explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2654: Chemtrails

2022-08-05T10:16:00Z

CryptoNut1269: New Category: formatting typo

Ants navigate by following trails of chemicals on the ground, so it is ''technically'' a correct description, but also lumps ant navigation entomologists with conspiracy nuts.--[[User:NyanSequitur|NyanSequitur]] ([[User talk:NyanSequitur|talk]]) 16:01, 3 August 2022 (UTC)
:The point is that scientists don't call these trails "chemtrails". Cueball has made that mistaken link. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:05, 3 August 2022 (UTC)
I must say that the title-text made me laugh out loud the most. (Also, though I'm sure there's no direct or even impliable link, made me fondly recall Aunt Hillary in {{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}}, where she does not control or particularly care for her ants and they don't pull ''her'' strings in any way that they 'care' about.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.250|162.158.158.250]] 16:26, 3 August 2022 (UTC)
:But doesn't the queen spread pheromones that control the whole population, and she is not outside thus not affected by the trails left by her workers. So it is not actually so with ants, wasps, bees and termites that they are actually mind controlled by chemicals released by their government? If I'm right the title text is completely wrong on all levels. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
::Obviously the queen can't be directly affected by signals left outside the nest, but equally, workers outside the nest can't be affected by signals from the queen (except inasmuch as they are mediated by other members of the colony). And the queen's behaviour can be modulated by pheromones released inside the nest - such as increasing or decreasing fertility, or changing the pheromones she releases in response. Ultimately, the queen, like any other ant, can only influence the behaviour of those around her, and only does so in response to signals she herself receives - not in some kind of command control, dictatorial way. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.5|172.70.85.5]] 09:07, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

Can't quite remember which, but I think there was another comic formatted like this. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.165|172.70.254.165]] 17:46, 3 August 2022 (UTC)Nafedalbi
:It was [[2036:_Edgelord|2036, the one about graph theory Ph.Ds]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.103|172.70.178.103]] 18:00, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

Does the caption have any relation to [[2609:_Entwives]]? I came to this explainxkcd page after reading the comic because I am not familiar with the word "entomologists". I hope somebody who knows the word can add a paragraph about the caption. --[[User:Batterystaple|Batterystaple]] ([[User talk:Batterystaple|talk]]) 07:30, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
:No, as you can see from the explanation entomologists is one who study insects and this word has been used before in xkcd for that meaning. Nothing to do with Ents. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:34, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

Do we need new categories for ants and for chemtrails? I found three other with chemtrails, added to the explanation and I think there is a bunch of ants comics. Added one with an ant researcher as here. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
: I have quickly went through all comics in Category:Animals and below is a rather long list of ant related comics. If they are not front and center ant focused i specify in brackets where the ants are mentioned. [[68: Five Thirty]] (bottom right panel, warning sign with picture of an ant), [[638: The Search]], [[915: Connoisseur]] (Cueball: But that's true of anything! Wine, house music, fonts, ants,..), [[1350: Lorenz]] (ant colony attack), [[1608: Hoverboard]] (in the Star Destroyer were Cueball is talking to a giant ant queen), [[1610: Fire Ants]], [[2654: Chemtrails]]. Ants in comics that are not in animal category: [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] (Anti-matter: Matter that is more than 50% ants.), [[1525: Emojic 8 Ball/List of emoji]] (ant is one of the used emojis), [[1506: xkcloud/Table of Permalinks]] ("Why are there ants on my face?!" and other lines mentioning ants), [[2131: Emojidome]] (Round 1 was ant vs bug), [[2246: Christmas Presents]] (indirectly mention by indirectly speaking about "zombie ant fungus"). I have also seen at least 6 comics that explicitly mention entomology or entomologists: [[1012: Wrong Superhero]], [[1904: Research Risks]], [[1991: Research Areas by Size and Countedness]], [[2466: In Your Classroom]] and also [[1610: Fire Ants]] and [[2654: Chemtrails]] from the ants list, maybe that's also enough for its own Biology subcategory, Mycology with 7 comics already has one. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 10:12, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

Regarding [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2654:_Chemtrails&diff=291978&oldid=291977], there's no need for a trivia section, just put those four links in otherwise empty squarebrackets after the first sentence of that paragraph. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.88|172.70.211.88]] 11:21, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

"Whether ant-gland secretion signalling is Turing-equivalent was explored in Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" and the Placebo video are trivia, but reasons explaining why the term may be annoying are speculation. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.223|172.69.33.223]] 11:37, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, there are three (possibly four) separate editorships that have tried to impose changes to the article in parallel, more or less. Individually quite sensible (I don't agree completely with all of them, but we're no hive-mind so of course I needn't!) but has created a strange flurry of upheavel. I'm certainly not fighting all my own hills. - Though note that I particularly dislike inexplicable bare-[]ed references in this context, especially if it results in <nowiki>[11][12][13][14]</nowiki> type reflinks interupting the flow. I'd rather like to make context-labelled inline links, as part of a proper sentence, for as many holdovers as we can anong those we end up with. But later, maybe. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.5|172.70.85.5]] 12:10, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
: Those [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2654:_Chemtrails&diff=291979&oldid=291978 trivial and speculative links to ant navigation] sources were silly. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 12:32, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
:: I thought so at first, but someone seemed determined that they'd return (from my excisement) so I did the Trivia thing on their behalf, which yet another person decided was a Speculation and then I observed a full-on-battle between multiple editorships. I'm not sure your removal (I assume, without yet checking you're referencing what I think you are) will stay removed. But not by my hand.
:: Incidentally: a number of times I see "grammar" as an edit summary when it's just a [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2654:_Chemtrails&oldid=292013 rephrasing between two different perfectly valid grammatical forms] (<- just the latest example of many, over the years, not at all picking on that as the 'worst'). Acceptable change, but wrong reasoning. Just sayin'... Not batting for either side on these debates, but can't help being a spectator. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.13|172.70.85.13]] 12:42, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

I want to discuss this, which I just removed from the Trivia section: "Chemical signalling for mind control is depicted in the ant-technology interaction speculative fiction-themed rock music video by the band ''Placebo'' entitled [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fISvc-yUU1A "Infrared."]" While the video is on-topic because it shows a technocratic, plutocratic, or oligarchical conspiracy being toppled by ants, does it depict any chemical signalling? There is a chemical ligand shown at one point, but is that part of a signalling process, an epigenetic effect (the ligand is shown attached to nucleic acid), some other physiological process such as a pharmaceutical study, or just an analytical study unrelated to the wealthy conspirators' propaganda efforts, which are shown as primarily electronic? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 12:43, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
:Yes, seemed a stretch of logic to me, just from the link description. Was going to view it – in case it was a Rick Roll or something – but others seemed to confirm it at least wasn't that as it got shuffled around in and out of various contexts. Shall I just say that it's potentially interesting but probably not requisite to understanding the comic, with so much more obvious Explanation stuff. I'm sure I'll enjoy watching it later. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.78|172.70.91.78]] 12:50, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
:: I put it back in its most recent form with a comment about this discussion. It's certainly on topic, but it's not necessarily about chemical signalling. Watch it with captions on mute if you find hard eurochem glam rock annoying. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.9|172.69.33.9]] 12:59, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
::: I restored the speculative trivia links, and removed the tentative comment. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.145|172.70.210.145]] 17:57, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
::::I have removed the speculative... It is a trivia section. The phrasing is already indicating it is speculative. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:33, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2654: Chemtrails

2022-08-05T10:12:21Z

CryptoNut1269: New Category: response and list

Ants navigate by following trails of chemicals on the ground, so it is ''technically'' a correct description, but also lumps ant navigation entomologists with conspiracy nuts.--[[User:NyanSequitur|NyanSequitur]] ([[User talk:NyanSequitur|talk]]) 16:01, 3 August 2022 (UTC)
:The point is that scientists don't call these trails "chemtrails". Cueball has made that mistaken link. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:05, 3 August 2022 (UTC)
I must say that the title-text made me laugh out loud the most. (Also, though I'm sure there's no direct or even impliable link, made me fondly recall Aunt Hillary in {{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach}}, where she does not control or particularly care for her ants and they don't pull ''her'' strings in any way that they 'care' about.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.250|162.158.158.250]] 16:26, 3 August 2022 (UTC)
:But doesn't the queen spread pheromones that control the whole population, and she is not outside thus not affected by the trails left by her workers. So it is not actually so with ants, wasps, bees and termites that they are actually mind controlled by chemicals released by their government? If I'm right the title text is completely wrong on all levels. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
::Obviously the queen can't be directly affected by signals left outside the nest, but equally, workers outside the nest can't be affected by signals from the queen (except inasmuch as they are mediated by other members of the colony). And the queen's behaviour can be modulated by pheromones released inside the nest - such as increasing or decreasing fertility, or changing the pheromones she releases in response. Ultimately, the queen, like any other ant, can only influence the behaviour of those around her, and only does so in response to signals she herself receives - not in some kind of command control, dictatorial way. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.5|172.70.85.5]] 09:07, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

Can't quite remember which, but I think there was another comic formatted like this. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.165|172.70.254.165]] 17:46, 3 August 2022 (UTC)Nafedalbi
:It was [[2036:_Edgelord|2036, the one about graph theory Ph.Ds]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.103|172.70.178.103]] 18:00, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

Does the caption have any relation to [[2609:_Entwives]]? I came to this explainxkcd page after reading the comic because I am not familiar with the word "entomologists". I hope somebody who knows the word can add a paragraph about the caption. --[[User:Batterystaple|Batterystaple]] ([[User talk:Batterystaple|talk]]) 07:30, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
:No, as you can see from the explanation entomologists is one who study insects and this word has been used before in xkcd for that meaning. Nothing to do with Ents. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:34, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

Do we need new categories for ants and for chemtrails? I found three other with chemtrails, added to the explanation and I think there is a bunch of ants comics. Added one with an ant researcher as here. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:33, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
: I have quickly went through all comics in [[Category:Animals]] and below is a rather long list of ant related comics. If they are not front and center ant focused i specify in brackets where the ants are mentioned. [[68: Five Thirty]] (bottom right panel, warning sign with picture of an ant), [[638: The Search]], [[915: Connoisseur]] (Cueball: But that's true of anything! Wine, house music, fonts, ants,..), [[1350: Lorenz]] (ant colony attack), [[1608: Hoverboard]] (in the Star Destroyer were Cueball is talking to a giant ant queen), [[1610: Fire Ants]], [[2654: Chemtrails]]. Ants in comics that are not in animal category: [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] (Anti-matter: Matter that is more than 50% ants.), [[1525: Emojic 8 Ball/List of emoji]] (ant is one of the used emojis), [[1506: xkcloud/Table of Permalinks]] ("Why are there ants on my face?!" and other lines mentioning ants), [[2131: Emojidome]] (Round 1 was ant vs bug), [[2246: Christmas Presents]] (indirectly mention by indirectly speaking about "zombie ant fungus"). I have also seen at least 6 comics that explicitly mention entomology or entomologists: [[1012: Wrong Superhero]], [[1904: Research Risks]], [[1991: Research Areas by Size and Countedness]], [[2466: In Your Classroom]] and also [[1610: Fire Ants]] and [[2654: Chemtrails]] from the ants list, maybe that's also enough for its own Biology subcategory, Mycology with 7 comics already has one. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 10:12, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

Regarding [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2654:_Chemtrails&diff=291978&oldid=291977], there's no need for a trivia section, just put those four links in otherwise empty squarebrackets after the first sentence of that paragraph. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.88|172.70.211.88]] 11:21, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

"Whether ant-gland secretion signalling is Turing-equivalent was explored in Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" and the Placebo video are trivia, but reasons explaining why the term may be annoying are speculation. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.223|172.69.33.223]] 11:37, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, there are three (possibly four) separate editorships that have tried to impose changes to the article in parallel, more or less. Individually quite sensible (I don't agree completely with all of them, but we're no hive-mind so of course I needn't!) but has created a strange flurry of upheavel. I'm certainly not fighting all my own hills. - Though note that I particularly dislike inexplicable bare-[]ed references in this context, especially if it results in <nowiki>[11][12][13][14]</nowiki> type reflinks interupting the flow. I'd rather like to make context-labelled inline links, as part of a proper sentence, for as many holdovers as we can anong those we end up with. But later, maybe. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.5|172.70.85.5]] 12:10, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
: Those [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2654:_Chemtrails&diff=291979&oldid=291978 trivial and speculative links to ant navigation] sources were silly. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.90|172.70.211.90]] 12:32, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
:: I thought so at first, but someone seemed determined that they'd return (from my excisement) so I did the Trivia thing on their behalf, which yet another person decided was a Speculation and then I observed a full-on-battle between multiple editorships. I'm not sure your removal (I assume, without yet checking you're referencing what I think you are) will stay removed. But not by my hand.
:: Incidentally: a number of times I see "grammar" as an edit summary when it's just a [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2654:_Chemtrails&oldid=292013 rephrasing between two different perfectly valid grammatical forms] (<- just the latest example of many, over the years, not at all picking on that as the 'worst'). Acceptable change, but wrong reasoning. Just sayin'... Not batting for either side on these debates, but can't help being a spectator. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.13|172.70.85.13]] 12:42, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

I want to discuss this, which I just removed from the Trivia section: "Chemical signalling for mind control is depicted in the ant-technology interaction speculative fiction-themed rock music video by the band ''Placebo'' entitled [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fISvc-yUU1A "Infrared."]" While the video is on-topic because it shows a technocratic, plutocratic, or oligarchical conspiracy being toppled by ants, does it depict any chemical signalling? There is a chemical ligand shown at one point, but is that part of a signalling process, an epigenetic effect (the ligand is shown attached to nucleic acid), some other physiological process such as a pharmaceutical study, or just an analytical study unrelated to the wealthy conspirators' propaganda efforts, which are shown as primarily electronic? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 12:43, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
:Yes, seemed a stretch of logic to me, just from the link description. Was going to view it – in case it was a Rick Roll or something – but others seemed to confirm it at least wasn't that as it got shuffled around in and out of various contexts. Shall I just say that it's potentially interesting but probably not requisite to understanding the comic, with so much more obvious Explanation stuff. I'm sure I'll enjoy watching it later. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.78|172.70.91.78]] 12:50, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
:: I put it back in its most recent form with a comment about this discussion. It's certainly on topic, but it's not necessarily about chemical signalling. Watch it with captions on mute if you find hard eurochem glam rock annoying. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.9|172.69.33.9]] 12:59, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
::: I restored the speculative trivia links, and removed the tentative comment. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.145|172.70.210.145]] 17:57, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
::::I have removed the speculative... It is a trivia section. The phrasing is already indicating it is speculative. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:33, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

Talk:260: The Glass Necklace

2022-08-05T09:01:07Z

CryptoNut1269: Animals category

All I gave my girl was a pearl necklace... [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 04:37, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

I believe the supposed "number 7565" ''may'' actually be a sound effect with poor kerning: "TSSS", the crackling of the electricity traveling down the line. Worth considering, I think. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.100|108.162.237.100]] 04:12, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
:It is "TSSS". Why a bolt of lightning would make the sound ”7565" is beyond me. But I've added a trivia section. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 12:26, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

I think that fuses rated to break a high voltage are actually full of sand. When the wire in the fuse heats up in a fault it melts the sand and makes a bead of glass around the wire. This insulates the wire and stops the electricity from just arcing through the gap in the wire. If you cut one of these fuses open after they blow, you will see a bunch of sand pour out with a bead of glass in the center. This may be what the text in the comic that says “fuse” is about.--[[User:A person with a computer of some kind|A person with a computer of some kind]] ([[User talk:A person with a computer of some kind|talk]]) 07:22, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

I'm sorry but on what possible grounds did someone add and lock down that this was a "chakra" necklace? There is no mention of or reference to spirituality or belief systems in the comic -- and Randall is pretty much grounded in an American science worldview so this seems way off base.

Why is this comic in Animals category? <s>I can see only humans and glass here and the animal category here is only meant for non-human animals. I'm removing the Animals category, fell free to undo my edit if I'm mistaken.</s>
Now I see those birds Birds in Scene 10 (just under LATER text box). However, I doubt if this is enough to classify it in Animals category. Those birds are just a really easy to miss part of the scenery. If they were removed from this comic nothing would change. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 08:46, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

260: The Glass Necklace

2022-08-05T08:52:09Z

CryptoNut1269: Category: clarifing comment next to Animals category

{{comic
| number = 260
| date = May 11, 2007
| title = The Glass Necklace
| image = the_glass_necklace.png
| titletext = Well, for some value of 'actually work'.
}}
==Explanation==
This is one of the most romantic comics published in xkcd.

The heat from a lightning strike can fuse {{w|sand}} into {{w|glass}}. When this occurs in nature, hollow tubes called {{w|fulgurite}}s are formed. [[Cueball]] uses this knowledge and a spark of handiness and ingenuity to create an entirely homemade glass necklace for [[Megan]]. Here is [http://chemistry.about.com/od/advancedscienceprojects/a/How-To-Make-A-Fulgurite.htm some inspiration] to do it yourself.

The title text represents an answer to the logical question prompted by this comic, which is "Would this actually work?" The implied answer is "Yes," but only "for some value of 'actually work'."

This is a play on the phrase "for some value of x," used frequently in physics or mathematics when it's not necessary (nor easy, maybe not even possible) to calculate a suitable value of x. For example, if you supply energy to a {{w|DeLorean time machine|Flux Capacitor}}, could it turn a DeLorean into a time machine? The answer is yes, if you have sufficient energy (the 'some value of x' in this case).

Most people would take the title text to mean that the process most likely "doesn't actually work." But a romantic person (who may be in love and thus not as sensible) might give it a try anyway. Well, at least it worked for Cueball....

==Transcript==
:[There is only one large panel in this comic, but it is still divided up into 19 individual scenes, one following the other, but of very different size and details. In every scene, there is at least one word noted, mainly just stating what Cueball does. The first row has four scenes (1-4), the second row only two (5-6), the third row has three (7-9), the fourth four (10-13), the fifth five (14-18), and then the last scene takes up the middle of the sixth row (19).]

:[Scene 1: Cueball is seen sitting behind a table facing out of the panel drawing on a paper with a cup next to him on the table. An arrow points down to the paper from above where the sketch he is drawing is shown on a zoom in on the paper. He has drawn a cylinder shown in the top left, next to it is a detailed diagram of the cylinder in a cross section down its length, showing that it is hollow, with electrical terminals on either end. The dimensions of the cylinders length, both inner and outer, are indicated on each side of this diagram. Below right is a cross section through circular section indicating the diameter. At the bottom left, there is an instruction showing that the cylinder can be opened in one end, and and an arrow with a label points into the open cylinder. The label can be read, but the dimensions are unreadable.]
:Draw
:Label: Sand

:[Scene 2: Cueball is at a workbench making the device in a workshop. The main part of the cylinder can already be seen lying on the table, as Cueball works on another part. His sketch is also resting on the table leaning up against the rear part of the workbench where four rows with three small drawers in each row are closed, except the second row from the top, where there are only two drawers, the left of those two drawers standing open. On the edge of the table, two tools looking like hammers hang down. On the floor lie three small rectangular items.]
:Make
:Make

:[Scene 3: Cueball kneels down on a beach and scoops up sand in a beaker. To the left, a fairly large wave (the surf) can be seen far down along the beach. Above the sea, there are a large cloud and a smaller one. To the right of the beach is a dense forest growing close to the surf. The tree trunks are visible, as are the leaves, but most trees and trunks are not possible to single out, except one large tree standing a little further out than the rest just behind Cueball. The trunk of this tree looks a little like a palm tree trunk, but it has a regular crown of normal leaves.]
:Scoop

:[Scene 4: Cueball, sitting behind a table, pours the sand from the beaker into the cylinder. The lid of the cylinder lies on the table next to a full glass. It is not clear if it is full of water or just more sand. The beaker used to pour sand is not transparent like the glass on the table is.]
:Pour

:[Scene 5: Cueball ties a spool of string to one end of the cylinder and ties a deflated weather balloon, lying on the ground to the right, to the other end. The spool lies on the ground to the left.]
:Tie

:[Scene 6: The weather balloon is inflated, and Cueball raises it up into the clouds as thunder rumbles in the huge dark clouds to the right. The cylinder is clearly visible just below the balloon. To the left towards the horizon, there is something that may be a distant city, but there are some lines going away from it away from the horizon, the meaning of which is unclear, could be electrical wires in the air for transporting electricity.]
:Rumble

:[Scene 7: Cueball has left after having tied the end of the string to a stake in the ground. The sky is completely covered with clouds, and the first lightning is flashing in the background, thunder following. The balloon hangs close to the clouds, the cylinder barely visible at this distance.]
:<big>''Boom''</big>

:[Scene 8: Lightning hits the balloon and travels all the way down to the rod, which can just be seen at the bottom. There is a loud crack, and the incandescent balloon inside the lightning hisses.]
:<big>''Crack''</big>
:TSSS

:[Scene 9: A slim image with a zoom-in just of the cylinder as the lightning hits, showing it attached to the wires going up and down from each of the two terminals. The lightning travels along the wire through the cylinder and out the other wire, fusing the sand contents within.]
:Fuse

:[Scene 10: The clouds are disappearing to the left, and the sun is out again to the left. Two birds fly in the distance near the sun, and below them there is a hill in the horizon. Cueball, holding onto the string with one hand, follows the string to the cylinder lying on the ground. Above this scene, there is a frame with a caption:]
:Later
:Follow

:[Scene 11: Cueball detaches the cylinder from the wire that goes to the remains of the burned out balloon lying on the ground to the right. The other part of the wire still hangs down from the cylinder's other end.]
:Detach

:[Scene 12: Zoom in on Cueball as he opens the cylinder, letting a wisp of smoke out. The cylinder has clearly been exposed to some rough condition, its surface flaking off. Cueball's hands are clearly visible, which is an unusual style in xkcd.]
:Open

:[Scene 13: Cueball puts his hands into the cylinder and removes a piece of glass with a zigzag shape. Leftover sand pouts out as he draws it out of the open cylinder.]
:Remove

:[Scene 14: Back at his table (with only the surface shown), Cueball admires the piece of glass, holding it between both of his hands. The broken and open cylinder lies on the table, sand pouring out, while the lid lies to the left.]
:Admire

:[Scene 15: Cueball is looking at White Hat (a jeweler) standing behind his desk under a large sign hanging from a string put over a peck in the wall above the desk. White Hat examines the glass, holding it up in his hand and looking at it with a magnifying glass he is holding up to his eye. A lamp is standing on the table.]
:Sign: <big>Jeweler</big>
:Examine

:[Scene 16: White Hat, only, grinds the glass on a grindstone he has put on his desk, pieces of glass seeming to fly away from the stone. There are four indeterminate tools lying on the table.]
:Grind

:[Scene 17: White Hat, only, sets the now-shining glass in a necklace, having cleared the table from any other items.]
:Set

:[Scene 18: Cueball holds the glass necklace in both hands, looks at it, and approves the final result, while White Hat stands behind his desk with something small and rectangular in his hand, probably the money Cueball paid for his service.]
:Approve

:[Scene 19: Cueball gives the glass necklace to Megan, almost touching it and her hands with an outstretched hand. Megan admires the shining piece of glass she now holds in her hands, the string hanging down from her hands.]
:Give

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Weather]]

Talk:260: The Glass Necklace

2022-08-05T08:46:15Z

CryptoNut1269: Animals category

All I gave my girl was a pearl necklace... [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 04:37, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

I believe the supposed "number 7565" ''may'' actually be a sound effect with poor kerning: "TSSS", the crackling of the electricity traveling down the line. Worth considering, I think. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.100|108.162.237.100]] 04:12, 8 January 2018 (UTC)
:It is "TSSS". Why a bolt of lightning would make the sound ”7565" is beyond me. But I've added a trivia section. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 12:26, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

I think that fuses rated to break a high voltage are actually full of sand. When the wire in the fuse heats up in a fault it melts the sand and makes a bead of glass around the wire. This insulates the wire and stops the electricity from just arcing through the gap in the wire. If you cut one of these fuses open after they blow, you will see a bunch of sand pour out with a bead of glass in the center. This may be what the text in the comic that says “fuse” is about.--[[User:A person with a computer of some kind|A person with a computer of some kind]] ([[User talk:A person with a computer of some kind|talk]]) 07:22, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

I'm sorry but on what possible grounds did someone add and lock down that this was a "chakra" necklace? There is no mention of or reference to spirituality or belief systems in the comic -- and Randall is pretty much grounded in an American science worldview so this seems way off base.

Why is this comic in Animals category? I can see only humans and glass here and the animal category here is only meant for non-human animals. I'm removing the Animals category, fell free to undo my edit if I'm mistaken. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 08:46, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

2654: Chemtrails

2022-08-05T08:35:40Z

CryptoNut1269: Explanation: linking 638: The Search

{{comic
| number = 2654
| date = August 3, 2022
| title = Chemtrails
| image = chemtrails.png
| titletext = Ants have reverse chemtrails--regular citizens spraying chemicals everywhere they go to control the government.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an INKJET PRINTER FILLED WITH PERFUME. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Ant}}s leave chemical trails to and from food sources or other events. These chemical trails can guide other ants in the colony, for instance, to return to food. Biologists call such signaling chemicals {{w|pheromones}}. This comic uses chemtrail as a shortening of chemical trail.

[[Cueball]] is intentionally conflating ant chemical trails with {{w|chemtrails}}, the subject of a conspiracy theory that the government controls the population by spraying toxic or mind-/body-transformative chemicals from high altitude aircraft.

This myth may be partly based on the practice of {{w|cloud seeding}}, which uses chemical flares containing silver nitrate to attempt to increase precipitation,[https://www.vox.com/videos/23290459/cloud-seeding-manmade-rain-future-perfect] on studies of chemical mind control among ants,[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022191016301640] or on the effects of the common parasite ''{{w|toxoplasma gondii}}'' on cats' prey. Despite [[1677: Contrails|occasional conflation]], chemtrails are distinct from "contrails," short for "condensation trails," which are cloud-like lines in the sky created by airplane engines. Such linear cloud formations only sometimes arise from temperature and pressure disturbances of the passing engines, rather than any deliberate release, but are highly visible in the right conditions under flightpaths, and may have the appearance of "spraying" action. {{w|Nucleation#Examples of the nucleation of fluids (gases and liquids)|Vapor nucleation}} is central to both cloud seeding and contrails.

People sometimes attempt chemical manipulation of unwitting people in small areas (such as scent based marketing, or wearing scented products).[https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/3469-smells-shoppers-spend-more.html] There is very little evidence that sophisticated mind control posited by chemtrail conspiracists is possible, even after extensive research.[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Poisoner_in_Chief/U6iDDwAAQBAJ]

{{w|Entomologist}}s study insects. [[Ponytail]] is an entomologist, studying chemically mediated cooperative ant navigation. [[Cueball]] knows she will be annoyed when he tells her, "So, I hear you're really into chemtrails?" Indeed, he gets the reaction he hoped for when she objects strongly and rejects this with a loud, "'''No!!'''" The choice of terminology is often a sore spot for those who study a particular field in depth, for example entomological discussions of "slave-making" in socially parasitic species.[https://evolve.community.uaf.edu/2015/04/23/emantcipation-when-captured-ants-rise-against-their-captors/] [[Randall]] writes in the caption that such misuse is how to annoy people like Ponytail.

The title text humorously contrasts individual ants instinctively deciding how the whole colony behaves by using chemicals to indicate routes to food or dangers to motivate the colony to react to their individual experiences, with the human fear of loss of personal independence by being regulated by otherwise disconnected ruling elites, as depicted in the ant/technology interaction speculative fiction-themed [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fISvc-yUU1A "Infrared"] music video by the alt-rock band ''Placebo''.

Ants are a recurring theme, as are those who study them. See for instance [[638: The Search]] which specifically deals with ant's pheromone trails or [[1610: Fire Ants]]. Chemtrails were also the subject of [[966: Jet Fuel]], [[1677: Contrails]], and were mentioned in [[1803: Location Reviews]]. This comic has a similar format to [[2036: Edgelord]]: a simple one-panel interaction consisting of a (likely deliberate) misuse of a term in regards to a professional's work, followed immediately by the professional's upset outburst, and Randall's caption spelling out "How to annoy" the professional. Both seem related to Randall's [[:Category:My Hobby|hobbies]], as he seems to think a lot about how to annoy specific groups of people (perhaps in an attempt to minimize annoyances?).

==Transcript==

:[Cueball stands talking to Ponytail, who has her arms raised and has small lines above her head to indicate annoyance.]
:Cueball: So, I hear you're really into chemtrails?
:Ponytail: '''''No!!'''''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How to annoy entomologists who study ant navigation

==Trivia==
*Whether ant gland secretion signalling is {{w|Turing completeness|Turing-equivalent}} is explored in Douglas Hofstadter's ''{{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach|Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid}}''.
*Ponytail may conceivably be a professional entomologist who once worked with an editor who inserted the word "chemtrails" in one of her [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00359-019-01363-z comparative physiology] or [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-020-01354-7 ''Animal Cognition''] drafts competing before a peer review panel with papers by [https://bio.kuleuven.be/ento/pdfs/billen_procnev_2006_signal_variety.pdf Johan Bilen] of the Leuven University Zoological Institute and Harvard's [https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674045880 Rüdiger Wehner].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]

Talk:2517: Rover Replies

2021-09-21T17:43:06Z

CryptoNut1269: similiar comics

Hi! I have added most of the description, but this is my first major edit so could someone please review it? Thank you! [[User:SqueakSquawk4|SqueakSquawk4]] ([[User talk:SqueakSquawk4|talk]]) 16:19, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

I checked out the linked account. First reply to it that I saw was dramatically lamenting about the rover account being a mockery of "proper scientific communication", second reply I saw was sneering at the rover and claiming SpaceX would build Mars bases or something while NASA was "playing with rocks". I don't want to read any more comments. All I can say is that my experience with the rover replies was not the wholesome experience that was promised. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.87|172.68.133.87]] 17:09, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
: I too am disappointed. Poor Rover is not getting the enthusiasm that Rover deserves... [[User:Thisfox|Thisfox]] ([[User talk:Thisfox|talk]]) 05:12, 19 September 2021 (UTC)
: Maybe we should take this as a call to action and go give the rover the love it deserves. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.159|172.70.114.159]] 14:56, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

I think the title text may also be assuming that the rover is using its phone to post the tweets. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]])
: Also, Perseverance has a camera mounted on a flexible arm as opposed to previous rovers' mast mounted cameras, allowing it to take pictures of itself. That could give the impression that it is taking selfies with a phone. I understand that the next generation of rovers will be equipped to make duckface. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.210|162.158.187.210]] 12:49, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

I'm torn between the anti-conspiracy response being basically "We don't want you trollers here, let us have our happy shiny place" at an intruder or "This is considered holy ground, and we shall all be back trolling elsewhere shortly..." directed at a shitposting-padawan who hasn't learnt the subtleties of (mis)behaviour from the more experienced ones. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.106|162.158.91.106]] 20:46, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

This comic follows exactly same template as [[202:_YouTube]], [[1836:_Okeanos]], [[2159:_Comments]]. Also it is kind of related to these review comics [[1803:_Location_Reviews]], [[1869:_Positive_and_Negative_Reviews]], [[937:_TornadoGuard]]. Even less related but still a similar structure [[1689:_My_Friend_Catherine]], [[1085:_ContextBot]], [[1031:_s/keyboard/leopard/]], [[2015:_New_Phone_Thread]]. Probably not enough for a separate category such as ''Internet comments'' but maybe in the future. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 17:43, 21 September 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2501: Average Familiarity

2021-08-12T11:22:19Z

CryptoNut1269: Reply to probability comment - small addition

I've never even ''heard'' of olivine. I think most people have heard of quartz (it's the crystal in most electronic watches, and it's pretty), and I suspect feldspar is somewhere in between. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 05:21, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

:If you find a hard white rock, it's probably quartz; very common where I live. Decorative white pebbles? Quartz. Clear, pretty crystals might be the same compound, but they had to be pure to start with and they had to cool really slowly.
I resemble this comic ... I specialize in probability. Does everyone know that probability=1 means 'certain'? ... I'm not certain ...
:: People who went through at least the first half of the math undergraduate program will most likely understand. In the general population, I guess, saying '100 % probability' would work much better than 'probability 1', but still people can get quite upset when something with 99 % probability of success fails, not understanding that 99 % (or even 85 %) does not mean guaranteed success (see for example 14:46 of this video about randomness in video-game design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwI5b-wRLic). [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:08, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

As a chemist, I heard of all of them but, fun fact, there is a mnemonic in the german language known by at least all of the elderly generation: "Feldspat, Quarz und Glimmer - die drei vergess´ ich nimmer!" thats "feldspar quartz and mica - i will never forget the three". These three are the main compunds of granite and obviously this was stuff they had to learn at school. If, in a group of silverheads, start the phrase "Feldspat Quarz und Glimmer ..." and there will always be someone to finish the sentence. --[[User:Pauliprinzip|Pauliprinzip]] ([[User talk:Pauliprinzip|talk]]) 05:45, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

:''and may not even know the definition of "feldspar" beyond "a rock".'' Ironically, I think the person writing this may have overstated the "average Joe"'s familiarity with the word "feldspar", since I couldn't have defined it if you'd asked me. --[[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 08:11, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

== Replaced "average Joe" with "average person" ==

Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terms_related_to_an_average_person this term is specific to the US, and introduces specificity unrelated to the comic.

Talk:2501: Average Familiarity

2021-08-12T11:08:36Z

CryptoNut1269: Reply to probability comment

I've never even ''heard'' of olivine. I think most people have heard of quartz (it's the crystal in most electronic watches, and it's pretty), and I suspect feldspar is somewhere in between. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 05:21, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

:If you find a hard white rock, it's probably quartz; very common where I live. Decorative white pebbles? Quartz. Clear, pretty crystals might be the same compound, but they had to be pure to start with and they had to cool really slowly.
I resemble this comic ... I specialize in probability. Does everyone know that probability=1 means 'certain'? ... I'm not certain ...
:: People who went through at least the first half of the math undergraduate program will most likely understand. In the general population, I guess, saying '100 % probability' would work much better than 'probability 1', but still people can get quite upset when something with 99 % probability of success fails (see for example 14:46 of this video about randomness in video-game design https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwI5b-wRLic). [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:08, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

As a chemist, I heard of all of them but, fun fact, there is a mnemonic in the german language known by at least all of the elderly generation: "Feldspat, Quarz und Glimmer - die drei vergess´ ich nimmer!" thats "feldspar quartz and mica - i will never forget the three". These three are the main compunds of granite and obviously this was stuff they had to learn at school. If, in a group of silverheads, start the phrase "Feldspat Quarz und Glimmer ..." and there will always be someone to finish the sentence. --[[User:Pauliprinzip|Pauliprinzip]] ([[User talk:Pauliprinzip|talk]]) 05:45, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

:''and may not even know the definition of "feldspar" beyond "a rock".'' Ironically, I think the person writing this may have overstated the "average Joe"'s familiarity with the word "feldspar", since I couldn't have defined it if you'd asked me. --[[User:Enchantedsleeper|Enchantedsleeper]] ([[User talk:Enchantedsleeper|talk]]) 08:11, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

== Replaced "average Joe" with "average person" ==

Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terms_related_to_an_average_person this term is specific to the US, and introduces specificity unrelated to the comic.

Talk:2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-06T11:08:04Z

CryptoNut1269: typo: Copper instead of Cooper

Have just added a transcript. Hope I did good! :) -Lance ([[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.211|172.70.126.211]] 02:40, 5 August 2021 (UTC))
:You did good, Lance. *pats head* [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.197|162.158.74.197]] 18:06, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Wonder what Beret Guy would do if Cooper said, "I don't have it any more," since some of the money was discovered, badly deteriorated and partially buried, along the banks of the Columbia River back in 1980, as verified by serial numbers on the found currency. Given the absence of any other evidence, it was assumed that the hijacker had gotten separated from the money either during or right after the jump, the found currency had been deposited as flotsam at its discovery point through the actions of the river itself, and the rest of the money was still somewhere in the Pacific Northwest awaiting similar discovery, [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 04:23, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

If it can be considered that the comic is a reference to random walk (in a forest), can it also be considered a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_forest random forests] ? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.73|141.101.68.73]] 07:14, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:I don't get why the comic is supposed to be a reference to random walks or to random forests. Nothing points to that. Real forests exists, and people walk in them. The only peculiarity of this particular forest is that D.B. Cooper hangs in one of its trees. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.103.244|188.114.103.244]] 08:20, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

I feel like there should be a D.B. Cooper category at this point. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.52|141.101.104.52]] 07:51, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Hey there, I think the alt text is also a reference to https://xkcd.com/2390/ ? Kind regards :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.61|162.158.89.61]] 08:13, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Typo: "he might have simply inherited it form his mom". --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.39|162.158.255.39]] 12:40, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
: Done, now. I'd seen it, but apparently missed it, in preparing for my first big corrective edit of the day (little tyops, a lot less awful than ones ''I'' have previously left for others to correct). Or maybe I thought I should leave it suspended from the tree until some other issue had been resolved. :P [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.105|162.158.158.105]] 12:53, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Not to question the artistic representation, but rather than Forest (tree canopy and dense undergrowth), I'd say that was more Woodland Savanna (individual tree growth smattered around grass/shrubland at most). Or maybe we just can't properly see the woods for the trees... (Or the action is set at the edge of a clearing, of course!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.184|141.101.98.184]] 13:32, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:It's Southwest Washington, where Pyroculture practiced over centuries changed the nature of the forests. Your average forest, until recently when fire suppression came in, had very little undergrowth, and sometimes whole fields of Camas Lilly or Tarweed or other food plants valued by the Yakima.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 19:43, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Doesn't it seem likely, that Beret Guy's trees have soup outlets on them? Like his Business does? (Or, maybe Ghosts (like the business))

'You help me down this instant!' is not an "unlikely combination of words" or an unusual phrase. I'm not sure if it is regional, but as a native US English speaker, this is a completely normal wording to use if you are frustrated and insisting that someone do something, especially someone much younger, so perhaps it is meant to further indicate the man's age. As an example, a parent might say to their unruly child who is refusing to do their chores, "young man, you clean your room this instant!" (or "right this instant") It can also be used playfully: you are taking a walk along a river with some friends, when one of them suddenly playfully splashes water on you and takes off running (to avoid retaliation) and you run after them shouting "I'm going to get you for that! You get back here right this instant!" [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.28|172.70.131.28]] 15:36, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:I had the same reaction to both the title text and the explanation (although I believe it refers to the "help me down" part and not the "this instant" part). Either way, neither part of the phrase nor the entire phrase seems unlikely or unusual. I actually first came to this page to see if I was missing a reference in the title text, but it appears Randall just finds our dialectic somewhat strange. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.73|172.70.114.73]] 16:28, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
::IANALinguist, but I took it that "Help me down" is a (potentially, enough to be linguistically nerdsniped upon) ambiguous. 'Down' as a verb is strange, maybe ("to down, I wish you to help me") which might even be more feather-based in regards to the action conveyed. Or "lower the amount of help you shall grant me". Or even "(I) require assistance (for) I (am) feeling a certain amount of ennui". And "I wish to fall" is obviously not meant... Or is it? Some people would wish to consider this... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.211|162.158.158.211]] 19:06, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:::It was I who added that part about the "unlikely combination of words". Today I have checked it on https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ (where you have to annoyingly register with your real email address as throwaway mails are effectively blocked). Expression 'right know' has 151 795 results. 'this instant' has only 558 including phrases such as:
:::"Get the fuck out of my office this instant." from Silicon Valley (2017 TV Series, episode The Keenan Vortex);
:::"Shh. Stop that this instant! 'Stop that this instant.' You sound like my teacher." Justice League Action (2016, Galaxy Jest);
:::"Put those drapes down this instant. ... I will grab a spatula and put you Over my knee this instant! - You sound like mommy." The Haunted Hathaways (2014, Haunted Viking);
:::"Applebloom! You come back here right this instant! (blustering)" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010, Bridle Gossip).
:::There were also some result from spoken word, newspapers and blogs but they were not relevant. In conclusion, 'this instant' is much less frequent than more common 'right know', however, it is used. On the other hand, it is infrequent enough that characters in TV series comment on how out of place that phrase sounds. I have deleted my explanation, feel free to undo the deletion, rewrite the explanation or leave it as it is now.
::: To clarify, I have deleted this part of explanation: As mentioned in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], Cooper was also known for ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style and use of unusual phrases such as 'negotiable American currency', he seems to hold to this habit and instead of much more common 'Help me right now!' or 'Put me down immediately!' he used rather unlikely combination of words 'You help me down this instant!'. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:06, 6 August 2021 (UTC)

Anyone else think that D.B. Cooper in this comic looks a bit like Don Quixote from alternate energy revolution? --[[User:4D4850|4D4850]] ([[User talk:4D4850|talk]]) 02:13, 6 August 2021 (UTC)
: Kind of, but when you looked closer at [[556: Alternative Energy Revolution]] Don Quixote's beard is definitely better groomed and his hair is trimmed. I would rather compare this Cooper with the guy form [[725: Literally]]. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:06, 6 August 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-06T11:06:36Z

CryptoNut1269: 'this instant' and Don Quixote discussion

Have just added a transcript. Hope I did good! :) -Lance ([[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.211|172.70.126.211]] 02:40, 5 August 2021 (UTC))
:You did good, Lance. *pats head* [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.197|162.158.74.197]] 18:06, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Wonder what Beret Guy would do if Cooper said, "I don't have it any more," since some of the money was discovered, badly deteriorated and partially buried, along the banks of the Columbia River back in 1980, as verified by serial numbers on the found currency. Given the absence of any other evidence, it was assumed that the hijacker had gotten separated from the money either during or right after the jump, the found currency had been deposited as flotsam at its discovery point through the actions of the river itself, and the rest of the money was still somewhere in the Pacific Northwest awaiting similar discovery, [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 04:23, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

If it can be considered that the comic is a reference to random walk (in a forest), can it also be considered a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_forest random forests] ? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.73|141.101.68.73]] 07:14, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:I don't get why the comic is supposed to be a reference to random walks or to random forests. Nothing points to that. Real forests exists, and people walk in them. The only peculiarity of this particular forest is that D.B. Cooper hangs in one of its trees. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.103.244|188.114.103.244]] 08:20, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

I feel like there should be a D.B. Cooper category at this point. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.52|141.101.104.52]] 07:51, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Hey there, I think the alt text is also a reference to https://xkcd.com/2390/ ? Kind regards :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.61|162.158.89.61]] 08:13, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Typo: "he might have simply inherited it form his mom". --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.39|162.158.255.39]] 12:40, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
: Done, now. I'd seen it, but apparently missed it, in preparing for my first big corrective edit of the day (little tyops, a lot less awful than ones ''I'' have previously left for others to correct). Or maybe I thought I should leave it suspended from the tree until some other issue had been resolved. :P [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.105|162.158.158.105]] 12:53, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Not to question the artistic representation, but rather than Forest (tree canopy and dense undergrowth), I'd say that was more Woodland Savanna (individual tree growth smattered around grass/shrubland at most). Or maybe we just can't properly see the woods for the trees... (Or the action is set at the edge of a clearing, of course!) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.184|141.101.98.184]] 13:32, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:It's Southwest Washington, where Pyroculture practiced over centuries changed the nature of the forests. Your average forest, until recently when fire suppression came in, had very little undergrowth, and sometimes whole fields of Camas Lilly or Tarweed or other food plants valued by the Yakima.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 19:43, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

Doesn't it seem likely, that Beret Guy's trees have soup outlets on them? Like his Business does? (Or, maybe Ghosts (like the business))

'You help me down this instant!' is not an "unlikely combination of words" or an unusual phrase. I'm not sure if it is regional, but as a native US English speaker, this is a completely normal wording to use if you are frustrated and insisting that someone do something, especially someone much younger, so perhaps it is meant to further indicate the man's age. As an example, a parent might say to their unruly child who is refusing to do their chores, "young man, you clean your room this instant!" (or "right this instant") It can also be used playfully: you are taking a walk along a river with some friends, when one of them suddenly playfully splashes water on you and takes off running (to avoid retaliation) and you run after them shouting "I'm going to get you for that! You get back here right this instant!" [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.28|172.70.131.28]] 15:36, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:I had the same reaction to both the title text and the explanation (although I believe it refers to the "help me down" part and not the "this instant" part). Either way, neither part of the phrase nor the entire phrase seems unlikely or unusual. I actually first came to this page to see if I was missing a reference in the title text, but it appears Randall just finds our dialectic somewhat strange. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.73|172.70.114.73]] 16:28, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
::IANALinguist, but I took it that "Help me down" is a (potentially, enough to be linguistically nerdsniped upon) ambiguous. 'Down' as a verb is strange, maybe ("to down, I wish you to help me") which might even be more feather-based in regards to the action conveyed. Or "lower the amount of help you shall grant me". Or even "(I) require assistance (for) I (am) feeling a certain amount of ennui". And "I wish to fall" is obviously not meant... Or is it? Some people would wish to consider this... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.211|162.158.158.211]] 19:06, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
:::It was I who added that part about the "unlikely combination of words". Today I have checked it on https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ (where you have to annoyingly register with your real email address as throwaway mails are effectively blocked). Expression 'right know' has 151 795 results. 'this instant' has only 558 including phrases such as:
:::"Get the fuck out of my office this instant." from Silicon Valley (2017 TV Series, episode The Keenan Vortex);
:::"Shh. Stop that this instant! 'Stop that this instant.' You sound like my teacher." Justice League Action (2016, Galaxy Jest);
:::"Put those drapes down this instant. ... I will grab a spatula and put you Over my knee this instant! - You sound like mommy." The Haunted Hathaways (2014, Haunted Viking);
:::"Applebloom! You come back here right this instant! (blustering)" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010, Bridle Gossip).
:::There were also some result from spoken word, newspapers and blogs but they were not relevant. In conclusion, 'this instant' is much less frequent than more common 'right know', however, it is used. On the other hand, it is infrequent enough that characters in TV series comment on how out of place that phrase sounds. I have deleted my explanation, feel free to undo the deletion, rewrite the explanation or leave it as it is now.
::: To clarify, I have deleted this part of explanation: As mentioned in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], Cooper was also known for ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style and use of unusual phrases such as 'negotiable American currency', he seems to hold to this habit and instead of much more common 'Help me right now!' or 'Put me down immediately!' he used rather unlikely combination of words 'You help me down this instant!'. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:06, 6 August 2021 (UTC)

Anyone else think that D.B. Cooper in this comic looks a bit like Don Quixote from alternate energy revolution? --[[User:4D4850|4D4850]] ([[User talk:4D4850|talk]]) 02:13, 6 August 2021 (UTC)
: Kind of, but when you looked closer at [[556: Alternative Energy Revolution]] Don Quixote's beard is definitely better groomed and his hair is trimmed. I would rather compare this Copper with the guy form [[725: Literally]]. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 11:06, 6 August 2021 (UTC)

2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-06T10:10:54Z

CryptoNut1269: deleted 'thi instant!' explanation which I added before after consultation with English Corpus (details in discussion)

{{comic
| number = 2498
| date = August 4, 2021
| title = Forest Walk
| image = forest_walk.png
| titletext = The only other person to walk by was a linguist back in the 80s, but she just spent a while dissecting the phrase 'help me down' before getting distracted by a squirrel and wandering off.
}}

==Explanation==

Megan is walking in a forest with Beret Guy who owns a big part of it. Megan is surprised that he owns such a big property, however, Beret Guy is known for his inexplicable businesses such as in [[1493: Meeting]] and from [[1032: Networking]]; we know he probably has enough resources to be able to buy it. Alternatively, he might have simply inherited it from his mom [[502: Dark Flow]].

They meet a rather disheveled-looking bearded man hanging from a parachute caught in a tree. The man shakes a stick at them and demands to be helped down to the ground. Beret Guy simply addresses him as "Mister Cooper" and asks if he promises to return the money he took. The man angrily refuses, and Beret Guy casually says he'll see him again tomorrow, suggesting that this conversation has become a daily routine.

Megan asks if the man was D. B. Cooper. Beret Guy confirms that he is. He then comments on an owl nest as another bit of "neat stuff" found on his land, suggesting that he finds Cooper's presence to be moderately interesting but not really remarkable.

{{w|D. B. Cooper}} is the identity given to a man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in 1971. He collected a $200,000 ransom (equivalent to $1,250,000 in 2020) and famously donned a parachute and jumped from the plane over the state of Washington. Even after lengthy FBI investigations, it is still unknown who he was, or what ever became of him. The only things known about him are a police composite drawing and the name "Dan Cooper", under which he had purchased his airline ticket. The name D. B. Cooper came about as a result of a miscommunication with the media. The comic is insinuating that, after leaping from the plane, he got entangled in a tree and has somehow been there ever since.

D. B. Cooper was already referenced by Randall in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], [[1501: Mysteries]] and [[2452: Aviation Firsts]].

Uncanny situations are nothing new to Beret Guy as he himself possesses many [[Category:Strange_powers_of_Beret_Guy|strange powers]]. Because of this he seems to be unable to differentiate between something normal but interesting, such as an owl nest in a forest, and something as outright impossible{{Citation needed}} as a famous criminal hanging from a tree, otherwise unnoticed for decades and somehow still thriving - though clearly aged.

The issues of food, water and other necessities are unaddressed, but this individual has at least obtained what seemingly could be a walking-stick, to accompany his age-acquired frailty. In some ways this is unexceptional, as the one resource (other than rain, possibly) that he has easiest access to are tree branches, but then the question is whether it can be considered a walking stick if he has not actually walked (or stood, or anything but dangled) for however long he has possessed it. There is a clearly broken branch-stump at roughly his height upon the tree trunk, possibly the remains of an earlier attempt to gain support enough to become disentangled, and perhaps he had the presence of mind (or was stubborn enough) not to drop the part that unfortunately snapped off in his hand in the attempt.

The title text may reference to the linguist from [[2390: Linguists]] who is more interested in the linguistic nuances that people use than in actually responding to their call for assistance. It is not known how many others have walked through Beret Guy's land, in the interim, or whether it is their own nature or the general auea from Beret Guy, but the linguist clearly did not much more than ponder the phrase "help me down". Megan also seems in no particular hurry to intervene.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking through a landscape with spread out trees and grass and puddles on the ground.]
:Megan: Wow, this is all yours?
:Beret Guy: Yeah! All the way back to the river!
:Beret Guy: I walk here every day.

:[Megan still walks towards Beret Guy who has now stopped and is looking up while speaking to a man hanging in a tree in front of them. The man has long wild hair and a large beard. He hangs from his parachute which has been folded around a large branch sticking out from beneath the top of the tree. He is holding a long stick of some sort, seemingly attempting to threaten Beret Guy, as the stick and his legs are vibrating as indicated with small lines.]
:Beret Guy: Morning, Mister Cooper!
:Cooper: You help me down '''''this instant!'''''

:[Pan down to show only Beret Buy and nothing else. Cooper replies from off-panel from the top corner.]
:Beret Guy: Do you promise to give back all the money you took?
:Cooper [off-panel]: '''''Never!'''''
:Beret Guy: Okay! See you tomorrow!

:[Megan and Beret Guy continue walking through the landscape with three small trees behind them, as well as grass, rocks and a small puddle. Megan looks back over her shoulder towards where Cooper is hanging.]
:Megan: Was that D.B. Cooper?
:Beret Guy: Yeah, and up ahead there's an owl nest!
:Beret Guy: There's so much neat stuff here.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring D. B. Cooper]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Squirrels]] 
[[Category:Language]]

2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-05T14:30:11Z

CryptoNut1269: 'this instant!' explanation: small typos correction and comic reference addition

{{comic
| number = 2498
| date = August 4, 2021
| title = Forest Walk
| image = forest_walk.png
| titletext = The only other person to walk by was a linguist back in the 80s, but she just spent a while dissecting the phrase 'help me down' before getting distracted by a squirrel and wandering off.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by D. B. COOPER. The explanation doesn't exist. We need to add the explanation for the main comic and the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Megan is walking in a forest with Beret Guy who owns a big part of it. Megan is surprised that he owns such a big property, however, Beret Guy is known for his inexplicable businesses such as in [[1493: Meeting]] and from [[1032: Networking]]; we know he probably has enough resources to be able to buy it. Alternatively, he might have simply inherited it from his mom [[502: Dark Flow]].

They meet a rather disheveled-looking bearded man hanging from a parachute caught in a tree. The man shakes a stick at them and demands to be helped down to the ground. Beret Guy simply addresses him as "Mister Cooper" and asks if he promises to return the money he took. The man angrily refuses, and Beret Guy casually says he'll see him again tomorrow, suggesting that this conversation has become a daily routine.

Megan asks if the man was D. B. Cooper. Beret Guy confirms that he is. He then comments on an owl nest as another bit of "neat stuff" found on his land, suggesting that he finds Cooper's presence to be moderately interesting but not really remarkable.

{{w|D. B. Cooper}} is the identity given to a man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in 1971. He collected a $200,000 ransom (equivalent to $1,250,000 in 2020) and famously donned a parachute and jumped from the plane over the state of Washington. Even after lengthy FBI investigations, it is still unknown who he was, or what ever became of him. The only things known about him are a police composite drawing and the name "Dan Cooper", under which he had purchased his airline ticket. The name D. B. Cooper came about as a result of a miscommunication with the media. The comic is insinuating that, after leaping from the plane, he got entangled in a tree and has somehow been there ever since. As mentioned in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], Cooper was also known for ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style and use of unusual phrases such as 'negotiable American currency', he seems to hold to this habit and instead of much more common 'Help me right now!' or 'Put me down immediately!' he used rather unlikely combination of words 'You help me down this instant!'.

D. B. Cooper was already referenced by Randall in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], [[1501: Mysteries]] and [[2452: Aviation Firsts]].

Uncanny situations are nothing new to Beret Guy as he himself possesses many [[Category:Strange_powers_of_Beret_Guy|strange powers]]. Because of this he seems to be unable to differentiate between something normal but interesting, such as an owl nest in a forest, and something as outright impossible{{Citation needed}} as a famous criminal hanging from a tree, otherwise unnoticed for decades and somehow still thriving - though clearly aged.

The issues of food, water and other necessities are unaddressed, but this individual has at least obtained what seemingly could be a walking-stick, to accompany his age-acquired frailty. In some ways this is unexceptional, as the one resource (other than rain, possibly) that he has easiest access to are tree branches, but then the question is whether it can be considered a walking stick if he has not actually walked (or stood, or anything but dangled) for however long he has possessed it. There is a clearly broken branch-stump at roughly his height upon the tree trunk, possibly the remains of an earlier attempt to gain support enough to become disentangled, and perhaps he had the presence of mind (or was stubborn enough) not to drop the part that unfortunately snapped off in his hand in the attempt.

The title text may reference to the linguist from [[2390: Linguists]] who is more interested in the linguistic nuances that people use than in actually responding to their call for assistance. It is not known how many others have walked through Beret Guy's land, in the interim, or whether it is their own nature or the general auea from Beret Guy, but the linguist clearly did not much more than ponder the phrase "help me down". Megan also seems in no particular hurry to intervene.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking through a landscape with spread out trees and grass and puddles on the ground.]
:Megan: Wow, this is all yours?
:Beret Guy: Yeah! All the way back to the river!
:Beret Guy: I walk here every day.

:[Megan still walks towards Beret Guy who has now stopped and is looking up while speaking to a man hanging in a tree in front of them. The man has long wild hair and a large beard. He hangs from his parachute which has been folded around a large branch sticking out from beneath the top of the tree. He is holding a long stick of some sort, seemingly attempting to threaten Beret Guy, as the stick and his legs are vibrating as indicated with small lines.]
:Beret Guy: Morning, mister Cooper!
:Cooper: You help me down '''''this instant!'''''

:[Pan down to show only Beret Buy and nothing else. Cooper replies from off-panel from the top corner.]
:Beret Guy: Do you promise to give back all the money you took?
:Cooper [off-panel]: '''''Never!'''''
:Beret Guy: Okay! See you tomorrow!

:[Megan and Beret Guy continue walking through the landscape with three small trees behind them, as well as grass, rocks and a small puddle. Megan looks back over her shoulder towards where Cooper is hanging.]
:Megan: Was that D.B. Cooper?
:Beret Guy: Yeah, and up ahead there's an owl nest!
:Beret Guy: There's so much neat stuff here.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring D. B. Cooper]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Squirrels]] 
[[Category:Language]]

2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-05T14:21:24Z

CryptoNut1269: explaning 'You help me down this instant!

{{comic
| number = 2498
| date = August 4, 2021
| title = Forest Walk
| image = forest_walk.png
| titletext = The only other person to walk by was a linguist back in the 80s, but she just spent a while dissecting the phrase 'help me down' before getting distracted by a squirrel and wandering off.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by D. B. COOPER. The explanation doesn't exist. We need to add the explanation for the main comic and the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Megan is walking in a forest with Beret Guy who owns a big part of it. Megan is surprised that he owns such a big property, however, Beret Guy is known for his inexplicable businesses such as in [[1493: Meeting]] and from [[1032: Networking]]; we know he probably has enough resources to be able to buy it. Alternatively, he might have simply inherited it from his mom [[502: Dark Flow]].

They meet a rather disheveled-looking bearded man hanging from a parachute caught in a tree. The man shakes a stick at them and demands to be helped down to the ground. Beret Guy simply addresses him as "Mister Cooper" and asks if he promises to return the money he took. The man angrily refuses, and Beret Guy casually says he'll see him again tomorrow, suggesting that this conversation has become a daily routine.

Megan asks if the man was D. B. Cooper. Beret Guy confirms that he is. He then comments on an owl nest as another bit of "neat stuff" found on his land, suggesting that he finds Cooper's presence to be moderately interesting but not really remarkable.

{{w|D. B. Cooper}} is the identity given to a man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in 1971. He collected a $200,000 ransom (equivalent to $1,250,000 in 2020) and famously donned a parachute and jumped from the plane over the state of Washington. Even after lengthy FBI investigations, it is still unknown who he was, or what ever became of him. The only things known about him are a police composite drawing and the name "Dan Cooper", under which he had purchased his airline ticket. The name D. B. Cooper came about as a result of a miscommunication with the media. The comic is insinuating that, after leaping from the plane, he got entangled in a tree and has somehow been there ever since. Cooper was also known for ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style and use of unusual phrases such as 'negotiable American currency', he seems to hold to this habit and instead of much more commons 'Help me right now!' or 'Put me down immediately!' he used rather unlikely combination of words 'You help me down this instant!'.

D. B. Cooper was already referenced by Randall in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], [[1501: Mysteries]] and [[2452: Aviation Firsts]].

Uncanny situations are nothing new to Beret Guy as he himself possesses many [[Category:Strange_powers_of_Beret_Guy|strange powers]]. Because of this he seems to be unable to differentiate between something normal but interesting, such as an owl nest in a forest, and something as outright impossible{{Citation needed}} as a famous criminal hanging from a tree, otherwise unnoticed for decades and somehow still thriving - though clearly aged.

The issues of food, water and other necessities are unaddressed, but this individual has at least obtained what seemingly could be a walking-stick, to accompany his age-acquired frailty. In some ways this is unexceptional, as the one resource (other than rain, possibly) that he has easiest access to are tree branches, but then the question is whether it can be considered a walking stick if he has not actually walked (or stood, or anything but dangled) for however long he has possessed it. There is a clearly broken branch-stump at roughly his height upon the tree trunk, possibly the remains of an earlier attempt to gain support enough to become disentangled, and perhaps he had the presence of mind (or was stubborn enough) not to drop the part that unfortunately snapped off in his hand in the attempt.

The title text may reference to the linguist from [[2390: Linguists]] who is more interested in the linguistic nuances that people use than in actually responding to their call for assistance. It is not known how many others have walked through Beret Guy's land, in the interim, or whether it is their own nature or the general auea from Beret Guy, but the linguist clearly did not much more than ponder the phrase "help me down". Megan also seems in no particular hurry to intervene.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking through a landscape with spread out trees and grass and puddles on the ground.]
:Megan: Wow, this is all yours?
:Beret Guy: Yeah! All the way back to the river!
:Beret Guy: I walk here every day.

:[Megan still walks towards Beret Guy who has now stopped and is looking up while speaking to a man hanging in a tree in front of them. The man has long wild hair and a large beard. He hangs from his parachute which has been folded around a large branch sticking out from beneath the top of the tree. He is holding a long stick of some sort, seemingly attempting to threaten Beret Guy, as the stick and his legs are vibrating as indicated with small lines.]
:Beret Guy: Morning, mister Cooper!
:Cooper: You help me down '''''this instant!'''''

:[Pan down to show only Beret Buy and nothing else. Cooper replies from off-panel from the top corner.]
:Beret Guy: Do you promise to give back all the money you took?
:Cooper [off-panel]: '''''Never!'''''
:Beret Guy: Okay! See you tomorrow!

:[Megan and Beret Guy continue walking through the landscape with three small trees behind them, as well as grass, rocks and a small puddle. Megan looks back over her shoulder towards where Cooper is hanging.]
:Megan: Was that D.B. Cooper?
:Beret Guy: Yeah, and up ahead there's an owl nest!
:Beret Guy: There's so much neat stuff here.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring D. B. Cooper]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Squirrels]] 
[[Category:Language]]

Category:Comics featuring D. B. Cooper

2021-08-05T14:07:10Z

CryptoNut1269: Deleting sentence "featured in three xkcd comics". It would have to be changed manually every time and 'Pages in category' section has an autocount for this.

[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|165px|Cooper]]
In 1971, a man referred to by the media as {{w|D. B. Cooper}} hijacked a Boeing 727 and escaped with $200,000 in ransom money (equivalent to $1,250,000 in 2020). Although $5,800 of that money was recovered in 1980, the only thing known about him are a police composite drawing (shown at the right) and the name "Dan Cooper" with which he had purchased his airline ticket. The name D. B. Cooper came about as a result of a miscommunication with the media. While the FBI maintains that Cooper was most likely killed when he parachuted from the plane, they have never determined his identity, and the investigation was called off in 2016, making it the United States' only unsolved plane hijacking.

[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2452: Aviation Firsts

2021-08-05T14:03:16Z

CryptoNut1269: Added category: Comics featuring D. B. Cooper

{{comic
| number = 2452
| date = April 19, 2021
| title = Aviation Firsts
| image = aviation_firsts.png
| titletext = Mile High Club membership [✓] [ ] Discovery of parts of Amelia Earhart's skeleton [ ] [ ] Mid-flight incident that results in safe landing on the Hudson River [✓] [ ]
}}

==Explanation==
This comic reflects the [https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1384209173924089863 ''Ingenuity'' probe's first flight on Mars]. Now that ''Ingenuity'' has completed its first flight, Mars can be counted among planets with controlled powered flight. The preceding milestones in this list were completed by the first space probes to reach and then land on Mars. Flight, landing and controlled landing were variously achieved by some or all of the prior landers, depending upon your definition of flight, but certainly by the {{w|Mars_Science_Laboratory#Sky_crane_landing|Skycrane}} element used in landing both ''Curiosity'' and ''Perseverance'' rovers. These may not have qualified as controlled powered flight as they only used their power to control the landing, before flying off again under power without any more precise control than that needed to intentionally crash elsewhere.

The remaining milestones have only been completed on Earth, if at all, and also grow more bizarre and more specific further down the comic and extending into the title text.

{| class="wikitable"
! Milestone summary
! Achieved on Earth?
! Achieved on Mars?
! Explanation
|-
| Flight
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| rowspan=3 | All of these milestones were generally necessary for the success of previous exploratory missions on the surface of Mars.
|-
| Landing
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
|-
| Controlled landing
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
|-
| Controlled powered flight
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| This comic was released within hours of ''Ingenuity'' becoming the first aircraft in human history to take off, fly under its own power, and land, all on a planet other than Earth.
|-
| Loop
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| Although {{w|Aerobatic_maneuver|loops}} are often performed in Earth's atmosphere by planes designed for high-speed aerobatics (such as stunt planes and fighter jets), such aircraft have yet to be deployed on any spacecraft leaving Earth. A loop does not yet seem to be practical or necessary to attempt over Mars.
|-
| In-flight meal
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| Naturally, it would only make sense to serve food on a ''manned'' mission to Mars, which has not yet happened.
|-
| Planetary circumnavigation
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| While planetary circumnavigation has been achieved outside of Mars's atmosphere by {{w|List_of_Mars_orbiters|many Mars orbiters}}, this is a list of ''aviation'' firsts, which would require controlled flight within an atmosphere.
|-
| Enormous wooden aircraft built by a reclusive billionaire that flies exactly once
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| The {{w|Hughes H-4 Hercules}} (the "Spruce Goose") was a prototype wooden airplane, known for being the largest flying boat ever constructed. The Hercules was designed by aviation pioneer (and, latterly, famed recluse) Howard Hughes. The design was intended as a lightweight transoceanic transport for the the military, but the prototype, built out of wood because of aluminum shortages during World War II, was not completed until well after the end of the war and flew only a single time in 1947. Since 1991, it has been on permanent display at the {{w|Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum}} in McMinnville, Oregon, USA.
|-
| Hijacking by someone dubbed "D.B. Cooper" who demands money and then jumps out mid-flight to an unknown fate
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| In 1971, {{w|Northwest Orient Airlines}} Flight 305 was famously hijacked by an enigmatic man who is best known by the pseudonym "{{w|D. B. Cooper}}" (although "Dan Cooper" was the name he actually used to buy his ticket). After being given a $200,000 ransom by the plane's crew, Cooper proceeded to parachute jump out of the plane using the rear {{w|airstair}} and was never confirmed to have been heard from again; many experts agree that the parachute jump was very risky and it's unlikely that Cooper survived. (Cooper was previously mentioned in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]] and [[1501: Mysteries]].)
|-
| Mile High Club membership
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| The "{{w|mile high club}}" is a slang term for people who have had sexual intercourse while onboard an airplane in flight. Although the notion of {{w|sex in space}} is understood to be severely hampered by the limited life support and the complete lack of natural gravity,{{Citation needed}} it's not certain whether Mars's low gravity (compared to Earth) would make it similarly challenging to have intercourse within the planet's atmosphere.
|-
| Discovery of parts of Amelia Earhart's skeleton
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| {{w|Amelia Earhart}} was a famous aviator who, along with her navigator {{w|Fred Noonan}}, went missing over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 while attempting a global circumnavigation flight and has never been found. It was previously believed the skeleton of one of them had been found on Nikumaroro island (then called Gardner Island), but this theory is contentious and most scholars reject it today. While there's still a remote possibility that the remains of Earhart and Noonan will eventually be discovered somewhere in the Pacific, the notion of them somehow ending up on the surface of Mars is practically impossible outside the remit of certain conspiracy theories. (Earhart was previously mentioned in [[1501: Mysteries]], [[950: Mystery Solved]], and [[2197: Game Show]].)
|-
| Mid-flight incident that results in safe landing on the Hudson River
| style="background-color: #88FF88; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | Yes
| style="background-color: #FF8888; color: #000000; text-align: center;" | No
| The {{w|US Airways Flight 1549|Miracle on the Hudson}} was a 2009 aviation incident in which a US Airways airliner struck a flock of geese shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Despite the plane losing all its engine power as a result of the bird strike, Captain Chesley Sullenberger successfully crash-landed in the nearby Hudson River with minimal injuries to the passengers onboard. Of course, it would be highly impractical for a powered flight that encounters a problem in the sky above Mars to then fly all the way to Earth just for an emergency landing in the New York area.
|-
! Milestone summary
! Achieved on Earth?
! Achieved on Mars?
! Explanation
|}

==Transcript==
:[A chart is shown with nine items. To the right of each item there are two check boxes. Above the top row of check boxes are two underlined labels for the two columns. The first four rows have both boxes checked, and the last five have only the first box checked. The last two items are so long that they take up three and four rows of text. The first seven items are written on one line each.]

<u>Earth</u> <u>Mars</u>
Flight <big>[✓]</big> <big>[✓]</big>

Landing <big>[✓]</big> <big>[✓]</big>

Controlled landing <big>[✓]</big> <big>[✓]</big>

Controlled powered flight <big>[✓]</big> <big>[✓]</big>

Loop <big>[✓]</big> <big>[ ]</big>

In-flight meal <big>[✓]</big> <big>[ ]</big>

Planetary circumnavigation <big>[✓]</big> <big>[ ]</big>

Enormous wooden aircraft
built by a reclusive billionaire <big>[✓]</big> <big>[ ]</big>
that flies exactly once

Hijacking by someone dubbed
"D.B. Cooper" who demands <big>[✓]</big> <big>[ ]</big>
money and then jumps out
mid-flight to an unknown fate

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring D. B. Cooper]]
[[Category:Sex]]

2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-05T11:45:04Z

CryptoNut1269: 2nd and 3rd pandel explanation

2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-05T11:23:59Z

CryptoNut1269: last panel and title text explantaion

2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-05T10:35:22Z

CryptoNut1269: fixing punctuation

2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-05T10:30:54Z

CryptoNut1269: First panel explenation

Talk:2471: Hippo Attacks

2021-06-05T16:17:31Z

CryptoNut1269: no official studies on Hippopotamus attacks and fatalities

'Hippo violation' refers to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA or the Kennedy–Kassebaum Act) - probably ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.95|172.69.35.95]] 22:08, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
:I've worked with demographic data and experienced the removal of datapoints with only a couple people in them, because the statistics would reveal the details of the people. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.48|172.70.114.48]] 22:26, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
:Strictly speaking, wouldn't this be a HIPOO violation? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.142.171|172.68.142.171]] 22:47, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
:Alternatively, it may refer to violation of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath Hippocratic Oath] which include provision to respect patients' privacy [[User:Aufa|Aufa]] ([[User talk:Aufa|talk]])
"But, counting every body of water on the planet, this works out as around 400 (unique) waves per square meter" - Can we get a source for this information? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.20|108.162.221.20]] 11:59, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
:The Wikipedia article "Earth", in the section "Surface", says that the area of the oceans is 361.13 million sq km (their source: CIA's World Factbook). If so, then 850 trillion waves would average out to 2.354 million waves per sq km, or 2.354 waves per square meter.--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.172|172.70.110.172]] 12:30, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
::But… is “area“ referring to the actual surface area of the world’s oceans, which are three-dimensional, or the are they assuming a flat surface within the perimeter? Not only that, is this value determined based on the mean value between tides? Finally, of course, if we are looking at the true surface area, including the undulations, that would be a remarkably much larger number then that calculated by merely looking at a flat surface within a perimeter. I’ll hang up and listen for the answer.[[User:Dhugot|Dhugot]] ([[User talk:Dhugot|talk]]) 21:19, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
:I inserted the '(unique)' to the edit, among other things (I thought presuming stormy waters was overkill), taking on trust the number-per had been worked out accurately ahead of time. Maybe the original author of that ''had'' accounted for how many square metres a wave might cover (and thus combine with other waves nominally belonging to other ²m units).
:Assuming the 2ish waves value is correct (for one thing, assuming it's a US Trillion, which is likely; but the alternative can't account for the factor of ~175, regardless) then do change it, but any significant wave does exist in a greater area than 1m² both in width and between pairs of troughs, so two waves or ripples assigned to one area (prob. crossing paths) will probably also be mixed up with 'other square's waves'.
:Naturally, I presume the actual figure given is a ridiculously made-up one, but if we're justifying/highlighting this belief then these are the considerations I'd give to the matter. Even if the maths isn't perfect. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.161|141.101.99.161]] 13:56, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

From the title-text: "Some random guess will get cited everywhere and become the universally quoted value." This might be a reference to [[Citogenesis]]? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.147|172.68.132.147]] 15:40, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

Side note: the title text talks about waves *in* the ocean, not *on* the ocean. This means that localized, sub-surface waves should also be considered as well as any waves caused by even small seismic events. [[User:Cwallenpoole|Cwallenpoole]] ([[User talk:Cwallenpoole|talk]]) 18:12, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

If one counts whale song, sonar pings, https://inshorts.com/m/en/news/herring-fish-communicate-through-farts-1490104994916 maybe mr munroe's number is still a wag. Dunno.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.104|108.162.216.104]] 00:28, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

This random listicle [https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/verify/verify-are-mosquitoes-really-the-deadliest-animals-on-earth/507-578093577 "VERIFY: Are mosquitoes really the deadliest animals on earth?"] seems to have done a pretty good job at finding the actual sources for the numbers in [https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation] blog post about the deadliest animals. Interestingly it says "there are no official studies on Hippopotamus attacks and fatalities. This number could not be verified." Might it really be that they are no studies available? If yes, we should probably mention it in the explanation. [[User:CryptoNut1269|CryptoNut1269]] ([[User talk:CryptoNut1269|talk]]) 16:17, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

2471: Hippo Attacks

2021-06-05T16:04:36Z

CryptoNut1269: add information about Bill & Melinda Gates blog post

{{comic
| number = 2471
| date = June 2, 2021
| title = Hippo Attacks
| image = hippo_attacks.png
| titletext = It's cool how, when there's a number lots of people are curious about, but which isn't easy to measure, some random guess will get cited everywhere and become the universally quoted value. Unrelatedly, did you know there are 850 trillion waves in the ocean?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HIPAA-VIOLATING HIPPO. I think we have managed to capture the broad strokes of the comic, but it could use some copy-editing (especially my words), and I am not confident I am not missing some finer details. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The first part of this comic deals with unreliable sources on the internet. Neither "viral posts" nor "random [[wikipedia:Listicle|listicles]]" are usually very reliable sources of information. They rarely cite their sources,{{Citation needed}} and they are often published without much fact-checking, as published volume and impressive-sounding numbers are far more important for ad-revenue than actual facts.

The viral post appears to be [https://www.facebook.com/clickhole/photos/a.1461385317435063/2945077732399140/?type=3 this Facebook post.] The relevant source is unknown (and may very well be made up, since the source is ClickHole, a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClickHole satirical website formerly owned by The Onion]). There are a number of listicles Cueball may be referring to, but they all appear to be citing [https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation], however, even they do not seem to provide source for the number of fatalities caused by hippopotamus.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ({{w|HIPAA}}, pronounced ''HIP-uh'') is an American healthcare law enacted in 1996. One of the most commonly cited provisions from HIPAA is the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which regulates the use and disclosure of protected health information.

In this comic, Cueball and Megan are discussing the number of {{w|hippopotamus}} attacks, which is unverified. Megan proposes an alternative explanation as to why this particular number is hard to come by: it would be violating the patients' privacy to create statistics of a very specific and unusual cause of death. The punchline comes with the pun on "hippo violation" ("HIPAA violation").

The title text amplifies the criticism of listicles. They sometimes provide factoids with regards to ill-defined, hard-to-measure numbers, and these factoids might end up in common circulation between such articles. One extreme example would be the number of waves in the ocean. Some problems with this definition would be:

* In which ocean/oceans?
* What is the smallest ripple that counts as a wave?
* When does one count two interacting waves as separate, and when does one count them as one?
* Are counted waves limited to water waves, or can EM waves be considered?
* Should sub-surface waves be evaluated, too?
* How deep is the ocean, how high is the sky?

With different replies to these questions, wildly different answers could be reached. But, counting every body of water on the planet, 850 trillion waves works out as around 2.354 (unique) waves per square meter.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting in an office chair at his desk. He has lifted both arms with palm up towards the screen of his laptop in front of him. Megan stands behind him to the right, looking over his shoulder at the screen.]
:Cueball: I hate unsourced statistics.
:Cueball: ''This'' viral post says hippos kill 2,900 people a year, but ''this'' random listicle says 500.
:Megan: Makes sense.
:Megan: Publishing the real number would be a HIPPO violation.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Puns]]