explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1220: Hipsters

2013-06-03T20:34:17Z

98.166.42.178: /* Explanation */ link fixes, sorry

{{comic
| number = 1220
| date = June 3, 2013
| title = Hipsters
| image = hipsters.png
| titletext = You may point out that this very retreat into ironic detachment while still clearly participating in the thing in question is the very definition of contemporary hipsterdom. But on the other hand, wait, you're in an empty room. Who are you talking to?
}}

==Explanation==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_(1940s_subculture) "Hipster"] originally referred to counter-cultural youth and jazz aficionados in the 1940s and 1950s before the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie hippie] culture developed in the mid '60s. Recently, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_(contemporary_subculture) "hipster"] has come to refer to, in Wikipedia's terms, "a subculture of young, urban middle class adults and older teenagers that appeared in the 1990s. The subculture is associated with independent music, a varied non-mainstream fashion sensibility, progressive or independent political views, alternative spirituality or atheism/agnosticism, and alternative lifestyles."

Following the hipster resurgence, it became popular in many circles to hold hipsters in contempt, citing their conformity to a subculture by rejecting "mainstream" culture. Randall continues the arguably hypocritical meta-complaining by showing more s-curves that represent subsequent, smaller backlashes, self-referentially including his own comic in that meta-complaining. User Dgbrt added that [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-rise_(fashion) "hipster"] also can refer to low-rise legwear that sits at or below the hips, often worn in conjunction with revealing shirts, exposing one's bellybutton, which adds a double meaning to the "tedious navel-gazing by insecure people".

The title-text continues the meta but shifts to referencing a previous comic, [[525| 525: "I Know You're Listening"]]. Although readers may not necessarily be alone in empty rooms, solitary web-browsing is common among Randall's audience. "Hispterdom" may refer to the leaders of the hipster subculture who set trends, but is likely used by Randall to refer to the general state of being a hipster.

==Transcript==

:[The comic is a single panel which shows some graphs with labels ''How often I see...'' at the y-axis and ''Time-> Now'' at the x-axis]

:[First graph: Hipsters]
:[Second graph: Complaints about hipsters]
:[Third graph: Complaints about the constant use and discussion of the word "Hipster"]
:[Fourth graph: Complaints that every level of meta-opinion on hipsters represents the same tedious navel-gazing by insecure people]
:[Fifth graph: Graphs making it all worse]

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

1220: Hipsters

2013-06-03T20:25:33Z

98.166.42.178: Added content and addressed varying definitions of "hipster" and "hipsterdom"

{{comic
| number = 1220
| date = June 3, 2013
| title = Hipsters
| image = hipsters.png
| titletext = You may point out that this very retreat into ironic detachment while still clearly participating in the thing in question is the very definition of contemporary hipsterdom. But on the other hand, wait, you're in an empty room. Who are you talking to?
}}

==Explanation==
{w|Hipster (1940s subculture)|"Hipster"} originally referred to counter-cultural youth and jazz aficionados in the 1940s and 1950s before the {w|Hippie} culture developed in the mid '60s. Recently, {W|Hipster (contemporary subculture)|"hipster"} has come to refer to, in Wikipedia's terms, "a subculture of young, urban middle class adults and older teenagers that appeared in the 1990s. The subculture is associated with independent music, a varied non-mainstream fashion sensibility, progressive or independent political views, alternative spirituality or atheism/agnosticism, and alternative lifestyles."

Following the hipster resurgence, it became popular in many circles to hold hipsters in contempt, citing their conformity to a subculture by rejecting "mainstream" culture. Randall continues the arguably hypocritical meta-complaining by showing more s-curves that represent subsequent, smaller backlashes, self-referentially including his own comic in that meta-complaining. User Dgbrt added that {w|Low-rise (fashion)|"hipster" also can refer to low-rise legwear that sits at or below the hips, often worn in conjunction with revealing shirts, exposing one's bellybutton, which adds a double meaning to the "tedious navel-gazing by insecure people".

The title-text continues the meta but shifts to referencing a previous comic, [[525| 525—"I Know You're Listening"]]. Although readers may not necessarily be alone in empty rooms, solitary web-browsing is common among Randall's audience. "Hispterdom" may refer to the leaders of the hipster subculture who set trends, but is likely used by Randall to refer to the general state of being a hipster.
==Transcript==

:[The comic is a single panel which shows some graphs with labels ''How often I see...'' at the y-axis and ''Time-> Now'' at the x-axis]

:[First graph: Hipsters]
:[Second graph: Complaints about hipsters]
:[Third graph: Complaints about the constant use and discussion of the word "Hipster"]
:[Fourth graph: Complaints that every level of meta-opinion on hipsters represents the same tedious navel-gazing by insecure people]
:[Fifth graph: Graphs making it all worse]

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

1205: Is It Worth the Time?

2013-04-29T10:36:45Z

98.166.42.178: Added to explanation of title-text

{{comic
| number = 1205
| date = April 29, 2013
| title = Is It Worth the Time?
| image = is it worth the time.png
| titletext = Don't forget the time you spend finding the chart to look up what you save. And the time spent reading this reminder about the time spent. And the time trying to figure out if either of those actually make sense. Remember, every second counts toward your life total, including these right now.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is a straightforward chart showing the amount of work (time) one can dedicate to making a task more efficient, in order not to spend more time optimizing the task than the total time saved.

E.g. if you do some task every week once, and you are able to save 1 minute off it by doing some preparatory work (e.g. build or buy a tool), you can spend 4 hours doing this preparatory work, and you will, across five-years time, come even. (Any less time spent doing the preparatory work, and you will profit from it.)

The calculation on which the chart is based, for this example:

: 5 years / 1 week = 260 occurrences of the task
: 260 occurrences × 1 saved minute = 260 saved minutes = 4.3 hours

Therefore, 1 minute saved every week would, across five years, save over 4 hours of your time.

Or, in algebraic form:

: Total time shaved off across 5 years = 5 × “How often you do the task every year” × “How much time you will shave off”

The blacked out areas represent times which are impossible to save (e.g. it is impossible to shave 1 hour off a task if you perform 50 times a day – the total time shaved off per day would amount to 50 hours, far more than the 24 hours a day).

The comic derives humor from the absurd conclusions of hyper-efficiency, which have been examined in http://what-if.xkcd.com/22/. The title text points out the time you spend studying this comic detracts from your overall efficiency, and concludes that maximizing efficiency would require optimal use of every second.

==Transcript==
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="6" | How often you do the task
|-
! 50/day !! 5/day !! Daily !! Weekly !! Monthly !! Yearly
|-
!rowspan="9" width="10" | How much time you will shave off
! 1 second
| 1 day || 2 hours || 30 minutes || 4 minutes || 1 minute || 5 seconds
|-
! 5 seconds
| 5 days || 12 hours || 2 hours || 21 minutes || 5 minutes || 25 seconds
|-
! 30 seconds
| 4 weeks || 3 days || 12 hours || 2 hours || 30 minutes || 2 minutes
|-
! 1 minute
| 8 weeks || 6 days || 1 day || 4 hours || 1 hour || 5 minutes
|-
! 5 minutes
| 9 months || 4 week || 6 days || 21 hours || 5 hour || 25 minutes
|-
! 30 minutes
| — || 6 months || 5 weeks || 5 days || 1 day || 2 hours
|-
! 1 hour
| — || 10 months || 2 months || 10 days || 2 days || 5 hours
|-
! 6 hours
| — || — || — || 2 months || 2 weeks || 1 day
|-
! 1 day
| — || — || — || — || 8 weeks || 5 days
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Math]]

User:NHSavage/Sandbox

2013-01-23T18:34:59Z

98.166.42.178: Great Sandbox! Thanks.

1164: Home Alone

2013-01-23T18:34:22Z

98.166.42.178: /* Explanation */ Added "reboot" link information about reboots over 2004–2014 to ambiguous "these days"

{{comic
| number = 1164
| date = January 23, 2013
| title = Home Alone
| image = home alone.png
| titletext = Starring Macaulay Culkin.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|Home Alone}}'' is a popular movie 1990 film in which the child protagonist Kevin McCallister (portrayed by {{w|Macaulay Culkin}}) is accidentally left alone in his house when his family goes on vacation, and has to thrwart a burglary all by himself. In the movie, McCallister comes up with a variety of ingenious traps and schemes (usually involving {{w|jury rig}}ed toys and household items) to harass, injure and eventually incapacitate the burglars, which was the film's defining feature. The film spawned a {{w|Home Alone (franchise)|series of sequels}} (4 sequels as of 2012, the first of which also starring Culkin) all with a similar premise to the original.

The scene depicted in the strip is an adaptation of an iconic scene from the first movie which was used heavily in advertising where McCallister hangs two paint cans from string above the staircase and when the burglars try to climb up and get him, he lets the cans swing down and hit them in the face.

The films represent a classic story of the underdog (in this instance, a child) defeating a much stronger opponent (the burglars) through his own ingenuity. In this strip, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] suggests {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|reboot}}ing the franchise (where a new film is made that begins a series fresh, ignoring the previous continuity of the series, and usually with some changes to update or improve the series), which has become very popular and successful over 2004–2014 (with notable {{w|Reboot_(fiction)#Film|examples}} in Bond and Marvel franchises). Randall suggests that the reboot "reverse" the ages so that the protagonist is an adult and the burglars are children. This obviously wouldn't work well as a movie because it would mean an adult man using his much greater strength and abilities to harm children. Randall also suggests that, as it has been more than two decades since the original film, Culkin could again play the protagonist in the reboot, as he is now in his 30s.

==Transcript==
:[Aged man standing at the head of a flight of stairs. A paint can on a rope is swinging into a child at the foot of the stairs. A child on the floor is in a semi-fetal position and crying.]
:Child: Ow!!
:Child on floor: Waaaaaaaaa!
:Rejected movie ideas:
:Age-reversed ''Home Alone'' reboot.

{{comic discussion}}

User:NHSavage/Sandbox

2013-01-23T18:33:50Z

98.166.42.178: Sandbox? I don't mean to intrude, but I am trying to test a link. Is it okay to do so here?

==Explanation==


==Transcript==
:[ {{w|Sauron}} is in a nightclub, sitting unhappily at a table with a drink. The Beyoncé song "{{w|Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)|Single Ladies}}" is playing. Beret Guy walks up to Sauron.]
:Beret Guy: Hey Sauron. Why so Glum?
:Saron: Gil-Galad saw through me and threw me out of Lindon. Galadriel, too. I'll never rule anyone at this rate.
:[Single Ladies continues playing]
:Sauron: Eru created such beautiful creatures - Elves and Men and Dwarves - and all I've got are these stupid Orcs.
:[Music: 'cause if you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it]
:Suaron: I mean, I -
:[Music: If you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it]
:[Sauron still sits at the table but an idea seems to have come to him]

Attempted edit:
The films represent a classic story of the underdog (in this instance, a child) defeating a much stronger opponent (the burglars) through his own ingenuity. In this strip, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] suggests {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|reboot}}ing the franchise (where a new film is made that begins a series fresh, ignoring the previous continuity of the series, and usually with some changes to update or improve the series), which has become very popular and successful over 2004–2014 (with notable {{w|Reboot_(fiction)#Film|examples}} in Bond and Marvel franchises). Randall suggests that the reboot "reverse" the ages so that the protagonist is an adult and the burglars are children. This obviously wouldn't work well as a movie because it would mean an adult man using his much greater strength and abilities to harm children. Randall also suggests that, as it has been more than two decades since the original film, Culkin could again play the protagonist in the reboot, as he is now in his 30s.
{{comic discussion}}

1164: Home Alone

2013-01-23T17:53:00Z

98.166.42.178: Minor grammar edit: "Let's" to "lets" for 3rd person singular present tense

{{comic
| number = 1164
| date = January 23, 2013
| title = Home Alone
| image = home alone.png
| titletext = Starring Macaulay Culkin.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|Home Alone}}'' is a popular movie 1990 film in which the child protagonist Kevin McCallister (portrayed by {{w|Macaulay Culkin}}) is accidentally left alone in his house when his family goes on vacation, and has to thrwart a burglary all by himself. In the movie, McCallister comes up with a variety of ingenious traps and schemes (usually involving {{w|jury rig}}ed toys and household items) to harass, injure and eventually incapacitate the burglars, which was the film's defining feature. The film spawned a {{w|Home Alone (franchise)|series of sequels}} (4 sequels as of 2012, the first of which also starring Culkin) all with a similar premise to the original.

The scene depicted in the strip is an adaptation of an iconic scene from the first movie which was used heavily in advertising where McCallister hangs two paint cans from string above the staircase and when the burglars try to climb up and get him, he lets the cans swing down and hit them in the face.

The films represent a classic story of the underdog (in this instance, a child) defeating a much stronger opponent (the burglars) through his own ingenuity. In this strip, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] suggests rebooting the franchise (where a new film is made that begins a series fresh, ignoring the previous continuity of the series, and usually with some changes to update or improve the series), which has become very popular and successful these days. Randall suggests that the reboot "reverse" the ages so that the protagonist is an adult and the burglars are children. This obviously wouldn't work well as a movie because it would mean an adult man using his much greater strength and abilities to harm children. Randall also suggests that, as it has been more than two decades since the original film, Culkin could again play the protagonist in the reboot, as he is now in his 30s.

==Transcript==
:[Aged man standing at the head of a flight of stairs. A paint can on a rope is swinging into a child at the foot of the stairs. A child on the floor is in a semi-fetal position and crying.]
:Child: Ow!!
:Child on floor: Waaaaaaaaa!
:Rejected movie ideas:
:Age-reversed ''Home Alone'' reboot.

{{comic discussion}}

1157: Sick Day

2013-01-07T11:28:34Z

98.166.42.178: Fixed typo (highly)

{{comic
| number = 1157
| date = January 7, 2013
| title = Sick Day
| image = sick day.png
| titletext = Wikipeida path: Virus -> Immune system -> Innate immune system -> Parasites -> List of parasites of humans -> Naegleria fowleri -> Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis -> Deciding I DEFINITELY shouldn't connect an aquarium pump to my sinuses
}}

==Explanation==
===Title text===
[[Randall]]'s Wikipeida path: {{w|Virus}} -> {{w|Immune system}} -> {{w|Innate immune system}} -> {{w|Parasites}} -> {{w|List of parasites of humans}} -> {{w|Naegleria fowleri}} -> {{w|Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis}}.

Naegleria fowleri is supposedly also known as the brain-eating amoeba. It is found in warm bodies of stagnant {{w|fresh water}} (like in an aquarium?) and causes the diseese primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare but highly lethal condition. (Randall also seems to be to sick to spell {{w|Wikipedia}}.)

==Transcript==
:[A pie chart.]

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

1137: RTL

2012-11-22T21:29:56Z

98.166.42.178: Tried to fix image to the most recent (corrected) version

{{comic
| number = 1137
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = ‮LTR
| image = rtl.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Collaborative editing can quickly become a textual rap battle fought with increasingly convoluted invocations of U+202a to U+202e
}}

==Explanation==
U+202e is a {{w|unicode control characters|unicode control character}} that changes all proceeding text to right-to-left (RTL, as the title references). In the comic, [[Black Hat]] tires of [[Cueball]]'s complaining and inserts a U+202e character in the middle of Cueball's speech, turning his complaints into gibberish - sentences that must be read from right-to-left. U+202c returns text back to its normal direction.

When multiple writers work on the same text, arguments can often arise with some writers resorting to vandalizing the works of other writers. The title text takes this up a level, suggesting the use of U+202e and other direction control characters in editor wars to disrupt other people's work.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Black Hat. Cueball is standing. Black Hat is sitting down and using a laptop.]
:Cueball: And that's not even the worst part! The ''worst'' part is that—
:Black Hat: U+202e
:Cueball: ...neve t'ndid yehT— (Flipped translation = "— They didn't even...")
:Cueball: ?lleh eht tahW... (Flipped translation = "...What the hell??")
:Cueball: ...uoy did woH (Flipped translation = "How did you...")
:Cueball: .elohssA... (Flipped translation = "...Asshole.")

==Edit war cheatsheet==
The Characters mentioned in the title text are:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Unicode number !! Name !! Meaning
|-
| U+202a || LEFT-TO-RIGHT EMBEDDING || The following text will be left-to-right. This will not change directionality of characters, so for example arabic letters will stay right-to-left. This character alone does nothing in an english text, since the text direction is left-to-right by default.
|-
| U+202b || RIGHT-TO-LEFT EMBEDDING || The following text will be right-to-left. This will not change directionality of characters, so latin letters will stay left-to-right. Full stops, which don't have a directionality on their own, will be left of the sentence. Use this character for some little misplacings that cause big confussion.
|-
| U+202c || POP DIRECTIONAL FORMATTING || The following text is formated like the text before the last U+202a, U+202b, U+202d or U+202e character.
|-
| U+202d || LEFT-TO-RIGHT OVERRIDE || The following text will be left-to-right. Additionally, the directionality of characters is changed to left-to-right. Used alone in an english text, this will only affect characters that are right-to-left by default, like for example arabic letters.
|-
| U+202e || RIGHT-TO-LEFT OVERRIDE || The following text will be right-to-left. Additionally, the directionality of characters is changed to right-to-left. Use this character to completely screw up an english text.
|}

==Trivia==
* The title of the comic on the xkcd website actually has a U+202e character preceding it; when copied and pasted, the title of the comic actually reads "LTR". The page title is "xkcd: [U+202e]LTR", which causes Firefox to use "xkcd: xoferiF allizoM - RTL" as the window title. This also occurs in Chromium and Opera.
* In the version originally published there was a typo in the reverse text ("ETH" instead of "EHT" for "THE"). This mistake was corrected within a couple of hours.

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

1137: RTL

2012-11-22T21:29:26Z

98.166.42.178:

{{comic
| number = 1137
| date = November 21, 2011
| title = ‮LTR
| image = http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/rtl.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Collaborative editing can quickly become a textual rap battle fought with increasingly convoluted invocations of U+202a to U+202e
}}

==Explanation==
U+202e is a {{w|unicode control characters|unicode control character}} that changes all proceeding text to right-to-left (RTL, as the title references). In the comic, [[Black Hat]] tires of [[Cueball]]'s complaining and inserts a U+202e character in the middle of Cueball's speech, turning his complaints into gibberish - sentences that must be read from right-to-left. U+202c returns text back to its normal direction.

When multiple writers work on the same text, arguments can often arise with some writers resorting to vandalizing the works of other writers. The title text takes this up a level, suggesting the use of U+202e and other direction control characters in editor wars to disrupt other people's work.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Black Hat. Cueball is standing. Black Hat is sitting down and using a laptop.]
:Cueball: And that's not even the worst part! The ''worst'' part is that—
:Black Hat: U+202e
:Cueball: ...neve t'ndid yehT— (Flipped translation = "— They didn't even...")
:Cueball: ?lleh eht tahW... (Flipped translation = "...What the hell??")
:Cueball: ...uoy did woH (Flipped translation = "How did you...")
:Cueball: .elohssA... (Flipped translation = "...Asshole.")

==Edit war cheatsheet==
The Characters mentioned in the title text are:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Unicode number !! Name !! Meaning
|-
| U+202a || LEFT-TO-RIGHT EMBEDDING || The following text will be left-to-right. This will not change directionality of characters, so for example arabic letters will stay right-to-left. This character alone does nothing in an english text, since the text direction is left-to-right by default.
|-
| U+202b || RIGHT-TO-LEFT EMBEDDING || The following text will be right-to-left. This will not change directionality of characters, so latin letters will stay left-to-right. Full stops, which don't have a directionality on their own, will be left of the sentence. Use this character for some little misplacings that cause big confussion.
|-
| U+202c || POP DIRECTIONAL FORMATTING || The following text is formated like the text before the last U+202a, U+202b, U+202d or U+202e character.
|-
| U+202d || LEFT-TO-RIGHT OVERRIDE || The following text will be left-to-right. Additionally, the directionality of characters is changed to left-to-right. Used alone in an english text, this will only affect characters that are right-to-left by default, like for example arabic letters.
|-
| U+202e || RIGHT-TO-LEFT OVERRIDE || The following text will be right-to-left. Additionally, the directionality of characters is changed to right-to-left. Use this character to completely screw up an english text.
|}

==Trivia==
* The title of the comic on the xkcd website actually has a U+202e character preceding it; when copied and pasted, the title of the comic actually reads "LTR". The page title is "xkcd: [U+202e]LTR", which causes Firefox to use "xkcd: xoferiF allizoM - RTL" as the window title. This also occurs in Chromium and Opera.
* In the version originally published there was a typo in the reverse text ("ETH" instead of "EHT" for "THE"). This mistake was corrected within a couple of hours.

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

556: Alternative Energy Revolution

2012-10-13T02:43:35Z

98.166.42.178: Minor Edit: Grammar (added hyphen to adjective phrase)

{{comic
| number = 556
| date = March 16, 2009
| title = Alternative Energy Revolution
| image = alternative_energy_revolution.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = The moment their arms spun freely in our air, they were doomed -- for Man has earned his right to hold this planet against all comers, by virtue of occasionally producing someone totally batshit insane.
}}

==Explanation==

Megan and cueball are looking at modern windmills harnessing wind energy into electrical energy. They comment that there's something creepy about the windmills.They allude to the "War of the Worlds" - most likely a reference to the Jeff Wayne rock version of {{w|Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds|War of the Worlds}}, which has paintings of the martian tripods somewhat like these windmills, and also "The Tripods" from John Christopher's {{w|The Tripods|tripods trilogy}} a children's series of books about aliens who ride in walking tripods.

Suddenly the windmills pylons split into three legs, becoming the tripods suggested.

In the final frame, {{w|Don Quixote}}'s horse largely resembles {{w|Don Quixote (Picasso)|the drawing}} by {{w|Pablo Picasso}}. In the original story of Don Quixote, he fights windmills, hence he is the appropriate person to deal with this threat - he is also "batshit insane".

The title text is a reference to the {{w|H. G. Wells}} radio play/movie {{w|The War of the Worlds}}. "But there are no bacteria in Mars...when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed ... By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers"

The windmills also look like the fictional plants {{w|Triffid}}s from {{w|John Wyndham}}'s book "{{w|The Day of the Triffids}}" or the 1962 {{w|The Day of the Triffids (film)|film version}}.

There is a fan-created [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRuqPKcxMZY animation of this comic.]

==Transcript==
:[A field of windmills is silhouetted against dusk sky.]

:[Man and woman are standing and sitting on the ground overlooking the windmills.]
:Man: I'm all for green energy, but those turbines creep me out. They remind me of War of the Worlds, or the Tripod books.

:Woman: They -are- unnerving.
:Man: I can't shake the feeling that at any moment they'll—
:<<RUMBLE>>

:[A leg begins to split off one windmill.]
:<<crack>>

:[The leg separates from the body of the windmill.]

:[The new leg lands on the ground.]
:<<BOOM>>

:[Another leg begins to split off the other side of the windmill's body.]
:<<crack>>

:[The new leg hits the ground, forming a tripod base.]
:<<BOOM>>

:[Smoke rises from destroyed buildings as the windmills rampage across the field.]

:[Man and woman are now standing.]
:Woman: Oh no.
:Man: Al Gore, you've doomed us all.
:Woman: It's coming this way!
:Man: Run!

:[One of the enormous tripod windmill feet lands right behind the running couple, sending debris flying.]
:<<BOOM>>

:[Man and woman run.]
:Woman: What now?
:Man: Someone has to stop them.
:Woman: But who could--
:Voice from next panel: Stand aside!

:[Don Quixote sits mounted at the top of a hill, lance at the ready.]

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

Talk:859: (

2012-10-09T00:47:00Z

98.166.42.178: Inquired about ironic missing end-paren in explanation

In saying: "The programming language Lisp (also featured in 224: Lisp is known for large numbers...", a closing parenthesis was omitted. Was this intentional?

944: Hurricane Names

2012-09-16T02:40:27Z

98.166.42.178: Capitalized "Chuggaconroy", explained OED

{{comic
| number = 944
| date = August 29, 2011
| title = Hurricane Names
| image = hurricane_names.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = After exhausting the OED, we started numbering them. When overlapping hurricanes formed at all points on the Earth's surface, and our scheme was foiled by Cantor diagonalization, we just decided to name them all "Steve". Your local forecast tomorrow is "Steve". Good luck.
}}

==Explanation==
Like many people, Randall wonders what happens when the NOAA runs out of letters in the alphabet during hurricane season. Technically, the letters 'U','V','X','Y',and 'Z' are not used because of the infrequency of names beginning with these letters. The NOAA does not use the next year's list; instead they use the Greek alphabet. This happened only once; in 2005 the final hurricane was named Hurricane Zeta. Given that zeta is only the sixth letter out of 24 in the Greek alphabet, there has been no practical speculation of exhausting the English and Greek alphabets. However, Randall (and probably many others) wonder what would come after the Greek letters. NOAA's website on hurricane naming systems doesn't state a recourse for the Greek alphabet, so using the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and numbering hurricanes are not canonical conventions.
While on the subject of nearly impossible amounts of hurricanes, Randall segues into infinite sets. A brief explanation by a non-mathematician is as follows: Some infinite sets are composed of countable terms with a definite sequence. For example, the set of all natural numbers {0,1,2,3,4,...} is countably infinite. It was then considered whether or not the set of all rational numbers (or fractions) is countable. If all fractions are listed in a table, the diagonals are a countably infinite set that will contain all rational numbers. The set of all real numbers (decimals, rational and irrational), however, is uncountable. Eric Cantor's proof of the diagonal argument (Cantor diagonalization) states that the diagonal sets of decimal places will represent decimals not on the list,; therefore, the set of real numbers is an uncountable infinity. If hurricanes appeared at every location on Earth's surface, it would be natural (no pun intended) to try to number them. However, hurricanes at every infinitely precise point would be uncountably infinite, thereby foiling Randall's attempt to name them.
At this point, the meteorologists decide to name all the hurricanes "Steve", which is popular on the internet as an arbitrary name. (Ironically, this makes "Steve" no longer arbitrary.) On April 13, 2011, Internet personality Chuggaconroy uploaded a Pikmin walkthrough that popularized "Steve" as a "random" name. This comic, uploaded several months later, also arbitrarily uses "Steve", as does the title-text in {{xkcd|1003}}.

==Transcript==
:[A weather reporter sits behind a desk with an image of the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding land masses displayed to his left. 9 hurricane symbols are scattered across the map, primarily over Cuba.]
:Reporter: After the latest wave of hurricanes, not only have we run through the years lit of 21 names, but we've also used up the backup list of Greek letters. All subsequent storms will be named using random dictionary words.
:Reporter: The newly-formed system in the gulf has been designated "Hurricane Eggbeater", and we once again pray this is the final storm of this horrible, horrible season.

{{comic discussion}}

944: Hurricane Names

2012-09-16T02:31:05Z

98.166.42.178: Created

{{comic
| number = 944
| date = August 29, 2011
| title = Hurricane Names
| image = hurricane_names.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = After exhausting the OED, we started numbering them. When overlapping hurricanes formed at all points on the Earth's surface, and our scheme was foiled by Cantor diagonalization, we just decided to name them all "Steve". Your local forecast tomorrow is "Steve". Good luck.
}}

==Explanation==
Like many people, Randall wonders what happens when the NOAA runs out of letters in the alphabet during hurricane season. Technically, the letters 'U','V','X','Y',and 'Z' are not used because of the infrequency of names beginning with these letters. The NOAA does not use the next year's list; instead they use the Greek alphabet. This happened only once; in 2005 the final hurricane was named Hurricane Zeta. Given that zeta is only the sixth letter out of 24 in the Greek alphabet, there has been no practical speculation of exhausting the English and Greek alphabets. However, Randall (and probably many others) wonder what would come after the Greek letters. NOAA's website on hurricane naming systems doesn't state a recourse for the Greek alphabet, so using the OED and numbering hurricanes are not canonical conventions.
While on the subject of nearly impossible amounts of hurricanes, Randall segues into infinite sets. A brief explanation by a non-mathematician is as follows: Some infinite sets are composed of countable terms with a definite sequence. For example, the set of all natural numbers {0,1,2,3,4,...} is countably infinite. It was then considered whether or not the set of all rational numbers (or fractions) is countable. If all fractions are listed in a table, the diagonals are a countably infinite set that will contain all rational numbers. The set of all real numbers (decimals, rational and irrational), however, is uncountable. Eric Cantor's proof of the diagonal argument (Cantor diagonalization) states that the diagonal sets of decimal places will represent decimals not on the list,; therefore, the set of real numbers is an uncountable infinity. If hurricanes appeared at every location on Earth's surface, it would be natural (no pun intended) to try to number them. However, hurricanes at every infinitely precise point would be uncountably infinite, thereby foiling Randall's attempt to name them.
At this point, the meteorologists decide to name all the hurricanes "Steve", which is popular on the internet as an arbitrary name. (Ironically, this makes "Steve" no longer arbitrary.) On April 13, 2011, Internet personality chuggaconroy uploaded a Pikmin walkthrough that popularized "Steve" as a "random" name. This comic, uploaded several months later, also arbitrarily uses "Steve", as does the title-text in {{xkcd|1003}}.

==Transcript==
:[A weather reporter sits behind a desk with an image of the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding land masses displayed to his left. 9 hurricane symbols are scattered across the map, primarily over Cuba.]
:Reporter: After the latest wave of hurricanes, not only have we run through the years lit of 21 names, but we've also used up the backup list of Greek letters. All subsequent storms will be named using random dictionary words.
:Reporter: The newly-formed system in the gulf has been designated "Hurricane Eggbeater", and we once again pray this is the final storm of this horrible, horrible season.

{{comic discussion}}

976: Sail

2012-09-03T03:18:14Z

98.166.42.178: Created

{{comic
| number = 976
| date = November 11, 2011
| title = Sail
| image = sail.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = It only works a few times before you have to capsize the boat in a soap lagoon again.
}}

==Explanation==
A billowing sail sometimes looks like the first stage of blowing a bubble. The main character is clearly surprised when a bubble is actually formed by the filled sail.

Readers infer from the title text that the water is also part of this fantastical scenario. If the boat was overturned in a soap lagoon, a film would form between the mast and the boom (horizontal bar that adjusts the sail). The film would become like the sail in the comic, filling with air and forming bubbles until the film is used up.

This comic was uploaded on November 11, Armistice Day. Possibly the comic is peaceful in honor of the signing of the ceasefire that ended the first world war.

==Transcript==
:[A person is sailing a cat-rigged sailboat. He detaches the mainsheet from the stern.]
:[The sailor pulls back on the mainsheet.]
:[The sailor stands up and pulls harder, causing the sail to arc outward.]
:[He continues pulling as hard as he can, and the sail begins to buckle outward in a semi-circular shape.]
:[Finally, the sail buckles so hard that a bubble forms and detaches from the sail, which begins to return to its normal shape.]
:[The sailor sits down and scratches his head in confusion as the bubble floats away.]

{{comic discussion}}

674: Natural Parenting

2012-09-02T20:45:25Z

98.166.42.178: Created

{{comic
| number = 674
| date = December 11, 2009
| title = Natural Parenting
| image = natural_parenting.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = On one hand, every single one of my ancestors going back billions of years has managed to figure it out. On the other hand, that's the mother of all sampling biases.
}}

== Explanation ==

This comic relates to the anxiety most couples experience after having a child. Some couples employ an approach called natural parenting or {{w|attachment parenting}}. This strategy for child-rearing normally entails providing whole foods and extended nursing but can also include birth without anesthetics, applying reusable cloth diapers, using herbal remedies instead of medicine, and other decisions intended to protect the environment and raise a baby to be physically and mentally healthy. Natural parenting approaches can vary greatly from parent to parent, with some being very extreme and possibly detrimental. Because of the awkwardness and stigma of breastfeeding as well as its traditionalism, attachment parenting can elicit powerful opinions from both its opponents and proponents. Various media and politicians have seized on this hot topic, as well as motherhood in general. Extreme natural parenting methods became the notorious cover story of TIME Magazine in May 2012.

However, the characters in this strip took natural parenting to mean doing "what comes naturally", i.e. having another baby.

One interpretation of the title-text is as note of the sentiments expressed by proponents of natural parenting, stating that traditional or instinctive methods have worked for thousands of years. It is also possible that the narrator means that parenting can't be too hard because historically everyone must have figured it out. Randall jokes that this is the "mother" of all sampling biases because his ancestors represent only the (possibly small) fraction who survived the instinctive or easily learned methods of parenthood, instead of the entire sample of people attempting to raise children.

==Transcript==

:[A man and woman are standing with a baby in between them.]
:Man: Oh man, we made a baby.
:Woman: Don't panic. Don't panic.
:Baby: Baby!

:Man: Parenting can't be that hard. Let's just do what comes naturally.

:[Beat frame]

:Soon:
:[There are now two babies in between them.]
:Woman: Aw, crap.

{{comic discussion}}

583: CNR

2012-09-02T19:35:43Z

98.166.42.178: Added explanation of title-text

{{comic
| number = 583
| date = May 13, 2009
| title = CNR
| image = cnr.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Can't and shouldn't.
}}

== Explanation ==

In this comic, "could not reproduce" is a {{w|double entendre}}. Because the reported bug is that speech recognition failed on a young child's voice, the programming team attempt to reproduce (biologically) in order to have a child to use as a test subject to understand and fix the bug, starting by reproducing it (the bug). However the attempt fail, as shown by the negative pregnancy test, and therefore the bug report is closed with the reason being "could not reproduce": they could not reproduce the bug because they could not reproduce biologically.

This reason also shows up in comic [[937: TornadoGuard]].

The title-text "Can't and shouldn't" qualifies the bug report, meaning that the programmers cannot and should not reproduce given their unacceptable motive as well as poor child-rearing skills (demonstrated in comic [[674: Natural Parenting]]).

{{comic discussion}}

952: Stud Finder

2012-09-01T01:20:01Z

98.166.42.178: Added an explanation of why the character is holding a framed picture

{{comic
| number = 952
| date = September 16, 2011
| title = Stud Finder
| image = stud_finder.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = According to every stud finder I've tried to use, my walls contain a rapidly shifting network of hundreds and hundreds of studs.
}}

==Explanation==

An electrostatic field is affected by the densities and types of materials in the vicinity. A stud finder uses this to detect changes in density caused by the presence of studs in a wall. Studs are often vertical wood planks, steel beams, or other supports that reinforce a wall at regular intervals and at corners, windows, and doors. Most stud finders have a light that turns on in conjunction with a beep when a higher density is detected, indicating the edge of a stud. One would need to know the locations of studs within a wall for installing wiring, mounting shelves, or in this comic, hanging a picture. Wiring can be inserted behind drywall, while shelves, pictures, and the like need to be affixed to studs.

Stud finders can be unreliable and be caused to beep when there is not a stud. Many people will try alternatives such as using a magnet or tapping a finish nail to see if there is a stud behind the drywall. Others, like the narrator of the title-text, will give up. Assuming there was no electrostatic interference, a stud finder going off randomly would indicate lots and lots of studs at random places that change position.

In the comic, Cueball cannot locate his stud finder tool, so Black Hat begins a sales pitch for a stud finder finder. Cueball interrupts Black Hat before he can make the obvious joke. (The same comic technique is used previously in comic #1059, Bel-Air.) Currently no product exists that will locate a stud finder, but online review compilations are useful for finding the right stud finder to buy.

==Transcript==

:[ [[Black Hat]] sits on a couch, reading a book. [[Cueball]] is approaching him from behind the couch holding a picture in a frame, a screwdriver, and some screws. ]
:'''Cueball''': Have you seen my stud finder? I've looked everywhere.
:'''Black Hat''': It sounds like you may be interested in my new product, a--
:'''Cueball''': Shut up.

{{comic discussion}}

952: Stud Finder

2012-09-01T01:11:10Z

98.166.42.178: Fixed date

{{comic
| number = 952
| date = September 16, 2011
| title = Stud Finder
| image = stud_finder.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = According to every stud finder I've tried to use, my walls contain a rapidly shifting network of hundreds and hundreds of studs.
}}

==Explanation==

An electrostatic field is affected by the densities and types of materials in the vicinity. A stud finder uses this to detect changes in density caused by the presence of studs in a wall. Studs are often vertical wood planks, steel beams, or other supports that reinforce a wall at regular intervals and at corners, windows, and doors. Most stud finders have a light that turns on in conjunction with a beep when a higher density is detected, indicating the edge of a stud. Stud finders can be unreliable and be caused to beep when there is not a stud. Many people will try alternatives such as using a magnet or tapping a finish nail to see if there is a stud behind the drywall. Others, like the narrator of the title-text, will give up. Assuming there was no electrostatic interference, a stud finder going off randomly would indicate lots and lots of studs at random places that change position.

In the comic, Cueball cannot locate his stud finder tool, so Black Hat begins a sales pitch for a stud finder finder. Cueball interrupts Black Hat before he can make the obvious joke. (The same comic technique is used previously in comic #1059, Bel-Air.) Currently no product exists that will locate a stud finder, but online review compilations are useful for finding the right stud finder to buy.

==Transcript==

:[ [[Black Hat]] sits on a couch, reading a book. [[Cueball]] is approaching him from behind the couch holding a picture in a frame, a screwdriver, and some screws. ]
:'''Cueball''': Have you seen my stud finder? I've looked everywhere.
:'''Black Hat''': It sounds like you may be interested in my new product, a--
:'''Cueball''': Shut up.

{{comic discussion}}

952: Stud Finder

2012-09-01T01:08:25Z

98.166.42.178: Created

{{comic
| number = 952
| date = September 8, 2011
| title = Stud Finder
| image = stud_finder.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = According to every stud finder I've tried to use, my walls contain a rapidly shifting network of hundreds and hundreds of studs.
}}

==Explanation==

An electrostatic field is affected by the densities and types of materials in the vicinity. A stud finder uses this to detect changes in density caused by the presence of studs in a wall. Studs are often vertical wood planks, steel beams, or other supports that reinforce a wall at regular intervals and at corners, windows, and doors. Most stud finders have a light that turns on in conjunction with a beep when a higher density is detected, indicating the edge of a stud. Stud finders can be unreliable and be caused to beep when there is not a stud. Many people will try alternatives such as using a magnet or tapping a finish nail to see if there is a stud behind the drywall. Others, like the narrator of the title-text, will give up. Assuming there was no electrostatic interference, a stud finder going off randomly would indicate lots and lots of studs at random places that change position.

In the comic, Cueball cannot locate his stud finder tool, so Black Hat begins a sales pitch for a stud finder finder. Cueball interrupts Black Hat before he can make the obvious joke. (The same comic technique is used previously in comic #1059, Bel-Air.) Currently no product exists that will locate a stud finder, but online review compilations are useful for finding the right stud finder to buy.

==Transcript==

:[ [[Black Hat]] sits on a couch, reading a book. [[Cueball]] is approaching him from behind the couch holding a picture in a frame, a screwdriver, and some screws. ]
:'''Cueball''': Have you seen my stud finder? I've looked everywhere.
:'''Black Hat''': It sounds like you may be interested in my new product, a--
:'''Cueball''': Shut up.

{{comic discussion}}

1102: Fastest-Growing

2012-08-31T22:40:42Z

98.166.42.178: Added a concluding sentence and made the tone of the final paragraph less judgmental.

{{comic
| number = 1102
| date = August 31, 2012
| title = Fastest-Growing
| image = fastest_growing.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = I lead a small but extraordinarily persuasive religion whose only members are door-to-door proselytizers from other faiths.
}}

== Explanation ==

Using percentage of growth can be a misleading value to use for gauging the importance or popularity of something. If you have 5 members and then add 5 more that would mean you have achieved a growth of 100%.

In the case portrayed in this comic the claim appears to be that the other person's religion grew by 85%. [[Black Hat]] attempts humorously to show the flaw in using that statistic by growing his group by 100% (therefore, first place), which he simply does by adding his friend [[Rob]] to his religion, and thus increasing his membership from 1 to 2. The other person then says that his religion has a significant number of members (and not just one or two), but Black Hat doesn't care and responds that he hopes they are all OK with being "in second place" (since the main argument from the other guy was about being the fastest-growing).

The title-text is probably Black Hat parodying the entire point of having a religion. He managed to snag himself a door-to-door {{w|Proselytism|proselytizer}} who tries to convert people to a faith that is not Black Hat's faith of door-to-door proselytizers from other religions. Black Hat himself is probably a door-to-door proselytizer from yet another faith.

Another interpretation is that the title-text could be another way that Black Hat could take the 'fastest-growing' claim out of context to make it meaningless. By composing his religion of the unwitting proselytizers of other faiths, he can claim the highest ratio of converts to current adherents. (Note that the amount of people converted is often exaggerated by groups that try to spread a faith.) Although the beliefs spread by his proselytizers vary widely, Black Hat is not concerned with what his so-called followers believe. Thus, he can claim the title of fastest-growing religion without having any value to his religion.

{{Incomplete|1102: Fastest-Growing}}

== Transcript ==

[A man sporting a thinning comb-over is holding a black book and a clipboard]

Person 1: You should check us out. We're the fastest-growing religion in the country.

Black Hat: "Fastest-growing" is such a dubious claim.

Person 1: It's true! We grew by 85% over the past year.

[Black Hat turns to off screen right]

Black Hat: Hey, Rob — Wanna join my religion?

(from off screen, aka Rob): Sure, whatever.

[Turning back, Black Hat pulls out a steno notebook and pencil]

Black Hat: Well, looks like my religion grew by 100% this year.

Person 1: We have 38,000 members!

[Black hat starts to walk away]

Black hat: Hope they're all OK with second place.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

1102: Fastest-Growing

2012-08-31T22:36:34Z

98.166.42.178: Added an additional interpretation of the title-text

{{comic
| number = 1102
| date = August 31, 2012
| title = Fastest-Growing
| image = fastest_growing.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = I lead a small but extraordinarily persuasive religion whose only members are door-to-door proselytizers from other faiths.
}}

== Explanation ==

Using percentage of growth can be a misleading value to use for gauging the importance or popularity of something. If you have 5 members and then add 5 more that would mean you have achieved a growth of 100%.

In the case portrayed in this comic the claim appears to be that the other person's religion grew by 85%. [[Black Hat]] attempts humorously to show the flaw in using that statistic by growing his group by 100% (therefore, first place), which he simply does by adding his friend [[Rob]] to his religion, and thus increasing his membership from 1 to 2. The other person then says that his religion has a significant number of members (and not just one or two), but Black Hat doesn't care and responds that he hopes they are all OK with being "in second place" (since the main argument from the other guy was about being the fastest-growing).

The title-text is probably Black Hat parodying the entire point of having a religion. He managed to snag himself a door-to-door {{w|Proselytism|proselytizer}} who tries to convert people to a faith that is not Black Hat's faith of door-to-door proselytizers from other religions. Black Hat himself is probably a door-to-door proselytizer from yet another faith.

Another interpretation is that the title-text could be another way that Black Hat could take the 'fastest-growing' claim out of context to make it meaningless. By composing his religion of the (unwitting) proselytizers of other faiths, he can claim the highest ratio of converts to current adherents. (Note that the amount of people "converted" is often exaggerated by groups that try to spread a faith.) Although the beliefs spread by his proselytizers vary widely, Black Hat is not concerned with what his so-called followers believe.

{{Incomplete|1102: Fastest-Growing}}

== Transcript ==

[A man sporting a thinning comb-over is holding a black book and a clipboard]

Person 1: You should check us out. We're the fastest-growing religion in the country.

Black Hat: "Fastest-growing" is such a dubious claim.

Person 1: It's true! We grew by 85% over the past year.

[Black Hat turns to off screen right]

Black Hat: Hey, Rob — Wanna join my religion?

(from off screen, aka Rob): Sure, whatever.

[Turning back, Black Hat pulls out a steno notebook and pencil]

Black Hat: Well, looks like my religion grew by 100% this year.

Person 1: We have 38,000 members!

[Black hat starts to walk away]

Black hat: Hope they're all OK with second place.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]