explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1424: En Garde

2014-09-23T06:16:26Z

199.27.128.209:

So, what's up. I expected an explanation for this. WHERE IS IT? {{unsigned ip|‎108.162.216.53}}

:Remember to sign your posts with four tildes (~).
:The explanation will be up when it's up. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.72|108.162.216.72]] 04:52, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

:Someone, somewhere on Earth, has to be awake, see the comic, come to this page, and write something. Automatic explanations are a long way out of our technological reach. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.169|108.162.216.169]] 05:21, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

This reminds me of [[1146|Honest]]. [[User:Cheeselover724|Cheeselover724]] ([[User talk:Cheeselover724|talk]]) 05:37, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

----

I've seen it. :)

For me it describes how in a relationship one person (Fencer 1) wants to engage ("What are you thinking?") but the other person (Fencer 2) sees it as an attack and is guarded and unwilling to engage (hence they never raise their foil). As Fencer 2 says 'No matter how long we know each other', I'd guess that this pattern of behaviour is often repeated and that they are destined to continue, because neither are willing to change their 'engagement' strategy; i.e. Fencer 2's defensiveness and Fencer 1's direct approach. Perhaps they should play chess? :)

The 'Touch!' is Fencer 1 saying "well, if you don't play, I've won!", but it is hollow and 'Nope, I sighed and stared...' reminds me of how some people use silence / brevity of response to avoid talking: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alogia (specifically "People can revert to alogia as a way of reverse psychology, or avoiding questions.").

It's a beautiful cartoon, so melancholic and kinda sad.

[[User:The4thv|The4thv]] ([[User talk:The4thv|talk]]) 06:36, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Isn't it 'touché' rather than 'touch' in the title-text? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.108|173.245.62.108]] 14:11, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

"Touché" is an acknowledgement by the person who has received a hit, not an assertion by his/her opponent.
A literal translation of "touché" is "touched" rather than "touch" so perhaps the use of English "touch!" is purposeful, a suggestion that the pair stop fencing and use physical touch to re-establish an open relationship. In that sense, the second person declines to drop his/her defenses and "trumps" the call for intimacy with a passive-aggressive emotional gesture, and a meta-comment pointing out to the first person (and incidentally to us readers) that the gesture occurred and that it has "priority." [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 16:04, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

----
To clarify, 'Touch' is the term used to indicate that a fencer has scored a valid hit on their opponent. 'Right-of-way' indicates who is awarded the point when both fencers score valid contact during the same unit of 'fencing time' (the length of time between a typical action or reaction in a match, determined by the individual tempo of a bout). I think that covers all of the jargon in this one.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.215|173.245.52.215]] 18:32, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

----

Looks like most of the fenching is explained, but the explanation is lacking a description of the dual conversation and most importantly; why is it funny? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.209|199.27.128.209]] 06:16, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

1416: Pixels

2014-09-15T15:01:29Z

199.27.128.209: /* Atom etc */

{{comic
| number = 1416
| date = September 3, 2014
| title = Pixels
| image = pixels.png
| titletext = It's turtles all the way down.
}}
'''NOTE: The above is only a zoomed out version of the this interactive comic.''' For a collection of images that appear when zooming in on this comic, see [[1416: Pixels/Images]].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Individual panels need explanations}}
This interactive comic begins with a panel where [[Cueball]] is stacking turtles. This is a reference to the idiom "turtles all the way down," which refers to the problem of infinite recursion: if everything in the universe is "on top of" something else, so to speak, there must be a "bottom." A joking solution to the paradoxical nature of such a bottom is the proposition that {{w|Turtles_all_the_way_down|the world rests on a semi-infinite stack of turtles}}.

As can be read you should "scroll to zoom". This can be done by placing the cursor inside the panel of the comic. When scrolling up (using the mouse wheel) the picture zooms in until the pixels are visible. When you continue to scroll on each pixel then resolves into another comic picture, with black-on-white comic panels making up the white pixels and white-on-black panels making up the black pixels. Scrolling on until you can see the pixels of the comic picture you are now zooming into the process is repeated again and will be so for all subsequent sets of comic panels. Not all white and all black panels are the same; some sets involve more than two different panels, but all involve repetitive tiling.

==Themes==
*Below are all the themes relevant to cover all the images found when zooming in.
*They are sorted in the same order as in the gallery: [[1416: Pixels/Images]].
**Open the gallery in another window - zoom out and then you can see the pictures in this window as you read about them here below:

===Turtles===
Apart from the first image there are two more with a single turtle in them. In one of these the turtle thinks "I am a turtle". This is a reference to [[889: Turtles]] It may say so to the Cueball that is seen standing all alone in another picture.

===What if?===
There is a picture of the book, as it looks and big enough that all text is visible on the front cover. But there is also another version where the author's name is crossed out and replaced with Stephen King and also the word Spooky has been added above the title and below the word xkcd has been crossed and replaced with being afraid.

===Book Launch===
This comic was released on September 3rd, 2014, the day after [[Randall|Randall's]] book ''[http://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ What If]'' was launched. The book is shown and referred to in a number of frames, for example it is [[:File:pixels-upgoer.png|'''literally''' launched]] as a part of an <strike>rocket</strike> [[1133:_Up_Goer_Five|''up goer'']] built by Cueball. There are also a picture with Cueball holding "his book" and telling he is exited about book the launch.

The model ''up goer'' is [[:File:pixels-assembly-1.png|made of Rocket Parts from KSP]]. KSP is the {{w|Kerbal Space Program}}, a spaceflight simulator which was also [[1350: Lorenz#Themes|part]] of the latest interactive comic [[1350: Lorenz]]. Perhaps xkcd's 'parts' refers to KSP's large community of mod developers who contribute 'parts' to the game, although it was likely intended as nothing more than the humorous supposition that one could purchase physical rocket parts from a simulator. The frames showing the book launch use URLs that include the text "upgoer" in reference to the [[Up Goer Five]] comic.

In the end the upgoer leaves the Earth after one orbit and then flies through space.

===Needs More Struts===
{{w|Strut|Struts}} are structural members in engineering, and are are one of the components used in Kerbal Space Program to construct rockets. 'Needs More Struts' seems to be a meme amongst players of Kerbal Space Program, along the lines of 'When in doubt, overengineer'. Megan deems Cueball's rocket to be insufficiently structurally sound, and declares that it "[[:File:pixels-assembly-4.png|Needs More Struts]]"

===The Only Copy===
Cueball & Megan turn to each other having just launched the What-If book rocket into space (construction and launch are seen in other panels). perhaps Megan realises they may have misunderstood the term 'book launch' and that they may have just lost ''[[:File:pixels-upgoer-6.png|the only copy]]'' of the book.

===Space objects===
There are both the Moon, the Sun, Saturn and two images just with stars.

===Sky===
In four pictures Cueball and Megan are sitting below the stars. In the second the following conversation takes place:
:Cueball: Someone once told me the great kings of the past look down on us...
:Megan: From the stars?
:Cueball: Just in general.
The second panel is a reference to Disney's [http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/The_Great_Kings_of_the_Past The Lion King]. Early in the film, Mufasa tells Simba that the great kings of the past look down on them from the stars. Later on, Simba recalls this to his companions, Timon and Pumba (who don't take him seriously). In the film, the kings of the past literally look down on--and watch over--the characters, which is how Megan interprets Cueball's initial statement. Cueball's reply that they just look down on us in general shows that he means the kings of the past figuratively look down on us (they view us as inferior or beneath them).

In the next image a shooting star is seen above them. The final picture looks to identical to the first?

===Mario===
A series of 8 images are called ''Mario''. One is also called ''entry'' has a picture only of a PC. The next four has Megan in front of the PC (Maybe she is Mario? Or she is playing Mario Brothers? She has a control in her hand so probably the last...) She sits on her knees in the first picture, then she sits on the floor. In the third picture she is lying down in front of the PC. Then there is one picture which is an inverse of the sitting picture. The last three pictures all have a view of the starlit night sky with the same two clouds in place. During the night (and these three pictures) a giant galaxy rises above the horizon. It does not look like the Milky Way would look anywhere from Earth (also it does not much look like a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way). There is something square protruding into the picture - this could be a brick wall hanging in the air. Mario can be seen standing in the bottom left corner. Or it could be part of the roof hanging out from the building Megan is inside. Maybe the rise of the galaxy shows how long Megan plays her game. Maybe this is why Cueball wishes to [[#Shut Down the Server|throw water on the server]].

===Shut Down the Server===
Cueball tells an offscreen character that he is going to [[:File:pixels-server-1.png|shut down the server]], while carrying a bucket of water.

Usually shutting down a {{w|Server (computing)|server}} is done via the operating system or software, or (not recommended) turning it off or pulling the power plug. But in this case it appears that cueball is simply going to douse it with water, likely resulting in serious water damage to the hardware.

===Clouds===
In five pictures Megan is floating in the clouds. Only two pictures with Megan, two only with clouds and one only with birds as seen from a distance.

===Walking===
In two images Cueball and Megan are seen walking. One normal black on white close up, and one inverse seen from afar. These may be relevant to the two next ([[#Time Turners]] and [[#Stockholm Syndrome]]) where they are seen talking while walking.

===Time Turners===
The time turner is a device from the {{w|Harry Potter}} series of novels by {{w|JK Rowling}}. It allows the user to re-live a period of time over again. In the third novel Hermione is given the time-turner to allow her to take extra classes, however it is eventually used to spare Buckbeak the hippogryph from execution. This prompted many questions regarding why time-turners weren’t used on other occasions to save people's lives (among other things).

While J.K Rowling has “[http://pottermore.wikia.com/wiki/Time-Turner solved the problem to her own satisfaction]” she admits that she entered into the subject of time-travel too lightly.

[[:File:pixels-time-turner.png|This panel]] jokes that if the real life JK Rowling had a fictional time-turner which worked, she would have gone back and removed the time-turner plotline from the book, saving her all the hassle of dealing with the resulting time-travel questions. This act would result in a time-travel paradox.

===Stockholm Syndrome===
{{w|Stockholm syndrome}} is the name for a psychological phenomenon, in which hostages develop sympathy, empathy and/or positive feelings towards their captors. These feelings are usually seen as irrational, seeing as the hostage is held against their wishes, usually with the threat of physical harm or death.

[[:File:pixels-stockholm.png|This panel]] asks "How do we know anyone really ''wants'' to live in Stockholm?", questioning whether everyone who lives in the city of Stockholm is in fact held hostage there and only stays because they have developed to like life there (due to Stockholm Syndrome).

===Fire Hydrant===
[[Black Hat]] is talking to a fireman, with a fire engine on fire in the background, he asks "To be fair, what else would you expect to come out of a "[[:File:pixels-fire-hydrant.png|fire hydrant]]"?"

Black Hat appears to have managed to replace the usual water supply to the {{w|fire hydrant}} with actual fire. Thus when the hydrant is used, the result is, quite literally, fire (or oil with possibly flint and steel contraptions to cause fire). In Black Hat's logic, a hydrant which delivers water should be called a water hydrant.

===Eeee===
Megan hears a very long stretched ''EEEEEEEEEEEEE'' sound which goes over 6 images. It turns out it is a large letter '''E''' that shouts ''EEEEEEE!!!''. In total there are 64 small E emanating from the big one. There is also a picture with two big white E on black background. Those E are larger than the E that shouts.

===Evolution===
The {{w|March of Progress}} image is a famous and instantly recognisable image showing the stages of human evolution by way of a series of primate figures as if marching in a line. The panel parodies the March of Progress image, with [[:File:pixels-evolution.png|5 ducklings following an adult duck]]. In this case, rather than portraying selected individuals millions of years apart, the March shows evolution in action on a human timescale, the mother taking care of her ducklings. The comic has some resemblance to [[537: Ducklings]].

===Rope===
Four ropes cross diagonally across this black picture. Looks good when there are many of them in the same place.

===Chess and Cantor Set Fractals===
There are two chess boards on black and white background with smaller chessboards drawn upon them in a {{w|Fractal}} pattern.

[[:File:pixels-cantor.png|One panel]] contains a number of lines and dots, which are in fact a depiction of the first 5 steps of a {{w|Cantor set|Cantor Ternary Set}}, mirrored about the horizontal centreline (see {{w|File:Cantor set in seven iterations.svg|reference image}}). The Cantor ternary set is constructed by repeatedly deleting the open middle thirds of a set of line segments.

The Cantor Set is one of the canonical examples of a fractal, a shape whose individual parts resemble the whole. The use of the Cantor Set in this comic is self-referential, in that the comic, itself, is composed of parts of the same shape as the whole.

===Atom etc===
There is a picture of a Bohr Model atom--point electrons surrounding a nucleus of protons and neutrons. The atom is a {{w|Carbon}} atom which is essential for all living matter and therefore essential for evolution. There is also a picture of what is probably a vibrating cosmic string fragment (a concept in [[string theory]]). Despite the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, getting down to the string does not mean that the cartoon viewer has reached the "bottom" of zooming in on pixels - zooming in on the loop will show a picture of string.

===Holism, Reductionism, Mu===
These three words refer to "A MU offering", an essay by {{w|Douglas Hofstatder}} in his book {{w|Godel, Escher, Bach}} (which was referenced by Randall in [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey ]]). It includes a similar multiple level drawing: {{w|Mu (negative)|the word MU}} is composed of copies of the words [[:File:pixels-holism.png|HOLISM]] and [[:File:pixels-reductionism.png|REDUCTIONISM]], each of which are in turn made of smaller copies of the other, which are in turn made of [http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/two-more-letters/ tiny copies] of the word [[:File:pixels-mu.png|MU]].

===du===
"[[:File:pixels-du.png|du]]" is a {{w|Linux}} command to indicate the "disk usage" of a file or directory.

~$ du -s video/
4170882256

This is a command that shows how large all the files are in this user's "video" directory - presumably where they store their personal videos. The units of the result is probably kilobytes (depending on settings)

This number is clearly large and difficult to parse, and the units are not clear. More appropriate units would be gigabytes rather than bytes. The du command offers an option to display units in "human readable format", which will adapt to use kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, etc. as appropriate. The next command purports to request the same result in more human-readable form.

~$ du -hs video/
A lot.
~$

It seems that the computer, rather than giving a specific answer, simply says that the size of the video directory is "A lot."

The final line indicates the computer is now ready to accept a new command.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is stacking turtles, and is about to put the fourth turtle on his pile. At the bottom right there is a small panel. Inside this is written:]
:Scroll to zoom

:[When zooming in there will be several panels with text. The transcript of these may not be possible to complete - but add the transcript of these panels here: [[1416: Pixels/Transcript|interactive transcript]]]

==Trivia==
===Gallery===
[[1416: Pixels/Images|This gallery]] contains the [http://azttm.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/xkcd-com-1416-pixels/ 79 images used in this comic]. The images are related in a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/37/1416_Pixels_layout.png directed graph].

===Images Database===
This google sheet describes all possible images, their associated codes, and what possible images can be used as sub-images for each zoom level: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nldKAkeVcK606CY12KI9bah9rDmK9E7CZOyinsEj2Lo/edit?usp=sharing

===Image scraping script===
This gist recursively downloads all possible images:
https://gist.github.com/Aaron1011/d3b56325881cd639506a

===Bugs===
*Doesn't seem to work properly in all browsers (e.g. Firefox and Safari on MacOSX), giving "TypeError: this.data is null" in line 173 of zoom.js: "var item = this.data.get(dims)"
*Doesn't seem to work in IE8, comic is blank, but title text works.
*Does not work on xkcd.org neither www.xkcd.org in Firefox and Chrome. Currently you should visit http://xkcd.com for this comic to work properly.
*Also, it doesn't work on HTTPS.
*Very slow and consumes a ridiculous amount of memory (<4GB) in Firefox.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

1416: Pixels

2014-09-15T15:00:30Z

199.27.128.209: /* Atom etc */

{{comic
| number = 1416
| date = September 3, 2014
| title = Pixels
| image = pixels.png
| titletext = It's turtles all the way down.
}}
'''NOTE: The above is only a zoomed out version of the this interactive comic.''' For a collection of images that appear when zooming in on this comic, see [[1416: Pixels/Images]].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Individual panels need explanations}}
This interactive comic begins with a panel where [[Cueball]] is stacking turtles. This is a reference to the idiom "turtles all the way down," which refers to the problem of infinite recursion: if everything in the universe is "on top of" something else, so to speak, there must be a "bottom." A joking solution to the paradoxical nature of such a bottom is the proposition that {{w|Turtles_all_the_way_down|the world rests on a semi-infinite stack of turtles}}.

As can be read you should "scroll to zoom". This can be done by placing the cursor inside the panel of the comic. When scrolling up (using the mouse wheel) the picture zooms in until the pixels are visible. When you continue to scroll on each pixel then resolves into another comic picture, with black-on-white comic panels making up the white pixels and white-on-black panels making up the black pixels. Scrolling on until you can see the pixels of the comic picture you are now zooming into the process is repeated again and will be so for all subsequent sets of comic panels. Not all white and all black panels are the same; some sets involve more than two different panels, but all involve repetitive tiling.

==Themes==
*Below are all the themes relevant to cover all the images found when zooming in.
*They are sorted in the same order as in the gallery: [[1416: Pixels/Images]].
**Open the gallery in another window - zoom out and then you can see the pictures in this window as you read about them here below:

===Turtles===
Apart from the first image there are two more with a single turtle in them. In one of these the turtle thinks "I am a turtle". This is a reference to [[889: Turtles]] It may say so to the Cueball that is seen standing all alone in another picture.

===What if?===
There is a picture of the book, as it looks and big enough that all text is visible on the front cover. But there is also another version where the author's name is crossed out and replaced with Stephen King and also the word Spooky has been added above the title and below the word xkcd has been crossed and replaced with being afraid.

===Book Launch===
This comic was released on September 3rd, 2014, the day after [[Randall|Randall's]] book ''[http://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ What If]'' was launched. The book is shown and referred to in a number of frames, for example it is [[:File:pixels-upgoer.png|'''literally''' launched]] as a part of an <strike>rocket</strike> [[1133:_Up_Goer_Five|''up goer'']] built by Cueball. There are also a picture with Cueball holding "his book" and telling he is exited about book the launch.

The model ''up goer'' is [[:File:pixels-assembly-1.png|made of Rocket Parts from KSP]]. KSP is the {{w|Kerbal Space Program}}, a spaceflight simulator which was also [[1350: Lorenz#Themes|part]] of the latest interactive comic [[1350: Lorenz]]. Perhaps xkcd's 'parts' refers to KSP's large community of mod developers who contribute 'parts' to the game, although it was likely intended as nothing more than the humorous supposition that one could purchase physical rocket parts from a simulator. The frames showing the book launch use URLs that include the text "upgoer" in reference to the [[Up Goer Five]] comic.

In the end the upgoer leaves the Earth after one orbit and then flies through space.

===Needs More Struts===
{{w|Strut|Struts}} are structural members in engineering, and are are one of the components used in Kerbal Space Program to construct rockets. 'Needs More Struts' seems to be a meme amongst players of Kerbal Space Program, along the lines of 'When in doubt, overengineer'. Megan deems Cueball's rocket to be insufficiently structurally sound, and declares that it "[[:File:pixels-assembly-4.png|Needs More Struts]]"

===The Only Copy===
Cueball & Megan turn to each other having just launched the What-If book rocket into space (construction and launch are seen in other panels). perhaps Megan realises they may have misunderstood the term 'book launch' and that they may have just lost ''[[:File:pixels-upgoer-6.png|the only copy]]'' of the book.

===Space objects===
There are both the Moon, the Sun, Saturn and two images just with stars.

===Sky===
In four pictures Cueball and Megan are sitting below the stars. In the second the following conversation takes place:
:Cueball: Someone once told me the great kings of the past look down on us...
:Megan: From the stars?
:Cueball: Just in general.
The second panel is a reference to Disney's [http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/The_Great_Kings_of_the_Past The Lion King]. Early in the film, Mufasa tells Simba that the great kings of the past look down on them from the stars. Later on, Simba recalls this to his companions, Timon and Pumba (who don't take him seriously). In the film, the kings of the past literally look down on--and watch over--the characters, which is how Megan interprets Cueball's initial statement. Cueball's reply that they just look down on us in general shows that he means the kings of the past figuratively look down on us (they view us as inferior or beneath them).

In the next image a shooting star is seen above them. The final picture looks to identical to the first?

===Mario===
A series of 8 images are called ''Mario''. One is also called ''entry'' has a picture only of a PC. The next four has Megan in front of the PC (Maybe she is Mario? Or she is playing Mario Brothers? She has a control in her hand so probably the last...) She sits on her knees in the first picture, then she sits on the floor. In the third picture she is lying down in front of the PC. Then there is one picture which is an inverse of the sitting picture. The last three pictures all have a view of the starlit night sky with the same two clouds in place. During the night (and these three pictures) a giant galaxy rises above the horizon. It does not look like the Milky Way would look anywhere from Earth (also it does not much look like a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way). There is something square protruding into the picture - this could be a brick wall hanging in the air. Mario can be seen standing in the bottom left corner. Or it could be part of the roof hanging out from the building Megan is inside. Maybe the rise of the galaxy shows how long Megan plays her game. Maybe this is why Cueball wishes to [[#Shut Down the Server|throw water on the server]].

===Shut Down the Server===
Cueball tells an offscreen character that he is going to [[:File:pixels-server-1.png|shut down the server]], while carrying a bucket of water.

Usually shutting down a {{w|Server (computing)|server}} is done via the operating system or software, or (not recommended) turning it off or pulling the power plug. But in this case it appears that cueball is simply going to douse it with water, likely resulting in serious water damage to the hardware.

===Clouds===
In five pictures Megan is floating in the clouds. Only two pictures with Megan, two only with clouds and one only with birds as seen from a distance.

===Walking===
In two images Cueball and Megan are seen walking. One normal black on white close up, and one inverse seen from afar. These may be relevant to the two next ([[#Time Turners]] and [[#Stockholm Syndrome]]) where they are seen talking while walking.

===Time Turners===
The time turner is a device from the {{w|Harry Potter}} series of novels by {{w|JK Rowling}}. It allows the user to re-live a period of time over again. In the third novel Hermione is given the time-turner to allow her to take extra classes, however it is eventually used to spare Buckbeak the hippogryph from execution. This prompted many questions regarding why time-turners weren’t used on other occasions to save people's lives (among other things).

While J.K Rowling has “[http://pottermore.wikia.com/wiki/Time-Turner solved the problem to her own satisfaction]” she admits that she entered into the subject of time-travel too lightly.

[[:File:pixels-time-turner.png|This panel]] jokes that if the real life JK Rowling had a fictional time-turner which worked, she would have gone back and removed the time-turner plotline from the book, saving her all the hassle of dealing with the resulting time-travel questions. This act would result in a time-travel paradox.

===Stockholm Syndrome===
{{w|Stockholm syndrome}} is the name for a psychological phenomenon, in which hostages develop sympathy, empathy and/or positive feelings towards their captors. These feelings are usually seen as irrational, seeing as the hostage is held against their wishes, usually with the threat of physical harm or death.

[[:File:pixels-stockholm.png|This panel]] asks "How do we know anyone really ''wants'' to live in Stockholm?", questioning whether everyone who lives in the city of Stockholm is in fact held hostage there and only stays because they have developed to like life there (due to Stockholm Syndrome).

===Fire Hydrant===
[[Black Hat]] is talking to a fireman, with a fire engine on fire in the background, he asks "To be fair, what else would you expect to come out of a "[[:File:pixels-fire-hydrant.png|fire hydrant]]"?"

Black Hat appears to have managed to replace the usual water supply to the {{w|fire hydrant}} with actual fire. Thus when the hydrant is used, the result is, quite literally, fire (or oil with possibly flint and steel contraptions to cause fire). In Black Hat's logic, a hydrant which delivers water should be called a water hydrant.

===Eeee===
Megan hears a very long stretched ''EEEEEEEEEEEEE'' sound which goes over 6 images. It turns out it is a large letter '''E''' that shouts ''EEEEEEE!!!''. In total there are 64 small E emanating from the big one. There is also a picture with two big white E on black background. Those E are larger than the E that shouts.

===Evolution===
The {{w|March of Progress}} image is a famous and instantly recognisable image showing the stages of human evolution by way of a series of primate figures as if marching in a line. The panel parodies the March of Progress image, with [[:File:pixels-evolution.png|5 ducklings following an adult duck]]. In this case, rather than portraying selected individuals millions of years apart, the March shows evolution in action on a human timescale, the mother taking care of her ducklings. The comic has some resemblance to [[537: Ducklings]].

===Rope===
Four ropes cross diagonally across this black picture. Looks good when there are many of them in the same place.

===Chess and Cantor Set Fractals===
There are two chess boards on black and white background with smaller chessboards drawn upon them in a {{w|Fractal}} pattern.

[[:File:pixels-cantor.png|One panel]] contains a number of lines and dots, which are in fact a depiction of the first 5 steps of a {{w|Cantor set|Cantor Ternary Set}}, mirrored about the horizontal centreline (see {{w|File:Cantor set in seven iterations.svg|reference image}}). The Cantor ternary set is constructed by repeatedly deleting the open middle thirds of a set of line segments.

The Cantor Set is one of the canonical examples of a fractal, a shape whose individual parts resemble the whole. The use of the Cantor Set in this comic is self-referential, in that the comic, itself, is composed of parts of the same shape as the whole.

===Atom etc===
There is a picture of a Bohr Model atom--point electrons surrounding a nucleus of protons and neutrons. The atom is a Carbon atom which is essential for all living matter and therefore essential for evolution. There is also a picture of what is probably a vibrating cosmic string fragment (a concept in [[string theory]]). Despite the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, getting down to the string does not mean that the cartoon viewer has reached the "bottom" of zooming in on pixels - zooming in on the loop will show a picture of string.

===Holism, Reductionism, Mu===
These three words refer to "A MU offering", an essay by {{w|Douglas Hofstatder}} in his book {{w|Godel, Escher, Bach}} (which was referenced by Randall in [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey ]]). It includes a similar multiple level drawing: {{w|Mu (negative)|the word MU}} is composed of copies of the words [[:File:pixels-holism.png|HOLISM]] and [[:File:pixels-reductionism.png|REDUCTIONISM]], each of which are in turn made of smaller copies of the other, which are in turn made of [http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/two-more-letters/ tiny copies] of the word [[:File:pixels-mu.png|MU]].

===du===
"[[:File:pixels-du.png|du]]" is a {{w|Linux}} command to indicate the "disk usage" of a file or directory.

~$ du -s video/
4170882256

This is a command that shows how large all the files are in this user's "video" directory - presumably where they store their personal videos. The units of the result is probably kilobytes (depending on settings)

This number is clearly large and difficult to parse, and the units are not clear. More appropriate units would be gigabytes rather than bytes. The du command offers an option to display units in "human readable format", which will adapt to use kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, etc. as appropriate. The next command purports to request the same result in more human-readable form.

~$ du -hs video/
A lot.
~$

It seems that the computer, rather than giving a specific answer, simply says that the size of the video directory is "A lot."

The final line indicates the computer is now ready to accept a new command.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is stacking turtles, and is about to put the fourth turtle on his pile. At the bottom right there is a small panel. Inside this is written:]
:Scroll to zoom

:[When zooming in there will be several panels with text. The transcript of these may not be possible to complete - but add the transcript of these panels here: [[1416: Pixels/Transcript|interactive transcript]]]

==Trivia==
===Gallery===
[[1416: Pixels/Images|This gallery]] contains the [http://azttm.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/xkcd-com-1416-pixels/ 79 images used in this comic]. The images are related in a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/37/1416_Pixels_layout.png directed graph].

===Images Database===
This google sheet describes all possible images, their associated codes, and what possible images can be used as sub-images for each zoom level: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nldKAkeVcK606CY12KI9bah9rDmK9E7CZOyinsEj2Lo/edit?usp=sharing

===Image scraping script===
This gist recursively downloads all possible images:
https://gist.github.com/Aaron1011/d3b56325881cd639506a

===Bugs===
*Doesn't seem to work properly in all browsers (e.g. Firefox and Safari on MacOSX), giving "TypeError: this.data is null" in line 173 of zoom.js: "var item = this.data.get(dims)"
*Doesn't seem to work in IE8, comic is blank, but title text works.
*Does not work on xkcd.org neither www.xkcd.org in Firefox and Chrome. Currently you should visit http://xkcd.com for this comic to work properly.
*Also, it doesn't work on HTTPS.
*Very slow and consumes a ridiculous amount of memory (<4GB) in Firefox.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

1416: Pixels

2014-09-03T19:29:23Z

199.27.128.209: Linking to a google sheet with a full breakdown of all images and codes.

1416: Pixels

2014-09-03T06:30:51Z

199.27.128.209:

{{comic
| number = 1416
| date = September 3, 2014
| title = Pixels
| image = pixels.png
| titletext =
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|add "gallery" of all zoomed in images}}

When the cursor is placed inside the field of the comic and the viewer scrolls down, the picture zooms in until the pixels are visible. Each pixel then resolves into another comic, with black-on-white comic panels making up the white spaces and white-on-black panels making up the black spaces. This is repeated for this and all subsequent sets of comic panels. Not all white and all black panels are the same; some sets involve more than two different panels, but all involve repetitive tiling. The first comic panel, of Cueball stacking turtles, is a reference to the idiom "turtles all the way down," which refers to the problem of infinite regression: if everything in the universe is "on top of" something else, so to speak, there must be a "bottom." A joking solution to the paradoxical nature of such a bottom is the proposition that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down the world rests on an infinite stack of turtles].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1416: Pixels

2014-09-03T06:29:06Z

199.27.128.209:

Firefox users with HTTPS Everywhere may have trouble seeing the comic, and Chrome users may experience lag (for lack of a better word) when zooming in. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.168|141.101.99.168]] 06:11, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

The combination of "turtle" and "pixel" reminded me of how to code graphics in the older days with for instance turbo pascal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_graphics) - Stian

Would it be possible to have a "gallery" of all the zoom-in images? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.209|199.27.128.209]] 06:29, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

1413: Suddenly Popular

2014-09-01T06:28:30Z

199.27.128.209: /* List of the phrases */

{{comic
| number = 1413
| date = August 27, 2014
| title = Suddenly Popular
| image = suddenly_popular.png
| titletext = Are Your Teens Practicing Amplexus? Learn These Six Telltale Signs!
}}

==Explanation==

Many phrases that used to be of mainly academic interest become popular when an important event or global trend is described with such phrases in the media. [[Randall]] presents a timeline of past examples, and predicts phrases that may be popularised in the near future. The past events are a mix of buzz words and words learned through disasters, crime and terrorism. The future events seem to be all related to natural disasters or other kinds of serious issues, except ''{{w|Amplexus}}'' — which is the joke of the title text — showing that no matter how many disasters there are, people are generally more concerned about their teenagers' sex lives.

The title text is also an example of a {{w|clickbait}} headline. Many organizations will post a link on social media to their content with a sensationalized headline in order to draw readers in. In this case, the headline is geared towards parents who are worried about their children being sexually active in this new ''Amplexus'' way. Such headlines are the internet's analog to television news' {{w|Promo (media)|promos}} ("A new trend among teens is sweeping the nation, but is it dangerous? Details at 11:00.").

{{w|Global catastrophic risks|Global catastrophic risk}} is a theme throughout this comic. Randall predicts a large asteroid impact/near miss and a volcanic eruption, followed by an {{w|impact winter}} or {{w|volcanic winter}}. An insect borne, global pandemic without a cure also strikes, and then the {{w|technological singularity}} occurs.

This comic has similar features to [[887: Future Timeline]].

==List of the phrases==
Below the phrases are listed with the closest year from the time-line noted behind the phrase. Note that this year does not necessarily match with the in-real-life relevant year. This may be found in the explanation of the phrase below.

; {{w|World Wide Web}} – 1994
: Though first proposed in 1989, and the first test being completed in 1990, it took until around 1994 for the {{w|World Wide Web|world wide web}} to start becoming well known.

; {{w|DNA profiling|DNA Evidence}} – 1995
: Prominent coverage of the {{w|O. J. Simpson murder trial}} in 1994 brought widespread discussion of {{w|DNA profiling|DNA Evidence}}, making it famous and showing its limitations.

; {{w|Militia Movement}} – 1996
: After the standoffs at {{w|Ruby Ridge}} in 1992, Idaho and the {{w|Branch Davidians}} compound in Waco, Texas between U.S. Government Agencies and militias in 1993, people started becoming more aware of their presence, culminating with the 1995 {{w|Oklahoma City Bombing}} on the second anniversary of the fire at the Branch Davidians compound.

; {{w|Supermax prison|Supermax}} – 1997
: Super-Maximum security prisons. Possibly referring to the 1997 film {{w|Con Air}}, starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, and John Malkovich, in which prisoners being transferred to a new Supermax prison seize control of their transport plane. Also possibly referring to {{w|Timothy McVeigh}} and {{w|Terry Nichols}}, perpetrators of the aforementioned Oklahoma City bombing, who were incarcerated at {{w|ADX Florence}}, the former from the time of his arrest to 1999, and the latter from the time of his conviction to the present day.

[[File:Butterfly Voters View.jpg|thumb|A butterfly ballot]]
; {{w|butterfly ballot|Butterfly Ballot}} – 2000
: In the {{w|United States presidential election in Florida, 2000|United States presidential election in 2000, Florida}} had a major recount dispute that took center stage in the election. Thus, the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election was not known for more than a month after balloting, because of the extended process of counting and then recounting of Florida presidential ballots. The {{w|butterfly ballot}} was the type of ballot design {{w|United States presidential election in Florida, 2000#Palm Beach County's butterfly ballots|used in Palm Beach County, Florida}}, and was a central issue in the election controversy. Evidence suggests that many voters who intended to vote for Gore or Bush actually marked their ballots for Pat Buchanan or spoiled their ballots, because of a confusing layout of the ballot.

; {{w|Al-Qaeda}} – 2002
: The {{w|September 11th terrorist attacks}} brought the al-Qaeda terrorist organisation into the spotlight almost overnight.

; {{w|Wi-Fi}} – 2003
: Wi-Fi, though developed in the 1990s, first became popular in the early 2000s.

; {{w|Tsunami}} – 2006
: There were a number of tsunamis around this time period, in particular the {{w|Boxing Day Tsunami}} which caused 230,000 deaths, and the {{w|2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami}}. These were some of the first tsunamis to be widely captured on camera, bringing these previously obscure seismic events into the public eye.

; {{w|Viral}} – 2009
: In this context, the word viral is used to describe anything which spreads rapidly and widely on the internet. In particular an online video clip is said to have 'Gone Viral' or become a {{w|Viral video}} if it racks up a high number of views over a short time. This phenomenon has become especially prevalent due to users sharing content on {{w|Social media}}.

; {{w|Radicalization|Radicalize}} – 2011
: Due to the ongoing {{w|Syrian Civil War}}, and the relative ease with which one can travel from Europe to Syria by way of Turkey, there is growing concern about the risk of young Muslims in Europe (and, to a lesser extent, the United States) becoming {{w|radicalization|radicalized}} by indoctrination from fundamentalists either in their communities or on the Internet.

; {{w|Metadata}} – 2013
: Following the highly publicised 2013 leaks by {{w|Edward Snowden}} of information regarding the {{w|NSA}}'s indiscriminate surveillance of global communication metadata, awareness of the privacy value of such data became widespread, where once it was mostly familiar to IT professionals.

''From this point on, phrases were in the future at the time of publication.''

; {{w|Lahar}} – 2016
: A lahar is a mudslide caused by the eruption of a volcano that was covered with snow or ice. Randall is speculating on a future natural disaster being caused by such an incident. {{w|Bárðarbunga}} volcano covered with the {{w|Vatnajökull}} glacier on Iceland increased activity just a few days before publishing of this comic and may erupt in the near future.

; {{w|Insect-borne disease|Insect-Borne}} – 2019
: Some {{w|Category:Insect-borne diseases|diseases are insect-borne}}, meaning specific species of insects are the main vector in spreading to humans. {{w|Malaria}} is an example of an {{w|insect-borne disease}}. Randall predicts some deadly insect-borne disease will emerge around this time.

; {{w|Earth-crosser|Earth-Crossing}} – 2021
: Earth-crossers are asteroids that cross the orbit of Earth. Most of them remain harmless because their orbit doesn't actually intersect the earth's orbit in 3 dimensions, or for the foreseeable future, they will cross when Earth is not there. For this phrase to become popular, an Earth-crosser might have to reach the heretofore-unreached "threatening" level, rating a 5 or more on the {{w|Torino Scale}}, due to a significant chance of a large impact. As of 2014, there are no threats of that level known in the early 2020s. If the next two phrases are connected to this one, Randall is predicting a significant asteroid impact. This may be related to what is currently calculated to be a near-miss of {{w|Torino_Scale#Objects_with_non-zero_Torino_ratings|2011 SM68}} in 2019.

; {{w|Thermohaline circulation|Thermohaline}} – 2022
: Thermohaline circulation is the largest group of interconnected ocean currents, which stabilize global climate by equalizing the temperature and salinity of oceans around the world. If this phrase becomes popular, it implies the thermohaline circulation would have slowed or changed significantly. This might be caused by asteroid impact or by polar ice melting. The latter scenario was apocalyptically dramatized in the movie {{w|The Day After Tomorrow}}.

; {{w|Snow blindness|Snow-Blindness}} – 2024
: Snow blindness is an eye condition caused by excessive UV light reflected from snow and ice. This can lead to corneal damage and blindness (temporary, if treated properly). This phrase becoming popular might suggest a long {{w|impact winter}} (from the asteroid) or severe {{w|ozone depletion}} in cold regions of the world.

; {{w|Amplexus}} – 2025
: A form of non-penetrative reproduction carried out by some animals, for example frogs, involving grasping the partner with front legs. This may be connected to the other posts (some change in human society) or it may simply be a joke at how new sexual language/fads appear and hit mainstream media from time to time (for example a number of acts gained fame from Sex and the City). This also ties in with the title text, which imagines a sensationalist headline suggesting teenagers may be doing this.

; {{w|Aquaplaning|Controlled Hydroplaning}} – 2028
: Hydroplaning occurs when a vehicle tire comes in contact with a puddle in such a way that the water builds up between the tire and the road surface. The film of water, having a much lower coefficient of friction than the road surface, causes the tire to lose traction. Typically, in this scenario, the driver isn't planning to hydroplane and loses control of the vehicle. In theory, controlled hydroplaning would be achieved when the driver plans for it ahead of time. This could be necessary if, in this hypothetical future, most of the roads are flooded since the impact winter (after only four years) ends and thus a great thaw causes all roads to become wet all the time.

; {{w|Paradoxical reaction|Paradoxical Reaction}} – 2031
: "paradoxical reaction" is a medical term for when the outcome of a medical treatment, typically the taking of a drug, is the opposite of that expected. For example if taking a pain relieving medication made the pain worse. For this term to suddenly become well known, a large scale or particularly notable case must have taken place (such as the insect-borne disease of 2019). Or, this and the following (and maybe the last as well) phrases may refer to the events from {{w|The Evitable Conflict}} by Isaac Asimov where robots, instructed with the {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}, take over the world to prevent humans hurting each other. The paradoxical reaction is that these laws were specifically designed to, among other things, prevent robots from taking over the world in the first place.

; {{w|Desertion|Drone Desertion}} – 2033
: Desertion is the abandonment of a post or duty, usually military in nature. With the increasing use of autonomous drones by the military this hints at an event where drones 'decide' to desert, possibly due to unspecified advances in {{w|Artificial Intelligence}} and {{w|Robot Rights}}. Or maybe they just start following the {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}.

; {{w|Human hair growth|Rapid Hair Growth}} – 2034
: Maybe some humans have developed a very rapid hair growth (presumably on the entire body) caused by the cold years of the impact winter.

; {{w|Oath#Divine oath|I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death}} – 2038
: This is a {{w|Oath#Divine oath|divine oath}}. A possible explanation is that after the impact and the desertion of the drones predicted for 2033, a strong fraction has made their leader divine, and everyone now has to swear allegiance to this new God-Empress using this phrase - which would certainly make it a very "popular" phrase. The phrase [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodEmperor God-Emperor] was popularized in the science-fiction work ''Dune'' in 1965 and has been repeatedly referenced since, notably in the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 and the computer game Starcraft (and their related media).

==Transcript==
:Obscure words and phrases everyone suddenly becomes very familiar with.
:[A time line to the left is marked of by several phrases to the right around the time they became familiar to the public:]
::<-- World Wide Web
::<-- DNA Evidence
:1995
::<-- Militia Movement
::<-- Supermax
:2000
::<-- Butterfly Ballot
::<-- Al-Qaeda
::<-- Wi-Fi
:2005
::<-- Tsunami
::<-- Viral
:2010
::<-- Radicalize
::<-- Metadata
:2015
::<-- Lahar
::<-- Insect-Borne
:2020
::<-- Earth-Crossing
::<-- Thermohaline
::<-- Snow-Blindness
:2025
::<-- Amplexus
::<-- Controlled Hydroplaning
:2030
::<-- Paradoxical Reaction
::<-- Drone Desertion
::<-- Rapid Hair Growth
:2035
::<-- I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death
:2040

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

1413: Suddenly Popular

2014-09-01T06:24:44Z

199.27.128.209: earth crosser

{{comic
| number = 1413
| date = August 27, 2014
| title = Suddenly Popular
| image = suddenly_popular.png
| titletext = Are Your Teens Practicing Amplexus? Learn These Six Telltale Signs!
}}

==Explanation==

Many phrases that used to be of mainly academic interest become popular when an important event or global trend is described with such phrases in the media. [[Randall]] presents a timeline of past examples, and predicts phrases that may be popularised in the near future. The past events are a mix of buzz words and words learned through disasters, crime and terrorism. The future events seem to be all related to natural disasters or other kinds of serious issues, except ''{{w|Amplexus}}'' — which is the joke of the title text — showing that no matter how many disasters there are, people are generally more concerned about their teenagers' sex lives.

The title text is also an example of a {{w|clickbait}} headline. Many organizations will post a link on social media to their content with a sensationalized headline in order to draw readers in. In this case, the headline is geared towards parents who are worried about their children being sexually active in this new ''Amplexus'' way. Such headlines are the internet's analog to television news' {{w|Promo (media)|promos}} ("A new trend among teens is sweeping the nation, but is it dangerous? Details at 11:00.").

{{w|Global catastrophic risks|Global catastrophic risk}} is a theme throughout this comic. Randall predicts a large asteroid impact/near miss and a volcanic eruption, followed by an {{w|impact winter}} or {{w|volcanic winter}}. An insect borne, global pandemic without a cure also strikes, and then the {{w|technological singularity}} occurs.

This comic has similar features to [[887: Future Timeline]].

==List of the phrases==
Below the phrases are listed with the closest year from the time-line noted behind the phrase. Note that this year does not necessarily match with the in-real-life relevant year. This may be found in the explanation of the phrase below.

; {{w|World Wide Web}} – 1994
: Though first proposed in 1989, and the first test being completed in 1990, it took until around 1994 for the {{w|World Wide Web|world wide web}} to start becoming well known.

; {{w|DNA profiling|DNA Evidence}} – 1995
: Prominent coverage of the {{w|O. J. Simpson murder trial}} in 1994 brought widespread discussion of {{w|DNA profiling|DNA Evidence}}, making it famous and showing its limitations.

; {{w|Militia Movement}} – 1996
: After the standoffs at {{w|Ruby Ridge}} in 1992, Idaho and the {{w|Branch Davidians}} compound in Waco, Texas between U.S. Government Agencies and militias in 1993, people started becoming more aware of their presence, culminating with the 1995 {{w|Oklahoma City Bombing}} on the second anniversary of the fire at the Branch Davidians compound.

; {{w|Supermax prison|Supermax}} – 1997
: Super-Maximum security prisons. Possibly referring to the 1997 film {{w|Con Air}}, starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, and John Malkovich, in which prisoners being transferred to a new Supermax prison seize control of their transport plane. Also possibly referring to {{w|Timothy McVeigh}} and {{w|Terry Nichols}}, perpetrators of the aforementioned Oklahoma City bombing, who were incarcerated at {{w|ADX Florence}}, the former from the time of his arrest to 1999, and the latter from the time of his conviction to the present day.

[[File:Butterfly Voters View.jpg|thumb|A butterfly ballot]]
; {{w|butterfly ballot|Butterfly Ballot}} – 2000
: In the {{w|United States presidential election in Florida, 2000|United States presidential election in 2000, Florida}} had a major recount dispute that took center stage in the election. Thus, the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election was not known for more than a month after balloting, because of the extended process of counting and then recounting of Florida presidential ballots. The {{w|butterfly ballot}} was the type of ballot design {{w|United States presidential election in Florida, 2000#Palm Beach County's butterfly ballots|used in Palm Beach County, Florida}}, and was a central issue in the election controversy. Evidence suggests that many voters who intended to vote for Gore or Bush actually marked their ballots for Pat Buchanan or spoiled their ballots, because of a confusing layout of the ballot.

; {{w|Al-Qaeda}} – 2002
: The {{w|September 11th terrorist attacks}} brought the al-Qaeda terrorist organisation into the spotlight almost overnight.

; {{w|Wi-Fi}} – 2003
: Wi-Fi, though developed in the 1990s, first became popular in the early 2000s.

; {{w|Tsunami}} – 2006
: There were a number of tsunamis around this time period, in particular the {{w|Boxing Day Tsunami}} which caused 230,000 deaths, and the {{w|2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami}}. These were some of the first tsunamis to be widely captured on camera, bringing these previously obscure seismic events into the public eye.

; {{w|Viral}} – 2009
: In this context, the word viral is used to describe anything which spreads rapidly and widely on the internet. In particular an online video clip is said to have 'Gone Viral' or become a {{w|Viral video}} if it racks up a high number of views over a short time. This phenomenon has become especially prevalent due to users sharing content on {{w|Social media}}.

; {{w|Radicalization|Radicalize}} – 2011
: Due to the ongoing {{w|Syrian Civil War}}, and the relative ease with which one can travel from Europe to Syria by way of Turkey, there is growing concern about the risk of young Muslims in Europe (and, to a lesser extent, the United States) becoming {{w|radicalization|radicalized}} by indoctrination from fundamentalists either in their communities or on the Internet.

; {{w|Metadata}} – 2013
: Following the highly publicised 2013 leaks by {{w|Edward Snowden}} of information regarding the {{w|NSA}}'s indiscriminate surveillance of global communication metadata, awareness of the privacy value of such data became widespread, where once it was mostly familiar to IT professionals.

''From this point on, phrases were in the future at the time of publication.''

; {{w|Lahar}} – 2016
: A lahar is a mudslide caused by the eruption of a volcano that was covered with snow or ice. Randall is speculating on a future natural disaster being caused by such an incident. {{w|Bárðarbunga}} volcano covered with the {{w|Vatnajökull}} glacier on Iceland increased activity just a few days before publishing of this comic and may erupt in the near future.

; {{w|Insect-borne disease|Insect-Borne}} – 2019
: Some {{w|Category:Insect-borne diseases|diseases are insect-borne}}, meaning specific species of insects are the main vector in spreading to humans. {{w|Malaria}} is an example of an {{w|insect-borne disease}}. Randall predicts some deadly insect-borne disease will emerge around this time.

; {{w|Earth-crosser|Earth-Crossing}} – 2021
: Earth-crossers are asteroids that cross the orbit of Earth. Most of them remain harmless because their orbit doesn't actually intersect the earth's orbit in 3 dimensions, or for the foreseeable future, they will cross when Earth is not there. For this phrase to become popular, an Earth-crosser might have to reach the heretofore-unreached "threatening" level, rating a 5 or more on the {{w|Torino Scale}}, due to a significant chance of a large impact. As of 2014, there are no threats of that level known in the early 2020s. If the next two phrases are connected to this one, Randall is predicting a significant asteroid impact. This may be related to what is currently calculated to be a near-miss of {{w|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torino_Scale|2011 SM68}} in 2019.

; {{w|Thermohaline circulation|Thermohaline}} – 2022
: Thermohaline circulation is the largest group of interconnected ocean currents, which stabilize global climate by equalizing the temperature and salinity of oceans around the world. If this phrase becomes popular, it implies the thermohaline circulation would have slowed or changed significantly. This might be caused by asteroid impact or by polar ice melting. The latter scenario was apocalyptically dramatized in the movie {{w|The Day After Tomorrow}}.

; {{w|Snow blindness|Snow-Blindness}} – 2024
: Snow blindness is an eye condition caused by excessive UV light reflected from snow and ice. This can lead to corneal damage and blindness (temporary, if treated properly). This phrase becoming popular might suggest a long {{w|impact winter}} (from the asteroid) or severe {{w|ozone depletion}} in cold regions of the world.

; {{w|Amplexus}} – 2025
: A form of non-penetrative reproduction carried out by some animals, for example frogs, involving grasping the partner with front legs. This may be connected to the other posts (some change in human society) or it may simply be a joke at how new sexual language/fads appear and hit mainstream media from time to time (for example a number of acts gained fame from Sex and the City). This also ties in with the title text, which imagines a sensationalist headline suggesting teenagers may be doing this.

; {{w|Aquaplaning|Controlled Hydroplaning}} – 2028
: Hydroplaning occurs when a vehicle tire comes in contact with a puddle in such a way that the water builds up between the tire and the road surface. The film of water, having a much lower coefficient of friction than the road surface, causes the tire to lose traction. Typically, in this scenario, the driver isn't planning to hydroplane and loses control of the vehicle. In theory, controlled hydroplaning would be achieved when the driver plans for it ahead of time. This could be necessary if, in this hypothetical future, most of the roads are flooded since the impact winter (after only four years) ends and thus a great thaw causes all roads to become wet all the time.

; {{w|Paradoxical reaction|Paradoxical Reaction}} – 2031
: "paradoxical reaction" is a medical term for when the outcome of a medical treatment, typically the taking of a drug, is the opposite of that expected. For example if taking a pain relieving medication made the pain worse. For this term to suddenly become well known, a large scale or particularly notable case must have taken place (such as the insect-borne disease of 2019). Or, this and the following (and maybe the last as well) phrases may refer to the events from {{w|The Evitable Conflict}} by Isaac Asimov where robots, instructed with the {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}, take over the world to prevent humans hurting each other. The paradoxical reaction is that these laws were specifically designed to, among other things, prevent robots from taking over the world in the first place.

; {{w|Desertion|Drone Desertion}} – 2033
: Desertion is the abandonment of a post or duty, usually military in nature. With the increasing use of autonomous drones by the military this hints at an event where drones 'decide' to desert, possibly due to unspecified advances in {{w|Artificial Intelligence}} and {{w|Robot Rights}}. Or maybe they just start following the {{w|Three Laws of Robotics}}.

; {{w|Human hair growth|Rapid Hair Growth}} – 2034
: Maybe some humans have developed a very rapid hair growth (presumably on the entire body) caused by the cold years of the impact winter.

; {{w|Oath#Divine oath|I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death}} – 2038
: This is a {{w|Oath#Divine oath|divine oath}}. A possible explanation is that after the impact and the desertion of the drones predicted for 2033, a strong fraction has made their leader divine, and everyone now has to swear allegiance to this new God-Empress using this phrase - which would certainly make it a very "popular" phrase. The phrase [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodEmperor God-Emperor] was popularized in the science-fiction work ''Dune'' in 1965 and has been repeatedly referenced since, notably in the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 and the computer game Starcraft (and their related media).

==Transcript==
:Obscure words and phrases everyone suddenly becomes very familiar with.
:[A time line to the left is marked of by several phrases to the right around the time they became familiar to the public:]
::<-- World Wide Web
::<-- DNA Evidence
:1995
::<-- Militia Movement
::<-- Supermax
:2000
::<-- Butterfly Ballot
::<-- Al-Qaeda
::<-- Wi-Fi
:2005
::<-- Tsunami
::<-- Viral
:2010
::<-- Radicalize
::<-- Metadata
:2015
::<-- Lahar
::<-- Insect-Borne
:2020
::<-- Earth-Crossing
::<-- Thermohaline
::<-- Snow-Blindness
:2025
::<-- Amplexus
::<-- Controlled Hydroplaning
:2030
::<-- Paradoxical Reaction
::<-- Drone Desertion
::<-- Rapid Hair Growth
:2035
::<-- I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death
:2040

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

Talk:1413: Suddenly Popular

2014-09-01T06:17:54Z

199.27.128.209: Rebuttal of no known earth crossers....

N.b. The phrase "Tsunami" is clearly located after 2005 so cannot be referring to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.4|141.101.98.4]] 10:53, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

While the actual tsunami did occur in 2004, it was late December, and I would argue that it was by far the most prominent tsunami at that time. Widespread use of the word would have spanned into 2005.
See {{w|List of historical tsunamis|List of Historical Tsunamis}}
--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 10:58, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

:You know, you shouldn't argue: BOTH tsunamis obviously took part in the word becoming popular. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:03, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

:: I agree, but I also believe that the 2004 tsunami has to be listed in the explanation.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.233|141.101.99.233]] 11:07, 27 August 2014 (UTC)
::: And more important here - the scale is not very clear and he may have meant 2004, but could not fit it in, with the other sentences. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:02, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Unless someone disagrees and convinces me, I think that something like "Social Engineers" (or perhaps hackers) should be added to the list of people who were aware of and who used metadata prior to the popularization of the term, so I'll add it if I remember next time I come here, or someone else can feel free to do so in my stead -- [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 12:19, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

Drone Desertion... {{w|Skynet_(Terminator)|Skynet}}? [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 13:15, 27 August 2014 (UTC)
:Given that Paradoxical Reaction comes before Drone Desertion, could we assume that because of something done to the AI of drones, presumably to make them "smarter", it has actually led to them deserting on their own? ;) -- I could see how Randall could string a few of the future phrases together to form some logical sequence of events. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:51, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

Amplexus refers to a copulation behavior in frogs. I can only assume Randall chose this word without a hypothetical event in mind. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.198|108.162.219.198]] 13:32, 27 August 2014 (UTC)
:Given the theme, I feel there has to be some event that Randall had in mind that would cause humans to adopt this copulation method. [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 13:36, 27 August 2014 (UTC)
::Agreed, consider the title text: "Are Your Teens Practicing Amplexus? Learn These Six Telltale Signs!" --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.84|108.162.216.84]] 18:45, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Rapid hair growth: Global temps drop, prompting the human body to grow thicker body hair? [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 13:36, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

Does anyonr else feel "May be a reference to The God-Empress of Ponykind - a My Little Pony / Warhammer 40,000 fanfic." is a bit of a stretch? [[User:Spaceside|Spaceside]] ([[User talk:Spaceside|talk]]) 13:50, 27 August 2014 (UTC)
:I personally think it's a reference to Homestuck, especially since this page's number is "1413", while "413" is an important number in that webcomic. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.219|141.101.88.219]] 19:25, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Thermohaline circulation-changes predicted due to increased freshwater runoff in the arctic with climate change (melting glaciers and permafrost) and decreased sea ice cover. Whatever the cause, some evidence and speculation that this could lead to the onset of an ice age, possibly explaining "snow blindness". {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.125}}

I think hydroplaning is not the same as aquaplaning... {{unsigned ip|108.162.231.208}}

If we are going so far as to say that 2038 has to do with the 2038 problem, you may notice that each year uses 12 pixels, and therefore the sentence "I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death" can be shown to be on April 2038, not on January 19, 2038. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 14:59, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

That even adds more credence to the scenario, since it would probably take a few months before the radical change to society was complete, and the phrase "I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death" would become well known. ([[User talk:timengler|talk]]) 02:32, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

:I thought you were joking, but then I saw this [http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1413%3A_Suddenly_Popular&diff=74466&oldid=74464]. You are a living example of the reason of the existence of religions. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:30, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Assuming no major mutations, wouldn't human amplexus be "spooning"? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.140|199.27.128.140]] 18:59, 28 August 2014 (UTC)
:No - it would be doggy style - but without penetration [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:58, 29 August 2014 (UTC)
::There's actually a term for that too, but I don't want to make this discussion into a sex position glossary (it starts with an "h" and ends in "ing").[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.210|141.101.98.210]] 08:21, 31 August 2014 (UTC)
It could be the propensity to snuggle for a long time between intermittent sex acts due to it being effing cold all the time.(pun intended) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.11|108.162.228.11]] 12:12, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

As there are no known earth crossers, I have an alternate scenario for "earth crosser" - "thermohaline" - "snow blindness": Global warming, creating Hypercanes, these would disrupt oceanic layering (thermohaline) and may go hand in hand with desertification (deserts can also lead to something akin to snow blindness). So, alternatively, Randall may predict that global warming may come much faster and harder than predicted... Just my two cents (and maybe we should think "Dune" with the last entry? not the story - the background... Bene Geserit anyone?) ... wont do any changes before discussed (or people shout "oh no - surely not"!)... [[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 17:28, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

: 2011 SM68 is coming close in 2016 and 2019. (292220) 2006 SU49 is coming close in 2029. (99942) Apophis is close in 2029. 2012 MU2 is close in 2015. 2014 DA is close in 2027. -- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torino_Scale for list of object which have ever been considered at risk of hitting earth. Giving the timing, I would think that "2011 SM68" is the closest match for Randall's timeline, as the 2016 passage would give additional data for a probability of hitting earth in 2019 -- and two years after that everybody would know what hit them :-( [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.209|199.27.128.209]] 06:17, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

under controlled hydroplaning i understand 3 things
1. a joke about the word plan in hydroplaning
2. some kind of advanced engine enabling boats to use hydroplaning to move
3. a car computer to stear while the car is hydroplaning

the title: "i swear allegiance to the god-empress in live and death" makes me imagine that he could mean his own

death maybe due to:
1. reduced dyieng age because of the ice age
2. that he doesnt want to grow older than that
00:44, 1 September 2014

1415: Ballooning

2014-09-01T05:08:25Z

199.27.128.209: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1415
| date = September 1, 2014
| title = Ballooning
| image = ballooning.png
| titletext = Time to dance in front of Mary Jane! If I'm lucky, she'll turn out not to practice pre-copulatory sexual cannibalism!
}}

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

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is shown floating on the wind, attached to a large balloon. The balloon is made of spider silk.]
:Cueball: Ooh, that looks like a good spot to land, eat some bugs, and make an egg sac!
:Caption: ♫ ''Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can'' ♪
{{comic discussion}}