explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2461: 90's Kid Space Program

2021-05-12T01:52:14Z

DoubleDenial: i agree, the 90's kid thing probably isn't just a reference to the age of the employees

While searching for popper toys in action, I found a figure in a scientific paper. Not sure if it would belong on this page. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326439672_Dynamics_of_viscoelastic_snap-through#pf2 [[User:Pgn674|Pgn674]] ([[User talk:Pgn674|talk]]) 20:15, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

Isn't it also allusion to Kerbal Space Program game? The ship in picture looks similar to game's stock crafts. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.249|162.158.91.249]] 21:05, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
:Possibly? The girders and the capsule look similar, but the green bit looks a little like a Project Orion pusher plate to me. (Or maybe I just like Project Orion too much). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.229|141.101.99.229]] 21:07, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

:Agree on the Kerbal. Note the KSP in "Kid Space Program". I also thought it had a nod towards Project Orion pusher plate. On an unrelated but fun note: Oxford science blog discusses the mathematics that describe jumping popper snap-through: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/how-do-jumping-popper-toys-work.
[[User:Tomb|Tomb]] ([[User talk:Tomb|talk]]) 21:40, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

The title text may refer to the way that NASA seems stuck in their ways and not willing to innovate, i.e. living in the past. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.249|162.158.91.249]] 21:13, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

:Only they already tried most of the stuff and failed. e.g the DC-X or landing booster were tried in the 90s. For the boosters, it will be interesting if the reuse-reliability is better with our better controll systems, or the refurbishing costs and risks will kill it again. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.134|141.101.105.134]] 16:29, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

:I also interpreted the joke that way. Considering that [[1074: Moon Landing|Randall has done a joke about this in the past]], I think that your interpretation is likely. (Then again, there was also [[1548: 90s Kid|a strip about 90's kids growing up]]...) --[[User:DoubleDenial|DoubleDenial]] ([[User talk:DoubleDenial|talk]]) 01:52, 12 May 2021 (UTC)

I agree with the above suggestion that Kerbal Space Program is part of the joke, KSP is to iconic a acronym for Munroe to ignore, plus, he has mentioned it in other strips.
:Or even "too iconic an acronym". [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.106|198.41.238.106]] 21:48, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

Is today some sort of special "90's day"? SMBC has a 90s-themed comic as well.[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 21:26, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
:Per http://www.holidays-and-observances.com/may-10.html, it is not. [[User:Piano|Piano]] ([[User talk:Piano|talk]]) 22:22, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
::I think maybe "90s" is a little off. I had one of these in 1987. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.106|141.101.98.106]] 08:26, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

I was squinting hard at the original, trying to understand the connection between a diaphragm (a barrier contraception method), kids, and launching into space. Smth about spermatozoids? Resorted to explainxkcd, and learned that it's some kind of "popper"... Oh, well :)
:Still better than when I thought "putting a parachute below the capsule can't possibly be aerodynamically stable". I thought it was a landing system.

Interesting… I'm a 90s kid, and I've never even heard of these. I had to come here to figure out what I was looking at. [[User:NoriMori|NoriMori]] ([[User talk:NoriMori|talk]]) 03:00, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
:snap! I thought it was a diaphragm too :o) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.50|108.162.249.50]] 06:05, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
::I would have known what it was if it was a photograph. There's no real sense of scale or texture here, I thought it was some kind of weird parachute like kids used in gym class. -[[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.75|172.68.57.75]] 06:25, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
:::Too funny. This 50's kid didn't think of popper or diaphragm. I thought it was a spoof on beanie propeller hats [https://www.amazon.com/Adult-Propeller-Beanie-Hat-Made/dp/B001QK4RZC Beanie Propeller Hat] [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 20:42, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

;How effective would this thing actually be? 
Obviously it's not going to go to space. But would a popper of this apparent size even be able to fling itself upward at all? Do the mechanics hold up when scaled up that large, or does all the mass and weight of the rubber get in the way? Or something about the physics of how it un-inverts itself? I've seen a few of these things, and they get some impressive height, but they were all pretty small. I found a Youtube video of a guy making some quite large ones (by toy standards), and the amount of height they get seems to go down as the size of the thing goes up.

This isn't the clearest xkcd - So it isn't supposed to be a diaphragm? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.167|172.69.68.167]] 06:51, 11 May 2021 (UTC)
:Depends? I've seen 3 inch models that pop higher than 1 inch models. I also think the old school solid ones pop higher than the 'safety' version you get now with a hole in the top. Side note: kids like me are why they have those safety holes now. For gits and shiggles in the summer of '86 I placed one of them on my forehead, and pushed in. It made a mighty suction cup, and took the better part of a minute to get off my face. As you might expect, a solid minute of extreme suction on my skin created the expectant 'hickey' and I had a 3 inch round dot on my forehead for about a week.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.132.45|172.68.132.45]] 16:14, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

Actually this wouldn't work at all at the drawn scale. - At least not with rubbers we know currently. To have enough "strength" against punctures etc on this scale the rubber would have to be really really thick. However another feature is that it bends from bulbing one side to the other side - releasing build up tensile stress inside the rubber dome material.
The problem is however that in doing so the 'length' of one side of the rubber would change drastically (this is what creates the stress anyways). Magnitudes more than the few mm you have in normal domes. It would have so much strain that any rubber we know would've ripped/cracked many times before, even the most plastine rubbers would rip before that point. So no this would not scale up very well... Would actually be better to use "a lot of small sized ones". than a single large one.

Now I understand why xkcd has a tendency to occasionally irk me- because he's a 90's kid. Us 80's kids used real gunpowder to send our rockets a few thousand feet high. Ok, less than 2000, but at least we didn't use a rubber thing resembling a boob. And get off my lawn, you young whipper snapper.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:04, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

;Maybe I'm reading too much in to it, but it looks a bit like an Orion type spacecraft with the pusher plate drawn to specifically resemble those pop toys? 

I'm surprised no one has commented on the similarity in design to the James Webb Telescope, which opened for the last time today on earth in preparation for satellite packing: https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1392170711226126344?s=19 [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.107|141.101.99.107]] 20:10, 11 May 2021 (UTC)

804: Pumpkin Carving

2020-10-17T21:55:07Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ citation please?

{{comic
| number = 804
| date = October 11, 2010
| title = Pumpkin Carving
| image = pumpkin carving.png
| titletext = The Banach-Tarski theorem was actually first developed by King Solomon, but his gruesome attempts to apply it set back set theory for centuries.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the American custom of making {{w|Jack-o'-lantern|Jack-O'-Lantern}}s to set out on porches and front steps for the holiday of {{w|Halloween}}, which occurs on October 31. Typically they are made with {{w|pumpkins}} by emptying the inside leaving a hollow shell, carving a face or design on the side, then placing a light or candle inside. The Jack-O'-Lantern in the 3rd frame is the typical and standard design for a carved pumpkin.

The comic is set up as a typical TV program where an off-screen interviewer asks four (very) different people what they have made out of their Halloween pumpkin. In the [http://xkcd.com/804/info.0.json official transcript] the interviewer that talks in three of the panels is called an Interlocutor: "a person who takes part in dialogue or conversation."

In the first frame, [[Beret Guy]], naturally, stays oddly on-topic by physically carving an image of a pumpkin in his pumpkin. This means his answer, "I carved a pumpkin," could apply to either the image or the medium of his artwork.

In the second frame, [[Black Hat]] is shown with a container of {{w|nitroglycerin}} next to his pumpkin. Nitroglycerin is a highly explosive liquid that may explode violently with just a small bump. Black Hat has not carved a hole for his lamp, but it seems he has emptied the inside of the pumpkin as the stem at the top has been removed. This will make it possible to fill up the pumpkin with nitroglycerin. Teenagers are a rather impulsive and rebellious lot; as Halloween is a night with lots of meticulously erected decorations and more lax parental supervision, troublemaker teens see it as an enticing time to engage in rampant vandalism, including but not limited to pumpkin-smashing. Hence, the off-panel character presumes that Black Hat is setting up a trap to get back at these ne'er-do-wells. To top it off, Black Hat plans to put up a sign warning passers-by to not smash the pumpkin. This would only serve to tempt impulsive teenagers to disturb it, which is very likely what the sadistic and chaos-loving [[Classhole]] is hoping for. If he succeeds with his plan, with a completely hollowed out pumpkin of the shown size filled with nitroglycerin, it would seem likely that the resulting explosion would leave a largish crater, flatten wood-framed buildings nearby, shatter windows for blocks in all directions, and be more than sufficient to kill the vandal along with others in the surrounding area. This is clearly overkill for such a petty crime.

Black Hat, rather unconvincingly, insists that his pumpkin is suffering from chest pains, and that the nitroglycerin is merely intended for medical treatment. While it is true that this chemical is used to treat {{w|angina}} (chest pain due to blocked arteries in the heart), nitroglycerin used for this purpose is dispensed in the form of small pills containing only trace amounts, and controlled by prescription. Also, pumpkins are a vegetable and do thus not contain nervous or circulatory systems of mammalian complexity{{Citation needed}}; even if they did, the process of pumpkin carving involves hollowing them out, making it a moot point.

In the third frame, [[Megan]] is our typical emotional xkcd comic character. She is the only one out of the four who actually carved a typical jack-o'-lantern; however, she is projecting herself onto it, and has named it Harold. Her dialogue suggests it (or he) is suffering from typical holiday depression, with symptoms such as using a lot of time daydreaming, worrying, and trying to distract herself with holiday traditions, but she already knows that it won't work. Some have speculated that this is a possible reference to the classic {{w|Internet meme|meme}} [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hide-the-pain-harold Hide The Pain Harold], but this is highly unlikely; the meme [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hide-the-pain-harold only surfaced in 2011], a year after the comic was published.

In the fourth frame, [[Cueball]] is shown in front of two un-carved pumpkins exclaming that this is the result of carving one pumpkin. He is referencing the {{w|Banach-Tarski paradox}} (which is made clear in the title text), a theorem which states that it is possible to split a three-dimensional ball, in this case a pumpkin, into a finite number of "pieces," and then reassemble these "pieces" into two distinct balls both identical to the original. This paradox has been proven for theoretical shapes, but requires infinitely complicated pieces which are impossible for anything made of physical {{w|atomic theory|atoms}} rather than mathematical {{w|point (geometry)|points}}.

The off-screen interviewer in that frame references the {{w|Axiom of Choice}}. This axiom is the foundation for many theorems (including the Banach–Tarski paradox) and is extremely influential to modern mathematics; however, it has been historically controversial precisely because it enables this kind of weirdness. It is called an "axiom" because it is a statement that is not meant to be proven or disproven—only accepted or rejected depending on the theoretical framework one wishes to work with. Rejecting the Axiom of Choice results in a perfectly coherent alternate form of set theory. Since the proof for the Banach–Tarski paradox relies on accepting the axiom of choice, the interviewer is suggesting Cueball's unexpected result would not have happened without using the axiom.

The title text references a biblical story involving {{w|Solomon|King Solomon}}. In the story, known as the {{w|Judgment of Solomon}}, two women were brought before him both claiming that a particular child was their own. Solomon tested the women by saying the only solution was to cut the baby in half and give each woman one of the halves, knowing only the real mother would fight to save her child's life even if the price was giving up the whole child to the other woman. The joke is that if Solomon had developed the Banach–Tarski theorem first, then he could have actually believed cutting the baby into pieces was a valid solution. In that scenario, he would have tried to make two whole children from the original and given one to each woman. However, since babies are not infinitely divisible,{{Citation needed}} his attempt would have failed miserably and set back set theory for centuries due to the appearance that he has "proved" the theorem wrong. Note that the title text actually mentions ''attempts'' indicating that King Solomon killed several babies in this fashion.

The axiom of choice and set theory was later referenced in [[982: Set Theory]] and, much later, the axiom of choice was mentioned again in the title text of [[1724: Proofs]].

This comic was released 20 days before Halloween in 2010, possibly to inspire people with some great ideas for their pumpkins. It has been known (particularly by Randall) that people copy his ideas, for instance this earlier [http://xkcd.com/chesscoaster/ post] on xkcd based on [[249: Chess Photo]]. Soon after he even made a comic, [[254: Comic Fragment]], that was supposed to be impossible to copy, which he mentioned himself later (see the explanation).

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy, holding his arms out, stands behind a large orange pumpkin with the stem on top. It is sitting on a table. The pumpkin has been carved out as a lamp with large hole, and a lit candle is visible in the hole. The hole is in the shape of another carved out pumpkin. An interviewer speaks from off panel.]
:Interviewer (off-panel): So what did you—
:Beret Guy: I carved a pumpkin!
:Interviewer (off-panel): ...

:[Black Hat stands behind a large orange pumpkin which has not been carved out as a lamp, but the stem at the top has been removed and is placed tilting on the side of the pumpkin. It is sitting on a table. A gray box stands next to and partly in front of the pumpkin. On the end of the box there is a label at the top with unreadable text and below that some kind of drawing with a circle at the top. The interviewer speaks from off panel.]
:Interviewer (off-panel): Taking on teen vandals, I see.
:Black Hat: Heavens, no. My pumpkin simply has chest pains. In fact, I'll leave a note ''warning'' them not to smash it.
:Text on box:
::Nitro-
::glycerin
::Do Not
::Shake

:[Megan stands next to a large orange pumpkin with the stem on top. It is sitting on a table. The pumpkin has been carved out as a typical Halloween lamp. The bottom part of a white candle stick is visible in the mouth shaped hole. The hole is in the shape of a typical jack-o' lantern, with two slanted eyes, double slit nose and a smiling mouth with a tooth sticking out from both upper and lower lip, on either side of the candle stick.]
:Megan: My pumpkin's name is Harold. He just realized that all the time he used to spend daydreaming, he now spends worrying. He'll try to distract himself later with holiday traditions, but it won't work.

:[Cueball stands next to a two orange pumpkins with their stems on top, the left pumpkin is slightly larger than the right which is partly in front of the larger pumpkin. They have not been carved out even though a knife lies next to them to the right in front of Cueball on the table where they both stand. The interviewer speaks from off panel.]]
:Cueball: I carved and carved, and the next thing I knew I had ''two'' pumpkins.
:Interviewer (off-panel): I ''told'' you not to take the axiom of choice.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Logic]]

2368: Bigger Problem

2020-10-13T17:40:10Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ added another similar strip

{{comic
| number = 2368
| date = October 5, 2020
| title = Bigger Problem
| image = bigger_problem.png
| titletext = Your point that the world contains multiple problems is a real slam-dunk argument against fixing any of them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a <SOLUTION>. Please mention here why this world still has problems. Do NOT give up hope too soon (unless it's for another reason you will think of later).}}

[[Cueball]] is asking [[White Hat]] to help fix an unspecified problem with the world. Presumably, he is working for some form of charity and perhaps asking for donations or signatures. White Hat responds by saying that Cueball doesn't care about the issue and that he would be working to fix an unspecified larger issue if he ''really'' cared. Cueball then asks if White Hat would rather be working to solve that problem. However, White Hat says that he doesn't want to, but that he also hasn't come up with an excuse not to yet. White Hat seems as if he couldn't be bothered, and wants to go on with his life.

The claim that someone is not working towards an important issue, [https://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/146/dontcare.png while not always completely invalid], is commonly used as a cheap tactic to ignore a solution to a problem, even when the person using it does want to help out with either cause and is also a {{rw|logical_fallacy|logical fallacy}} known as the "{{rw|Not_as_bad_as|Not as bad as}}" fallacy, [https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Relative-Privation Fallacy of Relative Privation], or {{tvtropes|AppealToWorseProblems|Appeal to Worse Problems}}. In the last panel of this comic, White Hat reveals that he isn't sufficiently devoted to either cause to act on them, so that his bringing up the larger issue appears less like interest in the larger issue than an excuse to not support Cueball's cause.

The title text furthers this point. While the argument used by White Hat is supposed to imply that the person giving the argument cares about an issue that matters more (to the exclusion of the other issue), it's often used, as seen in this comic, as an excuse to not work to fix any problem, making it "a real slam-dunk argument against fixing any of them."

Both causes in the comic are referred to ambiguously and surrounded with angle brackets to imply that they can be filled it with any two problems, as the comic is supposed to depict a common situation that happens during discussions of many different causes.

This comic is quite similar to [[871: Charity]] because both have a character that responds to people trying to help "by figuring out a reason that they're not really as good as they seem". Additionally, it seems to relate to [[1447: Meta-Analysis]] on being very meta. [[1232: Realistic Criteria]] has an extremely similar conversation between Cueball and White Hat.

People sometimes use similar fallacious reasoning against ''themselves,'' thinking that they shouldn't tackle "simple" "unimportant" problems when there are "important" problems outstanding, even if the former are within their ability to handle but the latter aren't. This can be a form of self-sabotaging behavior.

In essence, this may be an example of the principle "The perfect is the enemy of the good." That is, it is better to make a small advance which does some good. If you insist on doing nothing until you cure everything to perfection, nothing will be done.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, holding a clipboard next to his body in his left hand, holds his right hand palm up towards White Hat.]
:Cueball: I'm trying to fix <problem with the world>. Can you help?

:[Cueball stands with both arms down while white Hat lift one hand up toward Cueball.]
:White Hat: It's obvious you don't actually care. If you did, you'd be trying to fix <bigger problem> instead.

:[Same setting as the first picture, wit Cueball's hand a bit further out towards White Hat.]
:Cueball: Okay, want to help fix <bigger problem>?
:White Hat: No, for another reason I'll think of later.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

1207: AirAware

2020-10-13T17:20:14Z

DoubleDenial: added "Cueball is his latest victim" because i think that's being implied in this strip

{{comic
| number = 1207
| date = May 3, 2013
| title = AirAware
| image = airaware.png
| titletext = It ships with a version of Google Now that alerts you when it's too late to leave for your appointments.
}}

==Explanation==
Upon being asked by [[Cueball]], [[Black Hat]] reveals his new 'business', AirAware. He explains it uses a {{w|Quadrotor}} Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ({{w|UAV}}) that flies and records a person's daily schedule. If that person either deviates, forgets an appointment, or tells somebody incorrect information, the drone alerts the 'client' with an annoying "WRONG!".

Cueball is skeptical of the 'business plan' and questions its potential. Black Hat expands, saying that his intention is not personal profit, and he is simply releasing them himself. Cueball starts to argue that it is not a business, since there is no monetary gain, before being abruptly interrupted by the AirAware drone, declaring that his previous sentence was incorrect. This implies that Black Hat's business is not for profit; it's just another one of his sadistic schemes to torture people, and Cueball is his latest victim.

Although the Wikipedia page for {{w|business}} states that a business "may also be not-for-profit", this isn't really relevant, as 'making money' and 'making a profit' are different things. It would be better classified as a different type of organization, or even as a [[:Category:My Hobby|hobby]].

{{w|Google Now}} is software by Google, shipped with newer Android devices. It shows you important information when you need it, like traffic on your way to work or home and upcoming events from your calendar. It also reminds you when to leave in order to reach an appointment in time. In the title text, Black Hat has modified this to tell you when you're too ''late'' to get there, instead.

It can also refer to a [http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/92305/why-does-google-now-never-think-that-i-will-arrive-on-time bug in Google Now], which is that Google Now incorrectly calculates the time you have to leave, and it always calculates that what it calculated will be 1 minute too late, so it shows "The transportation mode you selected will not let you arrive on time" almost always, unless you refresh.

An alternate explanation for the pronouncement of "WRONG!" by the quadcopter in the last panel is that it is referring to the plethora of companies in the electronic era, and even today, that don't actually make much (or any) money, but are still considered successful businesses.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Black Hat looking at a remote-controlled flying object.]
:Cueball: What's that?
:Black Hat: It's a drone for my new business, ''AirAware''.

:Black Hat (narrating): Our UAVs follow you and learn your schedule. If you miss a turn, forget an appointment, or give someone inaccurate information, they alert you.
:Megan (on phone): I'll be there in five.
:Booming voice from the sky: <big>'''''WRONG!'''''</big>
:Megan: Augh!

:Cueball: That sounds annoying. Who would ''pay'' for that?
:Black Hat: Huh? Nobody pays. I'm just making these and releasing them.

:Cueball: That's not a business. You're just yelling at strangers from the sky.
:Cueball: A business has to make money somehow.
:Booming voice from the sky: <big>'''''WRONG!'''''</big>
:Cueball: Augh!!

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

2368: Bigger Problem

2020-10-06T00:48:56Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ capitalization

{{comic
| number = 2368
| date = October 5, 2020
| title = Bigger Problem
| image = bigger_problem.png
| titletext = Your point that the world contains multiple problems is a real slam-dunk argument against fixing any of them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a <SOLUTION>. Please mention here why this world still has problems. Do NOT give up hope too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] is asking [[White Hat]] to help fix an unspecified problem with the world. Presumably, he is working for some form of charity, and asking for donations or signatures. White Hat responds by saying that Cueball doesn't care about the issue, and that he would be working to fix an unspecified larger issue if he ''really'' cared. Cueball then asks if White Hat would rather be working to solve that problem. However, White Hat says that he doesn't want to, but that he also hasn't come up with an excuse not to yet. White Hat seems as if he couldn't be bothered, and wants to go on with his life.

The claim that someone is not working towards an important issue, [https://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/146/dontcare.png while not always completely invalid], is commonly used as a cheap tactic to ignore a solution to a problem, even when the person using it does want to help out with either cause. In the last panel of this comic, White Hat admits that he does not actually care about either problem, therefore proving that he only brought up the larger issue as an excuse to not support Cueball's cause.

The title text furthers this point. While the argument used by White Hat is supposed to imply that the person giving the argument cares about an issue that matters more (to the exclusion of the other issue), it's often used, as seen in this comic, as an excuse to not work to fix any problem, making it "a real slam-dunk argument against fixing any of them."

Both causes in the comic are referred to ambiguously and surrounded with angle brackets to imply that they can be filled it with any two problems, as the comic is supposed to depict a common situation that happens during discussions of many different causes.

This comic is quite similar to [[871: Charity]] because both have a character that responds to people trying to help "by figuring out a reason that they're not really as good as they seem".

People sometimes use similar fallacious reasoning against ''themselves,'' thinking that they shouldn't tackle "simple" "unimportant" problems when there are "important" problems, even if the former are within their ability to handle but the latter aren't. This can be a form of self-sabotaging behavior.

The high-resolution version of the comic may be found [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bigger_problem_2x.png here].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball and White Hat are having a conversation. Cueball is holding a clipboard in his left hand.]
:Cueball: I'm trying to fix <problem with the world>. Can you help?

:White Hat: It's obvious you don't actually care. If you did, you'd be trying to fix <bigger problem> instead.

:Cueball: Okay, want to help fix <bigger problem>?
:White Hat: No, for another reason I'll think of later.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

2368: Bigger Problem

2020-10-05T18:13:24Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ sounded a little too much like a bad school paper or something

2368: Bigger Problem

2020-10-05T18:10:58Z

DoubleDenial: wrote an explanation. i made it kind of unnecessarily long and poorly organized so if someone could cut it down a little i would be grateful

2368: Bigger Problem

2020-10-05T17:37:36Z

DoubleDenial: /* Transcript */ pretty sure i'm supposed to add a period here

2368: Bigger Problem

2020-10-05T17:35:12Z

DoubleDenial: categories

2368: Bigger Problem

2020-10-05T17:33:21Z

DoubleDenial: /* Transcript */ probably should add this

2368: Bigger Problem

2020-10-05T17:28:53Z

DoubleDenial: made transcript. first transcript, maybe i didn't do this right whatever

1815: Flag

2020-01-21T11:48:13Z

DoubleDenial: actually i forgot to log in and don't want to look like i'm trolling so i'm undoing that for now

{{comic
| number = 1815
| date = March 24, 2017
| title = Flag
| image = flag.png
| titletext = There's a compromise bill to keep the notification bar but at least charge the battery.
}}

==Explanation==

Presumably [[Randall]] was hired by a committee to propose a new {{w|flag}} for an unspecified country. His process editing the flag involved taking a screenshot of his design to export it, a mistake that went unnoticed by anyone until the flag was officially implemented.

Once the problem was pointed out, the design committee placed the blame on Randall, but could not immediately undo their decision until new suggestions had been submitted and a new committee could agree on another design. Thus the country is now stuck with this design, making it the only country with such a bar in the flag.

The title text mentions a compromise bill that will change the flag. This implies that the flag was approved with the status bar included. Apparently there is some controversy about removing the status bar from the flag, as the compromise bill proposes keeping the status bar and changing the displayed percentage of the battery from 39% to 100%. This is wordplay on the term "charge" as used in {{w|vexillology}}, where it refers to a figure appearing on the background of the flag. It may also be a reference to [[1373: Screenshot]].

===Flag design===
The ''bar'' in ''notification bar'', is a vexillological descriptor, as in the "{{w|Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America#First_flag:_the_.22Stars_and_Bars.22_.281861.E2.80.931863.29|Stars and Bars}}," a term used for the first flag of the {{w|Confederate States of America}}.

Flags are often minimalist and involve geometric shapes and solid colors. A notification bar at the top of the flag would clash with these design elements and look unprofessional. The flag in the comic is otherwise well-designed, conforming with a principle of heraldry and vexillology known as the {{w|rule of tincture}}: the "metals" consist of white/silver and yellow/gold, while the "colours" consist of red, blue, green, black, and purple; anything in the "metal" category should only be placed upon a background of the "colour" category and vice versa.

The elements of the flag's intended design—the colors red, white, and blue; the use of stripes; and the star emblems—are the same that are used in the American flag the {{w|Flag of the United States|Stars and Stripes}}.

The elements of this flag are, however, also present in several other existing flags, like those derived from {{w|Union Jack}}, the flag of the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and like the flags of {{w|Flag_of_Australia|Australia}} and {{w|Flag_of_New_Zealand|New Zealand}}. They are also in the flags of {{w|Flag of North Korea|North Korea}}, {{w|Flag_of_Liberia|Liberia}}, and {{w|Flag_of_Malaysia|Malaysia}}. The flags from USA, Australia, Liberia and Chile have [[commons:Category:Flags_with_white_stars|white stars]], and those of USA and Liberia have [[commons:Category:Flags_with_white_stripes|white bars]] as well.

===Theories===
The low battery status might imply that the country is low on resources. It thus seems like people have taken the reference to modern times smartphones to their hearts and actually wish to have this very modern design.

But if they indeed continue with this idea, thinking that their country would look better with a full battery charge, they might also consider changing the 3G connection to the {{w|4G|newer 4G}} version and giving the phone a full signal (5/5 instead of only 3/5 dots), and maybe also choose a time that would mean something rather than 5:48 PM. For instance noon/midnight, or 8:00.

The reason such a status bar could be missed in the first place could be that most people today look at pictures on their smartphones all the time, and thus their own phone's status bar is indirectly included at the top of all the pictures they see. People thus do not notice these status bars any longer as they are always there and clearly not important for the picture. Randall has mentioned before, in [[1373: Screenshot]], that he cannot take smartphone screenshots seriously if the battery of the device is low, as he cannot focus on the content, becoming afraid his own device is running out of power—a problem that only occurs if he sees it on his smartphone, as he then becomes concerned that it is his phone that is about to run out of charge. But in this status bar there is still 39%, enough not to cause immediate concern. His fear of losing his on-line connection like this was the joke in a the comic [[1802: Phone]] released about a month before this one.

Since Randall was asked to create this flag, it seems most likely that he would have to be a citizen of this new country. It could thus indicate that a group of states have broken free from the United States to form their own smaller union of three states, one for each star. With the current political situation in the states after {{w|Donald Trump|Donald Trump’s}} {{w|Inauguration of Donald Trump|inauguration}} there has been some talk about states leaving the USA, and Randall has clearly been against the election of Trump, see [[1756: I'm With Her]]. His choice of comic subjects seems to have been [[Sad_comics|affected]] by the election result. Since Randall lives in {{w|Massachusetts}}, it could be this and two other nearby states that have formed their own new union of states, maybe the other two small states {{w|Connecticut}} and {{w|Rhode Island}}.

==Transcript==
:[A two colored flag is shown. The left and rightmost parts of the flag are dark blue, and the center is red and each section has a large white star in its center. The colored parts are separated by thinner white vertical stripes. At the top of the flag, there is an off-white status bar like one found at the top of an iOS smart device. On the left it is displaying the strength of the connection (3/5 dots), in the center it is displaying the time and on the right there are three small icons the last is the battery charge:]
:3G
:5:48 PM
:39%

:[Below the panel there are two captions]
:The design committee fired me once they realized that my editing process involved a screenshot, but it was too late.
:Until they change it, our new country has the only national flag to include a phone notification bar.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

1593: Play-By-Play

2019-11-29T03:04:36Z

DoubleDenial: pretty sure he's talking about the people yelling at the guy being rude

{{comic
| number = 1593
| date = October 21, 2015
| title = Play-By-Play
| image = play_by_play.png
| titletext = The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]] comments on a {{w|baseball}} game using improper terminology in a way that demonstrates that he does not understand how the game is played. Moreover, his naïve way of speaking reveals that he is not aware of his lack of knowledge and does not consider it possible that, as is probably the case, his audience is much more familiar with this sport and its rules. His unworldly way of talking makes one even wonder if he has any notion of the way people experience sports at all. His choice of terminology is reminiscent of [[1133: Up Goer Five]], and [[1322: Winter]] in that he names things using simplified terms that he feels best describes their function like "{{w|Pitcher|thrower}}", "{{w|Baseball field#second base|second pillow}}" or "{{w|bullpen|thrower jail}}". His commentary is a combination of mistaken terms and misunderstandings of the rules and principles of the game.

{| class="wikitable"
!width="20%"|Spoken Text
!width="20%"| Corrected "Translation"
!width="60%"| Explanation
|-
|"We're on part 5 of a hitting game."
|"We're in the 5th [or "top of the 3rd"] inning of a baseball game."
|Part of baseball is hitting the ball with the {{w|Baseball bat|bat}}. A baseball game is divided into rounds called {{w|Inning|innings}}, with each team getting a chance to bat. Since Beret Guy does not know what an inning is, he may count each half-inning as a "part", seeing that all players return to their dugouts to switch equipment between half-innings.
|-
|"The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far."
|N/A (A professional commentator would not correlate bat size with hitting ability.)
|This is a simply a misunderstanding that the size of a bat will determine the strength of the hit. Every hitter uses a bat that fits his physique, {{w|Baseball_bat#Regulations|within certain limits in the rules}}. In general, the size of a bat is not a significant factor on the ball's distance. The limits in the rules generally prevent any sort of advantage gained by the size of the bat.
|-
|"Wait - he missed!" "Oh good, they're letting him try again."
|"Swing and a miss." "Here comes the 0-1."
|The goal in baseball for the fielding team is to get three outs to end the inning. One way to get an out is for the {{w|pitcher}} to get the batter to accumulate three strikes for a {{w|strikeout}}. A pitch that goes through the {{w|strike zone}} but is not swung at is counted as a strike, as is ''any'' ball that is swung at but missed. A foul ball (a ball hit into an out-of-play area) also counts as a strike unless it would be the third strike (except a {{w|foul tip}}, which can be the third strike). In this case, the batter swung at and missed the first pitch, and so has one strike but not a strikeout, so the hitter is allowed to "try again".
|-
|"The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them. Wow. Rude."
|"Despite heckling from fans in the {{w|bleacher}}s, this batter is keeping his head in the game."
|Cheering and heckling is so commonplace that the players on the field are unlikely to react to it.
|-
|"This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them."
|"This pitcher is good! He keeps striking out batters." OR "This pitcher keeps walking batters!" These could be mixed.
|Beret Guy may be indicating that the pitcher has struck out several batters. Batters who are out return to the {{w|Dugout (baseball)|dugout}} and the next batter replaces them. On the other hand, given Beret Guy's lack of baseball knowledge, it's possible that the pitcher has {{w|Walk (baseball)|walked}} batters which would result in the batters leaving the batter's box and going to first base. Beret Guy could be considering this "making people leave".
|-
|"It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in."
|"The fielders aren't seeing much action right now (due to the pitcher's performance)."
|The other players of the team do not pitch. Their role while fielding is to get outs if the ball is hit. If the pitcher is either striking out or walking batters, the fielders (other than the {{w|catcher}}) would not generally be involved in the play.
|-
|"That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!"
|"The runner has just stolen second base!"
|Any {{w|Baserunning|baserunner}} (a player standing at a {{w|Baseball field|base}}) can attempt to run to the next base before or while the pitcher delivers a pitch (called {{w|Stolen base|stealing a base}}). The pitcher or catcher can throw the ball to one of his teammates to {{w|tag out}} the runner before he reaches the next base. Thus, an attempt to steal a base is most successful if no one notices.

The "second pillow" implies that the runner in question stole second base, which is the {{w|Stolen base#Plays involving baserunning|most commonly stolen base}}. However, someone who knows little to nothing about baseball, such as Beret Guy in this case, may not be aware which bases are considered "first", "second", and "third", since the bases are not laid out linearly. The fact that there was a runner to steal a base suggests that one of the batters was indeed walked (or got a hit that was not mentioned, among other ways to reach base).
|-
|"Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that. Yikes. Hopefully they can fix that once the game is over."
|N/A (A professional commentator would not remark on the legality of the play.)
|A stolen base by the visiting team may be met with anger from the fans. A stolen base by either team may cause the other team to be angry. Beret Guy, not knowing the rules of baseball, seems to find it odd that the runner is allowed to steal a base and seems surprised that there is no rule against it. He suggests it's a loophole that hopefully the league will fix once they've learned of the stolen base. In reality, the players, fans and game officials would be well aware of the legality of stealing a base. Beret Guy's phrasing may be a reference to [[1552: Rulebook]].
|-
|Title text: "The thrower started hitting the bats too much, so the king of the game told him to leave and brought out another thrower from thrower jail."
|"The batters were getting too many hits, so the manager took the pitcher out of the game and called in a reliever from the bullpen."
|If the batters are getting too many hits, it may mean that the pitcher has become tired and less effective or that the batters are learning the pitcher's habits or rhythms. Once this happens, the team's manager will typically replace the pitcher with a {{w|relief pitcher}} who will come out of the {{w|Bullpen|bullpen}} (the generally enclosed area next to the playing field where relief pitchers warm up) to join the game. Beret Guy may be mistaking the manager of one team as in charge of the entire game with his term "King of the Game".
|}

==Transcript==
:[Beret guy is sitting with headphones with a microphone on, looking out of the frame, hands resting on a table.]
:Beret Guy: For those just joining us, hi! We're on part 5 of a hitting game.

:[Zoom out with Beret guy shown from the side sitting at a desk.]
:Beret Guy: The next guy has a big bat, so he'll probably hit the ball real far.
:Beret Guy: Wait - he missed!
:Beret Guy: Oh good, they're letting him try again.

:[Zoom in again on Beret Guy still seen from the side.]
:Beret Guy: The people sitting on the chair shelves are yelling at this guy but he's ignoring them. Wow.
:Beret Guy: Rude.

:[Beret guy looks straight out.]
:Beret Guy: This thrower is good! He keeps making people leave by throwing balls at them.
:Beret Guy: It's just him, though. None of his teammates are joining in.

:[Beret guy turns his head to the side.]
:Beret Guy: ''That guy just ran to the second pillow when no one was looking!!''
:Beret Guy: Everyone's real mad but I guess they checked the rules and there's nothing that says he can't do that.
:Beret Guy: Yikes. Hopefully they can fix that once this game is over.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Baseball]]

Syndication

2019-11-17T01:58:53Z

DoubleDenial: extra comics category

{{comic
| date = April 1, 2007
| title = Syndication
| image = syndication.jpg
| ldomain = imgs
| lappend = comics/xkcd_ufs.jpg
| titletext = Complaints should be directed to the xkcd writing staff.
| before = Now that xkcd is carried by United Features Syndicate, there are going to be a few changes to the comic. Obviously, with the rights signed over, it will no longer be published under Creative Commons, and all previous strips will be retroactively un-CC'd and relicensed under UFS terms. All online content will be protected via proprietary DRM. I also recieved a letter outlining topics and content that would be off-limits in the new xkcd. Prohibited content includes:

- Cultural references that would be lost on the average newspaper reader

- Mathematics above the high-school level

- Obscure scientific subjects

- Overt sexual material

- Objectionable words such as fuck, shit, cunt, ass, tits, cock, scrotum, bitch, Belgium, pussy, or twat

- Same-sex relationships

- Star Wars

- Star Trek (Original Series and Enterprise)

- The home phone numbers of White House employees

- Bacon-based currencies

- Erotic use of flywheels

- ExposÃ©s regarding other United Features syndicated characters

- ExposÃ©s regarding the personal lives of United Features Syndicate executives, specifically including CEO Kenneth Lowe

- Teledildonics

- Portrayals of Johnny Cash as an Amway distributor

- Any story that ends with "and that's how my penis got the nickname 'grappling hook'."

- Computer-computer cybersex

- Swordfights between white people

- Bitch & Animal

- Sexualization of Mt. Rushmore

- Staplers as mÃ©lÃ©e weapons

- Road trip buddy comedies starring Tank Girl and William Howard Taft

- Eric S. Raymond performing in Cirque du Soleil

- Hats with buckles

- Licking of nipples atop a moving train

The internet is the past. Newspapers are the future! See you in the funny papers.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Someone else write the explanation, I don't feel like it.}}

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball and his Cueball-like friend are standing in some sort of grassy area.]
:Cueball: Why did the computer cross the road?
:Friend: I don't know.

:Cueball: I don't know either! Computers are so complicated!
:Friend: LOL!

:Editor's note: "LOL" is an online acronym for "laughing out loud." It alerts you to something funny, so keep an eye out!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics_with_color]]
[[Category:Extra_comics]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

Syndication

2019-11-17T01:57:40Z

DoubleDenial: created

{{comic
| date = April 1, 2007
| title = Syndication
| image = syndication.jpg
| ldomain = imgs
| lappend = comics/xkcd_ufs.jpg
| titletext = Complaints should be directed to the xkcd writing staff.
| before = Now that xkcd is carried by United Features Syndicate, there are going to be a few changes to the comic. Obviously, with the rights signed over, it will no longer be published under Creative Commons, and all previous strips will be retroactively un-CC'd and relicensed under UFS terms. All online content will be protected via proprietary DRM. I also recieved a letter outlining topics and content that would be off-limits in the new xkcd. Prohibited content includes:

- Cultural references that would be lost on the average newspaper reader

- Mathematics above the high-school level

- Obscure scientific subjects

- Overt sexual material

- Objectionable words such as fuck, shit, cunt, ass, tits, cock, scrotum, bitch, Belgium, pussy, or twat

- Same-sex relationships

- Star Wars

- Star Trek (Original Series and Enterprise)

- The home phone numbers of White House employees

- Bacon-based currencies

- Erotic use of flywheels

- ExposÃ©s regarding other United Features syndicated characters

- ExposÃ©s regarding the personal lives of United Features Syndicate executives, specifically including CEO Kenneth Lowe

- Teledildonics

- Portrayals of Johnny Cash as an Amway distributor

- Any story that ends with "and that's how my penis got the nickname 'grappling hook'."

- Computer-computer cybersex

- Swordfights between white people

- Bitch & Animal

- Sexualization of Mt. Rushmore

- Staplers as mÃ©lÃ©e weapons

- Road trip buddy comedies starring Tank Girl and William Howard Taft

- Eric S. Raymond performing in Cirque du Soleil

- Hats with buckles

- Licking of nipples atop a moving train

The internet is the past. Newspapers are the future! See you in the funny papers.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Someone else write the explanation, I don't feel like it.}}

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball and his Cueball-like friend are standing in some sort of grassy area.]
:Cueball: Why did the computer cross the road?
:Friend: I don't know.

:Cueball: I don't know either! Computers are so complicated!
:Friend: LOL!

:Editor's note: "LOL" is an online acronym for "laughing out loud." It alerts you to something funny, so keep an eye out!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics_with_color]]

File:syndication.jpg

2019-11-17T01:43:39Z

DoubleDenial:

2229: Rey and Kylo

2019-11-17T01:34:33Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ star and wars are the same number of letters long

{{comic
| number = 2229
| date = November 15, 2019
| title = Rey and Kylo
| image = rey_and_kylo.png
| titletext = We're like 10+ movies in and the focus has been almost entirely on the WARS half.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by R2D2. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Rey (Star Wars)|Rey}} and {{w|Kylo Ren}}, from the {{w|Star Wars sequel trilogy|latest trilogy}} of the ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' series, are engaging in a {{w|lightsaber}} duel. Rey tells Kylo that they should not fight, but work together on {{w|cosmology}}, the study of the origins of the universe. Specifically she wants to study the expansion rate of the universe; scientists believe that the universe is expanding, and that the expansion rate is accelerating, but aren't sure of the exact rate, what the rate was in the past, or if it varies depending on location. Since the ''Star Wars'' movies take place "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", if Rey and Kylo presented their findings in the movie, it would theoretically give scientists more data points, although it is unlikely that modern scientists would use data from a movie generally considered fictional{{Citation needed}}.

The caption, besides explaining the obvious nerd cred this turn of events would earn if it actually occurred in the movies, is also a play on the accusations of pandering to progressives that were made by some against ''{{w|Star Wars: The Force Awakens|The Force Awakens}}'', citing its racially diverse cast and powerful—arguably overpowered—female protagonist.

The title text is [[Randall]]'s complaint that the ''Star Wars'' movies have been more focused on the Wars aspect than the Star aspect. It seems he would want a film about stars. It's worth noting that, without the space, Star and Wars are the same number of letters long, and are therefore perfect halves of the title.

[[:Category:Star Wars|Star Wars]] is a recurring topic on xkcd.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Rey and Kylo Ren from the ''Star Wars'' series engaging in a lightsaber duel]

:Rey: Kylo, we shouldn't fight! Let's set aside our differences and work ''together'' to measure the local properties of space, just in case someone in the far future is watching from another galaxy and wants our help to constrain the expansion rate!

:[Caption below comic]
:The new Star Wars totally panders to cosmologists.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Star Wars]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]

1267: Mess

2019-11-13T01:57:01Z

DoubleDenial: trivia

{{comic
| number = 1267
| date = September 20, 2013
| title = Mess
| image = mess.png
| titletext = 'Sorry, I left out my glass of water from last night.' OH GOD I APPARENTLY LIVE IN A GARBAGE PIT.
}}

==Explanation==
There is a common psychological phenomenon which causes people to mentally magnify their own flaws, while failing to notice the flaws of others, so common it apparently doesn't have a specific scientific categorization. Many self-conscious people apologize for "the mess" in their home whenever they have guests over, no matter how clean it may actually be. If the house is neater than the guest's own home, the guest is likely to say to themself: "If she thinks ''this'' is messy, what would she think of my place?!"

This phenomenon is shown in the comic when Cueball's friend apologizes for the mess, despite the only thing appearing out of order is what seems to be a crumpled article of clothing on the floor. This "mess" only amplifies Cueball's fears about his own lifestyle, as he is surely wondering what his friend might think of his messy lifestyle based on their much higher standards.

In the title text, Cueball's anxiety in further amplified when the host left out a glass of water from the night before and apologies for it. Cueball is nervous because when this seemingly small oversight, when applied to his friend's very high standards, might seem like a huge problem, and in his mind, making his home akin to something he thinks is no better than a garbage pit.

In [[1565: Back Seat]] the exact opposite reaction to having to show other people a real messy place is used for the joke.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and his Cueball-like friend walk into the friend's bedroom. The friend walks ahead while Cueball stand behind at the door. There's a made bed, a picture on the wall with a river and a sun at the horizon, some curtains around the window, a rug, and one unidentifiable item lying on the floor.]
:Friend: Sorry it's such a disaster in here.
:Cueball thinking: Whoa— what's ''wrong'' with me?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My room never looks as nice as the rooms other people apologize for.

==Trivia==
The painting in Cueball's friend's room strongly resembles the painting in [[1159: Countdown]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

95: The Sierpinski Penis Game

2019-11-08T01:56:25Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ another correction lol

{{comic
| number = 95
| date = April 28, 2006
| title = The Sierpinski Penis Game
| image = the_sierpinski_penis_game.jpg
| titletext = Inappropriate places for the Penis Game include baby showers and terrorist attacks.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Chaos game|The Chaos Game}} is a method of generating a fractal by repeatedly applying randomly-chosen {{w|Transformation_(function)|transformation functions}} to a point and plotting the position of the new point each time. The transformation functions are randomly chosen from a small, predefined list. The surprising result of this is that, even though the functions are picked randomly, a distinctly non-random fractal image emerges. The exact nature of this image depends on the list of transformation functions used.

One such fractal that can be produced by the Chaos Game is the {{w|Sierpinski Triangle}}, which is the fractal pictured in this comic. See details in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKtFN71Lfs this video].

The Penis Game, on the other hand, is a childish activity where people (usually schoolchildren) compete to shout "Penis!" increasingly loudly in the presence of an authority figure (usually a teacher) without getting in trouble.

The two games could be said to be similar in that they both involve iterations of transformations; in the Chaos Game, a point's position is transformed (moving it closer and closer to the attractor set of the transformations); in the Penis game, the volume of the phrase "Penis!" is transformed (becoming louder and louder). The difference is that the Chaos Game works by {{w|negative feedback}} (eventually settling down into a well-defined image) whereas the Penis Game involves {{w|positive feedback}} (at some point, the cry of "Penis!" will become loud enough that the culprit will get in trouble and the game will end). Nonetheless, they could be vaguely considered inverses of each other, and Randall appears to be conflating the two in this comic.

The title text mentions two inappropriate places to play the Penis Game. A baby shower is supposed to be a celebration of childbirth or pregnancy, so it would be an inappropriate place for such crude humor. A terrorist attack is typically a time in which lives are lost, so it would be very immature to play such a crude game. The title text may also be calling attention to the fact that a mathematical object such as a fractal is also an inappropriate place in which to be playing the Penis Game.

==Transcript==
:[A large triangle, point down, is shown, with many smaller triangles inside all pointing up. There is one large triangle in the middle, with 3 medium triangles on either side, with three triangles on either of their sides as well for a total of 9. This trend then continues three more times with 27 around the nine, and 81 around those and finally there was supposed to be 243 (3x81) very small filling out all the space outside the larger triangles, but staying inside the original triangle. But there seem to be missing three of these near the top. Two of those are on either side of the first (top left) of the nine triangles of size 3 as well as one to the left of the top of the top right second largest triangle. But there are also one extra triangle just below the P in the bottom triangle with a sentence. That would have been the first of the next level of 3*243=729 triangles in level 7. But it is the only one. So 240 small triangles plus 1 even tinier for a total of 362 inside the largest framing triangle).]

:[There is a word inside the largest of the triangles and a sentence in the largest triangle below that triangle.]
:Penis!
:Haha, penis.

==Trivia==
*Inside the large outer triangle with tip pointing down, there are 362 triangles all with tip pointing up.
**One triangle is larger than the other, the Level 1 triangle.
***Around this there are 3 Level 2 triangles, one on either side of Level 1.
****Around these 3 there are 3 for a total of 9 Level 3 triangles
*****Around those there are 3 for a total of 27 Level 4 triangles
******Around those there are 3 for a total of 81 Level 5 triangles
*******And around those there was supposed to be 3 around each for a total of 243 Level 6 triangles.
*******However three of these smallest triangles are missing, leaving only 240. See details in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
********A single Level 7 triangle has also been added out of the possible 729. See details in the transcript.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Penis]]

95: The Sierpinski Penis Game

2019-11-08T01:55:50Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ capitalization fix

{{comic
| number = 95
| date = April 28, 2006
| title = The Sierpinski Penis Game
| image = the_sierpinski_penis_game.jpg
| titletext = Inappropriate places for the Penis Game include baby showers and terrorist attacks.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Chaos game|The Chaos Game}} is a method of generating a fractal by repeatedly applying randomly-chosen {{w|Transformation_(function)|transformation functions}} to a point and plotting the position of the new point each time. The transformation functions are randomly chosen from a small, predefined list. The surprising result of this is that, even though the functions are picked randomly, a distinctly non-random fractal image emerges. The exact nature of this image depends on the list of transformation functions used.

One such fractal that can be produced by the Chaos Game is the {{w|Sierpinski Triangle}}, which is the fractal pictured in this comic. See details in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKtFN71Lfs this video].

The Penis Game, on the other hand, is a childish activity where people (usually schoolchildren) compete to shout "Penis!" increasingly loudly in the presence of an authority figure (usually a teacher) without getting in trouble.

The two games could be said to be similar in that they both involve iterations of transformations; in the Chaos Game, a point's position is transformed (moving it closer and closer to the attractor set of the transformations); in the Penis game, the volume of the phrase "Penis!" is transformed (becoming louder and louder). The difference is that the Chaos Game works by {{w|negative feedback}} (eventually settling down into a well-defined image) whereas the Penis Game involves {{w|positive feedback}} (at some point, the cry of "Penis!" will become loud enough that the culprit will get in trouble and the game will end). Nonetheless, they could be vaguely considered inverses of each other, and Randall appears to be conflating the two in this comic.

The title text mentions two inappropriate places to play the Penis Game. A baby shower is supposed to be a celebration of child birth or pregnancy, so it would be an inappropriate place for such crude humor. A terrorist attack is typically a time in which lives are lost, so it would be very immature to play such a crude game. The title text may also be calling attention to the fact that a mathematical object such as a fractal is also an inappropriate place in which to be playing the Penis Game.

==Transcript==
:[A large triangle, point down, is shown, with many smaller triangles inside all pointing up. There is one large triangle in the middle, with 3 medium triangles on either side, with three triangles on either of their sides as well for a total of 9. This trend then continues three more times with 27 around the nine, and 81 around those and finally there was supposed to be 243 (3x81) very small filling out all the space outside the larger triangles, but staying inside the original triangle. But there seem to be missing three of these near the top. Two of those are on either side of the first (top left) of the nine triangles of size 3 as well as one to the left of the top of the top right second largest triangle. But there are also one extra triangle just below the P in the bottom triangle with a sentence. That would have been the first of the next level of 3*243=729 triangles in level 7. But it is the only one. So 240 small triangles plus 1 even tinier for a total of 362 inside the largest framing triangle).]

:[There is a word inside the largest of the triangles and a sentence in the largest triangle below that triangle.]
:Penis!
:Haha, penis.

==Trivia==
*Inside the large outer triangle with tip pointing down, there are 362 triangles all with tip pointing up.
**One triangle is larger than the other, the Level 1 triangle.
***Around this there are 3 Level 2 triangles, one on either side of Level 1.
****Around these 3 there are 3 for a total of 9 Level 3 triangles
*****Around those there are 3 for a total of 27 Level 4 triangles
******Around those there are 3 for a total of 81 Level 5 triangles
*******And around those there was supposed to be 3 around each for a total of 243 Level 6 triangles.
*******However three of these smallest triangles are missing, leaving only 240. See details in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
********A single Level 7 triangle has also been added out of the possible 729. See details in the transcript.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Penis]]

95: The Sierpinski Penis Game

2019-11-08T01:55:21Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ Hopefully this completes the explanation

{{comic
| number = 95
| date = April 28, 2006
| title = The Sierpinski Penis Game
| image = the_sierpinski_penis_game.jpg
| titletext = Inappropriate places for the Penis Game include baby showers and terrorist attacks.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Chaos game|The Chaos Game}} is a method of generating a fractal by repeatedly applying randomly-chosen {{w|Transformation_(function)|transformation functions}} to a point and plotting the position of the new point each time. The transformation functions are randomly chosen from a small, predefined list. The surprising result of this is that, even though the functions are picked randomly, a distinctly non-random fractal image emerges. The exact nature of this image depends on the list of transformation functions used.

One such fractal that can be produced by the Chaos Game is the {{w|Sierpinski Triangle}}, which is the fractal pictured in this comic. See details in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKtFN71Lfs this video].

The Penis Game, on the other hand, is a childish activity where people (usually schoolchildren) compete to shout "Penis!" increasingly loudly in the presence of an authority figure (usually a teacher) without getting in trouble.

The two games could be said to be similar in that they both involve iterations of transformations; in the Chaos Game, a point's position is transformed (moving it closer and closer to the attractor set of the transformations); in the Penis game, the volume of the phrase "Penis!" is transformed (becoming louder and louder). The difference is that the Chaos Game works by {{w|negative feedback}} (eventually settling down into a well-defined image) whereas the Penis Game involves {{w|positive feedback}} (at some point, the cry of "Penis!" will become loud enough that the culprit will get in trouble and the game will end). Nonetheless, they could be vaguely considered inverses of each other, and Randall appears to be conflating the two in this comic.

The title text mentions two inappropriate places to play the penis game. A baby shower is supposed to be a celebration of child birth or pregnancy, so it would be an inappropriate place for such crude humor. A terrorist attack is typically a time in which lives are lost, so it would be very immature to play such a crude game. The title text may also be calling attention to the fact that a mathematical object such as a fractal is also an inappropriate place in which to be playing the Penis Game.

==Transcript==
:[A large triangle, point down, is shown, with many smaller triangles inside all pointing up. There is one large triangle in the middle, with 3 medium triangles on either side, with three triangles on either of their sides as well for a total of 9. This trend then continues three more times with 27 around the nine, and 81 around those and finally there was supposed to be 243 (3x81) very small filling out all the space outside the larger triangles, but staying inside the original triangle. But there seem to be missing three of these near the top. Two of those are on either side of the first (top left) of the nine triangles of size 3 as well as one to the left of the top of the top right second largest triangle. But there are also one extra triangle just below the P in the bottom triangle with a sentence. That would have been the first of the next level of 3*243=729 triangles in level 7. But it is the only one. So 240 small triangles plus 1 even tinier for a total of 362 inside the largest framing triangle).]

:[There is a word inside the largest of the triangles and a sentence in the largest triangle below that triangle.]
:Penis!
:Haha, penis.

==Trivia==
*Inside the large outer triangle with tip pointing down, there are 362 triangles all with tip pointing up.
**One triangle is larger than the other, the Level 1 triangle.
***Around this there are 3 Level 2 triangles, one on either side of Level 1.
****Around these 3 there are 3 for a total of 9 Level 3 triangles
*****Around those there are 3 for a total of 27 Level 4 triangles
******Around those there are 3 for a total of 81 Level 5 triangles
*******And around those there was supposed to be 3 around each for a total of 243 Level 6 triangles.
*******However three of these smallest triangles are missing, leaving only 240. See details in the [[#Transcript|transcript]].
********A single Level 7 triangle has also been added out of the possible 729. See details in the transcript.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Penis]]

102: Back to the Future

2019-11-02T20:00:02Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ forgot to add this

{{comic
| number = 102
| date = May 15, 2006
| title = Back to the Future
| image = back_to_the_future.jpg
| titletext = He's kind of an asshole, when you think about it.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' film series (specifically the first film) in which the protagonist, {{w|Marty McFly}} (played by {{w|Michael J. Fox}}), travels back from 1985 (present day for him) to 1955 and accidentally interferes with his own parents' first meeting. He must then arrange for them to fall in love before he ceases to exist due to the paradox of his own parents never having children. An unintended side-effect of the way events occur is that his dad gains self-confidence in the past and becomes "less of a loser" in the present.

As noted in the comic, the time machine Marty uses is built by his professor friend, Doctor Emmett L. Brown ({{w|Christopher Lloyd}}), out of a {{w|DeLorean DMC-12}} (a 1980s-era sports car).

[[Hairy]] ([[Cueball]] in the last two panels, as the art is inconsistent in this early comic, and his hair is removed in the last two panels) has had a very similar experience. He suggests that the aforementioned changes to history are what he really needed to do. After a frame of awkward silence, [[Megan]] reminds him that her father was in the {{w|World Trade Center}} North Tower – implying that he died along with several thousand others in 1 World Trade Center on {{w|September 11, 2001}} at the time the tower collapsed due to a terrorist-flown passenger jet crashing into the building. Megan is therefore implying that saving her father's life (and perhaps the lives of the other 9/11 victims, or even preventing other disasters in history, such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, or the holocaust) might have been something else of importance he "needed" to do — perhaps something of significantly more importance than just helping his father. He seems completely oblivious to what she is trying to suggest. Megan starts to explain, but apparently decides that there's no point even trying to get through to him.

The title text is someone (presumably Hairy/Cueball) trying to justify the choice, by saying that her dad was "kind of an asshole". It can also be seen as the title text calling Hairy/Cueball an asshole for not rescuing Megan's father.

As a side note, for the comic to make sense, the events in the comic must take place after {{w|September 11, 2001}}, and not 1985 as it is in the movie. Since no dates are mentioned, Hairy/Cueball probably went back by thirty years, because that's how far back Marty travels in the film.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Hairy are standing, talking to one another.]
:Hairy: This weekend, my professor friend built a time machine out of a DeLorean and I went back in time! I helped make sure my parents got together and helped my dad to be less of a loser.

:Megan: Wow! Do you still have the time machine?
:Hairy: Nah. But I did what I really needed to do.
:Megan: Uh huh.

:[Beat panel. Hairy's hair isn't drawn in this panel or the next one, making him a Cueball]

:Megan: Okay, you remember that my father was in the WTC North Tower, right?
:Cueball: Yeah...why?
:Megan: I...nothing.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Back to the Future]]

102: Back to the Future

2019-11-02T19:58:42Z

DoubleDenial: i don't think that the original title text explanation was correct. also i fixed up some of the hairy/cueball stuff by making it dependent on the panel being referred to

{{comic
| number = 102
| date = May 15, 2006
| title = Back to the Future
| image = back_to_the_future.jpg
| titletext = He's kind of an asshole, when you think about it.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a reference to the ''{{w|Back to the Future}}'' film series (specifically the first film) in which the protagonist, {{w|Marty McFly}} (played by {{w|Michael J. Fox}}), travels back from 1985 (present day for him) to 1955 and accidentally interferes with his own parents' first meeting. He must then arrange for them to fall in love before he ceases to exist due to the paradox of his own parents never having children. An unintended side-effect of the way events occur is that his dad gains self-confidence in the past and becomes "less of a loser" in the present.

As noted in the comic, the time machine Marty uses is built by his professor friend, Doctor Emmett L. Brown ({{w|Christopher Lloyd}}), out of a {{w|DeLorean DMC-12}} (a 1980s-era sports car).

[[Hairy]] ([[Cueball]] in the last two panels, as the art is inconsistent in this early comic, and his hair is removed in the last two panels) has had a very similar experience. He suggests that the aforementioned changes to history are what he really needed to do. After a frame of awkward silence, [[Megan]] reminds him that her father was in the {{w|World Trade Center}} North Tower – implying that he died along with several thousand others in 1 World Trade Center on {{w|September 11, 2001}} at the time the tower collapsed due to a terrorist-flown passenger jet crashing into the building. Megan is therefore implying that saving her father's life (and perhaps the lives of the other 9/11 victims, or even preventing other disasters in history, such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, or the holocaust) might have been something else of importance he "needed" to do — perhaps something of significantly more importance than just helping his father. He seems completely oblivious to what she is trying to suggest. Megan starts to explain, but apparently decides that there's no point even trying to get through to him.

The title text is someone (presumably Hairy/Cueball) trying to justify the choice, by saying that her dad was "kind of an asshole".

As a side note, for the comic to make sense, the events in the comic must take place after {{w|September 11, 2001}}, and not 1985 as it is in the movie. Since no dates are mentioned, Hairy/Cueball probably went back by thirty years, because that's how far back Marty travels in the film.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Hairy are standing, talking to one another.]
:Hairy: This weekend, my professor friend built a time machine out of a DeLorean and I went back in time! I helped make sure my parents got together and helped my dad to be less of a loser.

:Megan: Wow! Do you still have the time machine?
:Hairy: Nah. But I did what I really needed to do.
:Megan: Uh huh.

:[Beat panel. Hairy's hair isn't drawn in this panel or the next one, making him a Cueball]

:Megan: Okay, you remember that my father was in the WTC North Tower, right?
:Cueball: Yeah...why?
:Megan: I...nothing.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Back to the Future]]

2223: Screen Time

2019-11-02T19:36:58Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ typo fix

{{comic
| number = 2223
| date = November 1, 2019
| title = Screen Time
| image = screen_time.png
| titletext = These new Bluetooth socks are great, but it's troubling to learn that I average almost 14 hours of Shoe Time a day.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BLUETOOTH-ENABLED SOCK. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Today, people spend much of their time looking at the screens of their phones, tablets, computers, and other devices. This has caused controversy, with many people arguing this leads to addiction, other health risks, or simply people not talking to each other. There are apps available to help manage the time people spend on their devices. But this comic parodies these apps, suggesting that the problem is so bad, that it would be easier to track the time NOT spent on these devices. Of course, the irony is that you have to look at the screen and/or pay attention to your device in order to use that app, so it's yet another app designed to keep your attention on your device.

Like many screen time apps, this comic compares this week's non-screen time to the previous week, saying that the user has increased 6%. Many screen time apps also do this, where a negative percentage is desirable. A possible benefit of this app is that positive is desirable, which could be considered more intuitive.

The title text takes the idea of a screen time app to the next level, describing a "shoe time" app for how much time people spend using their shoes. It's unclear what the practical use is for such an app, as there is little controversy about the prevalence of shoes in our society.{{Citation needed}} Possibly the point is that use of phones have become so constant in our lives that using them for many hours a day is as unremarkable as using shoes for many hours a day. Perhaps since it's the socks that are bluetooth-enabled, they are reporting negatively about almost constant obstruction by shoes, whereas the socks would prefer to report a much lower "Shoe Time" score. Some cultures have the custom of taking shoes off when in the house, so those people would boast lower (and presumably more favorable) "Shoe Time" scores. It may also be a reference to the "Shoe Phone" on the television show "Get Smart". (If Maxwell Smart wore these socks, they could track his phone usage, because his phone was in his shoe.)

If Cueball's non-screen time went up by six percent from last time, then his previous time was about two hours and thirty-eight minutes.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball holding phone.]
:Phone: Screen time report: 
:Phone: While awake, you averaged 2H 48M per day looking at things other than your phone. That's up 6% from last week! 
:[Caption below the panel]
: At some point, it starts making more sense to track '''''non'''''-screen time.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

2223: Screen Time

2019-11-02T00:19:42Z

DoubleDenial: fixed typo

{{comic
| number = 2223
| date = November 1, 2019
| title = Screen Time
| image = screen_time.png
| titletext = These new Bluetooth socks are great, but it's troubling to learn that I average almost 14 hours of Shoe Time a day.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BLUETOOTH-ENABLED SOCK. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Today, people spend much of their time looking at the screens of their phones, tablets, computers, and other devices. This has caused controversy, with many people arguing this leads to addiction, other health risks, or simply people not talking to each other. There are apps available to help manage the time people spend on their devices. But this comic parodies these apps, suggesting that the problem is so bad, that it would be easier to track the time NOT spent on these devices. Of course, the irony is that you have to look at the screen and/or pay attention to your device in order to use that app, so it's yet another app designed to keep your attention on your device.

Like many screen time apps, this comic compares this week's non-screen time to the previous week, saying that the user has increased 6%. Many screen time apps also do this, where a negative percentage is desirable. A possible benefit of this app is that positive is desirable, which could be considered more intuitive.

The title text takes the idea of a screen time app to the next level, describing a "shoe time" app for how much time people spend using their shoes. It's unclear what the practical use is for such an app, as there is little controversy about the prevalence of shoes in our society.{{Citation needed}} Possibly the point is that use of phones have become so constant in our lives that using them for many hours a day is as unremarkable as using shoes for many hours a day. Perhaps since it's the socks that are bluetooth-enabled, they are reporting negatively about almost constant obstruction by shoes, whereas the socks would prefer to report a much lower "Shoe Time" score. Some cultures have the custom of taking shoes off when in the house, so those people would boast lower (and presumably more favorable) "Shoe Time" scores.

If Cueball's screen time went up by six percent from last time, then his previous time was about two hours and thirty-eight minutes.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball holding phone.] 
:Phone: Screen time report: 
:Phone: While awake, you averaged 2H 48M per day looking at things other than your phone. That's up 6% from last week! 
:[Caption]: At some point, it starts making more sense to track '''''non'''''-screen time.
{{comic discussion}}

2223: Screen Time

2019-11-02T00:14:48Z

DoubleDenial: /* Explanation */ calculation

{{comic
| number = 2223
| date = November 1, 2019
| title = Screen Time
| image = screen_time.png
| titletext = These new Bluetooth socks are great, but it's troubling to learn that I average almost 14 hours of Shoe Time a day.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BLUETOOTH-ENABLED SOCK. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Today, people spend much of their time looking at the screens of their phones, tablets, computers, and other devices. This has caused controversy, with many people arguing this leads to addiction, other health risks, or simply people not talking to each other. There are apps available to help manage the time people spend on their devices. But this comic parodies these apps, suggesting that the problem is so bad, that it would be easier to track the time NOT spent on these devices. Of course, the irony is that you have to look at the screen and/or pay attention to your device in order to use that app, so it's yet another app designed to keep your attention on your device.

Like many screen time apps, this comic compares this week's non-screen time to the previous week, saying that the user has increased 6%. Many screen time apps also do this, where a negative percentage is desirable. A possible benefit of this app is that positive is desirable, which could be considered more intuitive.

The title text takes the idea of a screen time app to the next level, describing a "shoe time" app for how much time people spend using their shoes. It's unclear what the practical use is for such an app, as there is little controversy about the prevalence of shoes in our society.{{Citation needed}} Possibly the point is that use of phones have become so constant in our lives that using them for many hours a day is as unremarkable as using shoes for many hours a day. Perhaps since it's the socks that are bluetooth-enabled, they are reporting negatively about almost constant obstruction by shoes, whereas the socks would prefer to report a much lower "Shoe Time" score. Some cultures have the custom of taking shoes off when in the house, so those people would boast lower (and presumably more favorable) "Shoe Time" scores.

If Cueball's screen time went up by six percent from last time, then his previous time was about two hours and thirty-eight seconds.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball holding phone.] 
:Phone: Screen time report: 
:Phone: While awake, you averaged 2H 48M per day looking at things other than your phone. That's up 6% from last week! 
:[Caption]: At some point, it starts making more sense to track '''''non'''''-screen time.
{{comic discussion}}