it made it sound as though a new record would move the comic's location. Since the 70-meter length is given in the comic, the location is fixed.

{{comic
| number = 954
| date = September 21, 2011
| title = Chin-Up Bar
| image = chin up bar.png
| titletext = Those few who escaped found the emergency cutoff box disabled. The stampede lasted two hours and reached the bottom three times.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Black Hat]] has a plan to block traffic on the {{w|Escalator#Longest individual escalators|longest, single-tier escalator}} in the Western hemisphere. At the time of the comic's publishing, that placed the comic in the {{w|Wheaton (WMATA station)|Wheaton station}} in {{w|Washington D.C.}}'s {{w|Washington Metro}} subway system, where the ''70-meter'' (230-foot) escalator is.

An {{w|escalator}} is a motorized stairway. [[Black hat]] totes a {{w|chin-up bar}} up the escalator, resulting in a conversation about [[Black hat]]'s motives for doing such, where [[Black hat]] uses sly conversing methods to avoid saying his true motives. Upon reaching the top, he quickly locks the bar in place at about waist height.

Chin-up bars are typically capable of holding up a 300 pound (130 kg) person without moving. The unexpected appearance of a solidly attached bar at the top of a crowded escalator could be disastrous. The first people would probably stumble backward to avoid it or hit it and topple backwards, and collide with the passengers immediately behind them, knocking them off their feet and likely creating a {{w|domino effect}} all the way down. As the escalator continues to move people forward, the wave of falling people is moving backward, however its {{w|Theory of special relativity|apparent speed}} will be slower than its actual speed.

That is the joke in the title text, that over two hours the wave can reach the bottom three times, whereas if this were a simple staircase the event would only last once and be over as quickly as people can fall down. The people that actually made it to the bottom and escaped the moving stairs were unable to use the emergency shutdown because Black Hat had disabled it.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is standing on an escalator as it ascends. He is carrying a pole with what looks like a bracket on each end, resting on his shoulder. In front of him is Ponytail, and in front of her is a punk with spiked hair and pimples. Behind Black Hat is Cueball. Behind Cueball is a man wearing glasses with a goatee standing next to someone with short hair.]

:[The view closes on Black Hat and Cueball. In the background a girl can be seen standing on the descending escalator.]
:Cueball: This is a long escalator.
:Black Hat: 70 meters. Longest in the country.

:[In the background the girl from the last panel has now passed the group and a few other people can be seen descending.]

:Cueball: Why're you carrying a chin-up bar?
:Black Hat: Why aren't you wearing a hat?

:[The view opens up a bit more to show the two riders ahead, and the two behind.]
:Cueball: I'm not really a hat person.
:Black Hat: And I'm not really a not-carrying-a-chin-up-bar person.

:[Close up on Cueball.]

:[The view opens up to show the same people in the first panel. They're near the top of the escalator now and Ponytail is beginning to step off.]
:Cueball: Seriously, why did you bring it?
:Black Hat: How should I know? I'm not a psychologist.

:[As Black Hat steps off the escalator he turns and installs the chin-up bar such that it blocks people from leaving the escalator, about waist height. Cueball turns to observe what Black Hat is doing.]
:''Twist''
:''Click click''

:[They get onto the descending escalator. The man with glasses and a goatee and his companion are blocked from leaving the escalator by the chin-up bar.]

:[The view shows an extended section of the escalator, the top right has become a pile of people all squished together and on top of each other. One person has grabbed another by the hair and is standing on a third person in an attempt to not fall. Someone is falling off the pile and another person is running down the escalator to avoid them. People closer to the bottom of the escalator are looking horrified at the scene ahead of them. In the background hat man and his companion are visible. Black Hat is looking toward the bottom of the escalator, not caring or noticing the chaos unfolding. Cueball looks back pensively.]

==Trivia==
*It would appear that the glasses-and-goatee'd man behind Cueball is the psychologist from [[435: Purity]], and that the person he is with is the sociologist from the same comic. This gives new meaning to Black Hat's line about not being a psychologist.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

903: Extended Mind

2016-07-11T13:48:38Z

173.245.54.55: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 903
| date = May 25, 2011
| title = Extended Mind
| image = extended mind.png
| titletext = Wikipedia trivia: if you take any article, click on the first link in the article text not in parentheses or italics, and then repeat, you will eventually end up at "Philosophy".
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the fact that the narrator has become so dependent on Wikipedia as a source of information that although it gives him the great advantage that he appears learned on any topic with a remarkable degree of specificity, the downside is that whenever Wikipedia goes offline, the limitations of his actual knowledge are revealed.

The title, "Extended Mind", refers to a theory proposed by philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers, which postulates that the mind not only includes what can be found in the skull, but also incorporates external things, like Wikipedia.

The title text refers to an {{w|Wikipedia:Getting to Philosophy|observed phenomenon}} that many of Wikipedia's page links eventually lead to the {{w|Philosophy}} page. This may be due to the fact that the first few links in any article tend to reference more general or abstract ideas, which eventually gravitate towards philosophy.

==Transcript==
:[An IM window is open over a Chrome window with tabs for Spark Plug, Feeler Gauge, and Wikipedia.]
:Message with Mike1979
:Mike1979: I replaced my spark plugs and now my car is running weird.
:Me: The spark gap might be off.
:Me: You can check with a feeler gauge.
:Mike1979: What should the gap be?
:Me: Usually between 0.035" and 0.070".
:Me: But it depends on the engine.

:[An IM window is open over a Chrome window with a single Wikipedia tab, marked ERROR. The page says: "Wikipedia has a problem. Try waiting a few minutes and reloading (can't contact the database server: unknown error (10.0.0.242))]
:Message with Mike1979
:Mike1979: I replaced my spark plugs and now my car is running weird.
:Me: What is a spark plug??
:Me: Help
:Me: What is a car??

:When Wikipedia has a server outage, my apparent IQ drops by 30 points.

==Trivia==
*The error code shown in the right panel caused a [http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/wiki/wikitech/236027 bit of a discussion] from the wiki techs. Randall replied with:
::Randall: "I drew it based on an older error message where the IP was 10.0.0.243. I changed it to 242 (a) because I try not to get too specific with those things, and didn't want people poking the actual machine at .243 (if it was still there) - I actually considered putting .276 and seeing how many people noticed, but figured they'd just think I made a dumb mistake. and (b) as part of this ancient inside joke involving the number 242 ..."

*For a few weeks after this comic came out, following the links as explained in the title text would actually lead only to the Science page, due to someone/someones altering the links. The alterations could have been coincidental, good-faith edits, but were much more likely to be vandalism to break this trick. The edits were eventually reverted, and, as of July 2016, all first links lead to the ocean. Er, Philosophy.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

Talk:551: Etch-a-Sketch

2016-07-06T17:18:48Z

173.245.54.55:

I always thought he was shaking the Etch-a-Sketch in anger at finding out what was actually inside as opposed to what he thought was inside. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 02:21, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

I just thought the same actually; and "proceeds to draw something else" is just plain wrong, because the story ends before that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.73|141.101.99.73]] 12:27, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Did someone else notice Megan looks like being in 3D? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.212|162.158.90.212]] 13:40, 7 October 2015 (UTC)

Randall is always clear about showing when a character is angry or frustrated, with either smoke coming off the head, or an aggressive pose, or clenched fists, etc. None are present in this comic, so read the "*Sigh*" in the panel two panels before the erasing and you can see he's just disappointed and now hiding the letdown.

551: Etch-a-Sketch

2016-07-06T17:14:58Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 551
| date = March 4, 2009
| title = Etch-a-Sketch
| image = etch-a-sketch.png
| titletext = Surrounded by boring mysteries.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] notices that if you draw a lot on an {{w|Etch_A_Sketch|Etch-a-Sketch}}, the aluminum powder in it can be cleared from enough of the screen to allow a view of the interior (as seen [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/EtchASketch_Inside_Shown.jpg here]).

Cueball then proceeds to clear a window into the device, which shows him that there's a girl, [[Megan]], inside whose job is to act as the stylus for the Etch-a-Sketch. She suggest that they be friends, and little hearts pop up.

As the dream clears, it then becomes clear that this is just a fantasy, and Cueball sighs at the rather more mundane reality that the lines get drawn by a stylus moving on a simple arrangement of rods. The comic ends with Cueball shaking the Etch-a-Sketch, which resets it and will re-conceal the mechanism.

The title text notes that sometimes the mysteries surrounding us turn out to be much more boring than we dream they are.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting on a bench playing with a pink Etch-a-Sketch.]
:Cueball: Hey. If I draw enough lines, I can see what's behind the screen.

:[Close up on the Etch-a-Sketch's screen.]
:Cueball (off-screen): Oh man, almost...

:[Cueball looks at the Etch-a-Sketch.]
:Etch-a-Sketch: Hi!

:[Head of Megan appears in the black hole Cueball has drawn on the Etch-a-Sketch screen.]
:Megan: You're cute!

:[Cueball is looking closer on the Etch-a-Sketch screen.]
:Cueball: Wha—
:Megan (out of the Etch-a-Sketch): I'm the one who draws when you turn the knobs.
:Megan (out of the Etch-a-Sketch): It's lonely in here.

:[Cueball holds the Etch-a-Sketch further away from his head.]
:Cueball: It's lonely out here too.
:Megan (out of the Etch-a-Sketch): I'm glad you found me, then!

:[Cueball holds the Etch-a-Sketch very close to his face. Panels start to break away into thought bubbles.]
:Megan (out of the Etch-a-Sketch): Let's be friends
:Megan (out of the Etch-a-Sketch): And never be alone again.

:[The next panel is almost gone in the thought bubbles. In the remaining top left corner there are three pink hearts, the top one of these looks like it was drawn on an Etch-a-Sketch.]

:[From the last two panels the above turns out to have been a fantasy of Cueball. There is a rather large break between the first three lines of panels to the last line. Between the previous line of panels (from the middle panel ) to the last line, there are three large circles, which then continues with seven more inside the next panel down to Cueball sitting with the etch-a-sketch.]
:Cueball: *Sigh*

:[Close up of the Etch-a-sketch where the black hole Cueball has drawn shows what is really behind the glass; just the mechanics of the machine, with a pin that moves on a cross and removes the sand from the screen.]

:[Zoom back out to Cueball who shakes etch-a-sketch above his head.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]

549: Westley's a Dick

2016-07-06T17:04:07Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number =549
| date =February 27, 2009
| title =Westley's a Dick
| image =westleys_a_dick.png
| titletext =Inigo/Buttercup 4eva <3
}}

==Explanation==
This is an alternate take on the 1973 fantasy romance novel ''{{w|The Princess Bride}}'' written by {{w|William Goldman}} which became a {{w|The Princess Bride (film)|film in 1987}}.

In the movie the main character, Buttercup, believes she has lost her first love to the Dread Pirate Roberts years ago. In the present she is considered one of the most beautiful women of the land and so is being married off to a prince. To provoke a war she has been kidnapped by mercenaries, one of whom is a very honorable Spanish swordsman named Inigo Montoya. A man claiming to be the Dread Pirate Roberts rescues her. On verifying his identity as Roberts, she attacks him by pushing him down a hill. While tumbling down the hill he shouts back "as you wish" identifying him as her first love. She tumbles after, landing on top of him as in the start of this comic.

There are, however, several "dick moves" Westley must have made in order for the film's narrative to make sense.
# He took over as the Dread Pirate Roberts becoming a pirate and therefore not respectable, killing people, sacking ports, and looting ships for a living.
# Over the last five years, Westley has allowed Buttercup to believe that he'd been murdered, preventing her getting on with the rest of her life.

Westley breaks the fourth wall and claims he did all of these things for the sake of the {{w|narrative}}. In other words, he did it to make the story better.
In the comic Buttercup realizes that Westley has behaved like a dick and chooses to give her love to Inigo Montoya. But in the movie, he and Buttercup end up together in spite of this behavior!

The title text shows what looks like a message she and Inigo has written together, for instance in a heart on a tree. Inigo is the Spaniard referred to by Buttercup. Their names, then forever (4eva) and a heart (smiley heart = "<3"), Implying they did end up together according to this version of the story. Alternatively, it could simply be the narrator expressing his wish that this will come to pass.

It is not the first time [[Randall]] has referenced this movie, as the Dread Pirate was referenced in [[345: 1337: Part 5]], and a quote from this movie is in the title text of [[1427: iOS Keyboard]]. So it seems like a film that has some meaning for Randall.

If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, you may find it helpful to read the synopsis of the book {{w|The_Princess_Bride#Plot_summary|here}}.

===Westley===
Westley, having no money for marriage to Buttercup, his love, goes away to seek his fortune across the sea. Westley was apprentices under the Dread Pirate Roberts. Later Westley becomes the Dread Pirate Roberts, as the pirate is a title not a person. He hears of Buttercups wedding to Prince Humperdinck and witnesses her capture by a trio mercenaries.

Westley, wearing the outfit of a "Man in Black" catches up to the trio, defeats Inigo in fencing, Fezzik in hand-to-hand combat (rendering the two of them unconscious), and then kills Vizzini in a battle of wits. After explaining who he is to Buttercup, Buttercup and Westley escape through the dangerous Fire Swamp. Upon reaching the other side they are captured by Prince Humperdinck and the six fingered man.

Buttercup negotiates for Westley's release in exchange for returning with Prince Humperdinck and getting married. Prince Humperdinck's orders the six fingered man not to free Westley but to torture Westley, as the prince is jealous that Buttercup will always prefer Westley to him. Later, on the wedding day, enraged by Buttercups rejection of him Humperdinck tortures Westley to death.

Westley's is revived by Miracle Max due to the help of Inigo and Fezzik, though Westley remains partially paralyzed and weak. Westley devises a plan to invade the castle during the wedding. Still partially paralyzed, he bluffs his way out of a sword fight with Prince Humperdinck, who shows himself to be a coward. Instead of killing Prince Humperdinck, Westley decides to leave him alive, miserable with his cowardice and escapes the castle with Buttercup Inigo and Fezzik.

===Inigo Montoya===
Inigo's father was commissioned to make a sword for a nobleman with a six-fingered right hand. When the payment was to be made the six-fingered man tried to lower the price. He refused to sell the six-fingered man the sword as he felt the six-fingered man could not appreciate the sword. The six-fingered man killed Inigo's father in front of Inigo. Inigo challenged the six-fingered man to a fight and promptly lost. The six-fingered man spared Inigo's life and allowed him to keep the sword, but marks his face with two cuts, one on each cheek. Afterwords Inigo devoted himself to becoming a great swordsman to avenge his father.

After his training was complete he was unable to find the six-fingered man. Inigo becomes a drunk and he joins a group of mercenaries lead by Vizzini. Vizzini, Inigo, and a Turk named Fezzik are hired by an unknown man to kidnap and kill the "princess bride", Buttercup. While rescuing Buttercup, Westley defeats Inigo, but spares his life. Inigo falls back into drunkenness. Eventually, Fezzik finds him and helps him regain his health. They rescue Westley after discovering he was captured by the six-fingered man. Inigo joins Westley to fight Humperdinck and find the six-fingered man.

While storming Humperdinck's castle, Inigo confronts the six-fingered man reciting the words he has practiced for this day since he was a child: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." He chases the six-fingered man until the man throws a knife, delivering what would be a mortal wound to any lesser man. The six-fingered man, while preparing to deliver the fatal blow, mocks Inigo's quest to revenge his fathers death. At the last second, Inigo recovers his strength by repeating his mantra "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Inigo duels the six-fingered man, continuously repeating the fateful words. Inigo marks the face of the six-fingered man, as the six-fingered man had done to him. Finally the six-fingered man begs for his life, offering to give Inigo anything he wants. Inigo replies, "I want my father back, you son of a bitch," and kills him.

At the end of the film, having avenged his father and thus no longer in "the revenge business," Inigo ponders what he will do with the rest of his life. In response, Westley offers Inigo the position of his successor as "The Dread Pirate Roberts." The novel ends with Inigo's wounds reopening while he is on the run from the Brute Squad, leaving his future in doubt.

==Transcript==
:[A girl (Buttercup) with long hair and a man (Westley) looking like Cueball but with a bandana lies at the foot of a high cliff. There is a forest in the background]
:Buttercup: Oh, my sweet Westley!

:[Buttercup sits on her knees, Westley takes off his bandana.]
:Buttercup: Why did you let me think you were dead?
:Westley: You shacked up with the prince!
:Buttercup: After years of mourning! The worst pain of my life!

:[Buttercup stands up looking down on Westley who still sits with the bandana in his hand.]
:Buttercup: And now you ... kill people?
:Westley: I'd hardly be a dread pirate if I didn't.
:Buttercup: How lovable.

:[Westley stands with the bandana in hand while Buttercup walks away from him.]

:Westley: It was for the sake of the narrative!
:Buttercup: Fuck the narrative. I'm going to go see if that Spaniard's single.
:Westley: ...As you wish.

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

548: Kindle

2016-07-06T16:59:00Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 548
| date = February 25, 2009
| title = Kindle
| image = kindle.png
| titletext = I'm happy with my Kindle 2 so far, but if they cut off the free Wikipedia browsing, I plan to show up drunk on Jeff Bezos's lawn and refuse to leave.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Amazon Kindle}} is a device that allows people to read books via ebook format. The comic was published three weeks after {{w|Amazon.com|Amazon}} released the {{w|Amazon_Kindle#Kindle_2|Kindle 2}}, which included the ability to read {{w|Wikipedia}} articles via the 3G connection that was included with the device.

[[Cueball]] remarks that "ebooks are for chumps", but goes on to explain the real reason for purchasing a Kindle. Since it has free cellular web access, he could navigate through any city (presumably with 3G access), assisted by {{w|Wikipedia}} and {{w|Wikitravel}}.

[[Megan]] believes she has heard such a description of a device before and snatches the Kindle away from Cueball. When she scratches off the Amazon Kindle logo at the top of the device she reveals that the device is actually ''{{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (fictional)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}''. This fictional electronic encyclopedia is described in the {{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|real-life franchise}} of the same name. Those works recount the tale of a travel editor who works for and owns a copy of the ''Guide'', which provides travel tips throughout the galaxy, including {{w|Mostly Harmless|an entry for Earth}}. The comic suggests that Amazon simply re-brands copies of the ''Guide'' as Kindles.

The title text refers to the great utility of having the ability to access Wikipedia for free on an easy-to-carry device. The speaker states that should this utility ever become disabled, he would stage a drunk protest on the lawn of {{w|Jeff Bezos}}, the CEO and founder of Amazon.com.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is looking at a tablet.]
:Megan: A kindle? Ebooks, huh?
:Cueball: Ebooks are for chumps.
:Megan: Why get a kindle, then?
:Cueball: One reason:

:[Text is above the frame in which Cueball wanders a city with the tablet and with small bubbles forming above his head to indicate him being intoxicated.]
:Cueball (narrating): Free cellular web access. Even if I spend months broke and drunk in a strange city, I'll still be able to use Wikipedia and Wikitravel to learn about anything I need.

:[Megan takes the tablet from Cueball.]
:Megan: Why does that sound familiar?
:Megan: Gimme that.

:[Zoom in on the top of the tablet where the name is written:]
:Amazon Kindle

:[Zoom out to Megan who scratches at the top of the tablet.]
:Scrape, scrape, scrape

:[Zoom back to the damaged top of the tablet where a layer has been scraped off. This partly reveals a new name, where the first letter and the last two letters are only partly visible:]
:Hitchhiker's Guide

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

446: In Popular Culture

2016-07-01T16:41:54Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 446
| date = July 7, 2008
| title = In Popular Culture
| image = in_popular_culture.png
| titletext = Someday, the 'in popular culture' section will have its own article with an 'in popular culture' section. It will reference this title-text referencing it, and the blogosphere will implode.
}}

==Explanation==
Wikipedia is a popular online encyclopedia with articles that are created and edited by the general public [citation required] . Wikipedia entries have many sections, with the first few explaining the general concept and details behind the subject.

When this comic was written many Wikipedia articles had a section at the end entitled "in popular culture", listing TV shows, movies, songs and so on which made reference to the subject at hand. In many cases, this list was extensive, possibly because the people editing the articles were such fans of the subject or the pop culture in which it is referenced, they couldn't help but go into great detail, listing many esoteric and seemingly irrelevant elements of pop culture which were peripherally related to the subject of the article. As an example, see the old article [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apollo_in_popular_culture&oldid=153446837 Apollo in popular culture] which as of August 2007 redirects to {{w|Apollo}}.

The joke in this case is that even such a mundane article such as one on {{w|wood}} could have an "in popular culture" section and obviously, wooden items are common enough that there are any number of instances of popular culture which could be considered to "reference it", even if that's something as basic as a wooden item being used as a prop in a TV show. Such information would be of little or no use to anybody and only somebody obsessed with wood, a particular element of pop culture in which wood makes an appearance or the concept of placing pop culture references in encyclopedia articles would bother to create or maintain such a section.

Also, wood being such a popular material, the list of references could be virtually endless. This is a reference to the fact that the "in popular culture" sections of many Wikipedia articles contained dozens of items, even for articles on fairly arcane subjects. Note that the end of this particular "in popular culture" section is not visible so we don't know how long it is.

The title text states that in the future there will even have to be a wiki page with the subject "In popular culture". This article will also need an "in popular culture" section and it will be obvious to make a reference directly to this title text, as xkcd is part of popular culture and because this title text predicted the creation of and need for such a page. However this would then create a circular reference. This could be considered a form of infinite loop which is one way to cause a computer to crash (lock up). The joke is that the blogosphere could follow this endless train of circular links and itself crash, causing an "implosion".

This comic was mentioned in {{w|Wikipedia:"In popular culture" content}}. However, on April 23, 2014, the reference was edited out. It has since been added under the external links section of {{w|Wikipedia:xkcd in popular culture}}. The reference was added back in May 2015.

==Transcript==
:[A fictional screen capture of the Wikipedia article for "wood" is shown.]
:'''Wood''' is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many plants. It has been used for centuries for both fuel and as a construction material for... [cut in page.]
:In popular culture:
:In episode 6 of ''Firefly'', "''Our Mrs. Reynolds''," Jayne is given a wooden rain stick by a villager.
:In the Buffyverse, Buffy often slays Vampires using stakes made of wood.
:The wand used by Harry Potter is made of wood from a holly tree.
:The fence around the back yard of the house in ''The Simpsons'' is wooden.
:In the 2004 TV series ''Battlestar Galactica'' [rest of page is cut.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1608: Hoverboard

2016-06-29T14:14:43Z

173.245.54.55:

Good LORD, why is this still "incomplete"? If you look at the red comments in the table, they are inane and unnecessary. Half of the "Missing Explanation" entries do not even *need* an explanation as the title says exactly what it is. Can we finally close this incomplete explanation?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.55|173.245.54.55]] 14:13, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

Well, this will be the next incomplete explanation for a while. -[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.165|162.158.90.165]] 21:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)
:Still working on it now four months later. But not many other helping with it. ;-) Getting closer to the end though with the [[1608:_Hoverboard#Table_with_references|table]] in place. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:10, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Yes, one thing to note is how to get the hell out of the cave near the volcano [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.159|108.162.249.159]] 22:38, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The image is made up of small images with addresses of the form http://xkcd.com/1608/XXXX:-YYYY+s.png (although not every coordinate inside the bounds has an image associated). A script could probably dump out all the images and paste them together. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.6|108.162.216.6]] 22:46, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

West -- Under Lava Pools -- Elon Musk's Secret Volcano Base (not as enjoyable as you might expect).

The Starship out east contains, among other things, Darth Vader, apparently explaining Steven Universe to a subordinate. (Steven and the Crystal Gems can be found a the west end of the ship, near an ice cream cooler.) The same ship contains an elaborate homage to the original Prince of Persia. {{unsigned ip|162.158.56.5}}

There, have at thee an image! [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 22:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

There are 168 coins spread throughout the map according to the source code [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:03, 24 November 2015 (UTC)
:It's actually 169 coins (t.length). --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 23:22, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

When using a device, instead of saying "use arrow keys to move", it says "tilt to move, tap to jump". It's also a lot harder to control. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.159}}
:What kind of device and is this through the normal xkcd home page? It does not work on my tablet by going to xkcd (anroid, leonov tablet). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:24, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I got 153 coins!! :D There's two starships, one's a star destroyer with an expansive maze dropping regular torpedoes on the other. May be noteworthy that there are various references to Star Wars and Steven Universe throughout. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 23:27, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The second starship is the TantiveIV, Leia's ship at the beginning of episode 4. Note directly below the Tantive, the terrain seems to be sand dunes. Also there are two more space ships by the volcano; an X-wing at a gas station and an Apollo Command Module. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.24}}

https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.js - Looks like there's an easier to read version of the code there. Maybe that'll help someone with extracting all the images. {{unsigned ip|

I've got all the images downloaded. Zipping/uploading now. Should I post a link here when complete or what's the best way to share these? I'm also working on setting up a zoomable map. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:57, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The collision detection is glitchy. I keep landing/bumping against platforms I'm far away from. Is getting stuck against walls normal? --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.234|199.27.130.234]] 00:01, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Tiles are located here in a zip: https://up1.ca/#Gi51KPFyPRELe0T1D6q9Mw All I did was iterate over http://xkcd.com/1608/X:-Y+s.png from X=[916...1116] and Y=[916...1116]. I'm working on putting a zoomable map together. If anyone has interest in helping we could hop on IRC? [[User:Jcox|Jcox]] ([[User talk:Jcox|talk]]) 00:15, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:This was great. But the zip file misses all images in column 1019-1021 as well as the 6 lowest images of 1022 (X coordinates 1019-1022, all Y coordinatesin the first three and then 6 lowest Y coordinates in the last). It was managable to download the last with my click skills. So thanks anyway. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:15, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

I've written a zsh script to iterate over all possible tiles (does anyone know the height limits? the source only gives the left and right limits) and glue them together into one giant file. I'll upload the results as soon as it's finished. [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 00:17, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I don't think it's limited vertically at all. I found a zoomable map on the reddit topic http://codepen.io/KyleDavidE/full/605dc87b614ff6b2bd716f4c6f640203/ (by kyledavide) [[User:Miraries|Miraries]] ([[User talk:Miraries|talk]]) 00:21, 25 November 2015 (UTC)Mirages

Here's a zoomed out map of all the game area: https://i.imgur.com/rNU9ZgN.png. From ''luke_in_the_sky'' at Reddit [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/3u4sy1/xkcd_1608_hoverboard/cxc1245]. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 00:35, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Alright, the full png of the entire map is almost finished, I should have used white tiles as blank tiles but I guess I can fix that up in gimp, and I'm not sure how to account for the 1 pixel overlap with just imagemagick convert. The last step is to merge allthe layer images into one giant image, wish my laptop the best of luck! [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 01:00, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Someone beat you to it, but keep on it: that one doesn't have right limit tiles. https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/3u4sy1/xkcd_1608_hoverboard/cxc0p8x --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 01:19, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps we can change the screenshot at the top to this? It's a quickly hacked overview of the entire map: http://imgur.com/Mz9arHz [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.167|199.27.129.167]] 01:27, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
: I think it might make more sense to just add it as another image, mediawiki supports this after all. The syntax should be: <nowiki>[[File:filename.png|thumb|Subtitle|alt=alt]]</nowiki> [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 01:34, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

[http://files.mckaysalisbury.com/xkcd/hoverboard.html] This one loads all of the images quickly (From the xkcd site), and uses browser zooming. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.47|173.245.54.47]] 01:29, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

:The impassible backgrounds are RGB(0,0,0), and the passable ones are RGB(1,1,1). <code>#explore > :first-child {filter:brightness(30);-webkit-filter:brightness(30);-moz-filter:brightness(30);-o-filter:brightness(30);-ms-filter:brightness(30);}</code> ... See https://twitter.com/BadPhysics/status/669354631869304832 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 03:40, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Here are all the secret passages marked I could find: http://imgur.com/a/fKE1Q --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.220|162.158.91.220]] 00:50, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I wrote a tampermonkey script that shows you your coordinates and lets you teleport; will make coordinate sharing a lot easier. You do need tampermonkey installed for this to work. [https://github.com/minerguy31/xkcd-hoverboard-mod/raw/master/XKCD%20Hoverboard%20Mod.user.js Click to install] [[User:Minerguy31|Minerguy31]] ([[User talk:Minerguy31|talk]]) 04:17, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I got 159 coins without the map. If you guys are still wondering how to escape the volcano, move to the right for as long as you think you can, then start spamming the up key while switching between holding the left and right keys. It worked for me on my first try.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.119|162.158.252.119]] 07:06, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Didn't take down the coordinates, but the layout to the first level of the original Prince of Persia is in there, including the guard standing by with his scimitar! I found it in the ship atop the pyramid east of the play area. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.245|108.162.218.245]] 06:24, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Just thought this was interesting, when you "complete" the game by dropping coins, the following line of javascript is run, which sends your result to the server (L is number of coins, z is seconds used):
(new Image).src = "//xkcd.com/events.gif?coins=" + L + "&seconds=" + z;
Don't be tricked by the .gif extension, it doesn't show an image when opened, and the server probably handles this request by logging it to somewhere. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.87}}
:It actually returns a 1 by 1 pixel white GIF. [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 13:14, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Is there a way that we can merge the "game" part of this comic with the map of [[1110: Click and Drag]]? Allowing us to explore that one in a similar way? [[User:Bon|Bon]] ([[User talk:Bon|talk]]) 11:03, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Well I managed to find (nearly) everything, except the floating rock island, and 162 coins without the map, but even with looking at several maps, I didn't pass any graveyard nor found the way to the grey ocean, which I assume is underneath the "continent". Does anyone know where the entrance is? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.218|162.158.90.218]] 11:54, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:Search for any missing things in the complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]], and you shall find what you seek. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Just thought I should say; the comic supports some alternative movement controls, there's the arrow keys, WASD, and also the vi keys (hjkl), and the numpad (8426). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.125|108.162.242.125]] 13:29, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I was not able to get to some points because they were surrounded by text, people or other objects. Is that normal, or are there tricks to get to every coin without using cheats (console)? It would be nice if this could be mention / explained in the article. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.35|162.158.135.35]] 13:31, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:In some cases you can come in from the side as opposed to trying to come down through or up through something. Example: at the X-Wing "gas station", to get that coin, land on the ground to the left of the X-Wing and move to the right on the ground towards the gas station. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:45, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
::No text is solid! You can use the full [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] to find out how to get to every coin and place (or the great map linked at the top). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The list of "areas" in the map would be much easier to read, and much easier to correlate with the map, if the origin were set to the starting area (that is, if the coordinates of the starting area were set to x:0, y:0). What is the reason for the very large numbers? --[[User:BlueMoonlet|BlueMoonlet]] ([[User talk:BlueMoonlet|talk]]) 15:50, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
: The large numbers are the actual ones used by the game code and displayed by the hacked-up "radar" so it was a natural choice to use them as they are. We could define some origin and count coordinates from it but we would have to agree on its position and then change the "radar" code and recalculate all coordinates written down already. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 08:53, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
::Coordinates is not very helpful to most people. It should more be in relation to the objects you pass. Either you just look at one of the maps (and then past the pyramid or in the volcano makes sense) or else you actually try the real experience, and again after the ocean comes a pyramid makes more sense than coordinates. Have moved this section to a trivia section. The table should be build differently. That is still work to be done. All things are at the moment mentioned in the complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The starting area is in no way related to pac-man. The lines are not all right angles, there is a timer, there's gravity, there are no aggressors, you're collecting coins instead of pellets.... Not every line maze is pac-man. This is an erroneous reference that should be removed. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.167|198.41.235.167]] 17:16, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

The source code found at https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.js does not seem to be complete. I would personally work on de-obfuscating the full source code using the fragment found there but technically the source is covered by implicit copyright laws and that means that if I published a derived work I would be breaking those laws. Should I just change the line from "The source code can be found at ..." to "The full (obfuscated) source code can be found at ...tigl.min.js and a deobfuscated piece of the source code can be found at ...tigl.js". [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 18:28, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I added quick coordinate / teleport access on right-click to the quick hack map. [[User:Kyledavide|Kyledavide]] ([[User talk:Kyledavide|talk]]) 20:45, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Can't be bothered working out how to edit the page, but the explanation contains the phrase "People holding anchor lines to a Star Destroyer" - they're holding anchor lines to a CR90 Corvette, specifically the Tantive IV, commonly referred to as the "Rebel Blockade Runner", which in turn is being *attacked by* a Star Destroyer. I'll get my coat. {{unsigned ip|162.158.153.47}}

That's no 'Children's Swimming Pool', it's a ball pit! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.222|162.158.2.222]] 23:46, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:If it is, it's filled with water as well. There are waves on the surface and fish live in it. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 09:00, 27 November 2015 (UTC)

I slightly improved the "direction to next coin"-code by displaying a compas. Code can be found here http://pastebin.com/PL6fv5XK . I'm new to this wiki and don't want to mess up the page, so I didn't put the code in there myself ... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.209|162.158.90.209]] 00:01, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

Haven't read all the comments above so maybe someone has written about it?
If you click up it seems to count how many times. So it will just show white and then when you release again, it will take longer to hit the ground the longer you have pushed up. Tried with 100 clicks (9-10 seconds) and 200 clicks (20 seconds).
I got about 163 coins in about 15886 seconds. (4 hours and 24 minutes.) That was with breaks. It was written so shortly on the screen I did not manage to take it down for certain. But after that I read here about the 169 and found that there where at least three in the volcano I had not noticed at first. And it seems likely that there would be three more I have missed. But really fun to explore. I wrote a lot of the transcript along the way (not from the very start though) This I have now posted without any real order in the [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] page. Hope fully a full and useful transcript can emerge from this. I hope my text can be used if not used as it is written at the moment.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 02:05, 26 November 2015 (UTC)
:Now a complete transcript... Took me about three weeks to get enough time to do that--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:42, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I thought Atreyu's horse was Artax, not Artex. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 05:27, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

The beret guy riding a torpedo (/explosive device of some sort) looks like a Dr. Strangeloe tribute to me. {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.39}}

Just added in the 'collision detection' section the text "On a slow connection, it's possible to move into an 'open' area and then the black image loads in and (probably permanently, without tricks) traps you immobile." To expand upon this, if this is a risk to anyone else (I'm reliant on mobile internet, being away from any comparable landline capability) then you need to look out for perfectly horizontal/vertical edges. For example, hovering up the side of the Washington monument and encountering (typically above the 'bricks' line) a completely flat top. Drifting onto that soon gets you embedded in the remaining Monument, somewhere well below the eventual tip. Alternately, drifting sideways over the landscape and discovering a perfectly vertical cliff downwards (just past the bowling pins is a prime location) tempts you to drift down it and then suddenly the solid land 'happens' around you, forcing a page-refresh and restart (though doubtless there's also various console tricks that could be used). The well, also 'opens out', but it's a lie. I've ended up trapped 'in white' below the now closed black blocks that surround the well bottom (and not found any way back up). But if there a 'texture' (like other cliffs) or 'slope' (like the real Monument edge) to the surface, you're probably Ok. It's a genuine surface or wall that you can generally navigate around without fear of being misled. (Or so is my experience.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 09:12, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

Doesn't show anything but a blank page on the first generation iPad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.184.11|162.158.184.11]] 10:41, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

I agree with [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]]. I have changed the text referring to the source code, since it does not refer to the full sourde code, but just an obfuscated part.--[[User:Gamevang|Gamevang]] ([[User talk:Gamevang|talk]]) 14:36, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

I can't pass through text, anybody else experiencing this? I remember being able to pass through text without no clip mode earlier, but for some reason not anymore.--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.36|173.245.54.36]] 18:16, 26 November 2015 (UTC)
:I found that I can't pass through ANYTHING non-white when using current version of Chrome on an iPad iOS 9.1. Makes the "game" much harder to play. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.144|173.245.63.144]] 04:23, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

----

We definitely need a better presentation of interesting objects/locations and their coordinates. Now, we have quite comprehensive multi-level bullet list and a newly-started table. Neither is perfect. We need some form that will show clearly what is where and where it belongs.

Issues to solve:
* Many objects are large and a single coordinates pair simply don't describe them well. We need a clear presentation form that will allow putting both a single pair and several ones, e.g. top and bottom for thin vertical objects (e.g. poles, The Monument), four corners for objects occupying large swaths etc.
* Grouping - we need to group objects that belong to an area, like all things within the Star Destroyer etc. Multilevel bullets are ok, but how to do that in a table?
* Order - within groups and between them, we need some ordering that will organize the entries. For example left-to-right then top-to-bottom or something like that.
* Coordinates system - the "native" game coordinates are large numbers, and negative values for the y coordinate to boot. Someone proposed setting a new origin and counting from there. I think it's a good idea, but will require a firm decision, rewrite of radar code and recalculating of all coordinates written down so far.

Any ideas?
-- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 09:24, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
:If it weren't for so much effort put in already, I think that we ''could'' re-class features as follows:
:* All coin locations, and/or links to the locations they are associated with (e.g. "in original game area" and "carried by a quadcopter drone"), if that's not considered 'unfair' to those wanting to actually play the game (without the self-discipline not to browse the list ;).
:* Locations of all characters, certainly all stick-figures, but maybe also 'wildlife' (or automata) of notable types.
:* All monologues/dialogues/labels (albeit that this is almost entirely a subset of the prior list).
:* Other notable landscape (or structural) features that are more than mere 'flavour' (e.g. the T-shaped mushrooms/whatevers to the east, but not random ground-boulders).
:* Notable move-through spots; inclusive of 'sink-into'able waters/magmas (waist-height, neck-height, fully-submerged?), even when not featuring further hidden routes, but excluding vegetation (ground-grasses/tree-trunks) that ''mostly'' are pass-throughable.
: Some of these are themselves useful references to other items (e.g. "inside front of Blockade Runner" or "beneath eastern stretch of magma") and so can probably be sub-grouped as all items in a given structure ("coins within the initial play area", "characters/speech within the Star Destroyer") and some things do occupy a swathe (the 'play area', the Monument, the ships, the kites, with their strings; the hail of (regular) torpedoes). And I bet there's a whole lot of arguments about what level of detail we could go to... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 10:21, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
When you deposit 42 coins, the response, "No answers here" is a reference to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."[[User:Hax|Hax]] ([[User talk:Hax|talk]])
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.149|162.158.252.149]] 03:33, 29 November 2015 (UTC)
::The full and complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] that I have made uses some of the ideas, and groups the stage into sections. Not saying these should be used as is. But all in the image has been described and text transcribed in there. So it would be easy to cut and paste something from them. I have used jump height and fall time as well as time elapsed when moving and the height of the hoverboard Cueball to measure distances/dimensions. I would suggest making pictures from the maps of larger rooms or items. And then zoom in on interesting features. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:50, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Where can I get the uncompressed (original) source code? The reason I am asking is, ''/tigl.js'' is incomplete (no Easter Eggs, etc.), and ''/tigl.min.js'' seems complete, but is unreadable due to "minification" (compression).

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.149|162.158.252.149]] 03:33, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

It's a great comic, but does anyone know what it has to do the with his new book? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.161|198.41.235.161]] 03:50, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

I've created desktop C++/SDL2 based version of 1608, maybe someone will find it useful: https://github.com/AMDmi3/hoverboard-sdl [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.212|162.158.90.212]] 17:57, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the coordinates are, so I'm reluctant to add it to the page proper, but I'm pretty sure Beret Guy riding the bomb near the Tantive IV is a nod to Dr. Strangelove [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.185|108.162.218.185]] 19:17, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

When I try to play the game on my machine (IE10, Win7), I have whole sections that are just straight lined black boxes, almost like a puzzle with pieces missing. The easiest one to find is by going to the left, the quadcopters are hovering over nothing. Is this a java issue, an IE issue, a Windows issue, or just a "shut up and reboot" issue?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.44|108.162.216.44]] 19:19, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

You use IE? Suicide! The Department of Homeland Security considers IE as a threat. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.36|173.245.54.36]] 22:39, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

Also: If you are using IE, no matter what the problem is, it will '''always''' be an IE issue.
* Stove fire? -- IE issue
* Alien obduction? -- IE issue

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.187|162.158.90.187]] 12:47, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

Might be useful for exploration of the map: I have made a page that embeds hoverboard with a panel allowing you do perform various cheats and tricks. :) http://php.9kv.cu.cc/hoverboard/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.37|108.162.216.37]] 21:42, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

Me Again: Here's a stitched-together image of the map (taken from reddit) with the areas that you can walk through that are normally black highlighted in red: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pnstn4oam15lvgf/hoverboard-collision-map.png?raw=1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.37|108.162.216.37]] 22:34, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

The full transcript of the entire comic is now complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]].--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 December 2015 (UTC)
:And I just tried it out to finally get all 169 coins and explorer the entire drawing the true way without cheating, in just 1½ hours: [[1608:_Hoverboard/Screen-shots#All_169_coins]].
::And then later I took the shortest route between coins and finished in less than 25 minutes (see same link as above). Seems like I'm the only one still working to complete this comic... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:39, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Here is a page with a fully sort-able table of all the links to images: [[1608: Hoverboard/All image links|All image links]]. It includes notes on which images there are people, text, animals, objects of some interest and coins. And it is designed so connecting images can be found by sorting on either locations, general content or the first word in the description. Only 3440 images described. Although more than 1600 of them are completely black and 40 more almost completely black as well as the 800 white. But still there was close to 1000 images left... Enjoy the easy way to find interesting stuff in the images --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:46, 15 January 2016 (UTC)

I got 26 coins and it said "undefined" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.227|108.162.220.227]] 00:29, 3 March 2016 (UTC)
:You are probably using explorer, see the explanation for this above: [[1608: Hoverboard#Messages in Play Area|Messages in Play Area]]. There even is some examples like [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d8/45_coins.PNG this]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:08, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1608: Hoverboard

2016-06-29T14:13:56Z

173.245.54.55:

Good LORD, why is this still "incomplete"? If you look at the red comments in the table, they are inane and unnecessary. Half of the "Missing Explanation" entries do not even *need* an explanation as the title says exactly what it is. Can we finally close this incomplete explanation?[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.55|173.245.54.55]] 14:13, 29 June 2016 (UTC)
Well, this will be the next incomplete explanation for a while. -[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.165|162.158.90.165]] 21:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)
:Still working on it now four months later. But not many other helping with it. ;-) Getting closer to the end though with the [[1608:_Hoverboard#Table_with_references|table]] in place. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:10, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Yes, one thing to note is how to get the hell out of the cave near the volcano [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.159|108.162.249.159]] 22:38, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The image is made up of small images with addresses of the form http://xkcd.com/1608/XXXX:-YYYY+s.png (although not every coordinate inside the bounds has an image associated). A script could probably dump out all the images and paste them together. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.6|108.162.216.6]] 22:46, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

West -- Under Lava Pools -- Elon Musk's Secret Volcano Base (not as enjoyable as you might expect).

The Starship out east contains, among other things, Darth Vader, apparently explaining Steven Universe to a subordinate. (Steven and the Crystal Gems can be found a the west end of the ship, near an ice cream cooler.) The same ship contains an elaborate homage to the original Prince of Persia. {{unsigned ip|162.158.56.5}}

There, have at thee an image! [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 22:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

There are 168 coins spread throughout the map according to the source code [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:03, 24 November 2015 (UTC)
:It's actually 169 coins (t.length). --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 23:22, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

When using a device, instead of saying "use arrow keys to move", it says "tilt to move, tap to jump". It's also a lot harder to control. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.159}}
:What kind of device and is this through the normal xkcd home page? It does not work on my tablet by going to xkcd (anroid, leonov tablet). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:24, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I got 153 coins!! :D There's two starships, one's a star destroyer with an expansive maze dropping regular torpedoes on the other. May be noteworthy that there are various references to Star Wars and Steven Universe throughout. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 23:27, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The second starship is the TantiveIV, Leia's ship at the beginning of episode 4. Note directly below the Tantive, the terrain seems to be sand dunes. Also there are two more space ships by the volcano; an X-wing at a gas station and an Apollo Command Module. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.24}}

https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.js - Looks like there's an easier to read version of the code there. Maybe that'll help someone with extracting all the images. {{unsigned ip|

I've got all the images downloaded. Zipping/uploading now. Should I post a link here when complete or what's the best way to share these? I'm also working on setting up a zoomable map. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:57, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The collision detection is glitchy. I keep landing/bumping against platforms I'm far away from. Is getting stuck against walls normal? --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.234|199.27.130.234]] 00:01, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Tiles are located here in a zip: https://up1.ca/#Gi51KPFyPRELe0T1D6q9Mw All I did was iterate over http://xkcd.com/1608/X:-Y+s.png from X=[916...1116] and Y=[916...1116]. I'm working on putting a zoomable map together. If anyone has interest in helping we could hop on IRC? [[User:Jcox|Jcox]] ([[User talk:Jcox|talk]]) 00:15, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:This was great. But the zip file misses all images in column 1019-1021 as well as the 6 lowest images of 1022 (X coordinates 1019-1022, all Y coordinatesin the first three and then 6 lowest Y coordinates in the last). It was managable to download the last with my click skills. So thanks anyway. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:15, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

I've written a zsh script to iterate over all possible tiles (does anyone know the height limits? the source only gives the left and right limits) and glue them together into one giant file. I'll upload the results as soon as it's finished. [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 00:17, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I don't think it's limited vertically at all. I found a zoomable map on the reddit topic http://codepen.io/KyleDavidE/full/605dc87b614ff6b2bd716f4c6f640203/ (by kyledavide) [[User:Miraries|Miraries]] ([[User talk:Miraries|talk]]) 00:21, 25 November 2015 (UTC)Mirages

Here's a zoomed out map of all the game area: https://i.imgur.com/rNU9ZgN.png. From ''luke_in_the_sky'' at Reddit [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/3u4sy1/xkcd_1608_hoverboard/cxc1245]. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 00:35, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Alright, the full png of the entire map is almost finished, I should have used white tiles as blank tiles but I guess I can fix that up in gimp, and I'm not sure how to account for the 1 pixel overlap with just imagemagick convert. The last step is to merge allthe layer images into one giant image, wish my laptop the best of luck! [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 01:00, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Someone beat you to it, but keep on it: that one doesn't have right limit tiles. https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/3u4sy1/xkcd_1608_hoverboard/cxc0p8x --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 01:19, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps we can change the screenshot at the top to this? It's a quickly hacked overview of the entire map: http://imgur.com/Mz9arHz [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.167|199.27.129.167]] 01:27, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
: I think it might make more sense to just add it as another image, mediawiki supports this after all. The syntax should be: <nowiki>[[File:filename.png|thumb|Subtitle|alt=alt]]</nowiki> [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 01:34, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

[http://files.mckaysalisbury.com/xkcd/hoverboard.html] This one loads all of the images quickly (From the xkcd site), and uses browser zooming. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.47|173.245.54.47]] 01:29, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

:The impassible backgrounds are RGB(0,0,0), and the passable ones are RGB(1,1,1). <code>#explore > :first-child {filter:brightness(30);-webkit-filter:brightness(30);-moz-filter:brightness(30);-o-filter:brightness(30);-ms-filter:brightness(30);}</code> ... See https://twitter.com/BadPhysics/status/669354631869304832 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 03:40, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Here are all the secret passages marked I could find: http://imgur.com/a/fKE1Q --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.220|162.158.91.220]] 00:50, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I wrote a tampermonkey script that shows you your coordinates and lets you teleport; will make coordinate sharing a lot easier. You do need tampermonkey installed for this to work. [https://github.com/minerguy31/xkcd-hoverboard-mod/raw/master/XKCD%20Hoverboard%20Mod.user.js Click to install] [[User:Minerguy31|Minerguy31]] ([[User talk:Minerguy31|talk]]) 04:17, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I got 159 coins without the map. If you guys are still wondering how to escape the volcano, move to the right for as long as you think you can, then start spamming the up key while switching between holding the left and right keys. It worked for me on my first try.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.119|162.158.252.119]] 07:06, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Didn't take down the coordinates, but the layout to the first level of the original Prince of Persia is in there, including the guard standing by with his scimitar! I found it in the ship atop the pyramid east of the play area. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.245|108.162.218.245]] 06:24, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Just thought this was interesting, when you "complete" the game by dropping coins, the following line of javascript is run, which sends your result to the server (L is number of coins, z is seconds used):
(new Image).src = "//xkcd.com/events.gif?coins=" + L + "&seconds=" + z;
Don't be tricked by the .gif extension, it doesn't show an image when opened, and the server probably handles this request by logging it to somewhere. {{unsigned ip|141.101.80.87}}
:It actually returns a 1 by 1 pixel white GIF. [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 13:14, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Is there a way that we can merge the "game" part of this comic with the map of [[1110: Click and Drag]]? Allowing us to explore that one in a similar way? [[User:Bon|Bon]] ([[User talk:Bon|talk]]) 11:03, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Well I managed to find (nearly) everything, except the floating rock island, and 162 coins without the map, but even with looking at several maps, I didn't pass any graveyard nor found the way to the grey ocean, which I assume is underneath the "continent". Does anyone know where the entrance is? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.218|162.158.90.218]] 11:54, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:Search for any missing things in the complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]], and you shall find what you seek. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Just thought I should say; the comic supports some alternative movement controls, there's the arrow keys, WASD, and also the vi keys (hjkl), and the numpad (8426). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.125|108.162.242.125]] 13:29, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I was not able to get to some points because they were surrounded by text, people or other objects. Is that normal, or are there tricks to get to every coin without using cheats (console)? It would be nice if this could be mention / explained in the article. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.35|162.158.135.35]] 13:31, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:In some cases you can come in from the side as opposed to trying to come down through or up through something. Example: at the X-Wing "gas station", to get that coin, land on the ground to the left of the X-Wing and move to the right on the ground towards the gas station. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:45, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
::No text is solid! You can use the full [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] to find out how to get to every coin and place (or the great map linked at the top). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The list of "areas" in the map would be much easier to read, and much easier to correlate with the map, if the origin were set to the starting area (that is, if the coordinates of the starting area were set to x:0, y:0). What is the reason for the very large numbers? --[[User:BlueMoonlet|BlueMoonlet]] ([[User talk:BlueMoonlet|talk]]) 15:50, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
: The large numbers are the actual ones used by the game code and displayed by the hacked-up "radar" so it was a natural choice to use them as they are. We could define some origin and count coordinates from it but we would have to agree on its position and then change the "radar" code and recalculate all coordinates written down already. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 08:53, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
::Coordinates is not very helpful to most people. It should more be in relation to the objects you pass. Either you just look at one of the maps (and then past the pyramid or in the volcano makes sense) or else you actually try the real experience, and again after the ocean comes a pyramid makes more sense than coordinates. Have moved this section to a trivia section. The table should be build differently. That is still work to be done. All things are at the moment mentioned in the complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:40, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The starting area is in no way related to pac-man. The lines are not all right angles, there is a timer, there's gravity, there are no aggressors, you're collecting coins instead of pellets.... Not every line maze is pac-man. This is an erroneous reference that should be removed. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.167|198.41.235.167]] 17:16, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

The source code found at https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.js does not seem to be complete. I would personally work on de-obfuscating the full source code using the fragment found there but technically the source is covered by implicit copyright laws and that means that if I published a derived work I would be breaking those laws. Should I just change the line from "The source code can be found at ..." to "The full (obfuscated) source code can be found at ...tigl.min.js and a deobfuscated piece of the source code can be found at ...tigl.js". [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 18:28, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

I added quick coordinate / teleport access on right-click to the quick hack map. [[User:Kyledavide|Kyledavide]] ([[User talk:Kyledavide|talk]]) 20:45, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Can't be bothered working out how to edit the page, but the explanation contains the phrase "People holding anchor lines to a Star Destroyer" - they're holding anchor lines to a CR90 Corvette, specifically the Tantive IV, commonly referred to as the "Rebel Blockade Runner", which in turn is being *attacked by* a Star Destroyer. I'll get my coat. {{unsigned ip|162.158.153.47}}

That's no 'Children's Swimming Pool', it's a ball pit! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.222|162.158.2.222]] 23:46, 25 November 2015 (UTC)
:If it is, it's filled with water as well. There are waves on the surface and fish live in it. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 09:00, 27 November 2015 (UTC)

I slightly improved the "direction to next coin"-code by displaying a compas. Code can be found here http://pastebin.com/PL6fv5XK . I'm new to this wiki and don't want to mess up the page, so I didn't put the code in there myself ... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.209|162.158.90.209]] 00:01, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

Haven't read all the comments above so maybe someone has written about it?
If you click up it seems to count how many times. So it will just show white and then when you release again, it will take longer to hit the ground the longer you have pushed up. Tried with 100 clicks (9-10 seconds) and 200 clicks (20 seconds).
I got about 163 coins in about 15886 seconds. (4 hours and 24 minutes.) That was with breaks. It was written so shortly on the screen I did not manage to take it down for certain. But after that I read here about the 169 and found that there where at least three in the volcano I had not noticed at first. And it seems likely that there would be three more I have missed. But really fun to explore. I wrote a lot of the transcript along the way (not from the very start though) This I have now posted without any real order in the [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] page. Hope fully a full and useful transcript can emerge from this. I hope my text can be used if not used as it is written at the moment.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 02:05, 26 November 2015 (UTC)
:Now a complete transcript... Took me about three weeks to get enough time to do that--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:42, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I thought Atreyu's horse was Artax, not Artex. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 05:27, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

The beret guy riding a torpedo (/explosive device of some sort) looks like a Dr. Strangeloe tribute to me. {{unsigned ip|162.158.255.39}}

Just added in the 'collision detection' section the text "On a slow connection, it's possible to move into an 'open' area and then the black image loads in and (probably permanently, without tricks) traps you immobile." To expand upon this, if this is a risk to anyone else (I'm reliant on mobile internet, being away from any comparable landline capability) then you need to look out for perfectly horizontal/vertical edges. For example, hovering up the side of the Washington monument and encountering (typically above the 'bricks' line) a completely flat top. Drifting onto that soon gets you embedded in the remaining Monument, somewhere well below the eventual tip. Alternately, drifting sideways over the landscape and discovering a perfectly vertical cliff downwards (just past the bowling pins is a prime location) tempts you to drift down it and then suddenly the solid land 'happens' around you, forcing a page-refresh and restart (though doubtless there's also various console tricks that could be used). The well, also 'opens out', but it's a lie. I've ended up trapped 'in white' below the now closed black blocks that surround the well bottom (and not found any way back up). But if there a 'texture' (like other cliffs) or 'slope' (like the real Monument edge) to the surface, you're probably Ok. It's a genuine surface or wall that you can generally navigate around without fear of being misled. (Or so is my experience.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 09:12, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

Doesn't show anything but a blank page on the first generation iPad. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.184.11|162.158.184.11]] 10:41, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

I agree with [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]]. I have changed the text referring to the source code, since it does not refer to the full sourde code, but just an obfuscated part.--[[User:Gamevang|Gamevang]] ([[User talk:Gamevang|talk]]) 14:36, 26 November 2015 (UTC)

I can't pass through text, anybody else experiencing this? I remember being able to pass through text without no clip mode earlier, but for some reason not anymore.--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.36|173.245.54.36]] 18:16, 26 November 2015 (UTC)
:I found that I can't pass through ANYTHING non-white when using current version of Chrome on an iPad iOS 9.1. Makes the "game" much harder to play. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.144|173.245.63.144]] 04:23, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

----

We definitely need a better presentation of interesting objects/locations and their coordinates. Now, we have quite comprehensive multi-level bullet list and a newly-started table. Neither is perfect. We need some form that will show clearly what is where and where it belongs.

Issues to solve:
* Many objects are large and a single coordinates pair simply don't describe them well. We need a clear presentation form that will allow putting both a single pair and several ones, e.g. top and bottom for thin vertical objects (e.g. poles, The Monument), four corners for objects occupying large swaths etc.
* Grouping - we need to group objects that belong to an area, like all things within the Star Destroyer etc. Multilevel bullets are ok, but how to do that in a table?
* Order - within groups and between them, we need some ordering that will organize the entries. For example left-to-right then top-to-bottom or something like that.
* Coordinates system - the "native" game coordinates are large numbers, and negative values for the y coordinate to boot. Someone proposed setting a new origin and counting from there. I think it's a good idea, but will require a firm decision, rewrite of radar code and recalculating of all coordinates written down so far.

Any ideas?
-- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.224|162.158.90.224]] 09:24, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
:If it weren't for so much effort put in already, I think that we ''could'' re-class features as follows:
:* All coin locations, and/or links to the locations they are associated with (e.g. "in original game area" and "carried by a quadcopter drone"), if that's not considered 'unfair' to those wanting to actually play the game (without the self-discipline not to browse the list ;).
:* Locations of all characters, certainly all stick-figures, but maybe also 'wildlife' (or automata) of notable types.
:* All monologues/dialogues/labels (albeit that this is almost entirely a subset of the prior list).
:* Other notable landscape (or structural) features that are more than mere 'flavour' (e.g. the T-shaped mushrooms/whatevers to the east, but not random ground-boulders).
:* Notable move-through spots; inclusive of 'sink-into'able waters/magmas (waist-height, neck-height, fully-submerged?), even when not featuring further hidden routes, but excluding vegetation (ground-grasses/tree-trunks) that ''mostly'' are pass-throughable.
: Some of these are themselves useful references to other items (e.g. "inside front of Blockade Runner" or "beneath eastern stretch of magma") and so can probably be sub-grouped as all items in a given structure ("coins within the initial play area", "characters/speech within the Star Destroyer") and some things do occupy a swathe (the 'play area', the Monument, the ships, the kites, with their strings; the hail of (regular) torpedoes). And I bet there's a whole lot of arguments about what level of detail we could go to... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 10:21, 27 November 2015 (UTC)
When you deposit 42 coins, the response, "No answers here" is a reference to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."[[User:Hax|Hax]] ([[User talk:Hax|talk]])
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.149|162.158.252.149]] 03:33, 29 November 2015 (UTC)
::The full and complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]] that I have made uses some of the ideas, and groups the stage into sections. Not saying these should be used as is. But all in the image has been described and text transcribed in there. So it would be easy to cut and paste something from them. I have used jump height and fall time as well as time elapsed when moving and the height of the hoverboard Cueball to measure distances/dimensions. I would suggest making pictures from the maps of larger rooms or items. And then zoom in on interesting features. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:50, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Where can I get the uncompressed (original) source code? The reason I am asking is, ''/tigl.js'' is incomplete (no Easter Eggs, etc.), and ''/tigl.min.js'' seems complete, but is unreadable due to "minification" (compression).

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.252.149|162.158.252.149]] 03:33, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

It's a great comic, but does anyone know what it has to do the with his new book? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.161|198.41.235.161]] 03:50, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

I've created desktop C++/SDL2 based version of 1608, maybe someone will find it useful: https://github.com/AMDmi3/hoverboard-sdl [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.212|162.158.90.212]] 17:57, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the coordinates are, so I'm reluctant to add it to the page proper, but I'm pretty sure Beret Guy riding the bomb near the Tantive IV is a nod to Dr. Strangelove [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.185|108.162.218.185]] 19:17, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

When I try to play the game on my machine (IE10, Win7), I have whole sections that are just straight lined black boxes, almost like a puzzle with pieces missing. The easiest one to find is by going to the left, the quadcopters are hovering over nothing. Is this a java issue, an IE issue, a Windows issue, or just a "shut up and reboot" issue?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.44|108.162.216.44]] 19:19, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

You use IE? Suicide! The Department of Homeland Security considers IE as a threat. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.36|173.245.54.36]] 22:39, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

Also: If you are using IE, no matter what the problem is, it will '''always''' be an IE issue.
* Stove fire? -- IE issue
* Alien obduction? -- IE issue

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.187|162.158.90.187]] 12:47, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

Might be useful for exploration of the map: I have made a page that embeds hoverboard with a panel allowing you do perform various cheats and tricks. :) http://php.9kv.cu.cc/hoverboard/ [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.37|108.162.216.37]] 21:42, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

Me Again: Here's a stitched-together image of the map (taken from reddit) with the areas that you can walk through that are normally black highlighted in red: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pnstn4oam15lvgf/hoverboard-collision-map.png?raw=1 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.37|108.162.216.37]] 22:34, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

The full transcript of the entire comic is now complete [[1608: Hoverboard/Transcript]].--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 December 2015 (UTC)
:And I just tried it out to finally get all 169 coins and explorer the entire drawing the true way without cheating, in just 1½ hours: [[1608:_Hoverboard/Screen-shots#All_169_coins]].
::And then later I took the shortest route between coins and finished in less than 25 minutes (see same link as above). Seems like I'm the only one still working to complete this comic... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:39, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Here is a page with a fully sort-able table of all the links to images: [[1608: Hoverboard/All image links|All image links]]. It includes notes on which images there are people, text, animals, objects of some interest and coins. And it is designed so connecting images can be found by sorting on either locations, general content or the first word in the description. Only 3440 images described. Although more than 1600 of them are completely black and 40 more almost completely black as well as the 800 white. But still there was close to 1000 images left... Enjoy the easy way to find interesting stuff in the images --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:46, 15 January 2016 (UTC)

I got 26 coins and it said "undefined" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.227|108.162.220.227]] 00:29, 3 March 2016 (UTC)
:You are probably using explorer, see the explanation for this above: [[1608: Hoverboard#Messages in Play Area|Messages in Play Area]]. There even is some examples like [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d8/45_coins.PNG this]. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:08, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Talk:193: The Perfect Sound

2016-06-28T14:20:30Z

173.245.54.55:

Should "cueball's friend" be an indexed term? He (she?) shows up often, and i identify with him the most.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.191|173.245.56.191]] 00:18, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Oddly enough, there are no notes that lead up to that opening line of the song. It's only drum beats, going, BUM-TS-BUM-BUM-TS BUM-TS-BUM-BUM-TS. The first notes of the song occur as those opening words are sung.

188: Reload

2016-06-28T13:45:43Z

173.245.54.55: /* Explanation */ Fixed and simplified grammar.

{{comic
| number = 188
| date = November 24, 2006
| title = Reload
| image = reload.png
| titletext = And watch out for that guy from comic #53.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic refers to the common method for reloading your ammunition in arcade game type shooters, also known as "rail shooters". The player is typically given a {{w|Light gun}}, and the player characters typically have unlimited magazines of ammunition; to load a new magazine, the player would aim his light gun away from the screen and pull the trigger.

The title text tells you to watch out for the guy from comic [[53: Hobby]], which shows a man who randomly pops up to the police when they are performing a drug raid. This refers to the random figures that pop out at many games; if they are not a valid target and you shoot them, you will lose points.

==Transcript==
:[Four soldiers are preparing to enter a battlefield; their leader addresses them.]
:Leader: Okay men, we're going in. Stay low, keep behind cover, and if you run out of ammunition, shoot outside the battlefield to reload.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Video games]]

Talk:1697: Intervocalic Fortition

2016-06-24T18:53:06Z

173.245.54.55:

The idea, stated in the alt-text, that "meh" was created by writers of "The Simpsons", is incorrect. "The Simpsons", however, was responsible for widely popularizing it. See [http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/09/06/meh_etymology_tracing_the_yiddish_word_from_leo_rosten_to_auden_to_the_simpsons.html] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meh] [[User:Dubaaron|Dubaaron]] ([[User talk:Dubaaron|talk]]) 04:31, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
:Is it really saying that ''The Simpsons'' created the word? All it says is that it introduced the word, which does not seem to imply that it didn't exist before. If I introduce a friend of mine to another person, I most likely did not just create that other person, and there is no reason to believe that it should be any different for words.[[User:Mulan15262|Mulan15262]] ([[User talk:Mulan15262|talk]]) 13:24, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
::I don't think that "writers on The Simpsons decided to mess with future linguists" means "writers of The Simpsons introduced the word". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 14:25, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

"The" ends in a lax vowel, and it's the most ubiquitous word in the language, so that rule is wrong. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.10|108.162.221.10]] 04:45, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

: I've always seen "lax vowel" referring to full (unreduced) vowels. When unstressed, the vowel in "the" is reduced (/ðə/), and when stressed it's tense (/ði:/). [[Special:Contributions/188.114.109.66|188.114.109.66]] 05:08, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

:: Furthermore, the lax vowel is only used if 'the' is followed by another syllable, and so the utterance will not be lax-vowel-final. {{unsigned ip|162.158.2.219}}

::: How does that matter? The rule as stated was about the ending of words, not of utterances. [[User:Huttarl|Huttarl]] ([[User talk:Huttarl|talk]]) 19:21, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

::::Rules exists in reality, not as statements made by mathematicians or Randall. The actual rule is '' English doesn't allow utterances to end in a lax vowel''. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 22:55, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

::::: But isn't "meh" an utterance in and of itself, and therefore a violation of that rule anyway? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.58|173.245.54.58]] 07:45, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

::::::Truth is, as a general rule in most languages phonotactic constraints don't apply to exclamations and onomatopoeia. The lax vowel constraint however has a historical reason (mostly lengthening of vowels in word final position) but makes very little sense synchronically now that (historical) "long" and "short" vowels are very different from each other, so it may be the case that the language is evolving to allow lax vowels in final position. By the way, if we express this rule using the term "lax vowels" then yes, we have to exclude /ə/ from lax vowels because it actually appears quite often in final position (even more so in non-rhotic varieties) in words such as coda, comma, Buddha, etc. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.172|188.114.102.172]] 09:42, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

:::What the? That can't be right... {{unsigned ip|162.158.83.102}}

:Schwa doesn't distribute as a lax vowel in English. Consider, for example, that there are both tense and lax vowels (and even diphthongs) that can be reduced to schwa.

Questions. Is this happening in (American) English? is "adverb" becoming /adferb/. Any other examples?[[User:Zeimusu|Zeimusu]] ([[User talk:Zeimusu|talk]]) 05:55, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
: I scanned some 'v' words and didn't see much. A plural of [http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000293.html dwarf] discussion; similarly wharf splits into both wharfs and wharves. 'Halving' might benefit in the sense that the 'l' is silent so it sounds like 'having' and might be more clear as 'halfing'. I've also noticed a smattering of YouTubers writing "could of/should of" instead of contracting 'have', i.e, "could've/should've". [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 06:50, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
::The pronunciation of both ''of'' and ''’ve'' is /əv/. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 13:35, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
:No, I don't think this is really happening. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.77|141.101.98.77]] 11:22, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
:"Adverb" doesn't have an intervocalic "v". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 14:21, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
::No, but the prank as stated in the comic "V's in the middle of words" applies to "adverb". [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.178|108.162.237.178]] 15:34, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
:Yes, [[1677|absolutely]]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.220|108.162.237.220]] 19:38, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
::Thanks, have added the comic you referenced, [[1677: Contrails]] to the explanation. :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:46, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

It's quite surprising to see Randall misusing apostrophes to form plurals (i.e. V's and F's instead of the correct Vs and Fs).  – [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.41|141.101.98.41]] 19:36, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
:That's one of those gray/grey areas where the "rules" for apostrophes aren't firmly in place. Typographically, the apostrophe is (often) used to form plurals of lower case letters ("i's" and "m's" for clarity over "is" and "ms") and this exception tends to get carried over to capital letters, numbers, and symbols though the need for insuring clarity is reduced. It becomes a matter for style manuals rather than grammar manuals: do you follow the exception -- or the exception to the exception?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.98|108.162.221.98]] 21:07, 22 June 2016 (UTC)

If they can't see through such transparent trickery, they must not be very cunning linguists. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.102|108.162.216.102]] 02:49, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

If one applies this pronunciation to the title of comic, it becomes "Interfocalic fortition". Could this have any real meaning in optics, between lenses and their foci? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.73|141.101.81.73]] 03:30, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

Maybe the mock German accent angle should be mentioned? [[User:Ehusmark|EHusmark]] ([[User talk:Ehusmark|talk]]) 07:34, 23 June 2016 (UTC)
:Yes, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that in German and dutch the V is always pronounced as F. And the V sound only comes into these languages trough W, which is not called double U but double V. Since I'm not from either country I would prefer someone with more knowledge about this to make the note. But it seems relevant for the explanation to me... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:36, 23 June 2016 (UTC)
::I personally don't think it's really relevant, also given that it's not entirely true that "German and dutch the V is always pronounced as F". As for German, orthographical <v> is almost always pronounced [f] at the beginning of a word, but there are many loanwords that are exceptional in this respect, and in the middle of the word it is most often pronounced "v". As for Dutch, while many varieties have merged <v> and <f> into [f], standard Dutch has three distinct pronunciations for <f>, <v> and <w>. The last two in particular are both pronounced as "v-like" consonants: <v> is pronounced [v] and <w> is pronounced [ʋ], a sound which is kind of between English V and W, think of the way some people with a speech impediment or children may pronounce R in English. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.172|188.114.102.172]] 09:42, 23 June 2016 (UTC)
:::Thanks for the explanation, I still think it is relevant, as the idea of pronouncing V as F is not taken out of thin air by Randall, but an actual practice in more than one language. I have mentioned it, but noted that it is not always the case that V=F in those languages. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:22, 23 June 2016 (UTC)
::::Now that I re-read myself I notice I got lost in my babbles and didn't actually explain why I didn't think it was relevant: it's not so much that "V = F" may be an oversimplified statement for these languages, as you had already pointed out, but rather that when this occurs in English because of an accent it has more to do with "spelling pronunciation" using the speaker's native language's reading rules than a synchronic fortition of /v/, so to me it is a completely different process. A speaker with a Spanish accent may substitute /s/ for /z/ everywhere because Spanish simply doesn't have a voiced sibilant, that may approximately be considered as an instance of fortition, although I doubt most speakers with this substitution would be aware of the existence of these two different phonemes in English; but a speaker with a German accent would easily be able to differentiate between /v/ and /f/ (except in word-final position, where devoicing collapses the two), they just don't know that the word is supposed to have that sound and assume it should follow similar reading/spelling rules to their native language. Although now that I think about it, this is a bit of speculation about what a German learner would think, based on the phases of "phonemic awareness" I experienced in learning English (Italian is my mother tongue).
::::That said, if you thought about German accents when reading, it is at least possible that a native English speaker such as Randall might make that connection, so it might be worth a note. I also apologise, because I seem to have read your remark—out of my own fantasy, I'll admit—as though you somehow implied that this is a process akin to what goes on in those accents, while it appears you were only talking about citing the fact that mock and possibly actual German and Dutch accents result in a similar pronunciation of V-words, which is true and might constitute at least an interesting piece of trivia if not the source of Randall's idea, at least concerning the choice of sound to "fortite".
::::Now, I would write the note myself but, to be honest, I'm lazy and I haven't read up on writing and formatting practices in this Wiki and I don't really want to start at present, so I'd rather leave it to the "professionals" [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.172|188.114.102.172]] 14:49, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

::::(TL;DR: you're right, a note should probably be added, I'd rather not do it myself because I don't know how) [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.172|188.114.102.172]] 14:49, 23 June 2016 (UTC).

Someone has written as an example: ''"Luffing" instead of loving'' where it would be more correct to write lofing according to the rule of the comic... Any reason for this "error" or should it just be corrected? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:36, 23 June 2016 (UTC)
:It's a (pseudo)phonemic transcription of how the word "loving" would be pronounced if the "v" were replaced by "f" in pronunciation. "loving" has a (relatively) idiosyncratic spelling, but it is actually pronounced as "luvving" /ˈlʌvɪŋ/, replacing the V with F in writing would produce a word that would be likely to be pronounced rather like "loafing" /ˈləʊfɪŋ/. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.172|188.114.102.172]] 09:42, 23 June 2016 (UTC)

;Why not use ( pronounced: "yews") fortition on eferything in an interfocalic context, not just 'V's?

I.e. 'Z' becomes 'Ss' and that wierd French-sounding G sound (as in Jean luc) I can never remember the name of becomes 'sh'.

I.e. cifilissation. {{unsigned ip|108.162.244.67}}

;Worth noting inherent irony
Comic mentions to pass on the idea but not write it down, but the comic itself is written down, meaning that by sharing the joke on future linguists in the comic, the joke on future linguists is spoiled.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.112|108.162.246.112]] 00:02, 24 June 2016 (UTC)

1677: Contrails

2016-05-06T16:33:22Z

173.245.54.55:

{{comic
| number = 1677
| date = May 6, 2016
| title = Contrails
| image = contrails.png
| titletext = Astronomy (or "astrology" in British English) is the study of ...
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Contrail}}s (short for "condensation trails") are trails of vapor produced by aircraft exhaust, trailing the airplane. They are formed from water condensing on jet fuel exhaust particles, some impurities of which provide bases for ice crystals to accumulate on. Some can dissipate in minutes, but others can last for hours or even longer, depending on the temperature and wind conditions at that particular altitude. The {{w|chemtrail conspiracy theory}} claims that contrails lasting unusually long are actually chemical or biological agents sprayed into the air for sinister purposes. There is no evidence such a thing is happening.

Here, [[White Hat]], presumably speaking with a British accent, notices that there are a lot of contrails in the air. [[Cueball]] corrects him, saying that in {{w|American English}}, contrails are called chemtrails, which is, of course, incorrect.

This is another comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series. Many of these comics involve [[Cueball]] giving misleading information about pedantic terms, such as [[1405: Meteor]].

The title text implies that {{w|astronomy}} and {{w|astrology}} are synonymous, with astrology being the term used in British English. However, this is incorrect. Though both involve studying celestial objects, astrology is the pseudoscience that interprets positions of celestial objects as having influence on human affairs, while astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects on a universal scale.

The joke is that British English and American English often call the same object with different terms, and one can often learn new words for a simple thing. This, however is not the case in this comic; contrail and chemtrail do not refer to the same thing, the latter being only a subtype of the former. And it being xkcd, we can assume that chemtrail is a term that is frowned upon. Thus the comic states it as misinformation.

The title text includes a similar situation: astronomy is the scientific study of things in outer space, like stars, planets, and galaxies. Astrology, however, is a system that infers one’s personalities and characteristics from zodiacs of her date of birth, which is a constellation assigned to a period of time in a year. The same system can also derive predictions about future, especially that of a relationship. Some would argue that astrology shows statistical values, but it is hardly science by the standards of scientific study.

Given that the "American English" version is the conspiracy theory one for contrails/chemtrails, while who confuses astronomy and astrology is not fully clear, it is possible that the rest of the explanation of the astronomy vs astrology text would describe astrology. In that case, this could be a comment on the educational status in the US vs the UK, where conspiracy theories and superstition (astrology) are much more prominent in the US than in the UK (or Europe in general).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and a White Hat are walking. White Hat is looking up to the sky while Cueball, walking in front holds out one arm towards him.]
:White Hat: Lots of contrails today.
:Cueball: Oh, you must be from the UK. In American English it's "Chemtrail".

:[Caption under the panel]
:My hobby: Spreading linguistic misinformation

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Language]]

1672: Women on 20s

2016-04-26T00:09:54Z

173.245.54.55: Made clear why the Treasurer really can't make the changes Randall wants.

{{comic
| number = 1672
| date = April 25, 2016
| title = Women on 20s
| image = women_on_20s.png
| titletext = I get that there are security reasons for the schedule, but this is like the ONE problem we have where the right answer is both easy and straightforward. If we can't figure it out, maybe we should just give up and just replace all the portraits on the bills with that weird pyramid eye thing.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic portrays a series of press conferences with a {{w|US Treasury}} spokesperson (different from [[Cueball]] in the first panel as he has a bit of hair). The panels after the first summarize and ridicule the recent controversy over the upcoming redesign of US currency. The dialog between the US Treasury and reporters is paraphrased for comedic effect, but the events depicted are {{w|United_States_twenty-dollar_bill#Proposal_for_a_woman.27s_portrait|otherwise factual}}.

American currency has never had a woman as the primary portrait on paper currency, which is widely seen as a real problem. Responding to this issue, the Treasury Department initially planned to replace the portrait of {{w|Andrew Jackson}} in the {{w|United States twenty-dollar bill|$20 note}} with a woman, to be chosen by public voting. {{w|Trail of Tears}} is a reference to the {{w|Andrew_Jackson#Indian_removal_policy|forced re-locations}} of Native American peoples that Andrew Jackson conducted during his presidency. This is now seen as a human rights violation on a massive scale, and is presented as a reason why Andrew Jackson should not be honored on American currency.

The voting process selected {{w|Harriet Tubman}}, a 19th century {{w|abolitionist}} and a major figure in the {{w|Underground Railroad}} system which freed {{w|Slavery in the United States|American slaves}}. Cueball is seen to be clearly pleased and excited about this prospect in the first panel, where he votes for her first, among several other options. Cueball's second preference is {{w|Eleanor Roosevelt}}, an influential and well-respected {{w|First Lady of the United States|First Lady}} who was [http://www.womenon20s.org/results the runner-up in the vote]. Cueball's third preference is {{w|Rachel Carson}}, a pioneering environmentalist who is most famous for her book {{w|Silent Spring}}.

At this point, bureaucratic and political complications arise. The Treasury Department announces that, instead of replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, she would replace {{w|Alexander Hamilton}} on the {{w|United States ten-dollar bill|$10 bill}}. The {{w|United_States_ten-dollar_bill#Future_redesign|reason given}} is that the $10 bill was scheduled for redesign first. A reporter asks why they can't simply change the schedule, but doesn't get a clear answer.

There is suggestion from "Steve" to put {{w|Martin Shkreli}} on the $5 note. Shkreli is an pharmaceutical executive and hedge fund manager who provoked controversy when he {{w|Martin_Shkreli#Price_hike_controversy|raised the price}} of an anti-parasite drug by over 5000%, making it unaffordable to many poorer people. He became known as "the most hated man in America". This suggestion receives short shrift.

The plan to replace Hamilton is complicated when {{w|Hamilton_(musical)|a Broadway musical}} about the life of Alexander Hamilton comes out and becomes massively popular. This creates a flood of interest in Hamilton, and makes replacing his portrait politically complicated. The spokesperson suggests putting both Hamilton and Tubman on the $10 bill, but the reporters clearly think this is an unnecessary compromise.

Finally, the spokesperson announces that they will put Tubman on the $20 bill, but their schedule demands that they do the $10 bill first. They decide to put a "mural to women" on the new $10 bill to try and contain the tension until the new $20 bill is released. The reporters incorrectly say that the Treasury has total control over the release of currency, so the simpler solution is just to change the schedule, but they're apparently ignored. In actuality, the Treasurer cannot make changes to the currency without an act of Congress to support the change. The current rule about changing the $10 next before they can change the $20 comes from Section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, and the Treasurer is powerless to work against it. Perhaps this is why the person who makes the false claim is ignored.

In the final panel, the spokesperson mentions that Jackson's portrait will still appear on the new $20 bill, seriously weakening the symbolism of replacing him and adding irony since Jackson was a slave owner. This is likely an effort to head off the complaints of traditionalists, but is seen here as an unfortunate attempt to avoid taking a real stand.

In the title text [[Randall]] reiterates that this is a rare case in politics in which there's a clear and simple solution. The Treasury has the authority to redesign currency and change the release schedule however they like. That makes all the compromises and backtracking unnecessary: they could simply replace Jackson with Tubman and release the new $20 bill whenever they choose. Randall appears frustrated with the artificial constraints that are holding back what should be a simple and straightforward process although he does acknowledge that it takes time to evaluate the security of a redesign's resistance to counterfeiting. He also doesn't understand the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as mentioned above.

The mention of the "[http://google.com/search?q=illuminati+confirmed weird pyramid eye thing]" is a reference to the {{w|Eye of Providence}}, which is an old and [http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Illuminati somewhat arcane symbol] that appears on the US $1 bill. Randall seems to be using this as an example of the outdated and frankly strange design of American currency, the implication that using that on all our bills would constitute giving up on ever having a design relevant to the modern world, and by replacing all portraits with this image, there would no longer be any gender controversy.

==Transcript==

:2015
:[Cueball is sitting at a computer.]
:Website: Petition: Replace Andrew "Trail of Tears" Jackson with a woman on the $20 for the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in 2020.
:Cueball: Hey, good idea!
:Website: Vote for your three picks:
:[Three drop-down menus]
:1: Harriet Tubman
:2: Eleanor Roosevelt
:3: Rachel Carson
:Cueball: Tubman for #1, definitely.

:Soon...
:[Treasury Executive at a lectern.]
:Treasury Executive: After a flood of public interest, the Treasury has decided to feature a woman on our money!
:Offscreen 1: Yay!
:Treasury Executive: She will replace Hamilton on the $10.
:Offscreen 1: Yay-- wait, what? Why not the $20?
:Offscreen 2: ''Are we mad at Hamilton?''

:Treasury Executive: The $10 was scheduled for the next redesign by a board made up of --
:Offscreen 1: Can't you just do the $20 next?
:Treasury Executive: We will review the...
:Offscreen 1: *Sigh*
:Offscreen 2: ''Put Martin Shkreli on the $5!''
:Offscreen 3: ''Shut up, Steve.''

:Later in 2015...
:[Treasury Executive at a lectern.]
:Treasury Executive: Wow, some musical came out, and now suddenly Hamilton has ''tons'' of fans.
:Offscreen 1: So do the $20 next. Problem solved!
:Treasury Executive: Maybe he and a woman can ''share'' the $10!
:Offscreen 1: Are you serious.

:2016:
:[Treasury Executive at a lectern.]
:Treasury Executive: We've decided to put Harriet Tubman on the $20.
:Offscreen 1: Perfect! Happy ending.
:Treasury Executive: -- After we do the new $10.
:Offscreen 1: What?

:Treasury Executive: We'll put a mural to women on the back of the $10. Hopefully that will tide you over until we get to the $20?
:Offscreen 1: ''Seriously?'' How is this so complicated? Just say "We're putting Harriet Tubman on the $20," then do it.

:Treasury Executive: We'll do the $20 ASAP, but we can't change the --
:Offscreen 1: C'mon, your hands aren't tied here. You're the freaking Treasury. This is the '''''one''''' thing you're definitely in charge of.

:Treasury Executive: Oh, and we're putting Andrew Jackson on the back.
:All offscreen: WHAT.

{{comic discussion}}

1663: Garden

2016-04-06T02:48:05Z

173.245.54.55:

{{comic
| number = 1663
| date = April 4, 2016
| title = Garden
| image = garden.png 
| titletext = Relax.
}}
<div class="toclimit-3" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;">__TOC__</div>
*'''Note''' this is an interactive comic. Go to xkcd to try it out.
*Currently there are links to '''images of items that can appear in the comic''' here: [[1663: Garden/Images]]! In time it could be the actual images as well.
*'''Post screen shots of your garden''' (or others gardens and other images) on this page [[1663: Garden/Screen-shots]]!
*'''Post links to your own garden''' on this page [[1663: Garden/Users gardens]] to let other users see what you have created!

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Include a table with all possible items as [[1663: Garden/Images#Images of items|listed here]] with image, links to image on xkcd, explanations and link to a screenshot/download of a garden where each item "grows". As there are no permalinks these cannot be used for this, as the url does not save a particular time in a gardens growth, rather it links to the garden which can be changed both by the original owner and also continues to grow even if it is not tended. See the explanation. At the moment urls to private gardens can be posted here [[1663: Garden/Users gardens]]. This could be for general interest, and maybe fun for users of explain xkcd to share. Of course once people lose interest the gardens will grow over... For now they can also be used to show some of the items that can actually be found growing in the garden. But only screen shots are useful for the real explanation [[1663: Garden/Screen-shots|post them here]].}}

This comics represents the [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] of 2016, and it is [[Randall|Randall's]] celebration of {{w|April Fools' Day}} Friday April 1st 2016.

Due to technical problems (or to make [[#April Fool's header text|fools of his fans?]]) the comic did not go live until Sunday evening (after midnight, so technically first on Monday April 4th) so there was no Friday release in the week before, and the Wednesday comic [[1662: Jack and Jill]] got a lot more attention than it would usually have had.

This comic thus turned in to the Monday release instead, as no other comic was released later that Monday (which would have taken attention away from this very special comic), even though it was called the ''April 1st comic '' and later ''Friday comic'' in the [[#April Fool's header text|header text]] displayed at the top of xkcd to explain why there was no Friday comic. This stayed, but changed from April 1st and during the weekend until the late release past midnight Sunday in the US. (It was even past midnight {{w|pacific time}}, but not yet on Hawaii...) There were thus only two comics released in the week before this Monday, which may be the first time since xkcd went live on {{xkcd||xkcd.com}} in 2006.

The comic begins with a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/53/Garden_Loading_screen_shot.png loading screen] with a revolving tree and the text "loading..." This is because the first time a computer loads this dynamic comic it can take a while.

Once it is loaded it displays "your '''Garden'''" being the barren landscape with a lamp as shown at the top of the explanation here. But if you leave the lights on and wait (or "relax", as the reader is told to do by the title text), then plants and other items will start to appear. The reason it is correct to call it "your garden" is that every time this comic is loaded from scratch, a new garden will be created with a unique url-address. By saving this link (making a bookmark for it), the user will be able to return to their garden again and again. As the garden only develops very slowly this is important. (If users wish to share their garden they can do it in the table on the page for '''[[1663: Garden/Users gardens|Users gardens]]''').

Plants appear one at a time, and sometimes it takes a long time. Only a few of the plants actually grow. For instance there are some large trees that begins as [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/27/1663_garden_Fast_growing_tree_-_leafless.png a large trunk] and from there [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/67/1663_garden_Fast_growing_tree_-_lots_of_leaves.png grows branches and leaves]. This can sometimes happen quite fast. Most other plants just appear. Most of the plants sway in the breeze. Also animals and characters including [[Cueball]], [[Megan]] and [[Beret Guy]] (see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6b/1663_garden_Megan_with_sword%2C_trees_octopuses_with_Cueball_bunny_ducklings.png Megan and Cueball] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/77/1663_garden_Beret_guy_and_cat_and_much_more.png and Beret Guy's torso]) may appear as well as buildings and other items (see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/15/1663_garden_Megan_Monolith_Animals_and_more.png Monolith and birdbath] and in the above a gate). See all the possible items images here [[1663: Garden/Images]] and real examples from users gardens here [[1663: Garden/Screen-shots]].

Every so often the image will refresh. You can change the number of lamps, their position, direction, beam width and the color temperature which always begins somewhere between white and yellow, but can change all the way from red to blue (See this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b8/Garden_Three_Lamp_screen_shot.png example] with one lamp selected and three colors of light). Other colors than those four may appear where two lamps light cone of different colored light overlap.

How much the color affects the growth is too early to say, but there is definitely some correlation. For instance areas under lights set to the blue end of the spectrum develop an aquatic theme with lots of octopuses and maybe a Cueball. Areas under lights set to the red end of the spectrum develop a desert theme with cactus and turtles. Yellow light seems great for plants and animals, and mixed light seems to be able to do the same. Nothing seems to be able to grow with not light or in extreme light (lamp(s) very close to the ground).

The title text "Relax" is self-explaining but there are actually two other title texts as well. And although they are also self-explanatory they should be mentioned. They are explanations for what the two icons in the top right corner does and appear when the courser hovers over them. They are ''Create new light'' and ''Remove selected (delete key)'', the last explaining that the delete key can also be used.

If this comic is scientifically accurate, that correlation will be based on {{w|photosynthetically active radiation}}.

===Functionality===
====Lamps====
*The position of the lamp can be moved by clicking and dragging the lamp.
*The angle of the lamp can be rotated by clicking the lamp to reveal the red control triangle, and dragging it left or right, rotating it around the lamp.
*The area of the lamp can be adjusted from a narrow beam to a wide flood by clicking the lamp to reveal the red control triangle, and dragging it towards (wider) or away from (narrower) relative to the lamp.
*The light's color can be changed by clicking the lamp to reveal the red control dot, and by rotating the dot around the lamp. From the Center position (Yellow) the dot can be rotated Right (Magenta/Red) or Left (Cyan/Blue).
*Additional lamps (up to three total) can be added by clicking the black plus lamp icon along the right of the window.
*Lamps can be removed by clicking the lamp, then clicking the red X icon along the right of the window, or pressing the Delete key on the keyboard.

====Grown Items====
*Grown items may be highlighted by clicking on them.Selected grown items will be highlighted with a red circle, and appear slightly lighter then other items.
*Grown items may be "pruned" by the red X icon along the right of the window, or pressing the Delete key on the keyboard.
*Some items (such as the large tree) can be deleted in minor parts by selecting a branch or smaller set of leaves without deleting the entire tree.

====Saving images====
*In Edge, Firefox and Chrome, the image plus light cones but minus lamps and icons elements, can be saved by right clicking in the image.
**They do not always save in the same way as some browsers saves the part of the background without any light cones as white, and other save it as no background, in which case it may render black, basically hiding any black items outside the light.
***For those images it depends on which viewer is used to see the image, if everything can be seen or only that in the light cones. (Example will follow later).

====Permanent link====
*There is no [[1350#Permalink|permalink button]] as in the last two years' April Fool's comics.
*The URL is different for every garden that is loaded, but stays the same. It links to a server-side copy of the scene, which then changes depending on what the users does with their gardens.
**Sharing a URL will connect a new browser to the same garden session, but only the original browser will be allowed to edit.
**The user can always return to change the garden with the link, but only from the same browser on the same computer.
*The garden itself will thus continue to develop further from the time when the url was copied, and events will happen from now on even though the garden is not opened in any browser.
**If the user doesn't keep it, it will become infested with weeds.
**So most likely the garden is serverside, as all browsers are allowed to see the development of this garden, but users following the url are not allowed to edit anything.
*Here is an example garden [http://www.xkcd.com/1663/#0d11a2c8-fa8f-11e5-8001-42010a8e000e linked by ID] versus the same garden:
**In the original [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7f/1663_garden_tree_turtle_birdbath.png screenshot from April 4th] from when the url was created
**In a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7c/1663_garden_Flying_birds_deer_gate_with_cactus_turtles_snake_etc.png screenshot from April 5th] the day after.
**Here [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5a/1663_garden_Pruned_garden_with_birds_deer_gate_cactus_turtles_snake_gate.png example] after the user pruned the garden in the examples.
*Starting two browser windows or tabs pointing to the same URL will allow you to edit from either window.
**linden.xkcd.com holds all the data; the UUID just corresponds to your access key, held in your browser's local storage.

===Bugs===
*There have been several bugs mentioned already after the first day. Please include any spotted here:
**Also some problems that may now be fixed.
*May not run on some tablets or smart phones (i.e. touch-screen only devices).
*There are some browser versions of Chrome and Firefox where it doesn't run.
*The lamps may be invisible for a few seconds after loading.
*The whole page used to refresh at random intervals and lose the whole progress.
**It still does on April 5th.
**Sometimes (in some browsers?) the garden is reloaded when refreshing.
***This may though be because of the url (semi-permalink?).
***Seems to be dependent on the browser type.
*Some lamps jumped back to their starting position after a few minutes, without the ehole page reloading.
*For a few hours after its apparition, the loading didn't seem to stop for some people, making them think that the rotating tree was the whole joke, with people expected to "relax" while looking at it.
*Occasionally invisible objects are added. They can be deleted, and they have bounding boxes in the debugger. [http://xkcd.com/1663/?debug#d12a0932-faaa-11e5-8012-42010a8e0006]
*Doesn't work over https, you have to use http instead.
*It is possible to save the image in Chrome and in Firefox, but not in Explorer.
**But in Chrome the image is black where there is no light.
**In Firefox everything is visible, wth the light cones (in color) shown.
*Appears to have a memory leak at least in some Windows/Firefox versions, as keeping the page open for a long time will cause Windows to kill Firefox for insufficient memory.

==Transcript==
:[After a '''loading image''' with a rotating tree in the middle and the text "Loading..." with the three dots appearing one at a time, and then disappear when all three have been there the image shown above in the explanation will appear:]

:['''Description of the image above''': A piece of bare landscape is shown. At the edges there are some rocks or stones raising the level from the general level through the center of the panel. Above the middle, a little more than halfway to the to of the panel, is a light bulb sitting inside a lamp that reminds of the desk lamp from the movie Luxo Jr. The lamp shines a yellow light down on the landscape in a broad cone that jus reaches the first rock to the left, but not those to the right. The lamp just hovers in the air. In the top right corner are two gray icons. The top one has a black frame and shows an image of a lamp, tilted left as opposed to the straight position of the lamp in the image. There is a + sign below in the left corner. The second icon without a frame has a large white cross in the middle.]

:[This turns out to be a '''web applet''' and using the "+ lamp" icon two more lamps can be added getting up to three. They are all adjustable both regarding position, direction, color of light and beam width. When selecting a lamp a red circle appear around it with a small circle on top that can be used to control the light color from blue to the left to red to the right. In front is a red arrow that can turn the lamp and it can also be used to change the beam width by pulling it away from the lamp or pushing it back. The lamps can be moved by just clicking on it and moving it. The other icon with a X can be used to remove the lamps (and later any object that appear in the garden). When any object is selected there is a red circle around it. When this is done the gray cross icon becomes red and can the be used to delete the selected item. When no item is selected (either because it is deleted, or by clicking in a part of the screen with no items), then the cross icon turns gray again. When all three lamps are on, then the "+ lamp" icon is faded out.]

:['''If you wait''' (or relax, as in the title text), then a plant will grow or animals, humans and other items may appear. This could be birds, snakes, octopuses or turtles, Megan or Cueball or a birdbath, a monolith or a tall gate just as a few examples. Most of the items appear in one go, but at least the largest trees grow up with a big stem first and then adds parts later with leaves or empty branches. Also one item may appear on top of another item and for instance birds may fly in the air.]

==Trivia==
===April Fool's header text===
*There is some debate as to whether this comic is an April Fool's comic or not. And if instead the April fool's joke was the text written above the comic in the header of xkcd.
*Here below is the text (with links) to that text:
**On Friday, April 1st, 2016, the xkcd website [http://web.archive.org/web/20160401204749/https://xkcd.com/ began displaying] a message where the standard message "XKCD updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday." usually is:
::The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties.
::Please stand by!
:*Towards the end of Friday, the message [http://web.archive.org/web/20160402144823/http://xkcd.com was updated]:
::The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties.
::Status update: Please stand by.
::Status update: This is fine. Everything is fine.
::Status update: Everything is on fire.
::Status update: Searching for calendar systems in which Saturday is April 1st.
:*On Sunday April 3rd, the message was again [http://web.archive.org/web/20160403234504/https://xkcd.com/ changed] to:
::The Friday xkcd comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties
::[Editor's note: Everything is on fire] and has been delayed until Sunday night.
:*The comic did not come out until past midnight in the entire North America (coming out just before midnight in Hawaii).
:*When it was released very early on Monday April 4th, the text [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/53/Garden_Loading_screen_shot.png returned] to the old standard text for xkcd for a short while:
::XKCD updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
:*During April 4th, the message then changed to
::'''Protip:''' If you don't like how your garden is growing, you can click to prune it.
:*And then later on April 4th (staying at least like this until April 5th), the message [http://web.archive.org/web/20160404185353/http://www.xkcd.com/#96d6515a-fa96-11e5-8001-42010a8e000f changed] to:
::'''Protip:''' If you don't like how your garden is growing, you can click to prune it.
::You can copy the URL to share your garden. From other browsers, it will be view-only.
*Several things can be deduced from the above:
**It is clear that this comic did actually come out as promised, at least as promised in the third message about release on Sunday night.
**It is also clear that it is regarded as the Friday comic, even in the last update before the release.
**It is also clear that this was a very complex comic, and it is realistic that Randall did have problems with making it work. Even on day two there still seems to be several minor bugs, so he may even still be working on it.
*Both of the last two April Fool's comics, [[1350: Lorenz]] and [[1506: xkcloud]], have had no real meaning or joke in the comic. The jokes appeared from user input, and here from waiting.
**This makes people who spend too much time on them April Fools (or if they rather wish to be called a nerd than a fool, then they have been victim of [[356: Nerd Sniping|nerd sniping]]).
**So, even if Randall ''did'' play a joke on people who [[Talk:1662: Jack and Jill#What happened to Friday's comic|eagerly awaited the comic]], then he did deliver as promised a spectacular comic Sunday night.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics with animation]] 
[[Category:April fools' comics]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]] 
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Mars rovers]] 
[[Category:Protip]]

832: Tic-Tac-Toe

2016-03-18T20:59:47Z

173.245.54.55: Test

This is an example of vandalism. Please do not do this and revert this immediately. I am trying to see how long it takes before this gets reverted.

Talk:1639: To Taste

2016-02-08T13:44:26Z

173.245.54.55:

Seasoning is not an intermediate process which can't be repaired/re-done. you're left with an edible dish before and after. You add seasoning in small incremental steps, and the quality of the dish, or appropriateness of the taste improves monotonically, and additively. On the other hand, baking something for 5 minutes, and then another 5 minutes isn't the same as baking it for 10 minutes. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.49.78|162.158.49.78]] 09:54, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
: Yeah, but a beginner should be given an idea of what a basic incremental step is supposed to be, based on the number of servings in the recipe. One pinch? One (tea/table)spoon? One cup? One jug? One crate? - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.23|141.101.70.23]] 11:38, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
: Usually when it's said ''to taste'', which I guess corresponds to the Italian ''quanto basta'', it's referring to small amounts, so a beginner could just add a pinch per time until he finds the flavor is good. Whenever it's unnecessary, recipes shouldn't be specific; you don't have to grill a steak for exactly 5 or 10 minutes, just until it has the color and looks of a steak you think you may like; if you boil pasta, you taste a bit once a minute until the texture is good. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.249|188.114.102.249]] 12:25, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
::: The joke is that this kind of knowledge is implied in recipes, it isn't spelled out. Which can be a problem for beginners. And good luck trying that approach when baking spiced bread. Or manufacturing soufflé. ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.138|162.158.114.138]] 13:15, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
::: Luckily, there are pastas which specify how long you are supposed to cook them on the package. Especially useful in case of those "fast" ones. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:57, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
: "Appropriateness" increases "monotonically" ... until it decreases again. :D [[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.138|162.158.114.138]] 13:15, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
: Try preparing two slow cook dishes but in one add all the seasoning at the end before serving. You will now know that seasoning can be very integral to the process and if added in wrong quantities at the wrong time can ruin a dish.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 17:11, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
: '''''De gustibus non disputandum est.''''' [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 16:46, 6 February 2016 (UTC) — [[RAGBRAIvet]] {{unsigned|RAGBRAIvet}}
'''''De gustibus non disputandum est''''' This is Joda-Latin, isn't it? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.225|162.158.91.225]] 13:26, 6 February 2016 (UTC)

I can't tell if Randall is reading too many cookbooks or if he just has... Too many cooks[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.54|108.162.221.54]] 13:46, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
: It does take a lot to make a stew, after all. A lot of sugar, in this case. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.29|173.245.54.29]] 07:19, 6 February 2016 (UTC)
: That's only 3 cubes. Totally reasonable. [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 20:24, 7 February 2016 (UTC)

Maybe he obtained enough sugar so his sample size would be sufficient for scientific experimentation on what to taste means.[[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 14:02, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

In my experience, the instructions "add _____ to taste" usually are referring to salt, not sugar. And from comic #1637, we all know Cueball has access to virtually an unlimited quantity of salt! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.252|173.245.54.252]] 14:55, 5 February 2016 (UTC)Sam
:As a non-USAian, it's interesting that Randall has chosen to show excessive amounts of sugar. I've used many great recipes of US origin and the first thing I do is ignore everything that the recipe says about sugar, in pretty much every case (not baking though) our (British taste) is satisfied by removing all added sugar. Perhaps he's highlighting the US "sweet tooth"?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.147|162.158.34.147]] 08:39, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Why is he bringing in the sugar backwards? Perhaps he doesn't know how to properly use a dolly?
[[User:Bsellnow|Bsellnow]] ([[User talk:Bsellnow|talk]]) 19:37, 5 February 2016 (UTC)
:Maybe he just came up the stairs? There's loads of houses that have stairs (or, frequently, a single stair) between the kitchen and the back porch/food storage area/front porch/garage/attic/wherever else you'll get sugar from. Plus, since the sugar was stacked so high it was leaning against his face, there's no way he'd be able to see if he was walking forwards. I think, really, his biggest sin is that he stacked the boxes to an unsafe level. [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 00:34, 6 February 2016 (UTC)
::No kidding that's an unsafe level. He's holding them up with his face! [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 03:37, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
:::The framing of the comic was such that if he had pushed the dolly in, we would not have seen cueball in the last panel, and might have been confused as to where the crates of sugar were coming from, and if they were just falling in, or dollying in, or what. Randall knows how to draw in a manner that conveys the meaning, and we really don't need to look into it so deeply.

1639: To Taste

2016-02-08T13:40:59Z

173.245.54.55: /* Transcript */ Keep it simple.

{{comic
| number = 1639
| date = February 5, 2016
| title = To Taste
| image = to_taste.png
| titletext = Look, recipe, if I knew how much was gonna taste good, I wouldn't need you.
}}

==Explanation==
The imprecision of {{w|recipes}} is often a sources of frustration to culinary novices, especially the more analytically-minded. [[Cueball]] expects a recipe to provide instructions precise enough that by following them carefully, a cook can create a dish exactly as the recipe author intended. Unfortunately, exact replication is impossible in cooking because of the natural variation of ingredients as well as differences in equipment. In addition, most home cooks lack the tools needed to make precise measurements, such as scales and thermometers. Thus, a recipe for strawberry {{w|smoothies}} might read "add sugar '''to taste'''" because the recipe-writer can't specify precisely how ripe the strawberries are to begin with. In addition, a smoothie recipe would typically specify imprecise quantities of fruit such as "1 banana" or "1 cup of strawberries" (much less precise than specifying the weight). Thus, it is impossible for the cook to determine the correct amount of {{w|sugar}} without actually tasting the drink.

The instruction "to {{w|taste}}" can also be used for ingredients that alter a simple aspect of the food's flavor, such as {{w|sweetness}}, {{w|Taste#Sourness|sourness}}, {{w|Taste#Saltiness|saltiness}} or {{w|Taste#Bitterness|bitterness}} without affecting the quality of the overall dish. Individual preferences can vary wildly and it's not possible for a recipe's author to predict how much the reader will want. Specifying any exact amount in these cases will inevitably lead to the food being too {{w|Bland diet|bland}} for some, while being too {{w|Pungency|strong}} for others.

In this comic, Cueball is shown as having no idea how to cook (or having a ridiculously large sweet tooth), and the suggestion that he is going to add large crates of sugar to a small pot is of course silly. This would ruin the dish, as whatever was in the pot would be drowned out by the sugar. Alternatively, he could simply bring in enough sugar to make sure he will not run out of this particular ingredient before it reaches the correct level of sweetness for his taste. This too would display a complete lack of understanding about what it is to cook.

The title text is [[Randall|Randall's]] (and Cueball's) personal comment on what he thinks a recipe should do to fulfill his needs. If he knew how much of each ingredient would be appropriate for a given dish, then he would not need the recipe in the first place. the title text actually scolds the recipe for being imprecise. In his view, mixing in imprecise or "use your own judgment" language makes it less of a "recipe" for the dish, and thus less suitable for those looking for the specific instructions to make the dish because they either have no cooking experience, feel they don't have the expertise to make their own decisions, or simply want to follow clearly defined steps without any decision making required.

This is the second comic this week that concerns one of the basic {{w|condiments}} for food, and also regards one of the five {{w|Taste#Basic_tastes|basic tastes}}. The first one, about salt, was [[1637: Salt Mine]]. Lately Randall has made several [[:Category:Food|food related comics]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing near a stove holding a pot just above it. He is looking away from the stove, reading the recipe from a piece of paper he is holding in the other hand.]
:Recipe: ...And add sugar to taste.

:[Cueball has placed the pot on the stove looking at it while holding the paper down along his side.]
:Cueball: ??

:[Cueball leaves the pot and stove to walks off-panel left with the recipe.]

:[Cueball returns backing up to the stove with a dolly loaded with three crates labeled "SUGAR".]
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]

1350: Lorenz

2016-01-16T14:57:50Z

173.245.54.55: /* Space */

__NOTOC__
{{comic
| number = 1350
| date = April 1, 2014
| title = Lorenz
| image = lorenz.png
| titletext = Every choice, no matter how small, begins a new story
}}
<div class="toclimit-3" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;">__TOC__</div>
'''NOTE: The above is the first panel of an interactive comic.''' 
To actually experience the interactive content you need to go to this comic on xkcd (click on the date above the comic, which, as always, takes you to the xkcd comic) 
For a collection of images that appear in this comic, see [[1350: Lorenz/Images]]. These will also be described below under [[#Themes|themes]]. 
Also note that the order of the options are random. And by adding that there is a fifth option - and only four can be shown - this means there are 5*4*3*2 = '''120 different permutations''' of the way the options can be arranged only in this first image. So the above image will only appear with these four options in this order in less than 1% of the cases! Of course when you choose an option it is indifferent what the order of the other options was.

==Explanation==
This is an interactive and dynamic comic with the first picture shown on top of this page, with a possible combination of text options to choose from (see above). The picture is always the same but the order of the four sentences is chosen randomly. The result of all the interactions by the readers led to the generation of {{w|Crowdsourcing|crowd-sourced content}}. In honor of {{w|April Fools' Day}}, the comic was posted a day earlier than normal (on Tuesday instead of Wednesday).

The title 'Lorenz' is referring to {{w|Edward Norton Lorenz}} who, among other subjects, was famous for {{w|Chaos theory}} and the {{w|Butterfly effect}}.

The title text is a reference to how the story line of this comic will be chaotic by nature, since it includes all of the user submitted dialogue and updates over time based on statistics of user clicks. In this manner, it is a reference to the butterfly effect, a phrase coined by Edward Lorenz to describe how a small initial change can lead to wide variations in outcome in a chaotic system.

This comic is an example of a {{w|Choose Your Own Adventure}} story as mentioned in the title text.

Some of the idea of this comic is used again in the next year's April Fools' comic [[1506: xkcloud]] where user input also generated a very complex comic and the concept of "[[#Permalink|permalink]]" was used again.

==Functionality and bugs==
The reader is initially presented with only one panel where Knit Cap Girl is sitting in front of her computer. The reader is given multiple choices concerning what exactly Knit Cap Girl is thinking. Upon choosing any option - the chosen text will appear where her gray speech bubble was (and this will then disappear), and then a second panel appears to the right, to give continuity to the story. Each new panel may have a new set of options or just the button "Continue" to see the next panel without making any choice in particular. Eventually, one may reach a dead end in which the story is interrupted and reader is presented with a text box to suggest how it should continue. Some of the suggestions given should eventually become available as new options.

===Knit Cap Girl===
Knit Cap Girl is a completely new character wearing a knit cap. Since Knit Cap Girl seems to be together with [[Hairy]] in this comic it would be strange if she should be representing Megan. (Hairy has some bad reputation in trying to fool girls to fall for him. Perhaps he has finally found out how to be with a woman; although they seem to fight in this comic some times.)

===Number of options===
Normally, there is a total of 4 options to make: a/b/c/d. Their order changes constantly. Sometimes, there are 3 or fewer options, with the text box to suggest an alternative option. Sometimes, a given panel actually has 5 or more available options, although even in this case only 4 options appear at a time. Refreshing the comic changes randomly which of the available options are visible and which are hidden. As of late April 2014, the existence of 5 options seems to occur only in a few rare cases, including the first panel itself. There are no longer any panels that seem to have six options.

===Easy navigation===
Instead of clicking with the mouse you can move more quickly through the panels using the keyboard:
*Up/Down - navigate options
*Enter/Right/Spacebar - choose option after navigating with Up/Down
*Left - go back one panel
*a/b/c/d - choose any option directly

===New panels===
It appears that new panels may be generated by Randall in near real time as user suggestions to dialog are submitted. The dialog options could be based on click-through rates and hence will change over time based on which choices are clicked most using {{w|A/B testing|A/B measurement techniques}}. This will mean that the most popular choices for dialog lines will prevail as the statistics build up. In some cases, dialog line options do not depend on the continuity of the storyline followed, suggesting that some parts of the story are planned. For example, several of the story lines involve one of the two main characters waking up and for instance telling the other character, "I had the strangest dream…" or even reliving the dream. This may be due to common submissions across story lines. Of course there is the other option that Randall has used the first week of April to look though some input and choose himself. These possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Some of the options that were there very early were in quite poor English. Later the same idea was still there but in a more refined sentence. However, after the first week or two, no new panels seemed to appear, which suggests that some were drawn to match the story's progression.

===Permalink===
A "{{w|permalink}}" is a portmanteau, of "permanent-link". Each panel has a "permalink" button which generates a unique URL for all the choices made by the reader — so a reader can save the chosen choices to compare them to other ways going through the selections. The permalink do only save the chosen options, not the order or the visible options in the image where the permalink is recorded. So it is not possible to save a copy where the options are in the same order as they are in the 1/120 version shown at the top. Also if you go back in the story from a permalink, you can risk, when passing back through a panel with five options, that the option you just got back from, is no longer available, as it is the option randomly not shown this time.

===Suggest a line===
Some times it is possible to add your own suggestions in a panel where there are still other choices. But if not before, then the story will always reach a "final" panel (dead-end) where the reader only has the option left to "suggest a line..." By doing so and pressing enter this text is then shown in the speech bubble. But these suggestions can't be saved as there are no permalink button after this. The reader has to do a screen shot by himself - if he wishes to save his own witty remark. As a few weeks had progressed there were probably so few new suggestions that Randall stopped changing the comic. There has been no reason to believe that new options or panels appeared after the first few weeks of April.

===Bugs===
Since this interactive comic relies on many servers in the background to provide the response to the reader's actions, there are some problems reported here:
*{{w|HTTP cookie|Cookies}} and {{w|Javascript}} are required to see this page properly. Without cookies, the next panel will not render; attempting to load the page in the UNIXKCD terminal or loading the page without Javascript will just get you the [[1349|previous comic]].
*In the first week after the comic was released, if a response led to a panel where two characters speak at the same time, it was impossible to proceed past the first speech bubble. This was subsequently fixed.
As a consequence of these bugs many readers had trouble understanding how this interactive comic worked.

==Themes==
===Computer===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! The beginning [[Image:lorenz - computer.png]]
| Knit Cap Girl sits at her laptop saying/thinking something. You choose what from four options and thus starts the interactive and dynamic comic. Originally on April the 1st there where only four choices, but this has increased since. But you always have four to choose from when you begin.
|-
! Computer problems [[Image:lorenz - laptop 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]
| Knit Cap Girl's laptop has an unspecified problem. Hairy walks in and they attempt to fix it by connecting his laptop with hers. There are two outcomes possible:
*He fails so badly that they end up randomly floating in the ocean (with or without circling sharks - a reference to [[349: Success]] see below.)
*It doesn't work so now Knit Cap Girl tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a paper (a manual?) she holds in her hand. This also fails and the story continues with a blowtorch scene - see below:
|-
! Blowtorch [[Image:lorenz - laptop 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - laptop 11.png]]
| Knit Cap Girl becomes so upset with her laptop that she decides to melt it using a blowtorch - a clear reference to the comic from the day before this one: [[1349: Shouldn't Be Hard]]. After this they walk out of the building.
|}

===Political debate===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Debate [[image:lorenz - debate laptop.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 1.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 2.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 5.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 4.png]] [[image:lorenz - debate 3.png]] [[image:lorenz - visit.png]]
| Knit Cap Girl uses har laptop to watch a debate online between the Politician 1 (on the left) and the Politician 2 ([[Cueball]], on the right), the subject and the actual conversation of which varies according to the storyline. Eventually one of two things can happen:
*They fight each other, the Politician 2 using a lightsaber (or something that looks like a holy sword, but isn't) and the Politician 1 using his bare fists
*Politician 1 is going down on one knee - either to pray or as in a suggestion to ask the other to marry him...
Subjects debated could be user suggestions but below are one of those from April the 1st:
*Politician 1 accuses Politician 2 of having never liked Firefly.
*Politician 1 vows to end the "war on Christmas" if elected.
*Politician 1 praises his adversary and supports his economic plan.
*Politician 1 questions Politician 2's project of tying multiple birds to a car as fuel replacement, which would require some method to make the birds take off in unison. The solutions mentioned for this topic are given here as an example:
**Opening and closing an umbrella near them (a reference to {{W|Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade}}).
**Using a predatory bird to the car to scare them
**Putting resources in the hands of bird educators for the purpose of training them
**Employing fiscal hawks.
If the Politician 1 points out some problem with the reasoning, often the solution proposed by the Politician 2 would be doing the same in a larger scale or saying he completely agrees with everything the other says...
In the end, Hairy walks in to Knit Cap Girl and points out something happening near which may or may not involve birds (or what ever was the subject) which could be a direct result of Politician 2's project. Again all this could be user input!
The last image where Hairy walks in have been used also in other story lines
|}

===Ocean===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Wrong move [[image:lorenz - laptop 6.png]]
| Knit Cap Girl tries to write something on Hairy's laptop from a note she has in her hand. Hairy watches. This image is also used in the computer problem theme above. But this time it goes really wrong and the Ocean scene appears right after this:
|-
! Sharks [[image:lorenz - shark zero.png]] [[image:lorenz - shark one.png]] [[image:lorenz - sharks.png]] [[image:lorenz - squids.png]] [[image:lorenz - blood.png]]
| Knit Cap Girl and Hairy are floating in the ocean, with or without sharks. A clear reference to [[349: Success]]. Sharks have been the subject of several other comics.
Three giant squids appear and a lone shark seems disturbed. Maybe the squids killed the sharks leaving the blood in the last of these images?

Here are some examples with these images
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b96fda0-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Zero and one shark]
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9b6e3082-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Three shark]
*[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:9ba76992-bb48-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd Squids and blood].

|-
! Beach [[image:lorenz - hairy swims away.png]] [[image:lorenz - beach.png]]
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy starts to swim out of the shark free ocean and finally reaches a beach - see [[349: Success]].
*Here are an example where they reach the [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:310127b6-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd beach].
|}

===Leaving the building===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Leaving [[Image:lorenz - going.png]]
| In some storylines the two characters leaves the building. Either with the laptop intact (like after the politic debate) or with a fused laptop (see computer problems theme). In either case they encounter one of the following scenarios when they come out the door:
|-
! Empty lawn [[Image:lorenz - away.png]]
| Sometimes nothing is outside the building except the pavement they walk upon there is just an empty lawn. See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b69f6096-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd this example] for both of the first two pictures here. From this point they can move on to walk past stuff - see below.
|-
! Huge hole on the lawn [[image:lorenz - hole.png]]
| There is a huge hole in the ground just outside of the building. The two characters always end up falling into it and one of them awakes from a night mare - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. See below about dreams.
|-
! Rocket on the lawn [[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]]
| There is a space rocket on the lawn outside the building - see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. See below about dreams and space travel.
|}

===Walking===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Starting the walk [[Image:lorenz - away.png]]
| When there is nothing outside the building the walk begins. It can though begin in other ways, but that is usually longer into a complicated story. The walk begins with Knit Cap Girl and Hairy walking together, but they also often walks alone as will be shown below.
|-
!Walking past [[Image:lorenz - tree.png]] [[Image:lorenz - gap.png]]
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy walks together past the following items:
*A tree
*A gap in the ground - which Knit Cap Girl jumps over, much like in a pit from Mario brothers.
|-
!Walking together [[Image:lorenz - dark.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walking.png]]
|The two characters are seen walking together from different perspectives.
|-
!Arguing [[Image:lorenz - discuss.png]] [[Image:lorenz - hairy leaves.png]] [[Image:lorenz - knit cap leaves.png]]
|Knit Cap Girl and Hairy stops their walk to have an argument. Then either she or he leaves the other by walking back the way they came.
|-
!Alone - Girl [[Image:lorenz - walk 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 6.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - thinking.png]] [[Image:lorenz - bird gift.png]] [[Image:lorenz - bird money.png]]
|Knit Cap Girl walks alone. This is not necessarily because of the argument! She is seen walking alone in many different poses and perspectives. At one point she is thinking - this does not have to be while alone! At some point a bird passes over her carrying a gift. It then returns - now with a money note in its beak.
|-
!Alone - Guy [[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - walk 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - thinking 2.png]]
|Hairy is seen walking alone. This is not necessarily because of the argument! He is seen walking alone in two poses. At one point he is thinking - this does not have to be while alone! In one story line the ''meanwhile'' image appears before this walk like in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example].
|}

===Rocket launch===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
!Into the rocket [[Image:lorenz - rocket 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 4.png]]
| Leaving the bulding the characters find the rocket on the lawn, and climbs into it.
|-
!Out of the rocket [[Image:lorenz - rocket 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 6.png]]
| In some storylines the rocket does not launch (it fails or they do not wish to go into space). So the two characters climb out again.
|-
!Rocket launch [[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]
| If they do not climb out again, the rocket will launch into space. Sometimes an image from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} will appear - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example] where the launch wakes a character up from a dream. If the characters do not wake up here, see dream theme, then the rocket will go into space - see Space theme. Before reacing space a dark image will turn up as shown [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here].(This picture is also used in the dream sequence with the hole).
|}

===Space===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
!Rocket launch [[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]]
| When the rocket is launch into space sometimes an image from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} will appear - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. The characthers do not always wake up if this image is shown as in the example, see dream theme. If they do not then the rocket will go into space and often a black image will turn up as shown [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here].(This picture is also used in the dream sequence with the hole). See other examples for these pictures in the last two entries.
|-
!Flying over earth [[Image:lorenz - rocket 10.png]]
| After entering space, the rocket is in an orbit over earth.
|-
!In space [[Image:lorenz - rocket 13.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 14.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 19.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 20.png]]
| From earth the rocket flies into deep space. At one point it may come close to the sun - which could explain the white color in one image.
|-
!Asteroids [[Image:lorenz - rocket 24.png]]
| Passing the {{W|Asteroid belt}}
|-
!Saturn [[Image:lorenz - rocket 12.png]]
| Passing {{W|Saturn}} with it's majestic rings
|-
!Fly by [[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 18.png]]
| The space rocket encounters another space ship that asks a question about relativity, the same one that appeared in [[265: Choices: Part 2]]. The other space rocket will shoot and destroy the main rocket if the question isn't answered satisfactory see below. Otherwise the two rockets fly past each other.
|-
!Little Prince [[Image:lorenz - rocket 21.png]]
| Eventually the space rocket meets a guy on a very tiny planet which most likely is a reference to {{w|The Little Prince}}. This could also be a reference to the asteroid [http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/09/30/asteroid-4942-munroe/ 4942 Munroe], then it could be [[Randall]] on the rock... The story never seem to move past this point.I just made it past it here [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:25743f70-baee-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd] Here is an [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd example].
|-
!Attack [[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
| If the answer to the space ship is not acceptable it will turn around after passing, and shoot down the rocket. This will turn off the rockets in the Kerbal Space Program simulator, and in turn one of the characthers (Hairy?) will awake from a dream, see dream theme. Most of the images above as well as this attack is included in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]
|}

===Kerbal Space Program===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
!Engines on [[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]]
|These pictures are from the flight simulator program {{W|Kerbal Space Program}} (KSP). An example of the image in the comic can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd here]. In this case the liftoff with the engine on turns out to be just a dream. But the image can also precede a space travel going into deep space - as the travel shown below. See more on the this under the space theme.
|-
!Engines off [[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]]
|Here we see an image with the engines off. See this [http://i.imgur.com/UofvQ.png image] from KSP where the rocket engines are not on. This image is usually shown after the spaceship is shut down and it turns out it was just a dream - see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. See more on the this under the space theme.
|}

===Dinosaur===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Dinosaur Comics [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]
| The green T-rex from {{w|Dinosaur Comics}} (a clip-art-based webcomic that uses the same artwork with different captions for every strip.) interrupts the story and proceeds to talk about his tiny arms or other subjects. The first three pictures are taken directly from the webcomic, except that the third picture is larger in the real comic (see [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2420 this particular example] where the title text actually refer to Randall and xkcd). In the end, the dinosaur stamps on the house the main characters are in (this is thus Randall's own picture). If it gets this far one of the characters will wake up from a dream - It may be only Knit Cap Girl as she is the one seen fully in the fourth image. Examples where this is the second dream can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] and [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here]. See more under the dream theme.

Characters from ''Dinosaur Comics'' has aslso appeared in [[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]] and [[1452: Jurassic World]].
|}

===Boomerang===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Finding Boomerang [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 2.png]]
| Knit Cap Girl finds a boomerang on the ground and may express her feelings about it. The other images listed below, may come more or less in any order and any number of times. She may comment on it again after catching it. She may also put it down. See below also for examples of story lines.
Boomerangs are also featured in: [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]], [[475: Further Boomerang Difficulties]], [[939: Arrow]]
|-
! Throwing Boomerang [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 6.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang 11.png]]
| Knit Cap Girl throws the boomerang, and it flies back (and forth). This can go on for a while, and she may even [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:08896f1c-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 lay it down and walk away]. However, more often than not she will end up with an accident:
|-
! Accidents [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 6.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang rocket 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang rocket 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang boom.png]] [[Image:lorenz - surprise.png]] [[Image:lorenz - run.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - boomerang accident 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - meanwhile.png]]
| These accidents are:
*Getting hit in the face - The two options here below are both featured in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].
**Knit Cap Girl getting hit in the face with the boomerang rebound (i.e. [[445: I Am Not Good with Boomerangs]])
**Knit Cap Girl fails to catch the boomerang and the rebound hit Hairy in the face off screen and he then enters the frame in the next image.
*Hitting the space rocket from another story branch - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].
*The boomerang crashing into something off panel - someone may shout back - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:fc34f46a-ba98-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd this example]. (i.e. [[475: Further Boomerang Difficulties]])
**In some cases the meanwhile image appears like in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example].
|}

===Pokémon===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! A wild Pikachu appeared [[Image:lorenz - pikachu appeared.png]]
| Some of the storylines involve Pokémon battles featuring Pikachu, a very popular Pokémon. The battles are drawn in the style of the video games. (A trainer in the left-bottom corner facing the foe in the right-top corner, with a narration box below the scene and the trainer's Pokéballs visible, although some elements are missing, such as the level, gender and HP bar.) In this first image Pikachu the wild pokémon appears. Then the fight begins. Pikachu is the reason no fight begins in [[1516: Win by Induction]].

|-
! Pikachu's moves [[Image:lorenz - pikachu abandonment.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu anguish.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu ant.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu extrude.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu faceless.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu friendship.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu granite.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu graph.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu ink cloud.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu radicality.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu theft.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu uplift.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu ethylene.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu blank.png]]
| Pikachu uses a number of different moves, though these are mostly made up and are not from the Pokémon games. Pikachu's moves are almost invariably remarked by the narrator as "It's not very effective...", but "It's super effective!" is also possible to appear. (see below)
In the video games, a move is "not very effective" when the opponent's type resists the attacking move's type and "super effective" when the opponent's type is weak to the attacking move's type.

Pikachu's moves (see below for examples - those appearing in the examples are marked with ¤$£ etc):
* Abandonment ^ - Pikachu disappears completely.
* Anguish ¤% - Pikachu is sad.
* Ant Colony - Pikachu is covered in ants.
* Extrude - Pikachu's head moves away from his body as his neck becomes long and malleable.
* Faceless $ - Pikachu's face disappears.
* Friendship £ - Pikachu is on Knit Cap Girl's head, signifying they are now friends. Friendship, though not a move, is a game mechanic in the video games.
* Granite % - Pikachu is atop a block of granite.
* Graph Theory ¤ - The theory can be seen behind Pikachu
* Ink Cloud % - Pikachu is covered in ink. In the storyline Pikachu uses it, there is the option to "gather" the ink.
* Radicality £ - Pikachu is on a skateboard.
* Theft & - Pikachu wears Knit Cap Girl's hat. Pikachu seems to be using "Thief", a similarly-named actual move from the games, that is used to steal the foe's item and use it as its own.
* Uplift - Pikachu's head goes upward, separated from its body, showing a long, thick cable still connecting the head and the body.
* Ethylene Dichloride ¤ - Pikachu holds a glass with Ethylene Dichloride - Nothing seems to happen, although Ethylene Dichloride is a toxic chemical, therefore there may be future consequences for the characters.
** After using it, ("not very effective") Pikachu may make remarks about the move using the blank version of the image from below (the following text are users suggestion):
*** I used to be better at chemistry.
*** This is still better than all the lightning crap.
* Blank text box ¤£% - for user input
**The below items are (probably) not with a certain picture but text that users have suggested appear in the blank picture at the bottom of this section:
** Struggle
***In one storyline, after Pikachu uses a number of moves, it says: "Now I only have Struggle left. Tie?" In the Pokémon games, when a Pokémon runs out of PP (Power Points, the energy required to use each of its moves) for all its moves, it may only use Struggle, a weak move, indefinitely reusable, that harms not only the opponent but the user as well.
** Cuteness %
** Yet %
** Crowdsource
** The Discrete Metric

Here are some examples of battle (please help include links to all moves):
* ¤ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 4 different moves]
* % [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:f203d1c6-ba22-11e3-801a-002590d77bdd 5 different moves]
* £ [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd 3 different moves]
* $ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd Faceless move]
* & [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:b8fe0a3c-bb52-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd Theft move]
* ^ [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:2f0612e0-bbd7-11e3-8030-002590d77bdd Abandonment move]

Below are some transcript of lines from user input and their references:
*One narration line is "Where's Twitch when I need help?", a reference to {{w|Twitch Plays Pokémon}} which was also covered by comic [[1333: First Date]].
*Another narration line is: "Google Maps didn't warn me of this.", a reference to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YMD6xELI_k Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge].
*Other remarks from Pikachu or about Pikachu can be seen in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:e8cf1df0-bbd4-11e3-802e-002590d77bdd this example]
** Pikachu: Aren't you going to catch me? It's not difficult, I promise... Please? [Knit Cap Girl and Hairy ignore him and go away]
*** Please! Jigglypuff keeps on drawing on my face!
*** You were walking in tall grass! You asked for it!
*** Please... Tame me! I want to party on days other than Thursday.
**** [Hairy remarks] Y'know, if we catch a Pikachu, we would never [sic] to pay our electric bills again.
*Pokémon mentioned other than Pikachu:
** Charizard (In one storyline, "Go Charizard" is one usable move in battle)
** Jigglypuff
|-
! Not effective [[Image:lorenz - pikachu not very effective.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu end 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu end 2.png]]
|Normally after a few failed attempts - where the result is given as ''It's not very effective'', there is an uncomfortable silence as the Pikachu says "Um..." Then it talks to Knit Cap Girl and Hairy and as they then walk away past the Pókemon, Pikachu is left in the tall grass and has time to make a final remark. See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example] where they walk away only to meet another wild Pikachu.
|-
! Super effective [[Image:lorenz - pikachu super effective.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu fainted.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - pikachu dead 5.png]]
|Rarely, a suggested move knocks Pikachu out. This is stated as ''It's super effective'' (sometimes this image comes right after the one with ''It's not very effective''). The result is that Pikachu faints. Knit Cap Girl and Hairy looks at the fainted (not dead) Pikachu who lies facedown in the grass. Then Knit Cap Girl ''pokes'' the pókemon and they walk past him out of the tall grass like in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:feaa5d4e-bbd2-11e3-802c-002590d77bdd this example].
|}

===Dreams===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Walking up [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
| Sometimes, Knit Cap Girl or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just them dreaming. Below are several situations where a dream will or may occur described (and shown with the full sequence leading up to the dream displayed).
Often a dream loops upon itself, as a character wakes up multiple times in the same storyline, either from the same dream or from different dreams.
Sometimes it even turns out that each character has a dream in the same storyline, meaning that the last to wake up, has dreamt that they were the other character waking up before... See examples of all this below.
The dream scenarios (together with the ''meanwhile'' image) would make it possible to connect all images into one long sequence!
Some situations will always result in a character waking up, others will only in some story lines lead to an awakening.
As can be seen in these two images Knit Cap Girl wakes up with her head to the left and the cap lying on the end of the bed. Hairy wakes up with his head to the right.
|-
! Falling [[Image:lorenz - hole.png]] [[Image:lorenz - falling.png]] [[Image:lorenz - aaa.png]] [[Image:lorenz - aaa 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 9.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
| One of the most obvious dreams is the one about falling as in this case where both characters falls into a big hole outside the building they are leaving - as shown here in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example] where first one then the other characters awake from the same falling dream.
In the case - with the hole - one (or either as shown above) of the characters wakes up from the nightmare after falling into the hole. But they can wake up after any of the three black pictures shown here. The other two pictures (which were not included in the first example) can be seen in [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example].(The total black picture is also sometimes used in the space theme). The hole situation will always turn out to be a dream.
|-
! Dinosaur [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - dinosaur 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]
| A Dinosaur enters the comic (see more about these same images under the Dinosaur theme). If the comic goes on long enough these four images will appear and after the last the character awakes from the nightmare. It may be only Knit Cap Girl as she is the one seen fully in the fourth image. Examples where this is the second dream can be seen [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] and [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 here]. If the dinosaur steps on the building the story will always turn out to be a dream.
|-
! Evil spaceship [[Image:lorenz - rocket 15.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 16.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 17.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 18.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 22.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 23.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
| During a space travel the rocket passes another space ship. If a failed communication occurs the space ship turns around and shoots down the rocket. At this point it turns out it was just a nightmare and one of the characters wake up (maybe only Hairy?). See [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 this example]. In the last picture before waking we see an image from the flight simulator program Kerbal Space Program (KSP) with the rockets off - see the KSP theme. This situation will always turn out to be a dream.
|-
! Rocket launch [[Image:lorenz - rocket 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - rocket 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]
| This dream is not really a nightmare, as opposed to the three above, where the characters always wake up. This is not necessarily the case for the rocket launch. But in this case described here Knit Cap Girl (maybe also Hairy) wakes up during the rocket launch - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd this example]. In the last picture before waking we see an image from the flight simulator program Kerbal Space Program (KSP) with the rockets on - see the KSP theme.
|-
! Politic debate [[Image:lorenz - debate 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - debate 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - debate 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]]
| In this dream, that is not so much a nightmare that it will always be a dream (like the first three) Knit Cap Girl (maybe also Hairy) wakes up after a silly political debate - see [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd this example].
|}

===Waking up===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
|-
! Walking up [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]]
| Sometimes, Knit Cap Girl or Hairy find themselves waking from a dream, suggesting that all prior events were just them dreaming. After they awake they stay in bed for a while and then go out in to the world. These scenes will be shown here below.
As can be seen in these two images Knit Cap Girl wakes up with her head to the left and the cap lying on the end of the bed. Hairy wakes up with his head to the right.
|-
! In bed - Girl [[Image:lorenz - wake up 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 11.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 10.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 3.png]]
|Knit Cap Girl wakes up with a ''Gasp''. She sits for a while - may then begin to sing ''I woke up like this'' (This could be a reference to {{W|Flawless (Beyoncé song)}}). After this she may lie down again before finally getting out of bed.
|-
!Yawning - Girl [[Image:lorenz - wake up 4.png]] [[Image:lorenz - computer.png]]
|Yawning Knit Cap Girl gets back to her laptop and we are back to the first image as can be seen in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example].
|-
! In bed - Guy [[Image:lorenz - wake up 5.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 6.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 13.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 7.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 12.png]]
|Hairy wakes up with a ''Gasp''. He sits for a while - may then begin to sing ''I woke up like this'' (This could be a reference to {{W|Flawless (Beyoncé song)}}). After this he may lie down again before finally getting out of bed. Notice that [[Randall]] forgot to draw Hairy's hairy hair as he lay down again. If it was a wig, it should have hung over the bed like Knit Cap Girls Knit Cap does.
|-
!Yawning - Guy [[Image:lorenz - wake up 8.png]] [[Image:lorenz - wake up 9.png]]
|Yawning Hairy walks in where Knit Cap Girl sits at her laptop and tells her about his dream(?) as can be seen in [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd this example], where both yawning pictures appear.
|-
! Salesman [[Image:lorenz - sale 1.png]] [[Image:lorenz - sale 2.png]] [[Image:lorenz - sale 3.png]] [[Image:lorenz - sale 4.png]]
| Instead of going to Knit Cap Girl after walking up Hairy can take an alternative route where he meets [[White Hat]], a salesman with a small stand. White Hat tries to sell something to Hairy. Will he succeed.
|}

==Transcript==
:[This transcript only transcribes what can be seen in the picture shown at the top of the explanation here.]

:[The comic starts with two panels. In the top panel we see Knit Cap Girl sitting at a desk in front of her laptop typing. There is a speech line up to a gray but empty speech bubble.]
:[The second panel below has the same gray background as the empty speech bubble above. Here is presented four options to what Knit Cap Girl could be saying. They are marked a, b, c and d written in small white rectangles next to the text. There is a small arrow at the top pointing to the first panel:]

:a Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays.
:b Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on.
:c Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook.
:d Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...

:[Once the reader chooses one of the options the text will appear in the speech bubble where the gray area is replaced with the usual white background. The lower gray panel disappears. Now the comic really begins.]
:[A new panel is shown after the selection, again with one to four options to choose from in the new gray panel below. This will continue until it comes to an end where the reader finally only has the choice to suggest the next line.]

:[The order of the up to four options are random, and changes every time you begin again (or even go back to a previous frame). This means that the a-d in the transcript is not the same next time. In some few panels there are even more than four options. To see the fifth you have to reload, then you may find this fifth option next time. The first panel is one of those with five options.]
:[The fifth not shown above is: '''These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game.''']

:[In the first days of the comic when it developed quickly, new options appeared only to later disappear. '''Gravity. Lots of it.''' is one of those lost options from the first panel. At one time there was also by mistake two versions of one of the other five mentioned above. But this was later deleted. Maybe there could still be a permalink to these lost stories out there...? (Wish granted: see [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:87adb65e-baa2-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd here] for the part just after "Gravity. Lots of it.")]

:[Although it may be impossible to finish? ... it has been tried to make a complete '''[[1350: Lorenz/Transcript|interactive transcript]]'''.]

==Trivia==
*In one [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:lorenz_-_wake_up_7.png panel] Hairy is drawn in bed ''without'' his hair - see the [[#Waking up|Waking up]] pictures.
*The most common pictures are [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/vS9UO5cGsw1hoDrrNLMSRg.png "Not very effective"], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VegCGBEOFJCsFxJpbmvziQ.png Throwing], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/zHPHozjDXmCUy66bYVSRoQ.png Waiting], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/ZNBJOG1e-vCfzdqKFHQ21A.png Leaving the House].
*The rarest pictures are [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/VgSdMz8OAHQ8w5Ee432f5Q.png The Little Prince], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/0RW46RaD8RJDfTyBOTqlpw.png The beach], [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/a1-2014/OZZtCeXrnU0UskVTCUQf1Q.png An exponential chart]. (As of late April there are several pictures from the complete list, that no longer seem to be available - so they are not only rare, but extinct in the comic if no one has a permalink to a comic where they appear).
*'''The all time longest comics by panel - top three'''.
**Please only include '''clearly different''' storylines:
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - Space/dinosaur double dream, boomerang, and exploding rocket.
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:b94d8be4-bb47-11e3-804b-002590d77bdd 49 panels] - Tiles, double hole dream, boomerang
*# [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:718ad9a6-bc6e-11e3-800f-002590d77bdd 41 panels] - Politics, hole dream, boomerang.
**There may be no upper boundary!
**But this is then the list of the longest comics with most panels as found so far.
**If you beat a record please post the '''permalink''' here.
**Please note themes included in comic.
**Please move beaten records down and delete the fourth.
*'''Longest by themes''' - click to expand:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
Include only more than one if the story is clearly different from from the record.
#Multiple dreams:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - Two dreams one by each charachter, after space and dinosaur attack.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 36 panels] - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:452c03fc-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 35 panels] - Two times the same dream with big hole by the same charachter (shovel/blowtorch and then boomerang).
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 28 panels] - One dream with hole that returns to starting point - does the dream continue?
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:8440e346-bb16-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - Two different dreams by the same character after hole and rocket.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:5e94d028-bb7d-11e3-8012-002590d77bdd 22 panels] - Two different dreams by the same character after hole and dinosaur attack.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:20698602-bbb1-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 21 panels] - Two times the same dream with big hole - once be each character
##? - More than two dreams
#Boomerang:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] - Starting with politic debate in a dream.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:defe5742-bb15-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 35 panels] - Political debate within a dream, then Hairy gets smacked in the face by the boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ee6b910c-bae5-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 34 panels] - As the 39 panel, but here both the girl and the Hairy gets the boomerang in the face!
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:a1776988-ba41-11e3-8035-002590d77bdd 30 panels] - Rocket, dream, Boomerang hits her in the face. She then puts it down and then picks it up again
#Space:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:6490cc4a-b9f0-11e3-8009-002590d77bdd 30 panels] - reaching the Little Prince:
#Dinosaur:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels] - double dream etc.
#Political debate:
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels] - but also dream and boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:defe5742-bb15-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 35 panels] - Political debate within a dream, then Hairy gets smacked in the face by the boomerang.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:aee5abf0-bb29-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 31 panels] - politicians fighing and explosive bananas - including the ''meanwhile'' image
#Blowtorch:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:2ed958de-badf-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 36 panels] - Hole dream, blowtorch laptop, rocket take-off dream.
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - blowtorch and moving past Pokémon twice
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:97cbd552-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 25 panels] - dream of hole and then blowtorch
#Pokémon:
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:9a86363c-bb53-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 26 panels] - blowtorch and moving past Pokémon twice
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels] - really long fight
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:8737f5b4-ba92-11e3-8008-002590d77bdd 22 panels] - moving past Pokémon.
##[http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels] - long fight, Pokemon uses 3 moves and Megan pokes it.
##[https://xkcd.com/1350/#p:7546a2c8-bcdc-11e3-801e-002590d77bdd 22 panels] - short fight, then Pikachu talks
#Sharks
##[http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:30f53d98-bbb3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 13 panels] - reaching beach
</div>
 
*'''Longest by starting point''' - click to expand:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
Only the longest:
#These stupid tiles... I'll just play one more game: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ffa26ce0-bade-11e3-8001-94de80a03a29 77 panels]
#Oh. Hey. There's some kind of political thing going on: [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:ea25460c-baf3-11e3-8001-002590d77bdd 39 panels]
#Let's see if BSD is any easier to install nowadays: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:ba285dea-baa3-11e3-801c-002590d77bdd 28 panels]
#Refresh... No new email... Refresh... No new tweets... Refresh...: [http://www.xkcd.com/1350/#p:81c9e8c8-ba1d-11e3-8018-002590d77bdd 24 panels]
#Hurry! We're in talks with Facebook: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:441ba2fe-bc03-11e3-8034-002590d77bdd 13 panels]
#Gravity. Lots of it: [http://xkcd.com/1350/#p:a069f950-bb01-11e3-8004-002590d77bdd 12 panels]
</div>
 

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Boomerangs]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Dreams]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Sharks]]
[[Category:BSD]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]

1037: Umwelt

2016-01-15T23:05:19Z

173.245.54.55: /* Aurora */

{{comic
| number = 1037
| date = April 1, 2012
| title = Umwelt
| image = umwelt_the_void.jpg
| titletext = Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit--from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your web browser.
}}
<div class="toclimit-3" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;">__TOC__</div>

==Explanation==
An {{w|Umwelt}}, as the title text explains, is the idea that one's entire way of thinking is dependent on their surroundings. Thus, this {{w|April Fools}} comic changes based on the browser, location, or referrer. Thus, what the viewer is viewing the comic on, where they live, or where they came from determines which comic they actually see. As a result, there are actually multiple comics that went up on April Fools' Day, although only one is seen.
(Fun Fact: the German word "Umwelt" does not mean anything vaguely similar; it translates in all contexts almost exactly as "environment".)

Information about how the wide variety of data was collected and credit for the viewers who contributed can be found [http://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/rnst4/april_fools_xkcd_changing_comic/ here].

This comic was released on April 1 even though that was [[:Category:Sunday comics|a Sunday]] (only the third comic to be released on a Sunday). But it was only due to the April Fool joke, as it did replace the comic that would have been scheduled for Monday, April 2. The next comic was first released on Wednesday, April 4.

===The Void===
[[File:umwelt the void.jpg]]

If the device or browser you are using does not support Javascript, you will simply see a static image of a white swirl on a dark background.

Possible reference to The Ring (http://imgur.com/wlGmm), as though to suggest that using an alternative browser is dismal and horrific.

Davean (xkcd's sysadmin): "[This] comic isn't available everywhere and it can come up i[n] some situation[s] only for recognized browsers."

Browser: Alternative Browser

===Aurora===
[[File:umwelt aurora.png]]

One could interpret that since Megan didn't go out and therefore missed seeing the Aurora, the main character lied. That way, she wouldn't have felt sad that she missed out.

One might also believe that since xkcd is normally a black and white comic, Cueball is colorblind and didn't see anything of interest to him.

This image changed based on the size of the browser window including different panels at different sizes.

Locations: Canada, Boston, Maine, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Minnesota, Norway, Denmark, Rhode Island (not sure if mobile only or not.)

===Snake===
[[File:umwelt snake composite 1024.png]]
[[:File:umwelt snake composite.png|Full size]]

The joke here is the extreme length of snakes. The world's longest snake is the python, the longest ever being 33 feet or approx. 10 meters. The red and blue circles refer to the hit game {{w|Portal}}.
There is also a reference to the book "The Little Prince" in the second panel.

Also, the number and content of the panels changes depending on the size of your browser window.

This image changed based on the size of the browser window including different panels at different sizes.

Specific AltText for this image: Umwelt is the idea that because their senses pick up on different things, different animals in the same ecosystem actually live in very different worlds. Everything about you shapes the world you inhabit -from your ideology to your glasses prescription to your browser window size.

Location: Texas (on Chrome Version 33.0.1750.154 m), New Jersey, California (on Chrome Version 39.0.2171.95), Maryland

===Black Hat===
[[File:umwelt tortoise 1024.png]]
[[:File:umwelt tortoise.png|Full size]]

An analyst attempts to psychoanalyze [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] [[72: Classhole|classhole]] tendencies. The joke here is that the turtle has actually been turned over and neither sees helping it as a priority. It's a reference to the Voight-Kampff test used in the movie Blade Runner (1982) to identify replicants.

Location: Seems to appear mostly in "other countries" — those without location-specific comics.

===Too Quiet===
[[File:umwelt too quiet 1024.png]]
[[:File:umwelt too quiet.png|Full size]]

A reference to {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} which has been [[87: Velociraptors|constantly]] [[135: Substitute|referred]] [[1110: Click and Drag|to]] [[155: Search History|before]] [[758: Raptor Fences|in]] this comic.

Also referencing the film {{w|2 Fast 2 Furious|2 Fast 2 Furious}}, an entertaining, yet intellectually unprovoking sequel in a popular film franchise, which is aimed at teenagers and young adults, prompting the blunt response from the stickman. The fact that Steve would use such a cliché {{w|2000s (decade)|noughties}} movie term in such an intense moment, and the subsequent curse, is the joke in this comic.

Location: short version — iPhone 5c Safari browser in Texas, iPhone 5 Chrome Browser in Minnesota, long version - Google Chrome browser in Indiana, Windows 8 Laptop

===Pond===
[[File:umwelt pond mobile.png]][[File:umwelt pond wide.png]]

Two different versions showed, the narrower version for mobile devices.

Location: The Netherlands and various other countries.

===Galaxies===
[[File:umwelt galaxies 1024.jpg]]
[[:File:umwelt galaxies.jpg|Full size]]

Megan is distracted from her conversation with [[Cueball]] by realizing that the space behind his head, from her vantage point, contains millions of galaxies. This is similar to an [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/astro/hst_deep_field.jpg incredible photograph] taken by the Hubble Telescope, in which a tiny dark area of space in fact contained numerous galaxies.

The title text is an imaginative leap from this scenario: that the galaxies would be up to no good once Cueball is turned away from them. This is presumably a reference to [http://www.mariowiki.com/boo Boo], an enemy from certain Mario games who moves toward Mario only when Mario is facing away from Boo.

This comic was only reported once... the intended environmental context is a mystery.

Location: unknown

===xkcd Gold===
[[File:umwelt xkcd gold.png]]

This is probably a reference to the 4chan Gold Account, an implementation on 4chan that does not actually exist, and is usually used to trick newcomers into revealing their credit card numbers. The joke is that "Gold Account" users can supposedly block other users from viewing images they have posted. The fifth panel is probably a reference to Beecock, a notorious set of shocker images. 4chan's moderators have been known to give out "beecock bans" or "/z/ bans" to particularly annoying users, which redirect the user to a page containing beecock and the text "OH NO THE BOARD IS GONE".

Referrer: 4chan

===Yo Mama===
[[File:umwelt dog ballast.png]]

Possible reference to Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s "{{w|Harrison Bergeron}}."

Possibly a veiled criticism of Facebook. This could be slightly rewritten as: "This comic takes place in a dystopian future where the government is afraid of dissent, so it tracks everyone at all times, and some people privately doubt the government, but not enough to stop submitting information to Facebook. But that dystopian future is now."

Referrer: Facebook

===Reddit===
[[File:umwelt reddit.png]]

Reference to referencing, because Reddit, as a referring site, likes references to its referencing in its references.

This comic also features recursive imagery similar to [[688: Self-Description|Self Description]] where the second panel embeds the entire comic within itself.

Referrer: Reddit

===Buns and Hot dogs===
[[File:umwelt somethingawful.jpg]]

This is a reference to the question "Why do hot dogs come in packages of 6 while buns come in packages of 8?"

Referrer: SomethingAwful, Questionable Content, & MetaFilter

===Twitter===
[[File:umwelt twitter.jpg]]

A summary of the content "typically" found on Twitter.

In the tweet feed, there are three tweets about some podcast on the top, followed by the tweet containing link they clicked on to get to the comic, tweets about Rob Delaney, unspecified passive-aggressive tweets, and a tweet from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_ebooks Horse Ebooks] retweeted by one of the users the reader follows.

On the left, the topmost dialog, with profile information, shows that the user has posted 1,302 tweets, but only follows 171 people and has even fewer followers, at a measly 48. This is marked with a sad face, implying that the user wants more followers.

Below that is the "who to follow" dialog, which is written up as consisting of "assholes".

Below that is the "trending tags" dialog for the United States. It is full of tags about word games, tags about misogyny, and tags about Justin Bieber.

Below that is an unidentified dialog full of "stuff your eyes automatically ignore". And finally, on the bottom is the background colour, which is "a really pleasant blue".

Referrer: Twitter

===Wikipedia===
[[File:umwelt wikipedia wide.jpg]]
[[File:umwelt wikipedia mobile.png]]

The term {{w|Mile High Club}} (or MHC) is a slang term applied collectively to individuals who have had sexual intercourse while on board of an aircraft. Randall says that reading the news articles on it has distracted him from making that comic.

Two different versions shown, the narrower version (the single panel with all the text) for mobile devices.

Referrer: Wikipedia

===Google Chrome===
[[File:umwelt chrome1.jpg]]

{{w|Sergey Brin}} (born August 21, 1973) is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the most profitable Internet companies. As of 2013, his personal wealth was estimated to be $24.4 billion. Randall makes the joke that as the founder of Google, Brin's permission would be needed to use Google Chrome. Because there are millions of people who use Google, it is likely that at least some of the time Brin would be asleep, thus he would need to be woken.

Browser: Chrome

===Chrome/Firefox===
[[File:umwelt chrome2.png]]

Mozilla {{w|Firefox}} is a free and open-source web browser developed for Windows, OS X, and Linux, with a mobile version for Android, by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. Cueball is complaining about {{w|Google Chrome}}, to which [[Ponytail]] replies that there is an {{w|add-on}} that fixes what he is complaining about. When questioned, she replies that the add-on is Firefox, which isn't an add-on at all and is instead a different browser.

Browser: Chrome

===Google Chrome-2===
[[File:umwelt chrome3.png]]

This panel references Google Chrome's error screen, which shows a puzzle piece. The comic humorously implies that Chrome is looking for that piece. However, the piece in question cannot possibly line up with any corner.

Browser: Chrome

===Mozilla Firefox Private Browsing===
[[File:umwelt firefox incognito.png]]

Another reference to crashing web browsers.

Browser: Firefox (Incognito only?)

===Internet Explorer===
[[File:umwelt ie.png]]

Yet another reference to crashing web browsers

Browser: Internet Explorer

===Maxthon===
[[File:umwelt maxthon.png]]

Browser: Maxthon

===Netscape Navigator===
[[File:umwelt netscape womanoctopus.png]]

[[File:umwelt netscape man.png]]

{{w|Netscape Navigator}} was a web browser popular in the 1990s.

Browser: Netscape

===Rockmelt===
[[File:umwelt rockmelt.png]]

{{w|Rockmelt}} is a social-media-based browser.

Reference to the gospel song {{w|Longing for Old Virginia: Their Complete Victor Recordings (1934)|"There's no hiding place down here" by The Carter Family}}, later covered by Stephen Stills.

:I run to the rock just to hide my face
:And the rocks cried out, no hiding place
:There's no hiding place down here

It may additionally be a reference to the ''Babylon 5'' episode "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place," which featured the song.

Browser: Rockmelt

===Plugin Disabled===
[[File:umwelt plugin disabled.png]]

When the Google Chrome web browser does not have the required software (called a plug-in) to display a web page's content, it displays a puzzle piece icon and an error message. In this case, Chrome informs the user that the content is impossible to display.

Browser: Plugin (?) Disabled, Safari Desktop

===Corporate Networks===
[[File:umwelt corporate general.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon chrome.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon firefox.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate amazon other.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate google chrome.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft chrome.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft firefox.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate microsoft other.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate nytimes chrome.png]]
[[File:umwelt corporate nytimes other.png]]

These error messages appear if the user is on a network owned by one of the corporations noted. The error message includes a warning against speaking on the company's behalf.

ISP: Corporate networks of Amazon, Google, Microsoft, NY Times

===Military===
[[File:umwelt military.png]]

[[Cueball]] assumes that anyone using a military network has an important job like watching for incoming missiles. He includes a thank-you to the user for their military service.

ISP: Military networks

===T-Mobile===
[[File:umwelt tmobile.png]]

Reference to T-Mobile's distinguishing feature of weaker coverage, in relation to other major providers.

ISP: T-Mobile

===Verizon and AT&T===
[[File:umwelt verizon.png]]

[[File:umwelt att.png]]

Reference to Verizon and AT&T's scandals/controversy regarding implementation of bandwidth caps.

ISP: Verizon and AT&T

===France===
[[File:umwelt france.jpg]]

A Google search of "French Military Victories" + 'I'm feeling lucky' used to direct to "did you mean: french military defeats" (due to a {{w|Google bomb}}), referencing a stereotype of the French:[http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/victories.html][http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-frenchmilitaryvictories.htm][http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/jokes/bljokefrenchmilitaryhistory.htm]

Locations: France & Quebec

===Germany===
[[File:umwelt germany.png]]

This comic references the {{w|Berlin airlift#The start of the Berlin Airlift|Berlin Airlift}}, a relief measure for citizens in West Berlin (surrounded by East Germany) instituted by the Western Allies after World War II. In reality, the Western Allies flew a grand total of 500,000 tons of food over the Soviet blockade in planes. Randall puts a twist on this event by making it more fun: dropping supplies from a grand chairlift. The play on words is that "chairlift" rhymes with "airlift" and thus makes an easy substitution. The chair force is also a name that other service branches use to make fun of the air force.

Location: Germany

===Israel===
[[File:umwelt israel.png]]

Transcript:

בחורה: אמא, פגשתי בחור נהדר! אבל הוא לא יהודי.‏

...

רגע, מה את אומרת, "גם אנחנו לא"?‏

אני לגמרי מבולבלת.‏

(Translation from Hebrew)

Person: Mom, I met a great guy! But he's not Jewish. ...Wait, what do you mean "neither are we"? I'm completely confused.

A reference to the multiple use of the word Jewish to denote both a religious group and a nationality/ethnicity.

Location: Israel

===Carnot Cycle===
[[File:umwelt japan.png]]

A pun on "cycle"; a "{{w|Carnot cycle}}" is a thermodynamic cycle (e.g. refrigeration). Its efficiency depends on the temperature of the hot and cold 'reservoirs' in which it is operating. The icon on the side of the motorcycle resembles a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carnot_cycle_p-V_diagram.svg graph of the Carnot cycle.]

Location: Japan

===UK===
[[File:umwelt uk.jpg]]

He worded this as though to imply that the UK is a state of the U.S., and an unimportant one at that, which pokes fun at the UK, creating a paradox (sort of).

Location: UK

===Blizzard===
[[File:umwelt disasters blizzard.png]]

This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or blizzards are harsher conditions to live under.

For each location this displayed in, the state name was substituted in the third panel.

Locations: Alabama, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Georgia, Halifax, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, the Northeast, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ottawa, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Texas, Toronto, Tennessee, New York, Wisconsin

===Tornado===
[[File:umwelt disasters tornado.png]]

This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or tornadoes are harsher conditions to live under.

For each location this displayed in the state name was substituted in the third panel.

Locations: Alabama, Dallas, Illinois, Georgia, The Midwest, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ottawa, Tennessee, Texas

===Hurricane===
[[File:umwelt disasters hurricane.png]]

This comic is aimed at the debate over whether earthquakes or hurricanes are harsher conditions to live under.

For each location this displayed in the state name was substituted in the third panel.

Locations: D.C, Florida, Georgia, Houston, Miami, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia

===Lake Diver Killer===
[[File:umwelt lake diver.png]]

This comic shows a news reporter standing in front of a lake. She is reporting on a serial killer who targets divers. As more divers are sent in to investigate and/or search for bodies, more divers go missing and are presumably murdered.

Locations: Bay Areas

Location: Vermont showed an image specifically referencing Lake Champlain

===Lincoln Memorial===
[[File:umwelt lincoln memorial.png]]

Locations: Illinois & Washington D.C.

===Helicopter Hunting===
[[File:umwelt helicoptor.png]]

In Alaska, governments and individuals have {{w|Wolf hunting#North America 2|shot wolves en masse from helicopters}} in an attempt to artificially inflate populations of game, such as moose and caribou, to make hunting them easier. This is opposed by many, as the game populations are not endangered (thus, this threatens ecological balance); wolves are a small threat to livestock in North America; most of the wolf body —including meat and bones— goes wasted as they are sought mainly for their pelts.

Location: Alaska

===Newspaper===
[[File:umwelt life scientists.png]][[File:umwelt life rit.png]][[File:umwelt life umass.png]]

Creating new life has long been a well understood process, in a lab or otherwise.

Location: Various

Specific versions appeared for RIT and UMass Amherst

===Robot Paul Revere===
[[File:umwelt paul revere.png]]

Combination of the legend of {{w|Paul Revere#"Midnight Ride"|Paul Revere}} and computer binary.

Location: Boston

===Counting Cards===

All four colleges in this series are in Massachusetts and, being similar, in pairs, rival each other to some extent (Harvard-MIT, and Smith-Wellesley). The comic contains a reference to the {{w|MIT Blackjack Team}}, which entered popular culture via the {{w|21 (2008 film)|film 21}}, and a possible reference to Orwell's book '1984' and/or {{w|Chain of Command (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|popular homage to it via Star Trek}}: "There are four lights."[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChYIm6MW39k]

Bonus: The thought-gears in panel 3 are spinning against each other.

Location: Harvard

[[File:umwelt counting cards harvard.png]]

Location: MIT

[[File:umwelt counting cards mit.png]]

"Course 15s" at MIT are the business major students, often mocked for taking a less-rigorous program.

Location: Smith

[[File:umwelt counting cards smith.png]]

Location: Wellesley

[[File:umwelt counting cards wellesley.png]]

Both Wellesley and Smith are all-women colleges.

===Giant Box Trap===
[[File:umwelt box trap.png]]

Randall got his undergrad in Physics at the {{w|Christopher Newport University}}, and was scheduled to return shortly to give a talk.

Location: Christopher Newport University

===Chemo Support===
[[File:umwelt chemo.jpg]]
[[Cueball]] has shaved his head in support of people going through {{w|chemotherapy}} but as he is always depicted as a stick figure with no hair who can tell.

Randall's now-wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and apparently DFCI is where they've been spending much of their time.

Location: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

===Reviews===
[[File:reviews.png]]

The previous strip appears twice when using [[wikipedia:Tor (anonymity network)|Tor]].

Browser: Any using Tor, and reports of seeing it on a Kindle Fire HD

==Transcript==
:[Note to courageous readers- The transcript has been reordered in the order in which the comics appear in the picture and appropriate names have been given.]

:'''The Void'''
:[An epic void with a bright light shining right on you.]

:'''Aurora'''
:[Cueball heading out past Megan comfortably sitting in front of a desk.]
:Cueball: Apparently there's a solar flare that's causing some Great Aurorae. CBC says they may even be visible here! Wanna drive out to see?
:Megan: Hockey's on.
:Cueball: Ok. Later.

:[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky.]

:Megan: See anything?
:Cueball: No, just clouds.
:Megan: Not surprised.

:'''Aurora-US'''
:[Cueball heading out past Megan comfortably sitting in front of a desk.]
:Cueball: Apparently there's a solar storm causing northern lights over Canada. CNN say they might even be visible {Options: "As Far South As Us", "Here in Boston", "Maine", "Ohio", "Oregon", "New York"}! Wanna drive out to see?
:Megan: It's cold out.
:Cueball: Ok. Later.

:[An expansive, marvelous image of emerald green northern lights, floating down through the sky.]

:Megan: See anything?
:Cueball: No, just clouds.
:Megan: Not surprised.

:'''Snake'''
:[Two people standing next to each other. Megan is holding the head end of a snake. Depending on the width of your browser, the snake is: three frames, the third of which has a little bit of a bump; the first frame has a human-size bump, the second has a third person looking at the snake, and the third has the snake going though two Portals; a squirrel and the human-size bump in the first frame, a ring next to the third person in the second frame, and Beret Guy riding the snake in front of the portal; or The squirrel, a fourth person within the snake being coiled, and the human bump in the first frame, the ring, a fifth person in love, and the third person in the second frame, Beret Guy and the portal in the third frame, and the same two people in the fourth frame.]

:Megan: I found a snake, but then I forgot to stop.

:'''Black hat'''
:[Two people sitting at a desk. One is Black Hat. The other is an analyst. Black Hat has a number of terminals attached to his head.]
:Analyst: You come across a tortoise in the desert. You flip it over. It struggles to right itself. You watch. You're not helping. Why is that?

:Black Hat: It '''knows''' what it did.

:[View of the entire scene, with said turtle off in the distance on its back and trying to right itself.]

:'''Too quiet'''
:[A group of four scale down a wall into a field in the middle of the night. They walk off single-file.]
:Person 1: It's quiet.

:Person 3: Yeah - *Too* quiet.

:[A Velociraptor is off in the distance, following the group.]
:Person 4: Yeah - too *too* quiet.

:Person 2: Yeah - 2quiet2furious.
:Person 1: Fuck off, Steve.

:'''Pond'''
:[A landscape showing a pond, some reeds, and a set of mountains off in the distance.]

:'''Galaxies'''
:[A trio of galaxies.]
:Galaxy 1: He's not looking!
:Galaxy 3: Let's get him!
:[Lines draw in illustrating the eye-line of one of a pair of people.]
:Cueball: So he said he didn't get the text, but c'mon, he *never* misses texts. Right? ..hello?
:Megan: I'm just staring at your head freaked out by the fact that there are millions of galaxies *directly behind it*.

:'''xkcd Gold'''
:[Cueball holding bat.]

:Cueball: Sorry, but this comic

:[Cueball starts to wind up.]

:Cueball: requires

:[Cueball prepares to strike with bat.]

:Cueball: XKCD

:[Cueball swings at a beehive.]
:GOLD

:[Penis Bees fly out of the beehive.]

:'''Yo mamma'''
:[Cueball yells at a friend.]
:Cueball: Oh yeah? Well you mama's so ''cynical'', her only dog ballast is a ''leash''!
:(This comic takes place in a dystopian future where the government is afraid dogs can hover, so it requires them to wear weights at all times, and some people privately doubt the government, but not enough to stop buying dog weights.)

:'''Reddit'''
:Five seconds ago:
:[You sitting in front of a desk, reading a reddit thread.]
:You: Oh, hey, reddit has a link to some XKCD april fools comic.

:Now: [An image of the xkcd comic page.]
:Five seconds from now:

:You: ..hey

:30 seconds from now:
:[DANCE PARTY!]

:'''Buns and Hot dogs'''
:Cueball: What I wanna know is why do hot dogs come in packages of six while buns come in these huge sacks of ash and blood from which "Ave Maria" is faintly audible?
:[Chanting sacks of gore in the background.]

:'''Twitter'''
:[A Twitter account page with the following: Many tweets, fewer following, even fewer followers, A bunch of assholes in the suggested follow box, trending topics partitioned into: Word Games, Misogyny, and Bieber, stuff your eyes automatically ignore, A really pleasant blue. and the timeline: Something about a podcast, Someone confused because the description doesn't match the link, The link you clicked on to get to this comic, Rob Delaney, Passive Aggression, and horse ebooks.]

:'''Wikipedia'''
:[There's no comic here because instead of drawing one, I spent the last hour reading every news story cited in the Wikipedia article on The Mile High Club.]

:'''Google Chrome'''
:[A Chrome plugin error page.]
:Chrome: This plugin requires Sergey Brin's permission to run. Please wait while he is woken.

:'''Chrome/Firefox'''
:[Two people; Cueball is sitting at a desk in front of a laptop.]
:Cueball: Man, chrome's hardware acceleration really sucks.
:Ponytail: Oh - Theres' a great add-on that fixes it.
:Cueball: Oh? What's it called?
:Ponytail: "Firefox".

:'''Google Chrome-2'''
:[A Chrome plugin error page with the characteristic jigsaw piece.]
:Chrome: Chrome is looking for this piece. Have you seen it? Chrome thinks it links up with a corner.

:'''Mozilla Firefox Private Browsing'''
:[Firefox error page.]
:Firefox: Well, this is embarrassing. You know how I'm not supposed to peek at your browsing in private mode? Firefox.. is sorry. Firefox will not blame you if you
:[Button with text.]
:Click here to report this incident.

:'''Internet Explorer'''
:[IE error page.]
:IE: Error: Internet Explorer has given up.

:'''Maxthon'''
:Cueball: Maxthon? Hey, 2005 called. Didn't say anything. All I could hear was sobbing. This is getting harder. Anyway, yeah, Maxthon's still cool! Didn't know it was still around!

:'''Netscape Navigator'''
:[Two different versions exist: one with Cueball talking and one with Megan with tentacle arms talking.]
:Person: Netscape Navigator? Hey, the nineties called - drunk as usual. I hung up without saying anything. This is getting harder. Anyway - it's cool that you'e got netscape running.

:'''Rockmelt'''
:[Cueball running to laptop.]
:I ran to Rockmelt to hide my face

:[Cueball sitting at laptop.]
:But Rockmelt cried out -

:[Laptop shouting.]
:NO HIDING PLACE

:[zoom out.]
:NO HIDING PLACE DOWN HERE

:'''Google Chrome-3'''
:[A chrome plugin error page.]
:Chrome: There does not exist --nor could there '''ever''' exist-- a plugin capable of displaying this content.

:'''Microsoft/Amazon/The Times/Google - Chrome'''
:[Chrome error page.]
:Chrome: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, Microsoft/Amazon/The Times/Google is a team; individual employees should ''never'' speak for the company without authorization.

:'''Microsoft/Amazon - Firefox'''
:[Firefox error page.]
:Error: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, Microsoft/Amazon is a team; individual employees should ''never'' speak for the company without authorization.

:'''Microsoft/The Times'''
:[Error page.]
:Error: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, Microsoft/The Times is a team; individual employees should ''never'' speak for the company without authorization.

:'''Corporate - Generic'''
:[Error page.]
:Error: This plugin requires clearance from the corporate press office in order to run. Remember, we work as a team; individual employees should ''never'' speak for the company without authorization.

:'''Military'''
:[Person looking at two browser windows.]
:Cueball: I know y'all know what you're doing. But if you're on a military machine and you're supposed to be watching for missiles or something, I hope you're keeping an eye on that in the background while you're reading comics. Also: Thanks.

:'''T-Mobile'''
:[Error page.]
:Data Error: T-Mobile was unable to establish a connection

:'''Verizon'''
:[Error page]
:Error: You have exceeded your Verizon monthly bandwidth cap. Mobile web browsing has been disabled.

:'''France'''
:[Two people; one of which is browsing using a laptop.]
:Cueball: Hey, you're French, right? Ever see what happens when you type "French Military Victories" into Google?
:French person: Does it take you to an article on Napoleon?

:French person: ..no? Strange, given how he kicked everyone's asses up and down Europe for over a decade.

:[Beat frame.]

:Cueball: Touche.
:French person: You know, that'd sound smarter if you didn't pronounce it like it rhymes with "douche".

:'''Germany'''
:[Cueball dropping food from an unorthodox high perch.]
:June 1948: In response to the Soviet blockade of East Germany, the western allies construct the Berlin Chairlift.
:Cueball on chairlift: Food!

:'''Israel'''
:[Person on phone.]
:Person (Translation from Hebrew): Mom, I met a great guy! But he's not Jewish. ...Wait, what do you mean "neither are we"? I'm completely confused.

:'''Carnot Cycle'''
:[Ponytail on a motorcycle with a heat-entropy graph on the side.]
:Ponytail: Check out my new Carnot Cycle!
:Cueball: Neat - how fast does it go?
:Ponytail: Depends how cold it is outside.

:'''Great Britain'''
:[Illustration of the Atlantic ocean.]
:American person: Sorry I don't have a comic poking fun at the UK here. I only had time to get to the most ''important'' US states.
:British person: Hey - At least we have free health care and real ale.

:'''Earthquake-Blizzard'''
:[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]
:Cueball: Stop jiggling your leg.
:Danish: I'm not ji-.. oh!
:Cueball: What!
:Danish: You'll get it..

:[EVERYTHING RUMBLES.]
:Cueball: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!
:Danish: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.

:Cueball: But this is {Options: "Alabama", "Boston", "Chicago", "Dallas", "Georgia", "Halifax", "Illinois", "Michigan", "Minnesota", "Missouri", "the Northeast", "Ohio", "Oklahoma", "Ottawa", 'Pennsylvania", "Philadelphia", "Texas", "Toronto", "Tennessee", "New York", "Wisconsin"}! That was huge!
:Danish: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.
:Cueball: Oh ''really''...

:Six Months Later..
:[Both people are trudging through a massive blizzard.]
:Danish: In pictures, snow always looked so nice and sof - ''AAAA! MY NECK! How do people live here?!''
:Cueball: Come on - it's only three more miles.

:'''Earthquake-Tornado'''
:[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]
:Cueball: Stop jiggling your leg.
:Danish: I'm not ji-.. oh!
:Cueball: What!
:Danish: You'll get it..

:[EVERYTHING RUMBLES.]
:Cueball: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!
:Danish: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.

:Cueball: But this is {Options: "Alabama", "Dallas", "Illinois", "The Midwest", "Missouri", "Ohio", "Oklahoma", "Ottawa", "Tennessee", "Texas"}!
:Cueball: That was huge!
:Danish: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.
:Cueball: Oh ''really''...

:Six Months Later..
:[Both people are in a shelter in a prairie with a rapidly-approaching tornado.]
:Danish: AAAA CLOSE THE SHELTER DOOR!
:Cueball: Say the magic words...
:Danish: THIS PLACE IS THE WORST!
:Cueball: Thank you.

:'''Earthquake-Hurricane'''
:[Two people sitting at a desk, facing each other. The desk rattles.]
:Cueball: Stop jiggling your leg.
:Danish: I'm not ji-.. oh!
:Cueball: What!
:Danish: You'll get it..

:[EVERYTHING RUMBLES.]
:Cueball: ..HOLY CRAP IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!
:Danish: Just a little one. Happens all the time back in San Francisco.

:Cueball: But this is {Options: "D.C", "Florida", "Houston", "Miami", "New Jersey", "North Carolina", "South Carolina", "Virgina"}! That was huge!
:Cueball: That was huge!
:Danish: Seriously? That's the worst this place can do? Wow. I guess we grow up tougher in California.
:Cueball: Oh ''really''...

:Six Months Later..

:[Both are in the middle of a hurricane. Danish is grabbing onto a signpost to avoid being swept away.]
:Danish: AAAAA WHAT THE SHIIIIT!
:Cueball: Calm down - this is barely a category 2.

:'''Lake Diver Killer'''
:[TV Field Reporter in front of a cordoned-off lake.]
:Reporter: Police divers searching the bay say they have recovered the body of another victim of the "Lake Diver Killer."
:Reporter: During the search, three more divers were reported missing.

:'''Washington'''
:[The statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.]
:In this Marble Prison As in the nightmares of the nation they tried to devour
:The nanobots that constituted Abraham Lincoln
:Are entombed forever.

:'''Alaska'''
:[A person with a gun chasing a helicopter on the back of a wolf in a snowy Alaskan field.]
:Some people hunt wolves from helicopters. I hunt helicopters from a wolf.

:'''Life in lab'''
:[Newspaper headline.]
:Scientists/UMass Amherst students/RIT students create life in lab
:[Caption under picture of scientists.]
:"The trick was fuckin'"

:'''American Revolution'''
:Robot Paul Revere: Remember: Zero if by land, One if by sea.

:'''MIT'''
:[Two people in front of a group of students.]
:Cueball: I've hired a team of MIT students to count cards for us.
:Hairy: We'll be rich!

:[Hairy deals some cards while the students watch.]

:[The gears turn..]

:Student: Five. There are five cards.
:Cueball: I see their admission standards have been slipping.
:Hairy: Yeah - there are actually four.

:'''MIT Course 15c'''
:[Two people in front of a group of students.]
:Cueball: I've hired a team of MIT students to count cards for us.
:Hairy: We'll be rich!

:[Hairy deals some cards while the students watch.]

:[The gears turn..]

:Student: Five. There are five cards.
:Cueball: I *knew* we shouldn't have picked course 15s.
:Hairy: Yeah - there are actually four.

:'''Smith/Wellesley'''
:[Two people in front of a group of students.]
:Cueball: I've hired a team of Smith/Wellesley students to count cards for us.
:Hairy: We'll be rich!

:[Hairy deals some cards while the students watch.]

:[The gears turn..]

:Student: Five. There are five cards.
:Cueball: We should've gone with Wellesley/Smith.
:Hairy: Yeah - there are actually four.

:'''CNU'''
:[Person unsuspectingly strolls under a giant box trap controlled by a Trible.]
:I worry that CNU only invited me back as a ruse because they realized I never turned in my final paper and want my diploma back. But if it turns out it's for real, I'll see you Wednesday at the Ferguson!

:'''Dana Farber'''
:[Cueball, pointing towards head.]
:Cueball: Check it out - In support of people going through chemo, I shaved my head.
:Lots of love to everyone reading this at Dana Farber. Cancer sucks. If you are new to DCFI, there's a great little garden on the third floor of the yawkey if you need somewhere quiet to just sit for a little bit and breathe.

:'''Reviews'''
:Shopping before online reviews:
:[Cueball and Megan stand in a store. Cueball points at a lamp on the table in front of him. There is another lamp on the table behind them.]
:Cueball: This lamp is pretty.
:Megan: And affordable.
:Cueball: Let's get it.
:Megan Ok!

:Shopping now:
:[Cueball points at a lamp on the table in front of him. Megan looks at her phone.]
:Cueball: This lamp is pretty.
:Megan: It's got 1 1/2 stars on Amazon. Reviews all say to avoid that brand.

:[Cueball and Megan are now both looking at their phones.]
:Cueball: This one has good reviews.
:Megan: Wait, one guy says when he plugged it in, he got a metallic taste in his mouth and his cats went deaf.
:Cueball: Eek. What about- ...no, review points out it resembles a uterus.

:[Cueball is still looking at his phone, Megan has hers at her side.]
:Cueball: Ok, I found a Swiss lampmaker with perfect reviews. Her lamps start at 1,300 Francs and she's only reachable by ski lift.
:Megan: You know, our room looks fine in the dark.

==Trivia==
*Reddit user [http://www.reddit.com/user/SomePostMan SomePostMan] created a [http://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/t6wmh/all_umwelt_1037_comics_in_two_imgur_albums/ post] that collected all of the Umwelt comics and added explanations. Much of his information is now included in this wiki.

*The transcript section for this comic also included a note alluding to its extreme length:
: [ [Two people...] ] ((..wait.. <scrolls through a listing of everything> oh goddammit Randall. Thanks a bunch, dude. I better get a raise for typing out all this))
: [Two people standing next to each other. One is holding the head end of a snake...

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Penis]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Puns]]

Talk:1625: Substitutions 2

2016-01-04T16:15:21Z

173.245.54.55:

See previous discussion for browser plugins, scripts, bookmarklets etc. at [[1288:_Substitutions]] [sven]

Can someone update the plugin for Chrome that does the word swaps? :3 Also swap it for upgoerfive-nouns[[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 15:11, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

The Title Text should read "...uncontrollably-swerving cars", not "...uncontrollably-swerving cats". But I don't have the heart to change it.

Neither do I... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.55|173.245.54.55]] 16:14, 4 January 2016 (UTC)(Daniel)

Ok, I just checked the log, and it was added here,
"(cur | prev) 15:11, 4 January 2016‎ 141.101.104.7 (Talk)‎ . . (+1,212)‎ . . (undo)"
by the person who added the transcript, obviously I don't know if this was deliberate, though I suspect it was. Either way I think it is very funny and we should leave it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.55|173.245.54.55]] 16:14, 4 January 2016 (UTC)(Daniel)

Talk:1625: Substitutions 2

2016-01-04T16:14:22Z

173.245.54.55:

See previous discussion for browser plugins, scripts, bookmarklets etc. at [[1288:_Substitutions]] [sven]

Can someone update the plugin for Chrome that does the word swaps? :3 Also swap it for upgoerfive-nouns[[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 15:11, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

The Title Text should read "...uncontrollably-swerving cars", not "...uncontrollably-swerving cats". But I don't have the heart to change it.

Neither do I... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.55|173.245.54.55]] 16:14, 4 January 2016 (UTC)(Daniel)

Ok, I just checked the log, and it was added here,
(cur | prev) 15:11, 4 January 2016‎ 141.101.104.7 (Talk)‎ . . (+1,212)‎ . . (undo)
by the person who added the transcript, obviously I don't know if this was deliberate, though I suspect it was. Either way I think it is very funny and we should leave it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.55|173.245.54.55]] 16:14, 4 January 2016 (UTC)(Daniel)

Talk:1625: Substitutions 2

2016-01-04T16:12:28Z

173.245.54.55:

See previous discussion for browser plugins, scripts, bookmarklets etc. at [[1288:_Substitutions]] [sven]

Can someone update the plugin for Chrome that does the word swaps? :3 Also swap it for upgoerfive-nouns[[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 15:11, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

The Title Text should read "...uncontrollably-swerving cars", not "...uncontrollably-swerving cats". But I don't have the heart to change it.

Neither do I...

Ok, I just checked the log, and it was added here,
"(cur | prev) 15:11, 4 January 2016‎ 141.101.104.7 (Talk)‎ . . (+1,212)‎ . . (undo)" by the person who added the transcript, obviously I don't know if this was deliberate, though I suspect it was. Either way I think it is very funny and we should leave it.

Talk:1625: Substitutions 2

2016-01-04T16:07:15Z

173.245.54.55: