explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3261: Side Effect

2026-06-20T21:33:08Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3261
| date = June 19, 2026
| title = Side Effect
| image = side_effect_2x.png
| imagesize = 658x247px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic takes the concept of medication side-effects ''ad absurdum''. The side effect of sensitivity to sun exposure described by [[Beret Guy]] is [https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/sun-sensitizing-drugs entirely precedented], however, sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}} is far less normal.{{Citation needed}} Due to the entirely normal first side effect, [[Ponytail]] initially misses the gravitational wave side effect. She is about to find out what that is about.

Gravitational waves, to oversimplify, are waves of distortion in spacetime caused by fast-moving gravitational objects such as black holes orbiting each other. They travel at the speed of light and can be measured by precise instruments ({{w|interferometer}}s) which detect the ever-so-slight stretching and squishing caused by gravitational waves. As a side-effect of his medication, Beret Guy exhibits the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave much stronger than normal, to the degree that it is visible to the naked eye. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. Alternatively, it may be part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.

This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. By way of comparison, the most sensitive current ground-based laser interferometer, {{w|LIGO}}, has light storage arms which are 4 km in length, and with strong gravitational waves, it experiences changes in the distance between the ends of the arms by at most roughly 10−18 meters, or 1 attometer. The relative change is thus about 2.5 × 10-22. If Beret Guy is experiencing distortions of about a quarter of his height, the relative change is 0.25, larger than LIGO's by a factor of about 1021. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.

"{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}" described in the title text refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly. When the gravitational wave is represented through [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWqhUANNFXw sound], it does indeed make a chirping sound. The chirp would also cause Beret Guy's body to change form repeatedly and rapidly.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.

:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is stretched out in height.]

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now shorter and wider than he was originally.]

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now stretched out in height again as he was in the third panel.]
:Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]

3259: Tethys

2026-06-20T21:21:26Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ While habitual 'real' measurement systems may originally influence the choice of scale, after a while it becomes the tail wagging the dog. Because dolls/etc historically tend to be 1:12, even metric-users may use the 'handy' 12x factor.

{{comic
| number = 3259
| date = June 15, 2026
| title = Tethys
| image = tethys_2x.png
| imagesize = 304x317px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In order to carry the necessary crafting supplies, they built the ships at 12:1 scale.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently AND NEEDS TO BE RECREATED AT A 1:12 SCALE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Tethys (moon)|Tethys}}, the fifth moon of Saturn, has a diameter of 1,060 kilometers, almost exactly 1/12th that of Earth's, which is 12,742 km. This scaling is a {{w|1:12 scale|common one}} used for modelling, perhaps because for users of measurement systems in the "imperial" family (such as US customary units) it is relatively simple to convert all real-life measurements directly from any given number of {{w|Foot (unit)|feet}} in the real life subject to exactly the same number of {{w|inch}}es in the model version (users of the {{w|metric system}} may prefer a simpler 1:10 or 1:100 scale; but, depending upon what is being modelled and for what intended result, {{w|List of scale model sizes|any scale at all}} may become the desired standard for a particular project).

This comic alludes to a fantastical scenario in which artists who produce miniature scale models of existing structures decide to use Tethys to produce a 1:12 scale model of the Earth. This is a patently absurd undertaking: all the difficulties of {{w|terraforming}}, already a monstrously hard task, would be exacerbated by the need to precisely recreate Earth's features, as well as by some particularly unfavorable traits of the Saturnian system. Tethys's distance from the Sun is too great for Earth's surface conditions to be recreated without artificially increasing insolation, likely through the use of orbital solar mirrors. These would be especially difficult to erect around Saturn, with its {{w|Moons of Saturn|many moons}} (292 at last count) and {{w|Rings of Saturn|ring system}} causing severe gravitational interference. In addition, it would be difficult to get the necessary rockets, as it would be unlikely that any space agency would be willing to aid this thoroughly ridiculous project.{{Citation needed}}

However, there is some good news: Tethys' large native water stores eliminate the need to ship in more, and the nearby moon {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}'s atmosphere could be harvested for nitrogen, which is necessary to recreate {{w|Atmosphere of Earth#Composition|Earth's atmospheric composition}}. Being very far away from Earth also means that there is no risk of [[878: Model Rail|nesting]] - having the model include a miniature version of itself, which includes an even more miniature version of itself, which includes....

The description refers to it as model builders' final project, implying that recreating the entire Earth at at 1:12 scale would include a re-creation of every individual detail on Earth and thus contain all possible (terrestrial) 1:12 scale models in one vast miniature set.

The title text says that the ships used in the construction effort are built "at a 12:1 scale" (i.e. 12x larger than normal, however "normal" is defined). If this is with reference to the model they are building, this would mean that they would end up back at 'normal spaceship size'.

==Transcript==
[An image of a planet, presumably Saturn, showing prominent rings as well as three distant moons (one to the apparent right of it, the other two at the left) and one close, large moon. In front of the large moon is a line of spaceships dwindling into the distance toward the moon, or perhaps toward an orbit around it. Each spaceship has prominent rocket nozzles aimed toward the viewer and away from the large moon, as well as what appears to be a pile of material on "top" of the spaceship, with tie-down ropes holding it in place.]

[Caption below the panel:] 
After learning that Tethys is exactly 1/12th the size of Earth, the miniature art model builders launched a fleet of ships to begin their final, greatest project.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Space]]

3261: Side Effect

2026-06-20T17:41:08Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3261
| date = June 19, 2026
| title = Side Effect
| image = side_effect_2x.png
| imagesize = 658x247px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] tells [[Ponytail]] about the new medication he’s using, with the [https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/sun-sensitizing-drugs entirely precedented] side effect of sensitivity to Sun exposure and the far less normal sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}}. At first she replies that those side effects are normal, then does a double take and is confused about the second effect. Then, when she realizes, Beret Guy starts to exhibit the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave, but by obviously visible amounts. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. (Or perhaps it's part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.)

This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.

"{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}" refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly (the term comes from how it sounds when the gravitational wave is represented through [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWqhUANNFXw sound]). This would cause Beret Guy's body to also change form repeatedly and rapidly.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.

:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is stretched out in height.]

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now shorter and wider than he was originally.]

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now stretched out in height again as he was in the third panel.]
:Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]

3261: Side Effect

2026-06-20T17:39:20Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3261
| date = June 19, 2026
| title = Side Effect
| image = side_effect_2x.png
| imagesize = 658x247px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] tells [[Ponytail]] about the new medication he’s using, with the [https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/sun-sensitizing-drugs entirely precedented] side effect of sensitivity to Sun exposure and the far less normal sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}}. At first she replies that those side effects are normal, then does a double take and is confused about the second effect. Then, when she realizes, Beret Guy starts to exhibit the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave, but by obviously visible amounts. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. (Or perhaps it's part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.)

This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.

"{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}" refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly (the term comes from how it sounds when the gravitational wave is converted to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWqhUANNFXw sound]). This would cause Beret Guy's body to also change form repeatedly and rapidly.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.

:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is stretched out in height.]

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now shorter and wider than he was originally.]

:[Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now stretched out in height again as he was in the third panel.]
:Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]

1812: Onboarding

2026-06-20T17:34:24Z

81.179.199.253: Undo revision 414941 by YZ100 (talk) There are some definite 'powers of Beret Guy' things going in in his company... Which might well be thanks to him.

{{comic
| number = 1812
| date = March 17, 2017
| title = Onboarding
| image = onboarding.png
| titletext = 'So we just have a steady flow of metal piling up in our server room? Isn't that a problem?' 'Yeah, you should bring that up at our next bismuth meeting.'
}}

==Explanation==
This is another one of [[Beret Guy|Beret Guy's]] mysterious [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|businesses]], in which he shows new employee [[Ponytail]] around the building in which the company resides. The process of showing a new employee around the business and starting to get them introduced to people and systems and procedures is often referred to as "{{w|onboarding}}" - hence the title of the comic.

=== Existential Welcome ===

The first panel starts out as a typical welcoming of the new employee to a small indie business. Very quickly, however, Beret Guy's explanation jumps to an existential viewpoint. Very rarely do conversations or introductions involve discussing the eventual fate of our bodies, and certainly not in a professional light as in this comic. Beret Guy, however, has no problem with discussing death and decay as just part of his business. This seemingly contradicts the title text in [[1493: Meeting]], where it is claimed that employees of the company can not physically die. However, this could be a new company he has started since then. Alternatively, this is a literal statement, perhaps related to the cursed Wi-Fi mentioned later in the comic.

=== Bikeshare ===

In the second panel, Beret Guy shows Ponytail the free bikeshare system this business apparently has in place. {{w|Bicycle-sharing system|Bikesharing}} is a system in which many users share one or more bikes among themselves. Typically the bikes belong to some of the members of the group who are allowing them to be used by other members who may not have one, but Beret Guy calmly remarks that this system will only exist "until whoever owns those bikes finds out", implying that they were not donated or shared by any member of the group, but are being used without permission or the knowledge of the true owner of the bikes. This is, thus, not actually a bikeshare, and would be more properly described as theft.

=== Printer ===

In the third panel, Beret Guy shows Ponytail that the laserjet is over there '''and''' the printer is over there, thus indicating that the ''laserjet'' is not a printer. This is a bit disconcerting, since the {{w|HP LaserJet}} is in fact a common brand of {{w|laser printer}}, suggesting that his laserjet may be some rather more exotic device, such as a {{w|Laser propulsion|laser-propelled}} {{w|jet aircraft}}. In any case, however, the printer is not available, as it's been printing an infinite-scroll web page since 2013.

An [[wikt:infinite scroll|infinite-scrolling web page]] is a web page that, as the name implies, seems to have no end. This style of webpage typically has no definite pages or sections, but instead continues to feed data to the screen as the user scrolls. One such example is [http://endless.horse endless.horse], a webpage that features an infinitely tall horse. In reality, trying to print one of these would only print the current section the user was viewing, and even if it was somehow able to infinitely print, the operator could theoretically cancel the operation at any time. Presumably, this continuous printing serves some useful purpose, e.g. prints latest news, because someone would have to be refilling the paper for the printer to have kept running this long; it would have run out of paper long ago otherwise. Mistaken print jobs are sometimes notoriously difficult to stop due to many levels of buffering (application, printer driver, OS spooler, print server, printer device) and lapses in job control software.

Infinite scrolling (in the sense of an annoying UI design style for browsing large but finite documents) was previously covered in [[1309: Infinite Scrolling]]. A similar separation of the phrase "laserjet printer" has been explored in [[1681: Laser Products]].

=== Infrastructure Buzzwords ===

In the fourth panel, Beret Guy makes three more remarks.

'''Restrooms are all-digital—no pipes.''' While many technology standards nowadays are entirely digital, one's restroom is one of the things that most definitely should not be.{{Citation needed}} A restroom without pipes would have no way to bring water in and transfer wastes away, and would most certainly be at the very least an unpleasant encounter. (It's implied that the waste is being transferred digitally, although this is [[1293: Job Interview|obviously impossible]].) This could also be a pun joking with the fact that a common (in the past and reappearing recently) technology in sound amplifiers is the use of tubes, but nowadays most sound amplifiers are all-digital. So a "latest technology" restroom cannot have pipes (synonym of tubes) and has to be all-digital.

'''The Wi-Fi is very fast, but cursed.''' Fast Wi-Fi is certainly desirable, but in this case, he claims it is also cursed. Whether the curse is a side-effect of the fast Wi-Fi or totally unrelated is left unsaid, as well as what the curse is. This could possibly be a joke relating to American slang: all technology can behave inexplicably from time to time, and Wi-Fi is notorious for randomly losing connection -- this is often exaggerated and called "cursed". Knowing Beret Guy, though, [[2376: Curbside|it's probably literal]], perhaps purchased from one of the "[[1772: Startup Opportunity|mysterious shops that sell you magical items, and then it turns out they're cursed"]].

'''Our server room is carbon-neutral but produces bismuth constantly.''' Normally, {{w|carbon neutrality|carbon-neutral}} would mean that it is designed to be environmentally friendly by reducing and offsetting its carbon emissions enough that it has no net effect on the environment. The term is a little bit confusing because the meaning is of course carbon-dioxide-neutral. Instead of producing carbon-dioxide as a side-effect of its power usage, Beret Guy's server room produces the element {{w|Bismuth|bismuth}}, which is absurd. Bismuth is used as lead replacement in some {{w|solder}}s. While this replacement is often used because of the toxicity of {{w|lead}}, in this case it refers to an IBM mainframe computer where the Bi58Sn42 alloy is used because of its low temperature soldering characteristics. Therefore, producing excess bismuth in the server room would destroy all the electric connections.

One way the server room might produce bismuth is a {{w|Lead-cooled fast reactor|compact nuclear reactor}} which can both make the server room carbon-neutral ''and'' leak bismuth (by creating it in the reactor). This being Beret Guy, another possibility is that bismuth simply appears in that room as the server operates, because he didn't want it to create carbon emissions and so it had to emit something else.

=== Lin-Manuel Miranda ===

In the last two panels, Beret Guy explains that Ponytail will be working on the infrastructure, which is apparently maintained by {{w|Lin-Manuel Miranda}}. He is among other things a songwriter but certainly not an engineer or anyone qualified to be responsible for an entire infrastructure.{{citation needed}} Ponytail knows about his songs and thus surprised asks if he is also an engineer. (This echoes [[1665: City Talk Pages]], which includes a train station designed by {{w|Andrew Lloyd Webber}}, a composer best known for writing ''{{w|The Phantom of the Opera}}'').

It is worth noting that Beret Guy actually acknowledges the mistake here, claiming the mistake "cost a fortune." This is unusual for Beret Guy, as he has of yet failed to acknowledge or recognize the oddity of every other aspect of his mysterious business, many of which are certainly stranger than this. However, he doesn't seem to mind this at all and does not wish to fire him. Instead he plans on fixing the mistake by hiring a real network engineer, Ponytail, to do the work alongside Miranda. Because, as Beret Guy continues to explain, the bright side of having Lin-Manuel Miranda in his business overshadows the lost fortune. Apparently Lin-Manuel Miranda is really nice and he makes {{w|karaoke}} nights fun, a clear reference to his engaging stage presence and vocal skills.

Off screen, Lin-Manuel Miranda is heard singing "{{w|How Far I'll Go}}", which is a song that he composed for the Disney movie ''{{w|Moana (2016 film)|Moana}}''. It was nominated for an {{w|Academy Awards|Oscar}} for {{w|Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song}} in the {{w|89th Academy Awards|2017 show}} just a few weeks prior to this comic.

=== Title Text ===

The title text mentions the potential dangers of having your server room constantly produce bismuth, but only as a prelude to a bismuth/business pun. Because of the earlier carbon reference, it could also be a parallel to the difficulty in convincing businesses to become more energy efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite the urgency, as [[Randall]] has [[:Category:Climate change|often referred]] to in xkcd with [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]].

The fact that the business has meetings to discuss the bismuth, but apparently no one has ever mentioned at one of these meetings that the bismuth may be a problem, is strange. It is unclear what participants in these meetings ordinarily say about the bismuth.

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy shakes hands with Ponytail in front of a building while he points at the two large double doors under an unreadable sign.]
:Beret Guy: Hi! Welcome to the team!
:Beret Guy: We do business here and we'll turn into dirt later.

:[Beret Guy and Ponytail walk by three bikes.]
:Beret Guy: This is our main campus.
:Beret Guy: We have a free bikeshare system, at least until whoever owns those bikes finds out.

:[Beret Guy points forward as they walk on.]
:Beret Guy: The LaserJet is over there, and the printer is over there.
:Beret Guy: You can't use it right now; it's been printing an infinite-scroll webpage since 2013.

:[Zoom in on their heads.]
:Beret Guy: Restrooms are all-digital - no pipes.
:Beret Guy: The WiFi is very fast, but cursed.
:Beret Guy: Our server room is carbon-neutral but produces bismuth constantly.

:[Beret Guy has turned towards an off-panel Ponytail holding a hand out towards her.]
:Beret Guy: You'll be working on our infrastructure, which is currently maintained by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

:[Zoom out to both facing each other. From the right singing is heard from off-panel, as indicated with two musical notes.]
:Ponytail: ...The songwriter? Is he also an engineer?
:Beret Guy: Nope, huge misunderstanding on our part. Cost a fortune. But he's really nice and it makes karaoke nights fun.
:Lin-Manuel Miranda (off-panel): ''How far I'll gooo''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Comics with cursed items]]
[[Category:Disney]]
[[Category:Movies]]

Talk:1166: Argument

2026-06-20T17:31:16Z

81.179.199.253: Looks like three separate comments posted at the same time, none of it properly signed but (differently) pseudo-signed. So adding the same 'unsigned' on each.

Anyone know if there really is a thread for this? I Googled the title as shown in quotes and it didn't give me any results. Without quotes gave me the xkcd forums as well as some Creationist stuff. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 07:39, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

-- Haha! I did exactly the same, but in the hour and a half since you searched, some enterprising soul has created what appears to be a tribute thread at [http://freeenergyforum.com/discussion/187/your-all-crackpots-who-dont-understand-thermodynamics/]. [[User:PabloVergos|PabloVergos]] ([[User talk:PabloVergos|talk]]) 08:57, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Also, 0.999... ≠ 1 and the government covered it up. [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 00:35, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

The explanation for the third post should make note of the situation where you hang a flywheel (e.g. a bicycle wheel) by each end of its axis using cords, spin the wheel then cut one cord, and the bicycle wheel will keep spinning in the same position! There was a YouTube video for this, but I cannot find it, there must be more people who know what I'm talking about. It has something to do with centripetal (No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die). :) [[Special:Contributions/84.224.77.100|84.224.77.100]] 05:32, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
:I think it refers to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Perpetual_Motion_by_Norman_Rockwell.jpg this], not gyroscopes. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 06:27, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

I did some digging and found http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=29697&page=4
Not sure if it has any relation, but it's hard to believe its a coincidence that the thread is from 2004 and the final comment is '''"I think this thread has run its course, and I'm getting tired of deleting crackpot posts from it. Any objections? Good."''' [[User:Ornj|Ornj]] ([[User talk:Ornj|talk]]) 09:36, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Can anyone identify the icons at the left of the three postings in the comic? The first looks to be a generic head, but the second is a device of some kind, with (perhaps) a push-button, and a wire leading from and connecting back to the device. The third might be a person standing next to a Tesla coil or Van de Graaff generator. [[User:Vere Nekoninda|Vere Nekoninda]] ([[User talk:Vere Nekoninda|talk]]) 14:42, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

The second device is a power strip plugged into itself. Free energy, after all.

This thread lives on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=287qd4uI7-E

Perpetual Motion Machines are not free energy. For that to happen, you need it to ''output'' more energy than it uses :( [[User:SilverMagpie|SilverMagpie]] ([[User talk:SilverMagpie|talk]]) 16:53, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

About the thread, it seems to have been deleted with the site :( [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.36|172.69.71.36]] 01:57, 31 August 2023 (UTC)

i can make perpetual motion machines but they need 1 push to start and i don't know if they are perpetual. -Someone From Pluto {{unsigned ip|129.222.167.252|12:42, 20 June 2026}}

i can make Perpetual perpetual motion machines. and they dont need a push! - david {{unsigned ip|129.222.167.252|12:42, 20 June 2026}}

Just So You Know David Is Beret Guy, So i Don't Think He Counts. -Someone From Pluto {{unsigned ip|129.222.167.252|12:42, 20 June 2026}}

'''Rational Wiki'''

Alright I have no problem with giving a link to rational wiki but can someone explain to me why we are redirecting people there when it has significantly less credible citations than wikipedia's pseudoscience page?--[[User:Lackadaisical|Lackadaisical]] ([[User talk:Lackadaisical|talk]]) 20:29, 7 November 2013 (UTC)

What started with a single click on Wikipedia's "self-replicating machine" page has led to an ever-increasing number of tabs in my browser containing articles on self-replication. Please help. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.147|162.158.255.147]] 23:13, 16 July 2016 (UTC)

''the total time any perpetual motion machine has been running is 0 seconds''

Pretty sure that, while literally true in the sense that no perpetual motion machine exists and therefore has never run for any length of time, that's not what Randall meant: I'm sure he meant the total time any '''attempted''' perpetual motion machine has run may be in the weeks and months but not the many years since he started the argument. I will edit in 24 hours if nobody objects. [[User:AmbroseChapel|AmbroseChapel]] ([[User talk:AmbroseChapel|talk]]) 00:50, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

Alas for missed opportunities. Remember, the total time any perpetual motion machine has been running is 0 seconds (rounded up).{{unsigned|Dúthomhas|23:44, 28 March 2025}}

Talk:142: Parody Week: Megatokyo

2026-06-20T17:26:11Z

81.179.199.253:

Isn't it quite unusual that Black Hat does not want to harm anyone in this comic? --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 22:38, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
:There is no indication that Black Hat isn't trying to harm someone. We don't see Fred come out, and we have no idea what Black Hat put in that cake. Black Hat is standing back, not near the cake, which has lit <strike>fuses</strike> candles on it, despite it not being a birthday cake.
:OTOH, this is only #142, from back in 2006. Maybe Black Hat wasn't quite so heartless back then. [[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 01:53, 6 September 2015 (UTC)
::Well the [[72: Classhole]] comic came long before this. But I also think that when Randall shows that even a Classhole has a soft spot for Fred then it is really serious. So I do not think that Black Hat has anything up his sleeve against Fred. (Have deleted a sentence to that regard in the explanation when I just updated it) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:28, 30 July 2016 (UTC)
::It shows later in the Journal series that Black Hat does have a heart, he just doesn't admit it. [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 18:26, 10 March 2017 (UTC)
:::I'm not sure if Journal shows that Black Hat has a heart, or just feels lust/attraction, which IMHO is not the same thing... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.207|172.69.194.207]]
:I agree with gijobarts. I think Black Hat put ''something'' dangerous in that cake, we just don't know what. He was probably acting sentimental to get Cueball to go along with it. [[User:Danish|Danish]] ([[User talk:Danish|talk]]) 18:08, 21 December 2020 (UTC)
::yeah. i think the candles are dynamite. -Someone From Pluto{{citation needed}}{{actual citation needed}} {{unsigned ip|129.222.167.252|12:26, 20 June 2026}}

My interpretation of this has always been that Fred is so unfathomably maudlin, vulnerable and (sym)pathetic that even Black Hat takes pity on him. Such is the awesome power of Fred's exceptionally downcast sentimentality. Much like no-one is evil enough to take candy from a baby (re 'Who Shot Mr. Burns') so no-one, not even Black Hat, is callous enough to dick on Fred Gallagher. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.207|172.69.194.207]] 13:13, 25 June 2024 (UTC)
Does anyone know if Fred ever responded to this at all?
[[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 06:11, 11 December 2025 (UTC)

3249: Neutrino Project

2026-06-20T16:45:46Z

81.179.199.253: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3249
| date = May 22, 2026
| title = Neutrino Project
| image = neutrino_project_2x.png
| imagesize = 324x471px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We definitely put the pool in a mine for shielding. It was absolutely not to hide it from the funding people.
}}

==Explanation==

A {{w|neutrino}} is a type of subatomic particle that interacts extremely rarely with matter. In nearly all cases, neutrinos pass through objects, regardless of density or composition, with no effects whatsoever unless there are {{What If|73|a lot of them}}. For instance, about [https://icecube.wisc.edu/news/press-releases/2017/11/first-look-at-how-earth-stops-high-energy-neutrinos-in-their-tracks/ 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body every second] to no noticeable effect.

However, there is a very small chance that a neutrino will collide with any material, including water, which has the advantage of being transparent to the light that occurs due to {{w|photon}}s being produced by that interaction. Neutrinos can thus be detected by constructing a large pool of water, shielded from as many other particles and radiations as possible, and carefully monitoring it for the small flashes of light that occur when a neutrino does interact with one of the many water molecules within the pool. {{w|Photomultiplier tubes}} are used to assist in detecting these very faint and infrequent flashes and reveal the possible nature (and direction) of the interactions that caused them.

The comic jokes that these detectors were not constructed with this purpose in mind. Instead, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]], the organizers of this project, obtained funding for a "neutrino project" and then embezzled these funds for a {{w|Party#Pool_party|pool party}}, likely primarily to buy the large swimming pool seen in the panel. Supposedly, they only then realize that the pool could be repurposed as an actual neutrino detector. It is unclear what they had claimed to be building with the funding they somehow obtained. Given that they didn't know how a neutrino detector worked, it may be that the money was to find out how to build the detector, though such preliminary research would probably be far less expensive than the actual construction, and the budget wouldn't make sense. Through their own curiosity, they have then inadvertently ended up still somehow achieving their job!

It is unclear how large the pool in the comic really is. The {{w|Super-Kamiokande}} detector in Japan, one of the world’s largest and most well-known neutrino detectors, holds over 50,000 tons of water. This is approximately 20 times the water capacity of {{w|Olympic-size swimming pool}}s. The only statement made about the water capacity in the swimming pool is "huge", which is not a precise measurement of volume or mass{{Citation needed}}. The pool appears to be between 10 and 20 meters in diameter. While the surface of the pool seems to be at most half as large as that of an Olympic-sized pool, its depth could be approximately the same, since it seems to safely allow jumps from an approximately 1 m high platform. A regular pool of this appearance would be expected to hold less water than an Olympic-sized one, and certainly much less than would be required for an effective neutrino detector. Since the bottom of the pool is not visible, the physicists ''might'' just have built a pool with an appropriate volume by making it extremely deep. Assuming a diameter of 20 m and therefore a surface area of approximately 314 m2, the pool would need to be approximately 159 m deep. Constructing such a pool would be difficult, thanks to the large depth. It's more likely that the pool simply isn't circular with such a small diameter. The small size of the pool may not necessarily be a problem in the context of the cartoon: the final report to the funding agency would simply conclude "Would work, but we need a larger pool for the next one."

The title text elaborates on why the pool was suitable for a neutrino detector. In real life, these detectors must be heavily shielded from all other particle interactions that might drown out neutrino interactions. This generally requires them to be deep underground (like {{w|Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment|this}} and {{w|Sudbury Neutrino Observatory|this}} and {{w|Super-Kamiokande|this}}), so a surface-level pool would obviously be unsuitable for that purpose. Randall implies that the pool was built in a deep mine in order to prevent it from being noticed by the people responsible for funding the project, due to them having misused the funding money. This could fulfill the shielding requirement, but is a humorously excessive strategy for hiding a swimming pool from a small group of people.

==Transcript==
:[There is a large pool with a curved edge at the bottom of the panel, with a diving board and several stickfigures in and around it. Ponytail and Cueball are talking in the pool; two characters with relatively indistinct hair are in the water either side of them, passing a beachball between themselves; Cueball has somersaulted off the diving board in a 'cannonball'-like jump; Danish and a Ponytail with a drink are walking along the outside of the pool.]

: Ponytail in pool: How much trouble do you think we'll be in when they find out we used the grant money to throw a huge pool party instead?
: Cueball: We could argue that we '''''did''''' build a neutrino detector.
: Cueball: There's a lot of water here. A solar neutrino will probably interact with it at '''''some''''' point.
: Ponytail: ...Wait. Actually, if we got some photomultiplier tubes...

:[Caption below comic:]
:How the neutrino detector was invented

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

Talk:3260: Messi

2026-06-18T19:25:25Z

81.179.199.253:

Does Randall support Messi? [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:26, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:Who doesn't support Messi? :D [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.46|130.76.187.46]] 18:00, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
::He's [https://mrmen.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Messy one of my favourites]. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:29, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
::Ronaldo. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:22, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
:::And that's why I asked. [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 12:27, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

New football/soccer terms for me! 2 goals scored in one game = Brace, 3 goals = Hat-trick, 4 goals = Haul, 5 goals = Glut [[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 16:58, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:"Brace" is a general form for a 'two-fer' of something ("I shot a brace of pheasant, the other day!").
:"Hat-Trick" originally came from cricket; as a feat that earnt you a prized 'bragging rights' cap, from your team-mates, but possibly reinterpreted as you performing a magical feat (like pulling a rabbit from a hat).
:"Haul" isn't, as far as I know, specific to four things, though you may praise a "four-goal haul" (better than the already named hat-trick, but getting a "five-goal haul" would be better yet). If it's been appropriated for four-specifically, it might just be like the extension of birdie to eagle to albatross to condor in golf (seeking a new word for such a feat).
:"Glut" is a slightly derogatory everyday term, really. A "more than sufficiency". So, in a football context, either a direct complaint that someone scored far more goals against your side than was ''strictly'' necessary (in a case of being outclassed), or a tongue-in-cheek complaint that ''your'' player was now just showing off (supremacy in sport is one thing, but its rarely as much fun as barely scraping a 1-1 draw when anything but an actual loss (or goalless stalemate) isn't a threat to you comfortably staying at (or going up from) your current tier of competition, based upon prior performance and expectations. (A five-nil result, or more, doesn't usually do more to help your cause than a one-nil one, and the risks of trying too hard to get beyond three or four goals for an outclassing team (or just for a given player) are that you'll over-exert yourself, and/or use up 'all your luck'... [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:29, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
::Soccer fans are just too used to it being a low-scoring game. You could also win a basketball game 2-1, but I'm pretty sure viewership would drop precipitously if this became normal. Maybe all these sports should switch to a virctory point system rather than just win/loss, so players don't get complacent. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:42, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
::There is no official term for 7 (SEVEN) goals or more - you just spell it out in parentheses after the numeral(s). [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:12, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

I think the explanation on the hover text is missing the point that, at 38 years old, this is likely to be Messi's last world cup, which is another way in which the statement "last world cup in which he faces serious opposition" is technically true. {{unsigned ip|218.102.149.116|17:08, 17 June 2026 (UTC)}}

I think the curve might be exponential, referencing the "predictions" of AI future capabilities [[Special:Contributions/93.36.179.126|93.36.179.126]] 17:15, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

We should explain how there can data points in the graph with y-values between zero and one. I assume it's because a team might well play multiple games during a single tournament. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 18:10, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:That's obviously true. In the current format, each team plays between 3 and 8 games. During the initial group stage there are groups of 4 where each team plays the other 3. Then there are 5 single-elimination knockout rounds plus a playoff for third place between the semi-final losers. So if Messi makes it to the finals and scores 1 goal in every other game, the y-value will be 0.5. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:03, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

'''Messi'''est graph ever. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 18:34, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

I was going to update the transcript with estimated Y values of each data point. But maybe someone with a little more time and tooling could actually measure them and produce reasonably precise values. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:Couldn't you just use a pixel ruler? [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 00:24, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Updated the transcript with the goals per game values for each world cup. {{unsigned|Jhamination|19:13, 17 June 2026 (UTC)}}

Do we need a new category for improbable extrapolations? I remember one about a woman having multiple husbands because she just got married and that would mean she gets a new husband every day, and I swear there were more. [[Special:Contributions/8.53.15.117|8.53.15.117]] 20:55, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:[[:Category:Extrapolation]] is already (as I write this, haven't checked chronology against your suggestion) given to this comic. While it ''needn't'' also be used to improbable degrees, I think that this is always an implicit possibility for those comics it is used for. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 23:46, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

Yes! I was hoping we'd get a comic about the world cup, with some sorta XKCD twist [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 00:18, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Error? FIFA article today says 4 goals for Messi in the 2014 World Cup!
[https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/articles/fifa-world-cup-all-time-leading-scorers FIFA World Cup all-time leading scorers]
Lionel Messi - Argentina
Goals: 16
World Cups: Six - 2006 (one goal), 2010 (no goals), 2014 (four goals), 2018 (one goal), 2022 (seven goals), 2026 (three goals to date)
Matches played: 27 [[Special:Contributions/81.106.93.247|81.106.93.247]] 06:31, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
:4 goals; 7 appearances = 0.57 goals per game - looks about right to me [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:28, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
argentina mentioned in xkcd [[Special:Contributions/186.157.103.100|186.157.103.100]] 12:12, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
:Was not on my bingo card. [[Special:Contributions/24.123.140.66|24.123.140.66]] 15:29, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

From what I calculated, the best fit exponential graph (which looks close to what was drawn on) is Goals per Game = .00397 * exp(.2546*(Years since 2000)) [[Special:Contributions/8.17.60.118|8.17.60.118]] 15:07, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
:I think there's a better fit by treating 2006+8N years as a very good (slightly rising) linear track, and 2010+8N years as the independent exponential curve. (Which means that 2030 is still a relatively 'flat' year that won't be particularly extraordinary. (But 2034 will still be ''amazing''!) [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 19:25, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3260: Messi

2026-06-17T23:47:51Z

81.179.199.253:

Talk:3260: Messi

2026-06-17T23:46:28Z

81.179.199.253:

Talk:3260: Messi

2026-06-17T22:29:13Z

81.179.199.253:

3260: Messi

2026-06-17T21:42:09Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3260
| date = June 17, 2026
| title = Messi
| image = messi_2x.png
| imagesize = 393x343px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Commentators agree that this will probably be the last World Cup in which Messi faces serious competition.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created in Lionel Messi's 398th goal. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
In the vein of [[605: Extrapolating]], this comic utilizes the incorrect application of extrapolation to humorous ends. Extrapolation is a form of estimation in which existing data points are used to estimate new data points beyond the range of the existing ones. In this case, Randall appears to have fit several data points regarding soccer superstar {{w|Lionel Messi}}'s average goals per {{w|FIFA_World_Cup|World Cup}} game to a curve using what appears to be polynomial or exponential {{w|extrapolation}}. It illustrates the danger of a small {{w|sample size}}, as the data point for "2026 (so far)" is based on only ''one'' game (the day before this comic, in his inaugural game of the 2026 World Cup, Messi scored three goals), and that data point is used to support extrapolation of a rapidly rising number of goals-per-game into the future. The data points for previous World Cups, which bounce around among various values but are all less than or equal to 1.0, are each based on many more games, and as such are likely to be much better estimates of how many goals-per-game Messi will score in the future.

As well as that, if this graph would be true, this would imply that in future games Messi would be scoring multiple goals per second, which would be impossible in real life.{{Citation needed}}

The title text says that this World Cup is the last one in which Messi will face serious competition. This is likely true, but humorously so, as this is almost certainly Messi's last World Cup period. However, the commentators may well have been consulting the chart, and instead be referring to how if this chart was to be true, in future games Messi would theoretically score hundreds of goals, which, assuming no-one else has an exponential rate of goals (or other similar or greater level of growth), would easily beat other players. By apparently overlooking the fact that Messi is a only one of several players on his team, it may even be suggesting that, on his own, his ability can triumph over any other national team fielded in the World Cup.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A graph is shown, with 1 axis having the numbers 1, 2, & 3 going up it, and the other having 24 unlabelled marks. There are 6 points on the graph itself, with them being labelled 2006 (.33), 2010 (0), 2014 (.57), 2018 (.25), 2022 (1), and 2026 (3), the latter having '(so far)' under it. There is a grey dotted curve going up in exponentially.]
:[Title of graph:]Lionel Messi [new line] world cup points per game.
:[Caption below text:]At this rate, by 2040 Lionel Messi will be scoring hundreds of goals per game.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Extrapolation]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Soccer]]

3257: Beam Pipe

2026-06-17T21:30:14Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3257
| date = June 10, 2026
| title = Beam Pipe
| image = beam_pipe_2x.png
| imagesize = 309x397px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'If you keep trying to spray your collaborators with the beam when they're not looking, I'm turning off the ion source and NO one will get to play with the beam!' --Physics's mom
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was found with a Physics Nobel Prize. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
When a liquid is flowing within a tube, the pressure at any point is determined by an equilibrium between the supply pressure and the forces that restrict flow, such as friction with the walls and hydrodynamic effects in the liquid. If the tube is short and the outflow opening is large, the pressure within the tube is close to the exterior pressure (air pressure, in the case of a liquid flowing into air). If the outflow opening is negligible, the pressure within the tube is essentially equal to the pressure of the liquid's supply. If the tube is constructed of an elastic material, it will expand until an equilibrium is reached between the internal pressure and the elastic stretch of the tube... unless the pressure is enough to rupture the tube.

In the case of a hose carrying water, if the exit is fully open, the water pressure near the exit will be moderate: greater than atmospheric pressure, but less than the full pressure of the water supply. The more the exit is restricted, such as by part covering it with a thumb, decreasing the water flow, the closer the pressure near the exit will come to the full pressure of the water supply. (In the limiting case where the exit is fully blocked, the hose will essentially be an extension of the plumbing, and its internal pressure will be that of the water supply, as modified by the gravitational effects of raising or lowering the hose, and the weight of the water). If the hose is elastic (e.g. the usual garden-hose reinforced rubber), it's possible to see it stretch as the nozzle is restricted. Covering it with a thumb, while reducing the water flow, allows the water that does come out to do so at relatively high pressure.

As the {{w|Large Hadron Collider}} ("LHC") can be considered a sort of "pipe" (a beam pipe, as pointed out in the comic title), this comic makes the ridiculous assumption that the same logic applies there — that its beam can be concentrated and redirected by partially covering the end of the beam with a thumb. This wouldn't work in real life: water molecules are moving at low speed and thus do not have sufficient energy to overcome the electrostatic repulsion between their electrons and those of the thumb, forcing them to change path. In contrast the kinetic energy of the particles in the LHC (7 TeV, in the case of protons destined for 14-TeV proton-proton collisions) is far far larger than the repulsion of the thumb. Most particles will pass through unaffected, while those hitting thumb nuclei directly will produce a cascade of new particles similar to those the LHC is intended to produce. This procedure would have to be done at one of the LHC's two [https://home.cern/autopsy-lhc-beam-dump/ beam dump sections], where the contents of the beam are allowed to exit into long steel-encased graphite blocks. Over time, those blocks become dangerously radioactive from the impact of the beam particles. There isn't currently any means to bypass these blocks and allow a person to interact with the beam while the LHC is in operation, although the section of the 'pipe' shown seems to indicate that it is in a section where one or other of the {{w|Compact Muon Solenoid|main detectors}} surrounds the pipe (which, during inoperable periods of construction, modification or other extensive maintenance, might have a part of the adjacent length of pipe withdrawn). This would be complicated by the need of keeping the interior of the LHC at its extremely high vacuum, for times when it it is still technically operational.

While there is no recorded case of a human getting struck by the particle beam at LHC, {{w|Anatoli Bugorski|Anatoli Petrovich Bugorski}} did accidentally hold his head into the proton beam of a 76 GeV (about 180 times less than the energies at the LHC) particle accelerator while trying to repair a faulty part. This had severe but not lethal consequences: the resulting acute radiation sickness caused the affected parts of his face to swell and the skin to flake off, The affected nerves never recovered, leaving the left side of his face paralysed and his left ear deaf. The damage to his brain resulted in several epileptic seizures, but did not affect him otherwise, allowing him to continue his work as a physicist, and at time of publication he was still alive at the age of 82.

Thus while pointless, holding the thumb into the LHC beam for a short time is unlikely to significantly harm anyone trying it... apart from possibly needing to amputate the thumb, if there was enough tissue damage or induced radioactivity. At any rate, this wouldn't work in real life: the relativistic particles would not behave as a liquid.

The title text expands the joke, once more treating the LHC as if it were a hosepipe. Applying the effect above to a hosepipe is a common thing for children to do — often to spray family and friends with the pressurized water. This applies the same logic to the LHC, imagining the mother of "physics" (the science, as opposed to a person) telling off their presumably adult child for "spraying their colleagues with the beam" — something very incomprehensible in real life.

A variety of devices are marketed to increase the pressure of water supplied to them. The {{w|pressure washing|pressure washer}} is a common example; it uses electrical power to add force to the output water. There are also scams based on devices that supposedly increase the output water pressure ''without'' using any externally-provided power, but this is a physical impossibility. The force of the water coming out can't be greater than the force of the water coming in, or a perpetual-motion device could be constructed with the water running in a loop and the added force being tapped to power a generator. At most, the output pressure will be the same as that of the water supply, in the limiting case of zero flow, less any frictional losses within the device.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A picture shows a (partly obscured by the panel) particle accelerator (namely this one being the Large Hadron Collider at CERN). Megan is shown on a stepladder, covering the beam pipe with her thumb. Cueball is shown standing behind the ladder, watching.]
:[Caption below the panel:]
:This year's physics Nobel will go to the scientists who figured out that you could make the Large Hadron Collider more powerful by covering part of the beam pipe with your thumb.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:3257: Beam Pipe

2026-06-17T14:25:25Z

81.179.199.253:

Ok why did this take so long to be created? [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 12:58, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
:I think it was because explainxkcd was down when this comic was published (agian :/) --[[User:Clarkexckd8|Clarkexckd8]] ([[User talk:Clarkexckd8|talk]]) 13:01, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
::It was like that with the last comic as well. What's causing these outages? [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 13:03, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
::: Maybe it's something with the servers. I have no clue why it took until 12:00 (UTC) to upload though.--[[User:Clarkexckd8|Clarkexckd8]] ([[User talk:Clarkexckd8|talk]]) 13:15, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
::::I'm going to theorise that some third party, out there, is running something that hammers our servers. From the little information the change-logs gives, they're starting it around 22:00 (server time) and it only ends (or people, including the comic-update-BOT, only realise it has ended) at around 12:00 (server time, again).
::::While this inconsiderate thing is happening, everyone else (and probably themselves, if they're running their hammering massivelg in parallel) is finding it ''almost'' impossible to connect, as the back-end is too busy serving the site-database results to the hammerer. (Some edits were made ~05:00ish, the other day. Might have been lucky/persistent to do that. Or hit a rare pause by the bad-actor's efforts.)
::::Probably not a deliberate DDOS, as these other periods of sanity wouldn't be in such a plan by someone. I suggest it's either someone/something doing (or trying to do) a lot of webscraping, without any though to throttling it down to a less disruptive level, or even an intended auto-spammer (getting thwarted by the initial hurdles that protect this site, but their spamming algorithm just keeps trying).
::::And the inconvenience to us mere mortals is as applicable to the comic-upload-BOT. The only difference being that it can (in a way programmed specifically ''not'' to self-defeatingly DDOS the site) just try again, perhaps every half an hour or so, so is more likely to be the first contributor to the site (when there's a new comic still to post, in its backlog) once the data-pummelling has stopped for the day.
::::What can we do about it? Not much. Curse the person who (intentionally or otherwise) did this? But it seems to not involve any traces of activity that aren't purely server-log level, or maybe on the prody servers that we also don't control. With any luck, they'll realise their (unintended) mistake and rethink it. Or just have no more reason to do so. Not very comforting, but the best outcome I can imagine happening easily. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.149|82.132.236.149]] 12:53, 12 June 2026 (UTC)

This is probably nitpicking, but covering the opening of a hose doesn't increase the pressure of the stream, it increases flow rate instead, and with it the nozzle velocity. The pressure at the end of a hose is equal to ambient pressure, and the flow rate adjusts itself to achieve this. (At least in sub-sonic conditions that you would normally encounter, though this may not apply to the LHC...) [[Special:Contributions/2A02:590:1404:9301:2CAC:E347:73BF:C11|2A02:590:1404:9301:2CAC:E347:73BF:C11]] 14:30, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
:Yeah, I noticed that... decreasing the diameter should actually decrease the pressure by bernoulli's law, right? [[Special:Contributions/12.159.97.176|12.159.97.176]] 14:31, 11 June 2026 (UTC)
::Yeah I was about to mention that too [[User:GreaterDog6065|GreaterDog6065]] ([[User talk:GreaterDog6065|talk]]) 14:55, 11 June 2026 (UTC)[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/User:GreaterDog6065 GreaterDog6065] 09:54, 11 June 2026 (CDT)

What if you put your hand in a particle accelerator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UgKki1tCKI
Also, LHC actually has two adjacent parallel beamlines (or beam pipes) each containing a beam, which travel in opposite directions. Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider#Design --[[Special:Contributions/134.102.219.31|134.102.219.31]] 12:40, 12 June 2026 (UTC)
:Indeed. And each of the beams has a particle energy of 7 TeV "only", the quoted 14 TeV are the proton-proton collision energy at the intersection points. It is also not true that the LHC has no extraction beam lines: it features two beam dump sections (one for each of the counter-propagating beams) specifically to get rid of the stored particles from the closed orbits (for safety reasons or after the beam quality has degraded too much through scattering). {{unsigned ip|140.181.98.80|12:03, 17 June 2026}}

Wasn't there a guy who accidentally stuck his head in a similar collider a while ago? Or was it actually the LHC? [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 02:20, 15 June 2026 (UTC)
:If you mean Anatoli Petrovich Bugorski, he was already mentioned in the article. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.93|82.132.238.93]] 11:38, 15 June 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3259: Tethys

2026-06-16T19:36:55Z

81.179.199.253:

Are the humans there also 12:1? [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 15:55, 15 June 2026 (UTC)

: 12:1 means 12x in dimensions. I think the joke is that the miniature art builders are so obsessed with miniatures that 1:12 scale is their"normal", so 12:1 from their perspective is a normal size from everyone else's perspective.[[Special:Contributions/135.180.173.62|135.180.173.62]] 16:44, 15 June 2026 (UTC)

My understanding of the gag is that the miniature builders are constructing a 1:12 model of the Moon to go with Tethys's "scale model of Earth."

You mean the '''american''' miniature art model builders. The rest of the world will keep waiting for a 1,274.2 km moon [[Special:Contributions/38.25.26.137|38.25.26.137]] 19:56, 15 June 2026 (UTC)

A possible subjoke is a misunderstanding of scaling. Tethys' radius/diameter is 1/12 that of Earth's, but its surface area is closer to 3/500. In terms of surface area, Jupiter's moon Io is closest to the 1/12 scale. It is also possible that this commenter doesn't understand scaling, though. [[Special:Contributions/1.170.227.28|1.170.227.28]] 02:41, 16 June 2026 (UTC)
:Scaling refers to lengths, i.e., 1:12 scale means the model has 1/12 length, 1/144 area and 1/1728 volume (assuming all dimensions are scaled equally, especially for Earth models sometimes height is exaggerated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoid#/media/File:Geoid_undulation_10k_scale.jpg). --[[Special:Contributions/134.102.219.31|134.102.219.31]] 09:35, 16 June 2026 (UTC)

I can't see why terraforming (as it's usually understood) or orbital mirrors, etc. would be required. Model builders don't usually build a sky and local microclimate to accompany their models. Certainly a significant amount of topological engineering (which is technically a form of terraforming, but not what is normally meant by the term) would be required to provide a workable substrate to build on, and further modifications may be needed to create an environment where the modelling equipment can work and the model would be protected during/after building, but I don't see any need to recreate the atmosphere, surface conditions, etc. of the Earth. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:29, 16 June 2026 (UTC)
:But if you don't, then pretty much all my 8.3 billion 1:12th-scale humans, that I just bioengineered from scratch to fit this model, are going to die very nasty deaths!
:That is, in ways other than any of the very nasty deaths that they maybe were already going to be modelled to die of. I mean, it'll force me to not make the 1:12th human that represents you die in the way that you're going to die (but in 1:12th the time! ...yeah, it's still just a single dimension, though some of the physics involved gets trickier), but instead I'll have to find a way to make you die just like 'your' model-human does (don't worry, I'll still try to make it a surprise, but I can't promise that it won't drag on for longer when it finally happens to you). Or else it'll make a mockery of the whole thing. And I'm sure you don't want that! [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 14:33, 16 June 2026 (UTC)
::TBH, creating a 1:!2 scale version of me seems a bit cruel in the first place. I've got bad news, though - Wikipedia tells me that Tethys has a mass about 1% of the moon, so even for 1:12 scale people gravity is going to be pretty borked, and I don't imagine they're going to last long anyway. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:55, 16 June 2026 (UTC)

Would it be fair to say that there's an extra layer of silliness when we have our own moon at 1/4 scale to earth already? [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.47|130.76.187.47]] 15:02, 16 June 2026 (UTC)

Hmm, no reference to the "sum of all integers equals -1/12" math, with the seemingly infinite number of ships in the line? Obviously that "equality" uses "equals" in a somewhat unexpected way, given the divergent series. But that's part of the reference I expected, too. [[Special:Contributions/2A00:79E1:2E00:4F01:A8F7:3C2:A4A4:C7C3|2A00:79E1:2E00:4F01:A8F7:3C2:A4A4:C7C3]] 17:10, 16 June 2026 (UTC)
:The {{w|12 (number)|number twelve}} is s many things, which may or may not use its reciprocal (or negative reciprocal), that I really don't think that the rather peculiar result of ζ(-1) is at all an intended reference here. Not without some more explicit hint that it might be. It's just too much already just a factor in modelmaking (and the coincidence of Tethys's scaling factor compared to Earth), I don't think we need to try to fix anything else (e.g. the nominal subdivision of day- or night-time periods, the number of constellations, etc, etc... ''eventually'' this list to include a specific answer from a given application of the Riemann zeta function, but not as anywhere near the most obvious association to make) into the Explanation. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 19:36, 16 June 2026 (UTC)

3259: Tethys

2026-06-16T14:35:13Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3259
| date = June 15, 2026
| title = Tethys
| image = tethys_2x.png
| imagesize = 304x317px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In order to carry the necessary crafting supplies, they built the ships at 12:1 scale.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently AND NEEDS TO BE RECREATED AT A 1:12 SCALE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Tethys (moon)|Tethys}}, the fifth moon of Saturn, has a diameter of 1,060 kilometers, almost exactly 1/12th that of Earth's, which is 12,742 km. This scaling is a {{w|1:12 scale|common one}} used for modelling, perhaps because of the relative simplicity of converting all real-life measurements directly from any given number of {{w|Foot (unit)|feet}} in the real life subject to exactly the same number of {{w|inch}}es in the model version.

This comic alludes to a fantastical scenario in which artists who produce miniature scale models of existing structures decide to use Tethys to produce a 1:12 scale model of the Earth. This is a patently absurd undertaking: all the difficulties of {{w|terraforming}}, already a monstrously hard task, would be exacerbated by the need to precisely recreate Earth's features, as well as by some particularly unfavorable traits of the Saturnian system. Tethys's distance from the Sun is too great for Earth's surface conditions to be recreated without artificially increasing insolation, likely through the use of orbital solar mirrors. These would be especially difficult to erect around Saturn, with its {{w|Moons of Saturn|many moons}} (292 at last count) and {{w|Rings of Saturn|ring system}} causing severe gravitational interference. In addition, it would be difficult to get the necessary rockets, as it would be unlikely that any space agency would be willing to aid this thoroughly ridiculous project.{{Citation needed}}

However, there is some good news: Tethys' large native water stores eliminate the need to ship in more, and the nearby moon {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}'s atmosphere could be harvested for nitrogen, which is necessary to recreate {{w|Atmosphere of Earth#Composition|Earth's atmospheric composition}}. Being very far away from Earth also means that there is no risk of [[878: Model Rail|nesting]] - having the model include a miniature version of itself, which includes an even more miniature version of itself, which includes....

The description refers to it as model builders' final project. This implies that once the Earth is recreated, it will be such a grand project that it will be the final miniature model ever made, implying that, if it was successfully completed, any further model projects would seem worthless by comparison. Perhaps because in order to accurately model the Earth, that model would itself contain 1:12 models of all modellable things on Earth.

The title text says that the ships used in the construction effort are built "at a 12:1 scale" (i.e. 12x larger than normal, however "normal" is defined). If this is with reference to the model they are building, this would mean that they would end up back at 'normal spaceship size'.

==Transcript==
[An image of a planet, presumably Saturn, showing prominent rings as well as three distant moons (one to the apparent right of it, the other two at the left) and one close, large moon. In front of the large moon is a line of spaceships dwindling into the distance toward the moon, or perhaps toward an orbit around it. Each spaceship has prominent rocket nozzles aimed toward the viewer and away from the large moon, as well as what appears to be a pile of material on "top" of the spaceship, with tie-down ropes holding it in place.]

[Caption below the panel:] 
After learning that Tethys is exactly 1/12th the size of Earth, the miniature art model builders launched a fleet of ships to begin their final, greatest project.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Space]]

Talk:3259: Tethys

2026-06-16T14:33:33Z

81.179.199.253:

3258: Plate Flip

2026-06-16T13:24:35Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ Probably a simpler way of saying all this...

{{comic
| number = 3258
| date = June 12, 2026
| title = Plate Flip
| image = plate_flip_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was FOUND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Ponytail]] resumes her role as a [[:Category:Home Inspections|cosmic home inspector]], in which she appears to compare {{w|tectonic plates}} to {{w|mattress}}es, and recommends flipping them over to address what she considers problematic features. Flipping mattresses every few months was common until the 20th century, to even out the wear and tear, and prevent permanent body impressions. When modern box springs became common, the practice became unnecessary.

{{w|Weathering}} is the deterioration of materials, including rocks and soils, caused by the action of chemical and biological agents, light, temperature changes, etc, which can cause breakdown and/or discolouration. Geologically, this can include the disintegration of rocks into fine particles, or changes in soil structure. In the case of a mattress, it would be staining and thinning of the fabric.

A {{w|debris flow|debris basin}} is an area where loose materials, such as washed out soil or free rocks, tend to collect. On a mattress, a 'debris basin' would likely be mostly filled with a mix of shed human skin and lint loosely bound by excreted oils, with other constituents depending largely on the habits of the occupants.

An {{w|isostatic depression}} is an area of the Earth's crust that has sunk due to some heavy weight, such as an ice sheet, acting on it. If that weight is removed (for example, by the ice melting), the crust will tend to rebound to a higher position. Mattresses can develop areas of 'depression' over time due to people's tendency to always sleep in the same position, repeatedly crushing and straining the materials in the same way. Many modern mattress materials promise to resist this tendency, allowing the mattress to recover ('rebound') between uses.

Flipping mattresses only made sense because on a traditional mattress both sides were similar to each other. The "underside" of a tectonic plate is nothing like the surface. The current side that Cueball and Ponytail are standing on is the outermost layer of the {{w|Earth's crust|crust}}. However, the "underside" of the plate reaches until the solid layer of the {{w|mantle (geology)|mantle}}, whose temperature can reach over 1000 °C. As Cueball points out, if you could flip a continent over, the new surface would be molten rock — not a surface suitable for life. Ponytail thinks the warmth would be soothing, and that walking on it would {{w|exfoliation (cosmetology)|exfoliate}} your feet, but at hundreds of degrees, it would do far more damage than just removing dead skin.{{citation needed}}

Of course, such an idea would be impossible to put into practice. The Earth's crust is far bigger than us, and any plate-moving technologies would need an insane amount of power — much more than we currently know how to harness. As well as that, a location would have to be found for the plate-moving technology where it could apply sufficient leverage without destabilising its own footings. Even by doing one plate at a time, the temperature increase from moving just one plate would be deadly. Furthermore, since our current plates are not regular in shape, a flipped plate does not fit back into the hole it leaves without all the other plates being flipped to form a fully reflected spherical topology (and all but this plate and any antipode also moved, and all but the smallest of them forcibly '{{w|Eye popper|popped}}' from concave to correctly convex). The title text also reveals that somehow the crust is to be moved without moving the numerous things on it, which would further complicate matters.

Even if the immediate calamities from turning the tectonic plates upside down were ignored, the turned plate would be inhospitable to life. There would be no soil, only igneous rock, meaning no ground water could form, resulting in an immense desert. Given enough time, erosion and pioneer species would restore the geosphere. However, this would also cause the "problems" Ponytail is hoping to address to reappear.

The title text expands on this joke, saying that it would "exfoliate" just about everything on the surface (which would somehow have to stay in place while the plate below it is flipped; alternatively, everything is flipped along with the surface and ends up under the crust). If this flip was to somehow happen it would indeed do that, but it would also melt just about everything on the surface, which is less than ideal.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is looking at the ground in front of her, a hand on her hip. Cueball stands behind her, to the right.]
:Ponytail: These tectonic plates look pretty eroded. When did you last flip them?
:Cueball: Flip them?

:[Zoom out to see the ground. Ponytail walks forward, motioning at the ground. Cueball spreads his arms behind her.]
:Ponytail: Yeah, to use the underside of the continent.
:Cueball: ...Never?
:Ponytail: Wow. Explains the eons of weathering, debris basins, and ... is this isostatic depression?
:Cueball: It's rebounding!

:[Ponytail stops walking and turns to Cueball.]
:Ponytail: You should really flip it. You'll get a whole new landscape!
:Cueball: But I like '''''this''''' landscape!

:[Ponytail spreads her arms slightly.]
:Ponytail: Just think how warm and fresh the other side will feel.
:Cueball: A sea of molten rock?
:Ponytail: Good for the feet. Helps exfoliate.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Home Inspections]]

Talk:1501: Mysteries

2026-06-15T23:14:42Z

81.179.199.253: General sort-of-signing/datestamping fixing, mostly.

Here's a list of wikipedia links I compiled that will be useful for anyone wanting to update this page. http://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/2zog5d/xkcd_1501_mysteries/cpktray {{unsigned ip|‎141.101.106.155|08:48, 20 March 2015}}

And I've got a solar eclipse to see (explainable, but weird!) but I started to compile things. Haven't got any links sorted yet, and percentages are (badly) done by eye. If someone does it better, ignore it.


[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.63|141.101.98.63]] 09:33, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

:(Whoops, pasted the flatfile format version by accident, in my rush, rather than the more Wikifriendly one that I discarded. Commenting it out until/unless I redo it. But you should still be able to see the details via the Talk Edit pages if you're bothered. Oh, and there was really too much cloud to see the eclipse for what it was. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.63|141.101.98.63]] 10:29, 20 March 2015 (UTC))

::I dropped the image into our CAD system and plotted the point co-ordinates. I've filled in the resulting percentages, which should be somewhere about right with a little rounding. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 10:35, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

:::Exactly right. (Although I didn't read the zero/zero crossing point is supposed to be maybe 50% on both scales, but instead ±zero. Still, doesn't matter. And perhaps displays/sorts better.) And looks like I don't need to recover my formatted notes after all. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.63|141.101.98.63]] 11:19, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

XKCD has explained the Voynich Manuscript before: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/593:_Voynich_Manuscript [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.176|199.27.128.176]] 09:49, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

:XKCD has also 'explained' DB Cooper before ([[1400: D.B. Cooper]]) if that is worth mentioning. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.167|108.162.250.167]] 12:06, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

I have to wonder if Randall has ever seen http://keithledgerwood.com/post/79838944823/did-malaysian-airlines-370-disappear-using and if so, whether he simply doesn't believe it. Not to sabotage his 100%-100% example if he wants to keep it there, but I'd put it at only 50% weird and 10% unexplainable. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.27|199.27.133.27]] 14:02, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Commenting now in 2024, flight 370 is 100% explained as far as I'm concerned.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.160|172.68.26.160]] 00:43, 15 March 2024 (UTC) spenc

: Oh lawdy, the tinfoil hat brigade has arrived. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.202|173.245.56.202]] 21:07, 20 March 2015

Anyone else reminded of [[Fuck Grapefruit]]? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.203|199.27.128.203]] 00:19, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

I Think its the Bermuda triangle! {{unsigned ip|129.222.167.170|16:02, 19 May 2026}}

;Carly Simon

The Carly Simon explanation includes the text "This sets up a paradox in which the song is and isn't about the vain person." This isn't correct. The song is definitely about the person. Carly is thus asserting that the subject's vanity will lead him to a correct interpretation of the song. Going to change the explanation. [[User:EverVigilant|EverVigilant]] ([[User talk:EverVigilant|talk]]) 14:51, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
: The lyric is "I bet you think this song is about you". The use of the word "think" implies that the conclusion is incorrect. If it were correct, words like "recognise", "know", or "understand" would be more appropriate. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 01:11, 29 March 2022 (UTC)
:: Yet the word "you" makes it clear it is addressing someone who thinks the song is about them. That person is being directly addressed and being told that they think the song is about them, which it therefore is, so they actually think correctly - whatever their other faults. All those others who only ''think'' the song is about them, in that sense, aren't even being sung about/to and so the song has no message for them. All those people are clearly only assuming that they are indeed supposed to assume that they are the primary target of the statement. Although they are also clearly vain enough to do that, by definition... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 03:21, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

I don't see why this is on Randall's chart. The Wikipedia article is all the explanation the world needs. And Warren Beatty's reaction to the song simply seals it for me. No Big Deal. Move On. ''– [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 18:41, 20 March 2015 (UTC)''

The Carly Simon song is about Carly Simon, and how she was mistreated by the vain person. It's only vanity makes the person think it's about them. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.210|162.158.38.210]] 14:08, 24 March 2016 (UTC)

In November 2015, Carly Simon confirmed (as part of the publicity for an upcoming memoir) that the second verse is about Warren Beatty, and that the other verses refer to two other men whom she has yet to name. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.56.41|162.158.56.41]] 14:27, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

;WOW signal

It now says "This is the strongest evidence to date of extraterrestrial radio signals.", which is technically incorrect. We observe radio signals from outer space all the time, they originate from young stars, Big Bang, active galaxies, and so on. This should probably be rephrased to something about extraterrestrial intelligence, but I'm not sure if it deserves to be called "evidence". [[User:Jolindbe|Jolindbe]] ([[User talk:Jolindbe|talk]]) 16:18, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
:Regarding the "evidence" bit, I'd go so far as to say that it's a single signal that can't actually be tied down (even in the light of further study) to: a) receiver error/interference; b) terrestrial(/orbital) origin; c) natural universal processes. (In the latter case, especially, c.f. Pulsars, which were ''tentatively'' blamed on "Little Green Men" at first, but are now understood for what they are.) Maybe if we'd have had some more WOWs (or longer to listen to the one that we had) we could have analysed it, but it remains a mystery because neither is true. Pretty much everything else has been explained as "not evidence for aliens" (definitively, or on the balance of probability there's a better working theory that it's not) leaving this as... an anomoly. Not 'evidence', but not ''explained'', either. For now! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 20:45, 21 March 2015 (UTC)
:I agree with Jolindbe. Extraterrestrial only means "not of terrestrial origin," which applies to all natural radio sources, as well as extraterrestrial intelligence. It's too broad a phrase to be used in this way. A better description might be "This radio signal is the strongest candidate to date as evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence."[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.192|108.162.216.192]] 14:25, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

;Dyatlov Pass Incident

Um, Wikipedia regards avalanche as most plausible explanation of the Dyatlov Pass incident, and it appears to be most widespread and down-to-earth explanation that doesn't involve the supernatural or secret soviet weapons test, things like that. Shouldn't we include mention of the avalance then, perhaps? I mean, with such high "explainability" rating it's pretty clear that Randall probably assumes avalanche, since if he assumed other, less widespread theory he probably would downgrade the "explainability" to account for the fact that it's more disputed version. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.222|141.101.89.222]] 18:13, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
:The Key points of the accident were: hypothermia, fatal injuries from strong force, tent that ripped from within, traces of wandering, weird tan, lost tongue, lack of clothing. The most scientific and easiest explanation I know was: Avalanche that accounts for fatal injuries; Snow glare that accounts for weird tan; paradoxical undressing and hypothermia that accounts for lack of clothing and signs of wandering; and Scavenging animals that accounts for the lost tongue and ripped tent. [[User:Kagakujinjya|Kagakujinjya]] ([[User talk:Kagakujinjya|talk]]) 02:54, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Actually Wikipedia really seems to suggest secret USSR military tests both parachute mines and nuclear missile related. Beyond being between two test facilities, the soviet conspiracy would imply secret operations, if it were just an avalanche, the USSR wouldn't have covered details up. It's not that extreme to believe the USSR did some secret testing, because it's more or less fact. Therefore, the idea secret testing was involved isn't *that* strange or unreasonable. Occam's Razor, given the difficulty for some of those things, like the tent being torn from the inside out, or the tan.
Also ball lightning is worth mentioning in your quest for not Secret Soviet test or supernatural in nature.
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.26|173.245.55.26]] 04:53, 22 March 2015 (UTC)
:Though I can't say anything about supernatural nature of the incident because I don't have proof,(well, I don't have any proof at all because the incident was happened in 1959) I think I can give you an argument about the weapon test and the cover up. Occam's Razor. I mean, weapon test normally done in secured military area, not out in public area. All the more reason if you want to test a secret weapon. Basically, there's no point of doing weapon test there. Furthermore, 1959 was a time when government very sensitive about data, I'd say that they would even declare the recipe of a pie as a national secret. And since we probably read the same source that is Wikipedia, I don't know where they suggest the weapon test theory since the first sentence under the subtitle 'theories' unambiguously say that "avalanche damage is considered one of the more plausible explanation for this incident". Then, about the ball of lightning and (if I may) radioactivity, since I'm pretty sure that none of that stuff turns up in the original documents from the incident, I'll argue that those were added later by people who just can't resist making things spookier than the incident actually are. [[User:Kagakujinjya|Kagakujinjya]] ([[User talk:Kagakujinjya|talk]]) 06:53, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

As a semi-professional mountaineer and a last-year medical student, I'd like to point out some commonly and erroneusly believed data. Surely I'm not a professional and I underline that I still can't explain what really happened there. But some facts should be understood. Firstly, I don't think the Avalanche explanation is reasonable. It's very clear that 4 of dead bodies found in a place which about 1.5 kilometers away from the tent. If it's really an avalanche, I assure you, you cannot be able to run away (like 1.5 kilometers!) before it catches and bury you under the snow. Plus, such an avalanche should bury all the tent under the snow level, not particially. Yet, sometimes it isn't an avalanche, I mean, an amount of snow comes down from the peak, makes a loud noise and terrifies you to the bones as you worngly fear that "Avalanche is coming and will bury me alive".. and may partly covers the tent. Yes, this is more reasonable. The tent might have been covered up with the snow and made it all fallen-down, frightening the Dyatlov squad so bad that they tore the tent to get out immediately. But, there I need to object. These nine peole are a group of experienced mountaineers. When got out from the hole of the tent, experienced mountaineers should have easily seen that it wasn't an avalanche. They should have relax and, after enough time, start mocking each other for how he/she pissed off like a kitty. But they ran down the hill for 1.5 kilometers without their suitable clothes and equipment! No sir, I don't think such replacement of snow levels in this amount, would make the Dyatlov squad to act this way. In the diary of the squad, a member of group wrote they had settled the tent on a low degree of slope on the eastern façade of the mountain, which makes the avalanche and snow replacement less possible. By the way, I have seen four different avalanches so far. I have seen a couple mountaineers died of it. Yet, I don't see any possibility of such avalanche may cause a spot and penetrative head injury as it happened in the incident. An avalanche smashes you. The snow gets in your nostrils and ears, makes you paralyzed with permanant necrosis in your extremites, usually damages your urinary tracts, causes mesenteric ischemia due to the shock, applies pressure on your ribs (rarely can make fractures, either) But it doesn't make your skull crashed. It'll be more realistic to say spot injuries on skull needs spot or high-pressured impacts, not blunt ones. (A better and more detailed account for this point is also can be read on the official document)

And secondly, scavenging animal idea can be an explanation for the lost tongue, true. However, in autopsy report (I didn't save the link for the original report, I wish I did), it said that the loss of tongue starts from glottal root, which makes whole thing another debate. During the process of decay, soft tissues like tongue degenerate and regress. It would be normal if a smaller tongue was found. And a missing part in the tongue could mean wolves, rats or pigeons had had a feast of fresh human meat. But even after many years of decay, corpse should still obtain some amount of tongue tissue. And unless you're an animal obsessive with the little red worm in the hunt's mouth, you don't spend extra effort to eat it all starting from the root. You prefer more muscled and delicious parts like femoral area or abdominal organs. In the conclusion, after 56 years, nothing really explains a lack of tongue in the mountaineer's dead mouth.

Yet, the general scientific idea for the weird shade of skin is right, I think. All the decay processes includes this so-called "tanning". Furthermore, the radiation issue is explained with Kyshtym disaster happened 18 months before the incident and not very distant to the mountain pass. I don't know how radiation effects on the material like in these occasions, even months later. But it seems satisfying to me. It's not mentioned here but another theory is based on the foamy saliva seen on the perioral region of Igor Dyatlov's dead body. I don't know if we can use Occam's Razor on this finding but when I was a student in Forensic Medicine Rotation, we were tought that most basic explanation for foamy saliva is toxication. So if we'll talk about Occam's Razor, signs of dread and delirium in the squad, panic-caused runaway from the tent, injuries could be caused of it and the foamy saliva may lead us to the toxication of gas, which is compatible with "Soviet weapon" claims.

I don't want to support any of the theories without many other possible evidences to be declared. But I really can't accept the claim that an avalanche was the reason. You can't escape out of an avalanche and a non-avalanche snow replacement doesn't make you so frightened. Moreover, this explanation is not a real explanation for heavy injuries. Actually, many specialists of the first expedition equip in 1959 thought it had not be able to be an avalanche happened there when they considered the geography of the mountain they discovered the tent (You can have a little trip on Google to find the thoughts of the specialists) While this remains a mystery, how do we think the incident so explainable ?

I know some people wants such incidents to remain mysterious. Nevertheless, I see sometimes we skeptical people are over-simplistic to have an explanation. So, unlike Randall do, I see no point of marking the Dyatlov Pass Incident as "Very Explainable". However, I guess this all has an explanation in the Russian goverment secret archieves. In 2008, the official TV channel of Russian federation opened up the case again. In many interviews it was told, some curious people during 1980s digged deeper to reach further investigations but all of them was confronted a goverment block and strictly advised to stay out of this case. I don't know, it seems more scientific to say there is some more hidden behind locked doors and document boxes for some reason in this incident than carelessly insisting on avalanche, wolves and paradoxical undressing.
I apologize for my bad English grammar. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.74|141.101.99.74]] 18:14, 2 April 2015 (UTC)

;Off the chart up and to the right

How the Universe came into existence (the physics and math behind "Why is there something rather than nothing?") is far weirder with less of an explanation than anything on Randall's chart – scientists' claims, which redefine "nothing," notwithstanding. And then how life started and evolved (the chemistry and biology – and quantum physics? – at the transition point between inanimate amino acids and cells and the subsequent arrival of ''homo sapiens'') is almost as strange as the Big Bang. ''– [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 18:34, 20 March 2015 (UTC)''
:Yep. And how to make a star. And how to make a planet. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 11:19, 21 March 2015 (UTC)
::Hydrogen + Time [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.192|108.162.216.192]] 14:28, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
:::Plus... magic? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 05:22, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

;Inaccurate explainability rating

I've read the Russian wikipedia article on Dyatlov Pass Incident and not only it's incredibly weird (much more details than condensed English article), but also no plausible explanation is provided that would account for all the incredibly weird stuff going on. I have no idea how that could be awarded 96% explainability.

UVB-76, on the other hand, is a pretty easy to explain as one-time-pad encrypted military broadcast, with buzzing to occupy the frequency and discourage others from using it. How is that just 23% explainable, I have no idea. That's what I've found in Russian sources, anyway.

Also, the Toynbee Tiles mystery is pretty much solved if you trust "Duerr, Justin. Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles" as a source.

There are even more inconsistencies pointed out above. At first I've suspected that the scale is accidentally inverted, but D.B. Cooper story is pretty poorly explained, so it's more like the whole thing is just randomly messed up.
--[[User:Shnatsel|Shnatsel]] ([[User talk:Shnatsel|talk]]) 19:54, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

;UVB-76

Is it seriously that hard to explain the "UVB-76" thing? I've been listening to this thing for a year now and even have explained how it works from the innards a few months back. Besides, it's not even called UVB-76, it was a mishear of UZB-76, and it's not even that callsign anymore. The callsign has changed to MDZhB and it is a marker to occupy the frequency of the "Codename Vulkan" communications channel. The way this thing works is that it is a bunch of gears that control a buzzer, when the Buzzer goes down you can hear it winding down and the repairmen screwing in some things when they come in.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.9|108.162.219.9]] 20:49, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

The Obvious: one of at least three such stations used by the Russian military(see also the pip and the squeaky wheel)
The less obvious: the purpose being either secret communication, time synchronization, measuring ionosphere changes, emergency Russian military mobilization with a dead man's switch style of constant commmunication to keep the frequency clear of other users as well as in case Moscow (or in this case Pskov [crazy side note: sister city of Roanoke, Virginia]), or something else
Unclear: other things about it
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.26|173.245.55.26]] 05:16, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

;Lost Colony

Before the Roanoke colonists left, they carved "Croatan" into a post. The Croatan were a small native tribe living on the coast, who'd had friendly relations with the colonists. They disappeared along with them. A generation or two later, a completely new tribe called the Lumbee were found living further inland, with some caucasian features and using European farming techniques. It's pretty obvious what happened. [[User:Shanek|Shanek]] ([[User talk:Shanek|talk]]) 19:20, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

; MH370

I had no idea that *'''nothing'''* of MH370 was ever found (or at least so far). Reading up on the wikipedia article makes me even more confused: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MH370_initial_search_Southeast_Asia.svg this map] shows the plane going westward basically towards india but then [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MH370_SIO_search.png this map] shows the searches *'''west of Australia'''* and going *'''down to Antartica'''*! WTF?? What the hell happened to that plane?! It's now been a *'''year'''* and *'''nothing'''* was found at all. Totally weird and unexplained. --[[User:Anarcat|Anarcat]] ([[User talk:Anarcat|talk]]) 23:50, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

: ... and here's the explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_search_for_MH370.png. Still freaking mind-boggling if you ask me. That thing could as well be in Khazakstan for all we know. Terrifying. --[[User:Anarcat|Anarcat]] ([[User talk:Anarcat|talk]]) 00:02, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

; sort order

The arrangement of entries in the table seemed random to me. I moved them around so the weirdest entries are at the beginning and the most easily explained are at the end. Thus the joke entry is last, as a punch line. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 01:18, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

; The Taman Shud Case

This is one of the weirdest mysteries I've come across. I'd be surprised if Randall hasn't heard of it, though. See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taman_Shud_Case Wikipedia]. [[User:Mark314159|Mark314159]] ([[User talk:Mark314159|talk]]) 01:22, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

; z axis

Too bad that comics can't be 3D (or at least not convincingly) since an axis
"Time you wasted on googling around on topic X after reading the comic" would
be very interesting...I browsed on Songfacts more than all else combined -
talk about priorities :-) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.243.240|198.41.243.240]] 16:13, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

Is it worth mentioning that all the articles mentioned are creepy or otherwise likely to keep one up at night? --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.71|172.69.33.71]] 18:37, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

; Salish Sea Feet

This has actually been explained quite thoroughly - see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salish_Sea_human_foot_discoveries]. It's my least favourite thing about the comic, though I understand that Randall wouldn't want to edit past work.

; Lead Masks Case

uhh i think its pretty clear about the lead masks case. lead is toxic. they died from lead poisoning. {{unsigned ip|2605:59c8:22e3:3e14:bd87:d337:9ed3:e6ca|22:43, 15 June 2026}}

Talk:1190: Time

2026-06-15T20:18:47Z

81.179.199.253: Undo revision 414704 by 2605:59C8:22E3:3E14:BD87:D337:9ED3:E6CA (talk) Don't chenge others' Talk comments (without some serious reason)

Pretty sure we're just getting trolled with this one [[Special:Contributions/99.108.190.136|99.108.190.136]] 04:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Can't tell if this is emo xkcd or trolling xkcd. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:53, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Something seems a little fishy because the image url is different than normal. [[User:Bugefun|Bugefun]] ([[User talk:Bugefun|talk]]) 04:55, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe the comic slowly changes throughout the day. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:56, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::Oh god, it does. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 04:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::When uploading different versions of the image, use the naming convention time[iterationNumber].png. We'll compile all the images into one and display them as per [[Traffic Lights]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:05, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::Alright, so the comic appears to be switching between two states here: between [[media:time2.png|this]] and [[media:time3.png|this]]. If nothing new happens, I'll get to clipping the comics together. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:28, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::Whoop, nope, [[media:time4.png|this]] just came up. Is there more to come? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:34, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
::::::Alright, so a new one is posted every half-hour. Whoopee. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 06:06, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:::::::And there's a new one! Megan leaning back and looking up... {{unsigned ip|220.226.203.202|07:06, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}
::::::::Well, the image changed, who has the time to make a script to catch the new images and compile them into a gif? https://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time.png [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)It could be a reference to the old proverb " time and tide wait for none" Cueball and the girl could be waiting for the tide in the beach! (Just a guess)[[Special:Contributions/72.21.198.66|72.21.198.66]] 05:11, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

This could be a cinematic custom to change scenes or to show the passage of time: fade to black (white) on Act I, come up on Act II. Get some popcorn during the intermission.{{unsigned|Gerry|11:38, 29 April 2013 (UTC)}}

The picture does chance with time. The URL includes a changing timestamp that I can't decipher. Compare these two URLS (which have slightly different images:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

Perhaps there is a way to hack the URL to view future images. [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:29, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I would also like to add that knowing randall, these are not the only images. For all we know, the image will still be changing in 5 years while a tree grows in front of them. My point is: Are the URLs hackable, or did he encrypt them? [[Special:Contributions/199.30.248.121|199.30.248.121]] 05:33, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Likely there is a way to hack the URLs; they look like some sort of hash, probably a hashed timestamp. Of course, he could easily have added some salt to the hash, making it significantly *harder* to hack. But they're strings of a specific length, so it should be pretty easy to bruteforce it, fetch all the images, and then (maybe) reverse-engineer the sequence. *That* all depends on how many of them there are. [[Special:Contributions/76.90.249.178|76.90.249.178]] 05:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:Good god, do you see how many digits are *in* that hash? The sun'll have burned out by the time we've tested every possible combination of digits. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:47, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:: The URLs are 64 hex characters. If he doesnt want us to find these pictures ahead of time, he would have made them completely random data, not a hash of anything. There are 16 possibilites for hex characters so 16^64 combinations or 1.7x10^308 combinations. If we made a supercomputer to try a billion links per second, and if there are 10,000 images total, it would take 4×10^277 × 13.77 billion years, which is a number with 277 zeros times the age of the universe to find just the first additional image. The sun will expand into a red giant and engulf the earth or at least come close enough to boil off all the water in the oceans in a mere 5.4 billion years, less than even one additional age of the universe. It will even be after the last star to ever be born has burned out, and all life in the universe has died before we could find even one. [[Special:Contributions/65.50.74.245|65.50.74.245]] 19:11, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

It seems that the image is updated every 1/2 hour. [[Special:Contributions/152.23.97.150|152.23.97.150]] 06:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: Given that the images switch back and forth between other images already seen, and that the comic should be viewable in the future, it seems unlikely that it's any thing like a simple sha256 of part of the timestamp. I think it's more likely a function of half-hours and minutes (assuming we continue to get a new possible image every half-hour). [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: The images do cycle, yes. But for some reason I have never seen the img where Megan is looking behind her. Also wouldn't it be difficult to show a sequential story (like the rising tide) if the previous images keep cycling ? {{unsigned ip|220.226.203.202|07:43, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}

Hash appears to be SHA-256. I tried some obvious hashes ("1", "11901", "1190_1", "1190.1") to no avail. Maybe this is HMAC-SHA256? Also, I would suggest trying Unix timestamps. [[Special:Contributions/131.156.236.149|131.156.236.149]] 06:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: I've been trying to make educated guesses as to what's being hashed here: http://www.xorbin.com/tools/sha256-hash-calculator ... he could also be using hash(hash2(value)) which would be virtually impossible to crack. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 06:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It's entirely possible that the "hash" is actually randomly generated. Just a thought. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 07:03, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Alright, this is probably not going to work, but I'm trying to exploit Randall's awesomeness here. Maybe he decided to take the time-stamps from the user? I don't know if that's even possible... That would then allow people in different time zones to obtain different images simultaneously. (What's the corollary of Godwin's law for a bunch of math-and-science nerds and relativity? Is there one?) Clicking the img src url on the comic's html page, give me this: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:14, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: Never mind.. apparently others see the same image too. {{unsigned ip|220.224.246.97|07:21, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}

Could he be doing this live? Monitoring the discussion on the net? Collaborative, crowdsourced comic-ing? Reminds me of those you-decide-what-the-character-does-next-and-flip-to-appropriate-page parallel plot novels. {{unsigned ip|220.224.246.97|07:33, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}

Let's just compare the two pictures and see how the bottom right changes, which I believe is water and they are indeed waiting for the tide. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 07:19, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:I'm adding urls to pictures bellow, edit freely. {{unsigned|Statharas.903|07:35, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}
::They change every 5 minutes, will try to keep track. {{unsigned|Statharas.903|07:40, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f8/time.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/752687b61523144c61736cd89f8c153dc41e19128f72d78d44947ff800f057fa.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/timeasdf.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/932170/time6.png

:I have uploaded all the different images onto the wiki, in the order that they were revealed. To avoid needless duplication of effort, I'll put them up in the explanation page. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

It just went back to the second image... [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 07:59, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
: And now changed to something new. http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/cdcc6b46b32c53f8596cd0106958b42c4260b9cbc022e6d94054147aa6554960.png {{unsigned ip|220.224.246.97|08:02, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}
:: The images do look alike, but they're all different. Thanks David. [[User:Statharas.903|Statharas.903]] ([[User talk:Statharas.903|talk]]) 08:04, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::: No..I checked the random string. They're exactly the same. In fact, now it's gone back to the second image. Again. [[Special:Contributions/220.224.246.97|220.224.246.97]] 08:07, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Just found this JavaScript code embedded in the comic HTML source (Update: Reformatted to prevent eye-bleeding): http://pastebin.com/4vNJH53Z

I'm no programmer but this looks important to me... {{unsigned ip|58.166.244.240|08:49, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}

:Moved it to pastebin, so it doesn't clutter the page so much. [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:22, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

:Doesn't really help. The script basically changes the image when something happens (probably some time passes, although it's possible there is more hidden there). WHAT image then appears is not directed by the script, but by the site. Specifically, the image displayed as first is taken from [http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time http://c0.xkcd.com/redirect/comic/time], while the script asks for [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber) http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource&r=(somenumber)] ... which is, if you get correct "r", probably some json containing the image url. So, even if you hack the script, you will not get all possible urls. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:17, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:: ... actually, given that the script part doesn't seem to do anything just now, it's even possible it's for later (ie, starts producing images when the correct time come). Or maybe there is a bug somewhere in the code :-). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:27, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:::Thanks for explaining. Why hasn't anyone posted this before? Could "location.hash" possibly have anything to do with the method used to generate the image hash key? Also, why is this code so difficult to follow (Obfuscation?)? So many questions... Sorry if this is just a huge waste of ''Time''. {{unsigned ip|58.166.244.240|09:53, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}

:::: <code>location</code> is the URI of the page. <code>location.hash</code> is the part of the uri after the ''#'' character. If you go to [https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose https://xkcd.com/1190/#verbose], you'll see some debugging output in your browser's debugging console (Firefox: Web Console or Firebug, Chrome: Development Tools). But nothing to decode the algorithm... :-( --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 10:01, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

::::: Well, I don't know what's doing it, but there's definitely some script (probably this script) that's refreshing the image automatically. I left the comic open for an hour or so and noticed the image had changed. I refreshed with #verbose in Chrome right before the 30 minute mark and got the following in the console.
<pre>
connecting to event source: http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png"}", lastEventId: "e2992bf0-9557-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 0 seconds before displaying comic 832a7f13ca0fadc46e93475bb617d78211e32c81c3af0e289a51f8f149707759.png time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_start". time07.min.js:1
s {type: "comic/time", data: "{"spread":5,"image":"847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png"}", lastEventId: "79580fe8-9558-11e2-8001-1c6f659cb250"} time07.min.js:1
waiting 4 seconds before displaying comic 847265673986f085460bf1a95b96f7171bcd9a4f1f0a598b2188307d03bcfaa3.png time07.min.js:1
connection error i {type: "error"} time07.min.js:1
Resource interpreted as Image but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream: "http://xkcd.com/events/connect_error".
</pre>
::::: The script seems to poll the server every minute or two. It's different from before, where the image server itself redirected to the correct image. The auto refresh was probably always intended, but not quite ready when the comic went live. It may have turned out to be necessary too, so the image server doesn't have to do all the work. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 14:45, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

;Before obfuscation...
http://pastebin.com/dLiWsFyN
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 09:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

:Moved to pastebin.[[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.51|81.23.24.51]] 14:34, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/426033682a26a0012a6f8e0c47287af91b7991a852d81c77402c937ffbd650c6.png {{unsigned ip|82.16.27.115|10:39, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1e/f46c6571393bee1ee649a7daae41f6328e63482506aef1e22607d22c47dd7027.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 22:51, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b0/88e3a0c8bba935c669606d9134314f811a0961985f968dd5d329e4695acc67c8.png --[[User:Johnsmith|Johnsmith]] ([[User talk:Johnsmith|talk]]) 23:10, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

;Denial of Service
Is it just me or or did Randall manage to make all of us perform a Denial of Service on xkcd.com, and explainxkcd.com ? xkcd.com seems much slower, and I keep getting "500 Internal server error" when accessing this site (explainxkcd.com). I guess that's the effect of having everybody hit F5 every few minutes :) [[Special:Contributions/193.239.192.194|193.239.192.194]] 11:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

;We are a botnet
Earlier today, the server handled all the image redirections. The script you see above went through several mutations (currently at #8), with each mutation it seems that Randall is adding more servers and trying to split the load between them. This is basically how a bot-net works - we all run code written by some evil genius, and he's changing the code as time passes to serve some hidden purpose.
[[Special:Contributions/79.180.173.88|79.180.173.88]] 15:44, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
:If he is using us as a botnet, then maybe the next comic will be something alluding to that. Probably like this: http://xkcd.com/350/ {{unsigned ip|144.167.139.185|22:57, 25 March 2013 (UTC)}}

;April Foolsf
When I saw this comic last night and that there was no explanation up, I thought to myself "How zen." I figured that Randall was going through a calm streak before throwing us the utterly ridiculous April 1st comic. Did it come early, or does he have something even bigger planned for us? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:05, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Sorry, did you miss the bit where this comic updates every 30 minutes and all the server error messages being caused by the massive traffic to both the wiki and the main xkcd website? '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 07:08, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
::Well, when I said "last night" and "no explanation", I implied that I wasn't aware of that at the time, which is why I thought what I did. Of course, it is now "now" and there is an explanation, so that should answer your question. Also, since it's not April 1st, and Randall has consistently released something major on that day, the jury is still out, leaving my question quite open (though I was really only asking for opinions). [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 07:20, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

wanted to add an image to the list above, but didn't know at what timestamp to add it, got 69085b480cb82911b19fe8f114909756989eed89b0d227db0f59c1843de7ba24.png at 2013-03-26 09:47 CET (UTC+0100)
/Puggan {{unsigned ip|212.247.236.130|08:55, 26 March 2013 (UTC)}}
:The hours denote the time since the initial release of the comic. The page is still a work in progress, we're going to bring that all into one image file soon. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:13, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

This site should seriously consider cloudflare, it's perfect at times like this and takes minutes to set up. I run all my sites through it and it saves a lot of page huts and bandwidth.
[[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]]Evan Pyle
:Or at least make the main page a static page that refreshes every so often. I'm guessing that most of the traffic is going to the front page with not as much traffic to the actual comic page [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Some of the images on the wiki (looks like time38.png through time48.png) are slightly different than what is on the main site. The lines are slightly thicker, as though someone did them based on screen captures.
[[User:Royce|Royce]] ([[User talk:Royce|talk]]) 14:37, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
:Well, at least we have the hashes so they can be re-retrieved, so nothing is really lost, right? Should we add links to the original? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 15:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

:I uploaded two of the "thicker" images and one of the "regular" ones, and I did the same thing for all of them: right-click->save-as. Given that the "thick" ones are all clustered together, I think the files on the xkcd site changed. [[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 18:21, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Story so far: [http://static.odysseus.anderson.name/1190.gif linky] [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 19:29, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

I guess we shall find out in ~10 minutes if Randall is trolling us. [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

... so that's it?

Did I just miss something or we've all been epically trolled for 48 hours? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:Motherofgod, no, he's *still* going!''' [[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 05:20, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

What makes you think he's done? [[Special:Contributions/129.138.30.95|129.138.30.95]] 04:25, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm still waiting for the water level to drop precipitously... and then for red spiders to run over everything [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:28, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Well, strip 1191 is up so I assumed it was over. I guess it's not. Until April's Fools maybe? [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:32, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
: It is not over -- the image is still updating, at least it did for me [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]])
:: Yes, it's not over. Last frame shows just a minimal movement of Cueball's head, but no doubt it's still ongoing. [[Special:Contributions/189.59.175.92|189.59.175.92]] 04:49, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
::: Given the fact the strips for the last 2 weeks have been comparatively simple, I expect Randall has been planning this for at least that long. {{unsigned|101.98.156.239|05:36, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}

Considering the common theme with "today's" strip, anyone wanna guess that he's sending us a hex-encoded file over a really slow modem link, slated to complete April 1? Anyone wanna run "magic" over the hashes and see if they come up with a compression codec or something? [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 04:45, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
:I liked this idea and crunched the hex data for 00:00 to 51:00 into a binary file (http://filebin.ca/bcGyfUvdgBi). Can't see anything resembling a file header, but that doesn't really say much. If this is compressed header-less data there wouldn't likely be any easily discernible patterns. Haven't really tried running the data through anything, zlib was one that came to mind but haven't tried it. {{unsigned ip|88.131.41.70|08:03, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}

I'm pretty shure it's not the seaside, but a lake - the water level is not changing at all. [[Special:Contributions/194.114.62.72|194.114.62.72]]

Its probably going to loop back on itself, eventually, and repeat this way forever. [[Special:Contributions/113.160.224.209|113.160.224.209]] 07:12, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

;Javascript Explanation
For those wondering about the Javascript behind this: I posted my analysis of the Javascript [http://www.echochamber.me/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101043&start=760#p3303579 on the xkcd forums], and further de-obfuscated and annotated the code over on [https://gist.github.com/cincodenada/5246094 GitHub]. Here's a quick summary though: it holds open a connection to xkcd's servers and listens for instructions and follows them. Those instructions are either "load a new image" or "reload the page". So, you don't have to mash F5, it will automatically update the image when they're available. We have no way to control how fast the images come or when they do, and it's quite possible for them to update forever. --[[User:Fiveofoh|Fiveofoh]] ([[User talk:Fiveofoh|talk]]) 06:40, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

;Another clue
This is a series of animation frames. I suspect they will only ever be shown once (based on the fact you can only get the current image, not previous or future images -- this is in keeping with the title, "Time", which passes and which you can't ever get back]. The filenames are UUIDs too long to guess, so somebody needs to start collecting the filenames here so that a proper flipbook can be assembled. Here's the latest URL: [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/81efa7c4509ac7a329407d9da25d12ec0a3baec50e06588586961575e2d65c2c.png] Go here to collect URLs: [http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource http://c0.xkcd.com/stream/comic/time?method=EventSource] {{unsigned ip|108.68.105.246|08:45, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}
:We've kinda already been doing that. They're the big long filenames next to each timestamp. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:06, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Oh my god it's game of thrones played out in 2D [[Special:Contributions/123.3.136.228|123.3.136.228]] 13:05, 27 March 2013 (UTC) Evan Pyle

Regarding sha256. Its most likely some hash of a timestamp, but if he doesnt wants us to crack it, he would have prefixes a password.. sha256('secretcode17:30'). Im just saying, if he doesnt wants us to crack it, we most likely cant.
I've tested all unixtimestamps from 1300000000 to 1364390334. Also "00:00" to "23:59", with and without the colon and a load of other formats. {{unsigned|77.243.128.133|13:42, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}

Is it just me, or do the last two frames look like someone just threw a rock at the castle? [[Special:Contributions/67.167.81.143|67.167.81.143]] 14:20, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I believe it is the cannon ball that I have been expecting since they first started building castles. [[User:ChrisPUT|ChrisPUT]] ([[User talk:ChrisPUT|talk]]) 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

;Create an animation on this page
Here's a bit of JavaScript to execute in your browser's JavaScript console. (Cmd+Alt+K on Firefox for Mac, for example.)
<pre>
/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});

/* Create an image in the top-right corner of the screen */
var img = document.body.appendChild(document.createElement('img'));
img.setAttribute('style', 'position: fixed; top: 1em; right: 1em;');

/* Allow removing the image by clicking */
img.onclick = function () {
img.parentNode.removeChild(img);
};

var texts = [0,51,169,174,322];
var delays = [0,1000,1000,1500,4000];

/* Cycle through the frames */
img.onload = function () {
/* Pause a bit longer for the text frames */
var idx = texts.indexOf(img.i);
var delay = ( idx > 0 ) ? delays[idx] : 50;
setTimeout(function () {
img.src = images[++img.i % images.length];
}, delay);
};

/* Start with the first frame */
img.i = 0;
img.src = images[img.i];
</pre>

— [http://jan.moesen.nu/ Jan!] [[Special:Contributions/94.23.195.79|94.23.195.79]] 09:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

---Thanks for the script!. Ctrl+Shift+J on Windows Chrome [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 13:11, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

- updated script 'coz there are three text panels now. [[User:Schnitz|Schnitz]] ([[User talk:Schnitz|talk]]) 19:00, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

- updated script with another text panel [[Special:Contributions/24.77.229.71|24.77.229.71]] 21:00, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

The one for the prior half hour (5AM - 5:30AM EST, 27 March 2013) is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/5450bd39ee84a394467fabcaf92f1a5711c2a4eca24c8bd8a8cec829496e3dd7.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:26, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

And the one for the following half hour is located at http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/c2ea85f1ab92f2f80e9c4655c47f5c7effc0a7da01c8a88493864845855b3be8.png
[[Special:Contributions/141.161.133.106|141.161.133.106]] 09:31, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Call me a paranoid, but I think this strip is all about 9/11:
*If you read the strip number (1190) backwards, you get 09/11
*This subject is recurrent on xkcd
*As far as we have seen, there is a destroyed tower and they are rebuilding it
*The next strip, following 1190 (or 09/11), mentions war against countries with large oil reserves but low military capacity. {{unsigned|143.107.105.14|13:56, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}
:I feel like that's kind of a stretch, I'm pretty sure it's just a story about a day at the beach. {{unsigned ip|167.206.204.93|20:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}

If a new strip goes up every 30 minutes our time, and if each strip comprises of, let's say for the sake of simplicity, one minute in their time; to build the sand castle [frames 24-117 = 93 frames] so far it's taken almost 2 days our time, which would be about an hour and a half their time if each frame is a minute. Using my scale, an hour our time is 2 minutes their time, a day is 48 minutes, and our month is their 24 hour day. If we assume Randall plans to give us a 24 hour period from that world's time, and we use the minute-per-frame rate I made up, than we'd probably be looking at a month of images our time. I guess we'll just have to see how long he's got it planned to go on. -boB {{unsigned ip|63.118.157.201|14:27, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}

Has it ended? All that's left is the sandcastle, and there doesn't seem to have been anything else changed on it for a few hours. {{unsigned ip|167.206.204.93|20:22, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}

It's zooming out! When look at the gifs showing the frames in succession, the last 3 show the castle getting slightly smaller each time! {{unsigned|Joshpila|20:43, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}
: It's true! The most recent also shows the edge of another castle, leading me to believe it's part of some kind of sand castle contest, probably including some of xkcd's other recurring characters! {{unsigned ip|167.206.204.93|23:07, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}
::Weird, now it's not showing that, Randall must have put something up too soon. {{unsigned ip|167.206.204.93|23:10, 27 March 2013 (UTC)}}

A controllable version of the same comic is available at http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/ - slow/fast movement, pause, control back and forth. It also has the image # on the top left. Auto updating. [[Special:Contributions/59.182.173.88|59.182.173.88]] 20:56, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

:Can you add on-screen buttons, so it's usable on phones and tablets without hardware keyboard? {{unsigned|81.23.24.48|21:55, 28 March 2013 (UTC)}}

looky here: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/4c92727698b704ee1d02fbd37c94c220d16be4ad3ff6fc03a3fb77ea6d96434f.png [[Special:Contributions/97.88.147.176|97.88.147.176]] 23:14, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
That was a glitch on the server that revealed a future frame, but it has been corrected and that link is now a 404 not found. I guess if we want to see it in context we'll just have to "Wait for it."{{unsigned|Bugstomper|00:13, 28 March 2013 (UTC)}}
: Well now we're back to that picture as the present frame. [[User:Racerdude09|Racerdude09]] ([[User talk:Racerdude09|talk]]) 03:14, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Is someone gonna update the transcript to note them building a sandcastle, as well as the dialogue so far (consisting of Megan and Cueball saying goodbye to each other at No. 52)?--[[Special:Contributions/69.119.250.251|69.119.250.251]] 00:38, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else think that they're roleplaying Dom and Mal in Limbo? [[User:Fry-kun|Fry-kun]] ([[User talk:Fry-kun|talk]]) 05:36, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I think they're bulding a sand replica of King's Landing for the Game Of Thrones season 3 premiere {{unsigned|201.239.18.75|11:02, 28 March 2013 (UTC)}}
: My first idea regarding the sand castle was also about Game of Thrones, but i dismissed it as being too biased.. --[[Special:Contributions/217.13.68.110|217.13.68.110]] 13:31, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

I have modified the code "'''''/* Collect all frame image URLs */'''''" to see only images of the "'''Frame by Frame Breakdown'''" section :
/* Collect all frame image URLs */
var images = [];
Array.prototype.slice.call(document.querySelector('#Frame_by_Frame_Breakdown').parentElement.nextElementSibling.nextElementSibling.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/wiki/images/"][href*="/time"][href$=".png"]')).forEach(function (a) {
images.push(a.href);
});
(Sorry for my English... and the ugly code...) {{unsigned|194.119.85.99|11:24, 28 March 2013 (UTC)}}

Anyone else think this is going to be related to Wed's cartoon? I'm half-expecting Black Hat to show up from the future, with advanced weaponry, to take oil from the sandcastle of the past. {{unsigned|173.180.60.43|16:04, 28 March 2013 (UTC)}}

Guys, i think we might have lost a few frames in between, no? When did he upload the first image? like, the exakt time... knowing this we could calculate the amount of images there should be and compare to what we have... [[User:Caranhyas|Caranhyas]] ([[User talk:Caranhyas|talk]]) 18:04, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

The four comics from 89:00 to 90:30 (most recent so far) look the same to me, but the PNG files have different CRCs for the image data blocks, though the metadata in the PNG files are all the same. I wonder if there might be something subtle hidden in the images, or the way they're compressed. [[Special:Contributions/24.160.133.3|24.160.133.3]] 22:54, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a very minor difference in the water level on those images, even though the water level has been static in most of the other images. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.210|129.21.63.210]] 02:05, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't think the title text is a reference to anything except for... wait for it... THE MONGOLS ;-) [[Special:Contributions/81.23.24.34|81.23.24.34]] 23:00, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Unless the 99:30 image was misnamed, it's not included in the list of images. Does anyone know where this frame went? [[User:Bob|Bob]] 14:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Is that rain in two recent panels? [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 14:21, 29 March 2013 (UTC)r

Can someone identify for sure what Cueball is doing in 105:00? His arms seems to be crossed, and his holding something in his hand. [[User:Mem|mem]] ([[User talk:Mem|talk]]) 14:30, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he is shivering, which would allude to a cool down common with rain storms? [[User:Jeremy1026|Jeremy1026]] ([[User talk:Jeremt1026|talk]]) 14:51 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looks to me like he's brushing sand off himself; see the shower around him similar to her hair at 10:00? [[Special:Contributions/70.178.167.60|70.178.167.60]] 03:07, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Megan just wheeled in a trebuchet! This is going to be fun! [[Special:Contributions/69.246.10.71|69.246.10.71]] 16:34, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Now she's launching a rock. I wonder which tower it might hit. {{unsigned ip|74.45.74.17|17:07, 29 March 2013 (UTC)}}
:Flew over the first two and might impact far right tower if it continues. {{unsigned ip|74.45.74.17|17:47, 29 March 2013 (UTC)}}

I think this is all an elaborate 'joke' which will keep running until Monday - April Fools' Day [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 17:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Re explanation of hour 110:00. My first thought was "How can a person whose face is an empty ovoid look upset?". However, looking at the image again I can see how it does. Respects to Randall. Possibly an April Fool, but I will be even more impressed if it runs beyond Monday. I'm waiting for the tide to come in. jasq [[Special:Contributions/79.123.80.87|79.123.80.87]] 23:12, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

I googled some hashes. The first two seem to show up here, in a directory tellingly labeled "wait": http://www.hash-database.net/wait/hash_sha256.txt
: The "wait" folder there contains hashes that weren't found in the database and might or might not someday be discovered. They are probably there *because* someone was looking up hashes to see if they were common words. [[Special:Contributions/99.153.248.206|99.153.248.206]] 23:17, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
To review, the first two are:
8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672
1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97
Googled the third one, but it only shows up on xkcd discussion forums :(
Hashed some of the hashes, but didn't see the result in the list, so it dosen't look like a hash chain.
Someone should google all the other hashes, and someone else should figure out what the guy in the "wait" directory (presuming it wasn't Randall) was hashing. --[[User:Venal dwarf|Venal dwarf]] ([[User talk:Venal dwarf|talk]]) 21:37, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
: Comparing all the filenames to the hashes on that page, I found a total of four that overlap. The first two, as mentioned. But also one from the middle of day 1, and one from the end of day 1.

: 00:30 - 01/00:30 - 8eb156cce408df8bb83528382d6a2aa2ce6c74f3c573fd12b058cd1c56420672.png

: 01:00 - 01/01:00 - 1e349a579b5f9b5ed487ddf7e88244b70330941ddedac9c6abf6ed2e3f589b97.png

: 12:00 - 01/12:00 - a3aa116efca3c01d8a64c0c7e79158dc8a62241aba767064e3a6c724cc5ade93.png

: 23:30 - 01/23:30 - 1da3859627430022485c53ad90e88e8771b2bec2d60e910b59ef332325bba29f.png

: --[[User:Venal dwarf|Venal dwarf]] ([[User talk:Venal dwarf|talk]]) 22:36, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

: There is a fifth one also, from 01:30 - e25be2dd49fe9f33c3543cdf640b67e0f2146cc576db5da007a135a278e524ee.png
: I converted all 1153 hashes in the file to lower case and did a wget on them but it did not turn up any files from the future. [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 05:31, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Is Randall training us like Pavlov's dogs - every 30 minutes we are compelled to refresh the web-page? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 01:59, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone have an opinion on how we should continue naming the saved timeNN.png files if the updates do not continue on the half hour?
Right now the link for the skipped update 242 got renamed to the nonexistent time242NA.png and the next update's link is time242.png. But what do we do if the updates are changing to once per hour? By the way it does look like the next half-hour update has been skipped too. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 05:57, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
:It does seem to have gone hourly as of midnight EDT. I stuck in "NA" as a placeholder since I wasn't sure what to do with the files, and wanted to make it clear that the half-hour updates were skipped in case it goes back or changes in some other way. Maybe start naming them by the time, instead of sequentially, e.g. "012200.png". If the pattern holds, the "no update" lines can be removed. (Or both might make more sense, like "time243-012200.png".) [[Special:Contributions/69.243.159.96|69.243.159.96]] 06:08, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
::I'm partial to timestamping filenames for stuff like this. I have this zsh line running right now:
while { : } { wget -O "`date +"%Y-%m-%d %a %H%M%S"` Time .png" http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png ; sleep 30m }
::(I was wishing for a convenient way to use the server-side timestamps, 'till i noticed that it's always 2013-04-12 Fri 09:05'38—which i'm guessing is the script's mtime.) —[[Special:Contributions/98.83.126.232|98.83.126.232]] 08:23, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Anyone else getting a 404 error with the latest image (http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/d1b3b1b6e23995a093377c5ddc044dd98a42a3ae1327c8b6620d51d2a7003c1d.png)? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 15:19, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Strange: As far as I know http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png always redirects to the current frame. But if you visit the current one (133:00) at http://xkcd.com/1190/ and check the displayed image, it says 'c6976fbb244af4fc2286ffe3ac2cf78d408c1f610ecd71e18b4a677a048f084d.png' while time.png redirects to '1d9ce7199935b1b629d6b8744e62c7700a3780357b2dc74bb70471db616ddadb.png'. If you take a md5 of both images, they appear to be the same. {{unsigned ip|80.141.244.54|17:44, 30 March 2013 (UTC)}}
:I was confused by this as well, I'm grabbing the images myself via time.png and got the 1d9ce7 hash. How will these duplicates be displayed in the table?[[User:Lockyy|Lockyy]] ([[User talk:Lockyy|talk]]) 17:48, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm seeing some strange stuff now. I have a script that uses wget of time.png to get the redirected hash png like Lockyy is doing. And I can verify that when you go to the 1190 page in the browser you get a different hash. But the previous hour and this hour, unlike the ones before it, the two hash pngs are different. And when I refresh the screen in my browser at the 1190 page, first I see the image I get from time.png, then the image refreshes with the other one. I'm not sure what this means or what we are supposed to do with it. I added the time.png hashes to the table for the last two hours but we probably need a way of indicating the difference. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 20:38, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
: This latest hourly update did the same thing. If you are fast enough you can even get the first image in your browser by right click view image before it changes to the second one. I edited in something that shows that. It probably could stand some reformatting by someone with better graphic design sense, but at least right now all the information has been captured. - [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:18, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
: Looking at it some more, I see that wget of the page at xkcd.com/1190/ gets you an img link to time.png and then there is the javascript that must after some delay get the different hash url image. That means that we had better be sure that we do not miss any manual checks of hourly updates because the scripts will never find that second image unless someone has a way of getting a script that runs the javascript as if it was a browser. As long as someone posts the hash of the image from the browser every hour, I can ensure that we have the hashes the scripts can get because I have a cron job checking for those updates every 15 minutes. -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 21:49, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
:: And with the update for day 06/18:00 it appears to be back to normal, one consistent image per update -- [[User:Bugstomper|Bugstomper]] ([[User talk:Bugstomper|talk]]) 22:22, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

;bash script to get all images
Just if somebody else wants this, i hacked a little bash script to download all images to the current listed here. It skips already downloaded images so it can be reused later when more images are here.

<pre>#!/bin/bash
curl -s http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190 |
egrep -o "/wiki/images/[0-9a-f]/[0-9a-f]{2}/time[0-9]*.png" |
while read url; do
imgname=$(basename $url)
tmp=${imgname:4}
id=${tmp%.png}
printf -v target "image%03d.png" ${id:-1}
[[ -e $target ]] && continue
echo $target
curl -so $target http://www.explainxkcd.com$url
done
</pre>
--[[Special:Contributions/79.236.3.216|79.236.3.216]] 18:51, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

To ease waiting times: http://thred.github.com/xkcd-time-catapult/ {{unsigned|Thred|19:18, 30 March 2013 (UTC)}}
: This is awesome. I love the internet. --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 19:15, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

I've offered up [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316|my own explanation]. The obvious metaphor is how time continues to flow and things change when you’re not watching. And how this could be a conceptual art project that could continue the rest of our lives... [[Special:Contributions/72.183.97.36|72.183.97.36]] 19:36, 31 March 2013 (UTC) Lawrence Person
:Correcting your link: [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316 my own explanation] --[[Special:Contributions/24.145.230.202|24.145.230.202]] 20:49, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

::This comics may not really continue forever unless Randall will put some sort of repetition into it. May not be simple loop but something more sophisticated, but still, images shown up to now doesn't show any kind of repetition yet. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:28, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

anyone else notice the water is slowly rising? not unlike a tide (depending on the time scaling implemented? perhaps a flooding river (as might correspond to the mention of a river)? [[Special:Contributions/70.192.210.128|70.192.210.128]] 18:08, 2 April 2013 (UTC)
:I checked your claim that the water is rising, and I agree. Good catch! I measure the rate at about 1 pixel per 25 frames starting at about 100 hours. Though a more careful look could surely refine that estimate.{{unsigned|207.67.82.250|21:34, 2 April 2013 (UTC)}}
:I measured the water level with a ruler. The water will take another 20 days before reaching the sand castle if rising at a constant rate. [[Special:Contributions/192.155.85.119|192.155.85.119]] 01:27, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Oddly this contradicts the text, which says that the river is going down: "Any idea where the river is now?", Cueball replies "Still pretty far out. It actually retreated a little this week." --AH {{unsigned ip|205.208.92.136|21:45, 2 April 2013 (UTC)}}
:"It's *still* pretty far out". I think this means that it's getting less far out.[[Special:Contributions/93.73.186.104|93.73.186.104]] 07:41, 3 April 2013 (UTC)
::"It actually retreated a little this week." ~~dang {{unsigned ip|50.133.16.83|20:46, 3 April 2013 (UTC)}}

This comic has been running and updating so long I think perhaps it is a sand castle creation/destruction program that autonomously lets the two indefinitely build, destroy and rebuild new sand castles all the time… [[Special:Contributions/80.101.210.21|80.101.210.21]] 09:55, 4 April 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe. We don't have enough data to say that for sure yet. We just need to "wait for it". [[Special:Contributions/93.73.186.104|93.73.186.104]] 10:07, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I think numbers in "As of this writing, it is still updated after more than XXX hours - even after Y new, different comics were posted on the front page" at the top of the page should be calculated using {{#expr}}. I changed it for number of comics, but I have no idea how to calculate number of hours since it was posted.[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 11:15, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

When Megan coughed and Cueball asked if she was okay, did anyone else think of http://xkcd.com/931/ Lanes? Cueball explains that cancer treatment results are not known until much later, "and often the first sign is a cough or a bone pain. So you spend the next five or ten years trying not to worry . . . ." ~~wrybred {{unsigned|Wrybred|14:29, 4 April 2013 (UTC)}}

:I don't want to be a downer but this is just my interpretation thus far. I hope it is a happier theme but if you are correct wrybred, my further explanation would be the following... I think that building sandcastles is an analogy for living their life. Going for a swim in the body of water and the cough could represent the start of the cancer or possibly some time where they had to go out and "wade" in the possibilities of what cancer could mean. Time passes and Cueball says "I don't think we can build it much taller than this. It's been fun, though" which represents that they believe they have done as well as they can with the lives they have been given. They comment on the river retreating even though we the audience observe a body of water on the right hand side rising could represent how we can be fooled into believing things are going alright when in reality they are not. The reference to not understanding what the river is doing also fits this explanation well as someone with cancer may occasionally feel confused about their illness. Presently while I write this they are possibly preparing for a flood which represents the return of the cancer. If I were to guess what is next I might guess that they will watch as the flood comes in and destroys some of what they built but it is better than not having made the sandcastle in the first place. I could be way off, but Randall has given us a lot of TIME to think about what this is all about and your mind wanders. I also would note that this may not be about a particular cancer story, just any cancer story. [[User:Nhoel|Nhoel]] ([[User talk:Nhoel|talk]]) 13:51, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Could Cueball and Megan be building a European city, as it evolved, was damaged and remodelled where 1 day of strips is 100 years? Maybe Cueball is curretly remodelling Notre Dame de Paris or Westminster??? If so, it should get interesting around day 17 [[Special:Contributions/129.238.237.96|129.238.237.96]] 17:34, 4 April 2013 (UTC)rbnm

;bash script to make a graph of water depth over time
<pre>#!/bin/bash

# Assumes you have a complete set of numbered PNG images in a
# directory called "./images". (See the script above) Makes a
# directory called "./cropped" containing N images that are 1 pixel
# wide by 395 pixels tall, each of which contains the second to last
# column of one of the input images. Finally, concatenates all those
# images into montage.png, which will be Nx395 pixels and can be read
# as a graph of water depth over time.

mkdir -p cropped
rm cropped/*.png
for i in images/*.png
do
f=`basename $i .png`
convert -crop 1x395+550+0 $i cropped/${f}_cropped.png
echo $f
done

montage cropped/*.png -geometry 1x395+0+0 -tile x1 montage.png

echo Wrote result to montage.png
</pre>[[User:Codegardener|Codegardener]] ([[User talk:Codegardener|talk]]) 21:00, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

He's making a mini-version of the whole sandcastle on top of the mound! You can see the two turrets on the left and the mound in the center! {{unsigned ip|206.169.33.116|22:12, 4 April 2013 (UTC)}}

They're inside an hourglass! ;) - Filippo {{unsigned ip|79.1.196.44|23:11, 4 April 2013 (UTC)}}

i believe that he made a fractal version of the scene atop the middle sandcastle... are we going to have an infinite zoom for a bit (or maybe forever?) - ck {{unsigned ip|72.45.211.194|12:49, 5 April 2013 (UTC)}}

Maybe it's some sort of reference to [http://xkcd.com/878/ Model Rail] where Cueball ends up with multiple model railways in his basement...--[[Special:Contributions/77.100.193.92|77.100.193.92]] 13:14, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
:<strike>Since it hasn't been brought up yet;</strike> reference to 878, this is Nesting, and there are FOUR visible layers.
:- "It's the second rule of 'model train layouts': No Nesting." (Strike and replace with the building sandcastles.)
:- "Whats the first rule?", "Do not talk about ... That rule was actually voted in by our friends and families.", "Philistines"
:Drifter [[Special:Contributions/24.106.78.38|24.106.78.38]] 19:26, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
::Actually 77.100.193.92 did bring it up, which is why I believe they're building a large trebuchet. [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 22:09, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
::Thank you Bdemirici & 77.100.193.92, sorry for the duplicatation. Now which came first... the coment or or the comic, 77...'s reference came before the center structure gained its malformed parapets. Drifter [[Special:Contributions/66.42.134.195|66.42.134.195]] 10:38, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Whoa -- big change in scale, zoom in on Megan holding a mini trebuchet at about 5 pm central time Friday the 5th.--[[Special:Contributions/205.208.92.136|205.208.92.136]] 22:20, 5 April 2013 (UTC)--~~

A tiny trebuchet for use on the tiny turrets? Megan is kinda awesome. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 22:32, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

:I think she should "outgrow these toys and focus on something practical" ;-) [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 22:59, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Looks like they are re-enacting the trebuchet incident on the mini-castle. AH --[[Special:Contributions/108.244.73.186|108.244.73.186]] 23:53, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Meta-physical time again: "I don't understand what the sea is doing" - wasn't it a river earlier? Is it a different sea? The river of time maybe? Where is Randall leading us? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 03:09, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

:I'm thinking it may have to do with the title text from this comic. http://xkcd.com/4/ {{unsigned|Zuffelnok|22:03, 6 April 2013 (UTC)}}
:I think it's obvious. They're not on a beach. They're on a recently exposed portion of the river bed. In time the river will come back and engulf the whole area. [[Special:Contributions/64.121.163.170|64.121.163.170]] 10:16, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

:I have redownloaded the 199:00 image based upon the hash here and it does still say "river", so Randall hasn't adjusted the "past" to fit the "present"... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 05:50, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

:I've read somewhere that they are not on the beach. They are on some sort of a boat covered with sand. First they were in the river, and now they reached the sea. [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 14:19, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

::So if they are on a boat then it isn't the river/sea that is rising it is the boat that is sinking (or having more weight added to it). [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 18:35, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
:It's pretty obvious to me. They're on a beach with a river running through it. Yes, beaches sometimes have rivers in them. And also, rivers that run through beaches tend to be very unstable and to move their bed all the time, because of the fact that it's running water through loose sand. That's why they talk about the river moving. [[Special:Contributions/80.212.115.55|80.212.115.55]] 08:04, 7 April 2013 (UTC)
:: This comic. http://xkcd.com/4/ {{unsigned|Zuffelnok|14:44, 7 April 2013 (UTC)}}

: xkcd Time Catapult done correctly http://i.imgur.com/XEKEfSR.png {{unsigned|118.129.231.136|15:22, 7 April 2013 (UTC)}}
:: Man, you have just too much... wait for it... time! [[User:Caranhyas|Caranhyas]] ([[User talk:Caranhyas|talk]]) 16:34, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Just so it doesn't get lost, these are the last 2 hashes I've seen: e3e8169439be717a5661dba80cca623330516d87749f5c5bd83d4a4aae19b89a.png, a2c0f3ed4be680f5b794f0137a55af8704598a2105e1eff5fce750b07800c19b.png {{unsigned ip|64.76.122.180|21:01, 8 April 2013 (UTC)}}

Are they building a giant trebuchet? Another zoom out maybe? [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 05:13, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

I love how Randall is reacting to the discussion here. Is it a sea? Or a river? Let's have Cueball drink from it to clarify ;) [[User:Blue Charizard|Blue Charizard]] ([[User talk:Blue Charizard|talk]]) 09:42, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
:It could be brackish water ... and I have seen some fresh water rivers I definitely wouldn't want to drink from [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 15:10, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

:So this tells us 3 things:
:1) It's likely a sea.
:2) This comic, or at least a script (not in a programming sense) for it was very likely made by a human. So it's not randomly generated. We already knew this, but now it's confirmed once again.
:3) Randall is still working on this comic, or at least he was some time after he started releasing it.
:[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 16:51, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

I think by tasting the water Cueball was preparing himself for the inevitable - the water is going to continue to rise and nothing they can do will stop it: they are going to drown. This strip is about the slow, inextirpable, approach of Death - and this isn't the Death from a Terry Pratchett novel. [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 20:29, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
: Between the 376th and the 81st strip it can be noted how much the water has rised. And I've noted how there's no wind in the beach (river's mouth?), the flags don't move and the sea has no waves. Don't know if there's a meaning there. --[[User:Yinosanchez|Yinosanchez]] ([[User talk:Yinosanchez|talk]]) 21:18, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
:: I think you shouldn't compare it to frames before about 220, because that's where zoom changed last time. Also it looks like it will reach the castle in a day and a half from now.[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 22:16, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
:::The likely implication of the lack waves etc is that they are in an estuarine environment, where the rising tide may not have a bore at all. This might explain a few things, like the reference to a river, the strange behaviour of the sea, and perhaps might explain Cueball tasting the water (to see if he could determine the saltwater content). [[User:Eeijevs|Eeijevs]] ([[User talk:Eeijevs|talk]]) 22:34, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
::::Megan's reaction to getting the water in her mouth (cough, pffthh) and Cueball's are pretty similar ... call me crazy but I think there's something weird about the water beyond its salt content ... --[[Special:Contributions/76.84.59.83|76.84.59.83]] 04:20, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
::: And 2 hours after I said that, Megan built something right next to the water. I wonder if this was a coincidence... [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 09:34, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
:::: It is, of course, a damm to buy them some time. :-) {{unsigned|84.180.241.162|14:45, 10 April 2013 (UTC)}}
:::: It wouldn't work as a dam in a 3D universe. It would have to extend infinitely in z to act as a dam. Then again, there's also no good way to support a platform with two posts. [[Special:Contributions/206.173.46.67|206.173.46.67]] 20:24, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Can someone please move the list of images and their hashes to another page? Randal is showing no signs that the images will stop anytime soon. [[Special:Contributions/184.5.152.192|184.5.152.192]] 22:32, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
:I understand the sentiment, and considered at least commenting out the future tables, but this page does not need to be changed when the latest frames are uploaded, only when the hashes are added, and those of us still keeping the live XKCD page open do find it easier to just open the last few frames missed when looking away or sleeping.
:I do wonder if the wall of text is worth reducing by actually making the hashes a link with something like "Direct link" as the text. Is anyone still attempting to generate the hashes? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 05:10, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

:I went ahead and made all the tables collapsed by default. If the comic continues beyond another couple of weeks, I vote for moving them to another page. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 06:44, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
::If the comic ever comes to an end, we could clear out the archived hashes and put all the image links into a multi-column table. The hashes are only really useful to editors trying to upload new images, they don't really add that much to understanding the comic. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:29, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Just a theory. On Friday, April 19th at 00:00 there will be 1200 images in the comic, at the same time the strip 1201 of xkcd should be posted on the site. I'm guessing that will end it. (UPDATE: Math is wrong, was still counting half an hour updates. Sorry about that. The numbers will match on May 2nd at 6 in the morning, nothing special there.)--[[User:Yinosanchez|Yinosanchez]] ([[User talk:Yinosanchez|talk]]) 18:27, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps it is about global climate change? "The sea is rising." and now they are building a very tall structure to cope with this ?AH --[[Special:Contributions/209.74.126.175|209.74.126.175]] 01:54, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:Actually, looks like they're building a boat!!! [[Special:Contributions/64.121.163.170|64.121.163.170]] 10:04, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
::This is in no way close to a boat, look at any shipyard, that's not how you build a boat! --[[Special:Contributions/83.145.101.131|83.145.101.131]] 10:25, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
:::It is how you build an observation deck, though, or an airport control tower. And if you have the lumber to build such a structure, you could much more easily build a raft. So it's not like they're in any real danger of drowning when the tide gets higher. - [[Special:Contributions/206.173.46.67|206.173.46.67]] 20:40, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

It could be a raptor-proof tower .... not seen any of those in XKCD for a while {{unsigned|86.128.14.32|11:27, 12 April 2013 (UTC)}}

Looks like that small tower that Megan added in 500-502 is acting like a levee. The water outside it is higher now (569) than the water inside it. I can't imagine it'll help much, though.
--[[User:Mlv|Mlv]] ([[User talk:Mlv|talk]]) 20:40, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

[http://imgur.com/bSP5nWK Graph of water level over time] [[User:Codegardener|Codegardener]] ([[User talk:Codegardener|talk]]) 22:10, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

It appears that a couple of frames (4 and 427) get revisited a couple of frames later:
md5sum -b * | sort | uniq -w32 -D
—[[Special:Contributions/98.83.126.232|98.83.126.232]] 04:16, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

Has it slowed to once every 2 hours for new frames? --[[Special:Contributions/209.74.126.175|209.74.126.175]] 14:12, 13 April 2013 (UTC)
: For some reason, over the fast few hours the image wasn't automatically updating, and I had to refresh the page to see it. Now it looks like the image and static data XKCD servers are down... at least for me. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 03:50, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:: Looks like everything's back to normal. Fortunately, the aubronwood animation page has correctly captured the frames that I missed (although it had a few duplicates during XKCD's weirdness, it's fixed now). [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.153|129.21.119.153]] 15:20, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes, I haven't been able to retrieve anything since 23:40 EDT. [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 06:05, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone else considered the relationship of this comic to John Cage's musical composition "As Slow As Possible?" {{w|As_Slow_as_Possible}} [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 07:08, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, I did, in [http://www.lawrenceperson.com/?p=10316 my upstream link]. {{unsigned ip|72.183.97.222|23:34, 16 April 2013 (UTC)}}
:It surely can't be a coincidence that the comic released the day after this comment was all about John Cage, can it? [[User:DarthCrap|DarthCrap]] ([[User talk:DarthCrap|talk]]) 10:15, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
::Yeah, I noticed that. So who is trolling whom here? This group, or Randall? I would love it if he set up a foundation to keep this cartoon updating for the next N years, where N is the time backwards from this year to some particular early machine, ENIAC or Babbage's Analytical Engine or the Jacquard loom or the abacus, or whatever. (Refer to how the foundation sponsoring the Cage piece got their 639 years.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:02, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Another intergenerational project at {{w|Pitch_drop_experiment}} [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:59, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Just wondering, could the river/sea conundrum have anything to do with http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=4:_Landscape_%28sketch%29 and the original accompanying text "Don't ask me why there's a river running through the ocean. Please."? [[User:Blue Charizard|Blue Charizard]] ([[User talk:Blue Charizard|talk]]) 17:45, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Notice the last couple of frames have begun to show waves in the rising sea. (Frames 627-628) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 07:32, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

How could a small hill of sand stopped the entire sea. The world might be two dimensional, or Randall might have wanted to gain some time but it doesn't make much sense. {{unsigned ip|212.253.22.219|12:06, 16 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}
:Seriously? Ok - time to review the physics of hydrostatic fluids, folks. Depth is the only variable in calculating fluid pressure. Whether its a bucket or the ocean, the pressure at any given depth in a fluid is the same. A small hill of sand can stop the entire sea. Waves, however, are another matter... [[User:Uglystick|Uglystick]] ([[User talk:Uglystick|talk]]) 14:34, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
::A small hill can stop the sea if it extends infinitely in the Z axis, otherwise the sea will simply flow around it. The other alternative is to encircle the castle with it, forming a moat, but then we wouldn't be able to see the inside. So this can't be a normal 3D universe. Lending some weight to the 2D or nearly 2D nature is that the first platform they put up was installed on only two posts. But the platform itself had width. Maybe they're stuck between two panes of glass like an ant farm. [[Special:Contributions/67.168.18.37|67.168.18.37]] 15:15, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
:::A 2D world would also explain why the structure they're on can stand. It's an imperfectly 2D world though; it's been mentioned below that a pole should in theory stop the water easy. I guess it has some 3D realities to it, i.e., a wall should stop water, but a pole shouldn't. {{unsigned ip|173.13.244.241 | 19:18, 16 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}

Water depth is [http://imgur.com/MBiShof increasing quadratically]? (Probably not, but it looks nice on the graph so far. My current guess is that it's a sine wave that will peak out at 103 pixels.) [[User:Codegardener|Codegardener]] ([[User talk:Codegardener|talk]]) 15:18, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

I think in the end it's about what you build up during life and how "the time" washes all of it away, eventually {{unsigned ip|87.178.224.240|16:05, 16 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}

If this were a 2D universe, wouldn't the best course of action be to bury one of the poles directly at the water's edge? That way, like the small sand hill, the sea would have to rise to the very top of the pole before it would flood the remaining sand structures. {{unsigned ip| 74.94.246.5|16:33, 16 April 2013‎ (UTC)}}

Just a remark: Frame 458 (time458.png on this page, or hour 337:00) is corrupt, i.e. it deviates from the original that can be retrieved via the hash address. Probabely it was a screencap rather than a direct copy - someone should reupload it.. Oh and the structure on the poles is definitely the mighty Randall's Arc (though it doesn't rain)... {{unsigned ip|93.135.113.244|01:36, 17 April 2013 (UTC)}}

Now they are 'building castles in the air' - dreaming of a future that will never come to pass? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 11:43, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

:Why should building castles in the air be harder that building {{w|Server_farm|farm}} in {{w|Cloud_computing|clouds}}? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:37, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

The bucket on the pulley used to be carrying just sand. Now, if I read the situation correctly, it's carrying something that's heavier than Megan, so she can't use the pulley (or, possibly, anything else) to pull it up. Lead? Depleted uranium? Dwarf star remnant? [[Special:Contributions/67.168.18.37|67.168.18.37]] 15:06, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Seems to me like she was trying to raise ''herself'' up in the bucket, then lost her balance and collapsed part of the middle castle when she fell. - [[User:Acrisius|Acrisius]] ([[User talk:Acrisius|talk]]) 15:39, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
::That probably makes a little more sense than "dwarf star remnant". [[Special:Contributions/206.173.46.67|206.173.46.67]] 16:09, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

:::Especially considering that dwarf star remnant loosely placed on ground would fall through it. Even if the ground would be armor-plated. Unless it explode first. Hmmm ... this may be good question for the [http://what-if.xkcd.com/ what-if] - what will happen if you put dwarf star remnant with size of apple on ground somewhere on earth? Or neutronium? (What happens with black hole was already explained when LHC started.) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:20, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

My favorite episode from the Batman TV series was one where the Riddler gave Batman a nonsense clue which contained a surveillance microphone. He'd then eavesdrop on what Batman “deducted” his next coup would be, and he made it happen. Seeing how the discussion here does seem to affect the events in the comic, I wonder if Randall is pulling a Riddler on us. Just as an experiment, I thought I'd mention that it's odd there are no seagulls at the beach ;-) [[Special:Contributions/201.235.179.15|201.235.179.15]] 16:49, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:I like the way that the sea/river/metaphor is now slowly eroding the base of the tower on the right. Also, where are the fish ;-) [[User:Eeijevs|Eeijevs]] ([[User talk:Eeijevs|talk]]) 21:15, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
::I like how the erosion of the castle is accurate {{w|Wave-cut_platform}}.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 11:11, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
::Aquaman?--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 23:06, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Still no seagulls! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:09, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

We seem to be missing time 561 from Wednesday? [[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 13:20, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
:And at the moment 599:00 and 600:00 are duplicates. I don't know if something happened (or didn't happen) then, or if the above issue is still being processed. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 18:00, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
::Fiiixed '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:47, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

In the frame-by-frame breakdown, the "Image" field simply gives the time in hours, while the "Time" field gives the time in days+hours. It would be helpful if the "Image" field instead gave an ordinal number indicating the number of frames (e.g., this would help to correlate the Transcript on this page with the frame numbers [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ here]. The current "Image" field need not be deleted (I personally prefer time in hours to time in days+hours), but it might be relabeled as "Time in Hours". Implementing this would require some use of scripts, and would be best if adopted by the person updating the frame-by-frame breakdown in the first place. [[Special:Contributions/132.236.6.90|132.236.6.90]] 16:42, 19 April 2013 (UTC)
: If it's helpful to you guys this text file gets created automatically [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/data.txt]. I admit it had some problems in the beginning but I think they're all worked out now; it's been adding for days now without any problems. I know you cannot see line numbers in the browser, but if you copy and paste the whole lot into an editor the line numbers are 1 higher than the corresponding png frame.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 01:44, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

When the server had a problem one image was 100 minutes late, and another was 50 minutes late. Because of this there was a file between time682 and time683 that wasn't posted here (time683 should have been time684), and many files after that are displayed here an hour before they should have been displayed, with the wrong filename. It also affects xkcd-time.wikia.com as I had got many of the files on there from here. I am currently trying to correct this. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 03:01, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

I think it's now fixed. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 03:59, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Anyone have the slightest prediction on how many frames this Time series will last? [[Special:Contributions/118.186.193.26|118.186.193.26]] 07:44, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:Sure, it will be exactly 42π! ... or rather ''<big>e</big>''42? Hmmmm… [[User:Trofobi|Trofobi]] ([[User talk:Trofobi|talk]]) 08:52, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:5,601,594 images if he follows the John Cage time frame, and maintains hourly changes; plus/minus one or two depending on the fence-posts. {{unsigned|Taibhse|21:00, 20 April 2013 (UTC)}}

I think we have seen the profile of various famous castles come and go, but nobody has identified any of them. [[Special:Contributions/174.62.108.29|174.62.108.29]] 17:47, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
:I don't see anything obvious, but the second castle (revealed by the zoom) looks a lot like http://media.merchantcircle.com/39624740/cheesecake_castle_final_full.jpeg
:and now the castle she is working on begins to resemble the Taj Mahal...[[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:00, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
::Well, not so much, now. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:50, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
::It looks like Hogwarts.--[[Special:Contributions/70.134.68.234|70.134.68.234]] 21:36, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
I wonder if this could be building up to an all black panel for April 22. [[Special:Contributions/74.129.166.50|74.129.166.50]] 09:07, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

I just setup an own cronjob which checks the image hash periodly and writes them to a list when its changed: http://panther.stummi.org/xkcdtime.txt
It checks every 10 minutes so it also should notice if the interval changes --[[User:Stummi|Stummi]] ([[User talk:Stummi|talk]]) 09:12, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

The castle on the top appears to be the Disneyland Paris castle (http://0.tqn.com/d/goparis/1/0/1/A/-/-/disneylandaparisxmas09_francoisdurandgetty.jpg) [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 21:46, 21 April 2013 (UTC)
:...which is a rip-off of Neuschwanstein castle: http://blog.awaystay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/oct_3_2012.jpg - still both don't exactly resemble the one in the comic.. {{unsigned ip|141.84.43.125|12:49, 22 April 2013 (UTC)}}

I'm guessing that the water will keep rising indefinitely, and we'll be left with an upward-moving strip that occasionally zooms out as the bottom layers are very slowly filled in with black "water." One thing that would make this interesting is the varying heights of the constructed structures (sandcastle turrets, platform, etc.) which would make the process of "overflow" from the right-hand side interesting to watch. {{unsigned ip|65.96.75.37|15:17, 22 April 2013 (UTC)}}

Oh the symbolism of it: Cueball leaves, Megan finishes building their castle, rests and lets her guard down. The next thing to happen is, a cute girl walks in, sees what the two have built together and leaves. The very next frame, the castle starts to fall apart. [[Special:Contributions/217.81.90.198|217.81.90.198]]

I'm expecting the lower level-castle to be swept away by the water, while the high-level castle will remain intact. This is quite reasonable, assuming Cueball and Megan knows how high the flood will come and thus they built the platform to an appropriate height. It may be interpreted as the lower-level castle being the work of our life, which is inevitable finite, and will be eventually overtaken by death. Recognizing this, some choose to build a castle for the "after-life". Life-death reflections have been common on xkcd in the past as well. {{unsigned ip|149.241.18.229|14:18, 23 April 2013 (UTC)}}

The [http://imgur.com/NEps6Fk pace at which the water is rising] has begun to slow. I think it's just a regular tide, and it only has a few more pixels to go before it begins to ebb. [[User:Codegardener|Codegardener]] ([[User talk:Codegardener|talk]]) 14:49, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

I call cancer. The tide slowly increasing, the castle threatened, the upper castle... I don't know, it just all gives me that impression. --[[Special:Contributions/193.205.81.1|193.205.81.1]] 09:02, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

I have to hand it to him though. He has entirely captivated all of us. I can't help but check every day (as opposed to every MWF) to see how the story unfolds. Many thanks to [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ geekwagon] for keeping me up to date! [[User:Puck0687|Puck0687]] ([[User talk:Puck0687|talk]]) 14:26, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me, or are the last 4 images missing? I don't know how often this gets updated, if it's still manual at all, I may have did bad calculations with timezones, but at least the current image isn't there. [[Special:Contributions/86.81.124.236|86.81.124.236]] 19:39, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
: I'm pretty sure this page is updated manually, so you'll have to wait for someone to update it. Nothing has been missed though. If you want to keep up to date, I suggest using one of the links under Explanation>Related Stuff, especially the aubronwood link. Those update automatically. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.61.189|129.21.61.189]] 20:54, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

For me, this is clearly about cancer and the impacts it has on a relationship over time. Randall's now wife was diagnosed and treated for cancer recently and through this comic, he's trying to portray the anxious wait they faced through treatment and remission. He has put us into his shoes by keeping us waiting in suspense to see how things end up. The passing of time represents their life together. At first it's just them relaxing together, probably the dating phase. Soon they start building a life together, represented by the sand castle. The castle evolves over time, much like their life has. Difficulties and gaffes in their relationship are depicted, for example when cueball trips and breaks down part of the wall. Eventually all efforts are diverted and put into defending against the approaching sea, which represents the cancer. The wall, the platform, all represent the steps taken to prevent and/or prepare for it's impending progress. The river represents the cure for cancer, which is still pretty far out, as cueball mentioned. There are many many more clues I see and explanations I can give to support this idea (castle in the sky, the rain, progress with research, etc.), but this is just starting point. I'm excited to see where the comic will end up, but I guess we just need to "wait for it". --[[User:Nick|Nick]] ([[User talk:Nick|talk]]) 21:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

:You make a good case, and much of the dialog supports that interpretation. Many of us must have been thinking along the same lines. A couple of points...there doesn't have to be only one meaning for the symbolism. Also, there doesn't have to be an "end."
:The John Cage connection also seems obvious.
:I have been struck by the similarity (and difference) to the Engineers in "A Mote in God's Eye." Innate engineering ability combined with naivete.
:I am confident that Randall knows there are literally thousands (tens of thousands? hundreds?) of fans out there giving them moral support and good wishes. Hmm...I wonder if readers are personified by the little girl? Probably not. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 22:50, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

The cancer metaphors are quite intriguing, but my take is environmental, possibly pollution and global warming. The French girl (beret) could be a nod to the Disneyland Paris castle. If so it’s our first interactive feedback with Randall on the 1190 strip.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:42, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:Environmental pollution is tied to cancer incidence. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 00:18, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

:Global warming was suggested by
::Cueball: Sea level rises and falls, right? It's changed before.
::Megan: Not this fast.
:I don't know about the beret; Beret Guy has been a recurring theme. Just search xkcd for "beret." But never on a little girl? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 23:26, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm taking it that "sea" is a phonetic substitute for "c," "meaning "cancer." For better or worse, this kind of phoenetic clue was used in the Batman movie:
Batman: Pretty fishy what happened to me on that ladder.
Gordon: You mean, where there's a fish, there could be a Penguin.
Robin: But wait! It happened at sea! See? "C" for Catwoman!
Sigh. I wish I knew what "river" and "rain" represented. Medicine, maybe? [[Special:Contributions/98.117.33.206|98.117.33.206]] 23:03, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
:Medicine isn't supposed to make the "C" grow. Just the opposite.
:And on that note, back when I was working in "Muppet Labs" there was a great little book of cartoons circulating in the lab titled "CDC." Sample: "CDC?" "ICDC. DUCDC?" "O,ICDC2!"
::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAO0M1tilKU [[User:Skiasaurus|Skiasaurus]] ([[User talk:Skiasaurus|talk]]) 05:06, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
:Nothing at all to do with the zombie comics from the actual CDC. But there's the disease theme again -- the CDC.
:And what programmer could miss the reference to "C." It gets tangled, which is the best way to do symbolism. Quantum-alphabetic entanglement. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 00:16, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Well, I don't know if the intention here is that the "river" is making the "sea" grow. My point is that the dialogue is so nonsensical at points that it seems to be code. I'm taking every noun as a metaphor for something. "Sea" being "cancer" seems to fit ("The cancer can't make more of itself forever, can it?") I guess go back through the dialogue and see what other words could substitute for what they're saying. Like I said, I don't know what "river" or "rain" or "ground" could be in this metaphor. [[Special:Contributions/98.117.33.206|98.117.33.206]] 00:56, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

:Or "sand." This sand has some rather remarkable, not to say marvelous, properties! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 03:08, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

If it's true this represents their struggle with cancer, this strip might very well continue into the future, updating alongside her real-time cancer progress, possibly for years, hopefully not for mere months. Randall knows how this will end no more than we do. [[Special:Contributions/24.29.73.162|24.29.73.162]] 23:49, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Guys, if a new frame comes out and it's not uploaded yet, please consider uploading it yourself in the correct time slot. I'm trying to keep up, but there's always 8-hour gaps in our archives every time I go to bed. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:33, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
: I automatically download all frames as a base for my [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2169004/tide.png tide measuring script] and I've closed lots of the 8-hour gaps every day. Now at least someone else is doing it, too and I currently can't see any gaps at all. Thanks alot for the collevtive effort! --[[User:TreibAir|TreibAir]] ([[User talk:TreibAir|talk]]) 07:41, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Maybe a baby on the way? Waiting for the unknown tide to roll in (in 9 months)? {{unsigned ip|76.15.31.215|02:07, 26 April 2013 (UTC)}}

I think this is the last day. It's been exactly a month, they seem pretty done with it, and tomorrow's friday....On top of that, the most recent comic was the flipping of a switch on a time machine, in which, something happened, but we don't yet know what....it may be that the "Time" comic is being refreshed. ...Just a thought.... [[Special:Contributions/138.49.1.8|138.49.1.8]] 03:20, 26 April 2013 (UTC)Luke Wah
: The time machine, once switched on, reversed time to the point at which it was switched on, thus switching itself off. It doesn't seem to be connected to this. ~ Anariston {{unsigned ip|88.104.62.137|12:03, 26 April 2013 (UTC)}}

I'm still hoping they'll suddenly ride in on a tidal wave and smash the entire structure. You know, for closure. ~Pixie {{unsigned ip|75.174.79.150|06:16, 26 April 2013 (UTC)}}

I expect that from now on (Friday April 26th 2013) there will be no more story and the sea will erode the castle until nothing is left (most likely software generated). Maybe Cueball and Megan will return someday, walk to the shore, sit down and, after a while, start building a castle... Jacx [[Special:Contributions/217.81.72.248|217.81.72.248]] 11:56, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

Starting at frame 895 the black started fading to white, I think. [[Special:Contributions/217.81.72.248|217.81.72.248]] 12:03, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

: Yup, You're right, it's clear when you turn on the difference feature on geekwagon [[Special:Contributions/80.52.210.93|80.52.210.93]] 18:02, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

:: I don't see any fading to white -- we're on frame 905 now and everything looks as black-and-white as usual. O.o --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 21:06, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
::Ah, ETA: I see fading now, but only after frame 910 in the Aubronwood animation. I guess it just wasn't visible on my old computer screen until now. --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 16:36, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

I agree - the water has started eroding the castle to the right, and it makes sense for the erosion to potentially loop the comic back to frame 1. That said, the title text was "wait for it". This could be a euphamism suggesting "keep waiting, this comic changes", but it does have an implication that there is a "finale" to the comic that you should wait for. Hard to tell as it's vague. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 13:54, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

The most recent event is Megan walking in, saying "bye!" in *lower case*, and leaving. From the lower case, which is different from the rest of the comic, I infer that she was talking to *us*, not (eg) herself or the sandcastle! I reckon it's just going to fill up with water until the page is a static black rectangle. Especially since she and Cueball just talked about going off and exploring, grabbed their bags, and left. -cosmogoblin [[Special:Contributions/94.197.127.235|94.197.127.235]] 13:57, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

: I suspect the small text was to show a "small voice" - talking quietly and sadly perhaps? It does look like this could be the end of the story though - the last few frames don't seem to have done much after the "fade" in frame 895 - Hippyjim [[Special:Contributions/81.136.241.157|81.136.241.157]] 15:15, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

:: I agree with the small voice. The sea level is still rising, and interestingly, the sand barrier on the far right is eroding on *both sides* -- not just the seaward side, as previously. Changed properties of the sand or the sea, or both? I think the comic from here on is just going to be erosion. Entropy always wins. :( ~Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 18:02, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

::: The "both-sides" erosion is normal and realistic. If you haven't noticed, the water is on the left side of the embankment for some time already, look at the smooth horizontal line of black pixels between the rightmost castle tower and the embankment. The water just seeped through the sandy embankment and soaked it and starts to erode it. [[Special:Contributions/130.255.153.62|130.255.153.62]] 01:25, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
::::The large pile of sand never did form a barrier to the sea. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 06:54, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::Yes it did; Megan's first barrier worked like that, the one she built after Cueball tasted the water. It didn't let in the sea until it overflowed. That was around frame 660-663 (in the Aubronwood animation). --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 16:36, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:::::Um...that's what I said. The /large/ pile of sand didn't ever act like the /small/ barrier. :) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 18:29, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
::::::Well, it may have been what you /thought/, but it wasn't very clear from what you /wrote/ that you were actually agreeing with me and not with the previous commenter. Sorry for misunderstanding. --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 13:31, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

14:00, 26 April 2013 EDT image is http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/3d8c2ab949ba7a18e64397eec0e9860bd8ce8dd7aa0475e985a4fde4e108ea2e.png [[User:Kaori Emora|Kaori Emora]] ([[User talk:Kaori Emora|talk]]) 18:39, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

It's just about over: the picture is fading out now. [[Special:Contributions/81.246.195.216|81.246.195.216]] 22:47, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe it's just that a large moon is finally rising. That could affect the sea (and the light.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 06:54, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me, or did the sea/river started to rise faster since the picture started fading to white? --[[Special:Contributions/201.53.213.201|201.53.213.201]] 14:58, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:I don't think the time between frames is constant. Some consecutive frames, like the ones featuring the trebuchet (212-214), are less than a second apart.--[[Special:Contributions/70.134.72.83|70.134.72.83]] 18:51, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Does the ladder and railing look like the axis for a graph? Is this a graph of people or area affected by water rise due to global warming - as a function of time? [[Special:Contributions/174.50.74.170|174.50.74.170]] 15:58, 27 April 2013 (UTC) rbnm
:That's...a bit of a stretch. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. [[User:Alpha|Alpha]] ([[User talk:Alpha|talk]]) 17:44, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

I've logged the fade panels (8-bit r=g=b) by image #, where image# 895=hour 774.
895-0,896-2,901-4,906-4,907-8,908-8,909-10,910-10,911-12,912-12,913-15,915-15,916-17,
917-18,918-20,919-20,920-21,921-23,922-23,923-24,924-26,925-29,926-30,927-31,928-34,929-37
The fade appears to be accelerating. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:47, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:Someone should extract alpha channel from pics, make graph from it, and try to find functon that approximates it [[Special:Contributions/80.52.210.93|80.52.210.93]] 21:26, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
:I did add a line feed to the numbers because I do not like horizontal scrollbars.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:52, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

I don't have a web page to share plots, but here's the poly fit. Starting with time 774 as x=0: it's [3.6647e-4 x^3 + 2.4545e-3 x^2 + 0.5396 x + 0.4184] up to time 810. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:36, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Time 811 - the black color stayed the same at 41 (r=g=b), 812-46, 813-48, the poly is now [4.4605E-004 x^3 - 1.5824E-003 x^2 + 0.59043 x + 0.33353][[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]])

It's fading to white a lot faster now than the sea is rising. Unless something else happens, I'd say it's all white by tomorrow. So, maybe if one source of entropy doesn't get you, another will. [[Special:Contributions/67.168.18.37|67.168.18.37]] 12:54, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

The fade rate poly is now [7.912739E-004 x^3 - 0.018842 x^2 + 0.794901 x + 0.09838], and is still on the same progression. At this rate, the panel hits 255 (full white) at 09:00 UTC, 4/29/13. Wait for it. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 14:24, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
:Do you know what the frame number will be when it hits white? Randall's pretty close to an even 1000, I'm wondering if he's engineered it to turn white for either 1000 or 1024. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 20:19, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
::I believe it'll be filed as time966.png.--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 20:52, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Beret Girl at 950! [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 18:18, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Just wanted to let you guys know (since you are the most hard core of 1190 fans), you can do this now [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=890&framediff=217 geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=890&framediff=217].--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 19:32, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Updated projection: fade to white (rgb 255) at image # 967 (10:00 UTC) [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:18, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Just an afterthought, a meteor hit directly on the sand castle would let Randall go out in a blaze of glory. I hope beret girl is OK.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:27, 28 April 2013 (UTC)

Seems like the story is not going to stop with total fadeout: image is still readable, as what was black is going to be 100% transparent (and probably still black), and white is still opaque. Maybe geekwagon page owner (or someone) could add a feature of removing alpha channel? --[[User:Electrichk|Electrichk]] ([[User talk:Electrichk|talk]]) 08:47, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

The early 80s song Fade to Grey from the band Visage comes to my mind. Memories of what happened start to fade over time and get more and more pale. {{unsigned ip|213.23.38.20|10:22, 29 April 2013 (UTC)}}

Again, if you're awake and the frame for the current hour hasn't been uploaded yet, please upload it yourself. I am doing the brunt of the work right now, and I am not available 24/7 to get the latest frame up. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:37, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

969 (+848) ''is'' completely blank on my LCD. <strike>I also cannot see Beret Girl in (967 or) 968 corresponding to +847 that [[User:75.84.65.238]]'s [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1190:_Time&diff=35521&oldid=35485 edit] suggests.</strike> I can see Beret Girl using [[Special:Contributions/192.54.204.33|192.54.204.33]]'s Paint with Black and White trick. This ''does'' include 969 which is otherwise actually monotone on my LCD, even on a great angle. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 13:53, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
: Try viewing the comic from an extreme angle. I was able to see the Beret girl in 967+968 by tilting my screen forward on my laptop. You can't really see it otherwise. If that fails, use Photoshop or look at the diff functionality [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=968&framediff=967 here]. 969 is completely blank to me. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.185|129.21.119.185]] 13:20, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
:: Wait, I got those numbers mixed up, I think. 968 and 969 have Beret Girl in it, you just need to view at an extreme angle to see it. 970 (+849) looks blank to me, but there's still something there. The scene uses RGB 254,254,254, which is why it doesn't appear at all on my screen. You can reveal it using the diff or a smart selection tool in Photoshop or the like. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.119.185|129.21.119.185]] 13:28, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
: Yeah, using the diff function on geekwagon.net is probably the easiest way to see it. She seems to be dragging something (looks like a canvas?) into the scene. But I can't see frame 969 (let alone 970) on geekwagon, the last frame there seems to be 968, and it appears completely white on my monitor without the diff view. --[[Special:Contributions/186.203.199.207|186.203.199.207]] 13:33, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
:: Just copy the image to Paint and set the image property to Black & White. All non-white (255,255,255) pixels are set to black (0,0,0) and the image is revealed. [[Special:Contributions/192.54.204.33|192.54.204.33]] 13:35, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
:::NB With Chrome, copying the image from xkcd [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/44c15893fedd846f0f503a7871a7775cade2a0d90987ff9651e5c742d4cf54d8.png] or here [[:File:time970.png]] (+849) with right-click -> Copy image looses the detail. You need to get the .png into Paint for it to work. Copy image URL and Paint's File > Open will do it. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 14:10, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

OK, *now* it's completely white (as of day 36 10:00) [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 14:08, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

And [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/99d67c40662fe2db377c9f7c8d6a5b1b82566b24b7d9a665638e16b299747325.png] (972 +851:00 36/11:00) was missing for a couple of minutes... [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 15:07, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

And now there is an image again (frame 971/972)! Looks like slightly uneven black ground under a white sky. Wow, I really thought that was it when it faded to white. Cool cool cool. --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 15:53, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Hmm... we gonna see a guy floating in a barrel?? -z64dan [[Special:Contributions/204.57.93.104|204.57.93.104]] 15:56, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
: And now I think we're going to see that too! [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 00:23, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

And now we're off to see the wizard!! This is great! A comic within a comic! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 17:23, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I don't see this as a comic in a comic -- I see it more as act 2 (after the fadeout of act 1, with the stage crew jumping the gun and being caught on camera heading on stage to change the set). Theoretically, this second act can be as long as the first one -- The Quest for the Source of the River/Sea. (Hmmm, that reminds me of the song "River in the Sea" from the musical Ten November, a 2 minute sample available at http://www.prudencejohnson.com/sounds/gales/River_in_the_Sea.mp3). [[User:Meteoricshipyards|Meteoricshipyards]] ([[User talk:Meteoricshipyards|talk]]) 18:14, 29 April 2013 (UTC) Tom A.

:By "comic within a comic" I meant that not only do we await a new xkcd installment several times a week, but now we also have a single panel (1190) with an ongoing story. This is even better than Click and Drag! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 19:10, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Just wanted to say: I don't think the beret girl is a girl at all. It's a boy with an old-fashioned navy-style cap. Popular with boys at the beach (in the old days). See images here (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x130/JTMarcus/h1.jpg) and here (http://cabinetcardgallery.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/kidwithcap_0003.jpg) I also like the fact that, just before the castle completely fades away, you can barely see the little boy bringing more materials (maybe another support beam?) to continue the work.
I like the continuity of letting the beret boy (not girl) {{unsigned ip|142.27.101.13|23:15, 29 April 2013 (UTC)}}
: Wether it's a navy cap or not may be open to interpretation (though I'd still bet it's a beret - it surely looks a lot more like the one the beret guy wears, and I think Randall would have put a little more effort into that detail if he wanted it to pass off as a navy cap). As for it being a boy, no. It's definitely a girl, you can clearly see it has a longer hair, and come to think of it, Randall rarely draws any hair at all for male characters anyway. --[[Special:Contributions/201.53.213.201|201.53.213.201]] 23:36, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

I am hoping that this "Time" somehow connects to the [http://xkcd.com/1110/ "Click and Drag"] comic i.e. when the camera zoom out far enough, we'll see that they are actually in the "Click and Drag" world. --[[Special:Contributions/98.14.191.109|98.14.191.109]] 23:59, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

:Is it just me, or should there be a category to contain both this and [http://xkcd.com/1110/ "Click and Drag"]? Should the categories "Interactive" and "Dynamic" be merged into something like "Epic" or "Nerd Sniping"?[[Special:Contributions/38.78.130.2|38.78.130.2]] 14:30, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Odd, it looks like +861, +862, and +863 are out of order, judging by the ground not changing at all and the characters not walking continuously. I wonder if that was an accidental mistake in XKCD server's delivery of the images or if there's an actual meaning to it. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.158|129.21.63.158]] 02:17, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

During the last glacial period the sea level was more than 100 meters lower than it is nowadays, so coastal structures looked very different and the continents exposed much more land. I believe the first act of this comic references medieval ages in Europe where people would witness (over the scope of hundreds of years or longer) losing land and coastal towns to the sea but not understanding the process, as Megan states. I'm expecting the second act, and possibly further acts, to reference the abundance of scientifical discoveries made during the last few centuries. [[Special:Contributions/37.201.91.80|37.201.91.80]] 12:17, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

I could hack a little bash script on my server which uploads the current image every hour. However for this i need uploads by URL from API allowed ($wgAllowCopyUploads in LocalSettings.php). --[[User:Stummi|Stummi]] ([[User talk:Stummi|talk]]) 12:25, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Would be great if at the end of the walk, there's a band playing "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons. {{unsigned ip|75.148.179.153|14:27, 30 April 2013 (UTC)}}

It will end with image 1190, of course. [[Special:Contributions/66.38.57.117|66.38.57.117]] 16:54, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Well, they've made it back to the beach. I think it will end either at 1000 or 1024, and the only reason it might go to 1024 is allow some dialog and zooming in. :-) --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 18:01, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
: I thought that too initially - the terrain features certainly seems identical (to scale) to the one at the start of the story. But something's bothering me; it's about the frame before we see they are back on a beach - they are already seated, so it's fair to assume they haven't moved, yet the terrain is different. By looking at the terrain, you could guess that maybe the terrain is inverted, which would then indicate that the frame with the beach in view is from a different angle than the previous frame. But for that to be the case, Cueball would have to be behind Megan on the previous frame, yet, their positions are unchanged on these frames. So, I don't know... I'll stop rambling now, and just wait and see, I guess... --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 18:27, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

::Well, guess it's not ending just yet :-) . The duo packed up again and they're getting out of the beach (whichever it is). --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 22:06, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Wait, what? It looks like they are suddenly back at a beach that looks the same as the first one, just zoomed out. But before when the scene was presumably inverted, the terrain didn't look quite like that. If the scene really did get inverted, maybe they aren't actually on a beach right now, but the sea will eventually expand until it reaches them. Then again, we don't know if this is the same plane of space that the original beach was either. They were just walking to the right. The concept of space in this comic is confusing me right now. I wonder if this will make sense later. [[Special:Contributions/129.21.63.158|129.21.63.158]] 18:41, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

But what about their knapsacks? I guess they are not going to throw them to the sea... Hope this won't end up with loop right now, it would be too disappointing --[[User:Electrichk|Electrichk]] ([[User talk:Electrichk|talk]]) 19:07, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

It appears that the camera perspective has changed. 1 - 970 are all perpendicular to the shoreline, with the water on the right, camera looking down the shore. 971-996 are shown parallel to the shore line, with the camera position apparently out over the water or standing at the shore, looking back toward land. (If the camera had maintained the original position, the characters would have simply gotten smaller as the walked away, but instead we got to see the walk across the frame while presumably following the shore.) In 997, the camera perspective just comes back around to be a profile shot again, looking down the shoreline, water once again on the right. -- [[Special:Contributions/65.183.156.9|65.183.156.9]] 19:40, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Near the end of the transcript, it says that at +847 Beret Girl drops in again, dragging something. I used Photoshop to lower the brightness, and can see about half of her head facing away from the sandcastle. She's not dragging anything. Here's my evidence: [http://i.imgur.com/7zByxrs.png] [[Special:Contributions/108.51.68.241|108.51.68.241]] 22:24, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
*Try frame +848, that's where you can see her dragging something ~Pixie {{unsigned ip|75.174.79.65|05:19, 1 May 2013 (UTC)}}

I added a section for normalized versions of the first 10 hours of day 36. If anyone wants me to add more, e.g. go back to where the fade started, I would. BTW, I used something like 'pngtopnm $i | pnmnorm | pnmtopng > $j' inside a loop. Those commands are from the NetPBM package. [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 23:33, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
:You can also use Paint ^_^ [[Special:Contributions/86.29.117.25|86.29.117.25]] 17:17, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

If Randall decides to go into a loop, let's not forget he can change any single frame or create a parallel storyline from any frame he likes. [[User:Blue Charizard|Blue Charizard]] ([[User talk:Blue Charizard|talk]]) 07:16, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

He guys, what was with the grey on I think 1008-1011? And what happened to it? It disappeared on everything.--[[Special:Contributions/108.70.209.33|108.70.209.33]] 16:23, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
Don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but from frame 998 to 1001 (sitting, side-on view), the 'water' level continues to rise. {{unsigned ip|80.189.37.104|18:43, 1 May 2013 (UTC)}}

Not sure if it has ever been brought up but has anyone noticed it says "BTC 1NEPgrUmed3VyXpqbYZom7YVJ8MozYrNWx
We did not invent the algorithm. The algorithm consistently finds Jesus. The algorithm killed Jeeves.
The algorithm is banned in China. The algorithm is from Jersey. The algorithm constantly finds Jesus.
This is not the algorithm. This is close." at the bottom of every page. i could not find this algorithm anywhere else [[Special:Contributions/74.4.25.11|74.4.25.11]] 18:58, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
:That is on every comic, it has nothing to do with this one. [[Footnote]] look at this page on it. {{unsigned|Zuffelnok|19:41, 1 May 2013 (UTC)}}

Just a thought - In panel 1018 (time 897), Megan states "If we don't find something today, we'll have to start using the steam bottle." If that means they're out of water... the last update has both of them drinking water at the edge of the river. No one spit it out this time. If they refilled their water bottle at the river, it's not the source of the pollution. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:38, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
:I don't think there's pollution going on; the body of water they started at was an ocean, so it was salt water. They have come to a river, so they can now drink the fresh water.[[Special:Contributions/163.120.70.10|163.120.70.10]] 00:48, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

FWIW, you can get the normalized (non-faded) portion of the fading scene very easily with imagemagick. Assuming you have the named like image00000.png image00001.png etc.. you can get a nice animated gif from "bye" to beret girl with:
convert image008[89]?.png image009[0123456]?.png image00970.png -shave 2x2 -auto-level norm.gif
HTH [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.71|216.239.45.71]] 00:51, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Is this now a choose your own adventure? I choose 'Walk Up River'! [[Special:Contributions/162.5.71.176|162.5.71.176]] 16:27, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Are there efforts underway to make '''3D representations of the landscape?''' [[Special:Contributions/63.153.208.177|63.153.208.177]] 18:14, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone considered connections to this already? http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/the_alan_parsons_project/time.html [[User:Greyhoundc|Greyhoundc]] ([[User talk:Greyhoundc|talk]]) 12:38, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

...And there we got as far as frame 1190, which several people have called as the end, and the story does not appear to be resolved at all. How long can this go on? --Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 17:07, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Okay, so it didn't end with 1190. Must have misread the prophecies. [[Special:Contributions/66.38.57.117|66.38.57.117]] 00:51, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

"How long can this go on? I would say a very long time. Currently, each day is filled mostly with a very few backgrounds used over several comics with only the characters moving -- not that difficult to produce -- and maybe a few lines of dialog, which also allows for the repetition of the background. He can probably keep this pace for months. It would be a bit disappointing, but possible. The strip certainly doesn't seem to be approaching any sort of conclusion. But, I think, like certain kinds of art, its the presentation that important. And he is presenting Time. -Tom A. "Time is a local condition." - wish I could remember who said that. [[User:Meteoricshipyards|Meteoricshipyards]] ([[User talk:Meteoricshipyards|talk]]) 15:12, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

;Uploaders
Can I please not be one of the only three people on this wiki uploading frames? I live a busy life, I miss some of the time slots. If you see that the frame for the current hour hasn't been uploaded yet, try clicking on the red link and uploading it yourself. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:39, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
:I did sign in right now and will try to help.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:02, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
::I'd really like to do so, but everytime I look, I can't find the missing ones in my cache esp due to filenames - Is there a script or sth how I can save the original .PNGs automatically to another folder when they update? [[User:Trofobi|Trofobi]] ([[User talk:Trofobi|talk]]) 09:39, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
:::Here's the quick hack I run every 10 minutes. I don't know what an "sth" is. [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 13:11, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
<nowiki>
#!/bin/bash

j=$(TZ=EST5EDT date +%j)
h=$(TZ=EST5EDT date +%H)
m=$(TZ=EST5EDT date +%M)
d=$(printf %.2d $((j-83)))
fakem=${m%?}0
fakef=Time-$d-$h$fakem.png
if [ ! -f $fakef ]; then m=$fakem; fi
f=Time-$d-$h$m.png
oldf=$(ls Time* | tail -1)
{ echo -n "$d/$h:$m "; wget -O $f http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png |& grep following | tr "/ " "\012\012" | grep png; } > hash.new
cmp -s $f $oldf && mv $f /tmp
oldhash=$(tail -1 hash | cut -d' ' -f2)
newhash=$(cat hash.new | cut -d' ' -f2)
[ "$oldhash" = "$newhash" ] || cat hash.new >> hash
mv hash.new /tmp
</nowiki>
::::Thank you! "sth" just reads "something" :) [[User:Trofobi|Trofobi]] ([[User talk:Trofobi|talk]]) 21:31, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

All frames and hashes are automatically saved to http://xkcd.mscha.org/. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 12:53, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
:WOW, that's great! [[User:Trofobi|Trofobi]] ([[User talk:Trofobi|talk]]) 21:31, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

;Animated gif
hey, can we upgrade the animated gif to a picture with a sliding bar? maybe with a play/pause button as well? this way you can jump to whatever frame you're interested in, and pause for however long you like on frames with text and such... [[Special:Contributions/81.218.146.161|81.218.146.161]] 11:40, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
:Some kind soul has already made that here - http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ - not sure how well it'd drop into this wiki though [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 13:05, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
::Doesn't seem to be working for me :( [[Special:Contributions/107.205.30.219|107.205.30.219]] 00:53, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

;Talk too long
The Discussion block is pretty huge and I thing it should be removed from the main page. Maybe a link and a hint to the link at the tab on top of this article. What do you think? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:12, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
:I, for one, wholeheartedly endorse this. Consensus?--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 22:02, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
::Agreed. [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 08:45, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
::: And done. If any admins disagree, please revert [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 09:05, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
:::: It looks great, site is loading much faster.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:03, 3 May 2013 (UTC)
::::: Thank you! After all, that's why there are talk pages in MediaWiki. --[[Special:Contributions/82.135.84.245|82.135.84.245]] 16:44, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

;Image updates

Is Randall playing with me? My script is collecting at 00,05,20,35,50 each hour but many times now I got this:

969:00 41/09:00 f8a6414c334a71481e16428691fe8465098b2bae956e44727d0482c7632a84ff.png

I still could get the correct update, but I have to check all downloads so far.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:41, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm seeing that, too. For myself, I'm going to filter them into a separate directory. [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 22:45, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm getting ...a84ff from http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time.png, but the main http://xkcd.com/1190/ gives the current image. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:43, 4 May 2013 (UTC)
The 00:00 UTC (8 pm EDT) update worked. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 00:02, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone noticed that the exact same identical image was re-used several times recently? If you go to http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ and tell it to show differences from frame 1090, and then start clicking forward, the following frames are all exactly the same: 1094, 1097, 1101, 1103, 1107. Looking at http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/# you can then see that 1111 and 1113 are also the same. The rapid perspective change makes the animation appear to strobe. Could this be some strange attempt to illustrate something like an earthquake, or are they just re-using frames to avoid having to draw so many? [[Special:Contributions/65.183.156.9|65.183.156.9]] 02:38, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

: As you may have read above, the server did deliver one image repeatedly, so some sites may show this image multiple times. --[[Special:Contributions/84.174.9.61|84.174.9.61]] 08:24, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

You can see it in the [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/log.txt log for geekwagon], do an in page search (ctrl+f) for f8a6414c334a71481e16428691fe8465098b2bae956e44727d0482c7632a84ff. That image is collected multiple times and causes other images to be duplicated too because the script only checks to see if the current link is different than the previous.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 13:11, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

I think what happened is that one of the three sites (107.6.97.102) started giving the same result each time. Now, I think they are down for maintenance.... --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:47, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Why are images 2816 and 2817 the same? http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2816 http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2817 [[Special:Contributions/121.72.166.59|121.72.166.59]] 21:56, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

;Hours
There seems to be a problem starting with today (Sunday, 2013-05-05): The first picture should be 984:00 and not 983:00. I'm not able to check if it's simply a bot (?) error writing down the hours or something more serious. --[[Special:Contributions/82.135.84.245|82.135.84.245]] 15:56, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Hour 983 on image 1104 Saturday (23:00 UTC) also appears on image 1105 Sunday (00:00 UTC). The image numbers are correct, but the hour count appears to be off by 1 hour now.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 16:34, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

: Holy shi... it's my failure. I am starting to correct this right now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:36, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

;Not all images do map to the hash

I did run this great command posted here before on 13 April 2013:
md5sum -b * | sort | uniq -w32 -D

Then I did rename all duplicates to image???_.png. After that I did download the hashes from here to image???.png and run the check again.

First result is easy. Files are changed so md5sum for image002_ and image002 are different but content is the same. But 004 is wrong and I will update this one.

878341ab1f710e5832aa7ed5cfa66ed7 *image002_.png
878341ab1f710e5832aa7ed5cfa66ed7 *image004_.png

I will check all carefully and post my updates at the bottom of this section.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:01, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Ok, how can I change that images? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:07, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

I found a way to updates the pictures, it's just a little bit tricky... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:25, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Next duplicate is also easy because files are still the same:
129721094a74fe94c723160991a1e704 *image427_.png
129721094a74fe94c723160991a1e704 *image429_.png
7be206b1c026b697de59e52c19f0a866 *image427.png
7be206b1c026b697de59e52c19f0a866 *image429.png

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:37, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

And new downloads from xkcd are still different on MD5 but this two files are also identical for a viewer:
6d3d9449d1df1f56547387da4259806c *image440_.png
6d3d9449d1df1f56547387da4259806c *image441_.png
827a569e5c806011f0d4d5564357e4d4 *image440.png
827a569e5c806011f0d4d5564357e4d4 *image441.png
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:41, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

Same is this - only MD5 did change:
5de911984714c1ec7bf93149a5cca9b4 *image454.png
5de911984714c1ec7bf93149a5cca9b4 *image455.png
87d0de6b865fa94ab91902cddcc0af70 *image454_.png
87d0de6b865fa94ab91902cddcc0af70 *image455_.png
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:43, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

BUT NOW the problems start:
c6edf2a01b16d6df6751acdb00599054 *image704_.png
c6edf2a01b16d6df6751acdb00599054 *image705_.png
c6edf2a01b16d6df6751acdb00599054 *image705.png
db365290ce50176dad01c0087510f513 *image703.png
db365290ce50176dad01c0087510f513 *image704.png
I did rename 704 and 705 to 704_ and 705_ and download the hashes again to the 704 and 705 names.

My old 703 is same as my new 704 which does mean we have a glitch here!!!

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:54, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

----

UPDATE LOG:

image4 is changed (again)--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:25, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

: After downloading again the pictures around 700 everything looks fine. I can not find more duplicates.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:18, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Boy, that one gave me headaches. 1236 and 1237 seem to be the same. MediaWiki doesn't like multiple images that are the same... --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:15, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

: I am not a boy, I am slightly older...
: But in fact 1237 is same content as 1236 and MD5 hash is also the same (not the first one) but the link HASH is different. It is maybe a new hurdle for us. I will check. Stay tuned... --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:28, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

:: It seems you could fix this. Files are just identical. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:33, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

----

I just uploaded a bunch of hashes and files, there have been some errors. The hashes are now correct, but could somebody please check that the files (1410 to 1420) match the hashes? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 07:59, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

;Split the movie?

The page is becoming impossible to load.

I would suggest to split the movie into pieces, for instance by making a separate sub-page for each week (avoiding embarassing discussion on the most natural cutting point). Each week can have a separate description, seven-seconds animation, list of 7x24 pictures etc, and a link to the following and previous weeks.

Any objection / comment / suggestion ? [[User:Biem|Biem]] ([[User talk:Biem|talk]]) 05:16, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

:My only suggestion would be give it larger segments. I don't think it needs to be as small as a week - after all, it loaded fine for a very long time. Maybe approx. half a scene each? Scene 1 is 971 frames long, so how about split at 500, at 971, and again at 1500 (when it gets there)? [[Special:Contributions/24.129.75.17|24.129.75.17]] 08:12, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
::It's one and a half megabytes. The biggest issue here probably is the anemic servers that managed to struggle and crash even when that animation was just a static png and the page itself was only a few lines long. When the image starts clocking in at ~4-5 megabytes, it'll probably get to be a proper problem for those on poor connections, but we're not quite there yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:36, 8 May 2013 (UTC)
:I suggest pushing the hashes off onto their own page(s). That's 80% of the page's text right there. (Seriously. Click 'edit' on the main page and scroll.) At the very least, we could archive March and April. As more hashes are added, we archive the older ones. Maybe just constantly leave a week's worth of hashes on the main page? --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 15:18, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
::Examine [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#Time: The Table]] '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:22, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
Here is a possible breackdown structure where sequences are ~130 pictures long : (number of frames / Start frame number))

Part 1 : Sand Castles
(127) 001: First sand castle
(105) 128 : Second sand castle (180) and Catapulte
(090) 233 : Joining castles
(100) 323 : Miniature castle
(116) 423 : Scaffold
(131) 539 : Plattform
(132) 670 : Fourth castle
(173) 802 : Sea rising & fade out
Part 2 : Wildernesses
(150) 975 : Seashore
(100) 1125 : Rivershore
(115) 1225 – : Hills
(087) 1340 - 1363 – 1379 : Trees
(124) 1427 : Baobabs
1551 – 1581 Berries
1619 – Squirrel
1640 Berries
Suggestions that can be discussed :
* Sequences should be 100-150 pictures long (with possible exceptions).
* Even if the image is not that big, the length of the movie can be a problem when one wants to check for details : short sequences allow for a slower pace.
* Good cutting points would be : two consecutive identical pictures, changes of scenery. Sequences with the same theme should on the contrary be kept together when possible.
[[User:Biem|Biem]] ([[User talk:Biem|talk]]) 09:13, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

;What is the sea?

It doesn't have to be an "ocean." Consider the Aral Sea. The Dead Sea. Our "sea" doesn't have any surf, apparently. Frame 1187: "I wonder if it's ''possible'' to swim in." Our characters don't know whether you can swim in a river? Have they never seen fresh water deep enough for swimming? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 13:26, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

:This is not real life. And they know it's not real life. Maybe they are in some sort of Matrix and know about it, or they are playing a video game. They've seen in developers' blog that devs are working on a lot of new features for version 0.19, such as improved sand physics, multiple rivers, rain, salty water, trebuchets, swimming, surf, etc. But then developers decided to release part of these features in version 0.19, and leave the rest for 0.20. When Cueball an Megan saw that version 0.19 is out, they immediately decided to try it out, without even looking at the changelog. So they don't know which features made it into this version, and which ones will be in the next one. So far they have played around with new sand physics and trebuchets, tried swimming in the sea, tried to drink sea water, found a new river. They haven't seen any surf, so they think it'll be in 0.20. They have yet to try swimming in a river, or see the rain. They have also found a bug that causes sea level to raise indefinitely. They think it could be caused either by rain, additional rivers, or just by a griefer who built a giant sand generator array to fill in the sea and flood everything. Oh, and they can't just create a new private world to see if the sea raises there, because of the DRM.
:Did I miss anything? --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 17:37, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

::Yes! I see it all now! Beret girl is the griefer! [[Special:Contributions/66.38.57.117|66.38.57.117]] 01:01, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

:::I think it was black hat. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 14:54, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

:It looks like they've also added bird (sic). --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 15:30, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Swimming in a river is dangerous if there's a strong current. Even slow moving water has a lot of power. The sea could be the ocean, connected to the ocean, or one of the large bodies of water referred to as a sea. Enjoy the comic and have fun second guessing Randall.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:17, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

We know: "The sea is big" and "The river is small".

But we also know about the sea: There are no waves. It's just rising. So it is not an ocean, it's just a lake. Many people say "sea" to a lake when they can not see the other side.

And we know their home river is small. But right now they explore a different bigger river.

We know it's not summer so maybe it is spring and the river is rising like every year?

Cueball and Megan will find out, but we have to Wait For It!

--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:38, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Both characters have slept occasionally but never at the same time. There has been no depiction of night (unless the fade counts as one.) Hmm... [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:21, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

: It seems we are still at day one. Building castles in the morning and exploring their environment after that. But you are right, they have to sleep and I do fear about many DARK pictures...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:50, 8 May 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone noticed that when the camera zooms out to show the other side of the river/see the middle island just becomes smaller, but the '''distance''' between Cueball / Magan and the middle island stays the same? {{unsigned ip|138.246.2.124|13:06, 10 May 2013 (UTC)}}

It seems like the two river halves (or two rivers) merge as Megan and Cueball hike upstream. New point: I joined all the images covering their journey since image 1150 (last stop for water). it spans 18204 pixels. Assuming Cueball is 6 feet tall (wild guess + it's an even number), they have now hiked a total of 0.517 miles (83228.7 cm) from image 1150.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:32, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

Considering the elaborate and fragile sand castles, the one- and two-person construction of the platform and its castle components, and maybe the latest antics at the top of the dunes, it appears that gravity is not Earth-normal. Or perhaps the law of gravitation is not our-universe-normal. (No reason it should be, of course.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 03:11, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

;Archive

Since this 1190 will never end, will it? I think we need some archive sites.

First could be "1190 Time Images 2013-03 March" (<- I am calling this human readable ISO)
So, if you understand, each month of picture links and hashes on a separate page.

Next would be "1190 Time Images 2013-04 April"

And a few months from now we also have to do this for the "Transcript".

What do you think? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:46, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
:If this comic goes on forever, maybe. For now, we could probably compact the page by grouping the frames from each month into wider tables and scrapping their hashes. The hashes are really only useful for checking that we got the images right, so they're kinda useless for the really old ones. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:05, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

::Since we do not know if there is anything hidden in the hashes we still should save them here. But past months could be moved into a different page.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 10:27, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::They're hashes, I'm pretty sure there isn't anything hidden in the arrangement of letters and numbers. If there was, the xkcd forums would have been all over it long ago. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:44, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::: Maybe you are right but they are still the original file names on xkcd.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:53, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::::We don't carry the original Click and Drag filenames on this wiki; the filenames of parts of large comics don't carry anything of value to people visiting the wiki. They only really help with cross-checking images with the originals to make sure we didn't mess up anywhere, and we've already done that to death for the earlier images - so the hashes for earlier images no longer hold much value. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:02, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
::::::Don't shout at me. I am just thinking about archiving past months to different pages. The current month should stay on the main page. I am new here and so I am doing not that edit until I get some agreements. But we should save ALL here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:22, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:::::::I wasn't shouting, there is no need to bring ad hominem into this discussion. There are a number of solutions available here; we could tabulate frames per month as per [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Time:_The_Table|this neglected post]], offload prior months to other pages, or scrap old hashes to cut a large portion of the article's body text. Each solution will lead to degradation of the explanation, splitting the article will force multiple page loads while removing the hash values will be destroying part of the metadata around the comic. Ideally, we wouldn't have to make the split at all, but speed considerations mean that we eventually will have to do it. In that eventuality, all we can do is the thing that degrades the explanation for the average visitor the least. What do visitors care more about, faster load times/having all the frames on one page or having 1000-odd incomprehensible and meaningless hash values? We don't display the individual filenames for Click and Drag even though they were more informative than the hashes here, because they hold little value to visitors; they only take up space that could be used to further enhance the explanation. Pure archival without curation is what other websites do, not a wiki with the intended goal of making xkcd accessible. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 23:56, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
::::::::IMHO having all of the images here is as useless as having hashes: most people use aubronwood or geekwagon anyways. To decrease loading times, I'd suggest to do 2 things:
::::::::#Move all tables to a new page.
::::::::#Replace the animated gif with a static gif (possibly latest frame?) that links to the animated gif.--[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 14:15, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
::::::::I think if we are to keep the hashes at all, they should appear on the description pages for each image. There's no reason for them to be on the comic page. [[User:Skiasaurus|Skiasaurus]] ([[User talk:Skiasaurus|talk]]) 23:09, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

;Prediction

Does anyone else see the last frame (whenever it may be), have the ability to connect to the first, thus creating a cycle? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 22:14, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

:No reason it couldn't, but it seems premature. Early days yet. What's Beret Girl up to? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 15:15, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

My only prediction is: We will see what did happen to that castles and we will see that Beret Girl again. Wait for it!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:27, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

My theory: Based on the frames don't change much; Randell is an expert at creating xkcd frames; he only needs 24 per day to keep going; and we have no idea how long he's been preparing for this. It could last forever.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 19:42, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:It will not last forever. But it seems it will still last for a long time. Wait for it!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:22, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
::Forever is a big speculation. A more realistic speculation would be "as long as the Internet."--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 19:41, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

You realize that what we've seen so far is what the beginning of a comic that goes on forever looks like :-) Tom A. ("I don't want to be immortal through my art! I want to be immortal by not dying." - Woody Allen.) [[User:Meteoricshipyards|Meteoricshipyards]] ([[User talk:Meteoricshipyards|talk]]) 14:20, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
:Perhaps yesterday's bird was a hint at today's comic. Or he had dinosaurs on the brain. (Don't we all?) [[User:ChozoBoy|ChozoBoy]] ([[User talk:ChozoBoy|talk]]) 14:57, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

So Cueball and Megan seem to entering a region with much more vegetation. Up until now I had assumed that the previous regions had vegetation as well but Randall just hadn't bothered drawing it (such detail is rare in XKCD). So what does presence of vegetation mean? More rainfall? Higher elevation? Also how far have Cueball and Megan travelled? I don't think the frames are necessarily contiguous - if this was a movie we'd have background music to go with the images. They could have been travelling for days or weeks - I definitely don't think it is still the same day as the start of Act II. I suppose 'time' will tell. [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 17:13, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

The yawn suggests that they haven't slept yet, so quite possibly the same day. Also interesting that they seem to treat first the small bush and now the tree as worthy of notice -- were there no trees where they lived? [[Special:Contributions/173.228.6.11|173.228.6.11]] 06:36, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

The current frame (1355) looks remarkably similar to the area at left hand edge of XKCD 1110 (Click and Drag), which also features the same two characters discussing how they've walked "pretty far". I wonder how much of a coincidence this is. [[Special:Contributions/82.69.211.1|82.69.211.1]] 11:46, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
:http://xkcd-map.rent-a-geek.de/#10/1.3189/-92.1423
:http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1355
:--[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 15:28, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Hmm, and despite the overall journey feeling epic, didn't someone calculate the distance travelled (calculated via Cueball units) to be only a mile or two? [[Special:Contributions/99.123.5.106|99.123.5.106]] 01:48, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone has an explanation for the change from frame 1360 to 1361? {{unsigned ip|138.246.2.124|08:42, 16 May 2013 (UTC)}}
: I thought the transition from 1359 -> 1360 was even more 'abrupt' than the transition from 1360 - > 1361 (in fact my first thought was that 1360 was out-of-order or some other 'mistake'). But from subsequent frames it has become clear that Cueball wandered off and explored the area on his own while Megan was sleeping. [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 15:56, 16 May 2013 (UTC)
::I think [1359:1362] looks similar to [1097:1120]. Probably Cueball was just walking perpendicularly to the image. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:13, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Here's another example of the slightly 'strange' way of talking: "I'm surprised we haven't been seen by any people yet". Wouldn't most people say: "I'm surprised we haven't seen any people yet"? So who are 'people'? Are 'people' somehow invisible to both Cueball and Megan? Are 'people' a threat? Have 'people' also moved on because of the rising sea level? [[User:Joncaves|Joncaves]] ([[User talk:Joncaves|talk]]) 19:25, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
: Speaking of strange phrases, for them to say that tree "probably knows what it is doing" is rather odd. Are they in a world where trees have consciousness, or are they just deeply confused? [[Special:Contributions/66.193.253.212|66.193.253.212]] 18:45, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

The latest frame (1506) has two trees. They are almost certainly baobab trees. There are 8 species of baobab tree, but of those 8, 6 are endemic to the island of Madagascar, including the species which the trees in the comic most resemble, the Grandidier baobab. Even if they are not one of the six species endemic to Madagascar, the fact that they are baobabs still limits them to the continent of Africa, the countries of Oman and Yemen, and northwestern Australia. This means that the big sea, if it is an ocean, is most likely the Indian Ocean. [[Special:Contributions/76.92.118.150|76.92.118.150]] 18:30, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
:I think we are just at a fantasy world. And Randall is working against every prediction done here or at some forums. We only have to "Wait for it!".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:07, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Does anyone else agree that frames 1485 through 1487 are exactly identical? Just a glitch somewhere?[[Special:Contributions/98.201.4.16|98.201.4.16]] 01:56, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

:Yeah, not only the pixels, but also the files' checksums are exactly the same. Checked it twice. --[[Special:Contributions/83.243.48.2|83.243.48.2]] 08:57, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

;Map

Sóme hardcores made a map of The One True Comic: http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.svg
Including in on main page could be a good idea [[Special:Contributions/80.52.210.93|80.52.210.93]] 06:58, 15 May 2013 (UTC)
:Why does it say "Flatland" instead of "flatland"? Most other labels are lowercase. Is it a reference to Edwin Abbott's Flatland? Or am I just overthinking a typo? {{unsigned|DiEvAl|15:39, 15 May 2013 (UTC)}}

This map is a great job and when we do know that this is correct we have include it here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:51, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Map URL has changed (old URL displays link to new URLs). New map links: [http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.php JavaScript version] and [http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.php?js=no non-JS version] - [[User:Acrisius|Acrisius]] ([[User talk:Acrisius|talk]]) 13:37, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
:I did fix the links and also at the main page.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:20, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

"Description: The allocated data traffic of the hosting account for this website has been exceeded and the website is temporarily suspended"
Maybe we should host the map here on the wiki? --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 20:14, 30 May 2013 (UTC)
:No, this map is funny but still not validated. Help me to collect some facts at the bottom here. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:30, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

Where did the map go? I'm getting "...does not exist or cannot be displayed" Does your page have an error? Or are you having hosting issues?--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 01:36, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

(Gerry, are you making this comment after following the "New map links: [http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.php JavaScript version] and [http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.php?js=no non-JS version]" links given? Those work for me, at this time of editing, and got those links presented to me when going to the original URI with the SVG extension.)

Regarding the accuracy, I imagine Randall may have used a data model of countoured landscape (1D ''or'' 2D, plus height) to auto-generate the scrolling/panning/rotating scenery base prior to decorating with figures/etc, but whether there's enough information to fully back-derive such a map from the ever-changing landscape I couldn't say. I assume assumptions, at the very least, and maybe some inventiveness on the part of any given interpreter. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.124.195|178.98.124.195]] 19:42, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
:(Yes, I had been using the new links. As I later found out it was after their monthly server allotment had been exhausted. It started working again June 1.)--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 03:35, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

;Words of Randall

Has Randall ever said anything in the past 2 months pertaining to this comic? Better yet, has anyone ever tried to ask him? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 05:18, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

:NO--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:53, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Finally, Randall has this to say: http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/07/29/1190-time/ [[Special:Contributions/122.182.0.94|122.182.0.94]] 06:26, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

;Simple English
Conversation is in "Simple English". I am not native English but I think we should mention this. Am I wrong?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:57, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
:I'm not aware of a distinction between "Simple" and regular English, at least in the USA. I ''think'' it's just something they use for teaching non-native speakers. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 00:32, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
::"Simple English" isn't a special dialect or anything, but the conversation definitely has a simple, almost naive, style. Lots of single-syllable vocabulary without much Latin-derived flowery or "sophisticated" words. I counted 27 three-syllable words and one four-syllable word in the entire dialog, scenes 1 and 2 combined. They don't seem to have a name for "sand dunes." They talked about a river being "broken." They are very playful, mature but child-like. It gives the story a kind of alien feel. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 17:27, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
:I think the OP is referring to Basic English: {{w|Basic_English}} [[Special:Contributions/198.102.153.1|198.102.153.1]] 22:55, 22 May 2013 (UTC)
Similar to the xkcd explaining the Saturn V rocket in simple english.[[Special:Contributions/173.49.75.137|173.49.75.137]] 03:57, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

I did mean "Simple English" as Randall did mention before, not only here [[Up Goer Five]]. Look at this WIKI for [http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Simple English Wiki]--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:09, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

;Are We Lost Yet?
http://xkcd.com/170/ {{unsigned|66.162.182.66|17:44, 23 May 2013 (UTC)}}

;Big trees
A great guy at the xkcd forum did identify the big trees starting at frame 1503 (1382:00 hours). They belong to Madagascar and their name is {{w|Adansonia grandidieri}}. But also a few of them do exist in the US. So I am still not sure where we are.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:11, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

::One of the little asteroid-planets from The Little Prince?
::"Now there were some terrible seeds on the planet that was the home of the little prince; and these were the seeds of the baobab. The soil of that planet was infested with them. A baobab is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. It spreads over the entire planet. It bores clear through it with its roots. And if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces..." [[Special:Contributions/69.123.166.176|69.123.166.176]] 00:20, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

:Looks like we have grapevines now, or something like them, with man-made trellising. [[Special:Contributions/12.153.137.82|12.153.137.82]] 21:47, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

;A hypothesis
Randall's animation is taking place in a distant, post-collapse future ("distant" is relative, here-- say sometime in the next few hundred years, though possibly much further): human civilization is back at a late-Iron Age stage of development, though maybe with slightly more sophisticated metallurgy. The reasons I suggest this are: 1) rising sea-level that is on-going, 2) they can work wood and they have agriculture, 3) they have shown no awareness of any more "advanced" technology, 4) yet they have no qualms about wandering off into the wilderness without what most of us would consider adequate protection.

The one reason I might think it's farther into the future is the bit with the trees. I can't decide if their shape is a consequence of evolution (convergent, so that they are very similar to the {{w|Adansonia grandidieri}}), or they were transplanted (presumably to somewhere south? Higher altitude? Both? Antarctica?). Evolution would imply deeper in the future, and transplantation could be sooner.

I'm really interested to see what the truth is, because it's got me thinking along all kinds of planes.[[Special:Contributions/184.99.231.23|184.99.231.23]] 21:38, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

;Stuck Again

Randall seems to be stuck at hour 1524 (image number 1545), at 20:00 UTC we now have 5 copies of the same empty image with half a vineyard with no end in sight.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:31, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
:No, files are still different, even when you can't see it. File sizes did change and also md5sum. But I did not check the small changes visual right now. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:47, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
::Use "Previous Frame Difference" on geekwagon, you can see a line of pixels that differ. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:50, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
:::I wonder if the squirrel is following her...--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 21:27, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
::::Me too, but I am hoping Megan will get a pet. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:30, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
I see the streak. I expected the squirrel to follow her. Geekwagon showed it, so did Photoshop.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:07, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
: It's probably the squirrel, though the frame difference visual made me go "snake! snake in the grass!" [[Special:Contributions/173.228.6.189|173.228.6.189]] 22:14, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
::It's still fun. Will Megan get at pet? A chary Squirrel? I am still tuned. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:24, 27 May 2013 (UTC)
http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1647&framediff=1646--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 01:35, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

The squirrel appears to be in the tree the first time Megan & Cueball walk by in image numbers 1582 & 1583. http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1583&framediff=1582 [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:05, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

New clue, image 1692 - "Still, it's better than when we were following the sea, walking straight into the sun all morning." Walking east along the sea, it places them on the south side of anything. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 15:23, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

This may be more speculation than not, but the two turned north to follow the river and are now walking on a heading somewhere between NE and NW, which puts them in the northern hemisphere if they can see their shadow in front of them. This is also confusing since there aren't many Grandidier's Baobab trees there {{w|Adansonia_grandidieri}}.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:46, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

I agree that these orientations are plausible from the dialog in the strip, but remember, we're already pretty certain that they're not in the same universe as us, so we may not be able to assume that the sun rises in the east. There's no evidence to demonstrate that their world rotates west-to-east like ours does, but there's no evidence that it doesn't, either. Let's at least remember the possibility that all of these directions are reversed from what our current theory states. [[Special:Contributions/71.201.53.130|71.201.53.130]] 18:24, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

At least this time we know it's a snake. In image 1738 [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1738] the curled snake is fully visible, complete with a raised head and tail. At 2 pixels high, details are a little sketchy.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 17:06, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

;The Planting People

So what do we know about them? They've been gone a while, long enough for Cueball to believe it was fine to take grapes. But they haven't been gone for a long time, because we've seen a staked sapling that is likely only a year or two old. They have vineyards and what look to be orchards. They appear to use tents, at least the frame we saw looked to be tied together at the top to form a teepee frame. They are sophisticated enough to do things like put benches next to trees, so they aren't subsistence farmers. Anything else? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 18:14, 28 May 2013 (UTC)
: Forgot a couple of things, they have what is possibly writing (are Cueball and Megan illiterate?), and it's different than that of the Hill People, but their debris appears to look the same. {{unsigned|Tavella|17:47, 29 May 2013 (UTC)}}

They appear to be either hunter-gatherers or have abandoned the area (for some reason - why?). From {{w|Nomadic}} "Many groups of 'nomadic' hunter-gatherers (also known as foragers) moved from campsite to campsite, following game and wild fruits and vegetables." We have seen three campsites; Cueball burried the embers from their fire (see image 1048 & 1062-1064 [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1064]). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:22, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

:I did wonder about some kind of seasonal movement, but if so it's odd that they left the teepee to collapse (and be damaged, one of the supports is visibly cracked) rather than taking the materials with them or storing them more neatly. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 17:44, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Go to a vineyard in late summer or early autumn, you will not see the "The Planting People". We only know that we are at this particular season because they can eat grapes from that plants and before they could swim in the sea. And both are following the sun in the morning, witch does mean they are walking East. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:28, 29 May 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, but you will see the Harvesting People if the grapes are ripe, and they apparently are. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 21:28, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Finally seeing where all the wood came from -- stumps everywhere. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 21:28, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

;What do we know by the end of May 2013?
I'm trying to collect some facts:
:-They did build a sand castle and the weather was warm enough to swim in the sea. The taste of the water is bad, and the sea is raising.
:-Then both are trying to find a reason for that raise and they are starting to travel around this special river.
:-They are still going uphill while we never have seen that mountains.
:-Eating grapes from a vineyard means we are at least at late summer.
:-Walking to the sun in the morning is just walking to the east.
Two month's in this comic and we really do not know much more. Stay tuned, wait for it. We do not know much more essentials. Does Randall?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:43, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

They are also apparently now heading west, or mostly west. Their shadows are in front of them, and while that could be west in the morning or east in the evening, they are contrasting it with walking into the sun in the morning as they were along the shore, so it's west. Presumably they were walking mostly north until the decision to head for the mountains, since Cueball has just started playing with his shadow. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 00:50, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:OK, but they are walking to the sun in the morning. That's east (on northern hemisphere, I still do not think we are at Madagascar). So we do have an other fact:
:-Around time frame 1700 it's evening.
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:07, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

:-If you walk into the sun, you are walking east.
:-They then turned to their left to go upriver. That's would be going north.
:-If you are above the tropics, your shadow will always lay to the north of you.
:-Megan says what they're doing is better than when they had to walk into the sun, and it's been established that they walked along the sea for days, so they'd be familiar with walking with the sun directly behind them, too. If they were now walking west, it would pretty much be the same situation, except reversed. It doesn't really make sense to me that she'd call one situation better than the other. It feels more like they aren't walking into the sun ''at all'' anymore. Therefore, I think they are now keeping the sun relatively behind them by going north, which indicates they are north of the equator, and probably north of the Tropic of Cancer. Even at noon, the sun would be behind you slightly, to the south. And if you're walking uphill, it would be very visible to you.
:--[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 01:22, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

They are moving East as Megan did explain. When they can see their shadows in front of them it's just evening, the sun is now behind them. What tells me that Day One is coming to an end. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:59, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
:They did mention that that had been walking for days, so who knows how many days it's been.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 21:45, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

Does [http://what-if.xkcd.com/48/ today's "What If"] give a clue to the current year? Unless it's been "fixed", it says "two hundred years from now, in April of 2432". :-) [[User:Larry|Larry]] ([[User talk:Larry|talk]]) 13:34, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

;Map exceeding bandwidth

The map here seems to be failing due to excessive bandwidth: http://edfel.atwebpages.com/Time-Map.php

I might be able to help with some bandwidth. If you know who is doing this and they can get in touch with me,(I'm [http://twitter.com/sevitz @sevitz] on twitter or via here) I might be able to help depending on BW requirements.

[[User:Sevitz|Sevitz]] ([[User talk:Sevitz|talk]]) 06:59, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

:This map is incorrect but still a great fun. They are walking west in the evening, not north. But I am also sure the site will be back soon.
:Nevertheless, if you can help here you are welcome! --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:08, 31 May 2013 (UTC)
::No, their shadows are in front of them, so they are either walking west in the morning or east in the evening. Since they were comparing it favorably with their experience of walking east in the morning along the sea shore, they therefore must be going west (or mostly west) currently. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:28, 31 May 2013 (UTC)
:::Also, they've probably turned away from the river, since Cueball thought it important to refill the water bottle before heading for the mountains. So, east along the seashore, north along the river, then west towards the mountains. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:33, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

;Snake Theories

Megan mentions snakes with spikes over their eyes. That covers several species, all poisonous, but they are native to the American west and southwest, Mexico, Central America, north Africa and the Middle East. The snake that Cueball finds might be a {{w|Anguis fragilis|slow-worm}}, a limbless reptile native to Eurasia. It's shiny, brown, has a blunt head, and can shed its tail like a lizard, which might give it a half-finished look if Cueball saw it that way. But a stronger contender is the {{w|rubber boa}}, which is native to the western US, and has a famously stubby head and tail.

This makes me think of one area: The {{w|Great Salt Lake}}. The {{w|Bear River (Utah)|Bear River}} empties into it from a northerly direction, and the area has the rubber boa and at least one type of poisonous horned snake. Native Americans of the area even had legends of the Horned Serpent. And that ''had'' to be a teepee we saw earlier. (I don't think Native Americans had trebuchets or berets, though....) --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 01:59, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
:(...Except, unless they built a salt castle, it's more likely to be in a place with considerably more sand.)[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 19:32, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
::The Great Salt Lake makes sense unless this comic does not belong to our real world. We just have to find this {{w|Adansonia grandidieri}} trees or something similar at Utah. And this lake has beaches of sand, ok salty sand.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:44, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

The snake also seems to appear in frames 1645 to 1651 http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1645&framediff=1644 {{unsigned|Flying Djinn|21:31, 4 July 2013 (UTC)}}

;Follower?

Megan is looking back sometimes since a few frames... May she has the feeling that someone is following them? People from the hills? The squirrel? -- [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 18:06, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
:Yeah, Megan is looking at something. But what it is we just do not know. Wait for it. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:48, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
::Perhaps it's Beret Girl? She's the only other human we've seen so far. [[Special:Contributions/94.170.131.19|94.170.131.19]] 21:33, 2 June 2013 (UTC)
:::It's just the sea, they must be high in the mountains. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:05, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

We've got chicks, and not the first time: In image 1830-1831 Megan says "I heard chirps from the night sky once. I was looking at the stars one night and I heard peeping. - It was very quiet. - just a single chirp now and then." They were sleeping under a tree around image 1354, a bird flies overhead, later Cueball takes a walk. We can see some chicks at the end of his walk at images 1374-1376 [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=1375&framediff=1374]. It just took me a while to figure out what it was.[[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:35, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Take a closer look; there's some kind of wisp hanging out in some of the empty frames and the ones Megan's looking back in. It's only about a pixel wide, but a few long; broken up, serpentine, almost ethereal. {{unsigned ip|67.60.244.160|04:40, 7 June 2013 (UTC)}}

In the hut scene (June 20) there seems to be something large moving in the bushes next to the fence. There was also something something poking in on the left back by the cairn (a few frames back). [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 18:18, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
:I've been keeping a log of Hidden Animals in [[1190:Time/Pictures]]. The first one you saw is likely a bird. There's a chick moving around in the grass. The recent scene (frame numbers 2214-2225) is a swarm (bugs?) that came in from the left and moved into the bush. Use this [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2225&framediff=2224 Geekwagon Link] to view the hidden images. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 20:29, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

"--LOOK OUT!" I rest my case. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 21:05, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
:A big cat! Puma, Mountain Lion... who can tell, at least it wasn't a Velociraptor (there's 2 in Click and Drag). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:34, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
::Looks too small for either a mountain lion or a puma. Could be a cub, perhaps. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:05, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Now either that's a pet cat or this just got less PG. Also, the thing that showed up by the cairn is the right height for a nose. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 23:06, 20 June 2013 (UTC)
:I agree. If there's real danger, why does Megan just sit there? [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 00:13, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

;Aubronwood problem

Has anyone noticed that the aubronwood site only seems to show every other frame after a certain point? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 15:52, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
:Yes, it looks buggy. I'm always using my own downloads and this [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ geekwagon].--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:11, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
::Noticed the same. Looks like the left and right arrow keys don't work after a certain point, but the up and down arrow keys and the mouse wheel continue to work correctly. -- [[Special:Contributions/205.171.58.158|205.171.58.158]] 17:36, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
::I found that if I hit "Slower" when this happens, it returns to single frame navigation with arrow keys. {{unsigned ip|131.107.174.94|21:31, 20 June 2013 (UTC)}}
::If you click on the slider at the bottom of the page, left and right keys then move it one pixel, which is currently 2 images. If you click on the comic to move focus there, arrow keys work correctly {{unsigned ip|94.173.35.217|23:13, 23 July 2013 (UTC)}}

;Elevation?

The elevation map on the edfel map hasn't been updated in ages, and I'd like to see how high up they are now. Anyone else found one anywhere? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 21:31, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
:You are right and we need a proper map on this like the water level before. I will try this soon, maybe tomorrow.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:48, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

:I've been mapping the journey from the start, piecing each segment end-to-end in Photoshop. There is no significant net elevation change until they started following the river. The net elevation change from image #1150 to now (#1818) is 1402 pixels = 210.2 feet (assuming a 40 px average height of Cueball and using 40 px = 6 feet). However, since this is a comic, one may assume a greater height than that actually depicted. The horizontal distance along the same river walk is 59516 pixels = 8927.4 feet (1.7 mi, 2.7 km). I don't have the distances along the sea. The average speed, using 1 hr/frame update, is 0.0025 mph, 0.0041 kph (at 5 min/frame update the speed increases to 0.0304 mph). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:07, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

;What do we know by the beginning of June?
:- thanks to [[User:Galois|Galois]] we do know they did travel around 3 km (NASA is getting better on this metric units).
:- thanks to [[User:Galois|Galois]] we do know they did climb approx. 65 meters (maybe slightly more because 6 feet or 1.8288 meters for Cueball is maybe a little bit too much).
:- they are still in real nature, the most technical devices we have seen is just wood.
:- but they also did cross a road at the beginning of their travel.
:- now both are heading uphill while the mountains still far away.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:11, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

I'd like to think Cueball is shorter, I used 6 ft because it's convenient and yields longer distances. The tallest Baobob tree is 516 px (rescaled to the running comic) = 77.4 ft (23.6 m) using a 6 ft Cueball. Note that using a 5.5 ft (1.7 m) Cueball, the tree drops to 71 ft (21.6 m). The Wikipedia page {{w|Adansonia_grandidieri}} on the Grandidier's baobab states they can reach 25 to 30 m (80-100 ft) in height, 23.6 m is about right. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 23:40, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

I don't follow this as religously as others so maybe I missed the obvious answer, but why is it assumed that we have seen all of the way they went? I alway thought the parts where they are hiking is like a "montage" in film, where lots of parts might be missing in between the snapshots we see. {{unsigned|193.171.69.65|05:58, 6 June 2013 (UTC)}}

(please sign your posts - don't worry, we're all here out of a mutual enjoyment of the xkcd comics) Actually, I looked into the possibility a while back, but it didn't work. Randall runs 3-5 frame updates with the two walking across the same panel. As they leave one panel on the right, they enter the next on the left (and visa-verse for the trip back to the sunken castle). Additionally, I only came across three panels that didn't adjoin perfectly (one in the sand dunes and two trees that didn't continue into the next panel). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 11:12, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

;Image reference from late on the 67th day

At about 22:35 on the 67th day, the image reference "6fa2b361791e805aac0a89008a891e3999a0519ed870c1bc3dcc8dbff5e071d5.png" appeared for a time. It was after "f4e2276e4c47409412666b28be0cca75fedae3c182c4017932891c147004c720.png", followed by a few more of that reference and then by "133fddaecbdee3f5160771b68ce02cbc2b4b1c84a40faffb1bcaa6f75588edd0.png". At the time, I did not get a copy of the image, and it is not now available for download.
Did anybody else see this image, and does anybody have a copy of it?
--[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 20:12, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
:I am also confused, my download was also broken at that hour. 404 Not found.
:It is at 1606:00 or image 1727 - still more confusing numbers. Randall could not do it much better.
:And "http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/6fa2b361791e805aac0a89008a891e3999a0519ed870c1bc3dcc8dbff5e071d5.png" is still 404...
:So, we have an image here, but is it correct?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:48, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

My image number 1728 is 133fddaecbdee3f5160771b68ce02cbc2b4b1c84a40faffb1bcaa6f75588edd0.png. The image fits properly in sequence with the other images around it. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 22:32, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

OK, apparently it was completely broken at that time. I just felt I needed to ask, since I wasn't downloading actual images at that time, just the references, and so I have a broken reference in my list. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 02:03, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

;Pictures and Time Collage
I opened a new page for the pictures: [[[1190:Time/Pictures]]. It's experimental and subject to (wiki-style collaborative) change. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 12:44, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

:I think "Cueball Walk images 1360-1378" is wrong. It looks more like if Cueball was walking perpendicularly to the image. [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 22:03, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

::That's the way it was drawn. While Megan is still sleeping, Cueball takes a walk, gathers some berries, stops several times to look around, and then walks back to the tree. The walk and the tree scene probably don't connect directly. It appears that Cueball arises from under the tree, turns (left) away from the "camera" (frankly, I can't tell he is walking towards us or away from us... only Megan has hair, which tells us which way), and starts his walk. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 15:40, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Nice work Galois! How we can show this pictures at the comic page? Maybe with a smaller preview for a link to to the full size picture with a warning about this. But also I think it should be at a different page. Any ideas?--Dgbrt (talk) 20:26, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

: Good point! I took your advice. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 15:42, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Also posted at [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]):
Thumbnails are not working at this moment. But nevertheless I think it's not a good idea to include that large pictures. My idea:
:Create that big pictures, separated into some parts, remove Megan and Cueball and then change only the width to 1200 pixels. And one picture should cover all at the width of 1200 pixels. Scene 2 could be split into several collapsible parts with the terrain picture on top. Just an idea, what do you think?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:59, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

;Megan and Cueball sleeping deep for the first time
Maybe they will be disturbed by some flies or other animals, but now it's night... They will sleep because the first day is over. Good night!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:27, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
:This is not the end of the first day. According to frame 1600 they walked along the sea for days. If the later timeline is similar then they've walked up the river for days as well.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 23:55, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
::At frame 1600 Cueball says that they "walked along the sea for days". But at this comic they are walking along the river, the travel at the sea must happend before. Since they are walking again it seems both are sleepless.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:31, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
:They also slept under the tree in images 1348-1352, Megan talked about that night in 1830-1832 (time 1709:00) "Megan: I heard chirps from the night sky once. I was looking at the stars one night and I heard peeping. - It was very quiet. - just a single chirp now and then. Cueball: Did you see anything? Megan: I thought a few stars flicker. - Nothing else." [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 00:40, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::The story from time 1709:00 also refers to things did happen before this comic did start.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:31, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
::I agree too, but not this time... there is a chick in the grass in the scene next to the tree where they slept. See {{geekwagon|1375|1374}} or "Chick in grass 1375" in 1190: Time: Pictures [[1190:Time/Pictures]] in the Hidden Animals section. The same type of chick was right in front them in time 1709:00 (see "Chick in grass 1826"). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 13:58, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

They're coming back... in {{geekwagon|1928}} we can see the two heading off following the small river with their knapsacks (or rucksacks) left behind by the tree where they slept. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 14:09, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

Journey update: As of (right edge of) image 2103, they climbed 1290 pixels or 193.5 ft (59 m) from the place the two slept by the small river (image 1908). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:30, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

;Philosophical implications

I think the huge following that this comic has gathered - the amount of work by people like Aubron Wood and the guys at geekwagon, explainxkcd editors, general xkcd enthusiasts, the people at XKCD time wiki - raises some interesting questions. At this point we're not even clear how Randall is writing these comics: he may have designed them all from the start, or he may be writing 24 a day, going along with it, according to the natural progression of events and what has led up to now. It has interesting parallels with the {{w|design argument}}. It also makes you wonder about how it's all going to end. There are so many ongoing discussions - and have been from the start - about how the comic is going to conclude. Just as in real life we take so many different roads and never really know where we're going to end up. If we're continuing with the religious theme we could extend the metaphor even further, about what happens after we die. We don't know if we're going to just stop existing or if we're going to end up in some elaborate afterlife. We don't know what Randall's going to do - how long will the comic go on? Could it last his entire lifetime? We have no way of knowing. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 14:05, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

I believe Randall is writing this as it goes along, preparing the scenes only a little bit in advance. The story (quest?) reads more like a series of isolated vignettes, but with a few themes being carried forward, such as the quest for the source of the rising sea. I'm here in homage to Randall's unique wit and humor, and having fun trying to second guess what he'll do next. I don't believe the setting is an actual place, but we have several clues that limit its location. I see this as a collection of disparate objects and events; some go together, some not, but with some running themes. Randall may be making some points (such as conservation, ecology, and not eating squirrels); although, I would have never filled a canteen from the small river without first boiling or purifying the water. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 14:27, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

:Are you living in tent? People living in tents for big amount of year (as these two apparently do) generally tend to dring water without purifying. .... on the other hand, those generally don't build castles from sand. And they DID mentioned steam bottle once ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 17:43, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

;Stillness of air

Anyone else notice how still the air is? In the frames I have looked at, the grass never moves, so there must be no wind. [[Special:Contributions/174.27.36.133|174.27.36.133]] 12:20, 11 June 2013 (UTC)
:In over 2000 frames, I have found only four that depict wind. I added them to the 1190: Time: Pictures page [[1190:Time/Pictures]]. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 21:01, 11 June 2013 (UTC)
::I'm impressed you found those. Thank you. [[Special:Contributions/174.27.36.133|174.27.36.133]] 02:09, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

;Making extreme sport out waiting

Let's do [[1017]], but using current frame instead of a progress bar. <strike>[http://homepage.ntlworld.com./jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/questions-with-yes-or-no-answers.html Does anyone know]</strike> what formula should we use for this? Something similar to the one in [[1017] won't work, because we don't know when (if ever) the Time will end. I was thinking about T = c + n * (1 hour), where n is current frame and c is a couple of days before the beginning of Time, but it seems too boring. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 14:57, 11 June 2013 (UTC)
:Sorry, I can't figure out what you do mean. In Randall's words I just can say: Wait for it.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:00, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

;Madagascar theory

I'm still not sure that it is supposed to be a specific place, but going with the Madagascar theory, there is indeed a native Madagascar hedgehog -- the greater and lesser tenrecs.

Still no squirrels, though. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 20:58, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

:That Madagascar trees are also imported to US. Hedgehogs are a famous pets in US, even when they do belong to Asia and Europe. We are still in the US, and more precisely around Utah. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:51, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

:Hedgehogs are found in many places. From the shadow comments, they are on a northern sea coast in the northern hemisphere, hence probably not Madagascar. There's something wrong with every possible location I checked. The Mediterranean Sea is rising because the water coming in from rivers is greater than that lost through evaporation {{w|Mediterranean_Sea#Sea-level_rise}} and is polluted {{w|Mediterranean_Sea#Pollution}}, BUT a quick check has every possible northern coast covered with cities or agriculture. I lived in Salt Lake City for a little while. Antelope Island has oolitic sand on the north and west sides and is a mountain, but no major rivers or waterfalls[http://www.utah.com/stateparks/great_salt_lake_facts.htm]. The north coast is a boggy delta, except for a peninsula, which is covered with agriculture. Southern Utah is a better match and has waterfalls, but no sea. I gave up. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:04, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

:: The sea thing is certainly a problem for any modern-day Utah theory, but the tree that recently came on-screen (frame 2145) could be intended to be ''Pinus longaeva'', which would be appropriate to Utah (or many other parts of the Great Basin), high altitudes, and the comic theme. Oh, also, if you want a rising, large body of water near Southern Utah there's always Lake Mead. But it's probably not so large as to be mistaken for the sea. --Joe Decker {{unsigned ip|99.13.228.79|16:57, 17 June 2013 (UTC)}}

:: I'm not sure that current agriculture would be an issue. Unless they are play-acting or in some kind of _The Village_ setup, they seem unlikely to be current-day humans. They seem strangely ignorant of some obvious things and yet aware of others. There might be a few tribal peoples living in tents that would be unaware of the next river over, but they would be unlikely to be confused by birds nesting. Or be using trebuchets and European castle architecture in sandcastles. And if they genuinely walked for "days" along the shore, it seems unlikely to be a _The Village_ setup; that's got to be 20 miles even taking a leisurely trip for just two days, and probably more. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:36, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

It might be interesting, however, that there's a striking resemblance between the Grandidier's Baobab depicted in the comic at frame 1525 {{geekwagon|1525}} and the tree on the left in the Wikimedia picture [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adansonia_grandidieri03.jpg Grandidier's Baobab (Adansonia grandidieri) near Morondava, Madagascar]. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 18:24, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

:That place is surprisingly like the comic, especially when explored [[Expedition]] style. It has beaches, other rivers, baobabs, etc! And doesn't the fact that they slept overnight invalidate the northern hemisphere theory and mess with determining the walking direction by the sun? Despite all this, I doubt being in Madagascar does much for understanding the meaning of the comic. --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 01:55, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

That Theory seems to be out of date by now - post-apocalyptic(?) mediteran sea it is... [[Special:Contributions/212.202.64.10|212.202.64.10]] 04:24, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

;Jumped by a kitty

Nom nom nom.
The end.
[[Special:Contributions/121.74.128.126|121.74.128.126]] 23:54, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

: I was going to say how trollish that felt (because I was felling attached to the characters and the comic), but you know what? It's just a comic. And no, I don't think it's ending that way, Randall is random, but not THAT random (I think). I bet $10 that Megan will fetch some sort of stick or club and go golfing. --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 00:32, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

http://xkcd.com/231/ [[Special:Contributions/121.74.128.126|121.74.128.126]] 23:57, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Alright guys, what's the species and where is it native to? Puma, mountain lion, lynx, jaguar, tiger, panther, leopard... {{unsigned|Irino.|00:35, 21 June 2013 (UTC)}}

: Well, if we're to believe that Randall is paying attention to the scale of the objects, then I don't think it's either of your options. That cat doesn't look much bigger than a domestic cat, so I think it's something close to an Ocelot. --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 00:46, 21 June 2013 (UTC)u
:: Unless Megan and Cueball are kids, that would be an awfully large domestic cat. And from references like the cabin, they are adults or close to it in size. Ocelot's not a bad estimate, though. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 01:01, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
::: Well, in my defense, I didn't really said it was a domestic cat, but that it looked just slightly bigger than one. An Ocelot fits that description, I think, while being much smaller than a Puma. Btw, there goes Megan golfing! :) --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 04:05, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Not a cougar (too small for one) as I think they grab their prey by the throat and hold on till it's dead, not just knock it over and sniff. Bobcat's out (too big). Besides, what's coming in on the right? [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:16, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Now I'm starting to feel sorry for the poor kitty. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 05:06, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
:(p.s. "it didn't bite you?" -- More for it being a lonely lost pet?) {{unsigned ip|216.239.45.91|13:33, 21 June 2013 (UTC)}}

If this is Madagascar, then it would be a fossa ... but the head looks too big and cat-like. Perhaps a juvenile cougar/puma? Would help explain why it bit the backpack instead of Cueball's neck. Geographically, that or one of the ocelots / relatives would put us in South or North America. AH [[Special:Contributions/209.74.126.175|209.74.126.175]] 14:00, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Why is everyone assuming the location corresponds to an actual modern day location (e.g. Madagascar)? Given that http://xkcd.com/505/ is staged on an infinite plane full of rocks we shouldn't limit our search to the real, simply the rational. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 14:32, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
:This doesn't make any sense. Rationals are (or are isomorphic to) a subfield of reals, so if we limit our search to rationals we also implicitly limit it to reals. But it's safe to assume that they are in some group. My intuition tells me that this group is a vector field (most likely R^3), but obviously we shouldn't rely on that. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 15:47, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
::Hahaha! Just wondering if those were Abelian Grapes that Cueball and Megan were eating. "What's purple and commutes?" 1960s joke. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:43, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

:I don't necessarily think that it's an actual place, but some of the plant and animal references have been so specific as to make you wonder if they mean something. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:41, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

:The sand castle Megan built at the top matches the Paris Disneyland castle; thus, either Megan had seen the castle before or Randall just thought it was a neat looking castle to copy. There are other elements that limits the date to fairly recent, some more so than others. I don't think Randal is using an actual place, but rather an amalgam of elements from many places. As for myself, I prefer abstract algebra. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 17:18, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Given that they're been hiking up into the mountains, my guess is that it was a mountain lion... which is also known as a cougar. Or puma. --[[User:Druid816|Druid816]] ([[User talk:Druid816|talk]]) 08:07, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

As we now know that they are in the Mediterranean region, a {{w|Eurasian lynx}} or an {{w|Iberian lynx}} look quite good guesses but the cat in the comic has a tail that is too long and it doesn't have ear tufts. I guess if it is far enough in the future, the distribution of animals could have changed, so it might be {{w|Caracal}} (desert lynx), a {{w|Serval}} or an {{w|African golden cat}}. Of course if it is even further in the future, it might be a whole new species that doesn't currently exist.[[User:NHSavage|NHSavage]] ([[User talk:NHSavage|talk]]) 21:11, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

They're back to the kitty! Will it run, or does it bear a grudge? [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 04:09, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
: I still want it to be a lonely lost pet, maybe a zoo refugee. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 04:59, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
: It ran. Is it preparing another surprise attack? ''Time'' will tell. (Ha ha.) [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 06:22, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

;Frame 2188

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned or come up with theories about {{geekwagon|2188}}. I guess we now know that it was the cat stalking them.
--[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 01:04, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Re: 2188 check the "Following" section. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:15, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

;Frames 2231-2232

What is that on the far right of the screen on {{geekwagon|2231}}? Any theories at all? {{unsigned ip|216.80.148.49|06:18, 21 June 2013 (UTC)}}
:Boom mike? Martian tripod? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 07:40, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

I'm downloading from two systems at different time. One got the same images as linked above, but the images I downloaded a few minutes ago don't have it. I get the following md5's

:32fc7553d3134ec08a5bc88ffa1929d9 -> 867dc4718c684fa0507876cdd034ce7f7fd7980370034d676181ddf6b07dcabf.png <- 2231
:a26efc43bb6bbc2bb8d12192a25d4938 -> e44589725450e5bf897d441e5ccd1e9b9a0a1ee6658fea9e6a7378e96c5e4be5.png <- 2232

[[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]]
::Same here, the image I clipped (2231) has the figure (or whatever) and now it's gone. It must have been unintentional, and later corrected. Maybe the "whatever" or parts of it will show up later. [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 14:56, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

I'll take a shot... The bottom part is curved and aligns perfectly with Cueball's head in Photoshop, just cutoff on the left (and the right as it goes out of frame). The rounded slice at the top matches Megan's head as well. The full slice does not match any scene to date (the only one close is 1885 with Megan in the tree, but that's not it); thus, it must be a slice from a future scene (or maybe part of a template with assorted characters). [[User:Galois|Galois]] ([[User talk:Galois|talk]]) 16:20, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
:I was going with "sprites from Pitfall, while the reader was distracted by the action", but the "template fragment" theory certainly works better. ;-) {{unsigned ip|69.165.158.129|02:38, 26 July 2013 (UTC)}}

;The great re-encoding

After noticing the snafu around 2231-2232, I whent and re downloaded the full set from imgs.xkcd.org and what I downloaded today doesn't match what I downloaded before (generally when they were <24h old). Everything from 1068 back seems to be a pixle match for what is there now but have different MD5s and is generally smaller. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 20:31, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
:My observations suggest that XKCD images are routinely optimized a few hours after posting. In short, it is normal for the image to change without the pixels changing. --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 03:37, 30 June 2013 (UTC)

;Another Theory

Can it just be about Mr. Munroe's life? I don't know many personal details, but it would be easy to draw about and still be important without being funny. --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 16:16, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
:A fair number of people have speculated that it's a metaphor for something personal, yeah. He's married and his wife had a bout with cancer a year or so back, so there's been some concern that the whole 'inescapable tide' may be a less than happy thing. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:39, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
This is beginning to look a lot like the plot outline of a quest video game. --deepfatfriar 17:34, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

;Only one day to reach the top of the Mountain
At frame 2305 Cueball mentions that it's only one day to reach the top and at frame 2308 Megan says that they will not much farther away from home when being there. This means the comic shows no night sequences but it did run for many days in the world of them. Maybe each real day is also a day in this comic.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:17, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
:It sure took a long time to build the original sandcastle then.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 20:20, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
::Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. But now we have the prove that the voyage did last many days while there was no hint of any night hiatus. They did sleep but we couldn't see.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:40, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Remember there was a fadeout while they were starting off on the journey, and later they say the walked for days along the shore. So that could be the bulk of the distance. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 01:50, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe it's like the world for Game of Thrones but s/Seasons/Days/ I.e. veritable length days? [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 23:57, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
:I'd rather think they started their journey several days before they reached the beach and started building the castle. I feel that what we are observing is a single day of their adventure - building a castle in the morning, walking along the shore and the river in early afternoon or even a little before noon, taking a short nap in the late afternoon and walking uphill again. The darkening of last few frames may be the evening coming. [[Special:Contributions/89.174.214.74|89.174.214.74]] 13:59, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

;It's getting cloudy.

Upper right corner of {{geekwagon|2352}}? Also the other three corners have something going on. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:25, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
: May Randall is reading this Wiki and saw the complain about still air :-) [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 06:09, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
:: Or maybe Megan is getting cold because a storm's coming. Maybe they don't know about storms in the hills or mountains. Note that the "people in the hills" where they live are perhaps not friendly, according to the earlier conversation about going on up the mountain: Cueball: "We can't be more than a day or so from the top. There may be people there." Megan: "Like the people in the hills?" Cueball: "We're a long way from there." If the people of the hills back home are unfriendly, Cueball and Megan may have no experience of hill weather. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 11:14, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
If you look at the image diff on GeekWagon it looks like they are experiancing a solar eclipse.[[Special:Contributions/162.5.71.176|162.5.71.176]] 15:18, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
:No, that white round object in the cloud is just moving and is also getting smaller. I've no idea what it could be.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:45, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
::It isn't getting smaller, it's just having to go through clouds of increasing thickness, making its domain of whiteness smaller. And it's moving because something like fifteen minutes just went by. --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 15:53, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Looks like a setting sun to me [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 17:56, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
::::You are right, we see a sunset. My first statement was about the "solar eclipse" theory, what is definitively not happen.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:27, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
:::::We also effectively had a bit of a timeskip there -- it takes several hours for the sun to lower that much. Also confirms they are walking north (which I think was the going assumption already.) [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:50, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
::::::The rate that the sun sets at depends on the "length" of the "lens" being used. Based on 360 deg/day motion and a apparent width of 0.5 deg, the sun moves it's own diameter every 2 minutes. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:12, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

The images now fading to black, going to the dark night. I am hoping we will get a new scene on top of that mountain, but maybe we will just seeing them awakening below a tree. We just have to wait... Stay tuned as me!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:06, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
:But maybe the Moon will shine and the fade to black does stop.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 23:14, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

::Or maybe we will switch back to Beret Girl. Who knows? We'll see when we see. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:00, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

:::@Taibhse, It seems to me that you just explained the entire point of the cartoon. [[Special:Contributions/74.174.17.194|74.174.17.194]] 13:57, 27 June 2013 (UTC)ALurker

Where are the astronomical freaks? Can't we find out where they are depending on the stars? [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 17:12, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
: ~30 deg north based on the direction of motion. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 17:57, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
:The constellation looks like Bootes {{w|Boötes}} [[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 18:03, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
::When Bootes is setting around sunset in the US it is August or September.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 18:16, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
:::I can't identify Boötes so far but the bright star following the path of the sun isn't a star: It's the planet Venus, here as the "Evening Star".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:28, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
::::Not Bootes; it's not on the ecliptic, which these stars are. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:21, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
: I think the upper constellation on 2394 is the Sagittarius. The lower one, which can be seen better on 2393 is the tail of the Scorpion constellation. The two bright stars close to each other above the tree are Shaula and Lesath. The brightest star is a planet, probably Venus. The only think bothers me is that there is an other star very close to Ascella in Sagittarius, which should not be there... Maybe an other planet? --[[Special:Contributions/80.98.250.115|80.98.250.115]] 21:31, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
::I think you may have it. I passed over Sagittarius at first, because they looked too close together, but I think I was overestimating the scale. Virgo and Gemini both contain something close to the Y pattern of four bright stars, but the surrounding stars aren't right. If it's a planet, it would have to be naked eye visible but not as bright as Ascella,and I don't think there is anything that fits, which is a pity, because we could work out possible years. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:21, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Reviewing further, I'm even more convinced. If you get a star map in the right orientation, you can see that the rest of Scorpio is becoming visible just above the horizon in {{geekwagon|2393}}. And the arc of stars the three consellations are 'facing' matches up with the Serpent and Ophiuchius, including the visual binary of Delta and Epsilon Ophiuchi. If you look at a sky map for Nov 7, 2013, Venus is in about the right configuration. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:14, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

;Star Map
Is someone already stitching together a map of the stars as they move through the frames? I could do it, but I'm too lazy *g*.
And if we have that, the relative position of the sun to the stars should be sufficient to determine the day of the year (depending on the accuracy of the drawings) and probably, assuming the first bright dot was indeed Venus, we might even be able to determine if the story takes/took place this year. Maybe other astronomical objects show (or don't show) and help to further narrow down the '''time'''. --[[Special:Contributions/92.76.250.121|92.76.250.121]] 00:18, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
:From the position of the sun, Venus is at or close to greatest eastern elongation from the sun. Assuming that the constellations we are looking at are Sagittarius and surroundings (and the new stars coming into view continue to match this), the sun is located around Virgo. From the angle of the ecliptic, they are at 30 degrees north, and thus it would have to be around the beginning of November, as that's when Virgo sets with the sun at 30N. So it could be a year when Venus hits the greatest eastern elongation in late October/early November. Which happens this year, but it can't be this year as the moon isn't right -- there would be a crescent moon next to Venus. It would have to be at new moon or waning moon, and that puts it after 2037. Of course, there are a lot of assumptions and estimations in that calculation. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 02:28, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
::Actually, for the moon it could be 2029, but there's another blocking factor: Mars should be next to Venus in 2037. And for the next few eight year cycles, some combination of Mercury, the moon, and Saturn should be showing up between Venus and the Sun before the stars do. So it looks like 2053 would be the first matching date. And the next date after that 2085 - it precesses forward a bit each year, so it would be Nov 12 by 2085. Seems a bit late for grapes and hiking without any thought of shelter, but if it's 30N it is likely a pretty warm area. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 02:59, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Going backwards, the first one with no planets is 1981, but there would be a nearly full moon, and that scene does not look illuminated by a full moon. The most recent one with no planets and no moon interfering would be 1949. But that's purely my amateur estimation using the online AstroViewer. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 02:59, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
I wandered over to the forum, and they agree with our conclusion of Sagittarius, and one of them had a interesting observation: Antares is gone. It should be the brightest thing in this view apart from Venus, and you can see the two stars that should flank it appear at {{geekwagon|2392}}, between Cueball's head and the tree, but no Antares. Which suggests that this is set sufficiently far in the future that Antares has gone supernova (which it is due to do.) [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 06:27, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
:Even more suggestive of a far future: certain of the stars in the Scorpion appear to have moved. If you go to Hipparchos [[http://www.rssd.esa.int/SA-general/Projects/Hipparcos/apps/ShowMotion.html]] and enter RA 260.4, Dec -42, and V(lim) 4.4, you will get the stars in the head and part of the body of the Scorpion. If you run it forward several thousand years, you'll see that the high-motion stars match with the distortions in the XKCD sky.[[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 08:05, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
One last thing (for the moment): The angle of the sun and planets are what they should be for c. 30-33 degrees N, but to get the constellations angled the right way, it's closer to 12 degrees north. This may be precession, which could also explain the grapes in what would be currently by the stars the beginning of November -- the vernal equinox may have precessed forward, resulting in the sun being in Virgo/Libra in summer rather than fall. 15,000 years would put it in Libra in June, for example [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 16:27, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

;Where in the world are Megan and Cueball?

Venus marking the path of the ecliptic tells us that we are at about 30 degrees north (my quick-ass calculation came up closer to 31 or 32 degrees north.) They are walking east with the ocean to the south of them, and they are following a large river north into hills and mountains that apparently are less than a day's walk north.

So if it's Earth, where could they be? There's not a lot of south-facing coasts around 30N. The only large one is the Gulf Coast of the US, but there's not much in the way of hills much less anything you could call a mountain close to the shore. The only exception I can really see is maybe around Mobile, which at last has some hills. There's the north end of the Persian Gulf and of the Gulf of California, but for both of those the hills are east of of the most obvious large river. Though the Gulf of California would make sense in other ways -- rivers that only run to the sea in the wet season, for example. There's South Korea, but the southern coast of that is broken up into a fringe of islands and peninsula, there's not really a solid stretch of coast to walk east along. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 00:14, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

:If, as hypothesized above, this is taking place a few thousand years into the future, might not the coastlines have changed? (Especially since the "sea" seems to be rising.) I wonder if we could find the proper configuration of hills and a mountain even in absence of a body of water to the south. [[Special:Contributions/69.123.166.176|69.123.166.176]] 15:06, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

All the stars are following the same parallel path through the sky. Shouldn't the stars should be following a circular path centered on the north star, and the planets if any be following roughly the path of the sun and moon? --deepfatfriar {{unsigned ip|75.109.36.232|01:58, 28 June 2013 (UTC)}}
:Based on my analsys (sicking a post-it to my screen so that it partially obscures Venus) things do seem to be curving (Venus is less obscured, then more, then less as I step through frames). [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:54, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

So, how far away are we viewing them from? We know (about) how tall Cueball is and the stars give us an angular ruler so we should be able to figure that out. Also, when will sunrise be? [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 03:54, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

Someone mentioned the Clock of the Long Now, and the 10,000 Year Clock would fit in a number of ways. The Texas original one is at the right latitude, and the Sierra Diablo mountains where it is are near a dried-up inland sea, which presumably could be a sea again, and an inland sea could rise much faster than the world's oceans. And it would fit with the title "Time", and explain the multi-thousand year future setting.

Has anyone been able to map exactly where the sun is on the stars? That would show where in the precession sequence we are. If it's in Libra, for example 15,000 years forward the sun would set in Libra around June at 31-32 degrees north at that point. Which would explain the grapes and the camping without shelter. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 20:27, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

;If the night does map the real world...
If the stars are real I'm sure it still does map to the current time frame of this comic. Venus and also Jupiter (even also Mercury, but hard to see) did follow the sun at dawn. Tomorrow I will have to fix my (Linux) xOrg for running {{w|Stellarium (computer program)|Stellarium}} or {{w|Celestia}}. So for now I'm only on [http://heavens-above.com/ heavens-above], which is still not accurate enough for this cloudy comic sky at night.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:37, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
:I've made a compare of the changes in Scorpio over the next 15K years, and the sky in Time. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/77/starsmove.png]. It matches pretty well, though I think the fastest moving star hasn't moved quite as far. So my current prediction: they are in the Sierra Diablo mountains in Texas (or what was Texas), climbing towards the 10,000 Year Clock observatory, about 14,000 years from now. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:57, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

::So is Beret Girl a mysterious time traveler? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 23:45, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
:What is the source for your picture, Photoshop? Please tell us more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:32, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
:: Stellarium to generate the comparison star maps (it takes into account Hipparchos data, so will move stars with high proper motion for far future dates), and GIMP to overlay them. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 21:02, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Thanks Tavella. Stellarium was my own first attempt too, but my xOohhhhgrrrrg did crash. NVIDIA on Linux is still a mess.
:::Go North to Dakota or even Canada to find a location where a 30 degree sunset can happen.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:14, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
:Very nice pictures, Tavella! What's the meaning of the three red stars? Thanks in advance. [[Special:Contributions/79.98.2.71|79.98.2.71]] 22:20, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
::They are marking the three stars with the highest proper motion in the constellation (well, one of them, the top one, is a small companion star in the constellation zone rather than being formally in the constellation.) I just installed GIMP on this computer and was too lazy to go find the arrow plugin. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:16, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
I'm sure i remember seeing a shooting star in one of the frames but it doesn't seem to be in any of the recorded frames? [[Special:Contributions/75.181.22.10|75.181.22.10]] 19:33, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
::Yes, it was a fast series of pictures so it didn't get caught. Here's an animation of the sequence: [http://xkcd.mscha.org/tmp/meteor.gif] [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:11, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
:::Can you give us some hashes and timestamps? --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 03:25, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
::::2440a through e here: [http://xkcd.mscha.org/#frame2440] [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 04:58, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
: [[User:Tavella|Tavella]], your picture [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/77/starsmove.png] seems to be gone for some reason, could you re-upload it? Thanks. [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 11:31, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

;Did we just see Megan and then Cueball have bowel movements
Day 95 1:00 Megan squats alone on the right side of frame while Cueball sits in the middle of frame http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d9/time2378.png

Day 97 6:00 Cueball walks over and squats near where Megan herself squatted http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/8490469c3f8cea3b8dd7f55f8152d8048166af8a13bf2473af5b0b032b9c6f30.png

Day 97 7:00 & 8:00 Cueball is seen washing his hands in subsequent two frames? {{unsigned ip|24.91.69.220|15:01, 29 June 2013 (UTC)}}

;Meteor frames.

There were five meteor frames that appeared in very quick succession recently. How should they be numbered?

[http://xkcd.mscha.org/#frame2440 mscha's site] numbers them 2440a to 2440e.

[http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2441 geekwagon] only has the final meteor frame (2440e) which it numbers 2441, and after that all the numbers on geekwagon are out by one compared to mscha's site.

Another logical option is to number them from 2441 to 2445.

[http://xkcd.aubronwood.com/?i=2445&playing=0&audio=0&speed=200 aubronwood] has the frames numbered 2444 to 2448 (like the previous suggestion, but I think aubronwood had been out by three for a long time compared to other sites)

On the [http://xkcd-time.wikia.com/wiki/Periods xkcd-time wiki] I have tentatively used mscha's numbering, which may be a problem considering the wiki has built-in linking to geekwagon.

[[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 07:00, 30 June 2013 (UTC)

:Numbering them 2440a to 2440e is ok. And geekwagon seems to be broken at some more more frames right now.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:52, 30 June 2013 (UTC)
:"appeared in very quick succession": I assume they actually appeared on the hour, just like all the others (except for first days), <strike>and as they are currently listed in our table</strike>? [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 12:00, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

::No, they appeared on the minute between 20:20 and 20:24 UTC on 29 June. That's how they're listed here. [[User:Crimethink|Crimethink]] ([[User talk:Crimethink|talk]]) 16:10, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

:::Yeah, I was looking at the hours +2441 through +2445! However, in my defence, I was fighting the database error when I first thought I noticed this. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 12:48, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

::Uh, it would be great if we could number frames in actual chronological number order, not appending letters onto the ends of the filenames. It makes it easier for scripts to access images with a consistent naming scheme. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 15:28, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
:::We have already been appending letters onto the ends of filenames, with frames 256P, 257P, and 258P. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 15:51, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
::::And those are problematic with scripts already. More special cases to account for are not fun. I've only let those alone because fixing the problem would mean shifting more than a thousand filenames now, and I didn't notice it originally until it was 200 frames too late. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 16:32, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
:::::I have two ideas on this problem:
:::::a) Put that special frames into an extra table at the bottom of that specific days, or
:::::b) Add an extra column to the tables containing a sequence number. This would be much of work.
:::::I prefer a).--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:48, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
::::::The meteor does seem to be a part of the comic, so it probably should still be inline with the rest of the frames. We'll only need to shift 40-odd image names to fix this, it shouldn't be too onerous. I'll do it tomorrow morning. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:09, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
:::::::This will be good for your scripts but not for mine. We will be also out of sync to other sites. But if you will do that tell me where day 101 should start. I have to change a counter at my script.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:17, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
::::::::Day 101 starts at 2531 with the meteor frames shifted down. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 01:01, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::Many thanks for your chaos, day 101 starts NOW with 2526. Before your edit it would have been 2521. But 2531 is a little bit too much.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:16, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::I can understand the desire for standardized numbering but I've been doing a lot of the image uploading recently using mscha's site as the source. I do it manually so it's already a pain, I don't think I can face having to do that extra little bit of arithmetic for each image to work out what the id should be on this site. Guess I'll be leaving it for the bots from now on. [[User:Crimethink|Crimethink]] ([[User talk:Crimethink|talk]]) 12:21, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::Thanks Crimethink for your great work. This is still a mess, but we can't revert it. We are all trapped in someone's decision...--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:02, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
::::::::::::Yeah - I can see that. Just a shame that mscha decided to do it that way.[[User:Crimethink|Crimethink]] ([[User talk:Crimethink|talk]]) 13:22, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
:::::::::::::Yeah. The idea of naming that pictures as 2440a to 2440e was first. Other sites like geekwagon are also out of sync. Unless we do use the timestamp at the file name it will be more mess in the future, I am sure.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 13:42, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

I made this page to show the differences between numbering systems at mscha's site, geekwagon, aubronwood and explainxkcd.
http://xkcd-time.wikia.com/wiki/Frame_numbering [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 15:16, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
:WOW, you must have much TIME ;)--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:27, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

How do we even know that it's a meteor? Maybe Mr. Munroe has finally decided to use his [[254|best idea ever]]? Then it was just a damaged space station falling through the atmosphere. Also the mountain they are climbing is actually a volcano and the sea is rising because of all the tyrannosaurs swimming in it. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:53, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
:This comic is just showing the real world we all do know. Look at this {{w|Perseids}} meteor shower at the next days, the peak should be around August 10 or 15. Most of that particles you can see as a bright meteor are smaller than one millimeter. It's only the vast velocity what causes this great visual effect.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:19, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

;Animated gif for the night
Here is an [[Media:1190TimeNight.gif|animated gif with enhanced brightness]]. You can see the Milky Way in the beginning and by the end some birds appear in the sky.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:51, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
:That's awesome. Good job!--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 14:17, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
Since we r watching the scene toward west, shouldn't the sky appear darker near the horizon, with respect to the sky above, at sunrise? (I'm asking here but of course I'm not referring to your animated gif but to the xkcd scene itself...) [[Special:Contributions/217.200.201.97|217.200.201.97]] 11:46, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
:When the sun rises on East the horizon at the opposite side is darker than the rest of the sky. When the sun is high enough you will not recognize this any more.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:01, 2 July 2013 (UTC)
::Yep Dgbrt, my point is that in the comic sequence we can see the full path from the dead of night to the morning through the dawn: why Randall depicted a shade of light coming from the horizon and not from the sky above? Is it a realistic scene? [[User:Mlejnas|Mlejnas]] ([[User talk:Mlejnas|talk]]) 07:38, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
These clouds moving with the sky could be the milkyway. [[User:FG|FG]] 10:18, 4 July 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|138.246.2.124|08:18, 4 July 2013 (UTC)}}
:Yep, FG, but that's at the sunset, I'm talking about the sunrise (on the other side of the sky). [[User:Mlejnas|Mlejnas]] ([[User talk:Mlejnas|talk]]) 09:47, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
:FG, look at my first statement at this section here. But Mlejnas is talking about the sunrise after the Milky Way already had disappeared.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:20, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

;New picture naming rule

Is there any BOT here understanding the new naming? I'm missing many picture uploads, I will not do this by manual because that's stupid. This is still a job for a bot.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:32, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

:Sry, I was on vacation for a week, and I haven't resumed my bot yet because of that meteor. IMHO, we should get in touch with the admins of geekwagon, aubronwood and mscha in order to re-sync the frame numbers. Does anyone know whether any of them is already active here? --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 16:50, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

::mscha and aubronwood have accounts on the forum (http://forums.xkcd.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=381029, http://forums.xkcd.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=35789). However, I don't think the owner of geekwagon has an account on the forum (see http://geekwagon.net/). [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 06:21, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

:::I had an account xkcd forum but found their rules complex so I generally communicate here or through email. I like the idea of a standard frame count between all the sites. Currently geekwagon is limited to a number instead of an alphanumeric frame number like mscha uses. However this can be changed. My two cents is a frame number should be the number in which the frames were shown regardless of what time they were displayed (I like simple), but I am open to ideas. --[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 03:37, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

::::Geekwagon have now changed their numbering to the system used here. [[User:Patzer|Patzer]] ([[User talk:Patzer|talk]]) 05:16, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

:::::I fixed it to include the meteor frames. They were missed because the script runs every 5 minutes. Would have done it sooner but I was out of town.--[[User:Deplicator|Deplicator]] ([[User talk:Deplicator|talk]]) 17:14, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

::::::Great job and THANKS!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:16, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

;Derrick

What is it? Sort of looks like on oil derrick, but of course it is not. What is the mechanical bits up top? --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 08:26, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
:The ladder that goes up to the middle level but not the top and the wheel on that level suggest to me that it is supposed to be turned by an operator, but I can't see what that would power or move -- there's no obvious lines that aren't support structure. Looks to me like we are panning toward something even taller, so maybe that will enlighten. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 09:33, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
:The device looks to me like a sextant -- a telescope mounted on a gauged pivot. Possibly there is a second pivot at 90 degrees to the one we can see. The device might be used to measure the sea rise, if the sea can be seen from here. [[Special:Contributions/24.158.67.232|24.158.67.232]] 12:30, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
::Megan does seem to be looking through it, so sextant or telescope seems likely. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 19:43, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
:Could it have anything to do with the 10,000 Year Clock mentioned above? [[Special:Contributions/173.195.5.167|173.195.5.167]] 13:37, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
Looks like a great platform to build another sand castle. Too bad there's probably no sand...--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 13:19, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

My guess is that the tower may semaphore tower that is under instruction (or abandoned) and part semaphore tower in a {{w|Semaphore_line}}. In {{geekwagon|2594}} where Megan reports seeing flashes. Could those flashes be distant semaphore signals? [[User:Chongo|Chongo]] ([[User talk:Chongo|talk]]) 00:05, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
:In frame 2686 we see more of these towers. Those may be part of a semaphore line that you suggest. [[Special:Contributions/166.137.209.163|166.137.209.163]] 05:33, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

I think it's an telescope or something like this. Maybe they see the sea rising with this thing... [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 19:21, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

After seeing {{geekwagon|2803}} I'm pretty sure these are triangulation points which historically were used for geodetics, see e.g. [http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/geoinformation/bezugssysteme/download/flyer_rauenberg.pdf] (3.6MB, sorry only German text). --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 19:03, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

;all okWTF FADE!

just - what's going on??! [[Special:Contributions/83.8.22.78|83.8.22.78]] 22:15, 6 July 2013 (UTC)
:Fade from white to the castle and we get to see what beret girl has been up to (last we saw, she was dragging something in frame 970: {{geekwagon|970|969}}). [[Special:Contributions/216.98.244.174|216.98.244.174]] 22:55, 6 July 2013 (UTC)
:I think this is where the water level is now. If so, holy crap! Is there anything hidden in the white frame? --[[User:Irino.|Irino.]] ([[User talk:Irino.|talk]]) 00:01, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
:[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MeanwhileScene Meanwhile, back at the beach...] [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.94|216.239.45.94]] 04:01, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

;Out of breath -- higher than we thought?

I haven't done the exact calculations, but my impression from those we did that they have only climbed 300-400 cueball-heights, which would be only a couple of thousand feet. Doesn't it usually take more than that before you start getting oxygen effects? Could they have started at a higher elevation than we thought? Anyone have a current calculation for elevation gain? [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:15, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
:They started at sea level, unless the body of water was not the ocean.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 00:34, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
::Right, but the speed of sea level rise strongly suggests their "ocean" is an inland sea, so they could be in an endorheic basin that is much higher than sea level, like the Great Basin in the US (where the second 10,000 year clock will be), or Lake Van in Turkey. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 06:16, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
:::The {{w|Great Salt Lake}} was proposed here before, it's at level 4,200 feet or approx. 1,283 meter. The mountains there are going up to a much higher level, you can get out of breath there. The level calculations may be wrong because Randall didn't show every part of the trip. There were more nights, but we could only see one.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:33, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

;The people they did find

Any ideas what the hats or hair cut does belong to?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:08, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
:Looks like {{w|Knit_cap|Watch Caps}} to me. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.90|216.239.45.90]] 20:19, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
:Or a yarmulke {{geekwagon|2933}} [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 04:17, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

It's the wrong end of the river for them to be building a dam, but I'm wondering, with all the surveying equipment, if they are diverting more water into the basin that Cueball and Megan live in. But they seem like pleasant enough people, quick to help Megan. It's hard to be believe they would drown the area without checking to see if, y'know, people live there. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:02, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
: What if they're building a bridge? Are we too far from the Big River? [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 01:12, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Is this pair the Cueball and Meagan we've known from before? What impresses me is the level of ignorance this pair exhibits, compared to the couple we've come to know. This pair do not seem to understand oxygen starvation at higher altitudes, how tides work, etc. This almost flies in contradiction to the fact that, in the beginning, they were building sand castles. This presumes castles existed at some point in their own history if not currently. Castles indicate a certain level of knowledge and technology, which this current couple seem to lack knowledge of, to some large degree at least.
If this strip 'ends' at the level of technology we've seen thus far and hinted at by this new tribe of people, I would suggest this indicates a world wide (or at least very large area) collapse of a prior civilization.
[[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 23:14, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
:Well, they certainly don't have access to [http://www.xkcd.com/903/ wikipedia]. As for the tides, I think we generally concluded that it is more likely a lake and they never saw it rise as fast as it did. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:49, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

So are they getting sleepy from the bad night's sleep or something more nefarious? [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.92|216.239.45.92]] 05:31, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

:Or are they brewing ent-draughts here? Watch to see whether Cueball and Megan start growing taller! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:14, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Now things are getting meta; Cueball drawing a stick figure of himself.... [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.87|216.239.45.87]] 06:04, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:At least it's an accurate depiction--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 11:07, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

;Language
Is someone trying to decipher what they are saying? It might be more or less some kind of substitution cypher, but I'm not sure yet which letters are actually the same (e.g. 1st in {{geekwagon|2663}} and 1st in {{geekwagon|2664}} are quite likely the same. But the last but ones in these frames just look close in my view (also to 9th in {{geekwagon|2671}})). Sentences seem to end with the an ° or ¯ above the last letter. [[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 09:29, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
:The ° or ¯ above the last letter appear to be a period or a question mark respectively.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 10:38, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

::{{geekwagon|2676}} is identical to the last two words of {{geekwagon|2668}}. Apparently that is the stuff they applied on Megan's leg. [[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 10:42, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
:::We can't decipher because it's just Randalls invention. At 2545:00 we have a clear 69 at the last word.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:50, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
:: My current theory is ¯ means "!" so {{geekwagon|2708}} could be "Water!" - "Yes!!, Water!!". I'm not sure about the substitution cypher theory anymore, though. Unless some signs represent two Latin characters. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 12:05, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
::: {{geekwagon|2806}} is another hint that [[File:Dialog2806d.png]] could mean "Yes." The rest of the dialog looks similar to {{geekwagon|2734}}. Hopefully, they meet the translator soon. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 21:27, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

I believe it's possible to translate their language into pervect english by simple replacing their symbols by roman letters (the right way). For "water" we have an example. ([[User talk:FG|talk]]) 17:12, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
:What could the last word in {{geekwagon|2728}} be then? It ends the same way as "water"/"drink", except for a ° instead of a ¯ over the last letter, but has an additional "3"-shaped letter at the beginning. I'm starting to believe that Randall put a bit more effort into designing this language. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 15:34, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

It is clearly not a letter-per-letter cipher; I think Randall has been considerably cleverer than that. It looks like a (fictional) Semitic language, in which case individual characters could indicate syllables rather than letters, but I doubt that it is a simple cipher for English at the syllable level either. At this stage it is impossible to say how far he has gone in creating an original syntax, but I would note that we have seen the word that means "water" (or "drink") in at least two forms (a simple form used by Cueball, and a form with a kind of 3 at the beginning used as the last word of the Beanie's response to Cueball's picture). I'm confident the ¯ is simply a period, ° a question mark, and the double ¯ is an exclamation mark. The other stray marks could be other punctuation marks as well. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 15:55, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

:Provisionally, I took the "water" string with the '3' in front to be something like "sea-water." [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 18:25, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

:Another reason why it's not a "letter-per-letter cipher" is that I'm pretty sure we've seen at least 3 distinct single character words. Note that almost all characters are reminiscent of arabic numerals. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 18:59, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Next speculation: [[File:Dialog2827.png]] could mean "(the) castle" and [[File:Dialog2806c.png]] could mean something like "(move) to the castle" or "(to be) at the castle".
Maybe we should start a subpage for all language investigations. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 00:42, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
:Seconded. Also we need a template for putting stranglish text on this wiki. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:59, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

I just noticed that translator often puts a ° or ¯ above last letter in some sentences, just like in stranglish (did we come up with a better name for it yet?). I think this confirms that ° and ¯ is stranglish punctuation. Also since stranglish has punctuation, it can't be substitution cipher applied to lojban. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:55, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
:It also confirms that we were right about the meaning of the punctuation. ¯ is a period, and (as confirmed by the latest frame) ° is a question mark. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 10:04, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
:: Indeed, in frame [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2892 2892] ([http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/50f8c0e828c300b959fb23924851f6c592d8fc012dc0b6c0ee07fa1305d78242.png permahash on XKCD]), the girl with long hair seems to say "WHAT RIVER?", and instead of putting a "?", there is a "°" above the last "R". [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 11:29, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

;New Guy in City
How do we call the new guy that appears in {{geekwagon|2819}}? One Suggestion: Black Hat Stranger (He's clearly not [[Black Hat]]). --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 14:19, 15 July 2013 (UTC)
:And maybe calling them "stranger(s)" is actually not appropriate. How about "local(s)" or "native(s)"? --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 16:51, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

I'm guessing the cake-house of the Big Translator Guy is going to look like a sandcastle, thus the Oh, Wow from Megan. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 18:31, 15 July 2013 (UTC)

;A long haired woman (former: The old guy) in Castle
Man that is an atrocious accent. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 13:37, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
:Why are we assuming its a 'guy' again? [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 21:45, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
::I did edit the entire page (Old man -> is now the Long haired woman), but maybe I did miss some. The main cause of this fault was probably my guess that they did walk to an old man.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:22, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
:::The stick figure in the drawing really did look like a bearded guy, so I think it's a reasonable mistake [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:47, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
::::At the drawings on the ground they did not show stick figures. The current pictures are real stick figures. So the bear is falling around far over the neck? It's a woman.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:56, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

;Passage of Time

I suppose it is safe to assume that the black frame ({{geekwagon|2698}}) represents some indeterminate passage of time, since we do see Cueball now speaking the language of the Beanie-Wearers. What is strange, and perhaps it is just Randall being lazy, is that if you compare the frames before and after the black frame, there is absolutely no changes to vegetation, and very few changes to anything else. Vegetation would have been the biggest culprit to a lengthy time interval. (Again, assuming it took some non-trivial amount of time for Cueball to learn the new language.) --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 20:01, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
:I assume only a few hours have passed. It seems rather that Cueball is only now learning his first word: "water." Presumably the response also means "Yes! water" so then he would know two words, but there is no reason to assume he knows any more than that yet.[[Special:Contributions/79.247.252.250|79.247.252.250]] 20:06, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
::Yeah. I jumped the gun. He's only learned a single word. So just a single sleep has passed. --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 22:37, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
::Cueball did talk something like "watr" and the stranger did correct him "No, water".
:::If you are right, then it looks like a substitution cipher to me. --[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 21:15, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
::BTW: I think we should call this language "Stranglish" until we do not know what it is.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:21, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
::Or was that Cueball: "water" and Stranger: "Yes, water?" [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:14, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

;Megan's backpack
Megan started wearing a backpack after they left the tower. They lost Cueball's backpack when the animal clawed it up, so he carried everything in Megan's to keep weight off her leg. That ointment must be good stuff if she's able to walk with a backpack. The locals must have given her a new one.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 01:50, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
:Yep, I noticed that. Apparently they gave/loaned her one of their bags. Even so, I notice she was the only one shown ({{geekwagon|2814}}) clambering up a small steep spot, so maybe she's not fully functional yet. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 11:49, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
:Also, I wonder what they did with their "telescope" that they lowered from the tower; and the little folded-up mini-tower. And for that matter, whatever that was leaning against the right leg of the tower from the beginning. All three things seemed to disappear just before they left the scene. They don't seem to be packing them. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 11:49, 16 July 2013 (UTC)
:: I assume they have some kind of storage at that location to protect their equipment from weather and from animals. They also left some other bigger things, like the ladder and the water container, indicating that they appear to go there frequently. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 12:05, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

;Who are they?
If the Great and Powerful OZ steps out from behind a curtain, I'll upchuck. Castles imply a need for defense, yet our adventurous pair and the 'natives' both seem totally relaxed with the discovery of the other. No obvious caution shown, no attempt to discover which side they may be on, etc. In fact, the 'natives' appear to be experienced with the finding of new people and following an established procedure for dealing with them, hence the trip to the castle. If Meagan and Cueball had declined to follow, what would have taken place then? Just a guess but I would say, nothing, each to their separate way.

The one map view strongly suggests, to me, survey work using trigonometry (or some variation) to determine location. It would seem to be a case of figure the location first, get there, then see what you find. The greater and lesser circles are intriguing as well, along with the long, straight lines and other geometrical figures seen. Wish there was a bigger, clearer view of it.[[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 00:11, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
:Not all large structures are castles. It could be a cathedral or temple or university. Only Megan called it a castle because of its resemblance to their sandcastle. The castle's inhabitants called it a squiggle-squiggle-squiggle.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 02:41, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
::No they call it [[File:Dialog2827.png]] ;). The usage of merlons indicates that it shall have some defense purpose—OTOH, it could be purely decorative. The fact that they all seem very relaxed about meeting strangers and nobody (visibly) carries any kind of weapons or armor suggests the latter. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 07:31, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
::So does the fact that there were obviously children playing under the watchful eye of the first person they encountered in the "city." No effort was made to protect children from possible inimical strangers, and no obvious defenses at the school/playground/whatever-it-is at the entry gate. The gate hat guy was very relaxed. (If the "telescope" towers are part of a communications system, they might already know in the city everything they think they need to know about trusting Cueball and Megan, of course.) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:35, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
::The question arises, what was the mission of the single stranger with the package/book/box/whatever, who met them on the way, spoke a few words, and continued on toward the tower that the group had just left. Could have been a replacement watcher on the mountain. But then why did all three strangers need to leave the post and come to the city with Cueball and Megan? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:35, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
:::I think most of that conversation was "Hello" and "Good bye" or some variants of that. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 10:33, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Probably the "strangers" ought to be called the "castle people" since that is how Megan and Cueball seem to think of them. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 09:35, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
:How about "mountain people"? I agree that "stranger(s)" does not seem appropriate anymore—after all, they are at least a local majority. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 10:33, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Maybe the castle is there to defend humans against other creatures. So other humans are always welcome, even if they don't wear silly hats.[[Special:Contributions/134.102.219.242|134.102.219.242]] 12:58, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
:That would still hardly explain the merlons—unless these creatures are somehow able to shot at higher ranges. Maybe they are currently at peace with all their neighbors, but expect a war in the future. (BTW: Greetings colleague! (According to your IP-address)) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 17:14, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone thought of looking at obscure languages with odd script texts? Georgian? Sri Lanka? Thai? {{unsigned ip|164.165.173.219|14:53, 17 July 2013 (UTC)}}
:I was speculating about some language like Esperanto or [[Lojban]], encrypted with a simple substitution cypher. But I have not investigated that further. --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 17:14, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

They could be adding to an extant structure - historically not an uncommon practice. So the merlons could be historic. As a side note, are there levers and pivots in the glass window? Maybe this is the temple of engineering?? ~~rbnm {{unsigned ip|129.238.237.96|18:52, 17 July 2013 (UTC)}}
:Or just using past motifs. Look at all the Grecian columns and medieval merlons and gargoyles and what-not that went into subsequent architecture. Nothing is more full of tradition (right along with innovation) than architecture. As for the "temple of engineering" it might just be that the whole city is the "Engineers." (Not Larry Niven's Engineers.) Whatever their role, they might be causing the sea level to rise through an engineering project, thinking that no one lives down by the sea. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 21:11, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

:Those might be "levers and pivots." They might also be telescope mounts and astronomical objects. It's a very interesting window. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 21:11, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

It's interesting that the castle is mostly underground. I wonder if the "little houses" also extend underground? And I wonder if this is a sign this is a very hot climate for the Beanies / Long-haired woman (I like the idea of naming her Hypatia, as was suggested elsewhere.) If it's hot for them up on the mountain where it is significantly cooler to Cuegan, maybe that explains why they didn't think there were people down in the sea basin. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 22:55, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Underground, an interesting theory but, many such structures had several levels below ground level, so as to reach the bedrock wherein to support the massive stone structure above. Once dug, why waste it, especially if it provided a comfortable environment? Still, the temperature theory is interesting.
If one takes the images with the partially obscured text and play with the brightness and contrast, you can make out many more words, which do not seem to be spoken aloud. Are these sub-conscious thoughts dealing with translation or something a tad more sinister? (I just saw the image change over at :40 after the hour. Just a hiccup on my browser or are these frames speeding up?)[[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 23:56, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone transcribed the blurred English words? Having trouble with a few.[[Special:Contributions/98.201.4.16|98.201.4.16]] 13:03, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
:Just created a page to address this topic. See [[1190:_Time:_Translator|Translator]]. If someone could wikify that, that'd rock. I'm wiki-dumb and it shows on that page. --[[User:1292|1292]] ([[User talk:1292|talk]]) 14:53, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

;Translator's Blurry Text

Since a lot of the stuff the translator is saying is hard to read, I figured we should have a place to get everyone's opinions on it. So I made a [[1190:Time/Translator|Translator]] page where it can be discussed. {{unsigned ip|74.95.85.209|14:18, 18 July 2013 (UTC)}}

I make that out as "What is forty? My numbers are no same." [[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 16:51, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
Meagan and Cueball explain why they are there. In reply I read it as "You do not know. I make sea rise." [[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 17:10, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
:The main Explain XDCD page has all the text of the whole comic and is doing a pretty good job with the blurred text [[1190:_Time#Scene_3_-_Part_3_.28Inside_the_castle.29|Scene 3 Inside Castle]]--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 18:25, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
::This page can be used for investigations, but the images should zoom in much more on the text. The final explain has to go here for sure: [[1190:_Time#Scene_3_-_Part_3_.28Inside_the_castle.29|Scene 3 Inside Castle]]--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:06, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
::I added links to the images from the main transcript. Perhaps the translator page should be deleted. Individual panes/phrases can be debated on the image's page, and updated in the main transcript.--[[User:Waitforit|Waitforit]] ([[User talk:Waitforit|talk]]) 20:00, 18 July 2013 (UTC)
::: And I did delete it, we just need a link to this experimental page, that's enough. And the pictures still need some more improvements. At transcript we basically only show the text.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:17, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

;Why the sea is rising
Now we know why the sea is rising. I wonder if the castle people connected the two seas intentionally, or if it was an act of nature.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 18:43, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

:the way the long haired woman says there was a great ?????? seems like an natural thing, maybe an earthquake that shut the gibraltar passage [[Special:Contributions/212.202.64.10|212.202.64.10]] 04:44, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

:Yes, but that was the ''closing'' of the passage 5.96 million years before our present time. Hair Woman is surprisingly knowledgeable about the evolution of hominids, and when her ancestors "first learned to walk upright" about that time. See {[w|Timeline_of_human_evolution}}. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:27, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
::Maybe she has Wikipedia too.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 02:35, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
:As for the opening of the passage in Cueball/Megan/Hair Woman time, H.W. says "When we discovered that the sea was ???/flowing under the bank we tried to shore it up. We failed." No indication what, if any, geological or human-caused event may have started it, and no need for there to be one, actually. No reason it couldn't have been gradual seepage even by geological measure, let alone human measure. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:27, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

;Do you know where you are?

Aw yea, finally! I just hope that we don't get another 500 frames with 2 bits of dialogue (like when they left the beach) [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 22:00, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

I'm guessing we are less than 100 feet above the "higher" sea. Sort of a dead-sea kind of difference (>1k ft) [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 22:05, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

So they are in the Mediterranean Sea. We can see Italy and to the left the Strait of Gibraltar leading to the Atlantic ocean. Would this have been thousands of years ago? [[Special:Contributions/206.191.28.43|206.191.28.43]] 01:18, 19 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck

If this article[http://www.livescience.com/10607-colossal-flood-created-mediterranean-sea.html] is right, about 5.3 million years ago. {{unsigned ip|179.218.192.171|01:24, 19 July 2013 (UTC)}}

Which makes me wonder if we're in the far future. Castles and such large architecture is only a few thousand years old. So was there an earthquake that closed the Straights of Gibraltar again, and the Mediterranean dried up? And it's now filling up again?--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 01:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

{{geekwagon|2909}} confirms that this is the future, as it refers to it happening before, when our ancestors ("parents") were learning to walk upright, i.e. 3-6 million years ago. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 06:44, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

ATLANTIS!!!! [[Special:Contributions/98.201.4.16|98.201.4.16]] 01:34, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

Is the castle Chateau D'If in France? --[[Special:Contributions/203.0.215.2|203.0.215.2]] 01:41, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

It does resemble Chateau D'If. [http://www.carhirex.com/cheap-car-hire/france-car-hire/chateau-dif-in-marseille]. The distant future is sounding more reasonable than the distant past. [[Special:Contributions/206.191.28.43|206.191.28.43]] 01:48, 19 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck

That certainly looks like the modern Mediterranean sea, now doesn't it? [[Special:Contributions/24.22.89.85|24.22.89.85]] 02:47, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

Not only that, if you look at the map which shows the channel, the location of the castle is highlighted and it does correspond to the location of Chateau D'If. --[[Special:Contributions/203.0.215.2|203.0.215.2]] 04:11, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

I don't think there is any doubt. The castle is the Chateau d'If. The correspondence on the map to Marseille harbor is exact. The map and the outline of the castle are pretty explicit, including the depiction of the Strait of Gibraltar as the "passage" between seas. So if the level of the Atlantic is anywhere near our own, they will end up on the Île d'If. If higher, who knows. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

This is a future version of Julian May's "The Many-Colored Land." [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

By the way, Cueball and Megan have walked quite a long distance. On Hair Woman's map their home appears to be due south of If, same longitude, and roughly at the latitude of Sassari, Sardinia. A minute of latitude is a nautical mile, essentially, and they walked a polygonal path, not a straight line north; a couple hundred nautical miles, at least. That's a long walk. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:30, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

What if this is the map from http://what-if.xkcd.com/53/ where the Earth's oceans had been drained? That shows the Strait of Gibraltar having been cut off from a now much-receded Mediterranean sea![[Special:Contributions/155.95.80.253|155.95.80.253]] 15:36, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

I wonder if the flag in frame 2944 (and 2812) is intended to be a marker for the new sea level? [[Special:Contributions/173.212.109.235|173.212.109.235]] 19:15, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

Assuming this is the Mediterranean sea[http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/medsea.htm], the predicted sea level map in frame 2907 shows that the Balearic Islands will become completely submerged. Since the highest point on the Balearic Islands is 1432 meters above sea level [http://www.islasbaleares.com/en/general-information-about-balearic-islands.html], and Chateau D'If isn't nearly as high, wouldn't Chateau D'If become completely submerged as well? Or maybe the Translator just omitted the Balearic Islands from the map. I'm guessing the latter is true. [[User:JimmyK4542|JimmyK4542]] ([[User talk:JimmyK4542|talk]]) 21:50, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

See the file : [[:File:Inserciomamifers.jpg]] for a dried mediterranean. {{unsigned ip|192.54.145.66|09:58, 23 July 2013 (UTC)}}

;"How many people strong are you?"

Am I the only one who finds the "strangers" a little sinister? Especially this question. It reminded me of the scene in Invader Zim when he asks the teacher about Earth'd defences... [[Special:Contributions/77.87.179.62|77.87.179.62]] 07:55, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
:Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=PL8BC075BA3A6D336D&v=k453j0d6WEk#t=351s found the clip! [[Special:Contributions/77.87.179.62|77.87.179.62]] 07:56, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
:No, you're not the only one. Megan reacted that way when Hair Woman asked them for their bags, for example. Both our protagonists looked uncomfortable when she sent away the three individuals that had helped them and brought them to the castle. And remember the hill people, and the discussion between M and C of the people on the mountain being -- maybe, hopefully -- different, since they are a long way from the hills. Also Hair Woman said "Yes! Good." when she understood the number 40. The suspense is intentional, I am sure. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

:Also when Cueball was talking about the people in the hill where their river comes from Megan said, "They don't like us," implies that there is some level of antagonism between peoples in this world and that they didn't know what to expect from the castle people.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 08:39, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

:An alternate interpretation of "Yes! Good." would be "only 40 will have drowned." [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 13:57, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

::The "Oh" and "OH" just after indicate she didn't know they weren't there and was taken aback that they weren't even aware. [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 10:40, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

:I interpreted it as "Yes! Good. I understand, I get it." [[User:Caraway|Caraway]] ([[User talk:Caraway|talk]]) 15:08, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

;Surveying equipment
I'll bet their instruments are intended to judge the level of the Atlantic and to determine if they will be an island or completely swamped. They were also used to draw the map of their guess about the future sea level.--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 08:46, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

: According to frame 2605, the Beanies could see Cuegan's home. But the beanie leader claims they did not spot them. Further indication of malicious intent? [[Special:Contributions/212.219.143.98|212.219.143.98]] 15:26, 19 July 2013 (UTC)
: 2605 shows that Cueball and Megan knew where there home was, to point to it, but not necessarily that they could /see/ anything. No instruments appeared to be mounted in that tower. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 17:50, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

;Title text
When did the hovertext change to "RUN."? --deepfatfriar 20JUL13 {{unsigned ip|75.109.36.232|15:09, 20 July 2013 (UTC)}}
:Great catch! I wonder what else we missed... (You can sign your posts by typing 4 ~'s in a row) [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 16:54, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
:Checked out the Wikia page. Luckily, we didn't miss much. The title text is "Wait for it." up until this frame (exclusive): [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/13/time2925.png] That frame has a text of "...", and all frames since have read "RUN." [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 17:06, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
:Frame 3076 has the text back to "...". When did it change? [[User:JimmyK4542|JimmyK4542]] ([[User talk:JimmyK4542|talk]]) 02:05, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
::Here: [http://xkcd.mscha.org/viewer/3067] Although, technically that frame reads '....', but all frames since read '...' [[User:Bdemirci|Bdemirci]] ([[User talk:Bdemirci|talk]]) 03:13, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
Now (frame 3077 at geekwagon) it's back to '...'[[Special:Contributions/71.212.147.246|71.212.147.246]] 03:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
: And a brief investigation shows it's been that way since 3072gw.[[Special:Contributions/71.212.147.246|71.212.147.246]] 03:42, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

;The story of Gibraltar

Did the learner/teacher/leader/ruler know the truth? She did some guesses and used a map that their people had found. I can't imagine their parents did travel 2.000 kilometers to Gibraltar, Megan and Cueball must have walked to a level more than 1.000 meters above their home, and also several hundreds of kilometers. A Cougar does not belong to Europe; they were walking to a higher level, running out of breath. At sea level? I'm pretty sure this story is still not solved.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:49, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
: People can have trouble with elevation differences as low as 1500m. It's a common problem where I live (at 1640m). If the estimates of the vertical distance traversed are wrong because Randall has been imprecise, maybe they're that far up.[[Special:Contributions/71.212.147.246|71.212.147.246]] 00:04, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
:: The castle is at sea level, though (+/- 100m given than the strip is apparently 14,000 years in the future.) I don't think one would have trouble breathing at sea level, even if they live one thousand meters below sea level. --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 05:38, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
: We don't know that it was a cougar though, do we? That was just people's assumption. It could have been a lynx, or some other big feline. ~Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 21:12, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
::I just did say: "this story is still not solved". Maybe the Cougar is wrong or even much more. Did we follow them on a journey of a couple of hundred kilometers? I'm still not convinced in that. But when they will successful use their stolen maps it could be a prove (or not, we haven't seen that local maps jet). Nevertheless, we know their castle is flooded.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:59, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

Now that we have their location, did anyone try to match it up against the night sky from Scene 2 - Part 6 in order to see how far in the future the action might be taking place? It should be easier to make more accurate predictions now, right?--[[User:Michael85|Michael85]] ([[User talk:Michael85|talk]]) 23:46, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

Please do not start a new topic for each post here.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:39, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
:And since you do not read, this story is NOT solved.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:48, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
::I followed closely this whole thread ever since it started, but I haven't joined the discussion until now. Anyway, I haven't seen any update to the star map investigation and I was curious. Sorry for barging in.--[[User:Michael85|Michael85]] ([[User talk:Michael85|talk]]) 18:04, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
:::Hey, it's a wiki. Do barge right in! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:27, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

There is a nice artist's conception of the Zanclean Flood at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Roger_Pibernat_-_landscape_-_messianic_med-1024x768.jpg [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:45, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
It's not quite the same configuration as Randall's sea basin, but similar. The flood has its own wiki page at {{w|Zanclean_flood}}. I really do not think there is any doubt that Randall's story takes place in a far-future (possibly with liberties taken) Mediterranean Basin, and Hair Woman's castle is the Chateau d'If under restoration. The original Messinian Salinity Crisis (q.v.) is estimated to have taken a thousand years or so to stabilize once the Gibraltar (and possibly other) passage(s) closed, presumably as a result of tectonic activity under the influence of the two opposing continental plates colliding at the site of the present Mediterranean Sea. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:45, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

I do believe it quite likely that Hair Woman's people's ancestors/forbears already were spread as far west as Gibraltar, which would explain why her people know about the Atlantic seeping in, and then flowing, through the barrier. She said they attempted to reinforce the barrier, but failed, so certainly they were there at Gibraltar in the "present time" of the story. And to draw ("build" she said) the outlines on the map, they had to have information about the second sea basin on the other side of Italy-Sardinia and the outlines of what we call the Adriatic, etc. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 05:45, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

:The sea they are use to must be rather hypersaline for them to consider the incoming water (from the Atlantic?) to be be "fresh" {{unsigned ip|216.239.45.91|17:01, 23 July 2013 (UTC)}}

::It sounds like they're used to water which is salty enough to float on. In any case, hypersalinity makes sense if it's the mostly-dried-up remnant of the Mediterranean.[[Special:Contributions/129.22.117.158|129.22.117.158]] 19:11, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

"I think there's stuff floating on the sea... I think something on the sea." {{geekwagon|3024}} and {{geekwagon|3025}} -- Ship? [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 23:30, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

:I wonder if "Oh, OH" meant she knew a way to rescue the 40 people by getting word to someone with a boat. Radio?--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 00:40, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

;PNG time chunks changed on the xkcd server

The images mirrored http://xkcd.mscha.org/ and those served by xkcd servers differs in two PNG 'tEXt' chunks with keywords 'date:create' and 'date:modify', which appears to contain the original timestamps. Images from mscha.org have wide range of these timestamps, indicating that the images weren't produced all at the same time. But the same frames downloaded from xkcd servers now have their time values set to "2013-05-01T15:11:05-04:00", so either mscha or xkcd must have modified the PNGs. The compressed image data seems to be modified, too.

Also note that the copy of the first frame found at mscha.org has been edited by Photoshop, because the PNG structure is different from all the others and contains a color profile beginning with "Photoshop ICC profile".

[[Special:Contributions/78.108.152.10|78.108.152.10]] 14:37, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

:Since May 3, 2013 all original files have this modification timestamp at EDT (UTC -4:00): "2013-05-01 11:22:58.000000000". So it's a fake by Randall.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:40, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

;Terrain Map

I marked up a bathymetric map of the north-west Mediterranean with the data from the Beanie map, plus extrapolated data about locations and paths: [[:File:TimeTerrainMap.png]]

The good news is, Megball can save about a third of the distance by their direct path through the hills. The bad news is, it's about a 50 mile journey from the likely location of the "tents" to the first part of the ridge they need to take to safety. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 04:59, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

:Great work! Are the white spaces just regions lacking bathymetric data? My speculation is that the "40" will already be on the move. The original "sand" castle (as much salt as sand? It certainly was a sculptable medium anyway) was implied to be underwater in the three frames with the rocking bucket on the waves. Beret Girl was down there just as C+M were leaving, dragging something. They will not have been caught totally by surprise. Perhaps the C+M's upper "castle" construction will end up being a raft? Or perhaps they have packed up their tents and are already heading for high ground? They might have seen the Hill People leaving, or...who knows. We still have to "wait for it" even as C+M "run." (That cat sure is scared of running Megan! It took off like a...scared cat! You could say, "caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.") [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:25, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
::Yup, the white spots where spots this survey hadn't finished yet, though there's been other bathymetric work so we know they are mostly flat. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 17:09, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

:Current research suggests neither years, nor days, but months for the basin to fill from the Atlantic the last time, in the 5.6mya event; but this one can be whatever Randall wants it to be. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:25, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

Cueball is concerned that the water is fresh. Although this may seem to disprove the theory that the Atlantic is flooding into the Mediterranean, it actually doesn't. Notice that Cueball "felt" that something was strange. What was strange was that they were accustomed to an extremely salty sea. Can you imagine filling up the Mediterranean Sea with ocean water then cutting it off from the Atlantic and allowing it to evaporate down to the size of C&M's sea? It would be extremely salty and you could float easily in it. The water from the Atlantic Ocean is nowhere near that salty so Cueball interprets it as fresh water. This will cause problems with the rescue because these people are not used to swimming in water that's not super salty. They can't float like they're used to and risk drowning. [[Special:Contributions/198.103.184.76|198.103.184.76]] 16:32, 23 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck
:My thought too. He does say "Not as fresh as a river", which means it's still salty, but much less so than the sea they're used to. I'm reminded of the Dead Sea, which also has a very high salinity. This makes the water tasting and spluttering in the beginning (while building the sand castle) make a lot of sense. I guess I have to go back and read it all again now that we have some context. ~Therrufying [[Special:Contributions/83.233.5.126|83.233.5.126]] 18:36, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
::"Not as fresh as a river"--we also now know why Megan and Cueball couldn't get Cueball's water bottle when it fell in the river at 920:00. They never learned to swim without the high salinity helping them float.[[User:Vicky715|Vicky715]] ([[User talk:Vicky715|talk]]) 23:36, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

Another map, with better resolution, of the rising water levels: [[:File:rising-water.png]] [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 06:35, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
:How 'bout that - you can even see Ile D'If. [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 08:28, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

;Moving 'mound'?

I've got a feeling.. that it's beret girl and the 'platform' from way back in the first 'act'! - {{unsigned ip|98.144.105.195|10:02, 24 July 2013‎ (UTC)}}

:Your feeling is accurate. The return of Beret Girl! "I found my cousin." "Here we come to save the day!" [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 10:16, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

:Well, I have a feeling that since you made your edit (without signing it) ''after'' Beret Girl reappeared you actually mean "the ''same'' beret girl". [[Special:Contributions/121.72.165.205|121.72.165.205]] 10:27, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

:in the frames she shows up with the upper platform, what are the small moving parts in the lower area? allready floating stuff? [[Special:Contributions/212.202.64.10|212.202.64.10]] 10:59, 24 July 2013 (UTC)
::Well, she did say "I turned it into a boat." I guess that means floating stuff. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:11, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

Beret Girl said "boat" and I congratulate her resourcefulness but, I wonder if she meant "raft" instead. (Let us not dwell heavily on the difference.) Is there any doubt now that Randall has been planning this for a long time, in fair detail? He seemed to have responded, to some degree, to some of the postings made here on the Wiki, yet I wonder if perhaps it was just coincidence? [[User:Riprap|Riprap]] ([[User talk:Riprap|talk]]) 14:41, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

So to theft (the maps) do we now add looting? What they are taking was left behind by others who evacuated in the face of a natural disaster. Our tribe seems not to have needed these things before, back in the sand castle days, but are taking advantage of this opportunity to load up on stuff now. I hope they don't sink the raft under their loot. deepfatfriar [[Special:Contributions/75.109.36.232|75.109.36.232]] 17:37, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

That might be the tribes own camp. They may have moved the camp up into the hills to pick up the stuff that was left behind. Also, if there us no reasonable chance of the former owner getting it back I think the proper term is "salvaging" or "scavenging" not "looting". [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 19:40, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
: I was under the impression that it was the tribes' own camp. We already knew they were tent-dwellers- Yurt dwellers by the looks! [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 02:31, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

This has to be one of the best dialogues Randall has ever written: "Why is everything flooding? Why is the water full of trees? Why do you have little tables covered in sand?" [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 21:05, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

Frame 3060 "Is there any way to keep us pointing forward?" "We could start calling this the front." Clearly, someone is a mathematician. [[User:JimmyK4542|JimmyK4542]] ([[User talk:JimmyK4542|talk]]) 21:36, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
:...rubbed elbows with 'em, anyway. :) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:22, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

33 heads {{geekwagon|3072}} << "About forty of us" {{geekwagon|2896}}. Where are the others? [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 22:10, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
: I counted 33... then 29... then 26... where are they going??? [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 00:06, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
::(ps, fixed your second link.) {{unsigned ip|24.218.148.222|00:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)}}
::Behind the hanging curtain? [[Special:Contributions/50.139.68.248|50.139.68.248]] 00:19, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
:: It's a bit of a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sljSf7KVlQ lifeboat scenario] [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 00:20, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
:: Well, Randall knows we are watching and counting! [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 01:22, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
::: Now down to 18 visible people. Cueball and Megan were among the first to disappear. If they're all under the enclosure, it must be pretty cozy. [[Special:Contributions/24.218.148.222|24.218.148.222]] 03:52, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
::: Almost certainly they are. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Frame 3072 - Title text has once again changed to "...." [[User:Uglystick|Uglystick]] ([[User talk:Uglystick|talk]]) 22:12, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
:GREAT find, has to be mentioned when we do know what's the next.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:24, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

It's a Yurt!!! [[Special:Contributions/184.155.116.49|184.155.116.49]] Polecat
: Yes. They lived in yurts in their village by the sea. They took some down to use in enhancing their platform-boat-raft, and apparently brought along many of the spare parts. These people seem to be very quick and very clever at improvising, even on the water. And very logical thinkers in an emergency. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

I have no idea what is going on. The "boat" looks like it's moving over land in 3079/3080, not floating on water. --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 06:20, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

:I think that is not land, but debris floating on the water. [[User:Sumitimus|Sumitimus]] ([[User talk:Sumitimus|talk]]) 07:03, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
:Yes. In 3076 a big swell caused the whole group to stagger and fall down. In 3079 and 3080 more waves, and smaller ones in 3081 and 3082. Both rafts have been on the water since they first spotted the remaining party with the second raft. Now there are flying fish! (in 3082.) The thing that may save them is that their construction methods seem to make use of lots of flexible members and perhaps lashings for fasteners; their rafts can apparently flex with the waves. So long as they don't get overwhelmed. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

You would think there would be considerable air movement. I wonder if they will figure out the concept of a sea anchor, or if it would even help. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 08:23, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

And we're back to building sandcastles on top of the raft with the left-over sand there. I guess the story is going to move slowly for a while again. We'll have to "Wait for it" even though the hover-over text has gone back to "RUN." [[Special:Contributions/198.103.184.76|198.103.184.76]] 12:47, 26 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck

<blockquote> I think that is not land, but debris floating on the water. Sumitimus (talk) 07:03, 26 July 2013 (UTC)</blockquote>

It's [http://kosmo.hubpages.com/hub/What-Should-I-Know-about-the-Earths-Floating-Islands-of-Garbage# Gilligan's Island]! Sorry couldn't help it.[[Special:Contributions/69.126.70.32|69.126.70.32]] 19:02, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

I feel like Randall is playing a little too fast and loose with the science here. I mean, this MASSIVE influx of water never overwhelms their makeshift rafts, carries them all the way to land, deposits them gentle on the shore, and then suddenly stops rising, without even pulling back? Did he decide he needed to speed things along, as the comic was becoming too time consuming? [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 19:08, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
:At the pictures you can see many big bags filled with air attached to the raft. This does work fine. And because they did not steering their vessel they just reach land again by random.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:33, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

;The End

Oh my. What a letdown. [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:03, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
:Nevertheless, a wonderful ride. A ''tour de force''. Randall is a genius at minimalism. Stick figures with no faces, all individuals, with full expression and body language; and his fans practically crash the internet. :) [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 13:52, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
:Yeah, that's it? I mean it's a nice story, but not much of a climax/denouement. [[Special:Contributions/66.66.107.178|66.66.107.178]] 20:05, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
::You could see the writing on the wall with how he sped through the rescue, but that's seriously anticlimactic. I mean, it couldn't go on forever, but it feels like he just ran out of Time. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 20:15, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
:::Well, I sure couldn't see the writing on the wall when he started to rush the story - I mean, he depicted the climb from the point where they meet the tribe (which is shortly before the dunes) to the castle in about 1500 frames - more than a month worth of story, I think - while the descent was depicted in just about 100 frames. So, when he started to rush things, my reaction was thinking that something big was about to happen; and I think that's why I (and others here) are disappointed at how it ended. I suppose Randall started to get tired and just wanted to be done with it, but maybe he could've wrapped it up a bit better. He made an awesome job on the whole, yeah, but I do get that "Lost" feeling - anticlimatic, and a few things left unexplained. --[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 16:46, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
:I'm not sure, maybe we will get a sequel. But the original image links now to [[http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/ geekwagon]] and the title text is "The end.". I'm waiting just for the next hour, then it should be clear, or not?--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:17, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
::We're all junkies now--we'll still be hitting refresh a week from now, hoping it might just change... In the end, though, that was the real brilliance of it. Not the story, but the way making us wait for each frame gave every little moment of it so much more weight, by giving us the time to anticipate and speculate and imagine for ourselves. It had to end eventually, but it was an amazing thing. [[User:KenBrown|KenBrown]] ([[User talk:KenBrown|talk]]) 20:27, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
:As ggh said: "Wow. Maybe we ''are'' supposed to draw it now." http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101043&start=50160#p3422078 [[Special:Contributions/174.27.36.133|174.27.36.133]] 20:43, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

So, is it time to pin down the skydate more accurately? [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 20:34, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
: We have one date that matches, so someone with patience could do the math for when Venus's cycle of reappearing in the same spot and Jupiter's almost-12 year cycle of doing the same match up again, and then test the star movements to see which is closest. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:33, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Be patient, this is NOT the END, maybe just a fading out, but images still do get updates.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:12, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
: Writing a program to make the raft and water wiggle around forever (maybe even with tides?) would not be *that* hard. [[Special:Contributions/216.239.45.91|216.239.45.91]] 21:19, 26 July 2013 (UTC)
: The final frame is a link to geekwagon now, so it may really be over. I've enjoyed my time watching and waiting and lurking through the discussion. Thank you, Randall, and thank you all for the wonderful discussion. [[User:Lizzard|Lizzard]] ([[User talk:Lizzard|talk]]) 03:57, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

If Randall is reading: Thanks for the story. We all loved it. [[Special:Contributions/206.191.28.43|206.191.28.43]] 21:25, 26 July 2013 (UTC)dbuck
:I very much enjoyed following the story, but am also very much disappointed in how it ended. --[[Special:Contributions/68.147.179.172|68.147.179.172]] 01:16, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

Thank you Randall for the nice story! The End remembers me of Lucasarts-Adventures... May someday a new frame appears with "That's really the end, you can shutdown your computer now" ;-) [[User:Joggl|Joggl]] ([[User talk:Joggl|talk]]) 11:47, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

:I wouldn't believed it anyway. I recommend checking the comics until the xkcd.com address is resolvable. Is the updating script prepared for eventual IPv4 deprecation? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:21, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

We still get updates every hour, even when most pictures are not new. The latest NEW picture was on 02:00, 27 July 2013 (EDT), ten hours after the "end frame".--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:53, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
: Not anymore, it loops over now. [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/data/log.html Check the log.] [[Special:Contributions/83.8.27.154|83.8.27.154]] 15:11, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
:: Yeah, based upon that log, except for glitches, from midnight Geekwagon time, it is repeating:
:::3099
:::3097
:::3098
:::3095
:::3099
:::3098
:::3097
:::3096
:::3095
:::3099
:::3098
:::3097
:::3097
:::3098
:::3097
:::3096
:::3095
:::3098
:::3095
:::3099
:::3098
:::3097
:::3096
:::3095
::
::[[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 08:11, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

I think it's time to change the text on the main page to reflect the fact that the comic has actually ended. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 00:13, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

;The Bit After the Credits

I thought that we might get one, and indeed something is coming into view under the bush on the right. I am expecting the hedgehog, possibly pursued by the wildcat, whose choices on who to eat continue to be painful. There are really the only two extraneous elements that haven't been wrapped up. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 23:31, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

What about the chirps from way up high when they were up on the mountain? Or the baby bird and it's mother?
Or the other tribes from the hills? {{unsigned|98.144.105.195|04:36, 27 July 2013 (UTC)}}
:Well, we only got a tiny tease anyway, sniff. No aftercredits bit. [[User:Tavella|Tavella]] ([[User talk:Tavella|talk]]) 16:27, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

:What about giving back the maps. And what did Cueball mean? "M: Along with the maps, I should've stolen a guide to treating injuries. Ooh, and one on how they make those pointing devices in the towers..." C responds: "Um..." Did he take something? What was it? Hmm... [[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:53, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
::I thought the "Um..." was like, "Um, maybe we shouldn't be quite so eager to steal stuff". [[Special:Contributions/50.139.68.248|50.139.68.248]] 13:26, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
So it has ended, Thank you Mr. Munroe. By my estimation 3099 frames is about 1/5th of what Watterson did in 10 years. WOW.
So now it's time to go outside and build some sandcastles of our own. Hey we can be re-enactors!! [[Special:Contributions/184.155.116.49|184.155.116.49]] Polecat
:3102 frames archived at http://xkcd.mscha.org - geekwagon's archive is missing three early frames. The complete sequence can be viewed starting from http://xkcd.mscha.org/viewer/1. [[User:Filron|Filron]] ([[User talk:Filron|talk]]) 05:33, 27 July 2013 (UTC)
I wish there WERE credits. I would love to get Randall's view on what his original idea was, whether he fashioned the whole story from the beginning or if it started simple and evolved into this post-apocalyptic drama, what his inspirations were, what real-wold sources he used to develop the science, a language translation, etc. I loved the whole series and checked daily (mostly) and don't think the ending in any way diminished the richness of the whole. As usually happens with XKCD, it spawned some wonderful discussions, speculations and scientific explorations. We don't usually get much explanation and I don't anticipate much from this one, either, but it doesn't make me long for it (or am I missing something). Thank you for the wonderful four month exercise in patience. Every time XKCD does something amazing that I think cannot be topped, Randall always comes up with something that amazes me. What's next? I guess I have to, "Wait for it."--[[User:Gerry|Gerry]] ([[User talk:Gerry|talk]]) 16:46, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
:Randall [http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/07/29/1190-time/ posted about it] with a few insights into the process, and some "special thanks" stuff. Looks like it's done for real.--[[User:Fernandofig|Fernandofig]] ([[User talk:Fernandofig|talk]]) 17:22, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

It's sad having to go back to getting new XKCD comics on MWF. I really enjoyed getting to read new stuff everyday. [[User:Puck0687|Puck0687]] ([[User talk:Puck0687|talk]]) 13:55, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

;Second night

The second night is darker [http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=3081 on geekwagon] than on [http://xkcd.mscha.org/viewer/3076 mscha] and aubronwood, which both use [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/f8683dd615aa9a2b0768f32e26b5c08c6a2ff176414d5cdd84bebf005eb224a6.png this image from xkcd.com]. Did we miss a rapid animation? [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 14:31, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

:I've been logging on 1 minutes intervals and got only the normal hourly change around there. [[Special:Contributions/99.72.154.66|99.72.154.66]] 16:32, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

:: Thanks, I guess what geekwagon.net caught was just a minor glitch then. [[User:Jahvascriptmaniac|Jahvascriptmaniac]] ([[User talk:Jahvascriptmaniac|talk]]) 18:29, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

;Internal XKCD Referencing

Can's spot a "Referenced in"-like section in the existing Main or Talk listings, and I don't even know if anyone's going to read this addition to the Talk and take it seriously, but the final picture of http://what-if.xkcd.com/83/ (an image of someone building a sandcastle in a "solar sandpit") has the title-text "Just to be clear, this image does not update every hour..." And I'm sure that's not the first one I've seen (but right now it escapes me what the others were). FYI, however, for anyone who comes along to search for this kind of info. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.177|141.101.99.177]] 04:54, 12 February 2014 (UTC)
:Glad someone mentioned it here. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.227|108.162.212.227]] 18:07, 6 August 2017 (UTC)

;Bird in tree

From 1539 to 1543 in the tree you can see small movements if you look close enough.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.4|108.162.221.4]] 02:09, 18 September 2015 (UTC)

;Rest of xkcd

I think that other comics should have this animation as an option. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.40|108.162.245.40]] 01:33, 19 November 2016 (UTC)

;Upriver vs. downriver

When Megan and Cueball find the second river, they travel and eventually get to a place where it joins up with another river; this presumably means that they are traveling downriver. However, they then say "let's continue upriver". Which is it? --[[User:Emperor-Nathan|Emperor-Nathan]] ([[User talk:Emperor-Nathan|talk]]) 05:29, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
:I think it splits instead of joining, so upriver. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 12:03, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

=== :) ===
I like this comic.

It's a good comic.

DollarStoreBa'al {{unsigned|DollarStoreBa'al|14:48, 22 August 2025 (UTC)}}

3259: Tethys

2026-06-15T20:15:55Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3259
| date = June 15, 2026
| title = Tethys
| image = tethys_2x.png
| imagesize = 304x317px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In order to carry the necessary crafting supplies, they built the ships at 12:1 scale.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently AND NEEDS TO BE RECREATED AT A 1:12 SCALE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Tethys (moon)|Tethys}}, the fifth moon of Saturn, has a diameter of 1,060 kilometers, almost exactly 1/12th that of Earth's, which is 12,742 km. This scaling is a {{w|1:12 scale|common one}} used for modelling, perhaps because of the relative simplicity of converting all real-life measurements directly from any given number of {{w|Foot (unit)|feet}} in the real life subject to exactly the same number of {{w|inch}}es in the model version.

This comic alludes to a fantastical scenario in which artists who produce miniature scale models of existing structures decide to use Tethys to produce a 1:12 scale model of the Earth. This is a patently absurd undertaking: all the difficulties of {{w|terraforming}}, already a monstrously hard task, would be exacerbated by the need to precisely recreate Earth's features, as well as by some particularly unfavorable traits of the Saturnian system. Tethys's distance from the Sun is too great for Earth's surface conditions to be recreated without artificially increasing insolation, likely through the use of orbital solar mirrors. These would be especially difficult to erect around Saturn, with its many moons and ring system causing severe gravitational interference. In addition, it would be difficult to get the necessary rockets, as it would be unlikely that any space agency would be willing to aid this thoroughly ridiculous project.{{Citation needed}}

However, there is some good news: Tethys' large native water stores eliminate the need to ship in more, and the nearby moon {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}'s atmosphere could be harvested for nitrogen, which is necessary to recreate {{w|Atmosphere_of_Earth#Composition|Earth's atmospheric composition}}. Being very far away from Earth also means that there is no risk of [[878: Model Rail|nesting]] - having the model include a miniature version of itself, which includes an even more miniature version of itself, which includes....

Interestingly enough, the description refers to it as model-builders final project. This implies that once the Earth is recreated, it will be such a grand project that it will be the final miniature model ever made, which is unlikely.{{Citation Needed}}

The title text humorously says that the ships used in the construction effort are built "at a 12:1 scale", i.e. 12x larger than normal (however "normal" is defined).

==Transcript==
[An image of a planet, presumably Saturn, showing prominent rings as well as three distant moons (one to the apparent right of it, the other two at the left) and one close, large moon. In front of the large moon is a line of spaceships dwindling into the distance toward the moon, or perhaps toward an orbit around it. Each spaceship has prominent rocket nozzles aimed toward the viewer and away from the large moon, as well as what appears to be a pile of material on "top" of the spaceship, with tie-down ropes holding it in place.]

[Caption below the panel:] 
After learning that Tethys is exactly 1/12th the size of Earth, the miniature art model builders launched a fleet of ships to begin their final, greatest project.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Space]]

3259: Tethys

2026-06-15T20:13:42Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3259
| date = June 15, 2026
| title = Tethys
| image = tethys_2x.png
| imagesize = 304x317px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In order to carry the necessary crafting supplies, they built the ships at 12:1 scale.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently AND NEEDS TO BE RECREATED AT A 1:12 SCALE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Tethys (moon)|Tethys}}, the fifth moon of Saturn, has a diameter of 1,060 kilometers, almost exactly 1/12th that of Earth's, which is 12,742 km. This scaling is a {{w|1:12 scale|common one}} used for modelling, perhaps because of the relative simplicity of converting all real-life measurements directly from any given number of {{w|Foot (unit)|feet}} in the real life subject to exactly the same number of {{w|inch}}es in the model version.

This comic presents a fantastical scenario in which artists who produce miniature scale models of existing structures decide to use Tethys to produce a 1:12 scale model of the Earth. This is a patently absurd undertaking: all the difficulties of {{w|terraforming}}, already a monstrously hard task, would be exacerbated by the need to precisely recreate Earth's features, as well as by some particularly unfavorable traits of the Saturnian system. Tethys's distance from the Sun is too great for Earth's surface conditions to be recreated without artificially increasing insolation, likely through the use of orbital solar mirrors. These would be especially difficult to erect around Saturn, with its many moons and ring system causing severe gravitational interference. In addition, it would be difficult to get the necessary rockets, as it would be unlikely that any space agency would be willing to aid this thoroughly ridiculous project.{{Citation needed}}

However, there is some good news: Tethys' large native water stores eliminate the need to ship in more, and the nearby moon {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}'s atmosphere could be harvested for nitrogen, which is necessary to recreate {{w|Atmosphere_of_Earth#Composition|Earth's atmospheric composition}}. Being very far away from Earth also means that there is no risk of [[878: Model Rail|nesting]] - having the model include a miniature version of itself, which includes an even more miniature version of itself, which includes....

Interestingly enough, the description refers to it as model-builders final project. This implies that once the Earth is recreated, it will be such a grand project that it will be the final miniature model ever made, which is unlikely.{{Citation Needed}}

The title text humorously says that the ships used in the construction effort are built "at a 12:1 scale," i.e., 12x larger than normal (however "normal" is defined).

==Transcript==
[An image of a planet, presumably Saturn, showing prominent rings as well as three distant moons (one to the apparent right of it, the other two at the left) and one close, large moon. In front of the large moon is a line of spaceships dwindling into the distance toward the moon, or perhaps toward an orbit around it. Each spaceship has prominent rocket nozzles aimed toward the viewer and away from the large moon, as well as what appears to be a pile of material on "top" of the spaceship, with tie-down ropes holding it in place.]

[Caption below the panel:] 
After learning that Tethys is exactly 1/12th the size of Earth, the miniature art model builders launched a fleet of ships to begin their final, greatest project.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Space]]

Talk:2666: Universe Price Tiers

2026-06-15T20:05:08Z

81.179.199.253: Polishing the turd...

We seem to be in Universe Standard, based on the cosmic speed limit
[[User:Victor|Victor]] ([[User talk:Victor|talk]]) 22:03, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

Is the price per user (human)? Or payed by the "god" who runs the universe?
The interpretation would change quite a bit. If per user, some could travel fast while others would not see ads and could even be immortal.
If per universe, would the concept of ads disappear?
[[User:Victor|Victor]] ([[User talk:Victor|talk]]) 22:25, 31 August 2022 (UTC)
::The tree sound can't be a particular human's experience, and the speed limit seems intended to be per universe.

General comment, I think each line of the table should have a separate one-line or one-paragraph explanation, rather than squishing it into one column of a table which mostly reproduces the comic text. i.e. we don't need the table in the explanation, although it works fine in the transcript imo. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.71|172.69.62.71]] 23:40, 31 August 2022 (UTC)edit: a word

"Yes, and he cheats" may be a reference to a quote from ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri''.
::I fully expected something like ''"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out 'til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along."'' (from ''Interesting Times'' by Terry Pratchett) [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 01:47, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::The SMAC quote is "Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded. - Chairman Sheng-ji Yang", from the Probability Mechanics tech. Also, the "God does not play dice" quote is stated during the Supercollider secret project movie. I doubt the comic is referencing any particular media here, though. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.5|172.69.22.5]] 02:40, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::Meanwhile, Stephen Hawking said "Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 16:01, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

Under ''Number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin'', '64' is 2⁵ and may be making reference to the Nintendo 64 game system. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 01:54, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::And just for the record, 4096 is 2¹². [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]])
:::64 = 26 != 25 = 32. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.17|172.68.50.17]] 19:43, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:: Note that the philosophical question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin turns to have much more useful meaning if we realize that the question wasn't if 64 or 4096, but if it's a finite or infinite number, that is, if angels are subject to {{w|Pauli's exclusion principle}}. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 15:59, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
::: I think the answer is [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8071704/characters/nm0000531 to be found elsewhere]. And it is a different power of 2! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 17:26, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
:::: Damn, now I want to see that scene again to see what the hell the gavotte is, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 15:50, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
::::: Here is an [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQtUr7-wMYw extended version] (with uploader's additional soundtrack?), but it seems like the most demonstrative publically available clip at first glance. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.211|172.69.79.211]] 18:38, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:No. You can't use the 64 to try to inject a reference, 64 is too important and common a number, Nintendo and Randall simply got the number from the same place, being 2^6 (it's 6, not 5, 5 is 32. One to six is 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64). You need SOMETHING else to wonder if there's a question/reference. Like if the N64 had some game where angels dance on the head of a pin (or at least dancing angels). In which case it'd be a reference to that game. In the same way you could claim it's a reference to 64-bit versions of Windows, or about how iOS switched to requiring 64-bit apps and dropped support for 32-bit apps a couple of years ago, both of which are more recent and thus could be considered more likely. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 15:41, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
:Not only are the numbers all powers of 2, they're all perfect squares as well. This might imply 2x2, 8x8, and 32x32 "resolution" on the universe, as in "how many pixels can dance on the head of a pin?" --[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 19:19, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

Who is paying our subscription? How do we ensure we don't get demoted to lite?

Here, the sound of one hand clapping is pretty much "toop." Put your hand out flat fingers together, and no thumb involved, quickly make a fist. Toop. Edit I'm not making a fist. Im keeping the last joints straight and smacking my hand[[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.95|172.70.134.95]] 15:59, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
:But two hands each doing that (or slapping another bit of body) aren't "two hands clapping", but more like two hands ''clasping''/something-or-other-like-that.
:If you could bring your one hand to a sudden stop in mid-air ''as if'' hitting another hand, it might be closer, but there's no sudden stop possible like a contact-stop. Plus a full-fledged clap for maximum ovational volume involves cupped hands trapping a resonant volume of air between them, almost sealed (wet hands so positioned can be used to force a squeaky-fart sound out from between them), and neither an "air clap" or the toop-clasp can do anything so dramatic with a solo hand. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.154|141.101.99.154]] 17:54, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
: the sound can be more clap like if you bend your hand upwards and keep it like that. Then loosen your fingers, and smash your upward lower arm to the front and back. My one armed brother taught me. It's handy (hehe) if one hand is holding a drink. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.204|172.68.51.204]] 07:36, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

I have a problem with the "Bad things..." portion. ''If'' I was a bad person, then I would never pay for the universe, as I would be better off in the free version, where nothing bad would ever happen to me. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:17, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

The "bad things" section is a bit bothersome: good things don't exist without bad things. Without bad things, good things are just...things. So maybe awareness of bad things is still extant in UniPro? That way, good things would still be at the upper end of a theoretical scale.

But the subjectivity of badness is concerning in a bad-things-don't-happen realm. I reckon plenty of people who could spring for fifty bucks a month would list rum, Katharine Hepburn movies, gay people and Jews as bad things that therefore won't happen. If I stump up my Pro subscription, do I have to share the universe with these douchebags, or do we each get our own? And if it's the latter, how much of a douche must you be to be excluded from my universe? Can we differ a little and still coexist, or do we have to gel perfectly? And how would that ever happen...and would it be tolerable to live surrounded by my opinion-clones? Is this...is this the too-perfect Matrix v.1.0? Am I buying a ticket to a simulated utopia while my body atrophies?
You monster! Guards! Guards! Let me out.....

[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.35|172.71.178.35]] 23:09, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
Note that Universe Lite is marked as trademark, Universe Standard as a registered trademark, and Universe Pro as...BOTH. This is a joke; more is better, esp. in lists of features. But there's no point in claiming a mark is both a trademark and a registered trademark.

How to clap with one hand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwoq3QBaQAY [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:38, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear it, then there is NO SOUND. The act of the tree falling will create vibrations in the air, but those vibrations only become 'sound' when they impact on a tympanic membrane (such as an eardrum) that is connected to a brain. Sound happens in your head, folks. Of course, in practice, the likelihood of a tree falling in an area that contains NO tympanic membranes at all is impossible given the abundance of miniature scaled life on Earth. That said, we have no idea whether insects actually perceive those air vibrations as 'sound' in the same way that humans do - the fairy fly, for example, is so small that it can 'swim' through air rather than flying, so probably perceives sound waves the same way that humans experience ocean waves.
[[User:MarquisOfCarrabass|MarquisOfCarrabass]] ([[User talk:MarquisOfCarrabass|talk]]) 05:50, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
: <-----Pish-Posh. Sound happens regardless of aby tympanic membranes. Sound: noun 1. vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person's or animal's ear. The definition is CAN be heard, not ARE heard. Sound vibrations cause MANY things to happen besides vibrating tympanic membranes, and it's STILL SOUND.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.60|172.70.100.60]] 11:47, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
::These two viewpoints are ''exactly'' why this is a point of philosophical discussion instead of a solved problem. [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 20:36, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:::Yes, it comes down to how one defines "sound". Is it a set of air vibrations with a certain set of characteristics, or is it someone's ''perception'' of such a set of vibrations? The question about the tree falling is indeterminate as stated because of the lack of that definition. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 21:40, 2 September 2022 (UTC)

We should do a comparison of universe standard vs our universe see if that's what we're doing [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 08:13, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:...hang on, I already downloaded a crack to repatch the executables to get around the pesky copy protection/licence-key manager. The patcher utility says it might take some time, and I've had to give it superuser access to the entire system for some reason, so it might be a good idea to save your current session and let it do its job before messing about in the menus or we might find unexpected results! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.5|172.70.85.5]] 11:01, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:I looked in the leaked payment notes, and found that biblicalGod31, the current payer, refused to pay 2 geomagnetic reversals ago, so our subscription got demoted to standard. Looking in the End God License Agreement, it seems that next geomagnetic reversal we will be demoted to lite. (Sorry if I didn't do humor well). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.11|172.70.126.11]] 13:38, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
::I definitely want to see this movie/read this book now. Our heroes discover that the universe is in fact a simulation. Not a malevolent one like The Matrix, but a for-fun one like implied by this comic. The heroes come to realize that the entity playing the simulation is about to screw it up somehow (possibly by not paying the subscription fee), and they have to figure out how to break out of the simulation and convince the apathetic entity to care about the inhabitants of the universe and save it from annihilation or demotion to the free tier. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.65|172.70.178.65]] 15:01, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
:::Meanwhile, the apathetic entity realizes that his universe is a simulation, so he has to figure out how to break out ... Hey, how many levels up does this go? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.49|172.70.210.49]] 06:18, 6 September 2022 (UTC)

Except for the Cosmic Speed Limit - which I didn't know what speed this meant until the explanation - I found it quite clear THIS is UniverseLite! We ARE using it free. Bad things DO only seem to happen to good people. God DOES seem to play dice and cheat. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:54, 3 September 2022 (UTC)

I seem to remember a recent Jeopardy episode referenced a question similar to "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" (I think "What are angels?" was the correct answer but no one got it.) Could there be a connection between that and the mention of that question in this comic? [[User:Brian-K-1016|Brian-K-1016]] ([[User talk:Brian-K-1016|talk]]) 05:53, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

In the Universe Pro Edition, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freewill_(song) Freewill] comes with a signed 8x10 photo of your choice of Geddy, Alex, or Neil.

To extend an idea mentioned above by "Ragbrat",stating the number of angels that can occupy a volume implies they are fermionic. The fact that there are 6 types (choirs, ranks, species, whatever ...) of them hints at a possible symmetry similar to that found in quarks and leptons and raises the question whether angels might be elementary. That seems unlikely, though, since reports of observation of their interactions indicate a complexity difficult to imagine in an elementary particle. Odds are they are composite particles. There have been enough reports concerning angels to be confident that they are macroscopic. That, in turn, implies that their binding energy does not owe to strong, electromagnetic, weak, or gravitational interactions; they are bound tightly enough to retain an identity even in a fairly strong gravitational field - or to their being from another universe in which values of h and other fundamental constants are different from those in our own universe. Of course, they could also be composite, de-facto fermionic quasiparticles, in which what appears to be a particle is a process in equilibrium. People are quasiparticles of this kind, since it takes 1E-10 sec or so for an oxygen molecule to form a chemical bond to atoms which are clearly part of the body and a typical human body needs more than 2E10 oxygen atoms/sec in order to work. People are also effectively fermionic, although what actually holds their shape is an indirect expression of electrons' fermionic nature and electrical charge - electrons are in discrete states, which means how they repel other electrons depends on what state they're in. So maybe angels are some kind of people from another dimension or something. {{unsigned|Adeblanc|22:28, 3 February 2023}}

"The closest thing to a meaning of life in this universe that provably exists seems to be natural selection, ie the meaning of life is to spread our genetics, although this is an exceptionally unsatisfying answer." -> This is falling for the naturalistic fallacy. While it is true, that we can observe that we as humans "spread our genetics", it not correct to deduce from this, that we should be doing that. {{unsigned ip|172.68.253.142|15:31, 5 March 2025}}

earth bought universe standard siamease city bought universe pro >:D >:D >:D {unsigned ip|2605:59c8:22e3:3e14:e439:d743:d102:ce8f|16:58(+17:03), 15 June 2026}}
:except for the bad things not happening thing. several fire-extinguisher-foam filled thermonuclear bombs have been detonated. {{unsigned ip|2605:59c8:22e3:3e14:e439:d743:d102:ce8f|17:00, 15 June 2026}}
(talk)

Title text

2026-06-14T23:40:46Z

81.179.199.253: /* Number of title texts per comic */ To say "inability" is misleading. The (genuine) 404-return page for a given web-backend can indeed use images (which could have title texts upon them), like they can have a friendly search/site-map. This one doesn't.

<noinclude>{{xkcd.com}}[[File:xkcd_comic.png|thumb|right|250px|The [[Design of xkcd.com#Comic section|Comic section]] is one of the [[Design of xkcd.com|four main sections]] of the [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com] website.]]{{TOC}}[[File:tt.png|right|thumb|The title text for [[2760: Paleontology Museum]]]]
{{incomplete|
*Explain that Randall previously ''erroneously'' called it "alt text" (like in [[45]]) and mouseover text, but he more recently calls it "title text", like in [[442]]. (Give a bit of history.) Add more comics/examples of Randall calling it "alt text", "mouseover text", and "title" text.

* Explain that in the book [[xkcd: volume 0]], comics sometimes include a different title text.

* Explain the use of title texts in the images of his ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' articles (explained [[what if? (blog)|here]]) and how the use changed from describing the image to adding jokes.}}
The '''title text''', also known as {{w|mouseover|mouseover text}} or {{w|tooltip}}, is an {{w|HTML attribute}} [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] puts on [[:Category:No title text|almost every xkcd comic]] to add something tangentially relevant to the topic of the comic. In some of the early comics, the title text was also used to comment on how they were drawn (see [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]]) and explain the joke (see [[5: Blown apart]]). In [[:Category:No title text|a few comics]], the title text is missing. The comic with the longest title text is [[1363: xkcd Phone]] (816 characters), while [[1311: 2014]] has the title text with the highest word count (134 words).

==How to access==
{{Quote|[T]o my knowledge none of the comics were ever missing a tooltip. It's all in a database (overbuilt, I know) and I think I would have noticed an empty field. More likely someone was just confused by their browser's erratic tooltip display behavior. Sometimes you have to do little incantations (or mouse over a link and then back onto the picture) to get them to appear.|[[Randall Munroe]]|{{w|Talk:Xkcd/Archive_1#All but one...|Source}}}}

Then title text can be accessed in many ways:
* By hovering the mouse pointer over the image on the main site;
* By clicking or tapping the "(alt-text)" button next to the comic title on the [https://m.xkcd.com mobile site];
* By viewing the [[Transcript|official transcript]] of the comics;
* By installing a [[Browser helpers|browser helper]];
* By opening the info.0.json file, for example [http://xkcd.com/info.0.json http://xkcd.com/info.0.json], [http://xkcd.com/485/info.0.json http://xkcd.com/485/info.0.json] or [http://xkcd.com/412/info.0.json http://xkcd.com/412/info.0.json]

==History==
Randall didn't add title texts to his comics before [https://xkcd.com xkcd.com], but most of the comics posted on [[LiveJournal]] had an original caption beneath the image, and many had comments by LiveJournal users. All the comics transferred to the new site had a title text, which was often along the same lines, but was almost never the same as the caption on LiveJournal. Learn more at [[LiveJournal]].

Randall uses the "title" attribute rather than the {{w|Alternative text for images|"alt" attribute}} in the HTML sources. In the [https://xkcd.com/rss.xml comics feed] and [https://xkcd.com/info.0.json API data] the "alt text" is labelled "alt". Randall has, at times, refer to "alt text", with one early comic example being the title text of [[45: Schrodinger]], though that can equally be read as refering to the accompanying "alt=" parameter given to the image, "Schrodinger", as far as the implied joke goes.

===Firefox bug===
{{w|Firefox 2}} used to have a long-standing bug where only the initial part of the title text was shown as a tooltip. Firefox didn't show you the rest of the text unless you right-clicked show-property, and you would be able to see a sideways scrollable field of the title-text in the properties for the image. This bug was referenced in the title text of [[491: Twitter]] ("If long tooltips / cut off for you / then upgrade from / Firefox 2 / Burma Shave") and is still mentioned in [https://xkcd.com/about xkcd.com's About page]:

{{Quote|<big>'''Why can't I read the whole comic mouseover text in Firefox?'''</big>

''They can be read with extensions like [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1715/ Long Titles], or by right-clicking on the images and going to 'properties', then clicking and dragging to read the whole thing. This is a bug in [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id{{=}}45375 Firefox, Mozilla Bug #45375]. It has been outstanding for many years now.

''Note: It looks like it's been fixed in Firefox 3.0. Now, as an added tweak, to keep the tooltips from expiring while you're reading, you can use [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11233 this].|[[Randall Munroe]]|[https://xkcd.com/about About xkcd]}}

===Number of title texts per comic===
While most comics have one title text, some extra comics have [[:Category:No title text|no title text]]. In addition, [[404: Not Found]] lacks a title text due to delivering the standard {{w|Nginx}} "Page Not Found" message that does not even have any image to conceivably have an associated title text applied to it. [[1506: xkcloud]] is the first numbered comic other than [[404: Not Found]] to lack a title text, as certain interactive comics beyond number 1500 use a different format, removing the ability to add mouseover text. [[1525: Emojic 8 Ball]] and [[1608: Hoverboard]] also have no title text. Due to a bug in the JavaScript, in [[3227: Creation]], the title text disappears while on Stained Glass Mode. It is also impossible to access the title text when on that comic's Airplane Mode, because the comic flies too quickly.

Sometimes a comic can have [[:Category:Multiple title texts|more than one title text]]. [[1193: Externalities]] was the first to have more than one title text, changing through the panels. [[1663: Garden]] also had multiple title texts. In addition to the main one (which said "Relax."), there are two different title texts for the two buttons, and one other one saying "null." In [[3074: Push Notifications]], in addition to the main title text (like in [[1663: Garden|1663]]), there is an extra one when you hover over the cat, reading ":3".

[[Category:Design of xkcd.com]]{{xkcdmeta}}

Talk:1932: The True Meaning of Christmas

2026-06-14T22:46:26Z

81.179.199.253:

Is that guy with a black "santa cap" Black Hat? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.77|162.158.166.77]] 13:38, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:Since most comics a not in color we safely can assume this Santa Hat as red. And if it should be Black Hat we would be able to identify him. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:01, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
::I definitely think it's supposed to be Black Hat Guy (Cueball's comment in the first panel fits). However, as we're uncertain, how about we use "Santa Hat" as in the below comments? -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 15:13, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

:: based on speech patterns and topic choice, "Santa Hat" might be Beret Guy. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.202|162.158.75.202]] 19:18, 23 December 2017 (UTC)
:::Like my former comment: If it should be Beret Guy we would be able to identify him. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:21, 23 December 2017 (UTC)
:::Its beret guy. definitly beret guy -Someone from pluto {{unsigned ip|2605:59c8:22e3:3e14:f8ea:b61a:d6b0:1c6c|22:25, 14 June 2026}}
:: I think the santa hat may actually be black, because in [[361: Christmas Back Home]] and [[838: Incident]] red christmas clothing was represented as red. Those were probably only times we have seen Christmas clothing in xkcd. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.101|162.158.238.101]] 10:53, 25 December 2017 (UTC)
::For me, Santa Hat is not mean enough to be Black Hat, and not QUITE goofy enough to be Beret Guy. I vote Just Some Guy In A Santa Hat, or our regular Cueball wearing a Santa hat, or Cueball's brother although I guess then Cueball would know his feelings about Christmas. I also don't accept the argument that the meaning of Christmas is "the meaning of Christmas", and I think Autometalogolex should be a Transformer, probably the good Transformers' snooty librarian / archivist. He or she can be a reindeer when transformed, sure. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.124|141.101.76.124]] 10:43, 26 December 2017 (UTC)
Cant find a definition or recognition of the word autometalogolex. My google-fu is weak. ̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶u̶p̶ [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 14:11, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:"autometalogolex" is an invention by Santa Hat and consists of three prefixes "auto-", "meta-", and "logo-" and the word "lex" for law or statute. I'm still thinking about the deeper meaning.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:17, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
::Why dont we make it a word? UrbanDictionary is blocked where i am. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 14:25, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:I added the meanings of each of the prefixes, as well as a more likely analysis of the root, though "auto-" is still up in the air. It can mean "self" as in the classic meaning, but it can also mean done without interaction (as in "automatic") which sounds closer to the usage present in the comic. I'll leave it to others to refine. We still need to better interpret the fullness of the title text. Respectfully, -- a guy stuck in a government cube all day. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.184}}
::"auto-" means self. The roots of automatic mean "self-acting" or "self-thinking". [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 15:26, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:I'd say that Autometalogolex is the word that Santa Hat is making up for the definition that cueball gives "The act of looking up the definition of this word.", so my interpretation is that the definition of Autometalogolex is "The act of looking up the definition of autometalogolex" (so you are all autometalogolexing at this moment) -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.152|141.101.77.152]] 15:06, 22 December 2017 (UTC)volivav
::So what is the word for the act of making up a word for this definition? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.82|172.68.141.82]] 00:41, 23 December 2017 (UTC)

:WDYT about my reference to autological words? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autological_word] [[User:DarlingGeert|DarlingGeert]]

Doesn't the title text reference Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.166|172.69.69.166]] 17:25, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:Thanks, I thought about this too. Please check my additions. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:20, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

Tautometalogolex should be "the act of looking up the definition of autometalogolex". [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 18:23, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:This phrase hits the nail on the head. And that's a recursive never ending action. And this recursion happens to all those "meaning of Christmas stories." --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:13, 23 December 2017 (UTC)

The current explanation speaks of the title text like it might mean that a reindeer named "Autometalogolex" might cause headaches. NO! Usually such strange clearly wrong interpretations come from looking at it in a weird way (a way I only discover by reading it here), but this time it's simply not paying attention! Why would anybody be looking to GIVE Santa a headache??!?!? It's literally saying the opposite, who will they call when Santa ALREADY HAS a headache. Yes, the title text is referencing Rudolph, who is depicted as an outsider until he becomes useful, his glowing nose helping guide the way. This is the same. It's making fun of the fact that "autometalogolex" sounds like a medicine, so it's saying that a reindeer with this name would CURE Santa's headache, saving the day like Rudolph, helping out like Rudolph. Everyone will look for Autometalogolex at this time. Don't always make things so complicated.

And I don't think Santa Hat is Black Hat. That's what I figured at first, since hat colour, but he isn't sporting the usual anti-social mess-with-people attitude. But the comments sound like he usually wears a different hat, so... Wihout further evidence I think we have to take him as a separate character. Maybe the blackness is supposed to paint him as a Christmas pessimist? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:37, 29 December 2017 (UTC)
:I've updated the incomplete reason to ''Title text explanation: Why did Santa need a headache? Sounds absurd.'' IMO the last paragraph is nonsense. "Autometalogolex" is a reference to Rudolph and your phrase ''the fact that "autometalogolex" sounds like a medicine'' is much more reasonable. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:37, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

On Wiktionary, the administrators have proactively protected the title [[:wikt:autometalogolex|autometalogolex]] so that it cannot be created. - [[User:Mike Rosoft|Mike Rosoft]] ([[User talk:Mike Rosoft|talk]]) 17:37, 29 December 2017 (UTC)
* Also, who else tried to parse the word as "auto-metalo-golex"? - [[User:Mike Rosoft|Mike Rosoft]] ([[User talk:Mike Rosoft|talk]]) 17:55, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1005: SOPA

2026-06-14T21:40:11Z

81.179.199.253: Yeah, but at least sign.

Anyone try the brightness-contrast with the XKCD [[521: 2008 Christmas Special|2008 x-mas Special]]? [[Special:Contributions/66.19.70.101|66.19.70.101]] 02:20, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

:Negative. [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 02:53, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

:Yes. There is NO color information in those black panels, all pixels read 0x000000. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.53|108.162.216.53]] 20:52, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:I tried it in Microsoft Office 2010 and got a faint, but very readable image just like the one above.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.42|141.101.99.42]] 18:35, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

::What does it say? I tried it & just got nothing. [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4bo-hj-mDyOOUp_Yp0pug youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)]) 18:26, 9 August 2024 (UTC)

What do they mean "typical XKCD fashion"? What other comics have hidden messages in them? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.91|173.245.48.91]] 22:11, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
:The "typical xkcd fashion" line wasn't referring to the exact scenario of a hidden message in the comic. It was referring to the tendency of xkcd comics to have deeper messages (besides the explicit point being made) that may not be immediately visible. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 19:13, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

To me, the phrasing "I'm getting totally blacked out" suggests that the narrator is getting blackout drunk. Does anyone else get this impression, or am I crazy? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.123|108.162.241.123]] 16:58, 31 October 2015 (UTC)
:Ah yes, I totally get that impression too. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.115|103.22.201.115]] 14:45, 11 November 2015 (UTC)
:: Agreed. Added that to the explanation. [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 21:47, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

PDF links and DYN link on the comic page are no longer available.
:Added links to archived versions of these, around the time the comic was published. – [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 03:10, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

I'm glad both that there is a hidden joke and that somebody found and posted it, but the idea that somebody was playing around with brightness on every comic just to find if there is anything like that freaks me out even more than tongue awareness.

u rgubj rg"r qgurw gAr. (rgua ua xuogwe! ri swxuogwe: ib " QWERTY jwtvi"es, rtow rgw jwt ri rgw eufgr id rgw jwt ur ua (A = ". if you cant find it i will tell you the deciphered message next Wednesday.)) {{unsigned ip|2605:59c8:22e3:3e14:f8ea:b61a:d6b0:1c6c|18:06, 14 June 2026}}

3210: Eliminating the Impossible

2026-06-14T19:03:50Z

81.179.199.253: Undo revision 414597 by SacrifycedStoat (talk) No reformatting needed, as the way it was was an apt meta-joke.

{{comic
| number = 3210
| date = February 20, 2026
| title = Eliminating the Impossible
| image = eliminating_the_impossible_2x.png
| imagesize = 675x349px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'If you've eliminated a few possibilities and you can't think of any others, your weird theory is proven right' isn't quite as rhetorically compelling.
}}

==Explanation==
The discussion in this comic plays upon the [https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1196-when-you-have-eliminated-all-which-is-impossible-then-whatever phrase] originating from the fictional detective {{w|Sherlock Holmes}} (and therefore also his author, {{w|Arthur Conan Doyle}}) that "When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." This describes the {{w|abductive reasoning}} Holmes uses to solve the crimes and mysteries set before him. The point of the original statement is that {{tvtropes|RealityIsUnrealistic|something being ''unlikely'' does not make it ''untrue''}}, and ignoring reality because it is "unlikely" is both absurd and counterproductive to the process of solving a problem. However, Holmes' statement is a [https://motleybytes.com/w/HolmesianFallacy fallacy], because nobody is omniscient,[{{w|omniscience|no citation needed}}] so it is impossible to rule out all alternatives.

In the real world, it is ''never'' true that eliminating the impossible leaves only a single possible outcome. There are always vast numbers of events that are technically possible, but so vastly improbable that they would be unlikely to ever be observed, even if every subatomic particle in the universe were a universe itself, and were to be observed from Big Bang to heat death. An example would be {{w|quantum tunnelling}} of a macroscopic object over a long distance... such as a set of keys from inside a house out to a car. In practice, such events are usually dismissed from consideration.

[[White Hat]] is expounding this principle to [[Cueball]] as a logical step for some undisclosed purpose. Cueball argues that human error - namely, making a mistake in the 'elimination' process - is also possible, and claims that the logic is faulty on this premise. When White Hat points out that the logic is just a guideline for problem-solving, Cueball criticizes this, arguing that the possibility of human error when operating on this logic makes the approach unsound. If there is one true version of events, then finding it by this process requires classifying all other possibilities as impossible. While that might be possible for a constrained problem, like a detective story or multi-option question, many daily situations require eliminating vast numbers of possibilities, while lacking sufficient information to be truly sure that the possibilities have been exhausted.

In the final panel, Cueball demonstrates a practical example of human error causing this issue. When a person is looking for their possessions, their first instinct may be to search the house in which they presently are. Having seemingly exhausted this search, their assumption may be that it must be in their mode of transportation (especially in the case of possessions that are regularly brought to and from other locations). White Hat agrees that he himself has been in the situation where he has searched the entire house, not found what he is looking for, and assumed it is in the car, but that assumption has always proved to be wrong. There are other possibilities, but the tendency to jump to conclusions (possibly by misuse of the quote) can lead to those being ignored. Additional possibilities:
* The house has not been fully searched, with the item left in some obscured corner, a clothing pocket that is in the laundry, or even a vent or pipe that one could not practically access.
* The searcher forgets that they took the item to some other location, or wishfully ignores that possibility because it is far away and/or inconvenient to search.
* The searcher never brought the item home in the first place, but mistakenly thought that they did.
* The searcher has never taken the item anywhere other than the house or car, but is unaware that someone or something else moved it.
* It is common for people to fail to see a thing even though it is present, sometimes even clearly in view, because of momentary cognitive glitching, {{w|The Purloined Letter|poor assumptions}}, or more fundamental cognitive failures such as {{w|visual agnosia}}. Another Holmes quotation is relevant: "[https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/205730-you-see-but-you-do-not-observe You see, but you do not observe.]"
* The item may have been destroyed or altered in a way that makes it unrecognizable when found.

The title text goes further in deconstructing how the quote might result in a logically incorrect {{w|argument from ignorance}}. In fiction, there is a {{tvtropes|TheoryOfNarrativeCausality|Law of Narrative Causality}}, by which events are successfully resolved in the way that the plot requires them to be resolved. Stating this approach as a logical rule would normally be {{tvtropes|LampshadeHanging|narratively unsatisfying}}. When Sherlock Holmes first uses the phrase in ''{{w|The Sign of the Four}}'', he "deduces" that {{w|Dr._Watson|Watson}} had sent a telegram at the post office instead of doing anything else by observing that he had not written a letter and that he already had a good stock of postcards and stamps. Holmes neglects the possibility that Watson had sent a letter that he had written some time previously, or any other possibility, yet he happens to be right because it would be unsatisfying were he to be wrong. As has been pointed out elsewhere in Holmesian works, however, Holmes knows Watson very well, and when it comes to a matter as narrow in scope as "Watson's behaviour", Holmes is better-equipped than most to eliminate impossibilities, even if these should strictly be considered ''improbabilities''.

Sherlock may have more accurately, yet less memorably, phrased the maxim as "When you have eliminated what is likely, the truth must be a more improbable outcome".

In ''{{w|The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul}},'' Douglas Adams commented on this Holmesian maxim:<blockquote>'The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks. How often have you been presented with an apparently rational explanation of something that works in all respects other than one, which is just that it is hopelessly improbable? Your instinct is to say, "Yes, but he or she simply wouldn't do that." '

'Well, it happened to me today, in fact,' replied Kate.

'Ah, yes,' said Dirk, slapping the table and making the glasses jump, 'your girl in the wheelchair [who was constantly mumbling stock prices from the day before]—a perfect example. The idea that she is somehow receiving yesterday's stock market prices out of thin air is merely impossible, and therefore ''must'' be the case, because the idea that she is maintaining an immensely complex and laborious hoax of no benefit to herself is hopelessly improbable. The first idea merely supposes that there is something we don't know about, and God knows there are enough of those. The second, however, runs contrary to something fundamental and human which we do know about. We should therefore be very suspicious of it and all its specious rationality.'</blockquote>

This time Cueball might have a point, since, if one really investigates Sherlock Holmes' cases, they often contain obvious logical leaps, like most of "{{w|The Hound of the Baskervilles}}" or the solution of "{{w|The Adventure of the Speckled Band}}". In the latter he claims that the only solution is that someone trained a snake to be controlled by music to bite and kill someone without being attacked, claiming to have eliminated all other solutions in a real-world scenario which is too complex to allow for that, without even having taken a closer look at the bigger picture. {{tvtropes|TheoryOfNarrativeCausality|Miraculously}}, he is right in both situations.

Knowing [[Randall]]'s work, the title text may be a jab at people who are overly quick to conclude that established results in physics are wrong, as he has done previously in [[955: Neutrinos]] and [[1621: Fixion]] (concerning a since-disproven finding that neutrinos can travel faster than the speed of light) and in [[2113: Physics Suppression]] and [[3155: Physics Paths]] (more generally).

==Transcript==
:[Across 4 Panels, White Hat and Cueball are standing together and talking. In the first panel, White Hat has one hand slightly raised.]
:White Hat: As Sherlock Holmes said,
:White Hat: When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

:[The second panel. Close-up of Cueball's head.]
:Cueball: What about the possibility that you forgot to eliminate a possibility?
:Cueball: Or that you eliminated one incorrectly?
:Cueball: Both of those remain, too.

:[3rd Panel zooms back out to show both. Cueball holds his arms out.]
:White Hat: You're being pedantic.
:White Hat: It's just a general rule for deduction.
:Cueball: But it's a '''''bad rule.'''''

:[Cueball holds up one finger in the 4th Panel.]
:Cueball: How often have you thought, "I can't find this thing, and I've searched the whole house. The only place I haven't looked is the car, so it '''''must''''' be there."
:White Hat: ...and then it's never in the car.
:Cueball: '''''It's never in the car!'''''

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Pedantic]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

Talk:2731: K-Means Clustering

2026-06-14T17:55:05Z

81.179.199.253:

{{w|K-means_clustering|The wikipedia article}} does not clear anything up [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.228|162.158.78.228]] 13:53, 30 January 2023 (UTC)Bumpf
:Yeah. A while back I read a wikipedia article and was determined, for once, to completely understand it. Four years later, I had a PhD in an obscure (and totally useless) element of esoteric math. BTW, it turns out the article was completely wrong! /S [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.7|172.70.114.7]] 12:54, 2 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf aussi

The "Convergence of ''k''-means" animation is reasonably distinctive for a two-dimensional case, showing at least the motivation for the problem . Could it be attached here? [[User:Mia yun Ruse|Mia yun Ruse]] ([[User talk:Mia yun Ruse|talk]]) 14:08, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

Yeah, this is probably the least explanatory Explain xkcd I've read in the past 3 years. Still a lot of heavy math. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.95|162.158.186.95]] 16:50, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
:More directly: the problem with k-means is that if you ask for k clusters, you will get k clusters. Hence, pretending that there are 3, just tells that you have asked for 3, this is not a 'result'. 3 is also a very common choice, because 2 is would be too basic, then it is a candidate cluster. For the two other clusters, they will depend on the involved distance and they are only here because she asked for 3 clusters: no surprise that she cannot explain them. {{unsigned ip|194.199.22.68|14:06, 12 June 2026}}

This feels very similar to the joke "There are 10 types of people: those who know binary and those who don't." Except that the real joke here is that Ponytail doesn't have anything meaningful to justify her version. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.150|172.70.206.150]] 17:45, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

Current explanation claims that since every human is unique, clusters can only be formed by ignoring some traits. This seems false; a cluster could depend on multiple traits, so there's no obvious limit to the number of traits that could be used when forming clusters. Perhaps they mean that clusters can only be formed by combining non-identical points into the same cluster, but that's literally the entire purpose of clustering and applies to all clustering ever, so it seems like both a trivial observation and a non-sequitur. Am I missing something? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 19:54, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
:Yes, the joke about why there are 8 billion clusters mentioned in the title text. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.220|162.158.78.220]] 20:47, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
::No, I did not miss that. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.136|172.70.211.136]] 22:53, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
:While it's true that clusters can depend on multiple traits, a cluster that depends on ALL human traits at once (or a very large number of them) is useless in practice. A useful cluster depends on a relatively limited number of traits. I think that's where the "ignoring" comes in. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.208|162.158.146.208]] 22:30, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
::Supposing that's true, that would apply to any sample of humans. The "since all humans are unique" part would still be false, and the comment still wouldn't make sense in context as a response to the specific scenario of 8 billion humans. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.136|172.70.211.136]] 22:53, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
:::Most people would object to the idea that they are fully defined by their DNA. Yet even taking just DNA, the probability of two humans having same is practically zero. Even identical twins have differences in DNA due to radiation and toxins! Sure, 99% of DNA is identical between all humans (is what makes them human), but DNA is over 6 Gigabase pairs. And how many do you think criminalists needs in DNA identification to ensure match probabilities of 1 in a quintillion? Just hundreds. Yes, every human is unique. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:50, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
::::Obviously humans are unique, and I never suggested otherwise. The thing that's false is the complete statement "it's necessary to ignore some traits BECAUSE all humans are unique". I actually think "it's necessary to ignore some traits" is not well-supported even if you stop there, but even if that part is true, it's definitely not a RESULT of all humans being unique. The current explanation reads like someone is twisting the topic to squeeze in a comment about their hobby horse even though it's not actually relevant. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.38|162.158.90.38]] 00:37, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
::::: It's just wrong to say you have to ignore some traits. I'm a data scientist and I've actually used k-means clustering at my job... everyone *is* unique so, you do lose information when you bucket them, but it isn't because you're throwing out some traits. You're just defining groups based on those traits. If I've got 20 people of all different heights, grouping them into "tall" and "short" is not throwing out height as a trait. The explanation is simply wrong. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.38.77|172.70.38.77]] 13:48, 2 February 2023 (UTC)
Many people object to being defined by some group they belong to. E.g. people objecct to blanket statements about members of political parties ("I'm a Republican, but I'm pro-choice"), religions, age groups (the adage "If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain"), etc. I think this is the idea that the title text is going for. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:43, 31 January 2023 (UTC)

There are two types of ''people'' in the world: those ''who'' use the word “who” to refer to people and the word “that” to refer to things, and those ''who'' don’t. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.77|172.71.151.77]] 02:58, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
:...and those whom use "whom"..? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.57|172.70.162.57]] 09:00, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
::Sure, there are plenty who misuse “whom” also. “Who / he / she / they VERB” vs “PREPOSITION whom / him / her / them” - who did, who has, who owns, he did, she has, they own - for whom, by whom, about whom, for him, by her, about them. A person who, a thing that. It’s really not that complicated. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.21|172.71.147.21]] 10:48, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Methodological note: k-means is a special case of parametric model-based clustering (here spheres with equal variance) which allows to calculate cluster models with different number of clusters and choose the 'best' one according to the best BIC (Bayesian Information Criterion), see https://cran.r-project.org/package=mclust. A broader non-parametric class of cluster solutions can be fitted with the truecluster meta-algorithm and then choose the one with the best CIC (Cluster Information Criterion), see https://arxiv.org/abs/cs/0601001 and https://arxiv.org/abs/0705.4302. [[User:Joehl|Joehl]] ([[User talk:Joehl|talk]]) 16:55, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

This sentence clause appears to contain a typo: ", and indicate on a graph '''of''' the data has two distinct populations".
It might be clearer as ", and indicate on a graph '''if''' the data has two distinct populations". {{unsigned ip|172.68.34.45|23:03, 30 January 2023}} (Fixed) {{unsigned ip|172.70.110.231|00:45, 31 January 2023}}

3256: Nostalgia Content

2026-06-10T19:52:56Z

81.179.199.253:

{{comic
| number = 3256
| date = June 8, 2026
| title = Nostalgia Content
| image = nostalgia_content_2x.png
| imagesize = 276x404px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Gen-Z got a chunk of the Carboniferous, and now all their memes are about how pathetic and small today's dragonflies are.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a Parataxtite. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic is a joke about nostalgia content. In it, a database for creating nostalgia content has accidentally included some {{w|Early Devonian}} features in it. These features, while certainly being old, are far too long ago for anyone to be alive at the time,{{Citation needed}} let alone remember it, hence defying the purpose.

In the example in this comic, [[Cueball]] puts the more new creations of {{w|Pogs}} and {{w|Tamagotchi}}s (previously the subject of [[1546|another comic]]) with the Devonian Prototaxites and armoured fish - with the ridiculous age comparison between them part of the joke. (Pogs became a fad in the early 1990s, and Tamagotchis came into production in 1996, while the Devonian period ended 359 million years ago.) {{w|Prototaxites}} (in the original comic, "Parataxites"; see "Trivia", below) were huge fungus-like organisms that lived during the Devonian. The armoured fish [[Cueball]] speaks of are from an ancient class known as {{w|Placodermi}}, which appeared during the {{w|Silurian}} and Devonian periods. Placoderms were among the first jawed fish, and the first fish clade to have pectoral fins. Devonian placoderms include Dunkleosteus, Titanichthys, Bothriolepis, and Rhamphodopsis. Silurian placoderms include Xiushanosteus, Anglaspis, and Poraspis. There was also Sacabambaspis from the {{w|Ordovician}}.

The title text shows another example of nostalgia content warped by the accident, where Gen Z memes got a chunk of the {{w|Carboniferous}} in their nostalgia database. During the Late Carboniferous, species such as {{w|Meganeura}} were prolific, which resemble today's dragonflies, with the notable difference of having wingspans of up to 65 cm long, which would obviously dwarf modern dragonflies. However, this change happened over millions of years, and in Gen Z's time the dragonflies are as small as ever, hence the ridicule.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball is standing, with his arms out, in front of a Prototaxite structure towering over a mossy landscape. To his right, a Tamagotchi (bottom-left) and bottle-cap-like Pogs (top-left) appear. The three pogs that can be seen show a skull with a snake through its eyeball, a figure 8 and a star (three more pogs are also shown, but have obscured pictures).]
:Cueball: Who else remembers pogs? Tamagotchis? Vast forests of Prototaxites towering over the mossy landscape as armored fish stir in the deep?
:[Caption below the panel:]
:Due to a database error, millennial nostalgia now includes a portion of the early Devonian.

==Trivia==
Cueball had originally incorrectly refered to the huge fungi as "Parataxites", but the text in the comic was later corrected to read Prototaxites. "Parataxites might be an accidental pun/thinko on {{w|parataxis}}, of which Cueball's speech is an example.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

3253: Sunbeam

2026-06-07T18:08:47Z

81.179.199.253: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3253
| date = June 1, 2026
| title = Sunbeam
| image = sunbeam_2x.png
| imagesize = 398x347px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = While weather control is typically thought of as a superpower, the unconscious ability of astronomers and astrophotographers to summon clouds is more properly classified as a curse.
}}

==Explanation==

{{w|Astrophotography}} is the act of taking pictures of very distant objects. Common subjects of astrophotography include celestial bodies like planets and moons of the solar system, faraway galaxies, nebulae, spacecraft, or even {{w|Hubble Deep Field|empty patches of the sky}}.

In order to take such photos, one needs to know where these objects are in the sky. One major problem faced by Earth-based astrophotographers (most of them) is the fact that the Earth rotates.{{Citation needed}} As the Earth rotates, it creates the illusion that the celestial objects being photographed are rotating through the night sky. Therefore, in order to get clear pictures of their subjects, astrophotographers must develop a strong understanding of how objects like a galaxy or the sun move through the sky, so that their cameras can compensate for this rotation and produce clear pictures.

This understanding of how objects move through the sky due to the Earth's rotation is the minor superpower referred to in the comic. As the sun is an example of an object in the sky, the intuition of astrophotographers allows them to predict where the sun will be in the future, and by extension, where the light flooding in through the window will be in the future. With this knowledge, Cueball, who presumably has this minor superpower, can advise his friends to sit at the far table to avoid the light from the window hitting them. Though normally extra light may be considered desirable, such direct sunlight in this case would probably be considered problematic as there may be excessive heat and/or light. By contrast, the table currently beyond the beams of sunlight would be a perfectly acceptable place to sit and would remain so. There is a chance however that it doesn't actually matter in this scenario which table to sit at, and [[Cueball]] is just saying it to show off his ability.

This comic probably takes place in the Northern Hemisphere. More specifically, it takes place north of the Sun's current ground-track (i.e. the line through the tropics which experience the Sun being directly overhead on any given day of the year, which changes over the course of the year due to the axial tilt of the Earth). In both hemispheres, the Sun can be found rising in the east in the morning, at its highest at around midday (exactly at true local midday, but must be adjusted for timezone issues such as the [[1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones|offset from the nominal local datum]] and [[:Category:Daylight saving time|DST]] effects), then setting in the west in the evening. (At least until you get close enough to the poles to experience no, or barely any, day or night according to the time of year.) Therefore, typically in the subtropical and temperate latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, a shadow (and, by being framed by shadows, the light flooding in through windows) moves in a clockwise direction, from westerly, then north, then easterly. Similarly, shadows in the Southern Hemisphere move counter-clockwise, from a western direction, via south, eventually towards east. The light from the window in the comic is predicted to move from the center to the left, a clockwise rotation, consistent with the comic being set in the Northern Hemisphere, especially as this comic has been released almost in the middle of the time of the year where this scenario happens only to places north of the equator.

(The declinated angle of the Sun through the window is hard to measure, and without even knowing the time of day we cannot hope to further narrow down the true latitude of the location and which direction the window faces. Although it is typical that, in temperate northern latitudes, major windows like the one shown are set to face as close to south as the orientation of buildings/rooms allow, to make the best use of daylight — particularly in the winter months. It is also a not unreasonable assumption that this meeting (or perhaps a meal) is occuring not long before/after noon, or even during it, with the Sun then approaching its zenith. Overall, it would be possible to see something very like this scene play out for [[Randall]] in his current home location, of around 42°N, at this time of year.)

The title text talks about another minor "superpower", that astrophotographers have, which makes clouds always seem to show up in front of the night sky. Because this "ability" is actually just coincidence,{{Citation needed}} that only appears causal to some, as well as that it interferes with their work, by ruining their photos, the title text more accurately classifies it as {{tvtropes|BlessedWithSuck|a curse}}, which is why the rest of the comic describes astrophotographers having only one "actual" superpower. Of course though, if it was a concious ability it would be more helpful, and could do a similar effect to that in the comic, by moving clouds in front of the sun to put you in shade.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Megan, and White Hat are in a large, relatively dim room, presumably a restaurant, with two tables and a large window with 4 panels and an integrated semi-circular 'fanlight' top-section. The window is casting a large window-shaped sunbeam between the two tables.]
:Cueball: Let's take the far table.
:Cueball: The closer one will be in the sun soon.
:[Caption below the panel:]
:Astrophotography gives you exactly one extremely minor superpower.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Photography]]

Talk:3253: Sunbeam

2026-06-07T18:03:28Z

81.179.199.253:

did the transcript, but the explanation seems a bit daunting [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 15:32, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
: You beat me to the punch! Very fast editing. And I agree, the explanation seems a little too out of reach for my knowledge base. Most likely explanation is that Astrophotography requires the knowledge of how the sun moves in relative to the Earth to take good photos, but that's just my guess. [[Special:Contributions/66.154.219.128|66.154.219.128]] 15:35, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
:: yeah, i tried to be fast; thanks for fixing the caption for me btw. searching astrophotography on wikipedia didnt really help much; lets wait for another more <s>nerdy</s> experienced user to get that done [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 15:48, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
::: No problem. [[Special:Contributions/66.154.219.128|66.154.219.128]] 16:11, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

Can we deduce that the comic takes place in the northern hemisphere? {{unsigned|184.174.152.128|15:35, 1 June 2026}}
: That was my surface-level interpretation too, that this must be a Southern-facing window in the Northern hemisphere, since the East-West axis (the line that the light will travel along) is roughly parallel to the wall, and the light will pivot to the East (left) as the Sun moves West? [[User:SomeDee|SomeDee]] ([[User talk:SomeDee|talk]]) 15:52, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
:: Either that, or Cueball is wrong: on the southern hemisphere the sun still "moves" from east to west, but north of the observer. If this was the southern hemisphere, the sun beam would thus move towards the far table. [[Special:Contributions/2001:67C:2564:AB0C:1C57:EB42:6C3F:FD47|2001:67C:2564:AB0C:1C57:EB42:6C3F:FD47]] 16:02, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
::Could someone create a function which shows at which latitudes this scene could happen at which time of the day on which dates based on what we estimate the solar elevation angle shown to be. (Also assuming that Cueball is right)? Please? [[Special:Contributions/195.65.24.115|195.65.24.115]] 06:18, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

:: Barring reflections or other less-common situations, the window must indeed be in the northern hemisphere for Cueball to be correct. The window need not face directly south (unless the scene takes place precisely at the north pole). If it's at a sufficiently-high north latitude (e.g. that of the Boston area) the wall could face west or east and the nearer table could still get some sun a bit later. [[Special:Contributions/75.164.137.175|75.164.137.175]] 00:59, 2 June 2026 (UTC)
::: But it cannot be at a very high northern latitude, because the climate there is cold and people generally prefer to sit in sunny spots. [[User:Alexei Kopylov|Alexei Kopylov]] ([[User talk:Alexei Kopylov|talk]]) 00:38, 6 June 2026 (UTC)
:::: Central heating (or even a decent log-fuelled hearth, suited to the size and volume of the room) and cavity-wall insulation may suffice to fulfil that need. And/or just keep your jacket on.
:::: But my estimate of the angle of the Sun above the horizon (very fuzzy, with few depth-cues to go on) do limit it to south of (most of) the UK, except maybe at the very height of a midsummer-noon. Of course, where I am is at a latitude equivalent to Moscow, with most state/territory capitals of Canada being south of me, and Juneau AL not at all that far north of me. (But we have the Gulf Stream keeping us generally not as cold as Moscow; but I'm not so sure whether or not Juneau gets any equivalent oceanic advantage.)
::::Randall's probable stomping grounds are more Marseilles/Bordeaux/Madrid-like, latitude-wise, each of which roughly sit in the range of my guess of the angle of window-spotlight we see, at this time of year and across broad strokes in the middle of the day.
::::Architecturally, the windowing we see (lunette/fanlight style with 'sunrise' lead-line features, ''perhaps'' inspired by the Palladian school of architecture) also matches a building built for those climates, with thick walls (to keep the heat out, in summer, and maybe help keep the heat in if it ever gets cold enough in winter) and widely separated high up windows to provide 'skylight'-like daylight illumination in some large 'public' space (there may be additional siderooms of a more normal ceiling-height leading off this space whose 'lean-to' rooves this large room's windows must necessarily be higher than) that can perhaps be opened (with a 'window pole', or a rope loop/winding-handle/power-switch down at hand-height connected to the window opening/closing mechanism). Going by northern-European (or at least British) styles of buildings, and this could easily be (or have been, before being converted to office-space) a church/church-hall, village-hall, (not-modern-)school building assembly space, etc, and I imagine this kind of style is found in at least the New England parts of the States. Cannot really speak for the more Spanish-/French-originating styles of architecture, and all bets are totally off it's anything post-war/modernist (inspired by who knows what mish-mash of original styles, and increasing reliance upon active climate control rather than passive/manual regulation - at least until you start getting into 'neutral' architectures that are designed explicitly passively self-regulate as a more modern low-energy option).
::::Though the direct sunlight on the skin might keep you warmer (or make you feel ''too'' warm - another reason to keep in the shade), the room temperature is probably generally acceptible enough throughout, with sensible heating(/aircon) settings. If the doors at either end aren't unwisely held open to blast the occupants with the freezing/broiling through-blast of outside temperatures, according to the limitations of the building's air-con/ventillation options, the nature of today's weather and the (in)considerateness of the building's fellow occupants.
::::TL;DR; it only can't be at a very high lattitude because of the (apparently) relatively steep angle of the sunbeam. Being sun-warmed in a building already keeping you warm is as much an annoyance, rather than a counteracting benefit that could persuade you to sit there. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.79|82.132.239.79]] 13:48, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Yes, when I was in the southern hemisphere all my sense of where the Sun and stars should be moving to was totally off.
: Same, when I went to the Northern Hemisphere I was caught out when all the shadows started moving in the wrong direction [[User:MrCandela2|MrCandela2]] ([[User talk:MrCandela2|talk]]) 01:01, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

The sun could be reflecting off a nearby building, which would mess things up a bit. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 16:17, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
:Judging by the style of window, this is most likely near an older part of town or a more suburban area, where there are very few skyscrapers with reflective windows and a lot of wood and brick and mortar buildings, so I think that this is unlikely. [[Special:Contributions/66.154.219.128|66.154.219.128]] 16:31, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
::I was getting that old-downtown-church-vibe, which could easily be near a glass-plated skyscraper. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 20:23, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

Hang on, Randall got this wrong. Astrophotography (as defined by the Wikipedia page, the link is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophotography) is the act of taking pictures of the night sky... where there is no sun. An error on his part? [[Special:Contributions/66.154.219.128|66.154.219.128]] 16:21, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
: No, there's a transferrable skill between learning and predicting the movement of galaxies in the sky and predicting the movement of the sun in the sky. [[User:MrCandela2|MrCandela2]] ([[User talk:MrCandela2|talk]]) 01:01, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

Based on the title text, I'm guessing the joke is that because he said there will be sun, there will instead be clouds. His superpower is presumably summoning clouds. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:17EC:E4FE:AD3:E858:6B10:E3E1|2607:FB91:17EC:E4FE:AD3:E858:6B10:E3E1]] 16:31, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

Wanted to say that you also learn how the sun moves as an astrophotographer, lots of planetary photography can happen during the day (Venus Mercury, strategic sun blocking) and need to take it into account, and there's also taking pictures of the sun with solar filters. So my interpretation of the joke was just genuinely pointing out the mini superpower of intuiting sun movement, rather than a joke about day versus night. [[Special:Contributions/142.114.245.145|142.114.245.145]] 16:36, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
: Hm, good point. Add that to the explanation if you can, I'm running out of the magic smoke that lets me edit pages. (motivation) [[Special:Contributions/66.154.219.128|66.154.219.128]] 16:38, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

I think the point is that someone who does astrophotography is intimately familiar with the motion of objects in the sky due to the rotation of the Earth, the sun is one such object that is visible during the day. Predicting its motion in the sky, due to the earth's rotation allows for the prediction of which table to sit at. The superpower is this predictive ability, which is normally not useful for all that much in modern life.

I don't think Randall messed this up. For example, the zodiac is defined as the Sun's path through the stars, even though the stars and the sun are not visible at the same time. Knowledge of how things move in the night sky is very related to how the Sun moves during the day.

To my mind, this comic is more closely related to the inherent calculations from within [[2463: Astrophotography]] (with the name of it being not a coincidence) than merely being good at photographing nebulae/etc. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 19:51, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

FWIW you don't need no Astrophotography to predict the sunny table. I see it on my dogs as they lay on the floor after lunch. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 20:26, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
:Conclusion: your dogs know about astrophotography ;-) [[User:Martin|Martin]] ([[User talk:Martin|talk]]) 01:28, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

Is there something about the illustration that makes it clear which direction the sun is going to move? Or does the speaker in the comic require additional external knowledge about which direction the window is facing? -- [[Special:Contributions/108.18.36.182|108.18.36.182]] 22:21, 1 June 2026 (UTC)

:They only need to know that the sun travels east to west in the sky, and the approximate orientation of the window. (Without regard to the hemisphere or season; in re [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3253:_Sunbeam&diff=414125&oldid=414124].) [[Special:Contributions/2601:642:4C00:7984:B516:F866:A46E:3715|2601:642:4C00:7984:B516:F866:A46E:3715]] 00:10, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

If I'm not mistaken, the direction of the sun relative to the movement is not perfectly predicted by the hemisphere, but by the one of the two following possibilities: 1. the scene is north of the tropic of cancer, or 2. the person is north of the tropic of capricorn and south of the tropic of cancer at the time of year when the sun passes to their south. Note that if you stand just south of the equator during the northern hemisphere winter, the sun passes to the south, and thus, the scene would work in the southern hemispere. Equally,if you stand just north of the equator during the northern hemisphere summer, the sun will pass to the north, and the scene does not work. {{unsigned|Billdxdydz|05:46, 2 June 2026}}

Just in case, I would like to point out that this comic's narrator is serious about the "superpower" thing, as some editors seem to believe it's just a manner of speech. That's the core of the joke. The superpowers mentioned are:

- Prescience: astrophotographers gain the ability to see the future, restricted to things related to sky objects and phenomena related to them; the narrator wouldn't have ever been able to guess that the sunbeam would end up falling on the closer table while steering away from the farthest one.

- Weather control—Cloud summoning (curse): astrophotographers and astrophysicists have been cursed by a higher existence with the ability to gather clouds wherever and whenever they most want clear skies.
--[[Special:Contributions/94.73.49.104|94.73.49.104]]

Should say something about astronomers being added in the mouse-over text. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 19:24, 3 June 2026 (UTC)

Why can't anyone use a compass? Most smartphones have one built in. You might need [https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.bobek.compass/ an app].[[User:Velocifyer|Velocifyer]] ([[User talk:Velocifyer|talk]]) 16:00, 6 June 2026 (UTC)
:What's the compass for?
:Cueball seems perfectly aware of the the general orientation of his locale (plus the current and imminent state of the dynamic heavens). Good enough to know that the beam of light will track from where it is now to where one of the tables is.
:His companions don't seem to have even thought of any need to know Earth's/Sun's developing orientation, whether or not they could glance at the scene and work out the details.
:And you don't need an app to find the direction, you just need the Sun and [https://www.citizenwatch-global.com/support/exterior/direction.html a watch] (from which, by extension, you can back-form approximately where the Sun ''will'' be, wben the time is later, by imagining the hand in its new position and twisting the watch to give the same direction' result). Or, indeed, a compass. Because I find that it's trivial enough to always carry a compass. ;) [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 17:57, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Shouldn't that light beam have parallel sides, given how far away the Sun is? {{unsigned ip|89.135.99.233|11:04, 7 June 2026}}
:The illumination from the Sun is not a point-source, but has a solid angle not too dissimilar from the full Moon (as per the comparison of solar eclipses). Light from the various limbs of the Sun, through the aperture of a window will 'spread' the beam by a certain amount as bits of the Sun come through at an off-axis angle that doesn't match the centre (or opposite limb) axis of 'beam'.
:It'd be more obvious from a more distant intervening window (like this high-up example), at least by measuring the width of the projected sunbeam (on a feature that's parallel to the 'hole in the wall' plane, to also avoid foreshortening/lengthening effects) and comparing against the original hole.
:Of course, there's also some slight diffraction around the edges that might let light leak past onto the ground from spots that ''shouldn't'' see even an edge of the Sun, but that'd just blur the boundary. And looking at each pane-worth of sunlight, the neighbouring areas of sunlight are going to infringe upon each over over the nominal 'pane-edge' shadow lines (any feature that has a subtended angle of width less than the width of the Sun will cast a 'central shadow' on ground that can still see significant bits of Sun-edge either side of the shading-feature, so being less sharply defined or even not being visible. So the lead-light lines might not be quite as visible (or at all), upon the general (fuzzy-edged) total window-shape projected down, in reality.
:But it does the job to reflect the 'expected' light-through-the-window result, and I don't thonk we're talking about the accurate artistic illustration of a real world scene. Nor of a fully ray-traced simulation that might or might not have been set up to be a geometrically perfect copy of reality. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 18:03, 7 June 2026 (UTC)

Talk:725: Literally

2026-06-06T23:03:45Z

81.179.199.253: You know I have absolutely no idea what that should be spelling. "Meter but dead"? "Mentor bit dud?" Anyway, I'll let someone else work out what on earth that's about.

What does it mean to be figuratively glued to one's seat?--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.30|108.162.214.30]] 17:23, 31 May 2014 (UTC)
:It means that you are so fascinated by something that you just don't want to leave your seat because you might miss something – you're "glued" to your seat. [[User:Mezgrman|Mezgrman]] ([[User talk:Mezgrman|talk]]) 13:15, 21 June 2014 (UTC)

They should really clean those seats of soda and snacks.

Also, this means that, given a few assumptions, they are in their early 30s in the "present" of this particular strip. [[User:Nyperold|Nyperold]] ([[User talk:Nyperold|talk]]) 04:01, 21 December 2015 (UTC)
:I cringed incredibly hard, imagining being literally glued to a seat by uncleaned soda, candy, etc... well done Nyperold, I need to take a shower now. [[User:MeZimm|MeZimm]] ([[User talk:MeZimm|talk]]) 16:57, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

There are two sentences in the first paragraph of the explanation which contradict one another. The second of these sentences is correct. Descriptivist dictionaries do not rule on whether a word usage is valid or not, they simply report on how the word is currently used. The sentence that states that these dictionaries say that using "literally" as an intensifier is valid is false. They are stating that people use it as an intensifier. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.199|108.162.212.199]] 04:30, 18 December 2019 (UTC)
Surely they're saying that because people often use 'literally' as an intensifier, therefore it is valid? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.223|172.70.90.223]] 08:58, 17 August 2022 (UTC)

Euclid's Elements is "literally" all Greek to me. [[User:ExplainEuge.ca|ExplainEuge.ca]] ([[User talk:ExplainEuge.ca|talk]]) 08:37, 12 December 2025 (UTC)

metor but dad. (correct my spelling.) ~ᴑΣm1 FROM? Pluto. {{unsigned ip|2605:59c8:22e3:3e14:dcf7:d1e6:4002:1a3|22:47, 6 June 2026}}

3254: Detector

2026-06-06T23:00:49Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ Could go on to talk of "forces" including police/military forces, etc, but I won't. I've a feeling this is drifting far too far from any of the comic's intention.

{{comic
| number = 3254
| date = June 3, 2026
| title = Detector
| image = detector_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Ponytail]] and [[Hairy]] are showing [[Cueball]] various detectors in this room, which include an {{w|electron microscope}} (which showers a target with electrons and images their reflections), an XRF scanner (i.e. "{{w|X-ray fluorescence}}", which hits a target with high-energy X-rays and measures the spectrum of the fluorescence they emit) and a {{w|mass spectrometer}} (which measures the mass-to-charge ratio of ions to determine the proportions of particular isotopes present in a sample).

These are all out of frame, from any comic panel, but the piece of equipment that we see is a machine of indeterminate purpose, simply labeled "Detector" and with the most prominent feature being the words "Detected" and "Not Detected" written in separate lines next to two lights, one above the other, the first of which is glowing green. This, they claim, is their most sensitive detector, with nothing in the subsequent conversation indicating that it is anything other than a reasonably reliable (though also esoteric) piece of scientific equipment.

Normally, detectors have a designated detecting job, such as the aforementioned off-panel devices which can provide complex imagery or a profile of a sample's composition. For example, smoke detectors merely detect the presence or absence of smoke and (usually as a safety device, rather than a piece of scientific equipment), and only need to alert the user if there is smoke identified.

The sensitivity of a detector can vary. [[3249: Neutrino Project|Neutrino detectors]] try to detect neutrinos, but neutrinos are very hard to measure so can only give data for a very low number of the actual neutrinos that could possibly have been measured. Devices being more sensitive means that they can detect (and perhaps quantify) far lower quantities/magnitudes of the targeted phenomena, and/or more of those that might otherwise have been missed.

For the device in this comic, however, "more sensitive" seems instead to mean that it is sensitive to more ''different'' things. To quote Ponytail, it detects "gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states", which runs almost the entire gamut of things that ''might'' be detectable, and leaves little room for there being any situation in which none of the aforementioned items are there to be detected. The constituent particles of the machine itself would be present for detection, and exist in "states" and have "potentials" relative to each other, assuming that the machine is sensitive enough (in the traditional sense) to detect them, and the detection area that it observes includes at least some parts of itself. Alternatively, the words “states” and “potentials” could refer to political entities: it would detect whether it was within the borders of a state; and whether the place had potential, or even just a {{w|Preselection|political potential candidate}} within range.

Regardless of that, some or all of the wide range of the detectable things are also going to be present, in detectable quantities, in practically ''any'' location that they might feasibly be monitoring, and even if it was capable of discerning nuances (such as relative quantities, differing proportions or even which detectable thing is the most significant presence in any given set of measurements) its output boils down to merely whether it has (or has not) detected ''something'' from its extensive list of detectables. Which, by any reasonable assumption, would seemingly mean that it is only ever going to need to indicate that it has "Detected" things, leaving the possibility that it has "Not Detected" things as an unlikely result to display instead.

Cueball points this out, and Hairy admits that it ''has'' been continuously lit this way ever since they turned it on. Ponytail is audibly shocked in response to Cueball asking what would happen if the light labeled "Not Detected" were to shine. Hairy explains that such a thing would be pretty bad. The presumption being that, if that were to happen, there would have to be no matter, light, forces, etc. within the detector's established range of detection. (Though it could be interpreted as the dectector not working properly, the contextual reactions of those most familiar with it seem to show a faith that the detector is still likely to be faithfully summarising the true status.)

One possible explanation for a scenario that might cause a "Not Detected" result could be a {{w|false vacuum}} decay event which, depending on the particular details of the true vacuum, could alter or overwrite the fundamental laws of physics as we know them. This would indeed be "bad" for, among other things, the persistence of life on Earth. However, in such a scenario the detector itself would presumably also be rendered at least inoperable, and possibly non-existent, with a similar fate befalling any observer who might have been around to witness the changing output.

There might still be an unavoidably built-in uncertainty. [[1132: Frequentists vs. Bayesians]] was a previous comic featuring a more specific detector that tells whether the Sun has gone nova (also a very bad scenario, even if less cosmically extreme), but incorporates some risk of conveying an inaccurate output. (But, again, these people familiar with this device do not seem to feel the need to consider it as potentially inaccurate, like that.) If the characters are lying (or were themselves lied to) it may not even be a real detector and just be a machine with continuous power, on the basis that atoms would normally be found in and around the detector as well as light (e.g. from the indicator light itself), {{w|Fundamental interaction|force potentials}}, etc.

While the detector presented here is obviously facetious, the comic does allude to a real problem: detectors looking for very rare events - e.g {{w|neutrinoless double beta decay}} - have to be extremely sensitive to detect their target events. Consequently, they may also be triggered by many other things, requiring extensive shielding (e.g. built underground in abandoned mine shafts) to provide any useful data.

The title text states that the machine has a lower {{w|false negative}} rate than any other detector device. If it never has stated a negative (i.e. explicit non-detection, being a different scenario from a power-outage or indicator failure that just causes the Detected light to stop being lit), then it can never have been ''wrong'' about it being negative. It's also possible that the "Not Detected" light is just set up ''never'' to be lit, [[2236: Is it Christmas?|playing the odds]].

It is not made clear to us under what circumstances would legitimately result in a negative state being indicated. Nor, apart from the concerned expectations of Hairy and Ponytail, whether the detector will then necessarily correctly state that. It might still fail to properly respond to the new situation, just continuing to provide an incorrect indication that all is 'normal' (on the assumption that the device both still exists ''and'' functions, under such extraordinary circumstances), and result in a {{w|false positive}} instead. But, for many possible reasons, the chances and consequences of any displayed false positive may easily bear no relation to that of a false negative. i.e, the "Not Detected" light could always be 100% accurate (leading to Hairy's "bad" scenario), yet any given cessation of detections often fails to stop "Detection" from being indicated (being just as "bad" but, as the icing on an already possibly unpalatable cake, also with the Detector being functionally wrong).

==Transcript==
:[Hairy is standing to the right of a large machine labeled "Detector". The front of the machine has two lights, labeled "Detected" and "Not detected". The "detected" light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine from the left.]
:Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer.
:Ponytail: And this is our most sensitive detector.
:Cueball: What does it detect?

:[The next panel zooms in on the detector. Ponytail's voice comes from the left of the panel.]
:Ponytail (off-panel): Lots of stuff.
:Ponytail (off-panel): Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.

:[The next panel zooms out. Cueball and Ponytail are standing to the left of the machine, and Hairy on the right.]
:Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those ''always'' present?
:Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying "detected" continuously since we turned it on.

:[Cueball and Ponytail still standing to the left of the machine, and Hairy on the right. Ponytail has her hand on her chin.]
:Cueball: What happens if it says "not detected"?
:Ponytail: Oh gosh.
:Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

Talk:3253: Sunbeam

2026-06-06T17:57:33Z

81.179.199.253:

3255: Planetary Science

2026-06-05T18:57:58Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ punctuation positioning

{{comic
| number = 3255
| date = June 5, 2026
| title = Planetary Science
| image = planetary_science_2x.png
| imagesize = 277x388px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The research was overseen by the Institutional Review Board, which is what I named my surfboard.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This comic was found on a planet with internet on it!}}
This comic is presented as a scientific article in which astronomers claim to have discovered "signs of liquid water on the surface of a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone" -- however, as the accompanying photos (four people on a beach, of whom two are sitting under an umbrella and one is making sand castles) show, the planet in question is Earth. This would not be considered a noteworthy discovery.{{cn}} Finding other planets that have liquid water is a notable result, as water is necessary to support life, so a planet with water could possibly have life on it. However, we already know about life on Earth existing, so this article is hardly useful or practical.

There is value in using Earth as an example of a planet in a habitable zone, such as [https://www.nasa.gov/universe/atacama-rover-astrobiology-drilling-studies-arads/ testing life-detection experiments in remote inhospitable environments] or [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-would-we-know-theres-life-on-earth-this-bold-experiment-found-out/ as a proxy for future astronomical observations], but not in-situ photographic investigation. Maybe the astronomers should have brought their {{w|spectrometer}} on vacation.

An {{w|institutional review board}} is a committee of researchers which ensures that research carried out at their institution is ethical. In the title text, this is referenced to be the literal name of a {{w|surfboard}}, which is a board used for the recreational activity of {{w|surfing}}, not serious academic activities. Presumably one of the researchers used this as an excuse to post their pictures of a surfing holiday. Of course, 'the Institutional Review Board' is a very strange name for a surfboard,{{Citation needed}} and its only purpose would be for this (somewhat bad) excuse.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A journal entry is shown, with 3 sections of blurred text, and 2 pictures - On on the top-right showing Jill and Kidball playing at the beach - Jill running, Cueball building a sandcastle, while Cueball and Megan under an umbrella watching them, and another at the bottom-left showing the sea running alongside the beach.]
:[Title of journal article:] Evidence of liquid water on the surface of a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone
:[caption below text:] Planetary science journals have asked astronomers to please stop submitting their vacation photos.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring children]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Kidball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]

3251: Time Machine Conversation

2026-06-05T18:55:43Z

81.179.199.253: /* Transcript */ Removing the extra linefeed that the (temporary) addition of the empty reflist section added.

{{comic
| number = 3251
| date = May 27, 2026
| title = Time Machine Conversation
| image = time_machine_conversation_2x.png
| imagesize = 691x344px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] has used a time machine to travel to the {{w|Iron Age}} and has a conversation with an ancient-times version of [[Hairbun]] (who seems to be a farmer, since she's holding a pretty modern-looking {{w|Hoe (tool)|hoe}} and seems to be particularly knowledgable of the 'latest' {{w|plow}} developments). However, he is very surprised to find that she does not know about the {{w|compass}} (a very common tool in the present day). The magnetic compass was first invented in China around 200 BCE, well after the end of the Iron Age, and it wasn't used for navigation until the 11th century AD. For an Iron Age farmer the concept of a 'weird rock that always points north', as Cueball puts it, would seem quite ridiculous, and the inherent dangers of sea travel might well seem to be insurmountable ones. The subject of how many things that today are seen as perfectly normal and standard could seem very strange to those who lived before they were created has been [[3199|covered]] [[2809|before]] in xkcd.

Cueball inadvertently starts explaining compasses and then worries about the impact his words might have. According to common {{tvtropes|TimeTravel|time travel tropes}}, this interaction might cause a chain of events that will lead to {{w|grandfather paradox|Cueball not existing}}, or {{tvtropes|butterflyofdoom|worse}}, which would create a paradox (if it isn't already already a different kind of paradox through being {{w|Novikov self-consistency principle|a pre-existing component of Cueball's original timeline}}). However, rather than the potential radical impact he might have on history by introducing this concept earlier than should have happened, he appears to be concerned that he may have given her a {{w|Spoiler (media)|spoiler}} for upcoming history[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg4mcdhIsvU]. Presumably he feels he has deprived her (or humankind more generally) of the joy that would have come with its eventual discovery.

He is then also concerned that he has managed to 'spoilerise' the concept of 'the spoiler'. The modern meaning of "spoiler" didn't arise until the 1970s, which post-date the Iron Age.{{Citation needed}} Spoiler warnings became common on {{w|Usenet newsgroup}}s in the late 1980s. Cueball may have created a temporal paradox by introducing the concept thousands of years earlier, although any such 'change' made to that time might easily have been forgotten again in the two or three thousand years since this encounter. In any event, while telling people thousands of years ago that there was a way to make a compass might have changed history significantly, telling them that there are stories that they would enjoy less if they knew the ending before hearing the story seems less likely to have made a significant impact. It's also likely that, even if the term 'spoiler' was adopted by these Iron Age people, it would long have fallen out of use by the time it came to be invented in the late twentieth century.

The title text has Cueball about to unleash another 'spoiler' on how to navigate without a compass, but he stops himself before saying it. However, he does still end up accidentally revealing that {{w|Polynesians}} know about it, though whether this was another unintentional slip or a deliberate clue left for Hairbun is unclear. It is thought that so-called '{{w|Polynesian navigation}}' used other methods of marine navigation ({{w|celestial navigation}}, observation of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns). As the Polynesians lived in the Pacific, which would probably be unknown to Hairbun and difficult to reach from her location, the clue is useless. It is unclear where Hairbun is, but it is likely that she is in {{w|Europe}} or the area around the {{w|Arabian Peninsula}}, where the term 'Iron Age' is most relevant, and which are quite far from the Pacific. Revealing the existence of the Pacific and its inhabitants to her may cause its own disruptions to history, though. Cueball also seems to have forgotten the possibility of chatting to the Vikings, who may have used polarized crystals to be able to navigate during overcast days when the Sun wasn't visible, although there is little evidence for this being done during the Iron Age.

Whether or not this was an intentional connection, the stars known by some as "{{w|the Plough}}" (''Ursa Major'', perhaps more popularly known as "the Big Dipper" in the US) are also useful in finding the northern {{w|pole star}} (not the same star then as now but still in the same constellation), hence potentially linking both of the farmer's initial remarks.

The comic is based on shaky ground, as it's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily, unless it's {{tvtropes|TranslatorMicrobes|part of the function}} of the time-travel technology. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English, yet somehow they understand each other's speech. It also appears that the ''very existence of time travel'' is not considered a spoiler for an Iron Age person, or even in any way remarkable to them — this might imply that the farmer is already very well aware of such phenomena (or even that Cueball {{tvtropes|TimeTravelTenseTrouble|will later have already}} visited the same society/farmer at an earlier date), which may be one way to explain apparently fluent conversational American English being spoken.

Time travel is a [[:Category:Time travel|recurring theme]] on xkcd.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]
:Cueball: Oh hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.
:Cueball: Cool.
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.

:[Only Cueball is shown, with Hairbun out of the panel.]
:Cueball: I'm sorry.
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.

:[Cueball and Hairbun are both shown again.]
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?
:Hairbun: The what?
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?

:[Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?
:Cueball: ...Spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Time travel]]

Talk:3254: Detector

2026-06-05T18:50:44Z

81.179.199.253:

The deluxe edition of the machine probably has "Detected/Not detected" lights for each of those items. I would guess its cost would be significantly higher. [[Special:Contributions/47.248.235.170|47.248.235.170]] 21:39, 3 June 2026 (UTC)Pat

To whoever wrote the initial transcript: the title text should not be included. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:57, 3 June 2026 (UTC)

It doesn't even detect a vacuum? Useless thing, showing not even a vacuous truth. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:590:1402:2E01:102F:245D:DD57:1937|2A02:590:1402:2E01:102F:245D:DD57:1937]] 22:15, 3 June 2026 (UTC)

It also has zero false positive [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 23:17, 3 June 2026 (UTC)
:Not necessarily. We are told that it never says "No" when it should be saying "Yes", which suggests that there will be no false negatives. If were trust that assertion.
:But we aren't given any assurance at all (even a simple nodding statement with no provability behind it) that the machine will not continue to say "Detected" even if it {{w|False vacuum#Existential threat|somehow really shouldn't}}. Should it do so, it would be be a false positive. Even though various other existential problems might be more important to anyone around who might care about it, at that point. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 23:45, 3 June 2026 (UTC)
:My point is that there is no circumstance that the machine would exist where all of the items it detects are no longer present i.e. the case of a false positive just cannot happen. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 03:03, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

Failing to detect states would be a particularly worrying prospect for people in the USA. --[[Special:Contributions/2A10:D586:3E93:0:CC7B:253E:A0AA:2FA9|2A10:D586:3E93:0:CC7B:253E:A0AA:2FA9]] 08:00, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

I would claim the assertion about false negatives is incorrect. It's impossible for a true negative to be displayed by the machine, so it's enough for a single malfunction that ever makes the machine display a negative to get a 100% false negative rate. [[Special:Contributions/2A00:79E0:2820:8:9966:10CC:BAF3:62E|2A00:79E0:2820:8:9966:10CC:BAF3:62E]] 09:13, 4 June 2026 (UTC)
:Not necessarily true. If the machine is set up to scan a volume of space that includes its own green lamp, then it should be recording the matter, light, etc of that green lamp, so no question that it would (self-reinforcingly) be detecting the thing that says it is detecting things, and never .
:But if it's monitoring a distinct space a few feet away, and (because of handwavy occurances that I'll leave to your imagination) that whole area of space gets changed/replaced/displaced by some utter shielded void of some kind, ''that'' could result in there now being a true negative result to report, whether or not the machine can or will do.
:Which is moot if there's no way for the Not Detected lamp to light (there's no way for the circuitry to light it... there is no circuitry attached to it... it doesn't even have a bulb... there's an ED209 standing nearby to aggressively shoot anyone who ever ''looks'' like they're trying to install the necessary bits to overcome any or all the deliberately omitted ways for the lamp to even ''apparently'' be lit up...) the instances of it being negative/"Not" might be ruled out by even the weirdest quantum effects (there just is no solution to the universe's wavefunction that results in the other light being lit), even in the apparent philosolhy of "if anything is possible, it must happen in an infinite universe".
:What it comes down to is whether the possibility of the light ever lighting is (unlike the unspoken possibility of a bubble of non-existence spontaneously forming or passing over the right spot) sufficiently unlikely within the xkcd-verse to make it less unreliable (for negative reporting) than all the other detectors. Like how many times have neutrinos passed through the neutrino detector without being detected (very high false-negative; false-positives may also happen when someone cannonballs into the pool during the pool-party), but less so for more reliable experimental detectors. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.222|82.132.239.222]] 12:26, 4 June 2026 (UTC)
If the Not Detected light were to turn on, it would be detected, and would thus turn off, providing opportunity for oscillation. But at what frequency? [[Special:Contributions/173.188.194.118|173.188.194.118]] 12:56, 4 June 2026 (UTC)
:Perhals (Planck time)-1 ''if'' it was immediate (and no silly 'speed of light' delay within itself, or other processing delays like collating/multiplexing the various inputs for all the different sub-detectors prior to choosing which light to light) plus could detect an intensity of light as low as the NDL emits. (Imagine that it only triggers when a supernova-level of light is detected? It may be a very ''insensitive'' detector, by what degree of detectable-stuff it can measure, even though it is also sensitive to a wide ''variety' of different detectable-stuffs, at least once they get beyond some arbitrary individual thresholds for their respective quality of detectability.)
:Though the Detected-light would already be detected (as light and mass and electrical fields and everything else), by the same assumption of its light-sensitivity (assuming the NDL isn't purposefully dimmer than the DL, exactly enough to prevent this NDL-detection), so if the lighting of the light is relevent to a Detection event, then Detection events are assured regardless of whether one starts from a Non-Detection Event baseline (immediately flips to being a Detection, then stays there). [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.222|82.132.239.222]] 15:15, 4 June 2026 (UTC)
:Since the presence of the mean indicates that some of the listed things MUST be present in the machine itself, how do we know it is actually detecting anything, and isn't just a box with a light on it?
::Because Hairy says that it would be bad if the other light was lit? That doesn't have the tone of "oh dear, the 'Detector' is broken"-bad, or even "hmm, perhaps we should consider that this machine isn't actually doing any detection in the first place"-bad, but very much more like "oh dear, the things that the Detector is detecting are broken"-bad. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]]

Seems related to [[2469]], no? [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:58, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

3254: Detector

2026-06-04T22:48:05Z

81.179.199.253: I actually don't think that's what should be read into this. It adds too many layers to the comic scenario... but if you insist on it being mentioned then at least get it right.

{{comic
| number = 3254
| date = June 3, 2026
| title = Detector
| image = detector_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was detected recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Ponytail]] and [[Hairy]] are showing [[Cueball]] a machine, claiming it is their most sensitive detector. Normally, detectors have a designated detecting job, such as smoke detectors which detect smoke. Being more sensitive means that it can detect (and perhaps quantify) far lower quantities/magnitudes of the target of its detections. Other detectors in the room include an {{w|electron microscope}}, which showers a target with electrons and images their reflections; an {{w|X-ray fluorescence}} (XRF) scanner, which hits a target with high-energy X-rays and measures the spectrum of the fluorescence they emit; and a {{w|mass spectrometer}}, which measures the mass-to-charge ratio of ions to determine the proportions of elements present in a sample.

In this comic, "more sensitive" seems instead to mean that it is sensitive to more ''different'' things. To quote Ponytail, it detects "gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states", which runs almost the entire gamut of things that ''might'' be detectable, and leaves little room for there being any situation in which none of the aforementioned items are there to be detected. The constituent particles of the machine itself would be present for detection, and exist in "states" and have "potentials" relative to each other... assuming that the machine is sensitive enough to detect them and includes itself within whatever detection zone it is supposed to observe for all these things. But some or all are also going to be present, in detectable quantities, in practically ''any'' location that they might feasibly be monitoring.

Cueball points this out, and Hairy admits that it ''has'' been continuously lit this way ever since they turned it on. Ponytail is audibly shocked when Cueball asks what would happen if the light labeled "Not detected" were to shine. Hairy claims that such a thing would be pretty bad, the presumption being that, if that were to happen, there would have to be no matter, light, forces, etc. within the detector's established range of detection. (With almost no reason for the "Not detected" light to shine, they could have simply provided continuous power to the "Detected" light, but the reactions of the experts present show that neither of them think that this has been done.)

One possible explanation for a scenario that might cause a "Not Detected" result could be a {{w|false vacuum}} decay event which, depending on the particular details of the true vacuum, could alter or overwrite the fundamental laws of physics as we know them. This would indeed be "bad" for, among other things, the persistence of life on Earth. In such a scenario, the detector itself would presumably also be destroyed, however.

Of course, a simpler explanation for a "Not Detected" light (and one far more likely to be correct) would be that the machine was just not working properly — in part because, if it was a correct result, the researchers would be unlikely to be alive to see it, along with any other lifeforms for that matter.{{Citation needed}} This thought process recalls [[1132: Frequentists vs. Bayesians]], a previous comic featuring a more specific detector that tells whether the Sun has gone nova (also a very bad scenario, even if less cosmically extreme), but incorporates some risk of conveying an inaccurate output. If the characters are lying (or were themselves lied to) it may not even be a real detector and just be a machine with continuous power, as atoms would be found in and around the detector.{{Citation needed}}

The title text states that the machine has the lowest {{w|false negative}} rate out of any other machine, as the "Detected" light will always continue shining. If it never ''ever'' states a negative, then it can never be wrong about it being negative. This is even though it is not clear what circumstances would result in a negative state being required. Nor whether the detector will then (correctly) state that, rather than just continue to provide an indication that is (under these circumstances) a {{w|false positive}}.

Randall had recently talked about detectors in [[3249: Neutrino Project]].

==Transcript==
:[Hairy is standing to the right of a large machine labeled "Detector". The front of the machine has two lights, labeled "Detected" and "Not detected". The "detected" light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine from the left.]
:Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer.
:Ponytail: And this is our most sensitive detector.
:Cueball: What does it detect?

:[The next panel zooms in on the detector. Ponytail's voice comes from the left of the panel.]
:Ponytail (off-panel): Lots of stuff.
:Ponytail (off-panel): Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.

:[The next panel zooms out. Cueball and Ponytail are standing to the left of the machine, and Hairy on the right.]
:Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those ''always'' present?
:Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying "detected" continuously since we turned it on.

:[Cueball and Ponytail still standing to the left of the machine, and Hairy on the right. Ponytail has her hand on her chin.]
:Cueball: What happens if it says "not detected"?
:Ponytail: Oh gosh.
:Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

3254: Detector

2026-06-04T00:14:46Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3254
| date = June 3, 2026
| title = Detector
| image = detector_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was detected recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Ponytail]] and [[Hairy]] are showing [[Cueball]] a machine, claiming it is their most sensitive detector. Normally, detectors have a designated detecting job, such as smoke detectors which detect smoke. Being more sensitive means that it can detect (and perhaps quantify) far lower quantities/magnitudes of the target of its detections.

In this case, "more sensitive" seems to mean that it is sensitive to more ''different'' things. To quote Ponytail, it detects "gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states", which runs almost the entire gamut of things that ''might'' be detectable, and leaves little room for there being any situation in which none of the aforementioned items are there to be detected.

Cueball points this out and Hairy says that it ''has'' been continuously lit this way since they turned it on. And Ponytail is left shocked when Cueball asks what would happen if the light labeled "not detected" were to shine. Hairy claims that such a thing would be pretty bad. The presumption being that, if that were to happen, there would have to be no matter, light, forces, etc within the detector's range of detection. (With almost no reason for the not detected light to shine, they could have simply made a simple circuit board with a led and written a program so that the light is always on, but the reaction shows that neither of the existing experts think that this has been done.)

The title text states that the machine has the lowest false-negative rate out of any other machine as the "Detected" light will always continue shining. If it never ''ever'' states a negative, then it can never be wrong about it being negative, even though it is not clear what circumstances would result in a negative state being required, nor whether the detector will then (corretly) state that, rather than just continue to provide a (now) false-positive.

Randall had recently talked about detectors in [[3249: Neutrino Project]].

==Transcript==
[Hairy is standing next to a large machine labeled "Detector". The front of the machine has two lights, labeled "Detected" and "Not detected". The "detected" light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine]

Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer. And this is our most sensitive detector.

Cueball: What does it detect?

[The next panel zooms in on the detector]

Ponytail: (off-screen) Lots of stuff.

Ponytail: Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.

[The next panel zooms out.]

Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those always present?

Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying "detected" continuously since we turned it on.

Cueball: What happens if it says "not detected"?

Ponytail: Oh gosh.

Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]

3254: Detector

2026-06-04T00:12:50Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3254
| date = June 3, 2026
| title = Detector
| image = detector_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was detected recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Ponytail]] and [[Hairy]] are showing [[Cueball]] a machine, claiming it is their most sensitive detector. Normally, detectors have a designated detecting job, such as smoke detectors which detect smoke. Being more sensitive means that it can detect (and perhaps quantify) far lower quantities/magnitudes of the target of its detections.

In this case, "more sensitive" seems to mean that it is sensitive to more ''different'' things. To quote Ponytail, it detects "gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states", which runs almost the entire gamut of things that ''might'' be detectable, and leaves little room for there being any situation in which none of the aforementioned items are there to be detected.

Cueball points this out and Hairy says that it ''has'' been continuously lit this way since they turned it on. And Ponytail is left shocked when Cueball asks what would happen if the light labeled "not detected" were to shine. Hairy claims that such a thing would be pretty bad. The presumption being that, if that were to happen, there would have to be no matter, light, forces, etc within the detector's range of detection. (With almost no reason for the not detected light to shine, they could have simply made a simple circuit board with a led and written a program so that the light is always on, but the reaction shows that neither of the existing experts think that this has been done.)

The title text states that the machine has the lowest false-negative rate out of any other machine as the "Detected" light will always continue shining. If it never ''ever'' states a negative, then it can never be wrong about it being negative, even though it is not clear what circumstances would result in a negative state being required, nor whether the detectore will (corretly) state that, rather than just continue to provide a (now) false-positive.

Randall had recently talked about detectors in [[3249: Neutrino Project]].

==Transcript==
[Hairy is standing next to a large machine labeled "Detector". The front of the machine has two lights, labeled "Detected" and "Not detected". The "detected" light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine]

Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer. And this is our most sensitive detector.

Cueball: What does it detect?

[The next panel zooms in on the detector]

Ponytail: (off-screen) Lots of stuff.

Ponytail: Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.

[The next panel zooms out.]

Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those always present?

Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying "detected" continuously since we turned it on.

Cueball: What happens if it says "not detected"?

Ponytail: Oh gosh.

Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]

3254: Detector

2026-06-04T00:12:12Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ Ok, there you go.

{{comic
| number = 3254
| date = June 3, 2026
| title = Detector
| image = detector_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was detected recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Ponytail]] and [[Hairy]] are showing [[Cueball]] a machine, claiming it is their most sensitive detector. Normally, detectors have a designated detecting job, such as smoke detectors which detect smoke. Being more sensitive means that it can detect (and perhaps quantify) far lower quantities/magnitudes of the target of its deterctions.

In this case, "more sensitive" seems to mean that it is sensitive to more ''different'' things. To quote Ponytail, it detects "gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states", which runs almost the entire gamut of things that ''might'' be detectable, and leaves little room for there being any situation in which none of the aforementioned items are there to be detected.

Cueball points this out and Hairy says that it ''has'' been continuously lit this way since they turned it on. And Ponytail is left shocked when Cueball asks what would happen if the light labeled "not detected" were to shine. Hairy claims that such a thing would be pretty bad. The presumption being that, if that were to happen, there would have to be no matter, light, forces, etc within the detector's range of detection. (With almost no reason for the not detected light to shine, they could have simply made a simple circuit board with a led and written a program so that the light is always on, but the reaction shows that neither of the existing experts think that this has been done.)

The title text states that the machine has the lowest false-negative rate out of any other machine as the "Detected" light will always continue shining. If it never ''ever'' states a negative, then it can never be wrong about it being negative, even though it is not clear what circumstances would result in a negative state being required, nor whether the detectore will (corretly) state that, rather than just continue to provide a (now) false-positive.

Randall had recently talked about detectors in [[3249: Neutrino Project]].

==Transcript==
[Hairy is standing next to a large machine labeled "Detector". The front of the machine has two lights, labeled "Detected" and "Not detected". The "detected" light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine]

Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer. And this is our most sensitive detector.

Cueball: What does it detect?

[The next panel zooms in on the detector]

Ponytail: (off-screen) Lots of stuff.

Ponytail: Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.

[The next panel zooms out.]

Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those always present?

Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying "detected" continuously since we turned it on.

Cueball: What happens if it says "not detected"?

Ponytail: Oh gosh.

Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]

3254: Detector

2026-06-04T00:10:47Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ Too many differences to work out if I should correct the Edit Conflct straight off. Give me a moment.

{{comic
| number = 3254
| date = June 3, 2026
| title = Detector
| image = detector_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was detected recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Ponytail]] and [[Hairy]] are showing [[Cueball]] a machine, claiming it is their most sensitive detector. Normally, detectors have a designated detecting job, such as smoke detectors which detect smoke. Being more sensitive means that it can detect (and perhaps quantify) far lower quantities/magnitudes of the target of its deterctions.

In this case, "more sensitive" seems to mean that it is sensitive to more ''different'' things. To quote Ponytail, it detects "gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states", which runs almost the entire gamut of things that ''might'' be detectable, and leaves little room for there being any situation in which none of the aforementioned items are there to be detected.

Cueball points this out and Hairy says that it ''has'' been continuously running since they turned it on. And Ponytail is left shocked when Cueball asks what would happen if the light labeled "not detected" were to shine. Hairy claims that such a thing would be pretty bad. The presumption being that, if that were to happen, there would have to be no matter, light, forces, etc within the detector's range of detection. (With almost no reason for the not detected light to shine, they could have simply made a simple circuit board with a led and written a program so that the light is always on, but the reaction shows that neither of the existing experts think that this has been done.)

The title text states that the machine has the lowest false-negative rate out of any other machine as the "Detected" light will always continue shining. If it never ''ever'' states a negative, then it can never be wrong about it being negative, even though it is not clear what circumstances would result in a negative state being required, nor whether the detectore will (corretly) state that, rather than just continue to provide a (now) false-positive.

Randell had recently talked about detectors in [[3249: Neutrino Project]].

==Transcript==
[Hairy is standing next to a large machine labeled "Detector". The front of the machine has two lights, labeled "Detected" and "Not detected". The "detected" light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine]

Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer. And this is our most sensitive detector.

Cueball: What does it detect?

[The next panel zooms in on the detector]

Ponytail: (off-screen) Lots of stuff.

Ponytail: Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.

[The next panel zooms out.]

Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those always present?

Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying "detected" continuously since we turned it on.

Cueball: What happens if it says "not detected"?

Ponytail: Oh gosh.

Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:3254: Detector

2026-06-03T23:45:21Z

81.179.199.253:

Talk:787: Orbiter

2026-06-03T22:15:22Z

81.179.199.253: Undo revision 414184 by 144.121.25.46 (talk) Zero content, zero signature.

So, I suppose a flight to the Diaoyu islands is out of the question then. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

: did you mean: Senkaku Islands? --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 01:11, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

I feel like this explanation page is completely neglecting to explain the joke, which is situational humor in which Cueball, to avoid a workplace conflict between two people who feel strongly about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, eliminates the discussion before it happens by rescheduling the check-in to what he thinks is a place which has no territorial disputes. Frank then decides to be a butt and bring up the old Texas dispute. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.203|108.162.238.203]] 16:56, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

May be a deeper joke here. When the space shuttle Columbia crashed, it was over Palestine, Texas.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.207|108.162.246.207]] 02:37, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

The given lat-long for Oklahoma doesn't appear to actually relate to Greer County. I have very little knowledge of Texas vs Oklahoma turf wars, do some Texans believe all/most of Oklahoma should be within Texas? --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 10:33, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

For what it's worth, the coordinates fall within Seminole Nation territory. I wanted to make a joke about "occupied Muscogee Nation" in reference to McGirt v. Oklahoma, but 96.6W is a few miles too far west. If only it was 96.4W... --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.182.116|172.68.182.116]] 00:51, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

This comic aged like honey. Honey is naturally antimicrobial. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.42.50|172.69.42.50]] 01:56, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

I don't think it is "probably based on the wrong assumption that the inclination cannot be higher than the latitude of the launch site;" Randall should know better than that. It's probably based on drawing a great circle through Israel and Oklahoma and noting that the inclination of that plane is greater than 57 degrees, and forgetting to account for the 12 degrees or so of rotation the earth will experience while the orbiter in en-route. That seems an easier mistake for someone who knows a bit about orbital mechanics to make, and it's more consistent with the alt-text mentioning the Outer Banks, which is where the shuttle would be dropping rocket bits on an ascent to a ~60 degree orbit.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.173|172.69.79.173]] 01:43, 21 September 2022 (UTC)

While the page is highlighted by the above edit, I've neutralised the undue assumption that Frank originally piped up in favour of Israel. Very probably "Israel person" is just over in the same direction (limited options for showing separate voices in a crowded room, very slightly different elevation of emination) and doesn't themself have any strong concern over Texan(ish) territory like Frank does. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.6|141.101.99.6]] 05:36, 21 September 2022 (UTC)

('_')
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.119|162.158.74.119]] 11:28, 21 December 2023 (UTC)

the fact that nobody's vandalised this page is crazy

...crazy?

--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.207|172.70.162.207]] 12:49, 5 September 2024 (UTC)
:That's a low expectation you have there. The fact that it has at all been actually ...'robustly edited'... but settled down again and not become a continuing editing hell is, if anything, more a sign of a prevailing sanity. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.167|172.69.194.167]] 13:28, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

3251: Time Machine Conversation

2026-06-02T19:28:21Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ Refined the wikilink, using default plural-inclusiveness behaviour.

{{comic
| number = 3251
| date = May 27, 2026
| title = Time Machine Conversation
| image = time_machine_conversation_2x.png
| imagesize = 691x344px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Spoiler alert! This page was created in the past.{{citation needed}} Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] has used a time machine to travel to the {{w|Iron Age}} and has a conversation with an ancient-times version of [[Hairbun]] (who seems to be a farmer, since she's holding a pretty modern-looking {{w|Hoe (tool)|hoe}} and seems to be particularly knowledgable of the 'latest' {{w|plow}} developments). However, he is very surprised to find that she does not know about the {{w|compass}} (a very common tool in the present day). The magnetic compass was first invented in China around 200 BCE, well after the end of the Iron Age, and it wasn't used for navigation until the 11th century AD. For an Iron Age farmer the concept of a 'weird rock that always points north', as Cueball puts it, would seem quite ridiculous, and the inherent dangers of sea travel might well seem to be insurmountable ones. The subject of how many things that today are seen as perfectly normal and standard could seem very strange to those who lived before they were created has been [[3199|covered]] [[2809|before]] in xkcd.

Cueball inadvertently starts explaining compasses and then worries about the impact his words might have. According to common {{tvtropes|TimeTravel|time travel tropes}}, this interaction might cause a chain of events that will lead to {{w|grandfather paradox|Cueball not existing}}, or {{tvtropes|butterflyofdoom|worse}}, which would create a paradox (if it isn't already already a different kind of paradox through being {{w|Novikov self-consistency principle|a pre-existing component of Cueball's original timeline}}). However, rather than the potential radical impact he might have on history by introducing this concept earlier than should have happened, he appears to be concerned that he may have given her a {{w|Spoiler (media)|spoiler}} for upcoming history[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg4mcdhIsvU]. Presumably he feels he has deprived her (or humankind more generally) of the joy that would have come with its eventual discovery.

He is then also concerned that he has managed to 'spoilerise' the concept of 'the spoiler'. The modern meaning of "spoiler" didn't arise until the 1970s, which post-date the Iron Age.{{Citation needed}} Spoiler warnings became common on {{w|Usenet newsgroup}}s in the late 1980s. Cueball may have created a temporal paradox by introducing the concept thousands of years earlier, although any such 'change' made to that time might easily have been forgotten again in the two or three thousand years since this encounter. In any event, while telling people thousands of years ago that there was a way to make a compass might have changed history significantly, telling them that there are stories that they would enjoy less if they knew the ending before hearing the story seems less likely to have made a significant impact. It's also likely that, even if the term 'spoiler' was adopted by these Iron Age people, it would long have fallen out of use by the time it came to be invented in the late twentieth century.

The title text has Cueball about to unleash another 'spoiler' on how to navigate without a compass, but he stops himself before saying it. However, he does still end up accidentally revealing that {{w|Polynesians}} know about it, though whether this was another unintentional slip or a deliberate clue left for Hairbun is unclear. It is thought that so-called '{{w|Polynesian navigation}}' used other methods of marine navigation ({{w|celestial navigation}}, observation of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns). As the Polynesians lived in the Pacific, which would probably be unknown to Hairbun and difficult to reach from her location, the clue is useless. It is unclear where Hairbun is, but it is likely that she is in {{w|Europe}} or the area around the {{w|Arabian Peninsula}}, where the term 'Iron Age' is most relevant, and which are quite far from the Pacific. Revealing the existence of the Pacific and its inhabitants to her may cause its own disruptions to history, though.

Whether or not this was an intentional connection, the stars known by some as "{{w|the Plough}}" (''Ursa Major'', perhaps more popularly known as "the Big Dipper" in the US) are also useful in finding the northern {{w|pole star}} (not the same star then as now but still in the same constellation), hence potentially linking both of the farmer's initial remarks.

The comic is based on shaky ground, as it's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily, unless it's {{tvtropes|TranslatorMicrobes|part of the function}} of the time-travel technology. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English, yet somehow they understand each other's speech. It also appears that the ''very existence of time travel'' is not considered a spoiler for an Iron Age person, or even in any way remarkable to them — this might imply that the farmer is already very well aware of such phenomena (or even that Cueball {{tvtropes|TimeTravelTenseTrouble|will later have already}} visited the same society/farmer at an earlier date), which may be one way to explain apparently fluent conversational American English being spoken.

Time travel is a [[:Category:Time travel|recurring theme]] on xkcd.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]
:Cueball: Oh hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.
:Cueball: Cool.
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.

:[Only Cueball is shown, with Hairbun out of the panel.]
:Cueball: I'm sorry.
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.

:[Cueball and Hairbun are both shown again.]
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?
:Hairbun: The what?
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?

:[Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?
:Cueball: ...Spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Time travel]]

Talk:1234: Douglas Engelbart (1925-2013)

2026-06-02T16:09:25Z

81.179.199.253:

The song he claims to have written is, of course, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". But why? /[[User:Skagedal|Skagedal]] ([[User talk:Skagedal|talk]]) 08:22, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
: I guess for the same reason he claims to have thought up YOLO and cat picture memes - he's claiming credit for many many future developments - that's the joke. Either that or the comic's claiming Douglas was a time traveller and was single handedly responsible for every invention ever! Let's face it though, much of our modern day tech wouldn't have happened without his work. I can't believe I never heard of this guy before. [[User:Hippyjim|Hippyjim]] ([[User talk:Hippyjim|talk]]) 09:00, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
::As has since been added, it's a reference to the obscure-but-not-secret chord keyboard. Someone should really go through each clause and either give a link to that part of the demo, or the real history. {{unsigned ip|173.14.129.9}}
: I'd guess it's because the mournful tone of the song makes it appropriate for a memorial to someone passing away.
:[[User:Wwoods|Wwoods]] ([[User talk:Wwoods|talk]]) 18:06, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

Looks like the Stanford site has been given the xkcd hug. Does anybody have a mirror? [[User:Spontaneous|Spontaneous]] ([[User talk:Spontaneous|talk]]) 15:33, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
:Stanford is overloaded, not only because this comic. The link is also at his wiki page.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:44, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

Is it just me or is there a certain amount of deliberate irony here. Englebart was working at " A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect" and where do we end up? Lolcats....--[[User:NHSavage|NHSavage]] ([[User talk:NHSavage|talk]]) 19:12, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

The "inventions in detail" section is badly written... Also, it feels weird to use Engelbart's first name to refer to him. Excessively familiar, perhaps. --[[Special:Contributions/24.186.79.218|24.186.79.218]] 01:13, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
:So do it better, you are welcome here to help. And at the Stanford site he is just called "Doug", in America people are mostly using the first name.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:30, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
::I took a stab at cleaning up the grammar a bit, and I agree that in this context, refering to him by his last name is more appropriate. --[[Special:Contributions/67.71.137.146|67.71.137.146]] 12:29, 10 July 2013 (UTC)
:::Thanks for your help on grammar, I'm not native English. My main source was the Stanford site mentioned at the trivia, and he is just called "Doug" there. I think even this nickname should be appropriate.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:03, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

Hi, is there any truth to the "masking codecs" claim in the comic and in the explanation of the inventions here? I watched the whole presentation on Youtube, but I can't remember that anything about audio was mentioned. Has this been presented some other time? Or is this again a joke, like the YOLO-cat claim? --[[Special:Contributions/84.164.96.3|84.164.96.3]] 12:43, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

The alt-text, talking about Englebart looking forward to computers tracking what you're doing and who you are, is clearly a jab at the NSA and advertising tracking on the web, and probably at social networking like Facebook and Twitter. 'Direct messages', of course, is exactly the term Twitter uses. I'm unsure if this is the term Engelbart used, though: does anyone have a transcript? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.166|141.101.99.166]] 17:30, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

Passage of Time: There appears to be a considerable passage of time between panels one and three: note the appearance of a wireless headset. This raises the possibility that the demo presented so much new technology and took decades, during which the equipment was upgraded and the inventions demonstrated became less technologically meaningful. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.190|162.158.38.190]] 09:00, 5 February 2019 (UTC)
:Think you are on to something with this [[User:Drkaii|Drkaii]] ([[User talk:Drkaii|talk]])
::This is consistent with the fact that the first panel is dated 1968, and the Leonard Cohen song in the 2nd panel came out in 1984. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 14:13, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

Nobody seems to notice this is comic 1-2-3-4. ;_;

not using ctrl+c ctrl+v for copypasting just seems weird to me [[User:An user who has no account yet|An user who has no account yet]] ([[User talk:An user who has no account yet|talk]]) 09:32, 9 September 2023 (UTC)

Ok what about 3b1b's "How They Fool Ya" (on YouTube) with the exact words "I heard there was a secret chord"?
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.22|172.68.210.22]] 04:21, 21 July 2024 (UTC)

It seems to me that the text is intended to be sang to the tune of "Hallelujah", and maybe this is related to the 1-2-3-4 being the typical 4/4 time signature counting out before you start the tune. {{unsigned|Freudenfreude|15:51, 2 June 2026}}

User talk:YZ100

2026-06-02T00:06:23Z

81.179.199.253: /* Excessive Verbosity? */

[[#jumpb|''(jump to bottom)'']]

Send me any questions.

== Excessive Verbosity? ==

So... absolutely massive ''and variously dynamic'' comics are to be considered as Excessively Verbose? I'm not sure at all that that's valid. All three pages currently given this status have a lot of things to discuss/describe in detail, and I'm doubtful of any suggestion that you could significantly cut any of them down without removing a trove of hard-earned contributions that actually ''mean'' something.

And surely if you already knew what ought to useully be edited out, you'd have done that rather than appeal for others But good luck with that fool's errand. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 23:22, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
:They have long explanations, much longer than required. Comics like [[1037: Umwelt]] are not excessive verbose because they have what they need. [[User:YZ100|YZ100]] 23:36, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
::"Longer than required"{{Actual citaction needed}} Sorry, but you haven't sold me on this particular presumption. But it's why I thought I'd talk to you on your Talk about it rather than just demonstrate my personal disagreement by the other logical route.
::Though, if there had been a Talk page already set up on the Excessive Verbosity page, then I might have invited discussion of the require parameters there. But there isn't one, so the choices were here or somewhere under the Community Portal, and I chose here to make my point. Which I have now done, whether or not you get my gist about it. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 00:06, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

3253: Sunbeam

2026-06-01T23:57:41Z

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ Had not meant to rewrite it so thoroughly, but I felt several points were still missed, or incorrectly brought to prominance.

{{comic
| number = 3253
| date = June 1, 2026
| title = Sunbeam
| image = sunbeam_2x.png
| imagesize = 398x347px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = While weather control is typically thought of as a superpower, the unconscious ability of astronomers and astrophotographers to summon clouds is more properly classified as a curse.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A TABLE SOON TO BE LIT BY THE SUN. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Astrophotography}} is the act of taking pictures of very distant objects. Often these are celestial ones, or other star-related phenomena such as nebulae and galaxies, but planets, moons and even spacecraft may photographed either in isolation or in conjunction with other objects along roughly the same line of sight.

In order to tae such photos, one needs to know where things are in the sky, especially when the Sun is in the sky and needs to be specifically accounted for to either ensure that it is aimed away from or is a [[2463: Astrophotography|deliberate part of the intended shot]]. The prospective movement of the various objects across the sky (both intended subjects of the photograph and anything that gets in the way) might be intensely studied beforehand, e.g. to ensure that the Moon will rise above a suitable part of the horizon (by working out when and where the photograph should be taken from) or to avoid disappointment in trying to obtain a desired eclipse-orientated image.

Since all natural celestial objects move in predictabe ways across the sky (and the movements of satellites can be worked out at least given knowledge of any of their most recent manoevering) astrophotographers possess an ability that the comic calls an "extremely minor superpower". In this case, it is [[Cueball]] who is pointing out that the passage of the Sun across the sky will move the sunbeams from a certain window across the floor of the room to later illuminate a given table. Though normally it might be considered useful to see by, such direct sunlight would probably be considered problematic, in this case, making the indicated table subject to excessive heat and/or light for comfort, whereas the table currently beyond the beams of sunlight would be a perfectly acceptable place to sit and would remain so.

However, regular people could easily determine where the sun will fall as well, making its claims as a 'superpower' questionable at best, as (assuming that this venue is in the northern hemisphere, with a southerly-facing window) most people will be able to work out the consequences of the changing position of the Sun (w.r.t. the spinning Earth) to a similarly useful degree. Though a layperson might have more doubts about how the changes in the sunbeam's declination might change matters, depending upon the (local) time of day and what season of the year this is happening. Cueball, however, has enough intimate knowlege through his astrophotographic hobby/work to be usefully definite about how things will progress. Hence it's being called a very minor superpower.

The title text talks about another minor "superpower", that astrophotographers have, which makes clouds always seem to show up in front of the night sky. Because this "ability" is actually just coincidence,{{Citation needed}} that only appears causal to some, as well as that it interferes with their work, by ruining their photos, the title text more accurately classifies it as {{tvtropes|BlessedWithSuck|a curse}}, which is why the rest of the comic describes astrophotographers having only one "actual" superpower.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball, Megan, and White Hat are in a large dark room, presumably a restaurant, with two tables and a large window, with 4 panels and a topsection. The window is casting a large sunbeam between the two tables.]
:Cueball: Let's take the far table.
:Cueball: The closer one will be in the sun soon.
:[Caption below the panel:]
:Astrophotography gives you exactly one extremely minor superpower.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Photography]]

User talk:YZ100

2026-06-01T23:22:52Z

81.179.199.253: /* Excessive Verbosity? */ new section