explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:453: Upcoming Hurricanes

2017-04-02T10:15:30Z

Effy:

I wonder, is there a reason why Randall chose cos(x) over sin(x)? Is there a y-axis somewhere on the map? Not that it matters; just curious... [[User:Bobidou23|Bobidou23]] ([[User talk:Bobidou23|talk]]) 23:24, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
:''cos(x)'', ''sin(x)'', they're the same thing, plus or minus pi/4... -- [[User:IronyChef|IronyChef]] ([[User talk:IronyChef|talk]]) 02:57, 23 September 2012 (UTC)
Something seems off about this explanation. Like reading a blog. [[Special:Contributions/76.122.5.96|76.122.5.96]] 05:14, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

:If something is less than satisfactory, you are fully welcome (and even encouraged) to edit the explanation to be better. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]] ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:37, 28 October 2012 (UTC)

Whoever said hurricanes cannot form within 5 degrees of the equator was wrong... It is not likely but it is possible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Agni http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Vamei [[Special:Contributions/152.2.128.198|152.2.128.198]] 14:36, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

This title-text seems strangely prophetic after Tropical Storm Sandy in 2012. {{unsigned|107.204.46.198}}
:Yes, I agree. [[User:David1217|David1217]] ([[User talk:David1217|talk]]) 17:18, 19 January 2013 (UTC)
::There is more to win from predicting something that is going to happen than there is to lose from predicting something that doesn't happen. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 19:30, 1 December 2013 (UTC)

Has anyone any idea what the "&" symbol is about in Hurricane Where-The-Hell-Is-Bermuda? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.215|141.101.97.215]] 12:32, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

Regarding Hurricane cos(x):
*If {{w|Equator}} is the x-axis and the y-axis goes through the {{w|Prime meridian}} of {{w|Prime meridian (Greenwich)|Greenwich}} it would be possible to say if this was a true cosine function hurricane.
*A cosine would be 1 (the maximum value) at x=0 (i.e. the maximum value would occur under {{w|Greenwich}}), whereas a sine would be 0 at x=0.
*If it had been a basic cos(x) without any constants added, then it should have been centered along the equator instead of as it is - ranging from about 5.5° to 9.5° north {{w|latitude}}.
*But if the formula was of the form a*cos(b*x)+c with a, b and c given constant, the wave could move to the center of this range with c=7.5°. With the constant a=2° the wave would move between the max and minimum of the range, and then b could be chosen to make the wave length fit with the path shown in the map.

--{{unsigned|Kynde}}

:There is no reason to assume the axes are on the meridian and equator. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 02:41, 7 September 2014 (UTC)

The details for Hurricane cos(x) mentions a trivia section, which is not present in this article. [[User:SuperSupermario24|Just some random derp]] 17:41, 21 June 2015 (UTC)
:I was about to post the same comment but then I decided to read these first. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.158|108.162.237.158]] 07:52, 25 June 2015 (UTC)

Is it just me or is long island missing from the map?? --[[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 10:15, 2 April 2017 (UTC)

1808: Hacking

2017-03-08T06:37:55Z

Effy: I think it should say "page scraping bots" not "scrapping," right?

{{comic
| number = 1808
| date = March 8, 2017
| title = Hacking
| image = hacking.png
| titletext = The dump also contains a list of millions of prime factors, a 0-day Tamagotchi exploit, and a technique for getting gcc and bash to execute arbitrary code.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Add explanation for gcc and bash}}
While publishing email addresses on websites, people often add space between parts of the email. For example, john.doe@example.org may be written as john dot doe at example dot org. This is to prevent the page scraping bots from harvesting email addresses, which may in turn be sold as address lists for email marketers.

In this comic, [[Ponytail]] tells [[Cueball]] that there is a tool which can delete such spaces. Such a tool can fix the space and most likely convert the words "dot" and "at" into their respective symbols. This will overcome the problems faced by such harvesting tools, and make these email addresses more prone to receive spam. Cueball is shocked to hear this news.

This comic is referencing a leak by {{w|WikiLeaks}} that compromises thousands of hacking exploits and programs from the CIA on 2017-03-07.

The title text references more interesting parts of the dump, such as millions of prime factors - which can be used to break a {{w|RSA (cryptosystem)|RSA cipher}}, a 0-day exploit for {{w|Tamagotchi|Tamagotchis}} - which is mostly useless because Tamagotchis aren't connected to the Internet, and a way to get gcc and bash (two command line tools) to execute code - a function those tools are designed to perform.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball looks over Ponytail's shoulder at her desk.]
:Ponytail: You know how sometimes people put a space in their email address to make it harder to harvest?
:Cueball: Yeah?
:Ponytail: They have a tool that can delete the space!
:Cueball: Oh my god.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Less-dramatic revelations from the CIA hacking dump

{{comic discussion}}

1807: Listening

2017-03-07T20:21:45Z

Effy: Extra )

{{comic
| number = 1807
| date = March 6, 2017
| title = Listening
| image = listening.png
| titletext = Sure, you could just ask, but this also takes care of the host gift thing.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Do NOT remove this tag too fast. Maybe some more about security. Is this Star Trek like?}}
This comic depicts [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] welcoming [[Black Hat]] and [[Danish]] to their house. Black Hat immediately talks to {{w|Amazon Alexa}} to order two tons of {{w|creamed corn}}. This would be quite expensive (around $10,000), and the hosts would be charged because it was ordered on their {{w|Amazon Echo}} device. It would also be a serious inconvenience, as the purchase would be quite bulky and useless, seeing as an average person would have very little use for two tons of creamed corn.{{Citation needed}}

The caption claims that this is an effort to find systems recording conversations, such as Alexa or {{w|Google Home}}, to punish the hosts for having these open services active. However, this tactic may be flawed as you can choose to have a PIN to confirm the order. If Black Hat doesn't know their PIN this would not actually result in an order.

This may also be a lesson to turn off any voice-activated systems before having guests come over, so that the guests don't take advantage of them.

The title text says that this takes care of the "host gift thing", referring to the custom where house guests make gift to the hosts. However, Black Hat is making the hosts pay for it, so it can be as expensive as he wants, thus making this yet another example of his being a [[classhole]].

In a previous comic, [[1559: Driving]], Black Hat took also took advantage of a cutting-edge AI—there, a self-driving car—by making it drive across the country without its owner or any passenger.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Danish entering Cueball and Ponytail's house.]
:Ponytail: Hello, welcome to our house!
:Black Hat: Thanks for inviting us!
:Black Hat: Alexa, order two tons of creamed corn.
:Black Hat: Alexa, confirm purchase.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:When visiting a new house, it's good to check whether they have an always-on device transmitting your conversations somewhere.

==Trivia==
*Assuming a standard can of 14.75 oz (418 g) and Black Hat's order was in short tons the order would consist of 4339 cans. Consuming one per day it would last for approx. twelve years. But it's doubtful that the expiry date would be that long.
*In a recent [http://www.npr.org/2016/12/31/507670072/amazon-echo-murder-case-renews-privacy-questions-prompted-by-our-digital-footpri court case] authorities believed that an Amazon Echo may have recorded the identity of a murder suspect, leading to a debate about the privacy and safety implications of such devices.
*Another recent [http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/7/14200210/amazon-alexa-tech-news-anchor-order-dollhouse event] resulted in Alexa ordering several people unwanted doll houses.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]

Talk:1807: Listening

2017-03-06T13:34:02Z

Effy:

I think it's important to note that, at least with Alexa, the device isn't transmitting to the cloud 24/7 - the "wake word" detection happens locally, and then it starts streaming to the Amazon servers. [[User:Okofish|Okofish]] ([[User talk:Okofish|talk]]) 13:18, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

I think [[I Know You're Listening]] should be mentioned as a related comic. [[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 13:33, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1807: Listening

2017-03-06T13:33:34Z

Effy:

I think it's important to note that, at least with Alexa, the device isn't transmitting to the cloud 24/7 - the "wake word" detection happens locally, and then it starts streaming to the Amazon servers. [[User:Okofish|Okofish]] ([[User talk:Okofish|talk]]) 13:18, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

I think [[I Know You're Listening]] should be mentioned as a related comic. --[[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 13:33, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

1649: Pipelines

2016-03-01T10:57:01Z

Effy:

{{comic
| number = 1649
| date = February 29, 2016
| title = Pipelines
| image = pipelines.png
| titletext = In the future, every single pipeline will lead to the bowl of a giant blender, and we'll all just show up with a bucket each day to take our share of the resulting smoothie.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The table with all the items should be filled out with explanations etc. and the diameter should be calculated from real data (with references).}}

Follows a similar idea to the [[what if?]] {{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}, (from three days before this comic's release), where the entire water flow over {{w|Niagara Falls}} is imagined to flow through a straw (i.e. 7 mm diameter with disastrous results).

In this comic [[Randall]] imagines what size pipes are necessary to carry US domestic production/consumption of various fluids if the flow rate were fixed at 4 meters per second. Randall notes that "many pipes would overlap", owing to the fact that consumption of one item as corn syrup would be due to the production of one of the others, in this case soda pop (another example, than the previous one which is actually mentioned in the comic, could be gasoline which is produced by petroleum ).

The top panel is in [http://store-xkcd-com.myshopify.com/products/actual-size-stickers actual size] (something Randall often jokes about but here he means it). This means that if you look at the image in actual size (or measure lengths in the full size image) then the measured diameter is the diameter Randall has calculated the pipe should be, based on his data for the consumption of these substances.

In the second panel the pipes are way to big for his drawing. To indicate the scale he has both inserted a human (appearance like [[Megan]], but with blonde hair, i.e. not Megan) and the top panel has been shrunk down to indicate how much larger the bottom panel is (this is similar to the link between the panels in [[980: Money]]). Using the size of the top panel and the smaller insert, it can be found that the scale is 20:1. (The woman is 9 cm high in the image, which makes her 180 cm -- 5 feet 11 inches -- in "real life"). The pipe next to her for gasoline would be 2.2 m high.

Since the caption at the top mentions both fluid produced and consumed in the US it becomes very difficult to find out which number Randall uses. For instance the consumption of wine in the US and the production of wine in the US is not necessarily the same as wine is both imported and exported. Should there then be two pipes? Unlike similar comics (like Money mentioned above) there are no references for where Randall has the data for this comic.

As usual with xkcd, the absurdity -- and improbability -- of routing the entirety of each fluid through a single pipe at any point is the source of humor. In addition, despite Randall's stated assumption that all the fluids are magically flowing at the same rate as public water (4 meters per second), many could never actually do so; some "fluids" shown are too viscous (e.g. peanut butter, Silly Putty, meat), adhesive (e.g. maple syrup), or thermally impractical (e.g. glass, cheese, ice cream and yogurt). Lastly, many are just plain zany (e.g. saliva a reference to another what if? {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}). Note that at the bottom of the last panel there is a much larger pipe for the tap water used by the public. All substances are listed below in the [[#Table|table]].

The title text refers to a possible future based on the idea of this comic in which all the pipes with the above mentioned fluids will actually lead into the same hole as shown in the top right panel. This hole will then be the bowl of a giant blender that mixes all these substances together to a toxic ''{{w|smoothie}}''. The future people will then just come up to this blender and get a bucket full of this mix each day. The resulting ''smoothie'', as it is, would be deadly to consume, as the largest part of it other than water is petroleum and gasoline.

Note: "Soup" has been left out, and it might have been expected in this comic due to the similarity to this system with [[Beret Guy|Beret Guy's]] use of a "soup outlet" as an entrepreneur in [[1293: Job Interview]]. It is probably a larger pipeline than salsa and possibly even ketchup. However, most soup is probably not bought finished, and this is a very good reason to not include it in the chart. But still the idea of having a soup outlet is very similar to this comic.

===Table===
*All the substances are listed here in the "reading" order also used in the transcript.
*The diameter is for the inner part of the tube.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ All substances with size as found in the picture, vs. size calculated from public information
|-
! scope="col" | Substance
! scope="col" | Size (cm)
! scope="col" | Calculated size (cm)
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| {{w|Toothpaste}}
| 3.5
| 3.6
| In the title text of [[1599: Water Delivery]] Randall claims that he as a child could not understand whyt there were no toothpaste pipe to his house when there was one for water... Giving this is at the top, this is a clear reference to this comment. Calculation is based on 542 g/year per capita consumption of toothpaste, which I found [https://www.google.co.il/search?q=toothpaste+consumption+by+country&num=100&espv=2&rlz=1C1VFKB_enIL627IL627&tbm=isch&imgil=2wpGcxkoKlCvAM%253A%253BvrrYrXTGlziE6M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.sanasecurities.com%25252Ftop-story%25252Ffuture-prospect-indian-oral-care-industry&source=iu&pf=m&fir=2wpGcxkoKlCvAM%253A%252CvrrYrXTGlziE6M%252C_&usg=__g9B9_HQ-jLim5P25Ov5d6l6BiNk%3D&biw=1920&bih=955&ved=0ahUKEwjLiMn-op_LAhVD4XIKHcvPCMsQyjcIJA&ei=I27VVovrEsPCywPLn6PYDA#imgrc=2wpGcxkoKlCvAM%3A here]. (Sorry couldn't click the link on my work computer for some reason...) I'm not even sure what year the graph is from, so I guessed 2013, and used 316.5 million estimated 2013 US population to calculate the diameter above.
|-
| {{w|Nail polish}}
| 0.4
|
|
|-
| {{w|Windshield washer fluid}}
| 5.6
|
|
|-
| {{w|Silly putty}}
| 0.1
|
| Smallest diameter
|-
| {{w|Shampoo}}
| 4
|
|
|-
| {{w|Honey}}
| 5.2
|
|
|-
| {{w|Blood donation|Donated blood}}
| 0.9
|
|
|-
| {{w|Vanilla}}
| 0.4
|
| Not the ice but the spice (which is black as the substance in the vanilla pipe).
|-
| {{w|Ketchup}}
| 5.2
|
|
|-
| {{w|Salsa (sauce)|Salsa}}
| 3.6
|
|
|-
| {{w|Sunscreen}}
| 1.35
|
|
|-
| {{w|Personal lubricant}}
| 0.65
|
| Aka Lube
|-
| {{w|LCD liquid}}
| 0.26
|
| For {{w|Liquid-crystal display}}
|-
| {{w|Mayonnaise|Mayo}}
| 4.4
|
| Or mayonnaise
|-
| {{w|Printer ink}}
| 1.4
|
|
|-
| {{w|Maple syrup}}
| 1.8
|
|
|-
| {{w|Hair conditioner|Conditioner}}
| 2.5
|
| For hair
|-
| {{w|Mustard (condiment)|Mustard}}
| 3.7
|
|
|-
| {{w|Liquid soap}}
| 4.7
|
|
|-
| {{w|Olive oil}}
| 6.2
|
| Largest diameter in the upper chart
|-
| {{w|Coffee}}
| 58
|
|
|-
| {{w|Peanut butter}}
| 8.6
|
| Smallest diameter in the bottom chart
|-
| {{w|Ice cream}}
| 20
|
|
|-
| {{w|Cheese}}
| 70
|
| Made from Milk (cow) also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Carbonated water|Soda}}
| 82
|
| As in club soda
|-
| {{w|Acetone}}
| 13.6
|
|
|-
| {{w|Liquor}}
| 15
|
|
|-
| {{w|Gasoline}}
| 220
|
| Made from Petrol also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Yogurt}}
| 15
|
| Made from Milk (cow) also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Milk#Cow.27s_milk|Milk (cow)}}
| 106
|
|
|-
| {{w|Bottled water}}
| 71
|
| See also [[1599: Water Delivery]]
|-
| {{w|Sugar}}
| 42
|
| See also [[1639: To Taste]]
|-
| {{w|Saliva}}
| 85
|
| From these data it could be calculated how long it would take America to drool enough to fill that pool from the what if? {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}.
|-
| {{w|Wine}}
| 18
| 18.5
| Americans drank just under [https://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article86 900 million gallons of wine in 2014], or almost 3.4 million cubic metres per year meaning that Americans drink about 0.11 m3/s. With the pipe flowing at 4m/s this pipe must have an area of 268cm2. The radius of a pipe of area 268cm^2 is 9.25cm. The wine pipe should thus have a diameter of 18.5cm, very close to the one found by measuring on the chart.
|-
| {{w|HFCS}}
| 20
|
| High fructose corn syrup
|-
| {{w|Breast milk|Milk (human)}}
| 10.6
|
|
|-
| {{w|Petroleum}}
| 318
|
| Largest diameter in the bottom chart, except for the public water. Also known as Crude oil. Used to make for instance gasoline also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Meat}}
| 59
|
|
|-
| {{w|Glass}}
| 28
|
|
|-
| {{w|Beer}}
| 54
|
|
|-
| {{w|Tea}}
| 41
|
|
|-
| {{w|Cement}}
| 74
|
|
|-
| {{w|Tap water|Public water}}
| 2550
|
| Using the formula [http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/564058/calculate-the-radius-of-a-circle-given-the-chord-length-and-height-of-a-segment here] it is possible to calculate the diameter of a circle given the chord length = l and height = h of a segment. From the drawing (and scaling) l = 390 cm and h = 15 cm. The formula states that D = h + l2/(4*h) = 15 cm + (390 cm)2/(4*15 cm) = 2550 cm.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the first main panel, to the left of a smaller panel to the right.]
:<big>The size of the US’s</big>
:<big><big>'''Pipelines'''</big></big>
:<big>if each fluid produced or consumed in the US has to be carried by a single pipe</big>
:Assuming they all flowed at the same speed of about 4m/s
:Note: Many pipelines would overlap (eg. '''soda'''/corn syrup)

:[There is a small panel to the right showing three gray pipes of different sizes leading out over a large hole in the ground. Only a part of the hole can be seen at the bottom left part of the panel, but it curves around indicating it is a large circular hole. The pipes are supported by small legs beneath them and from the end of all three thick liquids are squirting out and down into the hole. The first pipe is by far the largest; the liquid from it is white, but not as white as the background. The second pipe is by far the smallest squirting dark red liquid and the final rightmost pipe is in between and squirts our light brown liquid. Each pipe is labeled. The label on the smallest cannot be read properly, but from the info gained in the next panel it can be inferred for certain what it says (and this is indicated here below):]
:[Large pipe (white)]: Mayo
:[Small pipe (dark red)]: Nail polish
:[Medium pipe (light brown)]: Maple syrup

:[Below is a large panel with a caption at the top. And below this there are twenty circles in different sizes and with different color (or even texture). Each circle is labeled, for the five smallest the label is outside, in one case with an arrow indicating where the label belongs. The rest has the label inside. The text is in black except for four of those with text inside, but with red of black color. Here the text is white. The labels are indicated by color and size, going roughly from top left in reading order based on the position and size of circles not of position of the text:]

:<big>Actual size </big> (When viewed on a typical computer screen) 
:[Medium green blue and white spiral]: Toothpaste
:[Tiny dark red]: Nail polish
:[Big light blue with white specks]: Windshield washer fluid
:[Very tiny purple]: Silly putty
:[Medium light green]: Shampoo
:[Large dark yellow]: Honey
:[Very small blood red]: Donated blood
:[Tiny black]: Vanilla
:[Big red]: Ketchup
:[Medium dark red with chunks of in different green and lighter red colors]: Salsa
:[Small white]: Sunscreen
:[Very small light green]: Personal lubricant
:[Very tiny gray]: LCD liquid
:[Medium off-white]: Mayo
:[Very small black]: Printer ink
:[Small light brown]: Maple syrup
:[Small light green]: Conditioner
:[Medium yellow]: Mustard
:[Large light green]: Liquid soap
:[Big olive green]: Olive oil

:[The panel just described is indicated to fit into a small rectangle at the top left of the next panel below. There are four lines ending at the four corners of this small rectangle, two of these are going to the two bottom corners and the other two ends on the lower part of the panel just above the small rectangle. They are indicated to go under the panel and would hit the two top corners if extrapolated). The 11 largest circles are clearly seen, but most of the other circles can also be noted. The colors are the same but any features in the original circles as well as the labels are gone. The part of the black top frame of the next panel below is faded out to gray in between the section cut off by the two lines going to the bottom corners of the panel above. This rectangle indicated the increasing size compared to the first panel above.]

:[Apart from the insert mentioned above the second panel follows the same layout, but with 22 circles with even larger range of sizes. The panel is more than twice as long as the first panel. A Megan-like girl, but with white hair, is drawn at the top of the panel just left of the middle. Her hair close to the top, just below the line going to the right corner above. There are two medium and five smaller circles to her left and one small close to her head and one huge circle to her right. Her feet are less than a third down this panel standing on top of the next row of circles. In the bottom half of the panel there is a giant circle which almost touches the left side of the panel. There are smaller circles above it and down along the right side. One last circle is to the left almost at the bottom. At the very bottom is a slightly curving line to indicate a much much larger blue circle that only graces the panel (no. 23). There is a small green fish in this water to the left of the label. Below the labels are again listed as above. One label has a foot note. But it is written directly beneath the circle in which it is referenced. So it will be written together with the label on the next line. There is also one case with an arrow used to indicate where the label belongs.]

:[Medium dark gray]: Coffee
:[Very tiny gray]: Peanut butter
:[Very small gray with black specks]: Ice cream
:[Very small yellow with white specks]: Cheese
:[Large brown with white fizzing]: Soda
:[Tiny White]: Acetone
:[Tiny gray]: Liquor
:[Huge dark yellow]: Gasoline
:[Tiny White with blue and orange specks]: Yogurt
:[Big white]: Milk (cow)
:[Large light blue]: Bottled water
:[Small white]: Sugar
:[Large light gray with white specks]: Saliva
:[Very small light yellow]: Wine
:[Very small orange]: HFCS
:[Very tiny white]: Milk (human)
:[Gigantic dark gray]: Petroleum
:[Medium dark red with black texture]: Meat (mostly solid)
:[Small white]: Glass*
::<nowiki>*</nowiki>Solid at room temperature
:[Medium light brown]: Beer
:[Small gray brown]: Tea
:[Large gray]: Cement
:[Gracing bottom of panel light blue]: Public water

==Trivia==
*In addition to the what if? article, the relevancy of pipelines, particularly regarding public water, is heightened due to the ongoing public health crisis in Flint, Michigan, caused by recent (mis-)management of their public water system.
**Studies have shown that temporary use of the Flint River as a water source caused corrosive water to leach lead from old pipes, causing lead poisoning in many residents, particularly children; other ill effects in addition to lead have been noted.
**The crisis has lead to a public outcry against the state "emergency financial management" team appointed and supervised by the state executive (Gov. Rick Snyder and staff) and an outpouring of support from nearby communities such as Metro Detroit via bottled water donations to Flint residents.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:1649: Pipelines

2016-03-01T10:39:49Z

Effy:

No discussion yet? Strange ...

Anyway, the title text "and we'll all just show up with a bucket each day to take our share of the resulting smoothie" reminds me of this bit near the end of Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx0ME65y72E (Warning: not for the squeamish.) --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 16:21, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:This comic came out very late today. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:16, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

I tried to discuss earlier but did not have permission to "create a page." Now I can comment, I assume because you created the page? Hrmm. Anyway, my comment is that the honey pipe seems so unreasonably large that I'm curious of the source and the math. I found figures for honey production in US, in pounds, did not convert it to volume or look up other values but it's hard to imagine it is correct in relation to ketchup, mustard, and mayo. Grocery stores sell honey in smaller bottles and much less often, than the others. Factory bakers and makers of cereal use a little honey but not much; it's so much more expensive than corn syrup or even sugar. Restaurants use all those other products at much higher volumes. McDonald's has honey at breakfast for biscuits but it's rarely requested, versus how many gallons per day of ketchup they must use per store, just on burgers, let alone packets given away. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 17:24, 29 February 2016 (UTC)wrybred
:Please (once you get permission to do create pages) do not try to create pages like this yourself. There is a bot that will do that when the comic has been out for a short while. And this comic was very late. And when people do it themselves there often goes a lot wrong with the functionality. And contributions may be lost when an admin has to fix this later. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

There is so much wrong with "cheese" labeled as a fluid...
Flavio from Switzerland {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.33}}
:Since there are both glass (not a solid) and meat (mostly solid) and cement, only liquid for a short time, then the question is if cheese (once milk) could not be measured as a liquid without being more strange than other substances in the table? I also think that some (strange to me) people like to eat cheese that is runny ;-p --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

I find it appropriate and satisfying that tea and sugar are the same size :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.180|108.162.245.180]] 18:38, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Glass is a reference to the common misconception that glass is a slow moving liquid. (Spoiler: It's not)
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 19:31, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:I believe he has mentioned this fact in a previous comic... One where he urges us to look at Wikipedias page for common misconceptions before going to a party and telling everyone that glass is a liquid! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

To give an example: Americans drunk just under [https://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article86 900 million gallons of wine in 2014], or just over 4 million cubic metres per year.
There are 31557600 seconds in a year, so about America drinks 0.13 m3/s. If the pipe is flowing at 4m/s The pipe must have an area of 0.032m^2 = 320cm^2. The radius of a pipe of area 320cm^2 is 10cm. The wine pipe should have a diameter of 20cm. How about a table of calulated diameters [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.91|141.101.70.91]] 19:38, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:Fantastic. I did some recalculations of the numbers posted as a transcript, at the moment moved to a trivia section when I posted a real transcript. There was an error in the scaling which I have now fixed. And right now the number for wine diameter says 20 cm. I did just check the picture and I disagree a little as I come to 11.5 mm on the picture which would then make it 23 cm in diameter, but that would be close enough to fit with this wine calculation withing the uncertainty of both calculations measurement and Randall's accuracy. And yes there should be such a table as you mentions.
::Table now added. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:33, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:But what about the additional wine produced in America? You only took into account the wine consumed. --[[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 10:15, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
:Also, I recalculated from the article you linked to and got a figure much closer to 18 cm. Maybe check your calculations? When I take 893M gallons and convert to cubic meters I get about 3.38 million, not just over 4 million. This would perhaps suggest that each pipe in the comic is either matter produced OR consumed, but not both added together. --[[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 10:33, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
:One last comment: I corrected the table per above, I hope that's okay. However, I noticed that if we use wine produced instead of wine consumed, the pipe comes out to 17.9 cm instead of 18.5. Perhaps that was what the pipe was intended for? (I guess the extra wine will need to imported with a transatlantic pipeline.) See: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wine-producing_countries List of wine-producing countries]. --[[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 10:39, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the scale check. It's always nice to know someone else looked at this stuff. BTW - would suggest that you not compare "size" to "calculated size" - but rather multiply these diameters by 4 m/s and output "calculated annual output" v. "Annual Output" - any source that can be found for annual outputs. This would be a bit more elegant as sources can be verified instantaneously. (i.e. using the 23 cm wine for example - "Annual Output" would be 4 million cubic meters, "Calculated Annual Output" would be 5.24 million cubic meters. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.106.47|188.114.106.47]] 23:20, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

It's not blonde, it's albino. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.144|173.245.63.144]] 23:28, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

How are we defining a typical computer screen? How many dots per inch? And where do we get that data from? Are we gonna have to do the math ourselves on one of the pipes to figure out what DPI setting Randal is suggesting? Or has he said somewhere? [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 23:58, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

1649: Pipelines

2016-03-01T10:35:43Z

Effy:

{{comic
| number = 1649
| date = February 29, 2016
| title = Pipelines
| image = pipelines.png
| titletext = In the future, every single pipeline will lead to the bowl of a giant blender, and we'll all just show up with a bucket each day to take our share of the resulting smoothie.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The table with all the items should be filled out with explanations etc. and the diameter should be calculated from real data (with references).}}

Follows a similar idea to the [[what if?]] {{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}, (from three days before this comic's release), where the entire water flow over {{w|Niagara Falls}} is imagined to flow through a straw (i.e. 7 mm diameter with disastrous results).

In this comic [[Randall]] imagines what size pipes are necessary to carry US domestic production/consumption of various fluids if the flow rate were fixed at 4 meters per second. Randall notes that "many pipes would overlap", owing to the fact that consumption of one item as corn syrup would be due to the production of one of the others, in this case soda pop (another example, than the previous one which is actually mentioned in the comic, could be gasoline which is produced by petroleum ).

The top panel is in [http://store-xkcd-com.myshopify.com/products/actual-size-stickers actual size] (something Randall often jokes about but here he means it). This means that if you look at the image in actual size (or measure lengths in the full size image) then the measured diameter is the diameter Randall has calculated the pipe should be, based on his data for the consumption of these substances. In the second panel the pipes are way to big for his drawing. To indicate the scale he has both inserted a human (appearance like [[Megan]], but with blonde hair, i.e. not Megan) and the top panel has been shrunk down to indicate how much larger the bottom panel is (this is similar to the link between the panels in [[980: Money]]). Using the size of the top panel and the smaller insert, it can be found that the scale is 20:1. (The woman is 9 cm high in the image, which makes her 180 cm -- 5 feet 11 inches -- in "real life"). The pipe next to her for gasoline would be 2.2 m high.

As usual with xkcd, the absurdity -- and improbability -- of routing the entirety of each fluid through a single pipe at any point is the source of humor. In addition, despite Randall's stated assumption that all the fluids are magically flowing at the same rate as public water (4 meters per second), many could never actually do so; some "fluids" shown are too viscous (e.g. peanut butter, Silly Putty, meat), adhesive (e.g. maple syrup), or thermally impractical (e.g. glass, cheese, ice cream and yogurt). Lastly, many are just plain zany (e.g. saliva a reference to another what if? {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}). Note that at the bottom of the last panel there is a much larger pipe for the tap water used by the public. All substances are listed below in the [[#Table|table]].

The title text refers to a possible future based on the idea of this comic in which all the pipes with the above mentioned fluids will actually lead into the same hole as shown in the top right panel. This hole will then be the bowl of a giant blender that mixes all these substances together to a toxic ''{{w|smoothie}}''. The future people will then just come up to this blender and get a bucket full of this mix each day. The resulting ''smoothie'', as it is, would be deadly to consume, as the largest part of it other than water is petroleum and gasoline.

Note: "Soup" has been left out, and it might have been expected in this comic due to the similarity to this system with [[Beret Guy|Beret Guy's]] use of a "soup outlet" as an entrepreneur in [[1293: Job Interview]]. It is probably a larger pipeline than salsa and possibly even ketchup. However, most soup is probably not bought finished, and this is a very good reason to not include it in the chart. But still the idea of having a soup outlet is very similar to this comic.

===Table===
*All the substances are listed here in the "reading" order also used in the transcript.
*The diameter is for the inner part of the tube.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ All substances with size as found in the picture, vs. size calculated from public information
|-
! scope="col" | Substance
! scope="col" | Size (cm)
! scope="col" | Calculated size (cm)
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| {{w|Toothpaste}}
| 3.5
|
| In the title text of [[1599: Water Delivery]] Randall claims that he as a child could not understand whyt there were no toothpaste pipe to his house when there was one for water... Giving this is at the top, this is a clear reference to this comment.
|-
| {{w|Nail polish}}
| 0.4
|
|
|-
| {{w|Windshield washer fluid}}
| 5.6
|
|
|-
| {{w|Silly putty}}
| 0.1
|
| Smallest diameter
|-
| {{w|Shampoo}}
| 4
|
|
|-
| {{w|Honey}}
| 5.2
|
|
|-
| {{w|Blood donation|Donated blood}}
| 0.9
|
|
|-
| {{w|Vanilla}}
| 0.4
|
| Not the ice but the spice (which is black as the substance in the vanilla pipe).
|-
| {{w|Ketchup}}
| 5.2
|
|
|-
| {{w|Salsa (sauce)|Salsa}}
| 3.6
|
|
|-
| {{w|Sunscreen}}
| 1.35
|
|
|-
| {{w|Personal lubricant}}
| 0.65
|
| Aka Lube
|-
| {{w|LCD liquid}}
| 0.26
|
| For {{w|Liquid-crystal display}}
|-
| {{w|Mayonnaise|Mayo}}
| 4.4
|
| Or mayonnaise
|-
| {{w|Printer ink}}
| 1.4
|
|
|-
| {{w|Maple syrup}}
| 1.8
|
|
|-
| {{w|Hair conditioner|Conditioner}}
| 2.5
|
| For hair
|-
| {{w|Mustard (condiment)|Mustard}}
| 3.7
|
|
|-
| {{w|Liquid soap}}
| 4.7
|
|
|-
| {{w|Olive oil}}
| 6.2
|
| Largest diameter in the upper chart
|-
| {{w|Coffee}}
| 58
|
|
|-
| {{w|Peanut butter}}
| 8.6
|
| Smallest diameter in the bottom chart
|-
| {{w|Ice cream}}
| 20
|
|
|-
| {{w|Cheese}}
| 70
|
| Made from Milk (cow) also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Carbonated water|Soda}}
| 82
|
| As in club soda
|-
| {{w|Acetone}}
| 13.6
|
|
|-
| {{w|Liquor}}
| 15
|
|
|-
| {{w|Gasoline}}
| 220
|
| Made from Petrol also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Yogurt}}
| 15
|
| Made from Milk (cow) also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Milk#Cow.27s_milk|Milk (cow)}}
| 106
|
|
|-
| {{w|Bottled water}}
| 71
|
| See also [[1599: Water Delivery]]
|-
| {{w|Sugar}}
| 42
|
| See also [[1639: To Taste]]
|-
| {{w|Saliva}}
| 85
|
| From these data it could be calculated how long it would take America to drool enough to fill that pool from the what if? {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}}.
|-
| {{w|Wine}}
| 18
| 18.5
| Americans drank just under [https://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article86 900 million gallons of wine in 2014], or almost 3.4 million cubic metres per year meaning that Americans drink about 0.11 m3/s. With the pipe flowing at 4m/s this pipe must have an area of 268cm2. The radius of a pipe of area 268cm^2 is 9.25cm. The wine pipe should thus have a diameter of 18.5cm, very close to the one found by measuring on the chart.
|-
| {{w|HFCS}}
| 20
|
| High fructose corn syrup
|-
| {{w|Breast milk|Milk (human)}}
| 10.6
|
|
|-
| {{w|Petroleum}}
| 318
|
| Largest diameter in the bottom chart, except for the public water. Used to make for instance gasoline also in the chart
|-
| {{w|Meat}}
| 59
|
|
|-
| {{w|Glass}}
| 28
|
|
|-
| {{w|Beer}}
| 54
|
|
|-
| {{w|Tea}}
| 41
|
|
|-
| {{w|Cement}}
| 74
|
|
|-
| {{w|Tap water|Public water}}
| 2550
|
| Using the formula [http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/564058/calculate-the-radius-of-a-circle-given-the-chord-length-and-height-of-a-segment here] it is possible to calculate the diameter of a circle given the chord length = l and height = h of a segment. From the drawing (and scaling) l = 390 cm and h = 15 cm. The formula states that D = h + l2/(4*h) = 15 cm + (390 cm)2/(4*15 cm) = 2550 cm.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the first main panel, to the left of a smaller panel to the right.]
:<big>The size of the US’s</big>
:<big><big>'''Pipelines'''</big></big>
:<big>if each fluid produced or consumed in the US has to be carried by a single pipe</big>
:Assuming they all flowed at the same speed of about 4m/s
:Note: Many pipelines would overlap (eg. '''soda'''/corn syrup)

:[There is a small panel to the right showing three gray pipes of different sizes leading out over a large hole in the ground. Only a part of the hole can be seen at the bottom left part of the panel, but it curves around indicating it is a large circular hole. The pipes are supported by small legs beneath them and from the end of all three thick liquids are squirting out and down into the hole. The first pipe is by far the largest; the liquid from it is white, but not as white as the background. The second pipe is by far the smallest squirting dark red liquid and the final rightmost pipe is in between and squirts our light brown liquid. Each pipe is labeled. The label on the smallest cannot be read properly, but from the info gained in the next panel it can be inferred for certain what it says (and this is indicated here below):]
:[Large pipe (white)]: Mayo
:[Small pipe (dark red)]: Nail polish
:[Medium pipe (light brown)]: Maple syrup

:[Below is a large panel with a caption at the top. And below this there are twenty circles in different sizes and with different color (or even texture). Each circle is labeled, for the five smallest the label is outside, in one case with an arrow indicating where the label belongs. The rest has the label inside. The text is in black except for four of those with text inside, but with red of black color. Here the text is white. The labels are indicated by color and size, going roughly from top left in reading order based on the position and size of circles not of position of the text:]

:<big>Actual size </big> (When viewed on a typical computer screen) 
:[Medium green blue and white spiral]: Toothpaste
:[Tiny dark red]: Nail polish
:[Big light blue with white specks]: Windshield washer fluid
:[Very tiny purple]: Silly putty
:[Medium light green]: Shampoo
:[Large dark yellow]: Honey
:[Very small blood red]: Donated blood
:[Tiny black]: Vanilla
:[Big red]: Ketchup
:[Medium dark red with chunks of in different green and lighter red colors]: Salsa
:[Small white]: Sunscreen
:[Very small light green]: Personal lubricant
:[Very tiny gray]: LCD liquid
:[Medium off-white]: Mayo
:[Very small black]: Printer ink
:[Small light brown]: Maple syrup
:[Small light green]: Conditioner
:[Medium yellow]: Mustard
:[Large light green]: Liquid soap
:[Big olive green]: Olive oil

:[The panel just described is indicated to fit into a small rectangle at the top left of the next panel below. There are four lines ending at the four corners of this small rectangle, two of these are going to the two bottom corners and the other two ends on the lower part of the panel just above the small rectangle. They are indicated to go under the panel and would hit the two top corners if extrapolated). The 11 largest circles are clearly seen, but most of the other circles can also be noted. The colors are the same but any features in the original circles as well as the labels are gone. The part of the black top frame of the next panel below is faded out to gray in between the section cut off by the two lines going to the bottom corners of the panel above. This rectangle indicated the increasing size compared to the first panel above.]

:[Apart from the insert mentioned above the second panel follows the same layout, but with 22 circles with even larger range of sizes. The panel is more than twice as long as the first panel. A Megan-like girl, but with white hair, is drawn at the top of the panel just left of the middle. Her hair close to the top, just below the line going to the right corner above. There are two medium and five smaller circles to her left and one small close to her head and one huge circle to her right. Her feet are less than a third down this panel standing on top of the next row of circles. In the bottom half of the panel there is a giant circle which almost touches the left side of the panel. There are smaller circles above it and down along the right side. One last circle is to the left almost at the bottom. At the very bottom is a slightly curving line to indicate a much much larger blue circle that only graces the panel (no. 23). There is a small green fish in this water to the left of the label. Below the labels are again listed as above. One label has a foot note. But it is written directly beneath the circle in which it is referenced. So it will be written together with the label on the next line. There is also one case with an arrow used to indicate where the label belongs.]

:[Medium dark gray]: Coffee
:[Very tiny gray]: Peanut butter
:[Very small gray with black specks]: Ice cream
:[Very small yellow with white specks]: Cheese
:[Large brown with white fizzing]: Soda
:[Tiny White]: Acetone
:[Tiny gray]: Liquor
:[Huge dark yellow]: Gasoline
:[Tiny White with blue and orange specks]: Yogurt
:[Big white]: Milk (cow)
:[Large light blue]: Bottled water
:[Small white]: Sugar
:[Large light gray with white specks]: Saliva
:[Very small light yellow]: Wine
:[Very small orange]: HFCS
:[Very tiny white]: Milk (human)
:[Gigantic dark gray]: Petroleum
:[Medium dark red with black texture]: Meat (mostly solid)
:[Small white]: Glass*
::<nowiki>*</nowiki>Solid at room temperature
:[Medium light brown]: Beer
:[Small gray brown]: Tea
:[Large gray]: Cement
:[Gracing bottom of panel light blue]: Public water

==Trivia==
*In addition to the what if? article, the relevancy of pipelines, particularly regarding public water, is heightened due to the ongoing public health crisis in Flint, Michigan, caused by recent (mis-)management of their public water system.
**Studies have shown that temporary use of the Flint River as a water source caused corrosive water to leach lead from old pipes, causing lead poisoning in many residents, particularly children; other ill effects in addition to lead have been noted.
**The crisis has lead to a public outcry against the state "emergency financial management" team appointed and supervised by the state executive (Gov. Rick Snyder and staff) and an outpouring of support from nearby communities such as Metro Detroit via bottled water donations to Flint residents.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:1649: Pipelines

2016-03-01T10:33:01Z

Effy:

No discussion yet? Strange ...

Anyway, the title text "and we'll all just show up with a bucket each day to take our share of the resulting smoothie" reminds me of this bit near the end of Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx0ME65y72E (Warning: not for the squeamish.) --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 16:21, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:This comic came out very late today. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:16, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

I tried to discuss earlier but did not have permission to "create a page." Now I can comment, I assume because you created the page? Hrmm. Anyway, my comment is that the honey pipe seems so unreasonably large that I'm curious of the source and the math. I found figures for honey production in US, in pounds, did not convert it to volume or look up other values but it's hard to imagine it is correct in relation to ketchup, mustard, and mayo. Grocery stores sell honey in smaller bottles and much less often, than the others. Factory bakers and makers of cereal use a little honey but not much; it's so much more expensive than corn syrup or even sugar. Restaurants use all those other products at much higher volumes. McDonald's has honey at breakfast for biscuits but it's rarely requested, versus how many gallons per day of ketchup they must use per store, just on burgers, let alone packets given away. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 17:24, 29 February 2016 (UTC)wrybred
:Please (once you get permission to do create pages) do not try to create pages like this yourself. There is a bot that will do that when the comic has been out for a short while. And this comic was very late. And when people do it themselves there often goes a lot wrong with the functionality. And contributions may be lost when an admin has to fix this later. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

There is so much wrong with "cheese" labeled as a fluid...
Flavio from Switzerland {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.33}}
:Since there are both glass (not a solid) and meat (mostly solid) and cement, only liquid for a short time, then the question is if cheese (once milk) could not be measured as a liquid without being more strange than other substances in the table? I also think that some (strange to me) people like to eat cheese that is runny ;-p --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

I find it appropriate and satisfying that tea and sugar are the same size :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.180|108.162.245.180]] 18:38, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Glass is a reference to the common misconception that glass is a slow moving liquid. (Spoiler: It's not)
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 19:31, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:I believe he has mentioned this fact in a previous comic... One where he urges us to look at Wikipedias page for common misconceptions before going to a party and telling everyone that glass is a liquid! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

To give an example: Americans drunk just under [https://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article86 900 million gallons of wine in 2014], or just over 4 million cubic metres per year.
There are 31557600 seconds in a year, so about America drinks 0.13 m3/s. If the pipe is flowing at 4m/s The pipe must have an area of 0.032m^2 = 320cm^2. The radius of a pipe of area 320cm^2 is 10cm. The wine pipe should have a diameter of 20cm. How about a table of calulated diameters [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.91|141.101.70.91]] 19:38, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:Fantastic. I did some recalculations of the numbers posted as a transcript, at the moment moved to a trivia section when I posted a real transcript. There was an error in the scaling which I have now fixed. And right now the number for wine diameter says 20 cm. I did just check the picture and I disagree a little as I come to 11.5 mm on the picture which would then make it 23 cm in diameter, but that would be close enough to fit with this wine calculation withing the uncertainty of both calculations measurement and Randall's accuracy. And yes there should be such a table as you mentions.
::Table now added. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:33, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:But what about the additional wine produced in America? You only took into account the wine consumed. --[[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 10:15, 1 March 2016 (UTC)
:Also, I recalculated from the article you linked to and got a figure much closer to 18 cm. Maybe check your calculations? When I take 893M gallons and convert to cubic meters I get about 3.38 million, not just over 4 million. This would perhaps suggest that each pipe in the comic is either matter produced OR consumed, but not both added together. --[[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 10:33, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the scale check. It's always nice to know someone else looked at this stuff. BTW - would suggest that you not compare "size" to "calculated size" - but rather multiply these diameters by 4 m/s and output "calculated annual output" v. "Annual Output" - any source that can be found for annual outputs. This would be a bit more elegant as sources can be verified instantaneously. (i.e. using the 23 cm wine for example - "Annual Output" would be 4 million cubic meters, "Calculated Annual Output" would be 5.24 million cubic meters. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.106.47|188.114.106.47]] 23:20, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

It's not blonde, it's albino. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.144|173.245.63.144]] 23:28, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

How are we defining a typical computer screen? How many dots per inch? And where do we get that data from? Are we gonna have to do the math ourselves on one of the pipes to figure out what DPI setting Randal is suggesting? Or has he said somewhere? [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 23:58, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1649: Pipelines

2016-03-01T10:15:26Z

Effy:

No discussion yet? Strange ...

Anyway, the title text "and we'll all just show up with a bucket each day to take our share of the resulting smoothie" reminds me of this bit near the end of Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx0ME65y72E (Warning: not for the squeamish.) --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 16:21, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:This comic came out very late today. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 19:16, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

I tried to discuss earlier but did not have permission to "create a page." Now I can comment, I assume because you created the page? Hrmm. Anyway, my comment is that the honey pipe seems so unreasonably large that I'm curious of the source and the math. I found figures for honey production in US, in pounds, did not convert it to volume or look up other values but it's hard to imagine it is correct in relation to ketchup, mustard, and mayo. Grocery stores sell honey in smaller bottles and much less often, than the others. Factory bakers and makers of cereal use a little honey but not much; it's so much more expensive than corn syrup or even sugar. Restaurants use all those other products at much higher volumes. McDonald's has honey at breakfast for biscuits but it's rarely requested, versus how many gallons per day of ketchup they must use per store, just on burgers, let alone packets given away. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 17:24, 29 February 2016 (UTC)wrybred
:Please (once you get permission to do create pages) do not try to create pages like this yourself. There is a bot that will do that when the comic has been out for a short while. And this comic was very late. And when people do it themselves there often goes a lot wrong with the functionality. And contributions may be lost when an admin has to fix this later. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

There is so much wrong with "cheese" labeled as a fluid...
Flavio from Switzerland {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.33}}
:Since there are both glass (not a solid) and meat (mostly solid) and cement, only liquid for a short time, then the question is if cheese (once milk) could not be measured as a liquid without being more strange than other substances in the table? I also think that some (strange to me) people like to eat cheese that is runny ;-p --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

I find it appropriate and satisfying that tea and sugar are the same size :) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.180|108.162.245.180]] 18:38, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Glass is a reference to the common misconception that glass is a slow moving liquid. (Spoiler: It's not)
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 19:31, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:I believe he has mentioned this fact in a previous comic... One where he urges us to look at Wikipedias page for common misconceptions before going to a party and telling everyone that glass is a liquid! ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:00, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

To give an example: Americans drunk just under [https://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics/article86 900 million gallons of wine in 2014], or just over 4 million cubic metres per year.
There are 31557600 seconds in a year, so about America drinks 0.13 m3/s. If the pipe is flowing at 4m/s The pipe must have an area of 0.032m^2 = 320cm^2. The radius of a pipe of area 320cm^2 is 10cm. The wine pipe should have a diameter of 20cm. How about a table of calulated diameters [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.91|141.101.70.91]] 19:38, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:Fantastic. I did some recalculations of the numbers posted as a transcript, at the moment moved to a trivia section when I posted a real transcript. There was an error in the scaling which I have now fixed. And right now the number for wine diameter says 20 cm. I did just check the picture and I disagree a little as I come to 11.5 mm on the picture which would then make it 23 cm in diameter, but that would be close enough to fit with this wine calculation withing the uncertainty of both calculations measurement and Randall's accuracy. And yes there should be such a table as you mentions.
::Table now added. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 22:33, 29 February 2016 (UTC)
:But what about the additional wine produced in America? You only took into account the wine consumed. --[[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 10:15, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the scale check. It's always nice to know someone else looked at this stuff. BTW - would suggest that you not compare "size" to "calculated size" - but rather multiply these diameters by 4 m/s and output "calculated annual output" v. "Annual Output" - any source that can be found for annual outputs. This would be a bit more elegant as sources can be verified instantaneously. (i.e. using the 23 cm wine for example - "Annual Output" would be 4 million cubic meters, "Calculated Annual Output" would be 5.24 million cubic meters. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.106.47|188.114.106.47]] 23:20, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

It's not blonde, it's albino. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.144|173.245.63.144]] 23:28, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

How are we defining a typical computer screen? How many dots per inch? And where do we get that data from? Are we gonna have to do the math ourselves on one of the pipes to figure out what DPI setting Randal is suggesting? Or has he said somewhere? [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 23:58, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

1563: Synonym Movies

2015-08-12T05:19:55Z

Effy:

{{comic
| number = 1563
| date = August 12, 2015
| title = Synonym Movies
| image = synonym_movies.png
| titletext = Fans eagerly await 2015's 'Space Fights: Power Gets Up', although most think 1999's 'Space Fights: The Scary Ghost' didn't live up to the hype.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|What's the Jewelry God explanation.}}

This comic shows several "Synonym Movies" Well known movies, but with the titles changed to words that are different, but mean essentially the same thing. 'Space Trips' is Star Trek, 'Space Fights' is Star Wars, The 'Jewelry God' is Lord Of The Rings.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Synonym
! Real Title
|-
| Space Fight: Sudden Optimism
| Star Wars: A New Hope
|-
| Space Fight: The Government Wins This One
| Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
|-
| Space Fight: The Sword Wizard Is Back
| Star Wars: The Return Of The Jedi
|-
|The Jewelry God: The Jewelry Team
|The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
|-
|The Jewelry God: Double Houses
|The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
|-
|The Jewelry God: We Have a Czar Again
|The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
|-
|Space Trip: The Movie
|Star Trek: The Motion Picture
|-
|Space Trip: That Guy is Angry
|Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
|-
|Space Trip: Where is the Vulcan
|Star Trek: The Search for Spock
|-
|Space Trip: Let's Go Back
|Star Trek: The Voyage Home
|-
|Space Fights: Power Gets Up
|Star Wars: The Force Awakens
|-
|Space Fights: The Scary Ghost
|Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
|}
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}

1563: Synonym Movies

2015-08-12T05:05:18Z

Effy:

1554: Spice Girls

2015-07-22T07:46:16Z

Effy:

{{comic
| number = 1554
| date = July 22, 2015
| title = Spice Girls
| image = spice_girls.png
| titletext = The Earth's five major mass extinctions were the Posh Extinction, the Sporty Extinction, the Scary Extinction, the Ginger Extinction, and the Baby Extinction.
}}
''Not to be confused with [[1511: Spice Girl]]''
==Explanation==
{{Incomplete|Please explain each pane seperately, maybe in a table}}
Cueball and Megan are apparently playing a game in which they name all of the elements in some category. Megan is supposed to name all of the Spice Girls, a pop group whose stage names were "Posh Spice", "Sporty Spice", "Scary Spice", "Ginger Spice", and "Baby Spice". Instead, she winds up naming members of other categories (senses, stages of grief, and the four horsemen of the apocalypse), with "Spice" tacked on the end. In the final panel, she comes close, but says words that are phonetically similar to the correct answer (Pog, Story, Sarah, Gender, Baleen).

This seems to be a continuation of [[1417: Seven]], where Megan asks Cueball to name the seven dwarfs. Apparently Megan confuses sets of five just as Cueball can't distinguish between different sets of seven.

The title text has the correct Spice Girl names, but uses them as names of Earth's five mass extinctions.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:Cueball: Your turn: Can you name all of the spice girls?
:Megan: Hmm... Hearing spice, vision spice, smell spice, touch spice, taste spice?
:Cueball: That's senses.
:Megan: Denial spice, anger spice, bargaining spice, depression spice, acceptance spice.
:Cueball: Stages of grief.
:Megan: War spice, famine spice, plague spice, death spice?
:Cueball: You're not even trying.
:Megan: No, wait, I can get this for real. Uhh...
:Megan: Pog spice, story spice, sarah spice, gender spice, baleen spice?
:Cueball: ...Close enough.

{{comic discussion}}

1550: Episode VII

2015-07-13T06:15:52Z

Effy:

{{comic
| number = 1550
| date = July 13, 2015
| title = Episode VII
| image = episode_vii.png
| titletext = The Lord of the Rings sequel, set years after the Ring hubbub has died down, is just Samwise discreetly creeping back to Bag End to finish dropping the eaves.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Missing explanation of title text.}}
''{{w|Star Wars: The Force Awakens}}'' (also known as ''Episode VII'') is set to premiere in December 2015. This comic foretells the plot of the movie, based on a quote from the first film in the series.

In ''{{w|Star Wars (film)|Star Wars}}'' (''Episode IV: A New Hope''), {{w|Owen Lars}} tells his (step-)nephew, {{w|Luke Skywalker}}, to clean two newly purchased droids:

:'''Uncle Owen:''' Luke! Take these two over to the garage will ya? I want 'em cleaned up before dinner
:'''Luke:''' But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!
:'''Uncle Owen:''' You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done. Now, come on. Get to it.

One of the droids happens to be {{w|R2-D2}}, and the attempt to clean him reveals a message which sets in motion the events of ''Star Wars'' episodes IV, V and VI, where Luke plays a crucial part. In this comic, Luke returns to {{w|Tatooine}} to finish the errand that was interrupted. Apparently, that's all that happens in episode VII.

==Transcript==
Star Wars The Force Awakens

Tosche Station

Hello

I'm here for those power converters

Directed By J.J.Abrams

Title text: The Lord of the Rings sequel, set years after the Ring hubbub has died down, is just Samwise discreetly creeping back to Bag End to finish dropping the eaves.
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1533: Antique Factory

2015-06-03T11:55:03Z

Effy:

Fist.

The reference to inexorable passage of time reminds me of [[209: Kayak]] [[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 11:55, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1491: Stories of the Past and Future

2015-02-25T09:37:35Z

Effy:

http://xkcd.com/1491/large/ will take you to the large version, which the comic currently doesn't have a link to. I expect that will be fixed shortly. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 05:30, 25 February 2015 (UTC)
:I just realized he has a text link for it in the top banner. I'd delete my comment, but that's rude on a wiki. Whatever. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.177|108.162.210.177]] 05:35, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

The bottom diagonal seems to be mislabelled? Shouldn't it be "Stories written X years and set X years ago" instead of "set 2X years ago"?
--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.175|108.162.250.175]] 05:38, 25 February 2015 (UTC)
:It is correct, if you see both relative from now. The middle line is written X years ago and set X years ago and thus contemporary. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.68|108.162.231.68]] 06:46, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure where to open bug tickets, but Lest Darkness Fall actually takes place ~1500 years ago, not ~500. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.121|141.101.80.121]] 06:35, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Kind of reminds of a Minkowski diagram. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.68|108.162.231.68]] 06:50, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

More and more science fiction works wander into the category obsolete science fiction, and more and more historical works are not recognisable as such by the average viewer as the movies have been filmed such a long time ago anyway. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.68|108.162.231.68]] 06:55, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

There seems to be a mistake with the large diagonal line. It says "Stories written X years ago and set 2X years ago." It should say, "... and set X years ago." Am I missing something here? [[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 09:35, 25 February 2015 (UTC)
:Nevermind, I see now that the y-axis is date relative to publication, not absolute dates relative to today. My bad. [[User:Effy|Effy]] ([[User talk:Effy|talk]]) 09:37, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1491: Stories of the Past and Future

2015-02-25T09:35:22Z

Effy: