explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

508: Drapes

2014-12-01T23:40:36Z

Bedunkel: /* Removed restriction to red-heads and reference to specific hair color of the female in the comic */

{{comic
| number = 508
| date = November 24, 2008
| title = Drapes
| image = drapes.png
| titletext = Wait, what?
}}

==Explanation==
For those not familiar, this comic is a play on the classic question guys ask women, where drapes=head hair and carpet=pubic hair. The assumption is that some people artificially dye their head hair, but typically would not dye other body hair. The question is essentially asking "Are you a 'natural' red-head/blonde/etc.?". The classic question doesn't mention upholstery, hence [[Cueball]]'s confusion. There is some speculation about other body/arm/leg/arm-pit hair interpretations for [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=upholstery upholstery].

This comic could also be a [[917|self-referential joke]] where the furniture is a double entendre to the art of the comic itself. The "carpet" is the white background of the comic, which matches the black "drapes" of Cueball, the woman, and the words. The "upholstery", in this case, is the woman's hair, which is colored and heavily bordered to create a 3D effect, which does not at all match the rest of this comic. The fact that Cueball seems confused (as per the last panel and title text) suggests the {{w|fourth wall}} may have been broken.

==Transcript==
:Cueball: So, does the carpet match the drapes?

:Woman: Yeah. But not the upholstery.

:[Woman walks away.]

:[Cueball scratches his head, confused.]

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

562: Parking

2014-11-29T01:00:48Z

Bedunkel: /* Corrected typos */

{{comic
| number = 562
| date = March 30, 2009
| title = Parking
| image = parking.png
| titletext = Police reported three dozen cheerful bystanders, yet no one claims to have seen who did it.
}}

==Explanation==
There are few things so annoying as finding, when a parking lot is full, that someone has parked so carelessly as to take up two spaces. Even worse, it may have been intentional; they decided to exchange the risk of someone accidentally scratching their car for the risk of someone doing it on purpose, see [[1030: Keyed]]. However, there are also non-violent ways to tackle the problem; [http://www.threadless.com/product/187/I_Park_Like_an_Idiot politely leave a note], or (if possible) just move their car.

Of course, [[Black Hat]] takes the less-traveled path, apparently involving a {{w|cutting torch}} and what looks to be a {{w|circular saw}}. The offending portion of the parked car is sliced off (entirely without surgical precision) and neatly slotted into the remainder of the space. It is now legally parked, but will never become a functional car again. But at least Black Hat finally has space for his own car!

Admittedly, he's done this kind of thing before - see [[496: Secretary: Part 3]]

The title text indicates that a large crowd watched Black Hat at work but refused to identify him, presumably because they feel that the car owner got what he deserved. It may, however, also be that, after seeing Black Hat at work, they did not wish to incur his wrath. But as it was a cheerful, not fearful, crowd, this does not seem to be the case.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is in a car driving around a parking lot.]

:[Black Hat's car pulls up next to a red car, that's parked over a line at an angle that block two spaces.]

:[Black Hat gets out of his car.]
:''SLAM''

:[Black Hat is now holding a blow torch and a rotary saw, He's also wearing goggles and fuel tanks on his back. The blow torch is lit.]
:''Fwoosh''

:[The badly parked car has been cut in half along a diagonal, and the half of the car that was in the second slot has been moved into the same slot as the rest of the car. Black Hat's car occupies the newly freed space.]

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

568: Well 2

2014-11-28T08:02:47Z

Bedunkel: /* Removed implication that Megan believes the well actually works */

{{comic
| number = 568
| date = April 13, 2009
| title = Well 2
| image = well_2.png
| titletext = But I've made $13.72 already today! Ow, stop throwing pennies.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the second comic in the [[:Category:Well|Well]] series: The first was [[561: Well]].

The average person's lifespan is 80 years now. So, while immortality may become a reality within the coming century, [[Ponytail]] won't live long enough to achieve it.

[[Cueball]] is looking for a programming language where it is obvious from the code, what his ideas are, without him having to explain this in detail to others (either in a help text or in the code itself). This is a problem with most ideas in a code, they are very hard to decipher for others (or yourself) later. This is a problem if you or others have to change the program later. Cueball complains that '''he knows''' what he means.

Finally we find out that one of [[Megan]]'s admirers, Mike, whom she avoids, is hiding in the well. He has been waiting for her to come for her ''uncomfortable truth'', so he can make her believe that she is actually attracted to him. But she is not so easily fooled and calls his bluff, telling him to come out of the well.

The title text suggests he might also have been down there for the money everyone is throwing in to the
well to get this uncomfortable truth. So it has never been a working well. When everyone (or just Megan) finds out about this, Mike is bombarded with the all the pennies people have brought along.

==Transcript==
:[People are lined up by a well. A sign says "The Uncomfortable Truths Well." Ponytail drops in a coin.]
:Well: Science may discover immortality, but it won't happen in the next eighty years.
:[Cueball drops in a coin.]
:Well: You'll never find a programming language that frees you from the burden of clarifying your ideas.
:Cueball: But ''I'' know what I mean!
:[Megan drops in a coin.]
:Well: You avoid your friend Mike because you're uncomfortably attracted to him.
:Megan: Nice try, Mike. Get out of the well.
:Well (Mike, inside the well): Aww.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Well]]

643: Ohm

2014-11-21T04:30:50Z

Bedunkel: /* minor edit based on reasonable comment */

{{comic
| number = 643
| date = September 30, 2009
| title = Ohm
| image = ohm.png
| titletext = More generally, with great power comes great dEnergy/dt
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a play on two definitions of "power":
#The human capacity to take action, and
#The amount of energy which flows from one locus to another in a unit of time.

The uncle's advice references the origin story of the comic-book superhero {{w|Spider-Man}}. In various versions of Spider-Man's origin story, a teenage Peter Parker is brought up by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben cautions Peter that "with great power comes great responsibility," referring to "power" as "capacity to take action". Through an incident involving a spider and some cutting-edge technology, Peter Parker acquires spider-like powers — great strength and the ability to adhere to walls and ceilings. Parker fails to use his new powers to stop a criminal, who then mugs and fatally shoots Uncle Ben. This failure to save his uncle haunts Parker and drives him to use his new powers for heroic purposes. Visually, this comic looks like the dying Uncle Ben counseling his nephew to use his power responsibly.

The dialogue refers to "power" in the "energy per unit time". In electrical physics, current flowing through a resistor generates heat. The basic units are defined such that the power (in {{w|Watt}}s) converted into heat is given by the square of the electrical current flowing (in {{w|Amperes}}) multiplied by the resistance of the component (in {{w|Ohm}}s). The unit, Ohm, is named for physicist {{w|Georg Ohm}} who determined experimentally that (within a reasonable range of values) a given resistor would pass double the current when the electrical pressure ({{w|voltage}}) was also doubled.

This relationship is summarized by {{w|Ohm's law}}:
:Current = Voltage / Resistance (I=V/R)
:Voltage = Current x Resistance (V=IR)
:Resistance = Voltage / Current (R=V/I)

{{w|Electric power}} is defined as:
:Power = Current x Voltage (P=IV - {{w|Joule heating|Joule's first law}})
:or by replacing "Voltage" with "(Current x Resistance)" (from Ohm's law):
:Power = Current x (Current x Resistance) = Current² x Resistance

The title text gives the physics definition of power in another form. In calculus, this is expressed as dE/dt, hence the statement that with great power comes great dEnergy/dt. This {{w|differential equation}} describes the change of energy by time.

==Transcript==
:[Ohm is holding his uncle by the shoulders.]
:Uncle: Remember: With great power comes great current squared times resistance.
:Ohm never forgot his dying uncle's advice.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]

Talk:645: RPS

2014-11-21T04:24:42Z

Bedunkel:

I know exactly what RPN is but I have no idea what a Polish Sausage is, nor what the "postfixins" joke is about (is a fixin a thing? I've never heard of them). If someone could explain these presumably American terms I'd appreciate it. [[Special:Contributions/82.6.250.231|82.6.250.231]] 14:34, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
:Read the explanation, everything is there.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:45, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
:No it isn't. Anon, the US refers to Kielbasa as Polish Sausage, and "fixins" are condiments such as mustard and chopped onions. I'll update the explanation. [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 17:55, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
::I didn't know that. Thanks for your help. Further investigations at [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fixins&defid=5919829 urbandictionary] gave me this: "A Southern (USA) word for the supplemental food...". It does belong only to the south of the US.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:13, 17 September 2013 (UTC)

I think we should explain the "comic today's you confuses here click if" thing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.79|108.162.215.79]] 12:27, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

The phrase "fixins" may originate in the South, but I would not say that it "belongs" to them, as I have heard it used by people from several Western states. I cannot say how prevalent it is outside of there, but I would venture to say that it is a common American colloquialism used by at least the South and West. {{unsigned|Highlander}}

There is also a level of amusement for the American English speaker owing to confusion on first reading, because "postfix" has its stress (vocal emphasis) on the first syllable, as does "fixins". So when combined, it's not clear how to parse the whole "word". --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 04:24, 21 November 2014 (UTC)

Talk:663: Sagan-Man

2014-11-20T01:43:42Z

Bedunkel: Respond to comment

According to Wikipedia, Carl Sagan died at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, on December 20, 1996, of pneumonia, after suffering from myelodysplasia, which is similar to leukemia and treated with bone marrow transplants. It is thus entirely plausible that he was radioactive at some point in the year 1995.--[[Special:Contributions/68.230.167.173|68.230.167.173]] 02:49, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

Why exactly is it crazy that we've been to the moon? Just the general wonder that space travel is possible at all? Or that it was so long ago, or...? --[[User:Seanybabes|Seanybabes]] ([[User talk:Seanybabes|talk]]) 12:17, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
: It's crazy in the same way that humans can build something like the [[wikipedia:Burj Khalifa|Burj Khalifa]], or when you think about the number of D-cell batteries in all the retail stores in the world at any given moment. Blows your mind, man... --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 01:43, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Talk:672: Suggestions

2014-11-20T01:14:56Z

Bedunkel: Reply to comment question..

What is the icon in the third panel supposed to be? --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 13:40, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
: Two people being warm against each other. --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 01:14, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Talk:673: The Sun

2014-11-20T01:09:58Z

Bedunkel:

Interesting (or deliberate?) that there's no reference at all in the explanation to [[wikipedia:Sunshine_(2007_film)|Sunshine]], released two years previously. [[Special:Contributions/178.99.247.73|178.99.247.73]] 21:07, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

Can't "to spring" be thought of as a physical movement? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 00:49, 7 January 2014 (UTC)
: Yes; that's why the mnemonic works. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 16:08, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
:: Also, the mnemonic works because physically it is relatively easier to spring (i.e., jump) forward and to fall (through the simple action of gravity, without being able to catch yourself with your arms) back(ward) than it is to do the reverse. --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 01:09, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Talk:705: Devotion to Duty

2014-11-17T07:36:40Z

Bedunkel:

This is very clearly a Die Hard parody. {{unsigned|‎70.12.4.193}}
Indubitably --[[User:JSekula71|JSekula71]] ([[User talk:JSekula71|talk]]) 23:36, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

Oh man. This needs some reworking. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 03:10, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.203|108.162.250.203]] 10:33, 26 April 2014 (UTC) In Die Hard, the terrorists used a chainsaw to cut the telephone trunk cables. Try repairing that damage.

The title text is highlighting the absurdity of the sysadmin's devotion to duty by contrasting the forces of darkness (very serious) against a blog describing the daily activities of your cat (trivial). --[[User:Bedunkel|-BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 07:36, 17 November 2014 (UTC)